WITH ‘ONE SMALL STEP’…“DONNA ORBITS THE MOON”

 Scripps Ranch Theatre is currently presenting Ian August’s “Donna Orbits The Moon”. In a superb tour de force performance, Susan Clausen’s take on Donna’s vulnerability and grief is without comparison. 

Under director Kandace Crystal’s guidance and profound instinct, ("I hope we take a moment to reflect on what's happening in others' lives") her words cannot be truer in today's unhinged world. 

With  Rhiannon McAfee’s dialect coaching, Clausen has perfected Donna’s northern Minnesota-Scandinavian  twang somewhat like the character in the movie “Fargo”. 

It’s 2010 and Donna, housewife and mother, is losing touch with reality. Oft times her children and  husband don’t know what to make of it, nor do they know how to handle it. Whenever help  is suggested, she poo-poo’s it or changes the subject. 

Donna has ‘moment’s’ or what some might call ‘acts of violence’. At her favorite market she slapped an elderly ladies’ hand for reaching in front of her. She cut off another driver in an angry moment and in Church, she went after a so called friend with her bible for saying something negative about her favorite recipe. And then there was the time she cleaned her house with her husband’s cooked steak when he didn’t come home in time to watch “60 Minutes”.  

In this 90 minute unwinding of Donna’s life, every emotion imaginable from anger, grief, loneliness, tenderness, fear and confusion, we the audience are on this roller coaster ride with her; so powerful is her performance. 

When Donna’s not baking her favorite gooseberry blondies, she hears a voice from outer space; that of Buzz Aldrin, (spoken but not seen by Eric Poppick) the second man to orbit the moon. It seems to be coming from NASA as Aldrin’s  space ship is about to lift off (with excellent projections and sound by design by Ted Leib). 

Throughout, Aldrin advises Donna ‘You have to go up before you can land’. No spoilers here, but as this particular time in Donna’s life unravels and we are already under her spell, it all comes together ….the landing, the space, the reaching for something,  the moon and back, the grief and ‘one small step

Credit Mashun Tucker Jr for the contrasting lighting design and  my friend Duane McGregor for her set design with crunches of paper and broken pieces of glass simulating Donna’s life. 

Hat’s of to both Susan and Kandace for this first rate collaboration. 

Bring tissues. 

See you at the theatre. 

You will not want to miss this. 

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Feb. 15

Where: Scripps Ranch Theatre at Legler Benbough Theatre, Allied International University campus, 9783 Avenue of Nations, San Diego

Photo: Ken Jacques

Tickets: $30-$52

Phone: 858-578-7728

Online: scrippsranchtheatre.org

“ THE APIARY”

 A … is for Apiary. 

B… is for Bees. 

C… is for Count me out of this one …PLEASE!

D … is for Director …40 productions for Kristianne Kerner…Someone higher up should have forewarned her further. 

E …is for Eeeewe, what the bees have to do... after some time with the crew…even the best of us wouldn’t  do. 

F… is for Fi if it’s Sci Fi you’re after… 22 year  hence ... it might become a disaster.

G … is for Grounded which Apiary is lacking…someone needs to do more hacking. 

H… is Honoring those who’s script they took to heart …even though it might have been easy to depart. (Michelle Caravia, Adelaida Martinez, Milena (Sellers) Phillips, Nio Russell.

Company with Nio Russell in the foreground 

I… is Isolation from a world apart… if the now bees could give the next million generation… something needed is…  consideration. 

J… is for Jury that’s still out on this one… that it needn’t have been done... even if bees continue to hum.

K… is for Kate Douglas playwright anon… whose imagination has presently spread to all generations. 

L… is for Little or “Little Hive of Horrors” as one critic called it… where bees ‘tell jokes and dance’ and continue to romance.

M… is for Morals thrown out the windows… when the population of bees sinks to a dangerous low… and the keeper’s experiment of the ‘when and how’ …to keep them alive.

N …is for New as in Village  Carlsbad… where  bees continue to nest in their colonies best…through 27 of Feb. says the text.

O … is for Original by Miki Vale …as in sound where the clinging and clacking made tracking… too compound. 

