Audra McDonald-led GYPSY for 2024-2025 Season! Jul 2
2024, 10:00:18 AM
Thick?? I just saw her perform at the Rady Shell here in San Diego and the voice was resplendent. She even tossed in a ‘Sing out Louise’ at an appropriate moment
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Ballad of Johnny and June at La Jolla Playhouse Jun 2
2024, 09:45:10 PM
Bland and boring. Not my thing but the audience gave it a standing O. Friends we went with liked it. It's pretty by-the-numbers bio but packed with music -- about 15 songs in each hour-long act. Performances are all good and set is generic wooden slats with direction being nothing to write home about. Can't see this having wide appeal but someone thought Lempicka would be worth transferring after La Jolla so you never know.
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Ride at The Old Globe Apr 7
2024, 09:34:24 PM
We saw last Wednesday night's preview. Of the 4 of us, 2 gave it a B+ and 2 an A-. Better than Lempicka (by far) and the Outsiders and Redwood. Very tuneful and quite a tour de force by the two actresses who almost never leave the stage for the 90 minute run time. It takes an unexpected turn near the end so the tonal shift is a bit jarring, but appropriate to the story. Not a great musical but definitely worth catching if you're in town.
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Idina Menzel to star in new stage musical REDWOOD at La Jolla Feb 19
2024, 01:18:19 PM
For whatever it's worth, we bought some tix for yesterday's matinee for some friends. The only reponse I got from them was 'great show', and they're in their 70s and have seen a lot. So that is promising and if I get more details I'll pass them along.
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Idina Menzel to star in new stage musical REDWOOD at La Jolla Feb 17
2024, 07:33:12 PM
Limited as you are on a university campus. The restaurant at the theater is fine but a little pricey. There is a strip mall you could drive to in 5 minutes with a few choices or the UTC mall, 10 minutes away which is beautiful and has excellent restaurant choices
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Idina Menzel to star in new stage musical REDWOOD at La Jolla Feb 16
2024, 09:51:11 PM
We are subcribers but won't see it til March. THey sent us the digital program however and it talks about the aerial tree climbers in the show. It's in their black box theater so that must allow for unusual staging.
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LEMPICKA announcement teased for next week Jan 6
2024, 01:36:17 PM
Hard to tell from just these releases but if the show is still 75% power ballads, that did not work well in La Jolla so here’s hoping they have worked on that aspect as a completely original musical is always worth rooting for
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Wonka really is a musical! Dec 18
2023, 11:05:17 PM
It was…ok. But it really suffers from poor lyric writing and hum drum music, which should be the elements that make a musical sing. Glad to embrace something new and always happy for a new musical but this just doesn’t rise above so-so
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Sondheim/Ives HERE WE ARE @ The Shed Oct 8
2023, 07:45:36 AM
After seeing a wonderfully staged Sweeney at the matinee, we saw Here We Are last night. Also wonderfully staged but a completely different beast. Snippets of music from 'Ariadnea' (sp?) in the LTC Frogs, Sunday, Road Show and others, I think, but lyrically quite fresh. I'm puzzled by the notes of almost no music in the second act. I think the 'song' in the beginning of the second act goes on for nearly 10-15 minutes before things go silent. And the
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Sondheim/Ives HERE WE ARE @ The Shed Sep 29
2023, 08:00:17 PM
For those of you who have seen the show, which title do you now think is better? Here We Are or Square One? We don't see it til Oct 6 but sight unseen I still like Square One better.
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Sondheim's Final Musical HERE WE ARE will premiere at The Shed this fall (No, really!) Sep 19
2023, 07:08:22 PM
And this note: - This production uses simulated gunshots, herbal cigarettes, haze, and fire effects.
Fire effects? Maybe that's how they get out at the end...
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LEMPICKA Pre-Broadway at LaJolla - News & Discussion Thread Sep 11
2023, 11:35:33 AM
I agree with Broadway Star. In La Jolla there was interesting set design, a rather interesting story that needed some help from a good dramaturge, but a score that felt like an endless succession of power ballads so that's hopefully where the most work has been over the past few years. Always ready to applaud a new and original musical but my expectations based on what was displayed in CA are low.
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THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA: Michael John LaChiusa musical based on the life of Graciela Daniele will play LCT's Newhouse in Fall 2023 w/ Priscilla Lopez, Mary Testa, Andréa Burns, Eden Espinosa Sep 7
2023, 05:41:23 PM
Some of MJL's stuff is definitely 'art house' (see Marie Christine at LTC). But try 'See What I Wanna See', which I think is some of his best work. But his hand's down best score was for 'Giant', at least at Signature Theater in Virginia. It was truncated a bit at the Public but still has some wonderful numbers. We saw 'Gardens of A' at the Old Globe and liked it a lot. It's a decidely smaller piece with many nice moments and some good numbers, but
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Any reports on The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical at La Jolla? Sep 4
2023, 11:33:53 AM
The show was meant to be wild and perhaps messy at times, which one might expect with a drug-addled protaganist. I thought this was far and away better than Lempika or the Outsiders, both of which needed a lot of work, but The Outsiders will be on Broadway in 6 months. I also thought Come Fall in Love at the Old Globe would be on Broadway by now, so what do I know.
I think Hunter Thompson would be a good fit for an off-Broadway start, a la Kimberly Akimbo, and if successful there
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Any reports on The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical at La Jolla? Sep 3
2023, 10:34:43 PM
We saw the 2pm matinee today (Sunday, Sept 3). It's mostly terrific and perhaps the best original musical not based on another source since Hamilton (Some Like it Hot and Kimberly Akimbo are great but not originally sourced, moreso clever reinventions of their source material).
The lead is wonderful and all of the performers are great and get a chance to shine, particularly the wife and Nixon (the main antagonist, who gets a great second act opening number). The set is a single pie
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What will be the biggest anticipated show of 23-24 Apr 16
2023, 07:43:05 PM
If it transfers, and I can't imagine it won't, "Here We Are"
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DANCIN' Previews Mar 4
2023, 12:38:48 PM
The 'dancing' in San Diego was excellent in the solo or small ensemble numbers. It was the large cast numbers where I don't think the dancing would have lived up to Fosse's expectations. The biggest problem in San Diego was the dreadful dialogue stretches. Can anyone comment on whether the dialogue has now been pared to a minimum or isn't embarrassing?
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The Outsiders at La Jolla Playhouse Feb 26
2023, 02:49:11 PM
- Spoiler alert: When we saw the second preview, there was one spigot of rain coming down and the rest of the 'rain' was projected on the back wall. Was it different when you saw it? It didn't come close to being special in terms of set design/theatrics unless they've greatly changed the staging.
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The Outsiders at La Jolla Playhouse Feb 23
2023, 11:52:30 AM
We saw the second preview of this plodding new musical last night. It's now the 5th musical in a row at the La Jolla Playhouse that is unimpressive (ranging from the bad -- Fly-- to the kinda promising -- Lempicka). The Outsiders falls more to the headscratching/uninteresting end of the spectrum. It invites comparisons to West Side Story, and none in a good way. There are a few decent songs (Stay Gold and Great Expectations but no song list was provided although we were
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COME FALL IN LOVE - THE DDLJ MUSICAL Coming To Broadway During 2022-2023 Season Oct 24
2022, 12:46:41 AM
Saw the second performance 6 weeks ago and saw the closing today. Still a wonderful, joyous show that the audience loved. They changed nary a thing since the opening (I would cut the Rome stop in the title number) and it still works like gangbusters with sensational leads. No word of a transfer yet but this should be a smash on Broadway
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