Regional

A SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL Through February 8, 2014, a dizzying array of events celebrating Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich is being presented by Pacific Symphony and Chapman University. Starting tonight, Russian powerhouse pianist Alexander Toradze, recognized as a masterful virtuoso with deep lyricism and intense emotion, joins Pacific Symphony to introduce a journey into the music of…

A TWISTED TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Imagine yourself transported back to 1955:   Forming values in the image of Father Knows Best; solving family problems as cleanly as Ozzie and Harriet; and living in the perfect suburban community with like-minded neighbors.   When compared to our complicated, isolating, 21st-century push-button lives, we may feel a nostalgic longing  to…

TAKE A CHANCE Merrily We Roll Along is a notoriously difficult musical to get right. Even with Sondheim’s magnificent score, the nature of the show’”its lopsided cynicism and moving-back-in-time device’”has hampered every production I have seen. Except one. And while I truly loved Chocolate Factory’s small-scale West End revival, which screened nationwide last October, Chance…

MANHATTAN TRANSFERS TO ORANGE COUNTY FOR THE HOLIDAYS When it comes to vocal power, the jazz-pop quartet consisting of Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, Tim Hauser and Cheryl Bentyne, better-known as The Manhattan Transfer, have certainly set the industry standard for tightly wound harmonies. The amazing part is that as they approach their 40th anniversary (Bentyne…

AN ANIMATED AND LIVELY FLUTE The Magic Flute was written specifically for the common man, and thus was structured as an exaggerated amusement so that special effects could be employed. Mozart’s accessible music is among the most popular in the repertoire; it’s youthfully melodious yet stretches for transcendent classicism. Emmanuel Schikaneder’s libretto is known as…

YOU CAN’T TWIN THEM ALL There is nothing more fascinating for this Broadway musical aficionado than a flop’”but not for gloating purposes. It’s natural to wonder “What were they thinking?” with any train-wreck, but I’m obsessed with this particular branch of theater: With so many elements, a musical is one of the most difficult art…

WHIPPED INTO A FRENZY If I had any doubts prior to attending San Diego REP’s production of Venus in Fur  (an on-again, off-again playwright; two characters; two directors), they were vanquished within minutes of curtain. This funny and fascinating look into the world of dominant/submissive relationships proved itself to be one of a handful of “must-see”  shows…

BALLET SUPERSTAR RETURNS TO SEGERSTROM The title of two world premiere dance pieces at Segerstrom Hall this week could not be more apt: Diana Vishneva of the Mariinsky Ballet and American Ballet Theatre will have you on the edge of your seats. Commissions by Segerstrom Center and Ardani Artists for this unrivalled artist of the…

A NOURISHING TREE While lacking in emotional engagement, Daniel Beaty’s solo outing exploring the life of actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson undoubtedly entertains, educates, inspires, and leaves the audience with a great deal to talk about. With an international following of his music, stage performances and cinema work, Paul Robeson was one of the best-known black men…

SITE-SPECIFIC IS NOT SO SPECIFIC La Jolla Playhouse supported the trend of site-specific and immersive theater by presenting a four-day program of over 20 different performances in and around the Playhouse. The WoW (WithOutWalls) 2013 festival was a beehive of activity which sadly played only one weekend. It was an arena for nurturing and showcasing…

STOPPARD AND GO Tom Stoppard’s brilliant Travesties (1974) is literate and fiercely crafted, tackling ideas of love, wit, politics, art, theater, literature, intellectualism and whatever else flows its way through Stoppard’s cosmic inquisitiveness. The plot, if you can call it that, is complex and nonlinear. World War I veteran Henry Carr reminisces with failing memory…

WIT DOESN’T HOLD BACK Years back, Oldsmobile released a new line of sporty, sleek cars with the tagline “This is NOT your father’s Oldsmobile.”   For those who associate Lamb’s Players with lighter fare such as Godspell, Guys and Dolls  and Christmas specials, the powerhouse production of Wit which opened this week proves that this is NOT…

NO HALLELUJAH FOR THE LAST GOODBYE No one can deny why Jeff Buckley has achieved cult status. The coffeehouse-rock singer brought an aching, wrenching, ethereal and vulnerable quality to both his original songs and his covers of other composers’ work (his version of “Hallelujah” is widely regarded as the definitive interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece)….

TOO FEW Samuel D. Hunter’s slice-of-life one-act, The Few, returns to familiar territory for this up-and-coming playwright. As in his previous plays, Hunter takes us to small-town Idaho; this time, it’s 1999 and we are in the ramshackle trailer office of DZ (Eva Kaminsky), publisher of a small newspaper for truckers. Enter the paper’s founder,…

BUENA BUENA Back in the 1990s, Buena Vista Social Club took the world by storm. The album, inspired by the music played at a Havana members club, both celebrated and cemented the fluid formidability of popular pre-revolution Cuban music performed by Cubans. It sold over five million units worldwide, and notched a Grammy Award as…

NOT MUCH LIFE IN DEATH The miracle of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is that it contains so many themes relevant to today’s world’”the American Dream, the disconnect of father and son, a lifetime of work resulting in fiscal emptiness, self-deception’”that this 1949 play can truly be called timeless. Yet so lifeless and lacking…