Put a Little Drama in your Life
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 25, 2000 SONG: "You're a Good Man…" Meet Charlie Brown -- adult office-worker, beleaguered paper-pusher -- worrying over every little detail and never really accomplishing anything. That's the new opening of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," the 1967 Clark Gesner musical whose recent revision wowed Broadway Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 18, 2000 If I want to see "The Taming of the Shrew," I'll go see Shakespeare… or "Kiss Me, Kate," Cole Porter's brilliant 1948 musical. But I don't need a nasty, retro, unfunny, misogynistic supposed comedy written in 1997 by that British curmudgeon, Alan Ayckbourn. "Things We Do For Love" gives us all the stereotypes the playwright Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 11, 2000 We often speak of communication as a machine. It breaks down; it needs repair. The metaphor is incredibly apt in our technological times, where our vast array of communication devices is ironically, separating us more than ever, making real communication ever more distant and difficult. As the world shrinks, we are both more -- and less -- accessible to each other. Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 4, 2000 Dithering, blundering, eavesdropping, denouncing, tripping, ripping, drinking, confounding, confusing, missed cues, forgotten lines and mistaken identities. Backstage farce is back in town. And nobody loves it better than North Coast Repertory Theatre. "Moon Over Buffalo" may not be as well written as "Noises Off" or as witty and musical as "Kiss Me, Kate," but the Ken Ludwig play is Read More →
SUBMISSION DATE: JULY 28, 2000 Oh, those class-conscious Brits. Can a cock-sure cockney actually take his place as the lost, rightful heir to the Hareford fortune? And will American audiences care? "Me and My Girl" was a London musical hit in 1937 (music by Noel Gay; lyrics by Douglas Furber), but it didn't make a significant transatlantic crossing until 1986, when the book was revised by Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: JULY 27, 2000 Two new plays, at our two most prestigious theaters. One at the Globe and one at La Jolla Playhouse. One says too little, and one tries to say too much. Both plays are flawed, and neither makes us care enough about the characters. In both cases, the playing field is large. "Sheridan," at La Jolla Playhouse, which 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