Put a Little Drama in your Life
KPBS AIRDATE: September 13, 2002 It was high time I high-tailed it back to my hometown. I hadn't been to New York since 9/11. I wanted to pay my respects at Ground Zero; plus, I needed a theater fix. The three vastly disparate, distinctly excellent plays I saw all turned out to be about love -- in all its twisted, life-changing, soul-stirring forms. Read More →
Published in Gay and Lesbian Times September 5, 2002 Get out your Aquanet and your teaser comb; "Hairspray" is here to stay. The highly-anticipated new musical, based on John Waters' 1988 cult film, is all it was puffed up to be: a boffo, bouffant beehive of hilarity! The show is incredibly good fun, with a crafty book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: September 6, 2002 Both titles give the wrong impression. There's no murder in "The Killing of Sister George." And there isn't much depth in "Deep River." Lamb's Players Theatre is calling "Deep River" the premiere of a 20 year-old story. David McFadzean, who was Lambs' managing director and resident playwright in the '80s, penned the piece that went from the local premiere Read More →
Published in Gay and Lesbian Times September 5, 2002 In Charles Mee's boisterous, hilarious world premiere, "Wintertime," people slam doors, throw themselves against trees, break furniture, scream hateful obscenities -- all in the name of love. Excess is everything. Backed by heart-wrenching music (from Massenet to McCartney), the characters careen in and out of love. Amour has been on Mee's mind for some time. Read More →
Published in Gay and Lesbian Times September 5, 2002 It was a lesbian breakthrough and a lesbian nightmare. While "The Killing of Sister George" knocked down barriers and opened eyes, it also drew the wrath of the gay community, since it gave a highly skewed view of lesbian life, all S&M and B&D and little more. Some boycotted and banned the 1968 film version of Frank Marcus' play, calling it Read More →
Published in Décor & Style Magazine It's a Broadway musical kind of month: a couple of local premieres, and a triumphant, drawer-dropping return. The latter would, of course, refer to The Full Monty, which started its wildly successful stage life in San Diego. It emerged first onscreen in the 1997 Oscar-nominated movie, and evolved into a musical at the Globe Theatres before dancing off 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