NOTHING'S FORBIDDEN IN FORBIDDEN BROADWAY Musicals are dazzling, vibrant, larger than life…and accordingly, simply ripe for parody. Creator Gerard Alessandrini saw that opportunity in 1982…
WHEN THE WELL IS DRY, YOU KNOW THE WORTH OF WATER In Sidney Sheldon's hit 1973 novel, The Other Side of Midnight, every other chapter is about either Catherine or Noelle, the two stories of …
GREAT KAHNCEPT! Jayden (Jerome Beck) doesn't have it easy. He and his mother Crystal (Brittney M. Caldwell) have recently transplanted themselves in a new town and school district. The move …
LIFE MAY SUCK, BUT THE PLAY SURE DOESN'T For those familiar with Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, it might seem an odd choice to modernize. But Aaron Posner's tight script, combined with Cygnet'…
A SHAKESPEAREAN WESTERN MUSICAL? DON'T WORRY, IT MEASURES UP Love Shakespeare? Great. Hate Shakespeare? No problem. North Coast Rep's Desperate Measures may be based on the Bard's Measure fo…
THE PHYSICS OF ATTRACTION If this totally non-physicist reviewer understands what he is reading " the Uncertainty Principle launched by renowned physicist Werner Heisenberg, roughly state…
CRAZY FOR LOVIN' ALWAYS PATSY CLINE Is it a musical? A play with music? A tribute act? A duo cabaret act? Always…Patsy Cline is a little of each, coming together sweetly to be something un…
DOUBLE TROUBLE IN MINEOLA Paula Vogel, likely best known for her Pulitzer prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, isn't afraid to tackle tough themes. In The Mineola Twins, she does so by dren…
ROUTE 66 WAS ONE MOTHER OF A ROAD In John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, we follow along Route 66 the sad travels of Tom Joad and his family, who flee the desperation of Oklahom…
CORONADO PLAYHOUSE'S 2022Â SEASON Coronado Playhouse, the oldest arts organization in Coronado, has announced for its 76th Season six fully-staged productions " three of which are San Dieg…
A SEASON OF HOPE, REDEMPTION, HUMOR AND HEART STARTS IN SEPT. WITH THREE MUSICALS AND THREE PLAYS Cygnet Theatre has announced a joyful and overdue return to in-person performances starting …
HARLEM IN CORONADO Coronado Playhouse (CPH), a San Diego Tradition for 75 years, presents Djanet Sears' Harlem Duet, streaming on-demand from March 19-April 18, 2021. In what could be a prel…
CATCH THE VIRTUAL WORLD PREMIERE OF MARGIN OF ERROR As with many companies, San Diego's The Roustabouts have had to restructure due to COVID-19. Now, they are presenting productions and read…
SHE LOVES ME…AND WITH GOOD REASON! Ah, love. As hard to find as ever, but so satisfying when it is. But what did the ancients (20th-century people) do to find love before Tinder, eHarmony,…
WHERE WILL THIS RED BIKE TAKE YOU? Red Bike immediately presents a huge challenge to a director. Caridad Svich's script contains no stage directions (and little punctuation, even) and reads …
SIMPLE PLEASURES IN THIS FEAST The Shakers have a song in their hymnal that reads: 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And w…
A HOLIDAY CLASSIC PUT TO SONG: ONE THAT WON'T SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT While it may seem a bit premature to call the 1983 movie A Christmas Story a "classic," the near- universal popularity of the…
ELF-DEPRECATING HUMOR PAYS OFF It's hard to go wrong with this script, as writer a David Sedaris's biting wit, which has made him an NPR favorite for years, delights the cynic in us all. Whi…
TWO WAY STREET INTERSECTS AT TOUCHING PERSONAL DRAMA The Last Five Years shares the joys, trials, and failures of two people, Jamie (Michael Louis Cusimano) and Cathy (Racquel Williams), in …
SHOULD EVERYONE KISS MY AZTEC? IT DEPENDS… For fans of John Leguizamo, the notion of a full-length musical written by him is a thrilling draw. Whether a fan from his numerous edgy one-man …
TRIBUTE TO THE HITS FROM GOLD STAR Gold Star Recording Studio might not be a household name, but the musicians they recorded for certainly are: Tina Turner, Sonny and Cher, and the Beach Boy…
HOUSE IS IN ORDER, BUT IS THAT ENOUGH? There is so much that is right about Ike Holter's clever script of Put Your House in Order. Because of that, it is unfortunate that, in the end, it is …
THERE'S HUMOR TO BE PROUD OF HERE, SO DON'T BE PREJUDICED For those who have read or seen Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, there are many nouns that come to mind such as "classic," "drama,…
YOGA, GIRL! Which of the following defines yoga to you? A series of gentle exercises meant to relax and invigorate the body; A Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline using breath control and…
WELL DONE HAVING FUN ON THE RUN AS A NUN Don't you just hate it when your boyfriend turns out to be a mobster and murders someone right in front of you, forcing you to flee and hide " all wh…