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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 Runs Through 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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Wonderful Tennessee
THE STORY: The plotline is loosely based on the real-life story of Dewey Phillips, the first white DJ to put the sounds of black America on the radio airwaves “in the middle of the dial.” "Daddy-O" Dewey was the King of the Memphis Radio Dial for nearly a decade, playing rhythm and blues, boogie woogie and jazz; he was the first DJ to broadcast the young Elvis Presley. Although Cleveland’s Alan Freed is often cited as the “inventor” of rock ‘n’ roll, Dewey preceded Freed on radio and Dick Clark on TV. On the air, he had a crazed, motor-mouth, freeform style, with a frenetic delivery and wacky humor he applied to local advertisements. As the first to cross the color line in music, he was an integral part of the genesis of a musical and a social revolution, but his contributions have been relegated to a historical footnote. His long-time use of amphetamines contributed to his manic on-air behavior and helped lead him down a path of pills and alcohol. Heart failure killed him at age 42; he died poor and alone. © 2007 PATTÉ PRODUCTIONS, INC. Email Pat Pat's Website San Diego Theatre Scene Newsletter
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Bravissimo Mini-REVIEWS ( ** )
SHOW Review (** As seen 8/30/08): Compass Theatre:
TROILUS & CRESSIDA A Challenge for Compass Theatre!
George Weinberg-Harter
Brenna Foley and Michael Zlotnik Photos by RA First of all, this commentary (in no way) can be considered a true ‘review’ of Shakespeare’s TROILUS & CRESSIDA…for any analytical commentary on Shakespeare’s writings, require an ‘ear’ for Shakespeare…and, I do not have such an ‘ear’! However, there is much to say on the staging and technical presentation of Compass Theatre’s (formerly 6th & Penn) first offering of a Shakespearian work. As edited by writer Welton Jones and George Weinberg-Harter, TROILUS & CRESSIDA by William Shakespeare has not been performed in San Diego before, and is a ‘1st’ for Compass Theatre.
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Shakespeare’s
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September 4, 2008 Hello! Good to be with you for another week of theatre. As Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse said in last week’s interview in The Reader, “I think San Diego is on the edge of becoming a major arts community.” The arts certainly flourish in the City of Vista, with the jewel that is the Moonlight Amphitheatre, which will have a brand new home by July 2009. Les Misérables closed their 2008 season, and what a grand finale! Known all over the world, this is a production that requires a lot of talent to present successfully, and Moonlight more than achieved that success. Direction and musical staging by Steven Glaudini, with an outstanding cast, it hit all the right notes of sadness, love, bawdiness and hope. All kudos to Producing Artistic Director, Kathy Brombacher, and Managing Director Daniel Kays for being the first Southern California musical theatre to produce Les Mis. I’ll try to cover a lot of ground about openings and behind the scenes news in this column, because there won’t be a newsletter the week of September 11. Dale is taking some well-earned time off. Opening this week: The Dining Room at Scripps Ranch Theatre, on September 5. It’s been a while since we had an A.R.Gurney play on one of our stages. Fat Pig, by Neil LaBute opens September 5 at OnStage Playhouse, in partnership with InnerMission Productions. Kym Pappas of InnerMission directs this “vicious” play. The Good Body, by insightful, activist and playwright, Eve Ensler, begins at the San Diego Repertory on September 6 with a sterling cast: Deanna Driscoll, Karole Foreman and Linda Libby. Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg who I will talk with during the production and bring you some of the inside scoop! The Annual Free Shakespeare, presented by the Coronado Playhouse opens The Taming of the Shrew on September 5 and runs through 28th. Visit www.coronadoplayhouse.com for further details of this glorious romp. The San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre presents The Joy Luck Club through September 14 at The Lab in Mission Valley. New Village Arts still has tickets available for their benefit performances of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the private garden in La Jolla on September 6 and 7. www.NewVillageArts.org will give you more information. On Sunday September 7, Hairdresser on Fire by Scott C. Sickles will open at Compass Theatre, directed by new Artistic Director Josh Hyatt. This is part of the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender series. And the seldom-produced Troilus and Cressida is already running at Compass, directed by Welton Jones and co-adapted by Welton with George Weinberg-Harter. Way to go, gentlemen! San Diego Musical Theatre’s Dream Girls opens at the Lyceum (their new “home”) on September 12. Looking forward to seeing this Broadway hit. Malashock Thinks You Can Dance, and you can see those who can, at the benefit gala on September 13 at the Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall on Morehouse Drive, commencing at 6pm for VIPs and 8pm for the competition. www.malashockdance.org Suzanne Oswald of the Actors Alliance is currently performing in Wally’s Café at the Broadway Theatre in Vista, through September 21. Performances are selling fast! Speaking of the Alliance, the Annual Meeting will be held on October 20 at Cygnet Theatre, please mark your calendars. And thanks, Sean and Bill for your generosity in giving us