San Diego Arts Reviews

I have a confession to make: I really, really, really dislike anything in the horror genre. I have been sickened by the sight of gore, and I hate moments when something shocks by jumping out suddenly (I’m looking at you, Wait Until Dark). Most of my experiences with horror have... Read more »

Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz’s captivating concert Friday at Escondido’s California Center for the Arts has certainly raised the bar for the traditional solo recital. From singing an extraordinarily wide range of music on the program, to engaging the audience in song, to playful interactions with the rousing 10-member Mariachi Continental de... Read more »

Dripping with sexism and class snobbery, “My Fair Lady” is one of those musicals so grating to 21st century sensibilities, one might feel it should remain on the shelf. Ah, but the Lerner-Loewe tunes are magnificent. And any tale that’s persisted from Greek mythology to Shaw’s “Pygmalion” to “Pretty Woman”... Read more »

When I recently held a Zoom conversation with Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, he was in Moscow, where he was appearing at the fabled Bolshoi Theater in Verdi’s opera La Traviata. The previous week he had appeared as a featured singer on the stage of the Vienna State Opera in a... Read more »

According to the La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director, Christopher Ashley, Kimber Lee’s play, to the yellow house has been in the production process for nearly five years, taking different forms and being housed in different theatres as it went. It finally is making its world premiere in the Mandel Weiss... Read more »

The Roustabouts return to live theatre by presenting Christopher Durang’s For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls at Moxie Theatre. While the title selection is hilarious, the other three short plays that comprise the evening are a mixed bag. Omri Schein, Wendy Maples, Wendy Waddell, and Walter MurrayPhotos by Tom Botsko... Read more »

A radiant Michelle Bradley captivated San Diego Opera patrons in her nonpareil recital Saturday at The Conrad in La Jolla. The voice that shook the Civic Theatre rafters two seasons ago as Aïda suffused the Baker-Baum Concert Hall with her warm yet impassioned soprano in a sophisticated program of art... Read more »

“Crossroads.” Photo: Doug McMinimy In the gravely beautiful “Crossroads” by Terry Wilson, the dancers appear to be migrants, driven this way and that like leaves in the wind—people whose lack of control over their destinies felt tragic yet distant when this piece premiered in January, 2020. Seeing it again on... Read more »

Michelle Bradley [photo courtesy of the artist]American soprano Michelle Bradley won the hearts of San Diego audiences with her compelling performance of the title role of Verdi’s Aïda in San Diego Opera’s October 2019 Civic Theatre production. It is our good fortune that the company is bringing Bradley back this... Read more »

We’re vaccinated. We’re masked. And we’re returning to theaters to see dance! Last week, I got to shows by two companies, Litvak Dance and Malashock Dance. Both featured work by multiple choreographers, making it a dance bonanza. Sadie Weinberg in “Girls with Balls.” Photo: Manuel Rotenberg Litvak, which performed last... Read more »