| Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts Contributor(s): Rasovsky, Yuri (Producer), Baker, John (Producer), Fairbanks, Richard (Other) |
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ISBN: 1433203413 ISBN-13: 9781433203411 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks OUR PRICE: $21.60 Product Type: Compact Disc - Other Formats Published: September 2007 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Classics |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Physical Information: 1.18" H x 6.61" W x 6.34" (0.43 lbs) |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The insidious Fleet Street barber slit his first throat in an 1846 penny dreadful, one of those gaudy serialized novels that gleefully offered thrills and gore to sensation-hungry Victorians. Titled The String of Pearls, it told of Sweeney Todd, whose shop stood next to St. Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, he robbed and murdered hundreds of customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them to an underground bakery of one Mrs. Lovett, whose pie shop was a few blocks away. She ground the cadavers into stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite midday repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and who got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today Before the serial's final chapters even hit the stands, the first stage version, pirated from the already published installments, was packing them in at a London theater. Since then there have been numerous stage, literary, and screen versions of the story, most notably the hit Sondheim musical. Blackstone Audio has commissioned this, the first audio version of the tale, from the Audie(R) award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear (The Sherlock Holmes Theatre, The Oresteia). With tongue in cheek, writer/producer/director Yuri Rasovsky has gone all the way back to the original penny dreadful to imbue an old string of pearls with new luster-and fresh blood. |
Contributor Bio(s): Baker, John: - John Baker is the founder of Celebrate Recovery(R), a program of Saddleback Church, now being used in 12,000 organizations nationwide. A nationally known speaker, trainer, he has authored and coauthored several books and study guides about personal development and recovery. Templeman, Simon: -Simon Templeman is a British actor who frequently voices vampire characters in video games, most notably Kain from the Legacy of Kain video game series. Jarvis, Martin: -Martin Jarvis has starred in many West End productions and on Broadway in By Jeeves. His screen appearances include Titanic, Murder She Wrote, Miss Marple, Numb3rs, Inspector Morse, and Stargate Atlantis. He is an award-winning audiobook performer and has received an OBE from the Queen for his services to drama. Proctor, Phil: -Phil Proctor is an original member of the three-time Grammy-nominated Firesign Theatre. He has performed on stage, television, through interactive games, and in film, including the Emmy Award-winning Rugrats, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and the Dr. Doolittle films. He is part of Los Angeles' celebrated Antaeus Classical Ensemble. Full Cast, A.: - Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales on 27 October 1914. In 1934 his first book of poetry, Eighteen Poems appeared, followed by Twenty-five Poems in 1936, Deaths and Entrances in 1946 and in 1952 his final volume, Collected Poems. He also published many short stories, wrote filmscripts, broadcast stories and talks, did a series of lecture tours in the United States and wrote Under Milkwood, the radio play.During his fourth lecture tour of the United States in 1953, a few days after his 39th birthday, he collapsed in his New York hotel and died on November 9th at St. Vincent's Hospital. His body was sent back to Laugharne, Wales, where his grave is marked by a simple wooden cross. In June 1994, his wife, Caitlin Thomas, died in Italy, where she had spent most of the years of her life after the death of Dylan Thomas. Her body is buried next to his. Rasovsky, Yuri: -Yuri Rasovsky (1944-2012) was the leading writer, producer, and director of audio drama in the United States. Also a distinguished actor, narrator, and critic, his numerous honors include two Peabody Awards, eight Audie Awards, and a Grammy. Dean, Robertson: -Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating. Quirk, Moira: -Moira Quirk, a British actress and Earphones Award-winning narrator, co-narrated Ben Bova's Mercury and has narrated other popular audiobooks for which she received Audie Award nominations. She is a successful comedian and can be heard on Nickelodeon's cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot as well as in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, The Wild Thornberrys Feature, and Serendipity, among others. She has also lent her voice to several video games, including Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Haunting Ground. Ayres, Rosalind: -Rosalind Ayres is a leading English actress whose many movies include the Oscar-winning Gods and Monsters and Titanic. Her audio performances have won awards in both Britain and the United States, including AudioFile Earphones Awards. Sheppard, W. Morgan: -W. Morgan Sheppard is an award-winning British actor who has appeared on Broadway and in major films and television shows. His audiobook narrations have garnered several Audie Awards and an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, including Star Trek, Mad Men, and the movie Transformers, among many others, and has won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. |