San Diego Theater Reviews
Humble Boy, by Charlotte Jones New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 State Street, Carlsbad Directed by Kristianne Kurner; cast: Rosina Reynolds, Daren Scott, Jessica John, Jim Chovick, Dana Case, Tom Deak; scenic design, Francis Gercke; costumes, …
Harvey Fierstein's musical remake of A Catered Affair begins like a pebble tossed in a pond. Janey and Ralph are getting married. They don't want a big wedding, just a ten-dollar/ten-minute affair at City Hall, …
Before anyone speaks at the La Jolla Playhouse, we could be watching a scene from the TV show All in the Family: balding Archie Bunker slumped in his old chair; Edith, clad in shapeless cotton, …
If E.L. Doctorow had written Ragtime as a musical in 1975, instead of a novel, I wonder if Broadway would have staged it. Set in the Progressive Era (roughly 1900 to 1914), the book extols …
Some writers thrive on deadlines, with the egg-timer ticking or a nine-milly pointed at their brain. Noel Coward penned Private Lives in three days, in a bathtub, he says. William Saroyan allegedly locked himself in …
'We'd do backflips to recreate that feeling," says lighting designer Eric Lotze, as we head upstairs at the Whaley House, "but you can't have it onstage." We'd just left the dining room at the Old …
I have always wanted to turn the eyes of local theater artists outward: have them look at examples of their craft in San Diego at large. Eric Lotze, the award-winning lighting designer for Cygnet, Moxie, …
On January 17, 1995, a 7.2 earthquake struck just north of Kobe, Japan, at dawn. Between 6500 and 7000 people lost their lives. Twenty-six thousand were injured in Japan's worst quake since 1923. Many had …
On the Old Globe stage this summer, Shakespeare's Two Gents has a disguised woman, Measure for Measure a Duke disguised as a priest, and you could even say that Prince Hamlet uses the "antic disposition" …
You learn a lot about a director's concept of Hamlet the instant the guards appear. I've seen everything from German storm-troopers to surreptitious CIA types -- gray suits, sunglasses, ominous smirks -- to generic soldiers, …
Looking for an undemanding summer bagatelle? Go see the Old Globe's Measure for Measure. It's a real crowd-pleaser. Of course, if you want an earnest exploration of one of Shakespeare's most intricate works -- designed, …
By the end of Shakespeare's romance The Two Gentlemen of Verona, you wonder when the title characters will show up. Valentine and Proteus begin as best friends: inseparable -- until separated. In one of the …
I hope they never make a movie of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. The chances are unlikely, since the play's set in two different eras (1809-1812 and 1989) and takes place at a long table where people …
After a number ended, late in the La Jolla Playhouse's Carmen, five or so dancers stood in a circle, illumined in red. Then four left the stage. The fifth, facing front, remained, as if she …
Equine karma? It's too bad Devon Tramore couldn't interview Street Sense, Curlin, and Rags to Riches, this year's Triple Crown winners. Devon, a female jockey in Mary Fengar Gail's Devil Dog Six, can more than …
The lights come up. We're in a room under repair: boards tilt against bare walls; faux blue marble fireplace. In the center's a silver tarp and a blindfolded old man slumped on a chair. There's …