production

They don’t make musicals like “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” anymore.

The ambition on display is awe-inspiring to an almost alarming degree. Consider the lyrical and orchestral complexity of Stephen Sondheim’s score, the way Hugh Wheeler’s book (from an adaptation by Christopher Bond) blends horror and comedy as if the two were natural bedmates and a production concept that views the material of a fiendish penny dreadful through a Brechtian lens.

Could the American theater ever again pull off such an outrageously brilliant musical experiment? Harold Prince’s 1979 Broadway premiere, starring Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, seems like eons ago in terms of creative possibility.

This is the reason revivals, such as the solid one that opened Saturday at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts under the direction of Jason Alexander, are so important. They remind us not only of the richness of our theatrical past but they also challenge our artists and producers to dream bigger in the future.

Will Swenson stars as “Sweeney Todd” at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

(Jason Niedle / TETHOS)

Alexander, the beloved “Seinfeld” star who made his Broadway debut in Sondheim and George Furth’s “Merrily We Roll Along” in 1981, knows a thing or two about American musicals, having served for a time as the artistic director of L.A.’s bygone Reprise Theatre Company. His direction has grown in sophistication and ease since he staged Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Sunday in the Park With George” for Reprise in 2007.

Alexander’s production of “Sweeney Todd” has breadth and heft, but also intimacy and lightness. The scenic design by Paul Tate dePOO III savors the show’s Grand Guignol flavors while leaving plenty of flexibility for antic comedy.

The barber chair, the locus of Sweeney’s revenge on the heartless cruelty of a Victorian London that wrecked his life, isn’t the elaborate contraption of other productions. His murder victims don’t fall down a chute after their throats are slit during their shave and a haircut. They have to be tilted into a dumpster that is moved into position, but Alexander makes the comic most of these clumsier stage mechanics.

Will Swenson, the accomplished Broadway actor, offers an unusually sympathetic yet never sentimentalized Sweeney. He understands that Sweeney is first and foremost a victim. The lust for vengeance eventually gets the better of him, but Swenson leads us step by step to depravity through sorrow, injustice and humiliation.

Andrew Polec, right, with the company of “Sweeney Todd” at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

(Jason Niedle / TETHOS)

He’s man-made rather than a natural monster. The same could be said of Lesli Margherita’s Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of a filthy and failing Fleet Street pie shop, but it’s a shakier case. She’s the one who gets the bright idea of putting all those corpses Sweeney is intent on piling up into culinary use. Meat is in short supply, and the taboo of cannibalism is no deterrent to a woman who has taken to heart the jungle law of 19th-century British society: Eat or be eaten.

Swenson and Margherita are singing marvels, but Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett’s numbers set up Olympian challenges, vocally as well as lyrically. Their comically macabre Act 1 showstopper, “A Little Priest,” in which they gleefully imagine the variety of human pies, needs a little more time in the oven. Margherita, who played Mrs. Wormwood in “Matilda the Musical” on Broadway, is a deft clown. Swenson may be a step slower in this regard, but he plays it perfectly by accentuating the delight Sweeney takes in the merriment of Mrs. Lovett’s perverse rhyming game.

Swenson, who starred in the Broadway premiere of “A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical,” has a lush baritone. But Sweeney’s descent into an even lower range produces a sound that emerges from unimaginable depths. Finding the beauty in that hellish croak — something that Josh Groban was able to do in the last Broadway revival — can prove exceptionally difficult. It’s Swenson’s detailed character work as a singer that impresses most. His handling of “By the Sea,” the Act 2 duet with Margherita, forensically details Sweeney’s growing distaste for the conjugal fantasies of his partner in crime.

Allison Sheppard and Chris Hunter star in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

(Jason Niedle / TETHOS)

The romantic element of Sondheim’s score is best captured in the gorgeous singing of Chris Hunter’s Anthony Hope, whose crooning of “Johanna” provokes an epidemic of goosebumps throughout La Mirada Theatre. Allison Sheppard’s Johanna, Sweeney’s daughter under the lock and key of the wicked Judge Turpin (Norman Large), warbles as melodiously as the caged birds that mirror her plight.

Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper’s Beadle Bamford, the judge’s henchman, has a malicious ebullience all his own. He’s not as unapologetically hammy as Andrew Polec’s Pirelli, the tonsorial con man who adopts a fake mustache and an even faker Italian accent, but he lends the musical a satiric gaiety.

Meghan Andrews’ Beggar Woman and Austyn Myers’ Tobias, giving voice to the downtrodden Dickensian masses, infuse the production with the charm of their singing. Myers makes the most of one of the musical’s most beloved numbers, “Not While I’m Around,” Tobias’ duet with Mrs. Lovett that both performers bring to poignant, demented life.

