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Mr. Adolfo Pirelli ( Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Italian language), also known as Alf Spiral, Daniel O'Higgins or Davy Collins, is a fictional character from Stephen Sondheim's musical ."Theater; A 'Sweeney Todd' of Merit", The New York Times, July 17, 1983, NYT-83. He is a supporting antagonist in the story and a rival barber to Sweeney Todd. He is eventually killed by Todd after he threatens him with extortion.
His real name turns out to be Daniel O'Higgins ("Alf Spiral" in the original Christopher Bond play and "Davy Collins" in the film), and he was Sweeney Todd's apprentice as a boy. Pirelli knows Todd's true identity as Benjamin Barker and threatens to expose him unless Todd pays him half of his profits. Todd kills Pirelli in an effort to keep his identity a secret.
Enraged, Pirelli emerges from his tent to berate Todd, who offers to wager his own against five pound sterling of Pirelli's money. Whoever shaves a person the most quickly and dexterously will win, with Beadle Bamford acting as judge. Pirelli wastes time bragging about his vast talent and superiority over all other barbers. Todd, on the other hand, concentrates on doing the job and, after carefully preparing his razors and mixing the lather, shaves the customer in a matter of seconds to win the five pounds. Pirelli begrudgingly pays him five pounds.
The following day, Pirelli and Toby arrive at Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium to visit Todd, whose establishment is atop Mrs. Lovett's. While Mrs. Lovett gives Toby a pie downstairs in her parlour, Pirelli ascends the stairs to Todd's room to confront him. Pirelli reveals that his real name is Daniel O'Higgins and he is in fact Irish people. He reveals that he knows Todd's true identity as Benjamin Barker, having served as his apprentice as a small boy, and threatens to expose Todd to the Beadle unless he, Todd, pays him half of his profits. Todd, enraged, strangles him and throws his body in a trunk when Tobias enters the shop. While speaking to Tobias, Todd notices that Pirelli's hand is sticking out and feebly moving. After getting rid of the boy, Todd finishes Pirelli off by slashing his throat. Mrs. Lovett later takes his purse, where she finds three pounds, keeping the purse as her own. This scene was changed substantially for Tim Burton's . In this interpretation, Pirelli is actually a Cockney thief named Davy Collins, rather than the Irish Daniel O'Higgins, and rather than strangling him, Todd bludgeons him into unconsciousness with an iron tea-pot before slitting his throat.
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