SAN DIEGO THEATER REVIEWS

As expected (thankfully) 2012 provided Southern California audiences--specifically here in Orange County and nearby Los Angeles and San Diego--a season full of outstanding, remarkable theater offerings from touring companies, impressive regional productions, and even some tiny black box theaters. An...

The three-hour-plus extravaganza of food, frolic, and fun is so thoroughly entertaining, that it's hard to point out which of its many features is the best. It's no wonder, then, that this big hit that ran for years in Seattle and San Francisco has just been given a much deserved extended engagement...

Hard to believe, but Sweeney Todd first bowed on Broadway in late 1979 and I was in New York to witness the brilliant achievement of Sondheim, Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou and the entire creative team. It is difficult to find just the right words to express how very much this show affected me when...

Orange County-based 3D Theatrical's surprisingly ebullient new production of the Irving Berlin musical revue I LOVE PIANO--now performing through September 23 at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton before it moves to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, September 28-30--is buoyed by its compose...

Arguably the most anticipated Broadway musical to ever hit the road in recent decades, the worship-worthy comedy THE BOOK OF MORMON--whose first national tour is now cheerfully spreading its gospel at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through November 25--certainly lives up to its massive box office...

Ridiculously silly in all the right ways and featuring a comically gifted, star-studded principal cast--headed up by Richard Kind, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Rebecca Romijn, Dane Cook, Gary Beach, and Roger Bart--that delivers the goods with infectious gusto, this large-scale revival on this outdoor aren...

This musical comedy brings everyone's favorite creepy family to the stage. Wednesday Addams turns the Addams house upside down when she announces that she has a "normal" boyfriend. Her parents, Gomez and Morticia, have no idea what to expect when Wednesdays boyfriend and his parents come over for ...

NOBODY LOVES YOU, a musical comedy set in the world of reality television, makes its world premiere at The Old Globe. NOBODY LOVES YOU takes audiences on a hilarious behind-the-scenes ride through reality television and into real life. When Jeff, a philosophy grad student, joins a dating show to ...

The La Jolla Playhouse presents the world premiere of HANDS ON A HARDBODY. When an auto dealership in Longview, TX launches an endurance contest, ten economically strapped strangers embark on a journey that puts their hearts, minds and bodies to the test. HANDS ON A HARDBODY is playing at The Jolla...

The critically acclaimed Kander & Ebb musical CHICAGO is back in San Diego with Christie Brinkley as Roxie Hart! CHICAGO is playing at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday, May 13th....

The Scottsboro Boys book by David Thompson music & lyrics by John Kander & Fred Ebb directed & choreographed by Susan Stroman Old Globe, San Diego through June 10...

The Old Globe presents THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS the critically acclaimed and moving musical based on the story of The Scottsboro Boys in 1931 Alabama. The show is making its West Coast premiere and will run through June10th at The Old Globe Theatre....

Charming and unabashedly buoyant, BILLY ELLIOT--which danced away with 10 fairly well-deserved Tony Award wins including Best Musical back in 2009--is a smile-inducing, pleasingly-staged musical based on the 2000 film. The stage musical version's national tour has finally stopped in Los Angeles for ...

In THE PRINCE OF ATLANTIS, Steven Drukman's funny new play set in the heavy-accented neighborhood of Nonantum, Massachusetts, the characters all seem to believe that the key to good relations with others and living a good life (or at least a nicer-than-average one) is to make things appear better th...

'People who smile at nothing are capable of anything', claims rigidly proper Charlotte Bartlett (Karen Ziemba), cousin and ward/chaperone to Lucy Honeychurch (Ephie Aardema) in the world premiere musical whose book is taken from the novel by E. M. Forster and the 1985 Merchant/Ivory film A Room with...

Produced by L.A. troupe Moving Arts from a concept by Paul Stein, THE CAR PLAYS is seriously one of the most thrilling theater experiences you will ever witness--or rather, get stuck in (and in a good way). A unique, site-specific theatrical offering that truly lives up to the idea of riveting, in-y...

With two impressive lead stars--Davis Gaines and Lesli Margherita--at the forefront of a fresh, dynamic re-staging of a classic work, Musical Theatre West's brand new production of the 1965 Tony Award-winning musical MAN OF LA MANCHA is, hands down, one of the most complex, beautifully-rendered musi...

After seeing Andrea Martin's brand new, laugh-filled, autobiographical one-woman-and-a-pianist show ANDREA MARTIN: FINAL DAYS! EVERYTHING MUST GO!, it's quite clear to see why the ever-so-funny Tony- and Emmy-winning actress has had such a rich and storied career in entertainment. A born chameleon w...

While laughing fairly consistently throughout Molly Smith Metzler's funny new American play ELEMENO PEA--now having its West Coast premiere engagement at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through February 26--you'll probably feel like you're sitting in a live studio taping of a fresh new sitcom ab...

It seems eerie yet fitting that the Los Angeles stop of Cirque du Soleil's MICHAEL JACKSON: THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR took place over the weekend at none other than the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is, after all, the very same venue where Jackson held rehearsals for his planned 2009 World Tour 'T...

Judging by opening night at the Old Globe, San Diego, fan reaction to Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show is every bit as over-the-top silly as the attention paid to the 1975 cult film retitled The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rocky Horror is a 1973(London)/74(LA)/75(Broadway) sendup of early sci ...

The Hollywood Bowl's gigantic, often star-studded outdoor summer musical has through the years been one of the most anticipated annual concert events in Southern California. And this year, with their rousing revival of HAIRSPRAY, the hype actually delivered on its promise--for the most part. Genuine...

UK playwright Alan Ayckbourn is revered internationally as a virtuoso at penning highly comedic plays. Ayckbourn, like Neil Simon, writes funny one-liners and creates very humorous characters, but uniquely manages to surprise his fans each and every time with a new and compelling artifice. In his br...

The La Jolla Playhouse is presenting a world premiere musical based on the 2006 Academy Award winning film "Little Miss Sunshine". And while the show had its shining moments and a cast that matched the subtlety and charm of the original sleeper hit, on the whole it needs a bit of a jump start if it...