Balboa Park App!
I just found out that Balboa Park has a free APP for the iPhone. Among its features: Events guide (updated daily), Attractions guide, Restaurant guide, Maps, Bookmarking (so you can plan an itinerary), and Links to resources. I spoke with …
What is a dramaturg?
Shirley Fishman, dramaturg at the La Jolla Playhouse, and one of the best in the business, describes her tasks. "I was doing it before I ever knew what it was. I was part of a New York company doing a …
Mule Deer Roaming Cuyamaca
Mule Deer by the dozens or more continue to roam through the 25,000-acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, where the smoldering landscape of October 2003 has given way to thriving shrubbery and some saplings of pine and oak amid the bleached …
Rounding Third at Scripps Ranch Theatre
Don and Michael coach a Little League team. Dictatorial Don, an ex-ballplayer with an injury-shortened career, says fun means winning. Kinder, gentler Michael, a businessman who couldn't tell a fielder's choice from a fungo, disagrees. Fun lies in the playing, …
Literary August: Osage County, vol. II
Tracy Letts prefaces the published version of August: Osage County with a quotation from Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men. It may not apply to every parent/child relation, but it shines light on Violet Weston and possibly husband Beverly …
David Ross
"Hi, Guys. David Ross. Okay, Carl, are we ready to go, big guy? Hey, Tony, Mister Presidente!" David Ross is at the podium addressing the San Diego City Counsel, as he has regularly in recent years, always reminding the council, …
TV and Events
Each week, I compile a page of select events for Your Week and Welcome to It. But once a month, I share footage from one of the events I featured and attended, and then I suggest my top four things …
Theater or Theatre?
Both mean the same thing. So why the different endings, and which is correct? "Theatre" is the British spelling. Like "shoppe" and "colour." Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, preferred spelling words the way they sounded. He also advocated an "American" …
Raisin' the Rent at Ira Aldridge Players
People used raise the rent parties to pay the rent. These began in Harlem in the 1920s. Entertainers performed for free. You paid at the door - often up to 25 cents - and the joint would jump. Calvin Manson …
Puppy Electronics
Though Fry's Electronics off of Aero Drive by the I-15 does carry plush toys by the movie section, the last thing I was expecting when I ran in for a new memory card for my video camera was a real …
High-Elevation Lilacs in Bloom
Wild Lilac (ceanothus) is currently blooming mostly at elevations higher than 4000 feet in San Diego County. Blossom colors range from pure white to various shades of blue or lavender. Some fine examples may be seen along the upper Noble …
Acting in 2100
I read Michio Kaku's Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives in 2100. It was like watching a 100 car Coastliner with a prediction in every window - and the sun at your …
Death by Oleander
Oleander bushes, now beginning to bloom in gardens and along roadsides in the interior valleys and desert, will continue putting on a good show through the summer. Good displays of white, pink, and red varieties can be seen along the …
Flower Drum Song at San Diego Asian American Rep
When he refashioned this piece in 2002, David Henry Hwang subtitled it "A Musical Revival in Concert." So you expect tuxes and evening gowns and performers, shielded behind music stands, singing the greatest hits of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1958 original. …
Literary August: Osage County
It's as if Tracy Letts put preservatives into his play. He quotes poets whose words make more sense after the performance. Johnna, the native American caretaker, quotes T. S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men": "This is the way the world ends/ …
NBC Tweetup
Tonight (more like afternoon than evening, think Happy Hour time, from 4-6) I'm going to hit up the NBC Tweetup at the Tipsy Crow downtown. If you don't know what a tweetup is, then don't worry about it, nothing there …
Warblers and Flycatchers
Land bird migration is in full swing this month in San Diego County, with warblers and flycatchers among those most commonly seen. Warblers crawl along trees limbs and branches to dine on their favorite insects, while flycatchers, as the name …
The Making of Cabaret
Cygnet Theatre's acclaimed production closes this weekend. Word has it that the show has grown a good deal. How the musical grew is a story in itself. Joe Masteroff planed a simple, ultimately sad book musical: a love story between …
TGIF Troubled Sleep
I was walking along C Street Downtown, past the Fish Joint, closed now for hours. It was around 11 pm. I was unable to sleep: tossing, turning, thinking of Sartre and my own lingering alienation (decades now) in my converted …
By Design
In theory, a set should never dominate a production. It should serve the story and give focus to the actors. At first glance, David Zinn's set for August: Osage County at the Old Globe breaks the rule. It looks like …
Where the Wild Things Are
If food and wine are involved, chances are I'm there. Add animals, and you can start placing bets. Though I grew up in Chula Vista, I had only in recent years heard of the Chula Vista Nature Center, and I'd …
Talk About Drama!
