SAN DIEGO THEATER REVIEWS

A review of THE HOUSE OF JOY at San Diego Repertory....

British guest conductor Bramwell Tovey led the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in authoritative performances of William Walton's Crown Imperial (Coronation March), Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto and the Enigma Variations of Edward Elgar. Britannia indeed ruled on this night! In 1936 Walton was a...

FLY, the new musical adaption of J.M. Barrie's tale of Peter Pan brings a swashbuckling, gravity-defying adventure to the stage of the La Jolla Playhouse....

The San Diego Opera's first Detour Series performance this season belonged to the new Bel Canto Trio, starring tenor Joshua Guerrero, soprano Julie Adams, and bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee. All are outstanding young award winners with impressive voices and resumes. Music director and pianist Chris...

Trinity Theatre Company proves in their committed, hilarious, and perceptive production of CLYBOURNE PARK that the more things change the more they stay the same....

Conductor Eun Sun Kim is the recently named musical director of the San Francisco Opera. In her debut with the San Diego Symphony she opened her program with Korean composer Texu Kim's playful Spin-Flip. Two hyperromantic works followed, the Sibelius violin concerto and Rachmaninoff's third symphony...

 THE ILLUSIONISTS LIVE FROM BROADWAY proves that it only takes a little bit of magic to fill the theatre at Broadway San Diego.  THE ILLUSIONISTS are playing multiple shows through Sunday, March 1st, catch them before they disappear....

Beethoven was born 250 years ago. The San Diego Symphony's most recent birthday present in its celebration of the anniversary was an engaging performance of his violin concerto by violinist Stefan Jackiw. Conductor Rafael Payare, as though beginning one of Beethoven's powerful symphonies, put som...

THE OUTSIDER now playing at North Coast Rep through March 22nd is the perfect comedy antithesis for a year that can feel like a neverending political drama.  A top-notch comedic cast this show delivers on the laughs with some pointed humor that makes the most of the sometimes counterintuitive feel...

Composer Chou Wen-chung, who died recently at the age of 96, was honored at the most recent 'red fish blue fish' percussion concert. Chou's works have been performed by major orchestras throughout the world, and he mentored many who have gone on to successful careers of their own. Tan Dun and Chen Y...

Fête Noire: A Festival Celebrating Black Culture Across the African Diaspora by New Match Collective and its powerful pieces and performances are the perfect way to close out February....

A KIND OF WEATHER is a comedic, tragic, introspective, and thought-provoking look at transition, but not in the way that may be generally assumed....

 SHE LOVES ME, now playing at San Diego Musical Theatre through March 8th, is a delightfully entertaining and sweet, that will have people leaving the theatre humming and that warm and fuzzy feeling of true love conquering all. ...

MATILDA playing at Coronado Playhouse through February 23rd is bound to make everyone feel good about being a a 'little bit naughty'...

If you were a god who specialized in green and growing things and wanted to try to save the planet, New Jersey aka a?oeThe Garden Statea?? may seem like the natural place to start. In HURRICANE DIANE, the new comedy by playwright Madeleine George, playing at the Old Globe proves that while Jersey ma...

Engelbert Humperdinck's HANSEL AND GRETEL opened Saturday to an audience that included several dozen children, who followed their attention from beginning to end with color, movement, and singing backed by lushly orchestrated music. Even a five year-old girl sitting in front of me on a raised seat k...

RED BIKE, playing at MOXIE Theatre through February 16th captures that fleeting and adrenaline-filled time childhood where you are given the keys to exploration and adventure; when you get your dream bicycle....

Beethoven was born 250 years ago, and the world has been honoring the anniversary with a deluge of the great composer's music. The San Diego Symphony's celebration continued with strong, well-played performances of Beethoven's Egmont Overture and sixth symphony. Principal Guest Conductor Edo de Waar...

THE GREAT LEAP is an entertaining and thought-provoking way of combining history, politics, culture, and basketball.  It is playing at the Cygnet Theatre through February 16th....

JITNEY playing at The Old Globe through February 23rd elevates everyday life and work in a thoroughly entertaining, hilarious, and at times devastating look at the dignity of work, providing for those you love, and the ties that bind friends and family into a community.  ...

THE HUMANS now playing at San Diego Repertory Theatre through February 2nd is a family comedy-drama that proves even fictional holiday celebrations can be emotional minefields to navigate....

Wondering how to celebrate Beethoven's 250th birthday? Well, to paraphrase Julie Andrews, the air is alive with the sound of his music. Take a European riverboat cruise that promises performances of his string quartets, stream Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman's intensely romantic portrayal of the g...

The most important thing to know about DEAR EVAN HANSEN which is playing at Broadway San Diego through January 12th is that you should go well hydrated because you may be in tears by the time you exit the theatre.    ...

The San Diego Opera's first Detour Series performance this season was 'One Amazing Night' with Soprano Ailyn Pérez, tenor Joshua Guerrero and accompanist Abdiel Vázquez. All are outstanding young award winners with impressive resumes. The first half featured operatic arias, enjoyable and worth the...

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra's Conductor Laureate Jahja Ling returned again for multiple performances this season. In the first of these he was at the helm for Rimsky-Korsakov's Suite from The Snow Maiden, Prokofiev's third piano concerto, and Dvorák's eighth symphony....