"Not While I'm Around"
Song by Helena Bonham Carter
Edward Sanders
Published1979
Songwriter(s)Stephen Sondheim
Track listing
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: The Motion Picture Soundtrack

"Not While I'm Around" is a song from the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It is a duet between Tobias Ragg and Mrs. Lovett that first appeared on Broadway in 1979. A screen adaptation for the 2007 film of the same name features Edward Sanders as Tobias and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett. In the 2023 revival, it is sung by Gaten Matarazzo and Annaleigh Ashford. Josh Groban, who played the Barber in the 2023 production, has also released his own version.

Synopsis

In the pie shop that Mrs. Lovett owns, Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium, she has taken in young Tobias Ragg, who was homeless, to be her helper. When Mrs. Lovett tells Tobias to run and get a piece of toffee, she inadvertently takes out a coin purse she stole from Tobias' old master, Adolfo Pirelli, whom Sweeney Todd killed. Tobias expresses suspicions about Todd and states his desire to protect Mrs. Lovett, whom he has come to view as a mother figure. However, Mrs. Lovett tells him not to be afraid.

Critical reception

Scott Foundas of Variety described this song as "tender and haunting", noting that street urchin Tobias "becomes, for a moment, her surrogate son".[1] Reviewing the 2007 film, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote "[Helena] Bonham Carter evokes chills in 'Not While I'm Around,' a ballad of devotion she croons to her young apprentice, Toby, just before she arranges his demise".[2] The scoresheet website JW Pepper wrote "This unforgettable ballad from Sweeney Todd will create a moment of tenderness in your concert".[3] The New York Times wrote (of a regional stage production): "The contrast of lush ballads and menacing circumstances...occurs with 'Pretty Women,' sung by Sweeney and Judge Turpin, and 'Not While I’m Around,' sung protectively to Mrs. Lovett by her young aide, Tobias Ragg".[4]

References

  1. ↑ Foundas, Scott (March 8, 2014). "Concert Review: 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  2. ↑ Travers, Peter (December 13, 2007). "Sweeney Todd". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Not While I'm Around (SATB) by Stephen Sond | J.W. Pepper Sheet Music". www.jwpepper.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  4. ↑ Jacobson, Aileen (September 3, 2011). "An Unbalanced Barber Returns, With Ample Blood". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
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