Put a Little Drama in your Life
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 26, 1998 Before I begin, I’ve gotta come clean. I must confess to certain biases: 1) I love old musicals. And 2) I hate soap operas. You need to know that before I tell you about “South Pacific” and “The Gays of Our Lives.” Needless to say, if Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 19, 1998 It’s comforting to know, even in these most cynical of times, that, in theater, as in life, sometimes love can still triumph over adversity, and can even transcend death. Such is the case in two poignant, bittersweet love stories, where what’s right isn’t always what society thinks is right: in Lanford Wilson’s “Talley’s Folly” and Claudia Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 12, 1998 It’s a legendary relationship. You’ve heard about it, read about it, seen it on T-shirts: The indivisible bond between men and duct tape. But for the Improbable Theatre company, perhaps the gummy beloved was too... dark, not dramatic enough, not... transparent enough. So they wrapped their piece in Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: AUGUST 5, 1998 You’ve heard the old adage, ‘Power Corrupts,’ and you’ve seen it played out on a thousand financial and political stages. Well, now you get to see it on two of the Old Globe’s stages, in “Getting and Spending” and “Nixon’s Nixon.” Using actual or fictional characters, real or imagined scenarios, two modern playwrights grapple with Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: JULY 29, 1998 Theatrically, they couldn’t be more different. One’s a multi-million-dollar megamusical; the other’s a tiny, intimate drama. But both were written in faraway countries, set against a harrowing political backdrop. And both feature an unhappy couple: one pair can’t stay apart, the other can’t get together. It’s an unlikely ménage: Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: JULY 22, 1998 An audience comes to the theater ready to suspend disbelief -- willing to ignore the stage lights, the microphones, the flats and the unrealistic setting. But just how much are they expected to overlook? When, for example, does extraneous noise destroy the magic of the theater? When it’s the screeching of peacocks? The barking of seals? 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