Austyn Myers, center, with the company of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

(Jason Niedle / TETHOS)

Alexander’s staging occasionally overdoes the comic exuberance. The ensemble-cum-chorus, burdened with overblown asylum imagery, is sometimes called upon to inject a circus-like atmosphere, complete with acrobatics. Lee Martino’s choreography, like the production as a whole, is at its best when observing decorous constraints.

If some of the more seductive colors of Sondheim’s score get lost in the acoustic shuffle, it may have more to do with the sound system than Darryl Archibald’s music direction. Unfortunately, the shattering beauty of the music is sometimes swallowed in the devilish din.

The stark visual panache of the production, however, is an impressive sight to behold. Jared A. Sayeg’s crepuscular lighting and Kate Bergh’s humanizing costumes lend contrast and texture to the world-building scenic design.

Hats off to this Southern California “Sweeney Todd” and to La Mirada Theatre for undertaking this Herculean feat. Sondheim and Wheeler’s haunted masterpiece doesn’t need perfection to live again.

Jan. 28 (UPI) — Electric vehicle maker Tesla’s revenue and profits fell during the fourth quarter of 2025 despite record levels of production.

Tesla officials on Wednesday reported the Elon Musk-owned company’s adjusted income dropped by 16% during the final quarter of 2025, while net income fell 61% for the quarter and 46% for the entire year.

The quarterly and final revenue report for 2025 reflects Tesla’s largest year-to-year revenue drop as its quarterly global sales of electric vehicles declined despite an increased global demand for EVs.

Partly to blame is the end of a $7,500 federal tax credit for those who bought qualifying EVs, combined with opposition by those who opposed Musk leading the Department of Government Efficiency and his general support of the Trump administration earlier in 2025.

Tesla also is facing increased competition from other EV makers, including Chinese EV firm BYD.

Despite the decline in revenues, Tesla shares rose in value by about 3% during after-hours trading on Wednesday and peaked at $449.76 per share before declining to $437.02.

Tesla officials reported that it produced a quarterly record 434,358 EVs during the final three months of 2025 and delivered 418,227. It also produced a record 14.2 GWh of energy-storage products.

For the year, Tesla produced 1.66 million EVs, delivered 1.64 million and produced 46.7 GWh of energy-storage products.

Well, they do say any attention is good attention.

Actor Sydney Sweeney was in the spotlight Monday after being captured on video recently scaling the H of the Hollywood sign under the cloak of darkness — to hang up some bras.

TMZ reported on the footage, which was part of a promotion for Sweeney’s upcoming lingerie line. But according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the alleged publicity stunt was not authorized.

The chamber owns the intellectual property rights to the sign, which is managed by the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust. Neither the chamber nor the trust knew about the apparent Sweeney stunt until they saw the video, officials told The Times.

“Anyone intending to use and/or access the Hollywood Sign for commercial purposes must obtain a license or permission from the Hollywood Chamber to do so,” the chamber’s chief, Steve Nissen, said in a statement. “The production involving Sydney Sweeney and the Hollywood Sign, as reported by TMZ, was not authorized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce nor did we have prior knowledge of it.”

Nissen also said that the organization “did not grant a license or permission of any kind to the production … nor did anyone seek a license or permission from the Chamber for that production.”

Footage obtained by TMZ shows Sweeney climbing up the Hollywood sign to help string up a clothesline of assorted bras across the familiar landmark. The “Christy” star is accompanied by a small crew that is filming her handiwork.

The team did obtain a general permit to film in the area from FilmLA.

But as is explained both on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Hollywood sign websites, filming the sign itself requires additional clearance and payment of a licensing fee. The chamber says a portion of the proceeds goes to a trust that assists in maintaining the Hollywood sign. Access to the Hollywood sign is generally restricted.

So far, a police report that could trigger a trespass investigation and review by prosecutors has not been filed, according to L.A. Police Officer Tony Im, a department spokesperson.

Built in 1923, the Hollywood sign was donated to the city 21 years later. Climbing or altering the sign are not permitted — and have happened over the decades. Famously, the letters were changed to “Hollyweed” by a local college student on New Year’s Day 1976 when California downgraded the possession of a small amount of pot from a possible felony to a misdemeanor. That stunt was repeated in 2017. In that case, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of trespass. In 1987, Caltech students changed the sign overnight to read “Caltech.”

Last February, a man was arrested after he climbed onto the letter D as part of a social media promotion and was taken into custody.

As for Sweeney, this is not the first time the actor has been scrutinized for promotional activity involving clothing. The “Euphoria” star previously faced backlash for the slogan of an ad campaign involving jeans. (Sweeney later addressed the controversy, telling the Hollywood Reporter that she was “surprised by the reaction” and that she “[doesn’t] support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”)

Representatives for Sweeney did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.