Nellie Lovett

Nellie Lovett (AKA Mrs. Lovett) was an owner of a meat pie bakery. Unfortunately, her business wasn't doing well & meat was expensive. When Sweeney Todd moved in, she quickly discovered his identity and struck up an interesting friendship with him. It was so strong, on her end, that when Mr. Todd abruptly murdered Mr. Perelli, she came up with a morbid but brilliant idea: to turn his victim's flesh into pies. When Todd asked what happened to his wife, Lucy Barker, she told him a partial story: that Judge Turpin ineffectively tried to charm her, and when she went to one of his parties, Turpin raped her and took her baby, Johanna, as his ward, with Lucy committing suicide. What she didn't tell him was that she failed and became mentally ill. We learn that Mrs. Lovett's motivation was out of love for Mr. Todd, that was proved many times.. By the end, Todd discovered Lovett's half lie when he accidentally kills his wife, and Mrs. Lovett meets her end when Todd decides to throw her into the furnace. In the end, all Mrs. Lovett wanted was to get her happy ending with Todd, but what she got was a booming business leading to her flaming death.

Performers and Accolades

In film and stage adaptations of the Sweeney Todd story, Lovett is considered the female lead, second only to the title character. The role has attracted several acclaimed actresses to accept the role. To date, all actresses (who have been eligible) to play the role on Broadway have earned Tony Award nominations. The following actresses all performed the role of Mrs. Lovett in an official production.

• Angela Lansbury won a Tony Award for her performance in originating the role of Mrs. Lovett on Broadway in 1979.
• Helena Bonham Carter received a Golden Globe nomination for playing Lovett in the 2007 musical film Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Her characterization is particularly loving towards Tobias, who comes to stay with her, and she sheds tears when coming to the realization that he may have to be killed to silence him when he suspects Todd of wrongdoing.
• Patti LuPone received a Tony Award-nomination for playing the role in a 2005 Broadway revival. For the role LuPone had to learn to play the tuba. She also performed Lovett's songs in the Primetime Emmy Award-winning concert version in 2001.
• Beth Fowler earned a Drama Desk and Tony Award-nomination for her performance the first revival of the musical.
• Joanna Lumley portrayed her in the 1998 Showtime television movie The Tale of Sweeney Todd starring Ben Kingsley.
• Stella Rho played the role in the 1936 film adaption. The character in this movie was credited as Mrs. Lovatt. Her characterization includes her being a businesswoman with eye only for the money that she and Todd are supposed to split between them from his dead customers. She states in the film that she has no interest in him romantically, and comes to an off-screen end not specifically involving her oven.
• Judy Kaye replaced Patti LuPone in the 2005 Broadway revival, before it ended production in early 2006. She went on star in the national tour version of the John Doyle revival for which she received acclaim and like LuPone had to learn to play the tuba.
• Sadie Gibson played the role in the 2021 low-budget film, which she also directed, edited, and produced. It is available to watch for free here: https://basicallybroadway.com/sweeneytodd/

Songs

In the musical, Mrs. Lovett sings many numbers by herself and with other characters. The tracks were all composed by Stephen Sondheim. These include:

• My Friends (with Todd)
• By The Sea (with Todd)*
• Sweet Caroline (with Beadle)**
• Searching (with Todd, Johanna, Anthony, and Lucy)*
• Final Sequence (with Todd and Tobias)
• The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Epilogue) (with Company)**

In the movie, Mrs. Lovett sings many of the same songs, but they get cut. These include:

• The Worst Pies in London
• Poor Thing
• My Friends (duet with Sweeney Todd)
• Pirelli's Miracle Elixir (minor)
• Wait (duet with Sweeney Todd)
• Epiphany (minor)
• A Little Priest (duet with Sweeney Todd)
• God, That's Good (duet with Toby Ragg)
• By the Sea
• Not While I'm Around (minor, duet with Toby Ragg)
• Final Scene (relatively large part)

(* Edited for musical film) (** Cut from musical film)