the space for the meeting. Boomers by Lamb’s continues the music and the magic for several weeks yet, at the Horton Grand Theatre. Diversionary opens No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre, directed by Esther Emery, on September 11. (Somehow the play title registers with that date. We all thought there was no exit 7 years ago when tragedy struck NY.) Chronos Theatre Group would like you to see Speakeasy 1960s, a celebration of the summer of love, on September 13 at The Hole, 2820 Lytton Street, 7pm. And now to Memphis, which has been previewing at La Jolla Playhouse since August 19 and officially opens on September 3. I had a great conversation a few weeks ago, with the two lead performers, Montego Glover and Chad Kimball. They are loving the high energy rockin’ musical. I asked them why they love this show? Montego replied: “It’s a brand new musical, new book, new score; everyone has an opportunity to create something new.” And what does Chad think? “It’s a show with a pedigree and an exciting future, the show works, it rolls along; it’s exciting to be part of this process.” Both actors have played the same roles before in the Palo Alto production of Memphis but under Christopher Ashley’s direction they have a new opening number, new music, a new choreographer, new scenes and altogether a sharper vision of the show. Chad adds: “The tone is so much more visceral, it really mirrors the time and the struggle.” The production is set in ‘50s Memphis (surprise!) when Elvis was as yet undiscovered and a DJ named Huey was spinning the black and white music of America, for the first time. Montego is originally from Georgia and Tennessee so lived not far from Memphis. As a consequence she frequently gets asked to give her opinion on the play. She adds: “We have had a tremendous amount of support from dramaturg, Gabriel Greene. And Chris (Ashley) is so insightful and skilled at negotiating how to get an actor to get to a place where he or she can really thrive.” How do these two “stars” get on with each other? “We have a natural comfort with each other, although we have the opportunity to work on this new Memphis, we communicate so easily. “She (Montego) loves me!” Chad said playfully. I wondered what the role of Huey means to Chad? He replied: “In this lifetime a role was meant for you and vice versa. And this is it!” The Ensemble is new to the production, only a couple of people have touched the show before. Chad continues: “It’s interesting to see what new people take from the play. And then there’s the burgeoning excitement. In Boston the audience leapt to their feet because the show gets inside you.” And of course they hope we will do that in San Diego! Chad reflects: “I can’t help but think how music, especially Rock ‘n Roll influenced people to come together and it continues generations after. Dewey Philips started the movement and then faded away, but the music remained. “ Montego comments: “We could do a play where the clothes are black and hot pink, but that’s not the story we’re showing. We want to show what was really happening in the 1950s.” For Montego this is her dream job and her first visit to San Diego. Chad had been here before to visit some of his family and he loves the beauty and leisurely nature of our city. Chad Kimball and Montego Glover in rehearsal for Memphis Memphis is co-produced with The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle (where Chad was born and raised). Joe DiPietro wrote the book and lyrics, with music and additional lyrics by David Bryan (of Bon Jovi fame), Sergio Trujillo is the choreographer, Set Design by David Gallo, and costumes by Paul Tazewell. J. Bernard Callow, Allen Fitzpatrick, Cass Morgan, James Monroe Iglehart, and Michael Benjamin Washington round out the cast. Memphis plays through September 28. And that’s it from me! Love, Jenni
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The Joy Luck Club . . . a taste of the Chinese culture
Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, has seen several iterations besides the film. Four years after the novel hit the bookshelves, the Shanghai People’s Art Theatrem in collaboration with The Long Wharf Theatre, performed a production in a Mandarin translation. The year was 1993. The production moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong. In 1999 the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre produced it. A revival in New York took place last December. The Joy Luck Club is a charming piece set in San Francisco. We are privileged to look into the lives of four mothers who came from different provinces of China as well as their relationships with their American-born daughters. In 18 scenes, beginning in the Joy Luck Club, we discover the mothers’ pasts, loves, and conflicts with their daughters. Director Peter James Cirino opens the production with the mothers, daughters, and others entering from the auditorium and the stage, mouthing a quick line or less. The pace seldom diminishes. The movement always makes sense. Mark Anderson’s simple set design is complemented by videographer Jay Josue’s video projections. These further establish the context of many of the scenes. The director takes full advantage of the visuals with the changing of simple set pieces. In fact, the set changes are seamless, even while action is occurring in the foreground. The second scene, “Piano Lesson,” is autobiographical. Amy Tan’s mother had expectations of her becoming a concern pianist or doctor. That didn’t happen! The play is an ensemble piece in which a majority of the 18 member cast has multiple roles. Some of the versatile cast members play rather extreme age ranges convincingly. As with any cast this large, the quality of talent varies. The Joy Luck Club combines