“curtain Calls” #222
Views:793
By Pat Launer www.sdtheatrescene.com 12/14/07 It’s a Wonderful Life , of the holiday kind When you say, ‘I’ve got Christmas on My Mind.’ Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow Read More →
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Pat Launer
Put a Little Drama in your Life
Reviews
“MARJORIE PRIME” at North Coast Repertory Theatre
Views:1710
Aired on KSDS-FM on 1/27/17 RUN DATES: 1/11/17 - 2/5/17 VENUE: North Coast Repertory Theatre The older you are, and the older your parents -- if they’re still alive – the more disturbing and discomfiting you’re likely to find “Marjorie Prime,” the 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist currently having its local premiere at North Coast Repertory Theatre. Artificial Intelligence has made considerable progress. The likelihood of a lifelike, interactive robot seems assured in the not-too-distant future. In Jordan Harrison’s short, intermissionless play, Read More →
“ABUNDANCE” at Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company
Views:1487
Aired on KSDS-FM on 3/31/17 RUN DATES: 3/16/17 - 4/2/17 VENUE: Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company Mail-order marriages are a pretty big risk. But then, so was moving to the Wyoming Territory in the late 1860s. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley, known for her Southern Gothic sensibility, took her sardonic humor out West with her 1990 melodrama, “Abundance.” Told in short, episodic bursts, like a serial penny-dreadful, it’s the tale of two couples, centering on the mail-order brides who become homesteading Read More →
“SEVEN GUITARS” and “KING HEDLEY II” at Cygnet Theatre
Views:1006
Aired on KSDS-FM on 10/14/16 RUN DATES: 9/28/16 - 11/6/16 VENUE: Cygnet Theatre August Wilson wrote jazz; he wasn’t a composer, but in his plays, the language is distinctly musical, with dips and riffs, crescendos and stunning solos. The late playwright famously chronicled the African American experience in the 20th century, through ten decade-by-decade dramas, mainly set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Cygnet Theatre, which relishes presenting plays in repertory, has brilliantly paired two Pulitzer-nominated Wilson pieces, set in the 1940s and Read More →
“COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN” at Vista’s Broadway Theatre
Views:1518
Aired on KSDS-FM on 5/12/17 RUN DATES: 5/4/17 - 5/21/17 VENUE: Vista's Broadway Theatre Denial and self-delusion run deep. But “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” a 1956 drama by Ed Graczyk, is getting a buoyant revival at Vista’s Broadway Theatre. The action is set in two timeframes in a tiny West Texas town, not far from Marfa, where “Giant” was filmed. That was the last movie of heartthrob and cult icon James Dean. In 1955, Read More →
“SEX WITH STRANGERS” at San Diego Repertory Theatre
Views:1578
Aired on KSDS-FM on 3/10/17 RUN DATES: 2/23/17 - /19/17 VENUE: San Diego Repertory Theatre Two authors meet-cute at a writer’s retreat in a secluded cabin. A Michigan blizzard conveniently guarantees that no one else will arrive. He’s a 20-something, aggressive and seductive. She’s a decade older, dubious and wary. He’s a sleazy blogging phenom, whose exploits have led to a wildly successful, salacious book and movie deal. She’s still smarting from the marketing misstep that caused her dazzling first 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