SWEENEY TODD at La Mirada

Anyone seeing this?

I’ll be checking this out February 13th (Friday the 13th - felt appropriate). I’ll report back. 

I'll be there on 2/22.  Every time I brave the traffic to La Mirada (which is a lovely theater) I promise myself I'll never do it again, so this obviously held some appeal for me. 

Updated On: 2/1/26 at 04:09 PM

I saw the production. In one sentence, I would call it a solid production of a fantastic show with an underbaked concept and fine actors.

The asylum concept works, but is also almost entirely auxiliary to the story being told here. It feels like Jason Alexander went "this is a cool idea and I like it" so they did it. It doesn't detract from the story (beyond a few "wait why is it like that" moments) but it doesn't add anything either. The show is so strong that it all works well enough, but it leaves one wishing that they had either entirely committed to the asylum concept and made it integral to the production or abandoned it and gone for a traditional version of the show.

The cast all ranges from fine to pretty good. Will Swenson is appropriately intimidating and deep-voiced as Sweeney, but doesn't provide much else -- he spends much of the show looking down and being brooding without providing much of a look into the deep complexity of the character. He's fine. Lesli Margherita, on the other hand, is an acting delight; appropriately hammy, absolutely hilarious, and scene-stealing. She unfortunately does not fare too well with the score, though -- her voice has been going for a while and it's particularly apparent in the more difficult numbers like "The Worst Pies in London" and "By the Sea," where she either is just kind of yelling or has to pull things into head voice where it's not meant to be. She makes it work and is acting her face off, so I'm not at all upset at her performance.

Chris Hunter has a gorgeous voice as Anthony, but is very much acting like he's in an opera, with all that entails. It feels out of place in this version of the show, both vocally and acting-wise. Allison Sheppard is an inoffensive Johanna, not that the role is very easy to make the audience care about. Austyn Myers is solid as a nervous and sweet Toby, though I wish his ending scene had been more menacing -- perhaps that was the direction and not him.

Overall, it's good. It could have been great, but that would have required a far more thought out concept or a pivot back to a traditional staging of the show. It's worth your time to see it, but it's not going to change your world or how you think about the show.

Updated On: 2/1/26 at 08:55 PM

I'll be seeing it in a couple weeks. 

I think you mean to say Lesli Margherita  Funny enough, I too have made the mistake of calling her Leslie Kritzker

 

henrike said: "Made the drove down to Orange County to see it over the weekend. Spoilers below.

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I agree with the previous assessment that the concept was half baked. The set, given how it'll only run for a month or so, was impressive. It did, however, feel like a generic 3-stort steel scaffolding set up, with "BOGG'S ASYLUM" sign tacked on. There was a performer at the very top of the set throughout the whole show, hunched over like a zombie, creepily moving his arms to the beat of the music as if he's orchestrating the entire evening. In the finale Ballad, it's revealed that he was Sweeney the whole time. To me, I didn't get it. Would've made sense if it was Toby who was retelling the story, but I guess John Doyle already did that take.

The oven was just some bright red light behind a white curtain on the side of the stage. And perhaps it was due to the spatial limitations of the stage, but the barber chair was just... a wheel chair. After each knife slit, Sweeney would roll the chair to the edge of the 2nd story of the barber/pie shop unit. A big dumper is carried in from the wings, downstage in front of the pie shop. Sweeney would shove the bodies of his victims as they fall/somersault into the dumpster.

I think Sweeney Todd is one of those shows now in which so many theater afficionados have opinions. And they all go see the production with a "let's see if this production will live up to my expectations" mindset. And most productions end up being just decent to good.

I'd also categorize this production as good. I liked it better than the Josh Groban revival. Will Swenson was fine. He played into the pain/sorrow that Sweeney feels, but his insanity wasn't convincing. I think it's *the* hardest role to pull off for male actors in the musical theatre canon. Nevertheless, Will Swenson did an admirable attempt, which is way more than what I can say regarding Josh Groban's performance.

Leslie Kritzer was my personal highlight. She hammed it up like she's in a British farce. I would've maybe wanted to see a little more fear and desperation in her Mrs. Lovett, but just a personal preference. Some actresses, like Annaleigh Ashford, may try to take a different approach and completely fail. And Leslie Kritzer proved to me that playing the role in a conventional way, if written well, is a perfectly valid choice. Her singing didn't bother me, like another poster commented, since her comedic choices were committed.

The supporting cast was solid. I do agree with the sentiment that Anthony's Joanna was sung a little too overtly. Pirelli and Toby were both notably enjoyable.

I thought that the show was over choreographed. The opening Ballad feels much more sinister when the actors are still, not jerking their bodies and arms in a Thriller-esque movement. So that's one unfortunate similarity to the recent Broadway revival.

