1,759 stories from The San Diego Union-Tribune
It seems safe to say that "Diana, The Musical" may be the only Patio Playhouse show this year to be name-dropped by the New York Daily News. The play, which opens Friday (Oct. 20) at the Esc…
Sometimes a creative work can become so familiar that what made it vital in the first place is obscured by the kind of cultural shorthand it acquires. That might be the case with the classic…
Caleb Foote says it was fate that led him to the lead role in the local premiere of everyone's favorite Broadway play about a potty-mouthed, chaos-causing puppet. But you have to wonder if t…
Words of wisdom are where you find them " and for a failed Elvis impersonator turned fledgling Florida drag queen named Casey, they issue from the ruby-red lips of a high-heeled, wisecrackin…
Back in the 1980s, actor/playwright Eric Bogosian became an off-Broadway darling with his incendiary, multicharacter solo plays that pulsed with near-manic energy, rage and male testosterone…
When it comes to "Smoke on the Mountain," there's mileage on the musical: Lamb's Players Theatre is staging Connie Ray's charmingly down-home show for the seventh time since its West Coast p…
Site-specific performance, immersive drama, interactive art: It's tough to find one label that fits the riot of creativity that is La Jolla Playhouse's Without Walls Festival. But new festiv…
To bee or not to bee? Six kids go into linguistic battle in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," the musical comedy from composer-lyricist Bill Finn and writer Rachel Sheinkin, whos…
Over the past couple of years, Jennifer Paredes has made an indelible mark as not only of San Diego's most-sought after young actors, but one of its most fearless. Paredes has played a sever…
When "The Pirates of Penzance" made its world premiere in New York in 1879, the musicians in the orchestra pit threatened to strike because Arthur Sullivan's intricate score was far too "ope…
Devising programs for season-opening concerts is a challenge every orchestra director approaches warily, especially when your players return to the concert hall after a successful summer of …
And now, put your hands together for "Almost Like Praying." In case you haven't checked it out yet: "Hamilton" and "In the Heights" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's song to benefit Puerto Rico d…
Leonard Pelkey is gone. Leonard Pelkey is everywhere. In the playwright-actor James Lecesne's quietly moving solo show about a missing teen-ager, a few motley objects " a backpack, a broken …
Broadway has come calling, and Jason Mraz's answer is: "I'm yours."The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-guitarist, who launched his career in San Diego's coffeehouse scene, has announc…
Here's some of what's coming up on the San Diego performing-arts scene for October: Down-home and up-tempo and folksy all over: Lamb's dusts off this much-revived musical about the fictional…
Here's some of what's coming up on the San Diego performing-arts scene for October: 10.6-11.19: "Smoke on the Mountain" Down-home and up-tempo and folksy all over: Lamb's dusts off this much…
More than 150 years after the Civil War ended, America still seems to be fighting that bloody conflict's battles, over and over again.Confederate monuments remain flash points of this countr…
At one point amid the crushing drama and disappointment of Polish immigrant Darja's life in a New Jersey at its seediest, she confides: "I'm not someone who wonders why." She's not someone w…
Some of Edred Utomi's fondest memories of growing up revolve around two musicals: "The Sound of Music," and the South African-made "Ipi Ntombi," a huge favorite of his dad's. Long before he …
From a puppet-centric Broadway hit to a world-premiere musical about a disco diva, here are some promising shows to look for on San Diego stages this season. "Father Comes Home From the Wars…
In Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 musical "In the Heights," immigrant and first-generation Americans sing and rap about their hopes and dreams. They're all struggling to make their way in New Yor…
The title of the Jordan Seavey play now hitting the stage at Diversionary Theatre is an eye-catching one " not just for its loaded first word but for the questions the rest of it raises abou…
Karen Hartman was just 16 and a San Diego high-school student when her first play was produced, but she already had some strong ideas about the power of theater. "A play can be a more accura…
There's a phrase from a certain musical that has become a rallying cry for diversity as a source of American strength: "Immigrants " we get the job done." That line is not from "In the Heigh…
There's plenty that's prone to feel unfamiliar to most playgoers about "Wild Goose Dreams," the Hansol Jung play that's about to receive its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse. First, ther…
