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A San Diego Sun-Shower: “Singin’ in the Rain”

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PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 5/26/15 It took 30 years for the beloved movie musical to make it to the stage, but the theatrical version of “Singin’ in the Rain” maintains all the familiar songs and characters and story. And the expected fabulous dancing. But, as presented by San Diego Musical Theatre (directed by Todd Nielsen), it feels choppy and episodic, with unnecessarily slow scene changes, overly elaborate sets and a sense that nearly every song is unmotivated, Read More →

“unnecessary Farce” Takes The High (comedy) Road 2

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PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 4/21/15 Eight slamming doors, four men in boxers and a woman repeatedly in her scanties. Two incompetent cops. A trayful of donuts. Two bagpipes, a pair of Scottish killers. And one hilarious show. “Unnecessary Farce,” by actor/playwright Paul Slade Smith, premiered his zany comedy in 2006 in Michigan. Over the next seven years, Read More →

Big Thinkers, Big Themes: “freud’s Last Session” At Lamb’s Players Theatre

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PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 4/22/15 Two of the 20th Century’s most influential minds turn their laser-sharp focus on one of the greatest mysteries of all time: the existence of God. The meeting between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis never actually took place, but it undoubtedly would have been a doozy. In 2009, playwright Mark Read More →

“unnecessary Farce” Takes The High (comedy) Road 1

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PAT LAUNER THEATER REVIEW TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 4/21/15 Eight slamming doors, four men in boxers and a woman repeatedly in her scanties. Two incompetent cops. A trayful of donuts. Two bagpipes, a pair of Scottish killers. And one hilarious show. “Unnecessary Farce,” by Read More →

Deserted Island Dystopia: “lord Of The Flies” At New Village Arts

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PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 4/14/15 Bombs are dropping in the background as a plane crashes on a remote Pacific island. The only survivors are young boys, adolescents and pre-adolescents alone in a lush, uninhabited place. There are wild pigs abroad, and there may be a beast. There’s also an immediate power struggle, between rational, well-intentioned Ralph and violent, tyrannical Jack. In short Read More →

“passion And Honey”: Political And Poignant

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PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 3/30/15 There was plenty of passion – of the political and sexual kind – and more than a dollop of warm, oozing sensuality in “Passion and Honey,” an evening of poetic musings by writer/director Calvin Manson, produced under the banner of the Ira Aldridge Repertory Players, which he founded 31 years ago. Manson is trying Read More →