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), ...
This fast-paced production (based on Conan Doyle's novel) features a flurry of costume changes by a masterfully directed cast.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Ken Ludwig’s “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” pays homage to the fictional detective’s deductive reasoning skills to solve murder most foul by challenging the audience’s powers of observation as five actors portray more than three dozen characters in a dizzying ...
From the cast with chemistry to the able direction and the sets and costumes, everything in this production of Cole Porter's backstage romp shines.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
The Globe’s lighthearted summer continues with the Cole Porter classic “Kiss Me, Kate,” a blissfully anachronistic, Broadway extravaganza. It’s a big, bawdy trip down memory lane and a fun send-up of egotistical actors and the theater in general.
Set ...
Shakespeare knew how to make audiences laugh, and this zany ensemble production puts his silly side on proper display.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
“I've noticed a tendency for this program to get rather silly. Now, I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly.”
— "Monty Python’s" Graham Chapman as the Colonel
We often laud ...
Filthy lucre and all of its complications are at the heart of this quirky, endearing play, deftly directed and acted.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
Money is a never-ending issue: we crave it; hoard it; earmark it; contractually stipulate it. And when love is involved, it gets really weird — we may have to share. “Rich Girl” navigates these potent interrelationships. And though the play ...
A strong cast and steady direction bring Shaw's witty meditation on war and love to life.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
Love and war have so much in common: passion, struggle, the subtle distinctions between victor and vanquished, even how seriously we take both subjects. In the classic comedy “Arms and the Man,” George Bernard Shaw skewers it all and even ...
The formulaic comic genre gets an uproarious twist with a kilt-wearing Scottish hit man.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
To the pantheon of iconic stage characters — Hamlet, Willy Loman, Blanche DuBois — I nominate Todd, the Scottish hit man who will slay you in more ways than one in “Unnecessary Farce,” on stage at the North Coast Repertory ...
Broadway vet David Turner assumes the role Michael Urie created and succeeds in creating a frenetic fan boy of La Streisand.
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
What is it about stuff? We buy it, we love it, the novelty wears off and we buy more. We get a distinct, if fleeting, dopamine rush, but it doesn’t cure what ails us. This quest for material possessions is ...
This enchanting production brings all the magic of the Chinese fable to the stage.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Combine an ancient Chinese fable with a MacArthur “genius” director and the result is an enchanting, eye-popping night of theater that seamlessly combines text with compelling performances, sumptuous costumes, live music, a touch of whimsy, and production values the likes ...
Flashback to the 1970s and Neil Simon's still-funny romantic comedy.
Lynne FriedmannTheaterSan Diego,
Two wounded people give love another try in a revival production of Neil Simon’s “Chapter Two” at the North Coast Rep. While the setting and dialog are straight out of the 1970s, surprisingly little feels dated about this touching tale ...
