Summertime at the Old Globe Theatre

Old Globe Theatre:  San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre has long been one of my favorite haunts.  They have three theatres:  the mainstage which seats 580, a theatre-in-the-round seating 250, and an outdoor theatre which accommodates 620.  The company’s mainstage has been the launch pad for many Broadway successes, and I have also sat through some great shows that were aimed for, but never made it to NYC.  The common thread was that they were all excellent productions.

Each summer, the outdoor theatre produces at least two Shakespearian productions with a quality that is recognized around the world.  The shows are generally trimmed to around two hours, and the actors are phenomenal at making the Bard’s words sound conversational.  They started this summer with The Taming of the Shrew.  This month (through 9/4), they are presenting A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of his most popular plays, and one that is pretty easily accessible to those of us who are not Elizabethan scholars.

The theatre is nestled in the gigantic Balboa Park, which includes the zoo and numerous museums.  I try to arrive early for good parking, and usually bring a picnic to enjoy in the park before the 8 p.m. production. 

This month they are also presenting Dial M for Murder, a classic suspense thriller, on their mainstage.  My first reaction to the title is, “Oh, that tired old thing.”  However, I have never been disappointed with anything this company has produced, and I’m pretty sure this production will be memorable.  www.TheOldGlobe.org

THEATRICUM BOTANICUM:  Will Geer, the actor most famous for playing the grandfather on The Waltons, owned a property in Topanga Canyon.  Like many other actors, he was blacklisted from films by the McCarthy regime, and so he built an outdoor theatre on his property where he and other ousted performers could ply their craft.  Today, his daughter Ellen administers the theatre and produces four or five shows each summer.  It is called Theatricum Botanicum which translates as garden theatre, and this summer, like most summers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be one of their titles.  This production typically encompasses the entire garden surrounding the theatre seats. They are also presenting The Merry Wives of Windsor, West Side Waltz, and Trouble the Water in repertory.  For those of you wishing to explore an alternative entertainment site, this theatre has lots of promise.  www.theatricum.com

THE PROM:  Perhaps you caught Ryan Murphy’s film based on this musical a couple of years ago on Netflix, but there is still a great night out to be had by viewing it onstage, especially at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles’s Music Center.  It is the story of four Broadway “actors” whose careers are marginal.  They decide to travel to Indiana to help a lesbian student who has been barred from taking her girlfriend to the prom.  Their initial motivation is to appear to be doing a good deed, thinking it might make them relevant back in New York, but they are so won over by the lesbian student that they take their mission seriously.  Let’s just say that before the evening is over, you will see a lady in a tuxedo!  Play 8/9 – 9/11 www.centertheatregroup.org

OKLAHOMA!  Well, okay.  This warhorse turns 80 next year.  Can it possibly have any relevance?  This production, staged on Broadway in 2018 by Daniel Fish, is a whole new look at the American classic.  Set in a school gym, the cast has been trimmed down to 12 people and the band features only seven musicians who play onstage as a country and western ensemble.  The sound is definitely more bluegrass than Broadway, and there is diversity in casting that probably wasn’t present when The Indian Territories became the state of Oklahoma, an underlying theme of the show.  Plays at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theatre 8/16 – 9/11, and Los Angeles’s Ahmanson Theatre 9/13 – 10/16.