Bohdi Tree Concerts put on a very nice production of The Mikado. The singers were local and they sounded good. In fact, they sounded great.

There weren't any glaring vocal errors or singers that simply weren't qualified to sing this type of music. This concert proves that San Diego can field a more than capable cast of singers without importing them from across the country.

While Rent is a different type of singing, from what I could tell, there was one member of the cast that was from San Diego in the recent production by San Diego Musical Theatre. Interesting that a company called "San Diego" Musical Theatre would have a cast from else where.

This raises an issue that I want to visit ever so often in an attempt to change the current sentiment. There are four companies in town that should be bringing in out-of-town talent. Those companies are The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Opera, and The San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Other companies that claim to be local theaters or music ensembles need to use local artists. End of discussion.

If Bohdi Tree had brought in out-of-towners, the quality of singing would have been about the same if not worse. Using local singers supports, well, local singers. Bringing in singers from other cities that equal to or inferior to San Diegans is insulting.

It's insulting to local singers and to local audiences. I would hope San Diego audiences would want to see San Diego singers instead of being duped by the facade of imported talent.

If a singer comes down from L.A. to sing a gig in San Diego, how good can they really be? They might be making $300 if they're lucky. They're also driving down from L.A. and who wants to do that? A singer who can't get enough work in L.A.--because they're not that great.

Audiences continue to be hoodwinked by a bio. Singer's biographies are about the most misleading literature ever created but I will save that one for next time.

For now, I'm thrilled that Bodhi Tree Concerts put on a great show with local singers.