Pat Launer on San Diego Theater
By Pat Launer, SDNN
Thursday, December
3, 2009
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-12-02/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/dr-seuss-how-the-grinch-stole-christmas-camino-real-theater-reviews-news
READ REVIEWS OF: “Dr. Seuss’ How
the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Camino Real”
You’re
a Green One, Mr. Grinch!
THE SHOW: “Dr.
Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the family
favorite, in song (book and lyrics by Timothy Mason, music by Mel Marvin), at
the Old Globe Theatre
Is it my imagination, or has anyone else noticed that, as the world has
gotten more scary, the Grinch has gotten less so?
The very first musical Grinch (1998) was Guy Paul, who had a decidedly
nasty demeanor and a frightening, Gene Simmons-like serpentine tongue. He
actually made some little ones cringe. The latest Grinch, Jeff Skowron, also makes the kids scream – with laughter. He’s
very very funny, and he’s got a gorgeous basso voice,
as well as some pretty nifty moves. So, while he doesn’t make the most profound
of Scroogean transformations, he does entertain, to
the max -- or, the Max, which is the
name of his dog, played delightfully, in young and
older versions, by frisky Logan Lipton and bemused, nostalgic Martin Van Treuren (who was in the Broadway version of the show in
2007 and 2008).
Other reminders of that first “Grinch” long ago: audience member Tiffany
Scarritt (now Tiffany Jane, a professional singer in
The show, which still looks like an energized, pop-up, 3-D embodiment of
the book (wonderfully imaginative set by John Lee Beatty and costumes by Robert
Morgan), has undergone a number of changes over the years, since Jack O’Brien
first co-conceived and directed it. First (very wise move), the songs from the
animated film were added in (including the ever-popular “You’re a Mean One, Mr.
Grinch”). The paean to crass commercialism, “Last-Minute Shopping” was replaced
with a gentler, more apt message: “It’s the Thought That Counts.” The
borrowings from the Broadway rendition (2007-8) make the whole endeavor seem
more schmaltzy and contrived, less pure and sweet than the original. The Grinch
has changed his appearance, too; his costume is less shaggy, his
face isn’t very green or furry or foreboding.
Still, kids large and small go ga-ga over the
story of that small-hearted, hirsute “One of a Kind” (the title of a bouncy,
show-stopping vaudeville number) who tries to stop Christmas, but learns, from
lovable, precocious and irresistible Cindy-Lou Who that the real gifts of the
holiday are intangible. The ensemble is high-caliber, the staging (original
choreography by John DeLuca, with additional
choreography by Bob Richard, restaged by
These are Who-ters the whole family can enjoy!
THE LOCATION: Old Globe Theatre in
THE DETAILS: Tickets: $39-79
for adults; $20-29 for children age 3-17.
Tuesday-Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Saturday
and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., through December 27.
NOTE: No 8 p.m.
performance on 12/5; no performance 12/10 or 12/25. Additional
performances at 5 p.m. on Dec. 5, 12, 19.
THE BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET
Wonderful
THE SHOW: “Camino
Real,” a 1953 play by Tennessee Williams, at UC San Diego
It was a wild departure for Tennessee
Williams. Both loved and loathed. Theater critics dubbed it his best play
(Clive Barnes) and his absolute worst (Walter Kerr). It was a whopping failure when
it opened on Broadway in 1953. Close on the heels of his stupendous successes
(“The Glass Menagerie,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Rose Tattoo”), the
hallucinatory drama baffled and confounded audiences. It still does. But a
too-short-lived, jaw-dropping production at UCSD provides a don’t-miss
opportunity.
The setting is a run-down, mythical town, a
purgatory where doomed archetypes, fictional and literary, gather to
contemplate advancing age, impending irrelevance and maintaining hope in a
seemingly hopeless situation.
First to arrive is the delusional knight,
Don Quixote, who’s immediately abandoned by his not-so-loyal squire, Sancho Panza. He spends the rest
of his time searching for a new companion. Along the way, we meet the coughing
courtesan Camille (Marguerite Gautier from “La Dame aux Camélias”),
the poet Lord Byron, the womanizer Casanova, the seductive, repeatedly-virginal
gypsy, Esmeralda (from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) and, at the center of it
all, a young American, Kilroy, a washed-up, former
Golden Gloves boxer named for the World War II icon. He pines for the “one true
woman” he left behind when his heart, “larger than a baby’s head,” gave out.
All these fragile romantics are made inert by their own inadequacies, trapped
in a hellish place they barely try to escape, fearful of the vast expanse of
nothingness that lies beyond.
The non-linear story, if there is one (some
see the play as Don Quixote’s dream, but that wasn’t a strong feature of this
production) proceeds in a series of dreamlike “blocks” along the Camino Real (a
distinction is made between the Spanish-inflected “royal road” and the titular
locale which, the playwright asserts, should be pronounced “CAM-inno Reel”), a place where tattered reality confronts royal
illusions. A cruelly cynical, dictatorial hotelier presides over the place,
abetted by heavily armed henchmen and a trio of “Street Cleaners” who hover
like jackals, ready to snatch up corpses and haul them away underground.
