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…
BEDAZZLED WAR AND PEACE SIZZLES ON STAGE Let's face it: If you haven't read Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace by now (with its 1400-plus pages), you probably aren't ever going to. Fortu…
THE LOVE CHILD OF LAURA INGALLS AND ANNE OF GREEN GABLES In this novel-turned-musical, it's 1899 and the world, even in rural Texas, is changing. Just not nearly fast enough for Calpurnia Ta…
I DREAM OF GENIE Ready to spend a little time in the ancient Arabian town of Agrabah? It's the classic story with Aladdin (Adi Roy), Jasmine (Senzel Ahmady), and of course the genie (Marcus …
YOU'LL BE DANCING IN THE SHEETS ALL OVER AGAIN Sitting in a movie theater, in 1984, we teens were spellbound by the original film version of Footloose " and not because it was an amazing sto…
OUR PUPPET, WHO ART IN HELL, HALLOWED BE THY BLAME When a newly widowed mom tries to lead three teens in a wholesome, Lutheran, extra-curricular church class, tasked with creating a Christia…
A FASCINATING JOURNEY INTO THE AUTISTIC MIND Mark Haddon's novel is a first-person tale shared by the autistic main character: 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who lives in a small lower-class…
BAKING UP SOMETHING GOOD AT WILDSONG Come on, Wildsong. You're only two seasons old, in a tiny theater, have mostly young company players, and are on a ridiculously small budget. There's no …
SEEING FIDDLER AGAIN AND AGAIN IS A GREAT TRADITION It's no surprise that this 1964 triumph " with an irresistible book by Joseph Stein and unimprovable songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harni…
SANDWICHING GOOD STORYTELLING BETWEEN TWO SLICES OF COMEDY Remember Linda Lavin's old TV sit-com Alice? And her co-waitresses: the sassy Flo ("Kiss my grits!") and the ditzy Vera at the truc…
LEARNING ENGLISH IN IRAN IS TOUGH, BUT THIS PLAY WILL BE YOUR BAG, DAD Years ago, I ran a teambuilding class using improv games for an I.T. group. Despite the diversity of heritage and a…