Spring Art Preview 2023: Our top 10 theater and opera picks for the season
Spring is always peak season for San Diego County theaters, introducing new plays and musicals as the days get longer and theater lovers enjoy more evening and weekend entertainment.
Scripps Ranch Theater & Loud Fridge Theater Group: “Nice”
This co-production at Scripps Ranch Theater will star local actress and director Kandace Crystal in Charlayne Woodard’s poignant solo play about Woodard’s own childhood and youth and the life of her beloved but brain-damaged Aunt Neat. Neat was accidentally poisoned as a baby by an elderly relative who could not read the label on the medicine bottle, but the white doctors at the local southern hospital refused to treat Baby Neat because she was black. Opens Friday and runs through April 16th. 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Sundays. Legler-Benbough Theatre, Alliant International University, 9783 Avenue of Nations, San Diego. $15-$42. (858) 395-0573. scrippsranchtheatre.org
Cygnet Theater: “Present Laughter”
Sean Murray, Artistic Director of the Cygnet Theatre.
(Karl Cadel)
Cygnet Theatre’s artistic director, Sean Murray, will star as Garry Essendine, a popular, well-known British stage actor, too popular for his own good, in this 1939 farce by Noël Coward. Essendine, who is modeled after Coward himself, struggles to tour and avoid a nervous breakdown while struggling to avoid a lovesick woman, a mad playwright, a friend’s seductress and more. The play is directed by Rosina Reynolds, a specialist in the works of English playwrights and farce. Opens March 29th and runs through April 30th. Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. 8 p.m. on Fridays. Saturdays 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2 p.m. on Sundays. 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town San Diego. $51-$61. (619) 337-1525. cygnettheatre.com
The Old Globe: “Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Game”
Keiko Green, author of Old Globe’s Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play.
(Keiko Green)
First presented as a play at Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival, this world premiere comedy from UC San Diego MFA graduate Keiko Green is a time-traveling adventure comedy about a clumsy Japanese-American high school student in 1999 who discovers – to her dismay – that her family is responsible for the manufacture of the maligned MSG flavor enhancer. (Meanwhile, another new play by Green, Sharon, premieres at the Cygnet Theater in June.) Opens April 8th and runs through May 7th. 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2pm and 8pm on Saturdays; 2pm and 7pm on Sundays. Sheryl & Harvey White Theater, The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego. Individual tickets not yet on sale. theoldglobe.org
San Diego Opera: “Ghosts”
Nicolas Reveles, the former director of education and public relations at the San Diego Opera, passed away on March 1, 2023.
(Courtesy of Seth Mayer)
Next month, the San Diego Opera will present the world premiere of Nicolas Reveles’ Ghosts, three one-act horror operas entitled Eden, Dormir and House. A self-confessed horror film fan, Reveles retired from his job as the San Diego Opera’s Education Director in 2018 to focus on composing. He was looking forward to the premiere in his former home company, but died of pancreatic cancer on March 1st. 7:30 p.m. April 14 and 15; April 16, 2 p.m. Balboa Theater, 868 Fourth Ave., San Diego. sdopera.org/shows/ghosts
La Jolla Playhouse: Festival 2023 without walls
“Birdmen”, a performance troupe from the Netherlands, will perform at the free Without Walls Festival at the La Jolla Playhouse in the Rady Shell from April 27th to 30th.
(Courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse)
The Playhouse’s hugely popular annual WOW festival is moving to the Rady Shell in Jacobs Park this year or a four day festival of events. This year’s festival will be entirely free to the public, with one exception, thanks in part to financial support from the San Diego Symphony. Dozens of site-specific theatre, dance, music and performance artworks are presented on the Shell grounds by artists from around the world. April 27th to 30th. 222 Marina Park Way, San Diego. lajollaplayhouse.org/wowfestival
San Diego Musical Theater: ‘Xanadu’
This roller skate musical spoof made its West Coast premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2008 and has rarely been seen on local stages since. Based on the 1980 film directed by Olivia Newton-John, it follows a struggling street performer who finds a muse in Clio, daughter of Zeus, who arrives in Venice Beach with her sisters to inspire the creation of a roller disco . It includes a book by Douglas Carter Beane and a score by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. Opens May 5th and runs through June 4th. 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. on Fridays; 3pm and 8pm on Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Sundays. SDMT Stage, 4650 Mercury St., San Diego. $25-$70. (858) 560-5740. sdmt.org
New Village Arts: “Singin’ In The Rain”
New Village Arts was forced to postpone plans for this 2021-22 season musical due to construction issues at its recently opened Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center. Adapted from the 1952 Gene Kelly film, the stage musical is about a silent film star and a showgirl who fall in love in Hollywood’s early talkie days. Opens May 12th and runs through July 2nd. 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays. 8 p.m. on Fridays. 2 p.m. on Sundays. 2787 State St., Karlovy Vary. Individual tickets are not yet on sale. newvillagearts.org
Moonlight Stage Productions: “The Wedding Singer”
Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista.
(Courtesy of Chasing the Drone Life)
As part of the 2023 summer season at the Moonlight Amphitheater, Moonlight presents the San Diego premiere of this 2006 Broadway musical inspired by Adam Sandler’s 1998 comedy film about a 1980s wedding singer who gets married at a wedding who he was in love with the bride booked to play. The musical features a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin and Tim Herlihy. Opens June 7th and runs through June 24th. Wednesday to Sunday at 8 p.m. Moonlight Amphitheater, Brengle Terrace Park, 1200 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista. (760) 724-2110, moonlightstage.com
Broadway San Diego: “Six: The Musical”
Six: The Musical arrives at the San Diego Civic Theater in June.
(Charles Sykes/Charles Sykes/invision/ap)
One of the best shows I saw on Broadway last year was this unexpectedly hilarious and entertaining concert-style musical that reimagines Henry VIII’s six wives as a Spice Girls-style pop sextet crammed around the audience’s voices compete to see who was Henry’s “best” wife. The first national touring production of the Tony-winning show will make a two-week stop in San Diego. Opened June 27th and runs until July 9th. 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. on Fridays; 2pm and 8pm on Saturdays; Sundays 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. San Diego Civic Theater, 1100 Third Ave., San Diego. Individual tickets are not yet on sale. broadwaysd.com/upcoming-events/six
North Coast Repertory Theater: ‘Eleanor’
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, seen here testifying before Congress in 1942, is the subject of the play “Eleanor” at the North Coast Repertory Theater in June.
(Uncredited / Associated Press)
Mark St. Germain’s play about America’s fiery former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt will have its West Coast premiere in a production starring veteran local actor Kandis Chapell. St. Germain – whose plays “Dancing Lessons”, “Becoming Dr. Ruth” and “Freud’s Last Session” have been performed in the North Coast Rep in the past – will examine Eleanor’s public and private life. Opens June 7th and runs through July 2nd. 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Saturdays 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 2pm and 7pm on Sundays. 987 Lomas Santa Fe Road, Solana Beach. $55-$65. (858) 481-1055, northcoastrep.org
