Piling on
Sight Unseen and the rest of this week's theater listings
Artist Jonathan Waxman is rather a bit of a poop, having dissed his lover Patricia once the bucks from his paintings started rolling in. His conscience catches up with him as he visits Pat during an exhibition in England, her adopted home—but a true crisis of identity greets him, with various parties clubbing him over the head amid his wealth, fame and Jewry. His past mistakes don’t quite justify the maltreatment he gets in The Old Globe Theatre’s Sight Unseen; for all the world, playwright David Margulies paints him as an international outlaw rather than the everyday sellout he is. But this Esther Emery-directed piece features a very good performance from San Diego native Kelly McAndrew as Patricia, and it acclimates us to the San Diego Museum of Art’s James S. Copley Auditorium, which will serve at The Globe’s arena stage for the next two years during a major reconstruction project on the three-venue campus. Sight Unseen runs through Sept. 7 at the Copley, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. $47-$54. 619-23-GLOBE or www.oldglobe.org.
—Martin Jones Westlin
Now playing
* All’s Well That Ends Well: Helena jumps through a bunch of hoops to land her man, and she finds that this marriage thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Through Sept. 27 at The Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. $56-$64. 619-23-GLOBE or www.oldglobe.org.
* Pretty Fire: Actor Charlayne Woodard’s biography touches on racism, family and growing up. Produced by Lamb’s Players Theatre, it runs through Sept. 7 at the Paul and Ione Harter Stage, 1142 Orange Ave. in Coronado. $20-$52. 619-437-0600 or www.lambsplayers.org.
Romeo and Juliet: Two crazy kids from Italy fall in love, only to die amid a pointless family feud. Through Sept. 26 at The Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. $56-$64. 619-23-GLOBE or www.oldglobe.org.
* Spring Awakening: Melchior embarks on a journey from adolescence to adulthood in the Germany of 1891, when the old people hold all the cards. Produced by Broadway/San Diego, the show runs through Aug. 31 at the Balboa Theatre, 858 Fourth Ave., Downtown. $12.50-$45.50. 619-570-1000 or www.broadwaysd.com. See our review on this page.
* The Joy Luck Club: A group of Chinese-American immigrant families feast on food and retell the stories that shaped their mother-daughter relationships. Produced by the Asian-American Repertory Theatre, the show runs through Sept. 14 at The Lab, Academy for the Performing Arts, 4580-B Alvarado Canyon Road in Mission Valley. $15-$20. 888-568-2678.
The Merry Wives of Windsor: John Falstaff uses his celebrity to hit on two married women. Through Sept. 28 at The Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. $56-$64. 619-23-GLOBE or www.oldglobe.org.
Dinner theater
Chalk it Up to Murder: HIT Productions features a cavalcade of new clues for a terrible crime. Fireside Steakhouse, 439 W. Washington Blvd. in Escondido. $16-$29.50. 619-561-8673.
Joey & Maria’s Comedy Italian Wedding: The fortunes and foibles at the heart of an Italian wedding are laid on the table. Holiday Inn on the Bay, 1355 N. Harbor Drive. $49.50. 800-944-5639.
Where There’s a Will... There’s a Wake: Gangland figure Sonny Shoeleone is heir to the family fortune unless his siblings have their way. Presented by Mystery Cafe Dinner Theater at Imperial House Restaurant, 505 Kalmia St. in Bankers Hill. 619-544-1600.
Published: 08/26/2008
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