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| Community Theatres in San Diego continue taking risks with innovative and creative works! Onstage Playhouse
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| Compass Theatre Presents William Shakespeare's August 30 - October 5 A dark, sexy satirical drama of ambition versus reality that baffled scholars for centuries. (619) 688-9210 |
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| QPlays at Compass Theatre Presents our first in a series of five plays dealing with life in the GLBT world. 
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THE SHOW: Spring Awakening, the musical that swept the 2007 Tony Awards, winning 8 of its 11 nominations, including Best Musical (a title also bestowed by the New York Drama Critics Circle, the Drama Desk, Drama League and the Outer Critics Circle). Other Tonys were bestowed for Best Book (Steven Sater) and Best Score (Duncan Sheik). The show has come full circle, returning to San Diego, where it had its first workshop production (at the La Jolla Playhouse, 1999). This is the West coast debut, and the kickoff of the 2-year national tour. It’s also Broadway San Diego’s first presentation in the newly renovated Balboa Theatre, and the first time in 84 years that a major Broadway show is being produced in the historic space (which, you might be interested to know, has the only functioning wall-mounted water-effect in the country!) THE STORY: The musical is based on the infamous 1891 play of the same name, by German dramatist Frank Wedekind, whose work often criticized ‘bourgeois attitudes,’ especially about sex. It was his first major play, and it caused a scandal. Set in a tight-laced, authoritarian society, the piece is an incendiary story of late 19th century German youth reaching puberty and discovering their sexuality. The musical, like the drama, has a central love story, and includes scenes or intimations of masturbation, rape, child abuse, homosexuality, botched abortion and teen suicide. Wedekind called it ‘a tragedy of childhood.’ © 2007 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC. Email Pat Pat's Website San Diego Theatre Scene Newsletter
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This is Our Youth|
Bravissimo Mini-REVIEWS ( ** )
Shakespeare’s TROILUS & CASSIDRA
Directed by Welton Jones For Compass Theatre (formerly the 6th & Penn Theatre), the Shakespeare play TROILUS & CRESSIDA is being directed by Welton Jones, who has joined George Weinberg-Harter in editing the play. Both gentlemen, are active ‘play reviewers’ for SANDIEGO.COM, and have worked together for over 20 years on shows, ranging from Shakespeare to Gilbert & Sullivan. This Shakespeare TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, is a dark, sexy satire on the Trojan War, and will open the Fall Season at Compass Theatre on Aug 30th, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays (at 8pm), Sundays (2pm), through October 7th.
Welton Jones
Director Jones has cast Weinberg-Harter, and includes Scott Andrew Amiotte, Brenna Foley, Edwin Eigner, Laura Kaplan, Gerard J. Maxwell, Michael Nieto, Adam Parker and Michael Zlotnik, with Christian Lopez designing the sets, Shelly Williams designing the costumes, and the lighting handled by Roger Henderson. According to Director Jones, ‘HELEN, whose face launched a thousand ships, is an aging libertine; ULYSSES is a crafty plotter; ACHILLES, a treacherous slacker; AGAMEMNON, an ineffective windbag; and AJAX, a dumb jock!’ What more can one ask for?
For reservations and tickets, call (619) 688-9210.
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Column August 21, 2008 Hello Everyone, and happy weekend. The magnificent Priscilla Allen received a magnificent farewell from the community on Thursday, at the Lyceum Theatre. There was standing room only in the Space theatre where we laughed and cried as Priscilla’s long and illustrious career was remembered with love. For those of us who were privileged to share the stage with her, we know that we experienced something rare and wonderful. We also know that despite her passion for the theatre, her passion for her three daughters was paramount. Dear Pussy, we loved you and will remember you, and wish you the peace you so deserve. The youngest person in attendance at the service was beautiful Tristan Heil, one month old son of Jason and Kim who is thriving. I traveled to Priscilla’s memorial service with Bill Schmidt of Cygnet Theatre, who on Saturday will marry his long time partner, Sean Murray. Congratulations and much happiness to you both. After 10 years of great service to the Old Globe Theatre, Public Relations Director Becky Biegelsen is moving onto a new role at UCSD. Becky, thank you for taking such good care of us, and the theatre, over the decade. We wish you very well! I wish Stone Soup’s production of tick, tick…BOOM by Jonathan Larson, had been seen by a larger audience, however, those of us who did catch it, loved it! Especially Ree Miller who saw it three times! The story is dated now, yet the three terrific performers, Jim Chatham, Joe Almohaya and Briona Daugherty gave it their all! Unfortunately, will have to miss the closing weekend of the Best