P … is for Projections, Props and Video…by Michael Wogulis and Carter Vickers…… for keeping the bees  flying in the right direction. 

Q… is for Queen as Queen Bee… who’s in charge of production… to keep the colony... from reduction.… 

R is for Renda, Chris he is called…to light the way for bees to take flight. 

S … is for  Set …design by Kingspan Light and Air for creating translucent walls… should anyone fall.

Milena (Sellers) Phillips, Adelaida Martinez, Michelle Caravia 

T… is for Tumbling …as in watching bees… fall from grace... as the years keep pace. 

U… is for Uniform… or costumes they’re called… by Jess Moreno Caycho … all white lab protected… so no keeper…gets infected. 

V… is for Vital… as in keeping alive…the bee population in order to survive… ecology’s future.

W … is  for Worker… Bee, as opposed to Queen…female in sex…as non-reproductive majority of honeybee colony… surviving at most six months at best… then live outside the nest…and pollinate.    

X…is for X Factor or Drones they are called…Male is sex and larger in size… scary looking with bulging eyes… and mate with virgin queens... outside the colony ... and then dies.

Y …is for Y in dystopia …all this talk …is quite melancholia… nothing spells utopia…for those with myopia. 

Z …is for BuZZZZing of Bees… which I can’t believe… I sat through…ninety minutes of scientific expertease.

Now I’ve said my ABC’s …can we please put “The Aviary”… enthusiasts at ease?

See you at the Theatre.

When:  Runs through Feb. 22. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: New Village Arts, 2787 State St., Carlsbad

Tickets: $30-$70

Photo: Jason Sullivan/Dupla Photography

Phone: 760-433-3245

Online: newvillagearts.org

LAMB’S “THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL” STILL PULLS AT THE HEARTSTRINGS.

 Thomas Wolfe, in his final novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again”, published  posthumously in 1940, explores the idea ‘that one can never truly return to a past self or place’. But no one told that to Carrie Watts, in Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful”. 

In one of those rarest of moments, Deborah Gilmour Smith, after an award winning performance as- slipping into senility- Glady Green in Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery”, is back in full form as Carrie Watts with all her wits about her, as the determined mother to Ludie Watts  (Andrew Oswald) and his overly critical and bossy  wife, Jessie Mae Watts (Kelsey Venter). 

Carrie Watts is like most of us who dream of our glorious childhood days and never consider what twenty years can do to a worn out and poverty stricken town. In her mind’s eye it will look and be the same. 

Lauren King Thompson and Deborah Gilmour Smyth

There is one thing on her To-Do list that she wants acknowledged by her son and daughter in law and that is her longing to go back to her roots and see Bountiful, Texas once more before she dies.

She plots and plans of ways to go back home to Bountiful  and  fantasizes about life and what it was like then and the possibility of living with one of her best friends (whom she hears from once a year). She aches to set her feet in the soil in which she once loved to till and plant. 

Now, the three share a small and claustrophobic apartment in Houston. They live in shrouded harmony made possible only by her peace-making son Ludie, but that could come apart at any moment.  According to Carrie there is no space outside to even plant a flower.

Spencer Gerber and Deborah Gilmour Smyth

Thirty five years ago, both Artistic Director and his wife Deborah Gilmour Smyth mounted ‘Bountiful’ with Gilmour Smyth playing Jessie Mae. Today, as we have all passed the ageing test, Ms. Smyth takes the trip to Bountiful again, but now as Carrie Watts, in Foote’s new and adapted 100 minute intermission-less trip. 

And now we the audience have a chance to go along with her ever so slowly and deliberately as she manages to slip under the radar at the local bus station and with some kindly helping hands ( Thelma, Lauren King Thompson, a passenger in the bus station, the ticket agent, Spencer Gerber and the Sheriff, Lance Arthur Smith)  to her final destination of Bountiful. 

Andrew Oswald is perfect as the loving, respectful, understanding and quietly spineless son who is put in a position of making peace with both his mother and his wife while trying to get ahead in his job. 

 (L to R) Lauren King Thompson, Andrew Oswald, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Spencer Gerber and Lance Arthur Smith

Kelsey Venter plays the disgruntled wife and daughter in law as someone you would want to shake to her senses.