The Padres' game yesterday had all the elements of high drama: practically insurmountable odds, bleak conditions, and a thrilling note of redemption. Problem is: if a playwright wrote the script, few would believe it. Going into the seventh, the Pads …
May Flowers
Wildflowers of San Diego County's highest mountains are in full bloom this month. Take a walk along any trail above 4500 feet in the Laguna, Cuyamaca, or Palomar mountains and enjoy a palette of colors ranging from crimson red to …
May's Highest Tide
Highest tide this month, measuring +6.6 feet, occurs on Monday, May 16, at 8:58 p.m. Lowest tides of the month, measuring -1.6 feet, occur on Tuesday, May 17, at the inconvenient hour of 3:56 a.m.; and on Wednesday, May 18, …
Planting Moon
The Moon, just shy of full phase, rises into the late-afternoon eastern sky on Monday, May 16, at around 7:20 p.m. (about 20 minutes before the time of sunset). Some folk names for May full moons include "hare moon," "frogs …
Grunion Runs Approach
Grunion Runs are predicted to occur during the late evening hours (generally after 10 p.m. and before 1 a.m.), following the nocturnal high tide, May 17 though May 20. The small, silvery grunion tend to spawn on wide, gently sloping …
What Was Prospero Thinking?
At the end of Shakespeare's The Tempest, old Prospero abandons his magical powers and sails home to Milan. He had his enemies assembled on an island. He could have avenged all wrongs but chose mercy instead. Now, as he heads …
Safari Roundup
The phone has been tested, people. I can now, as you saw yesterday, post videos ON THE GO. Watch out, there's no telling where I'll end up, or whether or not what I'm doing is legal. It was a while …
How do you spend your Friday night?
In the nascent days of my TGIF column I would get the same response frequently to a single question begged by the column's rubric – or graybrick, I suppose. That question was, "How do you spend your Friday night?" or …
The Catalina Eddy
The Catalina Eddy, a meteorological condition responsible for days-long episodes of dreary, overcast weather over San Diego, is most likely to occur in May and June. This weather pattern, which intensifies our late spring "June gloom," happens when moist marine …
Feeding Giraffes
Oh, it's exactly what it sounds like. Here's a short clip of me, feeding a couple of giraffes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6j6XGSyRYk
Safari
I'm at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, about to get on some photo caravan that will take me into the "African Plains," where supposedly I'm going to feed giraffes and rhinos, if they come up to me. Oh, and …
Word of Mouth: The More Things Change...
Some critics don't like to admit it, but the most influential voice for selling theater tickets will always be word of mouth. Friends recommend a show to friends. The words and enthusiasm are immediate. According to marketing researchers, 20 years …
New Community Art Experience — Voices
Jon Block Creations will commence a monthly “visceral community arts experience” called Voices tomorrow (Friday) at the ArtLab (3536 Adams) in Normal Heights. The event runs from 7:00pm-10:00pm and features performances by singer-songwriter Jaylen Green, stand-up comedian Sindi Somers, violin …
Gator by the Bay: Video!
This weekend I hit up Gator by the Bay at the Spanish Landing Park. Music, crawfish, and people in paper hats filled the park across the street from the airport for two solid days. Want a peek at some of …
“History and Present — Czech Puppetry Theatre”
“Czech puppetry has been a major influence on the art of puppetry around the world, and indeed, on theatre itself.” Katerina Dolenska plans an illustrated talk on the history of Czech puppet theater from the 1700s to the present day. …
Daren Scott's Maiden Voyage
Daren Scott, longtime San Diego actor, recently directed his first show: Sweet Storm at New Village Arts. "Every serious actor should direct at least once," he says. "I tried to be as prepared as possible, but also worried about overthinking …
Bakers and Bloggers Unite!
San Diego food bloggers will pick up their whisks and bake items for the National Food Blogger Bake Sale, benefiting Share Our Strength and its mission to fight childhood hunger. Buy some goodies and help the 30 participants who want …
"It's Only Fair: Social Justice and the Price of a Cup of Coffee"
Didja know "coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil?" San Diego Catholic Worker hosts presentation by Mario Arroyo of Catholic Relief Services and Rigo Hernandez of Cafe Virtuoso on the origins of the Fair Trade …
Is Mission Bay Gross?
Unsafe? San Diego Coastkeeper hosts “Signs of the Tide” panel examining Mission Bay’s water conditions, how it’s been changed and developed by humans, and factors in its water quality. Panelists include Rob Hutsel (San Diego River Park Foundation), Ken Schiff …
Lunch in Leucadia
If it’s Monday, it’s time for fava bean soup at Pannikin. Too early for lunch? Greek eggs may hit the spot. Though the line often snakes out the front door of this old Santa Fe Depot building, there’s plenty to …
Playing for Laughs
No two performances are the same. No two audiences either. If you're playing a comedy, accounting for these differences is tricky stuff. A joke that fizzled with the matinee audience, who just ate lunch, might bowl the evening crowd over. …
A Grand Conjunction Junction
A Grand Conjunction of four planets occurs early Wednesday morning, May 11, in the eastern sky; however, binoculars will be required to see all four planets involved. At around 4:30 a.m., during morning twilight, look low in the eastern sky …
Sir Alan's Creative Process
At last count, Sir Alan Ayckbourn had written 75 plays. That's an average of almost two a year since he switched from actor to writer in the late 1950s. So how does one of the world's most prolific playwrights pen …
Afterthoughts: Let Me Down Easy
During opening night of Let Me Down Easy at the Lyceum, a woman in the upstairs section would not stop laughing. Even when angry heads turned her way she kept on. But what Anna Deavere Smith does on stage, though …