of the Blitz, which concludes at the Lyceum on Sunday. You can still catch the two final productions. Last Monday and Tuesday at Cygnet, Backyard Productions delivered a sharp staged reading as a fundraiser. Directed by Jessica John (her first!) the excellent cast delivered the biting wit of Roland Schimmelpfennig’s (say that three times fast!) Push Up. Would love to see a full production, it will have you questioning what you will settle for when it comes to relationships. On Tuesday, I joined Marianne McDonald and friends at Anthology on India Street for a delightful musical feast, headed by Marianne’s lovely and talented daughter, Brigid Brigitte. It was Brigid’s first appearance at Anthology and I understand will not be her last. Douglas Lay shared our table, and he has exciting news about The Theatre, Inc., San Diego's newest live theatre at 899 C Street 92101 at the corner of 9th and C St. It is an intimate 50-seat proscenium theatre in the heart of downtown. The Theatre, Inc is San Diego's only theatre devoted exclusively to the re-imagining and re-birth of the classics. The new performance space will kick off their 2nd season with the illustrious 'PROMETHEUS BOUND' by Aeschlyus opening Nov. 8 and runs for 6 weeks. They are also remounting the critically successful 'Helen' by Euripides starring Robin Christ and running in repertory on Sundays with 'Prometheus'. Next up is the restoration classic 'THE COUNTRY WIFE' by Wycherley, which opens Feb. 28th 2009. After that is Sophocles’ The Thracian Women' which opens May 23rd 2009. Last up is Lillian Hellman's amazing 'THE CHILDREN'S HOUR' which opens August 1st. Marianne McDonald has written the Greek translations. The Theatre, Inc's newest playhouse is also available for rentals. Contact us at 619 216 3016 or www.thetheatreinc.com or Melissa@thetheatreinc.com Phil Johnson would love you to see Nemesis at Compass Theatre, before it closes this weekend. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get there, however, anything that features the very funny Johnson is worth seeing. On August 22nd at 8pm at Liberty Station Marketplace you can see a free performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And on August 24 at 5pm you can see Twelfth Night Or What You Will at Seagrove Park in Del Mar. And speaking of Shakespeare, finally saw our first production of the three Festival offerings…Romeo & Juliet, directed by Rick Seer with a fine touch. Beautiful staging. Juliet is innocent, eager and passionate as played by Heather Wood. Owiso Odera is a masterful, mischievous Mercutio and Deborah Taylor a locquacious and loving Nurse. Jerry Herman’s Broadway will be presented one night only, August 23 at 7:30pm at the Old Globe Theatre. Call 619-231-1941 for show details. Catch a reading of Hedda Gabler at Diversionary Theatre on Monday, August 25 at 7pm. We haven’t seen this classic on our stages for far too long. Great cast! Sailor’s Song by John Patrick Shanley closes at New Village Arts this Sunday at 2pm, and the hilarious Shakespeare Abridged continues at the theatre through August 31. My Fair Lady at Starlight also runs through August 31, in the theatre in Balboa Park. And you can catch San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre’s The Joy Luck Club at The Lab in Mission Valley through September 14 on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons at 2pm. Antonio “TJ” Johnson would love you to join San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre on August 30 frap, 6-9pm at St Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral on 6th Avenue, for the 2nd annual tribute to the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream”. Erica Boddie hosts, and a very talented cast performs dance and drama. All proceeds benefit SDET and the Dr. Floyd Gaffney Memorial Fund. Call 619-241-5042 to reserve tickets. I’ll be previewing Night Sky and Memphis soon, two great productions, both at La Jolla Playhouse! And that’s it from me for another week. Hold your loved ones tight, and see you soon at the theatre! Love, Jenni
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Jenni Prisk
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Claudio Raygoza (left) and Glenn Paris (right) of ion theatre have just been married (by our own Pat Launer) and we wish them joy and love too.|
Fritz Blitz in final week . . . don’t miss it! The fourth and final Fritz Blitz 2008, celebrating 15 years of festivals, is this weekend. It is a weekend not to miss. Humphrey, Nevada is a tiny village within binocular sight of Area 51. It came out of the fertile mind of Tom Swimm, a playwright, actor, and artist. Ray and Marge Weaver (Duane Weekly and Theresa Layne) run the local eatery. Actually, she runs it and he keeps an eye out for aliens from space, the ones he met once and believes will return. Their 28-year-old son, Jesse (Anthony Misiano), is a painter and Mom just can’t cut the apron strings. Ronnie (Yolanda Franklin), a freelance writer from Las Vegas, visits, allegedly to write an article on Ray’s sighting. There is more than just his story. It seems that Jesse is involved with Ronnie, heavily involved, and Mom doesn’t like it one bit. Ronnie is black. Humphrey, Nevada has a very