Lauren King Thompson is gracious as Carrie's fellow passenger, Thelma, Lance Arthur Smith plays the kind hearted Sheriff and Spencer Gerber’s ticket agent is fin in rounding out the staff. 

Mike Buckley’s minimalist set and meager remains of Carrie’s dilapidated homestead in Bountiful are another reminder that the past is just the past. 

Deborah Gilmour Smyth and Kelsey Venter

Jemma Dutra designed appropriate dated fashions, Nathan Pierson’s lighting and Deborah Gilmour Smyth’s incidental music with some pretty interesting bird calls impress. 

From the very first time yours truly saw this play about 30 years ago until today it still tugs at my heartstrings for its humility, humanity, simplicity, peace, acceptance and grace.  (Some things we do not see in today's world.)

With Ms. Smyth as Carrie Watts,  it’s the frosting on the cake. 

 Enjoy,

See you at the theatre.

When:  Runs through March 1. 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado

Photo: Nathan Pierson

Tickets: $28-$98

Phone: 619-437-6000

Online: lambsplayers.org

“LOUISA GILLIS” MAKES WORLD PREMIERE AT NORTH COAST REP.

Playwright Joanna McClelland Glass is no stranger to David Ellenstein or The North Coast Repertory Theater. In 2021 her play “Trying” was produced and streamed at NCR during the Covid outbreak, again directed by Ellenstein.  At that time, I wrote  “The story is based on playwright Joanna McClelland Glass’ experience as an assistant to famed Attorney General and Chief Judge at Nuremberg, Francis Biddle, during the final year of his life”. 

As a matter of fact, I was able to see “Trying” at The Ford Theatre many, many moons ago when my late husband was in D.C. on business. At that time Glass was in her early twenties and Biddle was 81. Today Glass is 89 and still going strong, ergo “Louisa Gillis”. 

“Louisa Gillis” is a play of a very different stripe. It is oft called a mystery, but not in the usual sense. It’s more psychological than logical; actually, it oft times defies logic. But no spoilers here. It is funny, but not a comedy. It deals with old secrets, alcohol addiction and a letter of demands left behind by Louisa that keeps the family almost paralyzed and in a state of dysfunction. Putting them altogether and putting the pieces in the right places is the puzzle sought after by the audience and the playwright.  

Faline England, Caroline Renee, James Sutorius and Denise Young

The characters include Steven, (James Sutorius who also played Biddle in NCR’s “Trying”) Louisa’s ex; Celia, (Faline England) Louisa’s cast aside and bitter daughter by Steven; Lucy, (Caroline Renee) Louisa’s granddaughter (Celia’s daughter who is once remover from Louisa but has to deal with her mother’s drinking problem. She is also a college dropout), and his loving and kind Helga, (Denise Young) Steven’s now wife of forty years. 

Caroline Renee and Denise Young

And while we never actually see Louisa she is very much a part of each character for better or worse. Mostly the later. The wall of pictures in the background is a reminder of her existence. 

Steven is a retired college professor who can rattle off Shakespeare, Homer, Socrates, and any and all the great philosopher’s chapter and verse at the drop of a hat. But what’s bothering him right now is the fact that Celia, using the money she inherited from Louisa, has moved him to a retirement community facility in Connecticut far from his beloved apartment in New York City. And no laughing matter, he is close to death because of a heart disease, again, which Celia is paying his medical bills.

Sutorius, who played Biddle in “Trying”, is absolutely outstanding as Steven. He is on the money and his lines crackle! He may be next to dying in the play, but is very much alive with his deliveries and Glass has given him some doozies. 

Faline England as Celia

Ms. England had the drunk scenes down pat, but watching her reminded me of growing up with an alcoholic father. No laughing matter, that! She had a special affinity to Jack Daniels. Her daughter Lucy (Renee)  whose performance was also so natural and believable, was the one taking care of her. I had  rachmanus (sympathy) for her. Denise Young (who also happens to be Ellenstein’s wife) was gentle and caring of all the characters. As the outsider, she was able to get to her husband when no one else could. In the end, she was the catalyst  that brought some humanity and peace to this troubled family. 

