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“THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS” at Scripps Ranch Theatre

Views:993

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 2/3/16 RUN DATES: 1/22/16 - 2/21/16 VENUE: Scripps Ranch Theatre William Inge was hot stuff in the 1950s. He had four acclaimed plays running on Broadway. He’d won a Pulitzer Prize (in 1953, for “Picnic”). But his work, which leans toward Americana melodrama, has fallen somewhat out of favor. This is perhaps most true of “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” which was nominated for a Best Play Tony Award in 1958 Read More →

“GREAT SCOTT” at San Diego Opera

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 5/9/16 RUN DATES: 5/7/16 - 5/15/16 VENUE: San Diego Opera There’s some serious talent and brain-trust behind the new opera, “Great Scott,” co-commissioned by the Dallas Opera (where it debuted last October) and the San Diego Opera, where it’s currently having its West coast premiere. The composer is Jake Heggie (“Moby-Dick,” “Dead Man Walking”) and the librettist/playwright is Terrence McNally (“Dead Man Walking,” the Tony Award-winning opera-themed play “Master Class,” the book to “Ragtime” and Read More →

“1940s RADIO HOUR” – New Village Arts

Views:991

PAT LAUNER - CENTER STAGE ON KSDS-FM RUN DATES: 12/5/15-12/31/15 VENUE: New Village Arts On a snowy December night in New York, 1942, The Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade is about to go on the air. One singer hasn’t turned up, but the show must go on. That’s the flimsy premise of “The 1940s Radio Hour,” written by Walt Jones, former head of the UCSD Theatre Department, who directed the Broadway production in 1979. But there’s just not much there Read More →

“PICNIC”at the Oceanside Theatre Company

Views:987

Aired on KSDS-FM on 5/19/17 RUN DATES: 5/4/17 - 5/21/17 VENUE: Oceanside Theatre Company It’s no picnic living in a small town, especially in mid-century Middle America, with its strict conventions and constraints, especially for women. So, when a hunky, handsome drifter struts into town and takes his shirt off to do some yardwork, the whole place holds its collective breath. William Inge was one of the great, naturalistic chroniclers of simple folk, reminiscent of his youth in Independence, Kansas. Read More →

“THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW” at Cygnet Theatre

Views:977

Aired on KSDS-FM on 3/25/16 RUN DATES: 3/10/16 - 5/7/16 VENUE: Cygnet Theatre Give yourself over to absolute pleasure. Don’t dream it; be it. That’s the ultimate message of the timeless time-warp that is “The Rocky Horror Show,” the sci-fi B-movie spoof that’s been a stage and film hit for more than 40 years. Release your inner corset-wearing, fishnet-stockinged, oversexed rocker. It’s just a jump to the left – and you too can join the Transsexual Transylvanians led by Read More →

“RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN” at San Diego Repertory Theatre

Views:976

Aired on KSDS-FM on RUN DATES: 4/21/16 - 5/15/16 VENUE: San Diego Repertory Theatre Freud wasn’t the first to ask the question, but he may be the most quoted: What do women want? Eighty years later, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo is confronting the same question – with a feminine spin, but not much more of a definitive answer. “Rapture, Blister, Burn,” her 2012 comic drama, gives us four females, three generations, and tons of conundrums, like ‘What Read More →