Put a Little Drama in your Life
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/11/15 Stop! In the name of love. If you’re a fan of Motown music (and really, who isn’t?), you’ll rush right down to the Civic Theatre to see “Motown, the Musical” (through Sunday only, and tickets are going fast). The national touring production of the 2013 Broadway hit (738 performances, nominated for Read More →
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/10/15 Did you know that a coastal cactus wren can’t fly? Me neither. That’s one of many factoids we learn about local flora, fauna and endangered species in “Wrenegades: An Ecological Adventure,” the latest premiere creation of Circle Circle dot dot, penned by Katherine Harroff and Michael Nieto. C2d2, as it’s familiarly known, Read More →
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/9/15 Here’s the premise: Michael Mizerany called his evening of dance “Dancer Briefs.” He invited seven local choreographers to participate. And he asked three things of them: their piece had to be brief (6-8 minutes); it had to include the wearing of undergarments; and something had to be revealed: physical, psychological or emotional. Read More →
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/8/15 Get out your bell-bottoms and tie-dye. Nilsson is back. Well, not Harry Nilsson himself (he died in 1994), but his songs, in the world premiere tribute, “Everybody’s Talkin’: The Music of Harry Nilsson.” The singer/songwriter was highly regarded by other musicians, but he was mostly a studio guy himself, recording 17 albums. He never did concerts or tours. So, although he wrote innumerable songs for movies and TV, unless you were a Read More →
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/2/15 Like the neurosurgery at the center of the action, “A New Brain” is a delicate operation. It’s a musical, a comedy and a deadly serious autobiographical story of a near-death experience. The main character is in a coma for a good part of the show, while everyone around him waits to see the outcome of the sensitive, intricate procedure that may or may not correct his arterio-venous malformation. William Finn, who wrote Read More →
PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 6/1/15 How far would you go to please your parents? Would you lie? Would you hire an actor to impersonate your ideal (fantasy) boyfriend? That’s just what Sarah Goldman does in James Sherman’s 1989 comedy, “Beau Jest.” She invents a Nice Jewish Doctor that her parents will love (that’s because she’s continuing to date non-Jewish Chris Cringle – really! – on the sly). So she calls an escort service and fortuitously, gets Read More →
“San Diego is a hotbed of theater. Every year, I see 200-250 productions. This is fertile ground for new work. In addition to the prodigious local talent, theatermakers from around the country come here to premiere their latest creations. San Diego sends more shows to Broadway than nearly any other city in the U.S.”
-Pat Launer