Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Road to Mecca’ finds its own light at SD Rep.

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO– South African Playwright Athol Fugard’s Road to Mecca is currently being mounted on the Lyceum Stage at The San Diego Repertory Theatre. Fugard’s beautifully written drama stars Kandis Chappell (Helen), Amanda Sitton (Elsa) and Armin Shimerman (Marius Byleveld) who are all at their peak. Associate artistic director Todd Salovey directs […]

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Simon double-header at Old Globe evokes laughter and tears

  By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO— Neil Simon and The Old Globe have had a good working relationship over the years. There was a time when Simon tried out some of his new works (Jake’s Women, Rumors) before taking them to Broadway. Last year Executive Producer Lou Spisto announced that The Old Globe would be

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Songs keeps comin’ at ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO –One thing about the musical revue Smokey Joe’s Café there isn’t much not to like about it. For those of you who might never heard the names Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, for sure you’ve heard their music. Think “Hound Dog”, “Stand by Me”, “There Goes My Baby”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Fools

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Carol Davis, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Notes from Underground’ is grueling to sit through

By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California — The Yale Repertory Theatre production of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground is a trip many might not want to take.   For those who do, it’s at the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Stage of the La Jolla Playhouse. It is based on the 1864 novella by Dostoevsky, adapted by long time

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

La Jolla Playhouse basks in Chaplin’s ‘Limelight’

    By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California —  Right out of the gate…don’t miss Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan (book) and Christopher Curtis (music and lyrics). It is now in its world-premiere production at the Playhouse, where it  is directed by Warren Carlyle and Michael Unger. I

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘MiXtape’ and ‘The Full Monty’ enliven local theatre scene

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO–Recently I wove my car down to the Gaslamp District to catch the tail end of Lamb’s Players Theatre’s miXtape, a little 80’s musical review written by resident Lamb’s actors Jon Lorenz (musical arrangements) and Colleen Kollar Smith (she also choreographed) and directed by another long time resident player and staff

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Moonlight closes season with strong ‘Miss Saigon’

By Carol Davis VISTA, California –Every now and then it’s good to look back and reflect on the deeds and actions in which our country has been involved. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned tragedy to bring us to our senses, or not. Take for example Puccini’s  “Madama Butterfly” and Claude-Michael Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘100 Voices: A Journey Home’ explores Poland’s cantorial past

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO–On Tuesday, September 21, the movie 100 Voices: A Journey home will air across the country at 488 select theatres, including seven movie complexes in San Diego County. It’s a must see movie for Jews and non-Jews alike, but bring tissues. The documentary traces an historic trip to Poland by no

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Carol Davis, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Becky’s New Car’ fun but predictable at North Coast Rep

By Carol Davis SOLANA BEACH, California —Becky’s New Car, the play by Steven Dietz, is probably newer than the car our heroine Becky Foster (Carla Harting makes the tale convincing) gets from her boss as a perk for selling more cars in one night than the other salesperson at her dealership, Steve (Mueen Jahan), has

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Carol Davis, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Eleemosynary’ soft landing for Moxie’s sixth season

    By Carol Davis   SAN DIEGO –Playwright Lee Blessing (A Walk in the Woods, Two Rooms, Cobb) wrote Eleemosynary in 1985. Funny thing about family dramas, relationships and intergenerational forces, they never seem dated. Drop my family into the Westbrook family: Dorothea (Rhona Gold), Artie (Julie Anderson Sachs) and Echo (Rachael Van Wormer),

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Carol Davis, Theatre, Film & Broadcast