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| California Youth Conservatory Theatre Local Co-Star of "Meet Dave" with Eddie Murphy stars in: 
Shaun Evans California Youth Conservatory Theatre (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH CYT, CCT, or CYAC) 3734 43rd St. Unit 1 San Diego, CA 92105
We want to urge everyone to come check this kid out before we lose him to Hollywood. He's a really sweet kid with no pretentiousness or attitude at all. Plus, he's a really terrific actor!
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 Compass Theatre and San Diego Theatre Scene present
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| Vanguard Presents: Irving Berlin's Music and Lyrics by IRVING BERLIN ANNIE GET YOUR GUN hits the bulls eye in this wonderfully crafted 1999 Broadway revival. Stone reshaped the 1946 book to create a Wild West show-within-a-show that frames the love story of sharpshooters Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. With unforgettable tunes such as "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better," "They Say It's Wonderful," "Doin' What Comes Naturally,² and ³You Can¹t Get A Man With A Gun. "Vanguard's production of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN promises to be a delightful evening for the entire family. Performances: July 11,12,13 July 18, 19, 20, July 24, 25, 26, 27 *Thurs., Fri., Sat. at 8:00 p.m. Tickets: Adults: $15.00 Seniors/Military: $13.00 12 and Under: $10.00 For Reservations call: 619-224-6263 |
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Beauty and the Beast THE SHOW: A Streetcar Named Desire, the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winner by Tennessee Williams, one of the great dramatic works of the 20th century. No one who ever saw 24 year-old Marlon Brando play the role of Stanley Kowalski live (or in the 1951 film) will ever forget it. That charismatic/erotic image, seared in the collective American brain, makes it hard to mount the play. And as Stanley’s adversary, Blanche du Bois, Vivien Leigh was no slouch, either (it was Jessica Tandy in the original Broadway production, a role for which she won a Tony Award). In the 1992 stage revival, Alec Baldwin received a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, but Brando never got the Tony for this seminal performance. Interesting side-note: Because of the Hays Code of censorship, the film “cleaned” up the play considerably; Allan’s homosexuality was veiled, practically erased, and the rape scene was only intimated. THE STORY: This is the ultimate culture clash: between the vanishing Old South of the landed gentry and the rising urban, industrial, immigrant class. Illusion vs. reality. The ideal vs. the real. Set in steamy New Orleans, the play contrasts these two conflicting worlds in the delicate, wilting, former Southern belle, Blanche, and the primal, brutish, sexual Stanley. They dance around each other when Blanche arrives on her sister’s doorstep, frantically trying to escape her degraded and debauched Mississippi life. But she and her sweaty brother-in-law see through each other from the get-go. The first moment she lays eyes on Stanley, Blanche says, “That man is my executioner.” And so he is (though his famous pre-rape line, “We’ve had this date from the beginning” was curiously absent). But Blanche is not an innocent victim, and neither is Stella. Nor is Stanley pure sensual evil. His vulnerability and the women’s shared culpability shifts the good/bad balance of the play and makes it more intriguing and exciting. © 2007 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC. Email Pat Pat's Website San Diego Theatre Scene Newsletter
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Host and Partner to Hal Glenn JAMES GREER Photos by RA
On a Sunday afternoon (7/13), the Rooftop Terrace of the Park Manor Suites (in Mission Hills) was filled to capacity with the extended family of friends to Hal Glenn and his partner James Greer, to celebrate the life of HAL GLENN, who passed away on April 12th,2008. In the spirit of Hal Glenn, which could be felt all around the room, the ‘joy’ of friends-seeing-friends again after (in some cases) many months was a source of strength that Hal would have reveled and enjoyed…seeing take place…all in his name. Born on June 6th, 1930, in the Netherlands, Hal’s father (an accountant) was Dutch and his mother was English. Hal was a citizen of four countries during his lifetime…in turn, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the United States. He never looked over his shoulder with regard to his former nationalities. He lived in the present. He spoke Dutch, German, French and English, but didn’t consider it an accomplishment, just a necessity of the moment. When he immigrated to Montreal, without being fluent in either English or French, he found a job mopping hospital floors on the swing shift. During his relatively short time there, he mastered enough of the city’s twin languages to get a better, but still menial job, with the Prudential Assurance Company of Canada. Over several years, and as evidence of his self-educating skills, he became head of the Bi-Lingual Forms Design Section, responsible for translating all the company’s paperwork from English into French, and redesigning the forms to accommodate both languages.
