Tobias Ragg

In the penny dreadful The String of Pearls, Tobias Ragg is the apprentice of Sweeney Todd, a barber who murders his customers. Sweeney Todd has him committed to a lunatic asylum after Tobias finds proof of Todd's guilt and decides to contact the police. He eventually escapes, is involved in Todd's arrest, and as the story ends goes into the service of Johanna's husband-to-be Mark Ingestrie. Tobias Ragg was also the young apprentice of Todd in the 1936 film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

In the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Toby is the apprentice of Signor Adolfo Pirelli, a barber who was once an apprentice of Todd,[1] and a tenor/boy soprano.[2] Pirelli pretends to be Italian, and sells some fake potions for hair, made of "piss and ink". Toby is taken in by Mrs. Lovett after Todd kills Pirelli, who threatened to blackmail him. Toby becomes deeply attached to Mrs. Lovett, thinking of her as a surrogate mother. The character expresses this in one of the final songs in the play, "Not While I'm Around". However, when he discovers that Todd has been killing customers for Mrs. Lovett to bake into meat pies, he goes insane with horror and shock. After seeing Todd kill Mrs. Lovett, a vengeful Toby emerges from the sewers, where he was hiding, and slashes Todd's throat with his own razor.[3][4] In Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a 2007 film adaptation of the musical directed by Tim Burton, Toby's role is mostly the same.

In the stage musical, Toby is portrayed as a mentally handicapped adult; Ken Jennings, who originated the Broadway role, was 31 on opening night,[5] and Neil Patrick Harris was 27. In the 2007 movie, he is a child and not mentally ill, portrayed by 14-year-old Ed Sanders.

• Brian Glenny played Tobias in the 1928 film. In the film, the character's last name was spelled "Wragg".
• John Singer played Tobias in the 1936 film version of Sweeney Todd.
• Len Jones played Tobias in the 1970 television adaptation of the George Dibdin Pitt play on Mystery and Imagination.
• Ken Jennings originated the role of Tobias in the original Broadway performance of Sondheim's musical in 1979.[5]
• Michael Staniforth played Tobias in the 1980 London Production.
• Neil Patrick Harris played Tobias in the 2001 concert version of the musical.[6][4]
• Manoel Felciano played Tobias in the 2005 revival of the musical.
• Edmund Bagnell played Tobias in the 2005 Revival tour.
• Ben Walker played Tobias in the 2007 non-musical TV film starring Ray Winstone.
• Edward Sanders played Tobias in the 2007 film of the musical.
• James McConville played Tobias in the 2012 London revival.
• Kyle Brenn played Tobias in the 2014 New York Philharmonic concert.[7]
• Joseph Taylor originated the role of Tobias in the 2017 Off-Broadway revival, followed by John-Michael Lyles and Zachary Noah Piser.
• Gaten Matarazzo plays Tobias in the current (2023) Broadway revivial.

In the musical Tobias Ragg has only one solo number, "Not While I'm Around", which he sings to Mrs. Lovett. He does sing various other songs with other characters, including:

• "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Prologue)" (with Company)[lower-alpha 1]
• "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" (with Todd, Mrs. Lovett and Company)[lower-alpha 2]
• "Tooth-Pulling Sequence" (with Pirelli)[lower-alpha 1]
• "God, That's Good" (with Mrs. Lovett, Todd and Company)[lower-alpha 2]
• "Parlour Songs" - "(Tower of Bray)" (with Beadle Bamfort and Mrs. Lovett)[lower-alpha 1]
• "Not While I'm Around" (With Mrs. Lovett)
• "Final Scene" (with Todd and Mrs. Lovett)[lower-alpha 2]
• "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Epilogue)" (with Company)[lower-alpha 1]

• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) (nominated)[8]
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2007 - Sierra Award for Youth in Film - Male for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) (won)[9]
• Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2007- PFCS Award for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Male for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) (won)[10]
• Young Artist Award 2008 - Best Performance of a Supporting Young Actor in a feature film - Comedy or Musical for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008) (nominated)[11]

• Profile, imdb.com; accessed August 20, 2014.