Disillusionment Meets Literary Allusion in ‘The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical’

Hunter transcribes The Great Gatsby.

Contraceptives, literate children, funding for the arts, radical mercy, and weed. The demands of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical are specific and intentional, told through the life story and experiences (real or fabricated) of the infamous titular Gonzo journalist himself. The production, a world premiere with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss, catches the wild ride that is Thompson’s career and pairs it with a vibrant rock score. The musical runs at La Jolla Playhouse through October 8.

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Plenty of Empathy in OnStage’s Wonderful ‘Mugre’

Marcel Ferrin and Paul Araujo. (Photos courtesy of Anibal Alcaraz).

heatre has the power to take seemingly ordinary stories and make them riveting and impactful. A current staging that exemplifies this is OnStage Playhouse’s World Premiere production of Mugre, which is a drama about a short period of time in the lives of Mexican employees at a South San Diego car wash, Los Mojados.

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Teatro San Diego Stages an Intensely Raw Classic

Ina Lelevier and Mason J. Ballard (Photos courtesy of Sarah Marie Hernandez.).

West Side Story is often presented in an epic style in big venues with large sets and orchestras. Teatro San Diego’s version might be staged at the intimate City Heights Performance Annex to recorded music, but the grand scale of the musical is felt with an expansively diverse cast and beautiful dancing.

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