A Little Priest, A Large Stephen Sondheim Success That You Will Eat Up

When I first was introduced to Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I fell in love with its dark and grim concept right off the bat. However, upon second listening, I started to understand the true brilliance behind the song “A Little Priest”.

Stephen Sondheim's “A Little Priest” is a bloody humorous song about a murderer and his accomplice discussing what to do with a body and a rich “want” song that is a core in every good musical. The musical, set up to be the tale of revenge is set in a gloomy London after a prisoner is released for being unjustly sentenced.

A Little Priest is chronologically in a tough place. That’s mostly the fault that it follows a very powerful song “Epiphany”. A song that’s meant to show us how the main character views the cruelty of the world and vows to rid the world of those who get in his way. And as a result, “A Little Priest” has big shoes to fill. And fill them it does.

This song brings back the concept that this musical is a dark COMEDY. So when the question is asked, “What should we do with the body?” Miss Lovett proposes a much more… unorthodox answer. While the concept of putting murder victims in the pies is absolutely grim, the way these psychopaths react to such a gorey proposition is what catches the audience off guard. Sweeney and Lovett proceed to have a wonderful bonding time by… making puns about their victims' professions and how that affects the taste of their meat.

These critiques are often very harsh and accurate to what the profession would entail. For instance, “LOVETT: Lawyer's rather nice. TODD: If it's for a price. LOVETT: Order something else, though, to follow, Since no one should swallow it twice!”. It’s a relatable statement, not wanting to have to deal with lawyers more than once because of how expensive they are, but also serves as applicability to meat pies.

A “want” song often serves as a way for the audience to see what the characters want most out of their life. Lovett shows that she is a passionate businesswoman who is in love with Sweeney, and this song demonstrates those aspects of her beauty. She’s constantly shown appealing to and praising Sweeney throughout the song, sucking up to him at every beat.

In all, this song reminds the audience that it's supposed to be a dark comedy and that Mrs. Lovett will continue to be a very prevalent force in the musical. A beautiful balance is hit between these two features and I truly recommend this song and musical because of it.