All stories by James Hebert on BroadwayStars

Monday, March 11, 2019

'Angels' resonates in compelling, sharply acted revival at Cygnet Theatre by James Hebert

The world as it was — the world of 1985, when “Angels of America” begins — could hardly have imagined the news of 2019: Last week, it was announced that for the second time in histor…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:40PM

Review: 'Angels' resonates in compelling, sharply acted revival at Cygnet Theatre by James Hebert

The world as it was — the world of 1985, when “Angels of America” begins — could hardly have imagined the news of 2019: Last week, it was announced that for the second time in histor…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:40PM
Sunday, March 10, 2019

San Diego Rep announces world-premiere musical, new Herbert Siguenza comedy and more for 2019-20 season by James Hebert

As San Diego Repertory Theatre announces its 2019-20 season — the company’s 44th — the downtown institution also is tweaking its mission statement, putting extra emphasis on such words…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 09:00AM

San Diego Rep announces world-premiere musical, new Herbert Siguenza comedy and more for 2019-20 season by James Hebert

As San Diego Repertory Theatre announces its 2019-20 season — the company’s 44th — the downtown institution also is tweaking its mission statement, putting extra emphasis on such words…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 09:00AM
Friday, March 8, 2019

A Canadian playwright's story of family and loss finds a home at the Old Globe with U.S. premiere of 'Life After' by James Hebert

“Sometimes people leave you / Halfway through the wood.” – “No One is Alone,” from “Into the Woods” In the fall of 1986, the musical “Into the Woods” had its world premiere…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 04:05PM
Monday, March 4, 2019

La Jolla Playhouse's world-premiere musical 'Diana' is witty and provocative but rushes past its subject by James Hebert

If you’re feeling protective of the British royal family, prepare to clutch your pearls. (If you’re a member of the British royal family, have someone clutch them for you.) The world-pre…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 04:50PM
Friday, March 1, 2019

La Jolla Playhouse's 'Diana' is in the news — and about to take the stage by James Hebert

Princess Diana died nearly 22 years ago, and yet in some sense she has never left: Search her name online and you’ll get a daily stream of “news” stories with such headlines as “Did …

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 07:10PM
Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Epic 'Angels in America' winging in to Cygnet Theatre for first major San Diego production in years by James Hebert

Heartbreaking, thought-provoking, brilliantly unique: Those are some of the descriptions that come to Sean Murray’s mind when he talks about “Angels in America,” the playwright Tony Ku…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:35PM
Saturday, February 23, 2019

'Aladdin' a splashy spectacle in hit Broadway musical's first visit to San Diego by James Hebert

The Broadway musical “Aladdin” may trace its DNA to the Disney movie universe, but this show’s beating heart resides in a mystical desert city of rare fortunes, exotic entertainments a…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:00PM
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Wartime story 'Gabriel' gets its West Coast premiere at North Coast Rep by James Hebert

North Coast Rep stages the West Coast premiere of “Gabriel,” Moira Buffini’s wartime drama about a mystery man who washes up on a Nazi-occupied British isle in 1943; the play chronicle…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 06:30PM

Broadway wishes keep coming true for San Diego-bred director Casey Nicholaw, as touring 'Aladdin' arrives in town for first time by James Hebert

There’s something Casey Nicholaw would like to say about “Aladdin,” and it may come as no surprise: This musical is not “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “It’s just extravag…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 04:00PM
Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Finding 'Diana' in La Jolla Playhouse's much-anticipated new musical about a late, beloved princess by James Hebert

It can be hard now to separate memories of Princess Diana’s life from the sad story of her passing, at age 36 in a 1997 Paris car accident. Even the song most associated with the much-love…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 07:30PM
Friday, February 15, 2019

Hershey Felder brings 'Beethoven' to San Diego Rep, a decade after its world premiere here by James Hebert

Coursing through Hershey Felder’s solo stage exploration of the life and legacy of Beethoven is an odd little mystery — one involving the great composer’s bones, which were dug up in t…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:40PM
Thursday, February 14, 2019

'Dear Evan Hansen,' La Jolla Playhouse-launched 'Come From Away' heading to San Diego in 2019-20 Broadway/San Diego touring season by James Hebert

If you’re a San Diego-based fan of Broadway’s new wave of musicals, it’s a good bet you will be found at the Civic Theatre come next winter. That’s when the hit show “Dear Evan Han…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:42PM
Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Shows at Old Globe, Lamb's Players Theatre earn top honors in annual Craig Noel Awards by James Hebert

A pair of shows staged in 2018 by the Old Globe and Lamb’s Players Theatre shared top honors at the 17th annual Craig Noel Awards on Monday night. The Globe production of the play “A Tho…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 06:30PM
Monday, February 11, 2019

Diversionary Theatre's 'Hour of Great Mercy' finds a quiet grace amid tragedy in Alaska by James Hebert

