Sweeneymania

Attention, Johnny Depp watchers: He has not yet moved into the downtown loft he purchased last year in the Eastern Columbia building on Broadway at 9th, but his lawyer was spotted there the other day, and sources say Depp may have bought an adjoining loft for more privacy. Keep your eye on the 12th-floor apartment thats right under hisits listed at only $1.8 million, and it has incredible views to the south and east, a stunning bronze entry gate, really high ceilings and black toilets. Your bedroom would be under Depps outdoor deck area. (In case youre tempted, the Realtor is David Kean at Prudential in Beverly Hills.)

Depp, acclaimed this awards season as Tim Burtons Sweeney, isnt the only demon barber almost in town. Starting March 11, the Ahmanson Theatre presents director John Doyles 2005 production of the musical. For those of you born after 1979, Sweeney Todd was written for the stage, where it really is more powerful.

Of course, the Ahmanson is a huge theater in which to place a production designed for an intimate space (the actors play their own instruments). But thats L.A.the theaters are either too large or too small.

Blood lust for even more Sweeney? Go to the source. Composer-lyricist-genius Stephen Sondheim will be interviewed by columnist and former New York Times drama critic Frank Rich at UCLAs Royce Hall on March 13.

Oh, and if you care, the actor playing Johnny, er, Sweeney Todd in the Ahmanson production is David Hess. And the wonderful Judy Kaye is Mrs. Lovett.

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How a barber sharpened his skills: Sweeney Todd over the years

1846

Sweeney Todd makes his first formal appearance in an anonymously written story called, strangely, “The String of Pearls.”

1973

Playwright Christopher Bond writes his version of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” to help a theater out of a jam. Stephen Sondheim sees the play in London.

1979

Sondheim’s musical opens with Angela Lansbury as a memorable Mrs. Lovett.

2005

British director John Doyle’s more intimate telling of “Sweeney” opens on Broadway starring Patti LuPone. There is no orchestra. All the actors play instruments on stage.

2007

Johnny Depp steps into the barber’s bloody shoes. He and his pal Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) are the best-looking pair of murderers ever.