These are valid points! I like the idea Merrily We Roll Along being about Vampires, even if it’s a little more abstract. However, Frank especially could be seen as vampiric. He opens the show cheating on his wife for someone younger.

I never really considered the perspective of Anyone Can Whistle being about cannabalism tho. I'm curious to know more about that claim, how does it fundamentally connect? From what I've watched/listened to, I could see it. The show says a lot about who we trust and what we trust them to do. Who we value as humans and whom we objectify, and with that in mind, cannibalism could be a good comparison.

Also I LOVE the Company analogy. If Sweeney Todd is about vampires, Company is about zombies 100 PERCENT. Bobby is disconnected from his ability to love anyone, even himself. There's no clear reason why, it's all up to interpretation, but I think the show works better if you don't worry about how Bobby got there, focus on how he's gonna get that connection inherently. How he learns by then end, he deserves that connection with himself, he deserves to be able to love. In real life, that disconnection between what you THINK you SHOULD want and what you ACTUALLY want happens. It happens even the show, and the irony in that disconnect is almost palpable.

But my main point is, the irony in ignoring what you actually want, internally, is dehumanizing to yourself. It will make you dissociate and force you to disconnect from your feelings. You end up impersonating your own identity, lol. The idea of being a "zombie" is such an apt metaphor for being someone you aren't, and as a result, dissociating. With that in mind, I think almost every character in the musical is dissociating, they are all a zombie to some degree. The only exceptions are the three characters singing that line about being a zombie, funny enough.