Sweeney Todd
at La Habra

Reviewed on February 15, 2018

Audrey Mitchell
University
Submitted for publication to Orange County Register

Darkness and despair in La Habra's "Sweeney Todd"
written by Audrey Mitchell, a senior at University High School

When Sweeney Todd returns from exile to London and meets the owner of a struggling pie shop, Mrs. Lovett, his quest for revenge embroils them both in a crazy scheme that is as debauched as it is fatal.

La Habra High School's rendition of "Sweeney Todd" is performed in a cafe-style setting, with actors moving between tables and interacting with audience members throughout the performance. La Habra's committed actors work alongside intricately crafted technical elements to create an utterly unprecedented show.

Zach Fogel is menacing and psychopathic as Sweeney Todd, a barber driven by revenge to murder. He stares at friends and foes alike with cold, dead eyes, only coming truly alive as he gazes lovingly at his knives. In "Epiphany" Fogel switches erratically between rage and despair, spitting out lyrics and contorting his face as he bemoans letting his wife's murderer escape.

Opposite Fogel is Justine Sombilon as Mrs. Lovett, every bit as depraved as Todd himself. Whether derisively chuckling at their murderous plan, raking her hand across her lips in worry, or overtly making eyes at Todd, Sombilon is a sultry combination of femme fatale and murderess.

Joshua Garberg as Beadle Bamford poses as a reticent audience member unwillingly drawn onto stage. Muttering in protest as the other cast members shove a script into his hands, Garberg is the epitome of nightmarish audience participation until he finally reveals himself as an actor, setting the script aside.

Charlie Leonard is sweet and tragic as Johanna. Locked away by the odious Judge Turpin (Bryan Connolly), she sings for freedom in sweet, trilling tones. The hopeful smile across her face never disappears, even when she reappears, bound by a straitjacket.

The set (LHHS Theater Guild Set Team) is amazingly intricate. The entire theater is transformed into the "Love-It Pop-Up Shop," displaying the slogan "Real Food Made By Real People" and a Starbucks-style icon of a mermaid that quickly changes to the mermaid's skeleton. A curtain-covered entrance to the space even sports a small sign: "Employees Only".

A TV screen in the cafe showcases the videography and projections (Angel Franco)— including old-timey videos depicting Todd's tragic past and dated pictures of London that appear stained with blood.

Scintillating and delightfully unique, La Habra's "Sweeney Todd" utilizes every actor and production element to create a macabre and unforgettable experience for its audience.

Rose Pell
Yorba Linda
Submitted for publication to OC Cappies Facebook

La Habra's Deadly Shave on Fleet Street
written by Rose Pell, a senior at Yorba Linda High School

A revenge seeking ex-convict, Sweeney Todd, will stop at nothing to avenge his wife and daughter. With Mrs. Lovett by his side, Sweeney works to give a drop dead shave in La Habra High School's "Sweeney Todd".

The dimly lit room filled with eerie haze sets the mood for Sweeney's unforgettable entrance. Zach Fogel, the actor playing Sweeney, portrays this blade loving deceitful maniac seamlessly. Fogel's unsettling physicality can't be mistaken, especially when he communicates with other characters. With his strong presence lurking in the room, you can't help but be on the edge of your seat.

The secretly swooning Mrs. Lovett, played by Justine Sombilon, grabs attention with her commitment to movement and connection to Sweeney. Sombilon, constantly aware of her surroundings, never misses a beat as she scurries around selling her deadly fresh pies.

Tobias Ragg, usually addressed as Toby, played by Veronica McFarlane, shows a juvenile boyish energy in perfect contrast to Fogel and Sombilon. McFarlane flawlessly taps into the growing anger inside of Toby as more and more of his parental figures fall to Sweeney's razor.

With the ensemble serving tight harmonies and dedication to the devious characters, they create an engaging start to the already frightening performance. Strength comes in numbers, which is the prime reason numbers like Fogg's Asylum, where the ensemble are all in straight jackets surrounding the audience, effectively tell the terrifying story.

The La Habra High School Theatre Guild Hair and Makeup Team, clearly took their time planning and executing these killer looks. Every time characters come on, their hair is more disheveled. It doesn't stop there because the make-up also gets more grim. The costumes, done by the La Habra High School Theatre Guild Costume Team, also have this effect, as the characters start off dressed very modern then swiftly transition into the traditional style clothing.

Added touches to the lighting, executed by the La Habra High School Theatre Guild Lighting Team, should not go unnoticed or unappreciated. The striking tones moving from warm to cool throughout the show allow for knowledge that death is coming. Every time a character is taken captive to Sweeney and his razor, blood bags pop, and flashes of red would swarm the room - quite a specific, yet haunting detail.

A love forsaken, demon barber cleans up nicely in La Habra's "Sweeney Todd".

Alexander Theologides-Rodriguez
University
Submitted for publication to OC Cappies Facebook

La Habra's "Sweeney Todd" Immerses in Insanity
written by Alexander Theologides-Rodriguez, a senior at University High School

In a small cafe, the audience sits around tables of three or four, chatting with each other or the servers, waiting for the show to begin. Then, suddenly, the servers and random members of the audience rise, their faces grave, and begin singing of a great evil. The set has transformed from a modern cafe into a gothic, eldritch vision of Victorian London, and there is a horrible creature at the door. It swings open, haze billows in, and a spectral light outlines the figure of Sweeney Todd.

La Habra's "Sweeney Todd" is a masterful exploration of psychopathy, with dynamic, demented performances and terrifyingly twisted Victorian aesthetics.

Sweeney Todd, played by Zach Fogel, is terrifying and tortured. Fogel's eyes are cold and merciless, looking at every other character as an obstacle or a victim, and only softening to show warm familiarity when he's singing to his razors. Fogel has incredible control over his voice, which is sometimes wrathful, when he swears to kill his customers in "Epiphany," and sometimes charming, when he's toying with a victim in "Pretty Women."

The costumes of the ensemble change throughout the show, becoming darker and more overtly Victorian, showing that Fleet Street is being pulled deeper into insanity. The ensemble's hair and makeup mirror this deterioration, with increasingly wild hair and growing black and red shadows under their eyes.

Mercy Thornton weaves wraithlike between the tables as Beggar Woman, asking furtively for alms. However, her erratic behavior is replaced with grave seriousness in the second act, as her powerful voice warns of the foul deeds committed in the pie shop.

One of the most profound transformations in the show is that of the young Tobias Ragg, played by Veronica McFarlane. McFarlane is at first exuberant and playful in "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir," then fidgety and infatuated in "Not While I'm Around," tugging at her vest and untucked shirt. Finally, in "Final Sequence" McFarlane's innocent demeanor is replaced with rage and fury, and her eyes become glassy and inhuman. She looks at the razor in her hand with the same grim fixation that Sweeney Todd had throughout the play, and her hands become steady; Tobias's innocence is gone, and only madness remains.

La Habra's "Sweeney Todd" is a terrifying, emotional production that leaves the world of the sane behind in favor of the demented world of Fleet Street.