PHOTOGRAPH BY KEN JACQUES
66 San Diego Reader April 21, 2016
THEATER LISTINGS
Theater listings and commentary are by Jeff Smith unless otherwise noted. Information is accurate according to material given us, but it is always wise to phone the theater for any last-minute changes and to inquire about ticket availability. Many theaters offer discounts to students, senior citizens, and the military. Ask at the box office.
Big River New Village Arts states the Tony Award-winning musical (which premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse) based on Mark Twain’s The Adven- tures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck and Jim head down the Mississippi River to find freedom. Colleen Kol-
lar Smith directs and choreographs. NEW VILLAGE ARTS THEATRE, 2787 B STATE ST., CARLSBAD. 760-433-3245. 8PM THURSDAYS, 8PM FRIDAYS, 3PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATURDAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, THROUGH MAY 15.
Constellations The Old Globe Theatre presents Nick Payne’s two-hander about Marianne, a physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper. At a party, “they hit it off…or perhaps they don’t. One of them is married…or maybe they’re
both single.” Richard Seer directs. SHERYL AND HARVEY WHITE THEATRE, 1363 OLD GLOBE WAY, BALBOA PARK. 619-234-5623. 8PM THURSDAYS, 8PM FRIDAYS, 2PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATUR- DAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, 7PM SUNDAYS, 7PM TUESDAYS, 7PM WEDNESDAYS,
IAN PIKE The takeout junkie trope
IN SCRIPPS RANCH THEATRE’S production of Skin Deep, female lead, Maureen Mulligan — played to the Irish Catholic spinster extreme by Brenda Adelman — seems to survive on a steady diet of takeout food, the remains of which litter her apartment by the time the second act gets into swing. We are not leſt with the sense that her loyalty to Happy Dragon Chinese and Roman Empire pizza is a conciliatory measure meant to ease the perma- nent ache in her loneliest of hearts. It appears her only sustenance. As children, getting
Mondays. With their colons of steel, pliable arteries, and resilient pancreases, a steady diet of pizza, Natural Ice, and Ben & Jerry’s does them little immediate harm.
Because it’s unhealthy? Possi-
takeout is like a special treat. It has all the benefits of going to a restaurant, like getting to order whatever you want; without the drawbacks, like having to wear clothing, or sit still. In college, takeout food
Maureen (Brenda Adelman) among the skeletal remains of her takeout binge, with brother-in-law, Squire (NIck Charles), for company.
People in Maureen’s demo-
becomes a way of life, seeing as how a strong plurality of 20-year- olds might starve to death were it not for inexpensive lo mein specials and half-price calzone
THROUGH MAY 8.
Dinner with Marlene Lamb’s Players Theatre stages the
graphic, however, should long since have abandoned ordering in for wholesome, nutritious home- cooked meals. Failing that, dining out should be a social occasion, for meeting friends and staying up on fashionable restaurants. Why is it that popular opinion
looks askance at an adult who orders takeout on the regular?
world premiere of Ann-Charlotte Hanes Harvey’s play, “based on my father’s dinner with Marlene Diet-
bly, but popular restaurants serve buttery, meaty salt-bombs and nobody bats an eye. More likely we regard the serial takeout diner as hope- lessly withdrawn from society. A fridge filled with nothing but take- out leſtovers marks the owner sad and desperate, as if a lack of soul could be reflected in pagoda boxes of dessicated rice, in styrofoam clamshell containers hiding con- gealed burrito halves. Love of luncheon spe-
cials hardly compares to the odious political ideol- ogies at work in the world
today, so at first it seems odd to hold such merciless opinions on something so innocuous as take- out food. But it makes a weird kind of sense. What is more basic, more universal, and more undeniably human than the ways we choose to feed ourselves? Considering this resonance, It’s a surprise that more writers don’t put the takeout junkie trope to work.
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rich in Paris in October 1938. He was “a young man of 27” as storm clouds gathered in Europe. Robert Smyth directs. LAMB’S PLAYERS THEATRE, 1142 ORANGE AVE., CORONADO. 619-437- 0600. 8PM FRIDAYS, 4PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATURDAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, 7:30PM TUESDAYS, 7PM WEDNESDAYS, THROUGH MAY 29.
The Doyle and Debbie Show The Broadway/Vista Theatre pres- ents this parody, “simultaneously lampooning and idolizing country music’s tradition of iconic duos and their subsequent battle of the sexes.” Thirty years and four wives later, Doyle Mayfield finds himself back in Nashville with his fourth “Debbie.” She’s a single mother of three who soon realizes he’s a loose cannon.
Randall Hickman directs. BROADWAY THEATRE, 340 E. BROAD- WAY, VISTA. 760-806-7905. 7:30PM THURSDAYS, 7:30PM FRIDAYS, 1PM SATURDAYS, 7:30PM SATURDAYS, 1PM SUNDAYS, THROUGH MAY 1.
CONSTELLATIONS One love affair. Infinite possibilities.
By Nick Payne
Directed by Richard Seer Now Playing!
Limited engagement through May 8 (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623)
Contains strong language Christian Coulson and Victoria Frings. Photo by Jim Cox.
www.TheOldGlobe.org
The Elephant Man Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company and the Oceanside The- atre Company present Bermard Pomerance’s award-winning drama about John Merrick, the deformed “Elephant Man,” in an age about to face its own deformities. Christopher Williams and Francis Gerke (who
plays Merrick) co-direct. SUNSHINE BROOKS THEATRE, 217 N. COAST HWY., OCEANSIDE. 760-433- 8900. 7:30PM FRIDAYS, 7:30PM SATURDAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, THROUGH APRIL 24.
