San Diego Musical Theatre Presents a Vibrant and Sexy Production of Rock of Ages
San Diego Musical Theatre, in its third production of the season, pulled through; earlier this year, funding seemed uncertain, but Rock of Ages made it to the stage in time and did it!
Diversionary’s West Coast Premiere of “Ni Mi Madre”
Written and performed by Arturo Luíz Soria, this one-hour, one-hander takes us to Bete’s room and story with her three husbands and five children. One of them is Arturo, who, according to his Brazilian mother, is her heart and her torment, as he was one of the most challenging kids to raise.
Onstage Playhouse World Premiere “Mensa” Celebrates Last Production in Chula Vista
Ray Wright (Alex Chernow) is a right-wing, autographed-Bible-selling, viral podcaster who has made a fortune, supported by his producer and wife, Valentina (Cristina Gallo). They live in California with their teenage daughter Esther (Isabella Turner), who is a genius, mouthy, and constantly challenging her mother. Esther is an avid fan of Sophia (Larissa Ryan)’s podcast, which is the total opposite of her dad’s. When the podcasters strategize to invite Sophia to California for a live-streamed debate, the internet goes wild, and Esther sees an opportunity that materializes into tragedy.
New Village Arts welcomes the 25th Anniversary Season with The West End’s We Will Rock You
Under the musical direction of Erin Vanderhyde-Gross, the young cast, mostly NVA debuts with some professional debuts, showed strong vocals and good chemistry.
Blindspot Collective’s “Dive Bar Time Machine”: A Musical Variety Through Nine Decades
Blindspot has been practically everywhere with unique and engaging work. Dive Bar Machine joins the roster repertory with a curious, eclectic selection of songs that span nine decades. Created by Shellina Hefner and Blake McCarty, total opposites like Daddy Yankee and Aerosmith coincide on one stage, pumped with energy and Micah Parra’s charged (matching the eclectic song selection) choreography. I felt like Diana in Identity Thief, first guessing the songs during their intros and then singing along.
RIOT presents Extended Version of their Fringe Festival Hit “The Fairy Tale Monologues”
There are recognizable characters like a charming prince (Tim Benson), a damsel-in-distress princess (Delia Mejia), a witch (Sarah LeClair), the baker’s wife (Jamie Feinstein), along with her baker husband (BJ Robinson), of course, and a narrator (Gigi Filipovich). Yet, they get a feminist do-over that I believe is truly a redemption and justice with very pertinent questions like “what is the name of the baker’s wife?” mhhh. Things that should be a given and pass unnoticed.
La venganza del cine mexicano: estereotipos de Hollywood a la inversa con una sátira educativa y funcional
La historia se desarrolla en Alvarado, Veracruz, donde el presidente municipal, Benito (Silverio Palacios), busca lanzarse como gobernador. Para manejar su campaña, contrata al videógrafo local Juan (Daniel Sosa) y a su equipo de fotografía y sonido: Adriana (Rocío Guzmán) y Pancho (Fernando Cuautle).
The Family Album: From Waves to Stage
Inspired by Lim’s family, Mia (Aury Krebs) is a talented, hustling, and struggling musician-songwriter who lives out of a suitcase, traveling between underpaid gigs. When she receives a phone call from her sister Charlotte (Courtney Reed) asking her to come home due to her mom being gravely ill in the hospital, Mia hesitates but gets on a plane anyway. Once back, the prickly family dynamic picks up where it left off with mom Sylvia (Jodi Long) and dad Henry (Paul Nakauchi) scolding Mia while swooning over he brother Daniel (Marc delaCruz), which I need to point out is a total cultural thing in many families, not just the Asian ones. Mia has always been vocal, but being back home, with all the memories built there palpable again, young Mia (Claire Kwon) shows up to resolve and heal.
Un Viaje Hacia la Madriguera Guiado por Elenco de Lujo
Per usual, dear reader, as I have mentioned before on my theatrical bingo card. I did not know what Arcadia was about. I had a sense of some time travel, but that was it, and it was far from what I had imagined. I was expecting more of a Sliding Doors play. I’ve also mentioned on here that beauty lies in perception, and this was a total rabbit-hole play for me in all the good ways. I mean, my brain also works that way, but yeah…
The UK Comes to San Diego in the North American premiere of North by Northwest
Emma Rice transformed Hitchcock’s thriller into a dance-charged theatrical event that embraces movement, humor, and suspense. Rather than attempting a straightforward recreation of the film, the production created an experience that feels fresh while lovingly winking at its cinematic source.
Audiobook Versus Physical Book. The Eternal Hullabaloo
The whole hullabaloo regarding audiobook versus physical “read” books is taking over the internet, and even though I’ve weighed in on the convos, I wanted to discuss it here because of the connection we have, dear reader, through these lines.
Mainly, this blog has been dedicated to the performing arts and the people in them. Yes, I have been sent a couple of books in the past for review, and they’re on here, but I do want to write about it more often.
A Love Letter to Theatre, Actors, and Identity
The play takes place in 1606 in London’s Globe Theater, when it was frowned upon for women to be onstage, so instead, all female characters were played by young male actors, known as boy players. Playwright Zoe Senese-Grossberg explores this as well as how young boys were “mentored” to play these different characters, love interests, and seductresses in the Shakespeare plays along with older men.
