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“SPRING AWAKENING” at OnStage Playhouse

Views:1366

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 8/5/17 RUN DATES: 7/7/17 - 8/19/17 VENUE: OnStage Playhouse It’s the height of summer, so why look back at the unfolding of a prior season? Because Onstage Playhouse is presenting a splendid production of “Spring Awakening.” Based on the frequently-banned 1891 play by Frank Wedekind, the 2006 musical is (tragically) as fresh and relevant as ever. The issues that were so provocative and controversial 130 years ago are still very much with us: physical and sexual Read More →

“ORDINARY DAYS” at InnerMission Productions

Views:1476

Aired on KSDS-FM on 8/4/17 RUN DATES: 7/28/17 - 8/12/17 VENUE: InnerMission Productions According to Adam Gwon’s “Ordinary Days,” everyone should have a Big Picture in mind. It’s broader and deeper than a Master Plan. It might include the full scope of where and who you are, or will be, in X-number of years – or beyond. In the 2012 chamber musical, four characters, adrift in Manhattan, are feeling swallowed up in the melee. Among the 20-somethings, one is looking for Read More →

“GUYS AND DOLLS” at The Old Globe

Views:1522

Aired on KSDS-FM on 7/21/17 RUN DATES: 7/2/17 - 8/13/17 VENUE: The Old Globe What makes a great musical? A memorable score, fascinating characters and a compelling story. The icing on this theatrical cake is superb singing and terrific dancing. The Old Globe’s “Guys and Dolls” has it all. Many aficionados consider this the “perfect” musical. It’s based on the wonderfully colorful tales of beloved New York Prohibition Era short story writer Damon Runyan, with comical book by Jo Swerling Read More →

“AT THIS EVENING’S PERFORMANCE” at North Coast Repertory Theatre

Views:1304

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 7/17/17 RUN DATES: 7/12/17 - 8/6/17 VENUE: North Coast Repertory Theatre “Comparisons are odorous,” Shakespeare’s malaprop-spewing Dogberry famously declaimed. Comparing Nagle Jackson’s 1978 trifle, “At This Evening’s Performance,” to Michael Frayn’s hilarious and brilliant “Noises Off” (as occurred in some promotional material) is both odorous and odious. (For the record, Frayn’s farce premiered after Jackson’s, in 1982, but he wrote an earlier, one-act version in 1977). The only thing these two theater works have in Read More →

“THE LITTLE MERMAID” at Moonlight Stage Productions

Views:2030

Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 7/22/17 RUN DATES: 7/19/17 - 8/5/17 VENUE: Moonlight Stage Productions If you want to get analytical/philosophical about it, the Disneyfied Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid” (musicalized and happily-ever-aftered) is encouraging tolerance of others (“I can’t hate them,” the titular mermaid, Ariel, says of the humans she adores, “just because they’re different”). On the other (darker) hand, you could say that the show is, if not advocating, at least condoning, inter-species coupling Read More →

“THE MUSIC MAN” at the Welk Resort Theatre

Views:1803

Aired on KSDS-FM on 5/19/17 RUN DATES: 5/5/17 - 7/30/17 VENUE: Welk Resort Theatre There are several essential ingredients for a successful production of “The Music Man”: powerful voices, strong dancers and rat-a-tat timing. Check, check and check. The Welk Resort Theatre has it all. Director/choreographer Ray Limon moves the show along at a sprightly clip, with especially well-timed, well-articulated work on the delectable syncopated, moving-train opener, “Rock Island,” and the fast-paced snake-oil sales of “Trouble.” David S. Humphrey, with his Read More →