Photo credit: Alysa Brennan.

SWEET
I have seen this show more than a few times and I have to say I thoroughly enjoy this production. Norman Large comfortably heads a formidable company of talented performers that are both vocally and dramatically strong. Debbie Prutsman was for me, the greatest treat of the show. Her twisted turn as the Machiavellian merchant slash love-sick lunatic Mrs. Lovett was delight and engaging from the moment she steps on stage. Jim Holdridge imbues the character of Tobias with a wonderful naivety and Michelle Duffy’s Beggar Woman is the epitome of despair incarnate. The sheer elegance of sound – from soloists to the collective to the pit – was simply excellent. It seems a strange word to use for a musical of this morbid tone – elegance. However, it is the best word to describe the quality of composition in the awesome wall of sound generated by this company and orchestra.
Keisha7 – LASplash

SWEET
But now Musical Theatre West has returned Sweeney to his Grand Guignol roots with a vast production faithful to Hal Prince’s original effort. Director Calvin Remsberg, who toured as Beadle Bamford with the original Broadway cast, has re-created the original’s power and majesty with help from a uniformly outstanding cast, partnered with musical director John Glaudini and his full orchestra.
Tom Provenzano – LA Weekly

SWEET
The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street is back, supersized, in Musical Theatre West’s excellent revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. A cast of twenty-seven and a twenty-two piece orchestra make this the biggest Sweeney in recent memory, welcome news indeed for theatergoers grown tired of downsized shows.
Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA

SWEET
The cast is filled with spot-on portrayals: Michelle Duffy’s raunchy yet pitiable Beggar Woman, golden-voiced Dan Callaway as desperately-in-love sailor Anthony, soprano par excellence Sarah Bermudez as the enslaved Johanna, Jim Holdridge as the abused yet cagey Tobias, Alan M-L Wager as the conniving Adolfo Pirelli, Richard Gould as vile Judge Turpin, and Roland Rusinek as the equally despicable Beadle Bamford. Taming this challenging beast of a show proves a watershed achievement for MTW, among the proudest moments in the company’s long history.
Les Spindle – Backstage

SWEET
I rarely use the word ‘brilliant’, but I must, as I sat mesmerized at Saturday’s matinee by every move and every musical beat.
Don Grigware – BroadwayWorld

SWEET
Based on Christopher Bond’s 1973 play and the book by Hugh Wheeler, the production teems with a large, well-choreographed cast, complex but spot-on ingenious set changes (including a barber’s chair that slides customers down a chute), and a compelling sepulchral tone that makes the nearly three-hour production seem like a walk, if not in a park, then in a crematorium.
James Scarborough – What the Butler Saw

SWEET
Simply the best of Sondheim’s work, MTW does their best work to date with this production. The only crime committed on this night of theatre would be to miss this epic and beautiful production. Sell your first born if you must, Mr. Todd would approve, but find a way to see this production.
Jason Lovett – Stagehappenings

SWEET
Until seeing this Sweeney, I hadn’t realized how much I missed the chorus in those last two little Sweeneys. The chorus provides not only a richer musical texture but also a wider social context for the story and the spectacle, representing all of London’s downtrodden masses. Musical Theatre West’s chorus is top-notch.
Don Shirley – LA Stage Watch