And you thought global warming was enough of a worry: Near the start of Miranda Rose Hall’s big-hearted new play “The Hour of Great Mercy,” a folksy radio host named Roger has a meltdo…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:30PM
Sunday, February 10, 2019

San Diego Theatre Week offers performing-arts deals as it returns for a fourth edition by James Hebert

Three years ago, San Diego Theatre Week launched with an idea modeled after the popular Restaurant Week: Offer special deals to bring people through the doors and, with luck, turn them into …

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:30PM
Friday, February 8, 2019

Old Globe Theatre's 'Tiny Beautiful Things' brings the wisdom and heartache of 'Dear Sugar' to the stage by James Hebert

Advice columns. We all know how they go. Someone writes in, agonizing over a problem. Someone else replies with tips and admonitions and maybe a little pat on the head. Then — on to the ne…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 11:20AM
Friday, February 1, 2019

Christopher Ashley on La Jolla Playhouse's 'Diana': it's 'a story of a woman who finds her voice and finds her power' by James Hebert

As the much-anticipated musical “Diana” nears its world premiere at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse, director Christopher Ashley has had a chance to contemplate what things might be lik…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:30PM
Tuesday, January 29, 2019

'Kiss&Tell' Valentine's cabaret puts romantic duos onstage at Moonlight by James Hebert

In the theater world, there’s that magical phenomenon known as the “showmance” — a love affair that sparks when two people meet in a stage production. Of course, not all of those rom…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:30AM
Friday, January 25, 2019

Old Globe Theatre rolling out a comedy-drama from a playwright with a 'Familiar' name: 'Black Panther' star Danai Gurira by James Hebert

As character names go, it’s pretty tough to top the moniker Marvelous. And you won’t get any argument from Cherene Snow, who plays the Zimbabwe-born American matriarch Marvelous Chinyara…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 11:30AM
Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Cultures intertwine over food and family in San Diego Rep's 'Aubergine' by James Hebert

Whatever else it accomplishes, Julia Cho’s play “Aubergine” promises to give eggplant a good name. Or at least a better name than “eggplant.” The more graceful term “aubergine”…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 12:45PM
Sunday, January 20, 2019

'Jewel' packed with gems in worthy celebration of Lamb's Players Theatre's Coronado sojourn by James Hebert

Sometimes there’s a moment in a show that just begs to be anointed with that old cliche: “This is worth the price of the ticket by itself.” And which moment is that in Lamb’s Players…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:00PM
Friday, January 18, 2019

North County-based skate superstar Tony Hawk on board with new Broadway musical by James Hebert

Big airs and Broadway are destined for a major duet, with a just-announced stage musical whose creative team includes North County’s own skateboard deity Tony Hawk. The show is based on th…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:42AM

Isabella Rossellini is living the wild life as her circus about animal behavior heads to La Jolla by James Hebert

You may not know this about Isabella Rossellini, but she is big in Borneo. Actually, strike that: She is a bug in Borneo. Specifically: Ptomaphaginus isabellarossellini, a species of beetle …

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:40AM
Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Far-from-retiring women rock a new life in Moxie Theatre's 'Herland' by James Hebert

Talk about a rare find: As a play that focuses closely on older women, Grace McLeod’s “Herland” almost qualifies as a theatrical unicorn. What’s more remarkable is that McLeod hersel…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:45AM
Friday, January 11, 2019

As Betty Buckley rides high in 'Hello, Dolly!,' joy of theater is far more than a memory by James Hebert

There are three things in life that please Betty Buckley above all others. As it happens, cats don’t make the cut. “The things I love most are music, theater and horses — not necessari…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 11:20AM
Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Old Globe artistic chief Barry Edelstein to lead new Classical Directing Fellowship by James Hebert

San Diego’s flagship theater — nationally renowned for its devotion to the works of Shakespeare — is rolling out a new professional training program aimed at keeping the Bard’s legac…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 07:00PM

San Diego-trained actor Edred Utomi ascends to lead role on national 'Hamilton' tour by James Hebert

Like the hero of the megahit musical “Hamilton,” Edred Utomi is young, scrappy and hungry — and now he has performed his way to the pinnacle of one of the biggest shows on the planet. …

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:00PM
Tuesday, January 8, 2019

'A Jewel in the Crown City' celebrates Lamb's Players' 25 years in Coronado by James Hebert

Lamb’s Players Theatre has a knack for looking back: Five years ago, the company set a Guinness world record for nonstop live performance by staging a 100-hour reading of plays it had prod…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 06:00PM
Sunday, January 6, 2019

'Trash' makes the sale as first musical in Playwrights Project festival, returning to Old Globe this week by James Hebert

In its 34 years of staging contest-winning student works, the San Diego-based Playwrights Project had never before put up a fully produced musical for its annual Plays by Young Writers Festi…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards