LITTLE WOMEN WITH A BIG PRESENCE Allen Knee took on a daunting task in creating a play from Louise Mae Alcott's hefty 1868"69 two-volume novel, but he also cuts back the narrative for the mu…
A PLAY THAT RAISES THE ESCOBAR Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and corrupt politician who founded and ran the deadly MedellÃn Cartel. Known as "the king of cocain…
EVERYTHING ODD IS NEW AGAIN Before ABC-TV made 114 episodes of the 1970-1975 sit-com The Odd Couple starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugma), there was the movie starring Jack Lemmon and Walte…
TALLULAH'S BACK IN TOWN, DAHLING! "Don't touch my purse! Touching a woman's purse is like touching her vagina! Except, I can only put so much in my purse." Not quite a lady-like quote fo…
WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WHEN I'M (LOOKING) SIXTY-FOUR? How would you live your life if you knew you were going to die of old age … in your late teens? All teens experience appearance issue…
THERE'S SOMETHING GOOD IN ROTTEN So you're a somewhat-talented duo of playwrights, living in 1595 England, with actors eager to work with you and a benefactor hiring you to produce a play. W…
THE WAY SHE WERE Envisioning a Barbra Streisand concert, one pictures $1000 seats at the Dolby for a show where every word has been discussed, rehearsed, and teleprompted. By contrast, at El…
HOT PATOOTIE, BLESS MY SOUL, I REALLY LOVE THAT ROCKY SHOW The first shock for some readers may be that there was no typo omitting the word "Picture" before "Show" in the title. Before a…
BRIDGING FAMILY DYNAMICS IN THIS CLASSIC North Coast Rep's next offering, A View from the Bridge, a landmark drama from 1955, takes on new relevance today. Opening tonight, September 11, and…
WILDE-LY FUNNY SCRIPT IN GOOD HANDS Many scripts become dated after 130 years, but thanks to Oscar Wilde's clever wit, The Importance of Being Earnest " which runs at Lamb's Players Theatre …
EXTRA! EXTRA! SING ALL ABOUT IT! Wildsong Productions is back with a rousing production of Newsies, doing the best they can with a so-so-script. In Harvey Fierstein's stage book adaptation o…
CAUGHT BETWEEN A RACH AND TSAR-ED PLACE For those not familiar with composer and classical pianist Hershey Felder, he's something of a living homage to great composers of the last 200 years.…
IF LOOKS COULD KILL … The strength of a person's spirit would then be measured by how much 'truth' he could tolerate, or more precisely, to what extent he needs to have it diluted, disguis…
HAPPILY EVER EVER IN THE LAND OF NEVER NEVER There have been so many versions of Peter Pan over the years that current viewers might have been exposed to the character in numerous ways. Gran…
ALICE IN STUNNED-ERLAND Lewis Carroll sure never saw this version coming. His 1865 novel Alice In Wonderland, probably best known from the 1951 Disney animated film, has been reinterpreted t…
MACROBATS The one challenge in writing this review is my atypical, completely-blank notepad taken home from the theatre. But that's with good reason. Duel Reality " which opened last nig…
NOT LARSON'S BIGGIE, BUT IT PAID THE "RENT" One of the great heartbreaks of theater history is that Jonathan Larson, the author and composer of the rock opera Rent, his modern telling of Puc…
IN THIS CASE, NINE IS A PERFECT SCORE In Nine, the musical adaptation of Federico Fellini's 1963 film 8½ now playing at Coronado Playhouse, Guido Contini (William Henry Schneider), an …
MOMMIE McDEAREST Irish playwright Martin McDonagh quickly makes it abundantly clear that dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships are not just the stuff of Hollywood. In the tiny town of …
Liam Pearce, Savy Jackson, Douglas Lyons and more join RENT in Concert with the San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony has announced casting for the upcoming production of RENTÂ in Conc…
THIS AMERICAN FELT LIKE AN IDIOT UNTIL READING A SYNOPSIS When MTV hit the airwaves, a young generation stopped dead in their tracks and watched hours and hours of endless videos. Frequently…
STIRRING UP A RECIPE FOR FAMILY REVELATIONS It may seem like a lifetime ago, but can you remember way back to April of 2021? Washing canned goods with gloves on? Masking to accept a …
WAS BLONDE, BUT NOW I SEE! It's easy to say that everyone wants to be taken seriously, but for Elle (Johnisa Breault) that notion has never really crossed her mind. She's happy, perky, prett…
A SWEET OFF-THE-GRID MUSICAL With the unexpectedly huge American response to Netflix's Virgin River, there seems to be a great longing to see what life might be like in a tiny, forested comm…
FASCIST LOGIC CAUSES US TO HARD LOOK IN THE MIRROR When we think of all the Nazi monsters, Adolf Hitler's name reigns supreme. But it's only a short step down the ladder to be revolted by me…