Brooklyn Boy at Scripps Ranch Theatre
Eric Weiss's dream has come true. All those years, all those words, the two failed books — now he's made "the list." He's got the 11th best-selling novel in the country. It's called Brooklyn Boy. It is, or is not, …
The Mousetrap at Moonlight at the Avo
When Agatha Christie's whodunit opened at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London - November 25, 1952 - it had already played elsewhere under another name: Three Blind Mice. A friend told her it would run at least 14 months. Naw, …
Dividing the Estate at the Old Globe
There's more to Horton Foote's play than meets the eye. It's 1987. Stella Gordon, an aging matriarch, wants to keep her estate in Harrison, Texas, intact after she dies. But her children - like King Lear's, like the grabby family …
Lion in Winter: Sure It's Whacko, But Is It Accurate?
In James Goldman's comedy-drama - now at North Coast Rep. - King Henry II spends Christmas with his family in 1183. Each is a piece of work: wife Eleanor and sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John. Yuletide cheer dwindles into to …
Spring Awakening at California Youth Conservatory Theatre
Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's eight Tony Award-winning, no-holds-barred musical is at the Welk Resort Theatre? Blistering songs about repressed youth and obsessive moral authority - not to mention abuse, rape, and teenage suicide - aren't the sort of subjects …
This Week in Sports, 100 Years Ago - Baseball
SEMI-PROFESSIONAL. "Each winter sees more of the big league players coming to San Diego to pass the off season and play in the Winter Leagues," writes the Union. "With three games a week" - sometimes three days in a row …
This Week in Sports - 100 Years Ago, Part Two
AUTOMOBILE RACING. Two cars — a Schlacht driven by Al Shain and a Buick driven by famous daredevil Louis Nickrent — will vie for 50 miles over Lakeside's two-mile speedway. Both cars have 40 horsepower. After swift trial runs, the …
This Week in Sports - 100 Years Ago, Part One
"Literally speaking," writes the Union on January 1, 1912, "there are no indoor sports in San Diego. There is no need for any, as outdoor sports hold sway every month in the year. Be it January or June, those who …
Year End Clearance Sales - 100 Years Ago
Between December 26 and January 2, 1911, stores in San Diego slashed prices. CLOTHING. Smith's Clothes for Men, at 858 Fifth, offered $15.00 suits and overcoats for $11.25. Thirty dollar outfits for $23.75 ("blues and blacks not included"). Marston's, at …
Nominees for Craig Noel Awards, 2011
The San Diego Critics Circle has announced the following nominees. The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, February 6, 2012, from 6:00 to 10:00 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect, La Jolla. OUTSTANDING RESIDENT MUSICAL: Cabaret, Cygnet …
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Cygnet
Okay, over here you got your world class yuletide curmudgeons: Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Grinch. They never heard a Christmas carol they didn't flat out hate. And chipper children? Don't even go there. Now over here you've got your wonderful...wait! …
Comparison Shopping - 100 Years Ago
If you were out and about on December 17, 1911, shopping for Christmas dinner, the San Diego Sun compared the prices you would pay with those for the same items in 1853: (1853/1911) Turkey - $1.00 / $3.00 Oysters, one …
What's Playing this Weekend — 100 Years Ago
Between December 16 and 18, 1911, San Diego theatergoers had choices: At the GRAND THEATRE (east side of Fifth, between B and C): The Louis Morrison Stock Company performs Clyde Fitch's comedy, The Blue Mouse. The Union reviewer assures readers …
Mistletoe, Music, and Mayhem at North Coast Rep
Now in its second year, this wacko satire of Yuletide doings could become a tradition for the North Coast Rep. Creators Matt Thompson and Phil Johnson have added new material and filled out last year's inaugural effort to 90 minutes. …
Lighting Angels
Karin Filijan teaches a course at Cal State University, San Marcos, called "Contemporary American Theatre, Society's Taboos." One of the 12 assigned texts: Tony Kushner's Angels in America. She's taught the course several times, and each discussion reveals more about …
Festival of Christmas at Lamb's Players
Kerry Meads usually sets her annual Christmas stories in the past. This year's takes place "somewhere uptown," today. Two old storefronts are being renovated: one to become a coffee house, the other a music studio that "will bring all the …
Kushner on Playwriting
Tony Kushner's Angels in America (currently at the Lyceum Space) has been hailed as one of the finest plays of the last two decades. Here are some of his thoughts on the craft, taken from various interviews. ON HIS PROCESS. …
Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas at Old Globe Theatre
He's back. Sure, he's as tall as a power forward and can bench press, he brags, 450 pounds. He can sing up a storm and trip the light fantastic and impersonate everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Wayne to Elvis …
Learn to be Latina at Diversionary
Enrique Urueta's equal opportunity offender has toured the country, including a stop at Minneapolis' prestigious - and tough-minded - Mixed Blood Theatre. But Diversionary's iffy prouduction makes one wonder why it's getting so much play. The staging, by an uncredited …
The Biography of a Diary
The Diary of Anne Frank runs through December 4 at OnStage Playhouse. Here's some background for this fine production: On June 12, 1942, Otto Frank gave his daughter, Annelies Marie, an autograph album for her 13th birthday. She decided to …