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Milo Shapiro
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Theater Review: The Outgoing Tide (North Coast Rep in Solana Beach)
A TIDE THAT RISES SLOWLY STILL HAS POWER The description on North Coast Rep’s website for this show is quite vague and, having just come home from the program, it’s clear why. One of the great challenges in reviewing a show is revealing just enough to interest the reader, but not so much as to…
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Theater Review: MOTHER OF THE MAID (Moxie Theatre)
YOU THINK YOUR DAUGHTER WAS A HANDFUL? Joan of Arc is remembered as a hero and a martyr for her active role in France’s defense from British invasion in the 15th century. How much the average theatergoer knows of her will vary, but likely, across the board, few of us have ever given thought to…
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Theater Review: FORBIDDEN BROADWAY’S GREATEST HITS (North Coast Rep in San Diego/Solano Beach)
NOTHING’S FORBIDDEN IN FORBIDDEN BROADWAY Musicals are dazzling, vibrant, larger than life:and accordingly, simply ripe for parody. Creator Gerard Alessandrini saw that opportunity in 1982 and created a successful format for an affectionate teasing of the musical industry that has led to many Forbidden Broadway sequels, as new shows to lampoon continue opening. The series…
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Theater Review: WATER BY THE SPOONFUL (Cygnet Theatre)
WHEN THE WELL IS DRY, YOU KNOW THE WORTH OF WATER In Sidney Sheldon’s hit 1973 novel, The Other Side of Midnight, every other chapter is about either Catherine or Noelle, the two stories of which don’t intertwine until their paths merge late in the book. Act I of Quiara Alegría Hudes‘s Pulitzer-winning Water by…
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Theater Review: THE GREAT KHAN (San Diego Repertory)
GREAT KAHNCEPT! Jayden (Jerome Beck) doesn’t have it easy. He and his mother Crystal (Brittney M. Caldwell) have recently transplanted themselves in a new town and school district. The move was to protect Jayden from boys whom he prevented from sexually assaulting Ant (Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew), a girl in his class. Starting over at sixteen…
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Theater Review: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (San Diego Musical Theater)
CATCH THIS, IF YOU CAN! Take the incredible life story of con-man Frank Abagnale, Jr., give it to Steven Spielberg to make a mulit-award winning film (Oscar nomination for best actor for Christopher Walken), and then give it to Terrence McNally to create the book for the musical? How could that not yield four Tony…
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Theater Review: LIFE SUCKS (Cygnet in San Diego)
LIFE MAY SUCK, BUT THE PLAY SURE DOESN’T For those familiar with Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, it might seem an odd choice to modernize. But Aaron Posner’s tight script, combined with Cygnet’s strong cast, is a breath of fresh air, as it takes Chekhov’s story solidly into the stress of our post-2020 world — and…
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San Diego Theater Review: DESPERATE MEASURES (North Coast Rep in Solano Beach/San Diego)
A SHAKESPEAREAN WESTERN MUSICAL? DON’T WORRY, IT MEASURES UP Love Shakespeare? Great. Hate Shakespeare? No problem. North Coast Rep’s Desperate Measures may be based on the Bard’s Measure for Measure, but the language is fully contemporary (unless you count a hint of 1950s Western thrown in). The whole program only contains one line from actual…
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Theater Review: HEISENBERG (Scripps Ranch Theatre in Scripps Ranch/San Diego)
THE PHYSICS OF ATTRACTION If this totally non-physicist reviewer understands what he is reading — the Uncertainty Principle launched by renowned physicist Werner Heisenberg, roughly states that the more precise the position of a particle is given, the less precisely can one say what its momentum is. If that has your head already spinning, no worries;…
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Music / Dance Recommendation: LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY (2022 Lineup)
EMANUEL AX, WYNTON MARSALIS LEAD STAR-STUDDED EVENTS AT LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY IN JANUARY 2022 La Jolla Music Society (LJMS) opens 2022 with a star-studded lineup of live performances at its world-class venue, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center. From international superstars like Emanuel Ax, Wynton Marsalis, and Lang Lang to global artists, dance, jazz, National…
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Theater Review: ALWAYS… PATSY CLINE (North Coast Rep)
CRAZY FOR LOVIN’ ALWAYS PATSY CLINE Is it a musical? A play with music? A tribute act? A duo cabaret act? Always:Patsy Cline is a little of each, coming together sweetly to be something unto itself. APC tells the true story of Louise Seger (Becky Barta), a devoted fan of country-music legend Patsy Cline, adoring…
