Showing posts with label theater review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater review. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Accomplice (La Jolla Playhouse Without Walls): Little Italy: Theater Review
This play is absolutely TOO MUCH FUN. It is a must-see (http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/accomplice-san-diego). It is nearly sold out for the original run so is being extended a month. It was so refreshing to be "part of the play" as one moved around Little Italy looking for clues and encountering actors who were "in on the job" we were doing. Sheer fun, totally different from other plays. And you get to see a fantastic side of Little Italy that you don't often see. I can't say all the places I want to go to now because I don't want to give too much away! Must go - you won't regret it!!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Two great shows: Clybourne Park and Brothers Size
Saw both of these recently in San Diego: Clybourne Park (SD Rep) and Brothers Size (Globe).
Clybourne Park: bitingly hilarious but very deep. Loved it. Everyone should see it. Great acting.
Brothers Size: More of a special play - not for everyone, but wonderful. Beautiful movement in the show - amazing cast of 3 (fine a$$ :)) dancer-actors, in a complex story weaving in Yoruba religion into injustice in Louisiana. Loved it too!
Clybourne Park: bitingly hilarious but very deep. Loved it. Everyone should see it. Great acting.
Brothers Size: More of a special play - not for everyone, but wonderful. Beautiful movement in the show - amazing cast of 3 (fine a$$ :)) dancer-actors, in a complex story weaving in Yoruba religion into injustice in Louisiana. Loved it too!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Allegiance (Old Globe) Review
Had an outstanding dinner and a show tonight.....show review first!
Allegiance is at the Old Globe, and stars George Takei, Lea Salonga and the young Telly Leung (from Glee and Godspell).
Show was AMAZING. Cast was so earnest and talented, and showed that it was nonsense that the La Jolla Playhouse suggested it couldn't find enough good Asian actors for Nightingale. (In fact Christopher Ashley and Michael Rosenberg were in the house tonight, and we were speculating on whether they were sheepishly thinking this themselves!). Play is musical about the experience of a multigeneration Japanese-American family interned in Wyoming after 1941. Totally heartwrenching, beautiful score, so well-sung and acted. And the set designer needs to get a Tony when this goes to Broadway. Whole show will be a hit.
Met George Takei after, thanked him so much for the beautiful show and for telling us his own story (he was interned as a child and didn't want to talk or think about it for decades). He said the play is definitely going to Broadway. And that there are still lots of tickets available for the rest of the Globe run (even though tonight played to a full, loud house, which thunderously applauded after each great number and jumped to its feet at curtain call).
CH was happy to see his idol Lea Salonga. She is really dazzling and has such a gorgeous voice. She even made herself look frumpy here, which is quite a feat.
More info is at: http://www.theoldglobe.org/pressphotos/allegiance.html. GO SEE IT! (it deserves full houses every night, and is a never-to-be-forgotten kind of show!)
Allegiance is at the Old Globe, and stars George Takei, Lea Salonga and the young Telly Leung (from Glee and Godspell).
Show was AMAZING. Cast was so earnest and talented, and showed that it was nonsense that the La Jolla Playhouse suggested it couldn't find enough good Asian actors for Nightingale. (In fact Christopher Ashley and Michael Rosenberg were in the house tonight, and we were speculating on whether they were sheepishly thinking this themselves!). Play is musical about the experience of a multigeneration Japanese-American family interned in Wyoming after 1941. Totally heartwrenching, beautiful score, so well-sung and acted. And the set designer needs to get a Tony when this goes to Broadway. Whole show will be a hit.
Met George Takei after, thanked him so much for the beautiful show and for telling us his own story (he was interned as a child and didn't want to talk or think about it for decades). He said the play is definitely going to Broadway. And that there are still lots of tickets available for the rest of the Globe run (even though tonight played to a full, loud house, which thunderously applauded after each great number and jumped to its feet at curtain call).
CH was happy to see his idol Lea Salonga. She is really dazzling and has such a gorgeous voice. She even made herself look frumpy here, which is quite a feat.
More info is at: http://www.theoldglobe.org/pressphotos/allegiance.html. GO SEE IT! (it deserves full houses every night, and is a never-to-be-forgotten kind of show!)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Hands on a Hardbody (La Jolla Playhouse)
Hands on a Hardbody was a lot of fun - much better than I expected for a musical about a car contest in East Texas. Don't like country music but Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio did a terrific job and had me bouncing my seat. Very poignant songs about the hardships many people face today.
Love Jon Rua - was great to see him in another SD show. But couldn't they let him dance a little more?
(here's a little taste of what he can do when he's choreographing his own stuff for the Nets dancers or his Broadway Dance Center students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNOQMJiso8&list=UUIFogYsIJvDMve_uzYXXoBQ&index=1&feature=plcp.
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6bV4L4hBO0&feature=relmfu)
He was still terrific, though, even though I had to wait til the second act for him to get his own song!
CH thinks the play was entertaining but is too stranded between musical and drama territory to have a long run in NY. I think he's wrong. It's Broadway-bound; we'll see who's right!
Love Jon Rua - was great to see him in another SD show. But couldn't they let him dance a little more?
(here's a little taste of what he can do when he's choreographing his own stuff for the Nets dancers or his Broadway Dance Center students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNOQMJiso8&list=UUIFogYsIJvDMve_uzYXXoBQ&index=1&feature=plcp.
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6bV4L4hBO0&feature=relmfu)
He was still terrific, though, even though I had to wait til the second act for him to get his own song!
