Jonathan McMurtry: thoughts on acting
I recently interviewed Jonathan McMurtry about the professional actors fund named for him at the North Coast Rep. I couldn't let him get away without some of his thoughts gleaned from six decades in the theater, about which - ahem! …
Craig Noel Awardees
Recipients of the 2102 Craig Noel Awards for Outstanding Work in Theater: Resident Musical: Parade, Cygnet Theatre; The Scottsboro Boys, Old Globe Theatre. New Musical: Allegiance, Old Globe. Lead Performance in a Musical, Female: Sandy Campbell, Parade, Cygnet Theatre. Lead …
Hamlet at Intrepid Shakespeare Company
Ezra Pound defined literature as "news that STAYS news." If so, then the Bard's Hamlet is hot off the presses. I've read it who knows how many times, and seen umpteen productions, and am convinced it's a castle made of …
A next step for San Diego theater
San Diego has a national reputation for theater. So do Chicago, Seattle, and Minneapolis, among others. But what do they have that San Diego doesn't? At least twice as many Equity houses. These hire professional actors, stage managers, and technicians …
Pete 'n' Keely at Lamb's Players
NBC bounced Bonanza to bring you an event so big it rivals the birth of Little Rickey. Pete Bartel and Keely Stevens - that's right, America's sweethearts - are reuniting live! Okay, they've gone their separate ways since the divorce, …
Follow the leader: at Torrey Pines
Used to be, back in the era of steel shafts and balatta balls, you could follow the leader on Sunday for most of the round. That was back when golf tournaments had famous people's names - Andy Williams San Diego …
Stage props: a tale of two chairs, part two
Scenic designer Sean Fanning has been on the lookout for matching chairs for Intrepid Shakespeare's Hamlet. As he wrote on Facebook, January 9, they had to be "late 19th/early 20th century Scandinavian or Danish high-backed chairs...in gray or black, or …
Clybourne Park at SD Rep
"Americans suffer from an ignorance that is not only colossal but sacred," wrote James Baldwin, referring to how most choose to look away from any mention of race. Bruce Norris's award-draped Clybourne Park takes two looks, 50 years apart, at …
Stage props: a tale of two chairs
"Anyone have 2 good late 19th/early 20th century Scandinavian or Danish high-backed chairs...in gray of black, or that you are open to having painted?" Sean Fanning, one of local theater's busiest and most talented scenic designers, posted the request on …
Talking Lear, or trying to...
This Tuesday night, January 15, the North Coast Repertory Theatre offers a one evening only, staged reading of Shakespeare's great tragedy, King Lear. The performance - with an all-star cast and Ken Ruta (to the role born) reading the King …
Educating Rita at North Coast Rep
In the original Greek myth, Pygmalion sculpts a female companion and falls in love with her. Aphrodite grants his wish and makes her come alive. The couple apparently lives happily ever after, though she never gets to speak. In numerous …
South Pacific at the Welk
Unwritten category for Broadway musicals: Don't Try This At Home, Or On A Stage - i.e. the toughest songs to replicate. Who dares to sing "Camelot" or "If Ever I Would Leave You" in the wake of Robert Goulet's original …
Consider the source: Pygmalion
On the island of Cyprus, in ancient Greece, the daughters of Propoetus refused to worship Aphrodite. Incensed, the goddess of beauty made them the world's first hookers. According to Ovid, the Roman poet, the oldest profession began when they "prostituted …
Write Out Loud: imagine a world without books
Every year Write Out Loud, the popular company that performs stories, plays, and poems has a Big Read. This year it's Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. In April, the group will offer "community reads" and panel discussions. They also encourage students …
The year in post-(re)view
Reviewing a year of theater on deadline's like trying to take the pulse of a lion on the move. Omissions come to mind immediately. Here are a few: TOM STEPHENSON. What a year he had! In Cygnet's radio version of …
An "Unforgettable" outtake
I came across this anecdote while researching a history column. I won't have room for it but wanted to share. It comes from William Manchester's Goodbye Darkness. Call it "Out & About on Guadalcanal, October, 1942." "Guadalcanal is not a …
Scrooge in Rouge at Diversionary
I wonder if Charles Dickens had any idea how much "A Christmas Carol" would proliferate. Come the yuletide season, there are different versions in every American city. A note to budding theater critics (along with encouragement to keep going and …
Craig Noel Award nominees, part two
Nominees for Craig Noel Awards for 2012 include: LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY, MALE Laurence Brown, Topdog/Underdog, Ion Theatre Robert Foxworth, Inherit the Wind, Old Globe Theatre Jeffrey Jones, The Little Flower of East Orange, Ion Theatre Mark Christopher Lawrence, …
Craig Noel Award nominees, part one
On February 4, the San Diego Theater Critics Circle will offer Craig Noel Awards in the following categories (part two tomorrow): RESIDENT MUSICAL Fiddler on the Roof, Moonlight Stage Productions Parade, Cygnet Theatre The Scottsboro Boys, Old Globe NEW MUSICAL …
A Clipper what?
This can NOT be happening. When James Bond said "never say never," I thought he was kidding. Now I'm not so sure. Against a vow I made decades ago, I'm becoming a fan of the Los Angeles Clippers. In 1984, …