At UCSD, a stellar graduate design team has
fashioned an aptly decrepit, decaying environment. The crumbling pillars and
the ruins of a finely tiled fountain surround a circular staircase that seems
to go nowhere, ending at a Magritte sky centered by a downward-facing doorway
(terrific scenic design by 2nd year MFA student Ian Wallace). The
costumes (2nd year Alina Bokovikova) are a glorious hodgepodge of styles and colors,
from bright reds and ruffles to skeleton suits. All the outfits are tattered,
decomposing, symbolically falling apart like the exteriors and interiors of the
place and its inhabitants. The lighting (3rd year
MFA James Tan) is stunning, ranging from shadows to spots and floods, with
marvelously dimensional projections of building facades. A thrumming
sound (2nd year MFA Omar Ramos) underscores the action, unnerving
the observers.
The overarching vision belongs to the
hugely talented
At nearly three hours, it do go on, and it does get repetitive. An
interesting philosophical mix of abstruse and on-the-nose. But a thrilling, rarely-taken ride, nonetheless.
INTERESTING
SIDE-NOTE: “Camino Real” is the focus of “The Really Big Once,”
a new work in development by the Target Margin Theater, a Brooklyn-based
experimental company that performs throughout the City. The show, which sees
the Williams play as a seminal piece of theater history, premieres Off Broadway next spring.
THE LOCATION: The Potiker Theatre, on the campus of UC San Diego,
THE DETAILS: Tickets $10-20. Wednesday-Saturday at 8 p.m., through December 5.
THE BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET
NEWS AND VIEWS
… Entrepreneurial
… Music of the Night: The SDSU MFA students in Musical Theatre
will present their semi-annual showcase, a “Contemporary Works Portfolio,” featuring songs from modern musicals
such as “The Light in the Piazza,” “Next
to Normal,” “Shrek, the Musical,” “Spring Awakening” and “[title of show].” See
the musical stars of tomorrow – and today. 12/7 at 7:30 p.m., in newly renamed
Moxie Theatre (formerly Cygnet’s Rolando Space), 6663 El Cajon Blvd., near the
SDSU campus.
… A Panoply of Patté : Indulge
your taste for talent. Attend The 13th
Annual Patté Awards for Theater Excellence, a gala community celebration
that honors the Best of the Best of San Diego theatermakers. If you’re a
theatergoer or a theaterlover, you won’t want to miss it. Monday, January 18,
2010. Tickets are now available at www.thepattefoundation.org.
READING ROOM
… Fightin’ Women: “The Rules
of Engagement,” a new play by local writer/actor
…Wonder of
Wonders: Carlsbad Playreaders presents a reading of “Wonder of the World” by David Lindsay-Abaire (“Kimberly Akimbo,” “Fuddy
Meers,” “Rabbit Hole”). The 2000 premiere starred
Sarah Jessica Parker as a wife who goes off on a journey of liberation after
she finds out that her husband has a sexual fetish involving Barbie heads.
Directed by Jill Drexler, the cast features
… Local premiere: Cygnet Theatre
will present a staged reading of “Tragedy
of the Commons,” by acclaimed La Jolla stage, screen and TV writer Stephen
Metcalfe (“Strange Snow,” “Emily, “The Incredibly Famous Willy Rivers,” “Pretty
Woman,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”), who’s an Associate Artist at the Old Globe. It’s
the story of a tired marriage about to be torn asunder. This will be the first
audience for the latest draft of the play. Metcalfe directs Jim Winker,
… R U Serious?:
Chronos Theatre Group presents a staged
reading of the 1921 Czech sci-fi classic, “R.U.R.,”
(Rostrum’s Universal Robots), by Karel Capek, the
play that introduced the word “robot” to the world. 12/ 7 at
7:30 p.m., Swedenborg Hall,
… WILL-ing andABE-L: The San Diego Shakespeare Society and Write Out Loud present a reading of “Lincoln’s Shakespeare,” adapted from “Steeped in Shakespeare,” a
scholarly essay that examines The Bard’s influence on the President.
PAT’S PICKS: BEST
BETS
“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
– great fun for the whole family
Old
Globe Theatre, through 12/27
“Camino Real” – a rarely seen Tennessee
Williams classic, stunningly presented
The
Potiker Theatre, on the campus of UCSD, through 12/5
“Bonnie and
Read
Review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-25/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/bonnie-and-clyde-the-seafarer-the-foreigner-holiday-memories-theater-reviews-news
“The Seafarer” – spooky, eerie, funny
and even thought-provoking; excellent ensemble
San
Diego Repertory Theatre, through 12/13
Read
Review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-25/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/bonnie-and-clyde-the-seafarer-the-foreigner-holiday-memories-theater-reviews-news
“
Scripps
Ranch Theatre, through 12/12
Read Review here: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-25/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/bonnie-and-clyde-the-seafarer-the-foreigner-holiday-memories-theater-reviews-news
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” – marvelous
production of a sprightly, funny, imaginative play
Read Review here:
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-18/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/picasso-into-the-woods-two-gentlemen-theater-reviews-and-news
Pat Launer is the
SDNN theater critic.
To read any of
her prior reviews, type ‘Pat Launer’ into the SDNN Search box.