WHAT A SHOCK In 1845, German psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffmann wrote a disturbing but popular children’s book featuring the perils of children who misbehave. AÂ century and a half later…
A FIRSTÂ DATE THAT GOES WELL The device of having characters receive advice from a conscience or someone from their past is tried and true in musicals: They’re Playing Our Song‘…
IT’S WORTH SINGING ABOUT GETTING OLDER Perhaps the only thing worse than getting older is thinking about it. So when a nascent theater company puts on a show"a musical no less"about th…
A LONG RIDE ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY In today's world of seeing T-shirts in fancy restaurants, it's almost difficult to envision that, once upon a time, people would dress to the nines for a…
I COULD WATCH 9 TO 5 24/7 In 1980, an unlikely film trio, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dolly Parton, was the center of 9 to 5, an amusing feminist romp with lovable characters. Years l…
BAD JEWS MAKES FOR GOOD THEATRE, BUT OY SUCH AGITA There's an old joke: "What do you get if you put three Jews in the same room? Four opinions." In Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews, the joke is …
LAMB’S SERVES UP A TASTY DINNER WITH MARLENE There’s an old parlor game of trying to decide:Â If you could attend a dinner party and choose any guests you wanted around the ta…
GIVE YOURSELF OVER TO ABSOLUTE PLEASURE Those familiar with the movie version of The Rocky Horror Show may be shocked to find that there is no typo in the title of the stage version: Here, t…
WHEN IT RAINS, IT SOARS Let’s start with the unavoidable down-side so we can end with the up-side. While Cygnet Theatre’s When the Rain Stops Falling is spectacular, it is ter…
IN GOOD COMPANY In a world of musicals that are filled with catchy harmonies and melodies that stick in your mind, Stephen Sondheim's songs have frequently been the rebels. Sondheim is n…
IT DOESN'T SUCK TO BE AVENUE Q AT CORONADO In the right setting, irreverence is so jovial. Perhaps our era of thought-police and political correctness has made it delicious to pervert that w…
DRAG YOURSELF DOWN TO PAGEANT Exiting Cygnet’s revival of Pageant, my writing pad, normally filled with pages of barely decipherable notes, had nothing upon it but the title. This …
THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA The very nature of adoption can leave a child"and the adult he or she becomes"filled with questions: Who were you, Mother? Â Why did you make this choice? Â Do yo…
TRAGIC FOR HIM BUT GOOD FUN FOR US Hot on the heels of the run of Old Jews Telling Jokes, the Lyceum brings us a very different and more personal look at Jewish humor. Instead of a non-s…
WHAT, WOULD IT KILL YOU TO HEAR A JEWISH JOKE, I ASK YOU? A German, a Frenchman, and a Jew are crawling across the desert. The German says, “Mein Gott! I’m so hot and thi…
A BLINKING YELLOW FOR RED AT THE REP Is a soup can art? To Matisse, probably not. To Warhol, clearly yes. And to everyone else? Ah, that’s when we start getting into wh…
A LOT OF YOUTHFUL SPRING BUT LITTLE CHARACTER AWAKENING Given harsh themes including child abuse, rape, homosexuality, and suicide, one can easily see why Frank Wedekind’s original Ger…
THE FOREIGNER HAS GOOD REASON TO STAY PUT Some theatre is staged to raise our awareness.  Some theatre is designed to tell a story that will move us emotionally. Some theatre is inten…
A TWISTED TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Imagine yourself transported back to 1955: Â Forming values in the image of Father Knows Best; solving family problems as cleanly as Ozzie and Harriet; and …
CAMPY SHE-RANTULAS HAS QUITE A BITE Dictionary.com defines “camp” as “something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement, as by virtue of its being artlessly mannered…
A NOURISHING TREE While lacking in emotional engagement, Daniel Beaty's solo outing exploring the life of actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson undoubtedly entertains, educates, inspires, and l…
WIT DOESN’T HOLD BACK Years back, Oldsmobile released a new line of sporty, sleek cars with the tagline “This is NOT your father’s Oldsmobile.” For those who asso…
HUMANS ARE THE SPECTACLE, NOT ANIMALS Childhood memories of circus fun include ringleaders putting heads in a lion’s mouth, dancing bears, and elephants resting a paw upon a lovely lad…
WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLDFISH As a rising star in San Diego’s theater scene, Cygnet put a lot of eggs in one basket in producing Mistakes Were Made. Fortunately, they invested in the ri…
SEE HOW THIS WARTIME FARCE HOLDS UP The marquee outside of Lamb’s Players declares See How They Run to be “one of the funniest shows ever.”  While never achieving a …