As most readers of LAStageBlog.com know, the Pasadena Playhouse closed its doors Sunday, at least temporarily.

I considered attending the little closing ceremony but decided that I’d rather see an ongoing production that night. So, on Super Bowl weekend, after spending my afternoons in small theaters, I spent my evenings watching two remarkable musicals, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Sweeney Todd, in theaters that are larger than the playhouse – but not nearly as well known.

Strangely enough, I also ended up thinking a lot about where Pasadena might turn for guidance, as it attempts to rebuild – probably as much as I would have if I had gone to Pasadena.

Some L.A. theater fans are fretting that the suspension of the playhouse operations is an omen that L.A. theater will go into full-scale retreat, away from big productions. Sure, Center Theatre Group will probably survive – on the same night that the playhouse closed, a run of Mary Poppins at CTG’s Ahmanson Theatre closed after grossing $13.7 million. But surely other large and midsize theaters are threatened or even doomed, according to the pessimists.  In this scenario, L.A. theater will endure primarily on the small-scale, virtually non-paying level.

With these troubling thoughts hovering in my mind, I was flabbergasted – and exhilarated – by the size and quality of Musical Theatre West’s Sweeney Todd at the Carpenter Center.

Maybe my shock was partially due to the fact that my last two Sweeneys were small. I didn’t like the gimmicky Broadway version that played the Ahmanson in 2008, with the actors doubling as the onstage orchestra. But I enjoyed the intimacy of the Production Company’s miniature Sweeney last year – with a mere 10 actors at the 33-seat Chandler Studio in Valley Village, I felt close not only to the characters but also to the lyrics.

Norman Large as Sweeney Todd and Richard Gould as Judge Turpin

Yet at the 1074-seat Carpenter Center last Sunday, the sound system was so superb that once again, as at the Chandler Studio, I heard a few lyrics that apparently hadn’t sunk into my brain during all the other Sweeneys I’ve seen. Some of this is due not only to the sound quality (designer: Julie Ferrin) but also to the inclusion of material that’s often cut – such as a tooth-pulling competition that follows the familiar close-shaving duel between Todd and Pirelli.

The 28 voices singing Sondheim’s lyrics are lustrous, all the way from the stars – Norman Large as Todd and Debbie Prutsman as Mrs. Lovett – down to the chorus members. Credit musical director John Glaudini as well as an extraordinary array of talent including Richard Gould, Jim Holdridge, Michelle Duffy, Dan Callaway, Sarah Bermudez, Roland Rusinek and Alan M-L Wager.

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.

The vast Carpenter stage allows plenty of room to understand where the story is taking us at all times – a lucidity enhanced by Calvin Remsberg’s stellar direction, and a quality that’s difficult to achieve in tiny quarters like Chandler Studio. The only moment in which I missed the Chandler intimacy was during Todd’s “Epiphany” – smaller productions are able to evoke a greater sense that Todd is viscerally confronting the audience in this number.

MTW’s Sweeney closes next weekend. It’s likely to leave your jaw dropping that such a production would be with us in this penny-pinching era. MTW executive director/producer Paul Garman told me that it cost less than $500,000, but it looks bigger and sounds better than you might imagine could be possible at that price. It shouldn’t be missed by any musical theater fan within 50 miles.

But then that same recommendation applies to The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which plays at La Mirada Theatre through Feb. 21. Those who haven’t seen this William Finn/Rachel Sheinkin creation should know upfront that it’s the funniest LOL musical in years – yes, funnier than The Producers – despite a rather awkward title.

The Cast of SPELLING BEE

Jeff Maynard’s staging is the first locally produced version, after a too-brief run by most of the original cast at the Wadsworth in 2007. At La Mirada, such established L.A. musical theater stars as Jason Graae (as the assistant principal) and Daniel Tatar (as the “magic foot” speller) join a number of terrific actors who are little known in L.A. David O is the musical director. Graae has been blogging about his adventures in this show at this web site.

Perched along the southeast border of Los Angeles County, La Mirada Theatre is so far off the beaten path of most L.A. theatergoers that probably most of them aren’t aware that its operations are drastically different from those of most nonprofit theaters in L.A. or even the relatively few commercial producers.

The 1,251-seat La Mirada Theatre is owned and operated by the city of La Mirada. The city council commits each year to a subsidy that will make up the difference between the theater’s expenses and its earned income.

According to producing artistic director Brian Kite, the theater usually earns 75%-95% of its own budget – very high percentages for a non-commercial theater – primarily from ticket sales but also from some rentals to local groups. With the theater’s budget currently at $4 million, the city chips in less than $1 million a year – actually, the amount has ranged from 0 to $900,000, Kite said. It’s usually about 1-2% of the city’s entire budget.

This means that the theater need not rely on outside funds for its regular programming.  Although a non-profit foundation raises money for education and outreach programs at the theater, the theater itself has no development department. The theater contracts with McCoy Rigby Entertainment to produce its major theatrical season, including the current Spelling Bee, as well as a few special events. McCoy Rigby gets a fee plus a bonus for big box office attractions, but the box office revenues all go back to the city. The La Mirada Symphony is also a resident company.

Kite, who rose from the ranks of the 99-seat Buffalo Nights company, acknowledges that the city purse strings impose some limits on programming. “The ultimate decision makers here are subject to elections,” he says. “They’ve been good about staying out of our way, but they would have the right to tell us not to cross a line.”

Unlike some city-run arts centers, such as those in Cerritos and Thousand Oaks, La Mirada’s is an active partner in producing much of the theater’s programming, as opposed to relying mainly on imports.  But the city (population 50,000) is suffering many of the same economic problems as most cities, and Kite often is called on to testify about the value of the arts.

Although the theater would seem to be too large for many non-musical theatrical productions, it feels more intimate than, say, the smaller Carpenter Center – and Kite is determined to reduce La Mirada’s size for certain events in order to create greater intimacy. A cabaret show occupied the large lobby area last Sunday. In July, La Mirada is scheduled to produce a 199-seat version of the challenging Adam Guettel/Tina Landau musical Floyd Collins by placing the seating as well as the performance space on the stage. Kite hopes that such relatively unorthodox productions will expand La Mirada’s audience and ultimately its programming.

I don’t know if La Mirada’s experience can serve in any way as a model for Pasadena Playhouse. Unlike La Mirada, Pasadena tries to produce new plays as well as already-tested works, which is always riskier. I hope that such efforts aren’t dropped in whatever structure Pasadena develops. Pasadena’s theater isn’t as big as La Mirada’s, either.

Still, as Pasadena attempts to create a more sustainable model for its landmark theater, it should look at La Mirada and other city-owned or city-sanctioned theaters for whatever advice might be useful.

Sweeney Todd photo by Alysa Brennan.  Spelling Bee photo by Michael Lamont.