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July 17, 2008 Hello! It’s good to be home after a trip to magnificent Iceland. The awe-inspiring scenery was our stage for 10 days, everything from glaciers to waterfalls, rolling hills, geothermal wasteland, lush farmland and desolate volcanic plains. I’m very excited to get back to theatre in San Diego. Had an enormous thrill at the opening night of The Pleasure of His Company at the Old Globe when I ran into Kelly McAndrew who is home in San Diego to perform in Sight Unseen at the Old Globe (well actually at the Copley stage at the San Diego Museum of Art while the gorgeous new theater is being built.) I met Kelly in 1994 when we were both in the cast of Blithe Spirit at the North Coast Repertory Theatre and Kelly has gone on to give many notable performances on Broadway. She is thrilled to be home for a while, and to be directed by Esther Emery in Sight Unseen, which opens on August 7. Also in the cast, Ron Choularton, one of our local favorites! Be sure to see The Pleasure of His Company, running through August 10. Darko Tresjnak has staged a delightful, witty marital mix-up with a terrific cast, and superb set. Wonderful summer entertainment. And of course the three Shakespeares are running on the Lowell Davies Festival Stage through September, have yet to see these! Chronos Theatre Group is staging Speakeasy 1950s at The Hole at 2820 Lytton Street on July 25 7pm. This enterprising group always comes up with something different. Stone Soup’s tick, tick…BOOM is back at the 10th Avenue theatre through August 17, this time I will get to this production that had rave reviews. Will see Guys and Dolls at Moonlight on Sunday evening, and before that The Night Watcher at La Jolla Playhouse with the inimitable Charlayne Woodard. And Madagascar at NCRT which is also getting excellent reviews. Charlene Baldridge has written a beautiful piece in the Old Globe program about ion, and their current production of A Streetcar Named Desire, starring the very talented Monique Gaffney. I will be seeing that too. Want to send thoughts to dear Monique, it is a year this weekend since her father died. He is lovingly remembered. We are fortunate in San Diego. Kim is in Houston this week and said he has the choice of one play he has already seen and an Agatha Christie thriller. And that is it is this week, short and I hope sweet from me . Oh, ran into Sunny from Compass Theatre at the Old Globe and she really really wants you to see the plays running in the Festival of the Human Spirit. They are on my list too . Talk soon. Love, Jenni |
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Jenni Prisk|
No Sex Please, We’re British is a top audience pleaser. We’ve all done it! We’ve all purchased something through the mails. More than once we’ve gotten the wrong item. Few of us, though, purchased stemware and receive pornography. Alas, Francis and Peter Hunter (Carolyn E. Wheat and Frank Remiatte) did just that in Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot’s hilarious farce, No Sex Please, We’re British, the current offering at PowPAC. Peter and Francis live above the bank where he is assistant manager. As with any well written farce, every attempt to squelch the ever-increasing flow of packages is met with disaster. Brian Runnicles (Brian P. Evans), the bank’s chief cashier, immediately becomes responsible for the disposal of the unwanted prurient material. Needless to say his success rate is miserable. Even as movies (remember 8mm and 16mm film?) and books arrive, so does Peter’s mother Eleanor (Lois Jane Miller) come for a visit. Peter’s straight-arrow boss, Leslie Bromhead (Jeff Laurence), becomes involved. Quickly the police, in the guise of Superintendent Vernon Paul (Bob Christiansen), are investigating. Craig McCobb, as both a mailman and delivery man, is the deliverer of said materials. If only it ended there; but, alas, this is farce. An up-tight bank inspector, Mr. Needham (Rob Conway) ends up in the apartment. This should be enough. It isn’t! Susan and Barbara (Holly Stephenson and Debbie David), two sex workers, replete with proper costumes, whips, and such to entertain the most discriminating customer, create a new complexity. Director Raylene J. Wall, no stranger to comedy, provides her audience with perfect comedic timing from an excellent cast. Wall and co-set designer Joel Colbourn have created a many-doored set, typical of British farce, which allows for the complex action to take place. Wall, along with Jamie Haire, managed to get the cast on and off the set, through the right door or stairwell perfectly. Wheat added to her performance duties by designing the sound and, with Wall, designing costumes and properties. Peter McGuiness created a believable, almost shadowless, lighting design. No Sex Please, We’re British is, of course, all about sex, but, being British, is just terribly discrete. This production is pure entertainment. The English accents are light . . . a necessity to insure that the fast-paced humor is not missed. Also, this experienced cast provided their lines straight, letting the humor flow flawlessly. Oftimes I witnessed an actor laugh at his or her own line, spoiling the humor. This cast is simply too professional to let that happen. For an evening of side-splitting humor, don’t miss PowPAC’s production of No Sex Please, We’re British. The production runs weekends thru August 10, 2008. They are located at 13250 Poway Road (2nd floor of the Lively Center). For information or reservations call 858 679-8085 or go to www.powpac.org. It runs weekends through August 10, 2008. Date Reviewed: July 17, 2008
