Turn of the century Vienna bores aristocratic Alfred to distraction. He only attracts women who fancy his outer trappings. To be loved for his “own self,” just once, he dresses down and frequents unfamiliar enclaves …
July 25, 2014
Prosperina
Slight but sweet
Epic! Knock-out!
I think it was my second or third week on the job. I went to a small theater in National City — Lamb’s Players — in a former church, I found out, after I got …
August 1, 2014
Always competent, sometimes sparkling Much Ado
Toward the end of Shakespeare’s comedy, Benedick tells Beatrice they are “too wise to woo peaceably.” Up to this point they’ve fought a “merry war”: a Taming of the Shrew of the mind, minus the …
July 31, 2014
The effect of Ether
Just about every patented discovery has either multiple claimants or someone who got to the patent office too late.
July 30, 2014
Red threads of connection
I doubt that Jade Heart playwright Will Cooper could ask for a better production than Moxie’s. The play, about a Chinese orphan adopted by an American mother, is relentlessly nonlinear and needlessly convoluted. The fits …
July 21, 2014
Extended tease
Early in the David Yazbeck/Terrence McNally musical a laid-off steel worker urges his mates to show “who really wears the pants in the family.” So they decide to take them off, together, at a Buffalo …
August 5, 2014
Welton's top 10: local show edition
Welton Jones’ top 10 local shows, in chronological order: 1.) Twelfth Night, Old Globe Theatre, directed by Edward Payson Call (1967). “An elegant, legendary stunner.” 2.) Plymouth Rock, written and directed by Scott Busath, Earth …
August 15, 2014
Top 10: From a first-hand, encyclopedic knowledge of theater
Welton Jones began writing about theater while a student at Texas A&M, in 1957. He’d been drawn to the arts since childhood, but when he wrote that first review, he’d only seen one play “that …
August 14, 2014
“Unforgettable” Outtakes
From the Carlsbad Plain Truth (editor William Webster Borden, whose slogan was “Independent but not neutral”): “Charles Kelly has a remarkable hen. She disappeared on Dec. 25, 1886, leaving a brood of young chickens behind …
July 29, 2014
Last call: The Pianist of Willesden Lane and Next to Normal
These shows must close this Sunday, October 12. The Pianist of Willesden Lane at the San Diego Rep. Mona Golabek’s “concert drama” is one of 2014’s best. She tells the story of Lisa Jura, a …
October 6, 2014
Robert Landis (1921-2014), rest in peace
If there were a San Diego theater Hall of Fame, Craig Noel would be first on the list. The second, Robert Landis, passed away last week. I still believe the imaginary army must have been …
August 21, 2014
Deanna Driscoll's acting bucket list
I’m asking veteran local actors to name five dream roles and say why. The answers not only reveal aspirations, they may put an idea in the minds of artistic directors and producers – even choices …
October 16, 2014
Partial Monty
Somehow D.J. Sullivan wrangled Tim Firth’s script for Calendar Girls from Samuel French — dispensers (and often hoarders) of the rights — and has staged the local premiere. For a “small” theater to land the …
November 10, 2014
All surface
The Phantom meets Les Miz on the belfry of Notre Dame. Victor Hugo titled his 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris. When the English translator changed it to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hugo blew …
November 13, 2014
Tom Stephenson’s Bucket List
I’m asking veteran local actors to name five dream roles and say why. The answers not only reveal aspirations, they may put an idea in the minds of artistic directors and producers – even choices …
November 21, 2014
Three-ring circus
Rich Kinder doesn’t appear in Laura Prebble’s satirical, three-ring circus based on the colossal collapse of Enron. From 1990 to 1996, he was President and Chief of Operations. According to Robert Bryce, author of Pipe …
November 24, 2014
Words as weapons
“Sup now?” Peter wrote an ad for a basketball sneaker, the Sky Max. Told to target “urban” youth from 14 to 24, he assumed that meant young black men and invented the expression “sup now?” …
November 18, 2014
Year of the Lamb
San Diego is finally catching up with the rest of the world, which has been “wall-less” for decades.
December 31, 2014
Craig Noel Award Nominees for 2014
San Diego Theatre Critic’s Circle: Craig Noel Award Nominees for 2014: Resident Musical Catch Me If You Can, Moonlight Stage Productions Les Miserables, Lamb’s Players Theatre Mary Poppins, Moonlight Stage Productions Next to Normal, San …
January 1, 2015
Intermittent pleasure
Earnest intentions, not fully realized. There’s about 35 minutes of solid entertainment and edification in Herbert Siguenza’s 90-plus minute tribute to Abbie Hoffman, activist, co-founder of the Youth International Party (aka. the “Yippies”), and media …
January 13, 2015