authentic feel. Every word rings with the truth of the character. Ray is accepting, Marge accepts very little. They are opposites in many ways. A subplot adds even more texture to the story. Director Craig Huisenga cast well and kept the realism the playwright wrote. Each of the cast members provided us with an excellent, believable interpretation of their character. * * * There is a certain insanity in creating a new play. A blank sheet of paper slowly becomes filled with words. Hopefully, those words with inspire actors and entertain audiences. Craig Abernethy’s State of the Art provides a look inside the mind of one writer. If one read the script in the quiet of the night, one would be assaulted by non-sentences and word bits, more often than not half words, foreshortened words, and little else. It takes an insightful director to create a masterpiece from this. That director is Robert May. He saw both the humor and the convoluted logic that is the creative process. Calandra Crane, Allison Maldonado, and Tristan Poje become the thought processes that are the beginnings of a new play. Ironically, this is often the insanity that goes on inside the creative mind. The ideas are given birth monosyllabically and very slowly become whole words, then sentences, and finally paragraphs and dialog. Abernethy captured the brain cells in action. This excellent, finely tuned cast gave physical form to the firing of synapses. State of the Art is pure theatre, tremendously amusing. It gives the audience an unique look into the creative process. Do not miss this, the final weekend of the final Fritz Blitz. Missing this will do a serious disservice to your theatre-going experience. Goodbye Fritz Blitz, we are going to really miss you. C:\Users\Hitch\Documents\Reviews 2008
Lamplighters Summerfest 2008 a six course feast I was 12 years old when my middle-aged parents bought twin beds. I thought that was the end of their marriage. They were married 57 years. Watching Robert Anderson’s The Footsteps of Doves under Mark Loveless’s direction brought back those ancient memories. Middle-aged couple Harriet and George Porter (Pamela Fadden and Mark Loveless) are shopping for a new mattress. Two singles or one regular . . . dimensions are important, their marriage is at risk . . . what will the outcome be? Like every mattress store I’ve ever been in, there the two prices on each and each always has a “sale” price. Enter the hyper salesman (Michael David Grulli) with his standard pitch. Finally, George wanders out of view and Harriet explores head and foot boards. Enter Jill Hammond (Angie Doren), young, attractive, and recently divorced. She is luxuriating on the larger mattress. Poor brow-beaten George wanders back into the mattress section. What transpires has got to be sceen. Leave it that George has a new lease on life. The joys of middle-age fantasies. The Memory Book starring Jonathan Dunn-Rankin and Timothy Carr as aging John and Joseph was insightfully written by Jack Dyville with DJ Sullivan directing. Two classic and classy actors in a memorable piece with a surprise ending . . . in a not-to-be missed play. Loretta Haas performed Row, Row, Row, in verse, and Anna Mae/McDonalds under Ron Ray’s direction. In the first, appearing in period costume complete with boa, she gave us an inspired rendition. In the later, a delightful spoof of a certain fast food chain, she was a very western woman with an extremely strange tale. Michael Dean Grulli, as a cowboy type-Rico, returns with Diego Parada, as Raul, a job hunter in Terence Burke’s Taxco Mixto, directed by Nanci Hunter. Rico is loaded with big ideas and no common sense. Raul has some good ideas, common sense, and a lack of funds. What transpires is delightful repartee between two accomplished actors. The end speech, which is in Spanish, is fortunate translated by the director for us mono-linguals Thus opens Lamplighters Community Theatre’s Summerfest 2008. Six short plays sure to amuse, amaze, and astound the audience. There is a good variety from the serious, to the silly, to the romantic. I hope you have an opportunity to see this festival. There is also Fritz Blitz’s last year, and the upcoming short play festival at North Park Vaudeville. Sadly, we’ve lost Actor’s Alliance’s short play festival; but, hopefully, the New Perspective Festival will be repeated next year. For those that love a beginning, middle, and ending in 15-minutes or less, short plays are a must. See you at the theatre. Summerfest 2008 is being performed at the La Mesa Women’s Club at 5220 Wilson Street in La Mesa. For information and reservations call the Box Office at 619 469-6433 or email them at www.lamplighterstheatre.org. Fritz Blitz week three |
Ending the evening is Ed (right) and Ruth Eigner as Herbert and Muriel in Robert Anderson’s totally outrageous I’m Herbert. Mark Loveless directs. Herbert and Muriel, both in their third (if I counted right) marriage, getting up in years, have a wee problem with memory, names, dates, places . . . well, you get the story. As one who does forget names, I felt compassion with the two. Of course, forgetting the name of your spouse is a bit much. I guarantee that the audience did not forget for a moment to laugh.