CH thinks the play was entertaining but is too stranded between musical and drama territory to have a long run in NY. I think he's wrong. It's Broadway-bound; we'll see who's right!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Alchemy + Somewhere Review (Old Globe) (or two Latinos that I love: Ricardo Heredia and Priscilla Lopez)
Sick Cute Husband on date night..... :( He didn't feel up to taking care of SB, so we kept the babysitter and I went on date night (Alchemy + theater) with Sabragirl.
Very quick....love, love, love Alchemy, even if every dish wasn't equally spectacular
--Farmer's Market salad: very good, yummy blue cheese was the best component for me (sabragirl loved the grilled onions and kept marvelling at the idea, which she needs to copy at home)
--Mixed Grain salad: this is one of his longtime veg classics on the menu, but I wasn't that excited about it. I get it: it's healthy, high fiber, low fat, low carb. But it's not as flavorful or exciting as other things. Was ok.
--Bourek: I wouldn't have ordered this (too carby and buttery), but Sabragirl wanted to check out how he made it. SUPER YUMMY!!!! LOVED LOVED loved it (phyllo horn stuffed with feta)
--INSIDE-OUT RAVIOLI: spectacular dish of the night; Ricardo Heredia is so creative. The filling is on the outside....it doesn't seem that spectacular til you see it. Super delicious flat pasta (would have been the filled ravioli); green pellets of spinach-ricotta; and flat crispy discs of parmesan cheese. Exciting, playful, etc.
Then we saw somewhere at the Old Globe. FANTASTIC. I will be shocked if this show doesn't transfer to Broadway, or at least to a major Off-Broadway theater. What a treat to see in the little Sheryl and Harvey White theater (and in the front row, inches away from Priscilla Lopez!). All of the actors were fabulous (Jon Rua is amazing, Juan Cardenas is rather hunky [not more than CH of course], and and Priscilla Lopez is.... f***ing Priscilla Lopez!). The whole audience was smiling during most of the show. It was delightful and happy-making but also complex, poignant, etc. There were certainly some moments of shock where we all held our breath. The second act needs shortening by 10 mins., but otherwise this is a DO NOT MISS PLAY, absolutely one of the best plays I've ever seen in SD (up there with Laramie Project, Jersey Boys, Memphis, and Sleeping Beauty Wakes). It is not a musical, but it's a family drama about a family that loves music, so there's some wonderful dancing. Here's a synposis: http://www.theoldglobe.org/tickets/production.aspx?PID=8958.
Very quick....love, love, love Alchemy, even if every dish wasn't equally spectacular
--Farmer's Market salad: very good, yummy blue cheese was the best component for me (sabragirl loved the grilled onions and kept marvelling at the idea, which she needs to copy at home)
--Mixed Grain salad: this is one of his longtime veg classics on the menu, but I wasn't that excited about it. I get it: it's healthy, high fiber, low fat, low carb. But it's not as flavorful or exciting as other things. Was ok.
--Bourek: I wouldn't have ordered this (too carby and buttery), but Sabragirl wanted to check out how he made it. SUPER YUMMY!!!! LOVED LOVED loved it (phyllo horn stuffed with feta)
--INSIDE-OUT RAVIOLI: spectacular dish of the night; Ricardo Heredia is so creative. The filling is on the outside....it doesn't seem that spectacular til you see it. Super delicious flat pasta (would have been the filled ravioli); green pellets of spinach-ricotta; and flat crispy discs of parmesan cheese. Exciting, playful, etc.
Then we saw somewhere at the Old Globe. FANTASTIC. I will be shocked if this show doesn't transfer to Broadway, or at least to a major Off-Broadway theater. What a treat to see in the little Sheryl and Harvey White theater (and in the front row, inches away from Priscilla Lopez!). All of the actors were fabulous (Jon Rua is amazing, Juan Cardenas is rather hunky [not more than CH of course], and and Priscilla Lopez is.... f***ing Priscilla Lopez!). The whole audience was smiling during most of the show. It was delightful and happy-making but also complex, poignant, etc. There were certainly some moments of shock where we all held our breath. The second act needs shortening by 10 mins., but otherwise this is a DO NOT MISS PLAY, absolutely one of the best plays I've ever seen in SD (up there with Laramie Project, Jersey Boys, Memphis, and Sleeping Beauty Wakes). It is not a musical, but it's a family drama about a family that loves music, so there's some wonderful dancing. Here's a synposis: http://www.theoldglobe.org/tickets/production.aspx?PID=8958.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sleeping Beauty Wakes + Barolo
Food first: Barolo. It's ok. Have been before. Charisma makes all random Italian restaurants in SD boring (just like we can't eat at any random Chinese places since we found Dumpling Inn, except Rendez-vous as a substitute). Decent, healthy minestrone. Eggplant parm fine. Paso Robles Peachy Canyon - eh. Even for $7.50, don't like getting cheap, unripe wines. Dessert (choc/coconut cake), ok. Served its purpose - not cravable though. Still on the hunt for good pretheater dining for the LJP.
Play: Sleeping Beauty Wakes at the La Jolla Playhouse. Absolutely stunning - a thing of beauty. CH liked it less than me, but conceded after Act 2 that it "has potential." If you are a parent, especially, and/or a romantic and/or someone who has lost someone you love and/or love modern music in musicals (Groovelily is awesome), it is an absolute must-see.
Well worth the sitter this evening!
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