A CUT ABOVE THE REST

Pacific Opera Project gives Sondheim’s
murderous barber a splendid revival, with
two outstanding performances at its center

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood allows Pacific Opera Project to do what they do best—put on entertaining and engaging shows with both artistry and panache.

Sweeney Todd first emerged on the pages of the “penny dreadfuls,” the cheap magazines popular among London’s lower-class populace during the 19th century.

Stephen Sondheim’s musical, with a book by Hugh Wheeler, opened on Broadway in 1979 to resounding success and went on to win the Tony for Best Musical.

Forty-seven years later, Pacific Opera Project has mounted a production that does Sondheim proud.

Director/designer Josh Shaw has managed to stage the beloved musical in a way that should appease traditionalists while underscoring it nicely with additions of his own. Choreographer/assistant director Amy Lawrence elevates the high kicks superbly and, along with lighting designer Bo Tindell, sound designer Drew Sensue-Weinstein, and costumer Hailey Springer, offers the audience a visually splendid production.

But in the final analysis, it is those who fill those costumes, rumba among the Victorian stage sets, and sing Sondheim’s demanding notes who bear the burden of the musical’s success. Here, under conductor Benjamin Beckman, Pacific Opera Project succeeds again with a solid ensemble topped by outstanding performances by Phil Meyer and William Grundler as the show’s villains, Chris Hunter and Chloe Sundet as the production’s young lovers, and Derrek Stark and Dallas Perry in the crowd-pleasing roles of the faux Italian Pirelli and the simple-minded Tobias, respectively.

At the peak of this cast are Mackenzie Rodgers as Mrs. Lovett and Kellen Schrimper as Todd, both of whom bring a vitality to the stage that manages to have a jaded old critic who didn’t think he could survive another production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street leaping to his feet, adding his enthusiasm to the ovation they all richly deserve.

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photos by Nick Rutter for Pacific Opera Project

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Pacific Opera Project
El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood
2 hours and 50 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
ended on November 8, 2026
for tickets ($15–$250), visit Pacific Opera Project

for more shows, visit Theatre in LA

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