The actors' mics were over amped (a bit distracting to hear every breath, etc), but my ears eventually adjusted. I think the venue could invest in a better audio set up.

I think I nit-picked quite a bit, but I really was glad to have seen the production overall. And I didn't fully "get" the final moment (Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, on the 3rd floor scaffold, both jump off and we see the silhouette of their "bodies" falling), but it was shocking and left me disturbed in a satisfying way.



"

 

henrike said: "There was a performer at the very top of the set throughout the whole show, hunched over like a zombie, creepily moving his arms to the beat of the music as if he's orchestrating the entire evening. In the finale Ballad, it's revealed that he was Sweeney the whole time. To me, I didn't get it. Would've made sense if it was Toby who was retelling the story, but I guess John Doyle already did that take."

Yeah, this confounded me too. Frankly, it makes no sense for Sweeney to be the Overseer if we're set in Fogg's Asylum; he'd be dead. It should be Toby, which is a great way to lean into the idea that part of the story is about creating the next Sweeney Todd. When it's Sweeney, the question becomes... why? It adds nothing to the story.

"I think Sweeney Todd is one of those shows now in which so many theater afficionados have opinions. And they all go see the production with a "let's see if this production will live up to my expectations" mindset. And most productions end up being just decent to good."

I agree with this, but I also think that given that Sweeney Todd is one of the best musicals ever written, we should expect excellence. La Mirada has money and access to wonderful talent. They can and should be doing great work, especially when they're doing a show like this. I think critiquing it as such is fair.

"I thought that the show was over choreographed. The opening Ballad feels much more sinister when the actors are still, not jerking their bodies and arms in a Thriller-esque movement. So that's one unfortunate similarity to the recent Broadway revival."

This was very unfortunate. I have no idea why one would feel the need to choreograph a number that's already doing the work for them. The choreography adds nothing and made me laugh at points when you had dancers doing contemporary leaps and turns when they're supposed to be asylum inmates. It makes no sense.

"I think I nit-picked quite a bit, but I really was glad to have seen the production overall. And I didn't fully "get" the final moment (Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, on the 3rd floor scaffold, both jump off and we see the silhouette of their "bodies" falling), but it was shocking and left me disturbed in a satisfying way."

I'm glad to have seen it too. At the same time, I truly think it could have been so much more. I think the final moment was purely for the cool factor -- that seems to be a theme with this production. It works but doesn't add, and sometimes detracts. 

I think that if you're going to "concept" Sweeney, or really any Sondheim, you need to go all out. Fully balls to the wall go insane with it, and if you're going to do the asylum, DO the asylum. Make a big swing. Otherwise, do it traditionally and do it well.

I caught this last night. There’s a lot of stuff that’s already been discussed here, so I’ll also vouch for solid performances by the entire supporting cast. Will Swenson may have been sick last night because he played Sweeney with a nasally quality reminiscent of Hugh Jackman’s signature whine, also struggling with the climax of Epiphany. I don’t recall him sounding anything like this when I’ve seen him before. 
 

At first let down that Lesli Margherita was out as Lovett, Bets Malone as her understudy was possibly the strongest performance of the evening. What a talent! The comedic bits were hysterical and her vocals are very strong. She and Meghan Andrews as Beggar Woman were the two standout performances of the evening. 
 

The direction of this was confusing. Does Sweeney usually have the audience laughing so much? Of course there’s plenty of comedic relief in Sweeney, but the roar of laughter that went through the audience when Sweeney’s signature barber chair (an antique looking wheelchair reminiscent of Nessarose or FDR) descends from the rafters during God That’s Good seemed out of place. The friend I attended with hasn’t seen anything of Sweeney Todd and her first comments at intermission was “Wow, it’s so funny!” 
 

Also not a fan of choreographed Sweeney. While the recent Broadway revival used heavy choreography to try adding to the overall unease, the La Mirada production truly implements Thriller-esque style choreography that felt distracting from the already overwhelming beauty of the many Ballad of Sweeney Todd revivals. Also confused by the soft shoe from the bird seller during Green Finch and Linnet Bird. 
 

I love Sweeney. One of my favorites. This was… fine. But it’s not your father’s Sweeney Todd. 

Melissa25 said: "THDavis: ...Also confused by the soft shoe from the bird seller during Green Finch and Linnet Bird.

WTH? A soft shoe in Sweeney Todd?
"

Correct. The bird seller was dancing around with a pole covered in lit, colored lanterns to represent the birds and began twirling it to the point that my husband commented on how the birds would be dead after all of that spinning. Lol. Not that the actor didn’t do a nice job, it was just a confusing directorial choice.