Regional

WATER IS THE GIFT OF LIFE Water by the Spoonful is the second play in Quiara Alegria Hudes’ “Elliot Cycle,” three stand-alone plays written over an eight-year period. Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, the first in the trilogy and a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, follows the title character, a perky but troubled Puerto Rican…

DON’T PASS ON  PASSION When first I saw Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Passion on Broadway in 1994, it was clear that this shattering new work was like nothing that had come before. Simultaneously dark, refreshing, provocative, troubling, and profound, the creative team behind Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods managed to…

SAN DIEGO OPERA’S SWAN SONG SPEAKS TO DREAMING IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS Don Quixote (“Don Quichotte” in its original French spelling) serves as a fitting final production with which to close San Diego Opera (SDO)’s distinguished history. Founded in 1950, the company staged its first production in 1965, regularly mounting four or five operas per season. Despite…

A BLINKING YELLOW FOR RED AT THE REP Is a soup can art?   To Matisse, probably not.   To Warhol, clearly yes.   And to everyone else?   Ah, that’s when we start getting into what art really is.   Playwright John Logan’s Red looks deeply at this question from the perspectives of two very different men in 1958….

A LOT OF YOUTHFUL SPRING BUT LITTLE CHARACTER AWAKENING Given harsh themes including child abuse, rape, homosexuality, and suicide, one can easily see why Frank Wedekind’s original German play Spring Awakening  was initially banned when released; these subjects may be par for the course on the nightly news, but it was pretty hot stuff for Germany…

THE FUTURE LOOKS BLIGHT While there are a few missteps in both playwriting and direction, ion theatre’s presentation of two one-acts definitely held my attention. The only similarities between the plays is that they are penned by female British dramatists and that they take place somewhere in an uncertain and dystopian future. But there is…

LBO MAKES A KLINGHOFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE The big story this weekend isn’t the appearance of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer. Since its arrival in 1991, the opera has been encircled by controversy. Based on the true-life hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985 by Palestine Liberation Front terrorists, the title refers…

THE LAKE EFFECT In 1993, H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover appointed Jean-Christophe Maillot as the head of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Backed by his experience as a dancer under Rosella Hightower and Hamburg Ballet’s John Neumeier, Maillot’”the previous choreographer-director of the National Choreographic Centre of Tours’”has since created more than 30 pieces, including several great…

INTRIGUE? I’M GLAD YOU MASKED The poster of San Diego Opera’s production of Verdi’s A Masked Ball claims “Based on a True Story.” This is not hyperbole. When their production opens on Saturday with a not-to-be-missed cast, the opulent setting you will see is the court of King Gustav III in 18th-century Sweden. This is…

COMEDICAL, TRAGICAL, IMPROVISATORICAL Impro Theatre’s long-form improvisational theater is among the most impressive of the performing arts. At South Coast Rep, the group proffered a full-length Tennessee Williams play which is made up on the spot. For every Tennessee Williams UnScripted during the short run, the performers show up with nothing but dramaturgic know-how and…

CHOOSING TO SEE THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC IS A WALTZ It may be the easiest decision you’ll make in a long time. If you want to hear one of the greatest orchestras in the world, the illustrious and rightly celebrated Vienna Philharmonic will be performing at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall this Monday, March…

BASKETBALL MUSICAL IS ONE BIG PENALTY You wanna know how great the Chance Theater is? They actually made it a palatable experience to sit through one of the most half-baked and frivolous new musical comedies I could imagine. With only a dribble of sophisticated wit and attractive songs, book-writer Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu) and his…

ORANGE COUNTY GOES GREEN, I.E. VERDI Opera is alive and well in Orange County! Since the demise of Opera Pacific (1985-2008), Pacific Symphony, aided by Pacific Chorale, has emerged as the company’s most likely heir. Its current production of Verdi’s La Traviata is the final production of a successful three-year experiment initiated in 2010 by…

THERE’S NOT AN APP FOR THAT Enough already. First, I applaud The Dallas Opera for taking a chance on Tod Machover’s  new experimental opera Death and the Powers, as well as the diligent cast and crew. I also commend Los Angeles’ cool new opera company, The Industry, for presenting the “world’s first live interactive opera,” and…

THIS ELIXIR IS A TONIC FOR WHAT AILS YOU Some artistic works are such a product of their time that it is difficult for later generations to understand them without spending a considerable amount of time studying the work’s context. Others are immediately recognizable because they resonate easily with contemporary audiences. Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir…

LIGHT SHINES IN SCR’S PIAZZA On general principle, it’d be very easy to dislike The Light in The Piazza. Let’s say you don’t consider stories about rich people in crisis having any relevance to you. Or if you chaff at the notion of those wealthy types traveling to Europe and falling in love with a…

IF I LOVED YOU At a time when many ballet companies are commissioning short dance pieces, it’s refreshing that John Neumeier’”since 1973, when he became Artistic Director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballett [sic]’”continues to develop story ballets. His latest sweeping narrative which arrived at Segerstrom Hall last night is Liliom, based on Ferenc…

THE FOREIGNER HAS GOOD REASON TO STAY PUT Some theatre is staged to raise our awareness.   Some theatre is designed to tell a story that will move us emotionally.   Some theatre is intended to share a different viewpoint.   All of this is good.   On the other end of the scale, some theatre exists for nothing…