SAN DIEGO THEATER REVIEWS

“boy: a new musical” made it's stage debut in a concert fundraiser at SDMT stage on Monday, May 16th. “boy: a new musical” is still in the development stage, and the concert was a fundraiser to help them continue to work on the show and present it to industry professionals in New York. ...

MALA written and performed by Melinda Lopez is a beautiful and personal memory play about her journey as her parent's caretaker and brings beauty, empathy, and humor to an intensely difficult period.  MALA is playing through June 12th....

MOTHER OF THE MAID, now playing at MOXIE Theatre offers powerful performances on parenting, faith, and how to help your child live their life on their terms.  Even if those terms challenge your ability to keep them safe, and could potentially be deadly. MOTHER OF THE MAID is playing through May 22n...

CCAE Theatricals invites you to come to see ONCE, and experience some great music and storytelling.  Set in and around a pub, this show features a very talented cast who sing, dance, and play multiple instruments to bring this story to life. ONCE is playing through May 7th at the California Center...

BOB FOSSE’S DANCIN’ originally came to the New York stage in 1978 and now you can see the world premiere revival at The Old Globe through May 29th.  This dance show is full of stunning dancers, and the work they bring to life is gorgeous, engaging, athletic, and sexy. Run, walk, or dance your w...

Fenix Theatre Collaborative makes its theatrical debut with BLUE/ORANGE at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center. The intense dramatic comedy may have been written in 2000, but this compelling production shows just how relevant the issues it tackles still are today. BLUE/ORANGE is playing through Saturday,...

Read our critic's review. TOOTSIE  the musical brings an old-fashioned musical to life based on the movie of the same name from 1982.  The show offers up a talented cast, physical comedy, and some updates to the story, but can’t fully disguise a problematic premise under comedy, costumes, and ch...

Gounod’s overture introduces ROMEO AND JULIET with a prophetic mix of lyrical romance and tragedy. Yves Abel, the Principal Conductor of the San Diego Opera, is an expert in French opera and made sure that resonant brass and lush strings produced the mood a Parisian composer of the time would have...

When he was four-years old Joshua Bell's parents found him making music by plucking rubber bands stretched to different lengths on dresser drawers. Clearly, he needed a real instrument. Fortunately, they bought a violin rather than a guitar. Ten years later he was the youngest ever to solo with the ...

THE HOMECOMING now playing through March 27th at North Coast Repertory Theatre explores family relationships, politics, and power in an impactful presentation.  This play features a top-notch ensemble that makes the twists and turns the family drama takes to feel as if they were fated all along....

THE BAND’S VISIT is a musical that delivers an impactful musical with gorgeous music and finds humor and enchantment in the ennui of a small desert town. THE BAND’S VISIT is playing through March 6th at Broadway San Diego....

ABIGAIL’S PARTY now playing at 10th Avenue Theatre by Backyard Renaissance through March 19th offers you a chance to have some drinks and nibbles in a blast from the past play from across the pond....

The La Jolla Music Society has been bringing some of the world’s best string quartets into the Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad. With a little over 500 seats and acoustics that allow you to hear off-stage whispers, it’ a setting that could only be improved upon if the performing quartet vis...

Dealing with family can be unpredictable; tears, laughter, and love are all mixed together to create something specific to those you call your own.  EL BORRACHO the play making its world premiere at The Old Globe through March 20th brings the story of a family to stage with warmth, laughter, love a...

LIFE SUCKS now playing at Cygnet Theatre through Feb 27th is a new take on a theatre classic; it's Uncle Vanya with a modern comedic twist....

I admire the plucky inventiveness of the San Diego Opera. On an annual budget of roughly three percent of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, it has managed to mount a consistently appealing and entertaining variety of productions, traditional and contemporary, in both good times and plague times. The ...

San Diego Musical Theatre’s CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is an incredibly fun caper musical comedy that fulfills the process to “take you on a ride” in “live in living color” and should not be missed. Catch this musical while you can at the brand new San Diego Musical Theatre stage through March 13...

SAPIENCE, the new play co-produced between TuYou Theatre and MOXIE Theatre playing through February 20th looks at the insights that occur when your way of communicating and experiencing the world expands....

The Old Globe's TROUBLE IN MIND is a very funny look at some serious topics. With an excellent cast, and a beautiful set this backstage comedy-drama is sure to have you laughing and leave you thinking after you exit the theatre. TROUBLE IN MIND is playing at The Old Globe through March 13th....

ADMISSIONS, now playing at OnStage Playhouse through Feb 27th looks at the hype and hypocrisy of the American education system and the smug, well-meaning, and wealthy liberals that promote diversity but not at a personal cost.  This deliberately provocative play is performed by a strong cast and is...

DESPERATE MEASURES turns one of Shakespeare's “problem play’s” MEASURE OF MEASURE, into a madcap musical melodrama that will leave you laughing.  Gunslingers to Governors, Sheriff’s to Saloon Girls, and Priests to Postulants, this musical has a variety of characters up to zany hijinks for y...

As we head towards the end of the year and look forward to a new one, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the great theatre that was made by San Diego theatres and artists.  From virtual to in-person, theatre proved that art finds a way, and even a pandemic can’t keep them down....

Family history, identity, culture, and love are all wrapped up in AZUL the play at Diversionary Theatre playing through December 19th. When some members of the family leave Cuba for New York, and some members stay, the show follows two love stories on each island,  and how to stay true to your heri...

No matter what holiday you may celebrate, bringing the family together always means there is always a mix of fun, family traditions, and inevitable change.  The world premiere1222 OCEANFRONT: A BLACK FAMILY CHRISTMAS, now playing through December 26th at New Village Arts brings a lovely and new hol...

It seems variety is the spice of classical music and opera in San Diego. The city’s symphony orchestra plans to appear in a dozen or more venues next year, and the opera company has used a different venue for each of its three recent recital concerts. The latest of these featured Mexican-born teno...