action with monologues. Each scene is themed. The “Moon Festival” is colorful, with crowd-pleasing dragon. “A Letter” impacts one of the daughters with revelations that require her to travel to China. Another, “Fortune Cookie,” is a comedic, romantic romp. It is an insightful look into a culture many of us know nothing about. I sat in the last row, much too near the cooling fans, which made it difficult to hear some of the dialog. When you go, get in early and sit in the first or second row. San Diego Asian American Repertory Theatre is currently performing their annual production at the Lab at the Academy of Performing Arts (Ion Theatre Company space), 4580B Alvarado Canyon Road, San Diego. They play weekends through September 14, 2008. For information and reservations call (888) 568-2278 or e-mail events@asianamericanrep.org. Cast Gina Ma, Frances Regal, Elise Kim Prosser, Joyelle Cabato, Trinity Tuyen Tran, Joanne Lim, Tiffany Loui, Linda Pharathikoune, Joseph Balan, Nino Palay, James Paraiso, Robert Borzych, Billy Khang, Trevor Bowels, Wendy Grice, Mary Cherwink, Oniric A. Cirino, Kymm Hansen A note or two
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Although I did not have a chance to get to the theatre this week, last week I was a spectator for a key point in the history of mankind. The first time an African American man received a presidential nomination. I was so happy to be at Invesco field on Thursday night. There was just so much excitement in the air I couldn’t believe it! So much patriotism around me, that seemed to have been in decline the last eight years while I was growing up. “Where do you think you’re going?” asked the Guard. “Ummm… to my seat…” I replied. Thankfully this kind woman who had let me out of the section told the security guard that I was returning to my spot, but the guard didn’t drop it. “Can I see your pass?” He ordered. It definitely wasn’t a question. And I knew I was done for. “You’re not in your section.” “Oh really?” I tried to use my theatre skills to feign surprise. I turned to a new tactic, “My friend is sitting over there, and I wanted to sit with him.” Unsurprisingly my clever little tactic had no affect whatsoever on my burly guard. He at least let me get my stuff back at my seat where my friend sat next to me. I explained the situation to my friend in hushed tones and while he as well acted surprised at finding himself in the wrong section, we graciously told the guard that we would move to our proper area. They tried to escort us back to the outside of the stadium to enter in our proper doorway but we politely told them that we were from out of town, had never been inside a football stadium in our lives (we are theatre kids) and so just had to walk around the inside to see the sporty world that lie before us. That declaration was at 2:00 pm. We had cash on us. We thought that the peanut and popcorn people would come by and that we could just buy food off of them. But in the twelve hours in which we were rooted to our seats, no food vendors came by. Oh! There were tons of drink sellers! But no food vendors! But we vowed that we would not drink anything at all or risk having to use the bathroom and loose our extraordinary spots. Midway through, we thought we were going to die. We thought we would starve. We pretended that we were practicing to be hungry in a play! But that is when I found the almonds in my purse! I found a bag of 100-calorie pack almonds so there are about 15 in the little package. We each were allowed two almonds every hour. We savored the taste and pretended that we were eating other things. My friend would mostly dream of his being a thanksgiving dinner, where I was more apt to wish for salmon with green beans. We kept hydrated by chewing gum… lots and lots of gum. So our meals that day were gum and almonds. “After, we’ll get food.” I kept repeating to my friend who looked almost faint from sleep (we got 7 hours for the week) and food deprivation. Of course, with our luck, THERE WAS NOTHING OPEN AFTER THE CONVENTION. But in the end, even with the seven hours of sleep, it was totally worth being stuck in our section. We totally had the best seats in the house. John Kerry was just below us with Michelle Obama and the Biden’s in the section in front of ours. We had fun dancing to all the music that would play, and being the youngest kids in our section, I would certainly say that we led the energy of the pack! We would wave our American Flags and Change signs, jump up and down, stamp our feet, scream at the top of our lungs, and sing along to all the music. I loved seeing all the live performers from Jennifer Hudson who sang the National Anthem, Sheryl Crowe, the Blac |
I woke up at 6:30am to get the best seats for the stadium. My friend and I were among the first in line. Waiting till noon when we could actually get in, the clock finally ticked to that hour. Running into the stadium we were told our passes were for seats behind the stage. Since there were community seat sections available we decided to sit in those instead of our student correspondent seats. We went in and sat in the front row center, right next to the stage. This was kind of stretching our position on being able to sit wherever we wanted, but we were so excited that we would get to see Obama full on. But nature interceded in the way that we had to go to the restroom. I was just coming back to my seat from my turn at the bathroom and supply (food) run when I was stopped by a security guard, who was now patrolling the entrance. 
My friend and I made our way to a new section that had an even better view of Obama’s podium. We had learned our lesson from our last escapade. We vowed we would not leave our section for any reason until the convention was over.