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Theater Review: SHE THE PEOPLE (Second City at San Diego Rep)
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A COMIC BREAKDOWN The Second City school of comedy never held back on giving funny women stage time, even going back to the sixties and seventies. From Joan Rivers to Gilda Radner to Catherine O’Hara, showcasing funny women has been one of their triumphs, leading many of them to SNL…
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Theater Review: THE MINEOLA TWINS (Moxie in San Diego)
DOUBLE TROUBLE IN MINEOLA Paula Vogel, likely best known for her Pulitzer prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, isn’t afraid to tackle tough themes. In The Mineola Twins, she does so by drenching sensitive topics in a twisted, surrealist comedy that is more a series of connected moments than an actual plot. Everything is fair…
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Theater Review: MOTHER ROAD (San Diego REP)
ROUTE 66 WAS ONE MOTHER OF A ROAD In John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, we follow along Route 66 the sad travels of Tom Joad and his family, who flee the desperation of Oklahoma’s dustbowl calamity hoping for a safe farming life in California. In Octavio Solis’s Mother Road, there is one…
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San Diego Theater: CORONADO PLAYHOUSE’S 76TH SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT (2022)
CORONADO PLAYHOUSE’S 2022 SEASON Coronado Playhouse, the oldest arts organization in Coronado, has announced for its 76th Season six fully-staged productions — three of which are San Diego premieres — and two cabaret shows. For tickets (single $15-$30, subscriptions starting at $61.20), call (619) 435-4856 or visit Coronado Playhouse. Subscription renewals available August 23, 2021. New…
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Theater Reopening: CYGNET THEATRE (San Diego)
A SEASON OF HOPE, REDEMPTION, HUMOR AND HEART STARTS IN SEPT. WITH THREE MUSICALS AND THREE PLAYS Cygnet Theatre has announced a joyful and overdue return to in-person performances starting in September. Audiences are set to experience a season of hope, redemption and humor beginning with the long-awaited return of the Tony award-winning musical La…
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Theater Preview: SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (North Coast Rep)
SAME GREAT COMPANY, THIS YEAR Bernard Slade’s wickedly funny comedy explores a 25-year love affair between two seemingly ordinary people who meet once a year. Same Times, Next Year deftly examines the monumental political, social, and most of all, the personal changes that impact the lovers during that quarter century. Full of zippy dialogue, keen…
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Theater Review: MARGIN OF ERROR (The Roustabouts)
CATCH THE VIRTUAL WORLD PREMIERE OF MARGIN OF ERROR As with many companies, San Diego’s The Roustabouts have had to restructure due to COVID-19. Now, they are presenting productions and readings in the virtual world. This week, they begin with their archival recording of the 2017 play, Will Cooper’s Margin of Error, a fast-moving drama…
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Theater Review: SHE LOVES ME (San Diego Musical Theatre at Horton Grand Theatre)
SHE LOVES ME:AND WITH GOOD REASON! Ah, love. As hard to find as ever, but so satisfying when it is. But what did the ancients (20th-century people) do to find love before Tinder, eHarmony, and the like? Joe Masteroff’s book takes us to the simpler days of Lonely Hearts Clubs, when people exchanged letters (on…
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Theater Review: RED BIKE (Moxie Theatre Company)
WHERE WILL THIS RED BIKE TAKE YOU? Red Bike immediately presents a huge challenge to a director. Caridad Svich’s script contains no stage directions (and little punctuation, even) and reads like a lengthy poetry slam. This creates both a tremendous burden and glorious opportunity for a director to bring her verse-like prose to life. Moxie…
Off-Broadway Review: MILK AND HONEY (J2 Spotlight Theatre Company at AMT, NYC)
by Rob Lester | April 17, 2026
in New York, TheaterFilm Review: BRUTE 1976 (Directed by Marcel Walz)
by Allen Tellis | April 16, 2026
in FilmCabaret Review: MARILYN MAYE (54 Below, NY)
by Rob Lester | April 16, 2026
in Cabaret, New YorkComedy Club Review: GREENPOINT COMEDY CLUB (Brooklyn)
by Alex Simmons | April 15, 2026
in Cabaret, New York, TheaterTheater Review: REVENGE OF THE SOY BOY (FRIGID New York City Fringe Festival)
by Alex Simmons | April 14, 2026
in New York, TheaterTheater Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (Greater Boston Stage Company)
by Lynne Weiss | April 14, 2026
in Boston, TheaterBroadway Review: BECKY SHAW (Helen Hayes)
by Carol Rocamora | April 14, 2026
in New York, Theater
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