Carol Davis

Carol Davis

Carol Davis is a well-known reviewer and theater critic based in San Diego.

What to do about racial stereotyping in theatre?

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Recently, I attended a matinee performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie up in Ventura County.  I enjoyed it, and why not, my teenage grand-niece, Ashlee Ford, had the title role, and I got to see her sing, dance, and even get kissed by a fellah on stage. Afterwards, my brother Bill, […]

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Carol Davis, Cynthia Citron, Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

McKenzie comes up roses in ‘Ethel Merman’s Broadway’

By Carol Davis ESCONDIDO, California —-Rita McKenzie has been called ‘bold and brassy’. ‘Dynamite’. Call her what you will, but there is no doubt that she embodies the voice, spirit and persona of the bold, brassy and dynamite Ethel Merman. Now, in a limited engagement at the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido Ms. McKenzie will

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

Stereotyped ‘Tortilla Curtain’ characters become bigots

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO–T.C. Boyle’s best selling novel Tortilla Curtain has been adapted to stage by Matthew Spangler (he adapted the popular novel The Kite Runner into a stage play) and the San Diego Repertory Theatre is giving it its first airing.  Now in a ninety-minute long (It seemed much longer to this viewer)

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

‘Beau Jest,’ jest an ‘old fashioned love story’

By Carol Davis VISTA, California — James Sherman’s 1989 family comedy “Beau Jest” closes out the winter season at Moonlight’s indoor theatre, The Avo. It is just what the doctor ordered for a-laugh-a minute Jewish infused play sprinkled with a bit of good old-fashioned ‘common sense’ (if you will) and a cast up to the

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

‘Anna Christie,’ a rough tale of a deserter’s prostitute daughter

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO — The first things noticeable when entering the White Theatre at The Old Globe are the nautical accoutrements (Wilson Chin) of heavy ropes defining sections of Johnny-Priest’s Saloon, wooden planks of floor, heavy beams both stumped and tall, lots of coiled ropes, dim yellow lighting (Austin R. Smith), fog and

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

‘Parade’ tells of Leo Frank’s trial and lynching

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO — In 1998 the Alfred Uhry (book) Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics) musical drama Parade closed shortly after it opened at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Lincoln Center co produced the show with the Canadian producing company Livent, Inc. One doesn’t usually associate politics with theatre but politics rears

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

‘Next Fall’ touches on some hot-button issues at Diversionary

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO— Diversionary Theatre announced that it has invited a rabbi, a pastor and a humanist to host a panel to discuss how family and faith ‘shape our lives and our relationships’. It’s all in conjunction with its current offering, Geoffrey Naufft’s Next Fall, a poignant, contemporary and funny play about being

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

‘Visiting Mr. Green’ is a hefty dose of chicken soup for theatre lovers

  By Carol Davis SOLANA BEACH, California—Mr. Green (Robert Grossman) is an 86-year-old widower who clings to his Jewish values and beliefs. He is angry, unpleasant, stubborn, worn out and alone. He and his wife Yetta were married 59 years. “We almost made it to sixty and never had and argument”. But she died a

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

‘The Car Plays: San Diego’ an unusual and different theatre experience

By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California– When my family was young and we used to pile into the car for any number of our family excursions, I never dreamed some of them would come back to haunt me. Recently, I attended Moving Arts The Car Plays: San Diego, a concept developed and conceived by Paul Stein. 

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

‘Little Women, The Broadway Musical’ a farewell valentine from Kathy Brombacher

By Carol Davis VISTA, California–When Kathy Brombacher retires this year she will have been at the helm of Moonlight Stage Productions for seventeen years having produced over 200 shows. In other words, she has been there from the beginning. She has been a pioneer for the arts in the North County. It was she who

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