Fiddler on the Roof Welk Resorts Theatre opens its new season with Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock, and Joseph Stein’s musical classic about tradition and change in a small Russian village. Songs
SCHOOL PLAYS
ALADDIN APR. 29 7PM, APR. 30 7PMMAY. 1 4PM, MAY. 6 7PM, MAY. 7 7PM, MAY. 7 2PM, MAY. 8 4PM CREATIVE PERFORMING & MEDIA ARTS THEATER
MASQUE OF BEAUTY AND THE BEAST MAY. 20 7PM, MAY. 21 2PM, MAY. 21 7PM, MAY. 22 5PM
OUT OF THE YARD APR. 21 7:30PM, APR. 22 7:30PM, APR. 23 7:30PM SDSU’S EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE
SAN DIEGO STUDENT SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL APR. 30 12:30PM CASA DEL PRADO
THE SOUND OF MUSIC MAY. 13, MAY. 14 HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
HAIRSPRAY JR. MAY. 27 7PM, MAY. 28 7PM, MAY. 29 2PMJUN. 3 7PM, JUN. 4 2PM, JUN. 4 7PM PACIFIC BEACH MIDDLE SCHOOL
LITTLE MERMAID JR MAY. 6 7:30PM, MAY. 7 2PM, MAY. 7 7:30PM, MAY. 8 2PM, MAY. 13 7:30PM, MAY. 14 7:30PM, MAY. 14 2PM, MAY. 15 2PM STAR THEATRE
LITTLE MERMAID JR. MAY. 7 2PM, MAY. 7 7PM, MAY. 8 2PM, MAY. 14 2PM, MAY. 14 7PM, MAY. 15 2PM MAXINE THEATER
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS APR. 28 7PM, APR. 29 7PM, APR. 30 7PM, MAY. 5 7PM, MAY. 6 7PM, MAY. 7 7PM EL CAJON VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
include “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” Kathy Brom- bacher directs. WELK RESORT THEATRE, 8860 LAWRENCE WELK DR., ESCONDIDO. 888-802-7469. 1PM THURSDAYS, 8PM THURSDAYS, 1PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATURDAYS, 1PM SUNDAYS, THROUGH APRIL 24.
Jesus Hates Me Ion Theatre presents Wayne Lemon’s “dramedy” about “disillusion, broken dreams…zealotry, and pain” at the Blood of the Lamb Miniature Golf Course in rural Texas. The life-sized crucified Christ hanging over the 17th hole prompts Ethan “to ques-
tion his place in the universe.” ION THEATRE COMPANY BLKBOX THEATRE, 3704 SIXTH AVE., HILLCREST. 619-600-5020. 4PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATURDAYS, THROUGH MAY 23.
A Little Night Music The Coronado Playhouse continues its 70th Anniversary Season with Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award- winning musical, based in part on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night. During a weekend in the country, “infinite possibilities of new romances and second chances bring endless surprises.” Jennie Gray
Connard directs and choreographs. CORONADO PLAYHOUSE, 1835 STRAND WAY, CORONADO. 619-435-4856. 8PM THURSDAYS, 8PM FRIDAYS, 8PM SATUR- DAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, THROUGH MAY 8.
Passage Into Fear The North County Players present the “historical stage thriller.” During the waning days of World War I, an
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE MAY. 20 7PM, MAY. 21 7PM, MAY. 22 2PM, MAY. 27 7PM, MAY. 28 2PM, MAY. 29 2PM MATER DEI CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
WRITER’S BLOCK: A FESTIVAL OF ONE-ACT PLAYS MAY. 12, MAY. 13
RANCHO BERNARDO HIGH SCHOOL
To list a school play, go to
sdreader.com/events/submit and select School Plays as the category.
elderly woman boards a passenger train insisting she knows about a plot on an international scale. She promptly disappears. “One-hundred percent of proceeds benefit area nonprofit organizations.” PATIO PLAYHOUSE, 201 E. GRAND AVE., ESCONDIDO. 760-746-6669. 7PM THURSDAY, 7PM FRIDAY, 7PM SATURDAY, 7PM SUNDAY.
Rain Sybille Pearson (book) and Michael John Lachiusa (music and lyrics) have turned Somerset Maugham’s short story, “Rain,” inside-out. A measles epidemic strands two couples at Pago Pago, along Sadie Thomspon, whose sassy ways incite moral fervor. Where the story relies on subtlety and nuance, the world premiere musical tells all always. Each character sings a long monoogue. The music here is most inventive, each song actually a song- cycle. But the lyrics, and the book as a whole, so thick with backstory they
too often makes for a static stage. OLD GLOBE THEATRE, 1363 OLD GLOBE WAY, BALBOA PARK. 619-234-5623. 8PM THURSDAYS, 8PM FRIDAYS, 2PM SATURDAYS, 8PM SATURDAYS, 2PM SUNDAYS, 7PM SUNDAYS, 7PM TUES- DAYS, THROUGH MAY 1.
Rapture, Blister, Burn The San Diego Repertory Theatre concludes its 40th season with Gina Gionfriddo’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist, a serio-comical look at the feminist movement and where it stands today. Sam Wood- house directs.
continued on page 80
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