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“THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY” at The Old Globe

Views:988

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 10/7/17 RUN DATES: 9/30/17 - 10/29/17 VENUE: The Old Globe There’s a detective, and a murder. A few suspects, a brief period of whodunit speculation, but no hairpin turns or jack-in-the-box surprises. It all happened ten years ago, at any rate. The hapless victim was a flamboyant 14 year old male. “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” isn’t much of a mystery, but it’s a terrific showcase – for the spectacular writing and performing skills Read More →

“CAGNEY, THE MUSICAL” at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood

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Aired on KSDS-FM on 10/27/17 RUN DATES: 10/5/17 - 10/29/17 VENUE: The El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood I was never a fan of gangster movies, but I once watched James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” ten times in one week, when I was home sick from elementary school. I loved his Oscar-winning performance – the original tough-guy, singing and dancing to beat the band. With some creative liberties taken, the 2016 show, “Cagney, The Musical” tells the story behind Read More →

“KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN” at The Welk Resort Theatre

Views:1342

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 9/16/17 RUN DATES: 9/6/17 - 10/22/17 VENUE: La Jolla Playhouse John Kander and (the late) Fred Ebb made musical magic and theatrical history by doing something risky and daring. They juxtaposed musical theater pizzazz with dark, serious themes. It worked magnificently in “Chicago” (1966) and “Cabaret” (1975), and even “The Scottsboro Boys” (2010), which dealt, respectively, with women’s’ prisons; the Weimar era in Berlin, with the encroaching Nazi presence; and the racism and degradation Read More →

“BENNY AND JOON” at The Old Globe

Views:1829

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 9/17/17 RUN DATES: 9/7/17 - 10/22/17 VENUE: The Old Glob Benny and Joon live a fairly regimented, routinized life. That’s what he thinks is best for his sister, who has schizophrenia. She gets auditory hallucinations, she runs into the street to direct traffic (wearing a snorkel mask, carrying a pingpong paddle), she has a penchant for breaking things and setting fires, and she responds poorly to noise or stress. (She’s also a visceral abstract painter). Ever Read More →

“IRONBOUND” at Moxie Theatre

Views:1801

Aired on KSDS-FM on 9/29/17 RUN DATES: 9/17/17 - 10/22/17 VENUE: Moxie Theatre In Martyna Majok’s drama, “Ironbound” is both a location and a condition. It’s a multi-ethnic, working-class New Jersey neighborhood, and “Ironbound” also describes the predicament of the central character, Darja, who is shackled by poverty and circumstance. One half-step from homeless, she holes up at a seedy bus stop, boxed in by a chain-link fence. The play hopscotches in time, between a hopeful, pregnant Darja and her Read More →

“THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE” at San Diego Opera

Views:1122

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 10/18/17 RUN DATES: 10/14/17 - 10/22/17 VENUE: San Diego Opera Sentimental swashbucklers. Bumbling Bobbies. A bombastic but lily-livered Major General. And a slavish devotion to Duty and Queen. Welcome to the satirical, society-skewering world of librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, those masters of absurd Victorian comic opera, and their wacky “Pirates of Penzance,” wildly popular since its 1879 debut. It’s veddy, veddy British in its sensibilities, and very very silly in its storyline. Read More →