Posts by Martin Jones Westlin
Excellent Director’s Touch Fuels MOXIE’s ‘Blue Door’
Reliving 130 years’ family history of slavery in one night is a heady proposition, but Lewis proves he’s up to the challenge despite his misgivings. MOXIE Theatre’s excellent ‘Blue Door’ is pulling for him all the way.
Read MoreBaird, John Light the Sky in New Fortune’s Thin ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses’
The French Revolution, and the years before it, inundated the world with news of dire consequences in a particularly failed monarchy. Christopher Hampton’s ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses’ had every opportunity to exploit the revolution in the interest of character development — and somehow, Hampton abandoned its every notion in this nonetheless well-mounted drama.
Read MoreBroadway SD’s ‘Rent’ Is Less a Musical Than a Concert — But Man, Those Tunes…
Tunes and text are supposed to play off each other as a Broadway musical unfolds. Frankly, the award-winning ‘Rent’ nails only half those components — but as the current Broadway San Diego entry proves, sometimes that’s enough.
Read MoreEnsemble Culture Is King in SDMT’s Great ’34th Street’
There are many, many forces at work out there, and that’s never more apparent than during the holiday season. San Diego Musical Theatre has copped the clue — and its excellent ‘Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play’ justifies our inclination toward belief in the unseen.
Read MoreLack of Ensemble, Vision Hobble NVA’s ‘Radio Hour’
In December of 1942, the country was a year into its effort to help save the world from subjugation. Arguably, holiday radio specials reflected such an environment — but if it wants to act accordingly, New Village Arts’ ‘The 1940s Radio Hour’ needs a lot of fuel.
Read MoreInnermission’s Fine ‘Seven Spots’ Holds the World Between the Lines
Solar radiation carries a deadly potential rivaled by only one phenomenon — war. The former upends commerce the way the latter upends lives; Innermission Productions’ current ‘Seven Spots on the Sun’ is a very good case in point.
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