Shivaree – a winner at OnStage Playhouse A very frustrated Chandler Kimbrough (Brandon Alexander) lives a solitary life as a hemophiliac in William Mastrosimone’s charming Shivaree. OnStage Playhouse has once again brought their audiences a play not seen in the San Diego area. This production opens their challenging 2008-2009 season. Newbie director Teri Brown makes a triumphant debut. She definitely has love stories down. What next? Shivaree takes place in Chandler’s room. His overly protective mother, Mary (Lizzie Mander) practically imprisons him just one degree less than that of the Bubble Boy. Chandler is not allowed out of the room except with his mother and in her cab. He longs for more. He wants to experience what other young men experience. He is lonely. He highly intelligent and, also, very naïve about the world outside of his room and people outside of his mother. Alexander convinces us of this the moment he utters his first word of dialog. It is easy to empathize with him. Enter stage right from an apartment next door one itinerate belly dancer, in costume, about his age, named Shivaree (Kali Kirk). To say that she is beautiful is to say that the Mona Lisa is just a painting. She has playful eyes that know much more than she’ll every let you know. Being a dancer, she doesn’t walk, she flows. Her smile lights up the room. She lights up Chandler. Their first meeting is cut short by Mom. Mander’s Mary is almost abusively overprotective. While one can understand her concern for her son, it is easy to dislike her. There seems to be very little humanity pouring forth from her lips. Fortunately, we do see the true heart of Mary. We learn to understand her and to feel her pain. Mander gives a convincing performance. Two other folks are a part of Chandler’s life. There is Scagg (Michael Dean Grulli) a scumbag ice cream truck driver that has a great sideline of products and services that bring new meaning to the word dessert. One of his services is the procurement of Laura (Christina Christianson), a working woman. Chandler scraped together coins over a long period of time. They are all properly wrapped. As with Mary, we see two sides of Scagg and Laura. Scagg isn’t all scumbag and, yes, Laura is a prostitute with a heart. Shivaree is a tender love story. She knows the ways of the world. He doesn’t. Love enchants these two dissimilar people. Most of the necessary conflicts come from outside their relationship. Rosemary King’s complex set not only includes his room but also his and Shivaree’s balconies and a skyline. Lighting and sound (Christopher DeArmond and Carla Nell) work well. Adriana Zuniga provided both art and photography to the set, Michael Dean Grulli composed Shivaree’s music, and Michael Turk Woodbury designed a piece of technical magic that added a bit of amusement to a couple of scenes. Real Belly Dancer Dawn Marie Himlin choreographed the dancing as well as providing Kirk’s costume. Shivaree embodies very good acting, is well directed, and gives the audience a loving experience. It is nice to leave a theatre feeling good about the play, the world, and yourself. The production is guaranteed to give you these feelings. I hope you have a chance to enjoy Shivaree as much as I did. Date reviewed: July13, 2008
Helen by Euripides brilliant The war is finally over. Helen (Robin Christ) yearns to be reunited with her husband, Menelaus (Douglas Lay) upon his return from Troy. No, she never went to Troy, but stayed at the tomb of Proteus, the late king of Egypt who had protected her. Translator, historian, Greek scholar and Euripides expert Marianne McDonald, Ph.D., teamed with J. Michael Walton, Ph.D., creating this highly accessible and entertaining translation of Helen by Euripides. Christ brings Helen engrossingly to life. Yes, Helen is the most beautiful woman in the world. No, she did not commit adultery with Paris. That was all a phantom created by that nasty Hera. Director Douglas Lay, who also plays Helen’s husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta, combines Scenic Designer Vince Sneddon’s classic tomb with his own contemporary costume design. Brian Abraham plays returning soldier Teucer as well as a persistent, highly emotional Theoclymenus, King of Egypt. The chorus includes Bianca Chapman, Vanessa Milton, and Melissa Hamilton. They assist in telling Helen’s story in word, song, and dance. Helen , The Theatre, Inc.’s third play in their inaugural season, will be followed by The Country Wife. The company is devoted to presenting only classics. The quality of their productions is always excellent. Christ’s energy and strength dominate the stage. Even when being man-handled by Abraham’s Theoclymenus, she seems to control the action. Helen is an intense role demanding the best from an actress, and this actress is the best. Whether you are a lover of the classics or just have a passing interest in them, please take the opportunity to see this production. At just moments over one hour, this production offers an insightful look at the Greeks. Helen runs Thursday thru Sunday to August 3, 2008 at Swedenborg Hall, 1531 Tyler Avenue, University Heights. For reservations and information call 619 216-3016 or go to www.thetheatreinc.com. Don’t miss it!
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