Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
One thing the Old Globe does exceptionally well is make Shakespeare relevant. Through sets, costumes and playfully exploiting the Bard’s lack of stage directions, the theater brings these plays alive for 21st Century audiences. They feel significant.
Unfortunately, “Rain” ...
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
“The Metromaniacs” could have gone either way. Consider the ingredients: a convoluted story, characters with multiple identities, dialogue written in verse – rhyming couplets for the most part and not a slant rhyme in ...
Playwright John Patrick Shanley returns to his romantic-comedy writing chops.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Two Irish farming families, whose generations have lived predictably side by side for more than a century, are in for a rude awakening in the San Diego REP’s satisfying production of “Outside Mullingar.”
...
Nature versus nurture reverberates with the force of a thunderclap.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
The story begins in the year 2039 in the normally bone-dry Australian Outback town of Alice Springs; now a land where it is raining to beat the band. We soon learn, through Gabriel York (Adrian Alita), ...
University of San Diego MFA production at the Old Globe Theater
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
“As You Like It” is certainly one of Shakespeare’s more joyous efforts. Most of the action takes place in the Forest of Arden, a quaint, magical place where love can (and does) flourish; the villains don’t persist for ...
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
There’s an amazing scene in the movie “The Devil Wear’s Prada” where Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) dresses down Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) for belittling fashion. “You’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the ...
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
I submit that the two most powerful words in the English language are: what if.
Eight years ago, Tony award-winning director-choreographer Christopher Gattelli (“Newsies”) had a “what if” moment that he shared with producer Jennifer ...
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Organize a special event lately? Not a wedding or a charity fundraiser but a midweek, outdoor gathering of a quarter of a million people from every state of the union, ...
The director, cast and musicians transform this one-gag show into a production that succeeds on many levels.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
Here’s a fun idea: Set "The Comedy of Errors" in 1920s New Orleans — Shakespeare in the Jazz Age. You get music, dancing and a general licentiousness to supplement an endless series of mistaken identities. The opportunities for mischief are ...
This quirky love-triangle musical has a lot of moving parts that don't yet form a satisfying whole.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
“Up Here” is billed as a musical comedy with a lot on its mind. Perhaps it has a bit too much on its mind.
The plot is a quirky love triangle composed of aspiring T-shirt artist Lindsay (Betsy Wolfe), ...
