Put a Little Drama in your Life
KPBS AIRDATE: January 4, 1994 > "Good, but not stupendous." "Fine, but not sensational." That's pretty much the way critics greeted "Flower Drum Song," Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1958 entry to the Broadway musical theater scene. It's a simple, romantic, and maybe even a trifle silly story about two generations of Chinese-Americans in San Francisco. It would seem hopelessly Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: December 28, 1993 When "Guys and Dolls" opened in 1950, it received what might be the most unanimously ecstatic set of reviews in Broadway history. It got about the same response in its 1992 revival. Both productions swooped up an armload of Tony awards. People then and now hail it as the perfect musical comedy. Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: December 22, 1993 It's a multicultural Christmas at the Cassius Carter. On alternating nights, you can get a humorous Latino telling of the Christmas story, or an exuberant, African-American version. Both are community-based productions, not primarily performed by professionals. Both pieces are told in verse, both emanate from folk origins, and both are Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: December 15, 1993 "My 3 Angels" ain't "Kiss Me Kate," though the writers are the same. But, in all fairness, Sam and Bella Spewack wrote the comedy alone, and with the musical, they had seriously clever backup from the incomparable Cole Porter. "My 3 Angels" may be silly, but it's light, frothy Christmas fare, and it goes down easily. Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: December 8, 1993 If you've ever heard gospel music, you know it can really rouse the dickens out of anyone. That would make a marriage of the sounds of gospel and the writing of Charles Dickens a perfect union. For the second year, the San Diego Repertory Theatre is celebrating that marriage, in "A Christmas Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: December 1, 1993 "Friday Night Refugees" introduces us to a culture within a culture within a culture. "Hi, I'm Billy, and I'm an alcoholic," it begins. Billy is addicted, recovering and gay. His weekly twelve-step group calls itself the Friday Night Refugees. And the homegrown play he appears in, is presented 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