Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Stage Whisper

Subscribe


Entries

Dressing Ricky Martin

·

I sat down at The Civic Theater to talk to Mary Harris about dressers and wardrobe. Mary got into costumes on a whim about 20 years ago at the Pine Hills Lodge in Julian. "One of the guys in a …

Microphones

·

The microphone could be the most influential development in theater since electric lighting. Electric lighting illuminated theater in a manner not experienced before. The microphone amplifies theater in a manner not experienced before. At first blush it may sound overstated …

Community

·

If you haven't been to a community theater production recently, what are you waiting for? Better yet, if you 've never been in a community theater production, what are you waiting for? Community theater is always incredible. It has a …

The Midway

·

This summer, San Diego audiences have an opportunity to see a show on board the USS Midway Museum. CCT, Christian Community Theater, has long been a bastion of community theater in San Diego. They have been doing Broadway style shows …

Phallic Humor

·

Since Greek comedy was based on satire and politics, where did the Greeks go to laugh? Satyr plays. These plays were the original vaudeville/slapstick/burlesque. Satyr plays were more blatant than any of those tame theatrical forms. Satyr plays featured a …

Briefly About Comedy

·

Initially, comedy was differentiated from drama by having a happy ending. There were three periods of Greek comedy. The three periods were Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy--no joke--those are the categories. Not much is left of Middle and …

Crime and Punishment

·

The word tragedy has become such a standard part of our everyday speech that we have lost its context. We use tragic to qualify everything from earthquakes in Japan and Haiti to spilling wine on our favorite piece of clothing. …

Greek

·

Since we’ve gone back to ancient, Greek, myths handed down to us by Roman poets, lets look a little bit at the origins of theater. The original practices of theater were based in the religious practices of the Athenians regarding …

The Source

·

Where did the title Pygmalion come from? For an answer to that, we must return to the source. Ancient mythology. Pygmalion was a mythological story from the island of Cyprus and the most popular version of it was handed down …

Pygmalion

·

The musical My Fair Lady is based on a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. The title of his play is Pygmalion. The character of Eliza Doolittle was based on a popular actress known as Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Mrs. …

Arc

·

An element to be aware of and pay attention to in a play is character arc. The character arc refers to the changing views and opinions of characters as they progress through the play. Character arc is different from character …

Green Room

·

Why is the green room called green? If you’re not aware, the green room is the room that performers wait in before going on stage. However, I’m not sure how many theaters employ the green room for that purpose anymore. …

The Limelight

·

Enjoy the limelight—but what is the limelight? We use this phrase from time to time, sometimes earnestly, most times sarcastically. Where does it come from? It comes from the theater, the 19th Century theater. The limelight was a mechanism that …

Stick Fly

·

When I saw what Stick Fly was about, I rolled my eyes and wondered how long this type of show is going to be around. A prestigious, black family visits their home in Martha’s Vineyard and one of the two …

Just Getting Up There

·

After the Torrey Pines performance of Tommy, I was talking to a few parents about some of the show’s quirkier moments. Predictably, one of them said something to the effect, “I just think getting up there and being a part …

Tommy TP Players

·

Having recently heard much carping about the funding of the arts, I decided to go see a high school stage production. The production was The Who’s Tommy at Torrey Pines High School. My idea backfired somewhat. “We are funded by …

Sunshine

·

Little Miss Sunshine is currently playing at The La Jolla Playhouse. I’m interested to see how this show works on stage. It has been converted into a musical and three VW buses have been turned into set pieces. This isn’t …

The Voms

·

Why are there vomitoriums in theaters? They’re there so patrons can puke if a romantic comedy becomes too sappy. Commonly called “the voms”, vomitoriums are nothing more than exits and have nothing to do with puking or romantic comedies. The …

Lighting

·

I was kicking around Old Town the other day and stopped to get a cookie at a coffee stand next to The Old Town Theater. The barista mentioned she had seen the current show, Tragedy of the Commons and really …

Just Saying

·

The process of bringing a show to the stage is enormous. As members of the audience, we are at a show to be entertained. We want to see a good show. I find it interesting that the amount of work …

Archive by year

2010 2011

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader