San Diego Story – Page 749 – Reviews and Views of theater, music, dance and art in San Diego

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A “dramedy” for the Old Globe: Be a Good Little Widow

By Welton Jones | May 17, 2013 |

There’s nothing like a fatal plane crash to damage a bright new marriage. That’s where Bekah Brunstetter sets her new “dramedy” for the Old Globe Theatre, Be a Good Little Widow. The lame title doesn’t do justice to the quality of both play and production…

Diavolo’s ‘architect of motion’ travels to the Garfield Theatre

By Kris Eitland | May 15, 2013 |

Listening to Jacques Heim talk about hefty structures used in his choreography is fascinating, not because he’s also driving through the concrete jungles of Los Angeles, or that he’s the artistic director of the leaping and flying Diavolo Dance Theater based there. It’s his vibrant accent and his obsession with architecture.

The Mystery of Elle at Les Girls: a waste of talent, parody opportunity

By Kris Eitland | May 14, 2013 |

Elle was an example of talented artists trying to be subversive, rejecting the basic rules of theatrical pacing, simply hell bent on using the slowest aspects of butoh and little else to convey a dark narrative inside a strip club. An opportunity wasted, and a big waste of talent.

The program could have been more successful as a complete and sleazy variety show, or a dark comedy. Imagine Dan Aykroyd’s character, Leonard Pinth Garnell, and how he introduced the “Bad Ballet” parody on Saturday Night Live. This was very bad butoh ballet indeed. Elle was best viewed as a parody, extreme yet simpleton in every way.