Janet Pitcher – San Diego Story

Classics like ‘She Loves Me’ deserve special handling. And that’s what the San Diego Musical Theatre has provided.

The canvas that was the 1990s started out blindingly white and died a murky, bloodstained mess. ‘Pump Up the Volume: a ’90s Palooza,’ San Diego Musical Theatre’s salute to the era, doesn’t quite know why that’s so — but as a spectacle in and of itself, you could do a lot worse.

‘Cats,’ a seven-time 1983 Tony winner, leaves something to be desired amid its extraction from another medium. But popular demand for spectacle made it what it is — and the current San Diego Musical Theatre staging is an excellent case in point.