Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, has suffered the wrongs of a corrupt society and, with his trusty razor, dispatches an impressive number of Londoners in his one-man war of vengeance. Yet, in the musical masterpiece [Sweeney Todd] …, there is yet another victim: Stephen Sondheim, who has had the audacity to be brilliant in an artistic medium where mediocrity is highly prized, and unclassifiable in a world divided by journalists into neat categories.

This is Sondheim's second brilliant, unclassifiable show in a row, and Sweeney Todd repeats almost every error that consigned Pacific Overtures to the dustbin after its pathetically short run three seasons ago…. [Once] again Sondheim has created an abrasive and complex musical score, with tunes that refuse to fall into easy-to-remember patterns and lyrics that demand the exercise of attention and memory. What is it with Sondheim & Company, one may justifiably ask: a...