Regional

EVIL RIGHT AT HAND What could go wrong when a newly widowed mom leads three teens in a wholesome, Lutheran, extra-curricular church class tasked with creating a Christian puppet show? Thankfully for us, plenty, in this gripping, darkly-comic drama by Robert Askins which premiered off-Broadway in 2011. Trying to fill her empty life with something…

GEORGIA MCBRIDE AIN’T NO DRAG Playwright Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man) has created a theatrical recipe: Take one part Torch Song Trilogy, mix in some  La Cage aux Folles and, for a fun fish-out-of-water flavor, add in a generous dash of Sister Act. Sprinkle on some mixed nuts and you’re ready to serve up The Legend…

PLUCKY PIRATES, DARLING DAMSELS AND SILLY SHENANIGANS San Diego Opera has come a long way since announcing in 2014 that, despite being the only opera company in the nation’s eighth largest city, it would be shutting down to avoid bankruptcy. Between a groundswell of support on crowdfunding, restructure of the organization, and some changes to…

A HERO’S JOURNEY FROM 1862 SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR OUR TIMES Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 first played in 2014 at NYC’s Public Theater, yet Suzan-Lori Parks’ play presciently anticipated the media focus that racism would receive throughout 2017. With the conversation on race being a headline story this year,…

TOO BIG FOR ITS BRITCHES With his touching screenplay as a basis, Lee Hall adapted the 2000 indie  Billy Elliot for the stage, setting his moving lyrics to Elton John’s music. There’s a lot to like in Billy Elliot the Musical: The tale of a boy overcoming judgment and following a dream ran for over 1,300…

WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL ADAPTATION MADE EVEN BETTER BY BRYCE PINKHAM It’s tricky turning a movie into a play, given that without the auteur’s camera gimmicks and edits, it can be harder to convey mood and emotion. When adapting to a musical, however, songs can create an indelible emotional connection with a character. Not every tune…

FLYING WITH BROKEN WINGS It’s amazing. Thousands of billions of electronic messages are delivered every month globally, but it doesn’t feel like a small world after all. For many, these missives—texts, e-mails, IMs—are the illusion of connecting, and so the world feels more pummeling, pushy and precarious than ever. To wit, survey after survey indicates…

THE EFFECT OF GOOD THEATER “You know, maybe someday you will be pretty,” says Beatrice to her teenage daughter Tillie.   Gee, thanks, Mom. Ah, mothers. The Glass Menagerie. Ordinary People. Carrie. Where would theater and film be without the power of dysfunctional mothers? Who better to yield fascinating children, be they adult or still young,…

ALONG CAME THIS SPIDER Defying torture and humiliation in a Latin American prison, two cellmates—seeming enemies—build a passionate friendship and a larger loyalty. Hollywood visions become escapist illusions, binding dramatic opposites: an apolitical gay window-dresser and devoted mama’s boy named Molina—serving eight years for sex with a minor—and Valentin, a straight, unrepentantly newly jailed idealistic…

ACCOMPLISHED ACCOMPLICE Rupert Holmes’s  Accomplice is the wittiest and most accomplished fooler play since Ira Levin’s  Deathtrap. Each time you think you know what is unfolding you find yourself fooled again.  As with Deathtrap, I have seen Accomplice more than once, and I still get swept along on a theatrical thrill ride that rivals the twists and turns…

HE WHO LAUGHS AT LAST LAUGHS BEST Barney Cashman is a neurotic, shlubby, well-intentioned if somewhat misguided seafood restaurateur who feels his life and marriage have become too predictable, and attempts to spice both up with some hot action on the side. He sets up a makeshift bachelor pad at his ma’s place while she’s…

IN HARLEM’S WAY “One never knows, do one?” That’s the favorite catchphrase of Fats Waller (1904-1943), an irrepressible master of music. The 285-pound, cherubic-cheeked jokester genius is the powerhouse presence and driving dreamer behind  Ain’t Misbehavin’, the still irresistible 1978 tribute revue from Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr. In this happy case, well, one do…

DON’T CRY, BUT SEE ARGENTINA The crime of being a legend is to be simultaneously loved and hated, while the truth will always be a matter of perspective and interpretation. Eva Duarte, later Eva Perón, was just such a figure. Both adored and reviled, the life of the grandiose first lady of 1940s’ Argentina makes…

THE 90s ARE BACK AND SOUNDING SWEET While the nineties might not sound that long ago to an older crowd, when was the last time you thought about Lorena Bobbitt? Or tamagotchis? Or wondered who was paging you? Yep, the 90s are already ripe for nostalgia and San Diego Musical Theatre is on target for…

THE GLOBE GOES BACK INTO THE WOODS Ken Ludwig is arguably the leading comic dramatist in the American theater, and with  Robin Hood!  he has fashioned an extraordinary new take on the legend, commissioned by The Old Globe in San Diesgo. The story remains popular because at its core its a moving tale of a young man’s…

DON’T BE SKIPPIN’ PIPPIN Here’s a can’t-miss opportunity: San Diego Junior Theatre is presenting the perky but dark 1972 musical, Pippin. Don’t be fooled by the moniker “Junior Theatre,” for these shows are just as slick as one with adult performers. For a small ticket price, head over to the beautiful Casa del Prado Theatre…

IT MAY SUCK TO LIVE ON AVENUE Q, BUT NOT TO SEE IT In the right setting, irreverence is so jovial. Our era of thought-police and political correctness has made it delicious to pervert that which seems simple and pure solely for the sake of entertainment (The Producers and The Book of Mormon are still…