Matt Ober
November 17, 2010
Advanced Drama C Block
Tobias Ragg: A History and Analysis
Hugh Wheeler’s prolific tale, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, has been adapted into various screenplays. The most famous of which, written by Christopher Bond. The play includes many colorful characters, one being the small and lovable Tobias Ragg (Toby for short). Toby is a character who exhibits dynamic qualities and plays a large role in the storyline.
Toby is an orphan boy who lives in London in the mid-1800s. At the beginning of the story, he is traveling as a barber’s assistant to the locally famous barber, Signor Adolfo Pirelli. He is of short stature and has a head of shaggy brown hair, which turns out later to be a wig. Toby is also shown to walk with a limp, representing his overall vulnerability. At this point in the musical, he and Pirelli sing a number called “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir”, about Pirelli’s new hair product that, according to the song, grows back hair. Preceding this song, Sweeney Todd arrives and challenges Pirelli to a shaving competition, which Todd wins decisively. Pirelli and Toby are then invited for a complimentary haircut to Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop with Sweeney’s barbershop located on the second floor. Pirelli joins Sweeney upstairs for a shave while Toby stays in the kitchen with Mrs. Lovett. Pirelli, actually Danny O’ Higgins, remembers Sweeney Todd as an escaped convict and threatens to blackmail him for money. Sweeney, overcome with rage, gives him a “close shave” and puts him in a chest. This is the real turning point for Toby’s judgment of Sweeney Todd. He is told that Pirelli had to leave and is implanted with a seed of doubt of Mr. Todd’s real intentions.
By now in the second act, Toby suspects that Sweeney Todd is up to no good. He confronts Mrs. Lovett with affection and worry, unaware that she is in on his evil schemes (grinding up dead bodies and baking pies out of the meat). Mrs. Lovett is one of the few characters Toby still trusts. In Sondheim’s classic tune, “Not While I’m Around”, Toby sings to Mrs. Lovett about protecting her from the evil in the world. In the middle of the song, Mrs. Lovett offers Toby candy from her purse. Toby realizes that this is indeed Pirelli’s purse and his suspicions of Todd grow further. Mrs. Lovett reassures him that it is not his master’s purse and Sweeney had given it to her as a gift.
Mrs. Lovett locks Toby in the bake house and he inexplicably finds hair and toenails in a pie he eats. Toby finally pieces together the mischievous plot of Sweeney Todd. It shows growth in Toby’s character from an unassuming boy to a somewhat matured young man. While Toby is locked in the bake house, events involving Sweeney and his family lead up to the climax of the film. After Sweeney realizes that he had killed his wife, he kills Mrs. Lovett for lying about his wife to him. Toby comes into the scene looking graven and driven insane. His hair has almost literally turned gray from his confinement in the horrible bake house. The death of his only real mother figure and friend pushes him to kill Sweeney. The ending of the play is controversial because what becomes of Toby after he kills Sweeney is unknown.
Over the years, Toby has been played by many different people. In the 1979 Steven Sondheim version of Sweeney, Ken Jennings plays Toby. This makes him the first Toby in a Broadway performance of the musical. Ken Jennings portrays Toby as a timid character with a big heart, played with conviction. Jennings hits the nail on the head with his performance in the last scene of the play, when Toby is overcome with madness. 22 years later in the 2001 concert version of the musical, Neil Patrick Harris plays Toby. Of all the actors who have played Toby, he has probably accomplished the most in his career. Harris does a beautiful job singing Toby’s songs especially, “Not While I’m Around”. In Tim Burton’s movie version of Sweeney Todd, Edward Sanders portrays Toby. Sanders Toby is likely the most unique of all the Tobys because Sanders was 14 when the film was made. His singing voice is more childlike than the actors before him. Despite it being his first movie, he does a good job.
Why is Toby important to the play, Sweeney Todd? Toby is one of the few characters that you can sympathize with. His honest and loving nature comes out when he is with Mrs. Lovett, the only true friend he ever had. Toby is also one of the few characters who is not initially insane. Although he does kill Sweeney Todd at the end of the play, it is only because he loves Mrs. Lovett and is filled with anger when Todd murders her.
Works Cited
"Tobias Ragg (Character)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Ed. User. Amazon.com. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0031684/>.
Fuchs, Cynthia. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street PopMatters.21Dec.2007.Web.22Nov.2010. <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street/>.
Brown, Larry A. "Sweeney Todd." Larryavisbrown. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/Sondheim/sweeneytodd.htm>.