Marty Burnett’s set, is as usual, functional and detailed. Matthew Novotny’s lighting specifically focuses on both places of residence (which could have been confusing). Elsa Benzoni’s costumes fit each personality, and Matt Fitzgerald’s sound brought on some heavy rain on cue.  

With Artistic Director Ellenstein at the helm,  and a few minor changes, Glass’ “Louisa” could go on to have a life elsewhere. 

The production is 95 minutes long without intermission.

Enjoy.

See you at the theatre.

When:  Runs through Feb. 8. 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. and Sundays.

Photo: Aaron Rumley

Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach

Tickets: $58.50-$80.50

Phone: 858-481-1055

Online: northcoastrep.org

 

“SIX THE MUSICAL”: LOTS OF GLITTER WITH SOME HISTORY MIXED IN.

 

The Six Wives

I’ve been wanting to see “SIX The Musical” by Toby Harlow and Lucy Moss for some time now. It debuted at the Edinburgh film festival in 2017, was picked up on London’s West End and officially went to Broadway in 2021. It’s presented as a concert-style show as the queens compete to see who will score as the most popular. 

I love history and the thought of a musical about Tutor History, King Henry III and his six wives sounded intriguing: Catherine of Aragon was married to Henry the longest and for that she was sent to the Tower of London and died in isolation so Henry could marry Anne Boleyn, Catherine’s Lady in waiting. 

Anne was beheaded, followed by Anna of Cleves followed by Katherine Howard who was beheaded and finally Catherine Parr who outlived Henry but died in childbirth.

Emma Elizabeth Smith as Catherine of Aragon in the North American tour of “Six.” (Photo by Joan Marcus/Broadway San Diego)

The night I saw the show it was hoping with enthusiasm from young and old alike but mostly the younger set. (My date commented that we were probably 50 years too late to be overly zealous.) 

Aside from not understanding all the lyrics, (it was verrry loud, Paul Gatehouse), it was high in energy, eye blaring glitzy, sequine with costumes by Gabriella Slade, choreographed with precision by Carrie-Ann Ingrouille, and vibrant stage lighting by Tim Deilin. 

 The on stage band consisting of bass, guitar, drums keyboard, synthesizer are under the direction of music coordinator Kristy Norter. 

There is no substitute for the talent and strong voices on the stage on opening night with Emma Elizabeth Smith as Catherine of Aragon, (“No Way”), Nella Cole as Anne Boleyn (Don’t Lose Ur Head”), Kelly Denise Taylor as Jane Seymour (“Heart of Stone”), Hailey Alexis Lewis as Anna of Cleves (“Get Down”), Alize Cruz as Catherine Howard (“All You Wanna Do”), and Tasia Jungbauer as Catherine Parr (“I Don’t Need Your Love”). 

Finally, Girl Power wins out and the competition is dropped as all SIX sing “The Queens”. 

All this in just over 90 minutes without intermission. 

There is still time to catch it. It’s playing through Sunday Jan. 4th at the Civic Theatre.

Enjoy!

See you at the theatre.

Through Jan 4th 2026

San Diego Civic Theatre

1100 Third Ave

San Diego, CA 92101

STERLING CAST SHINES IN BACKYARD RENAISSANCE “THE WAVERLY GALLERY”

 “The Waverly Gallery” by Kenneth Lonergan, is one of those heart wrenching , bittersweet  comedy/dramas that when done well, will leave you exhausted, on the verge of tears or more, and drained. So, it is with the production at the Backyard Renaissance  Company on 10th Ave Downtown under the deft direction of artistic director Francis Gercke and an ensemble hard to beat. 

Katie MacNichol and Deborah Gilmour Smyth

Billed as  semi -autobiographical, what happens in Gladys Green’s (Deborah Gilmour Smyth) family can and is happening in families across the nation. She…………is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, although you wouldn’t know it when we first meet her in her Greenwich Village art gallery. Her family struggles to keep some sort of balance in their lives while coping with the possibility of their mother/grandmother going down that slippery slope toward dementia. Her daughter and son-in law live on the  Upper West Side of Manhattan where she has dinner with them every Wed. night.

Deborah Gilmour Smyth as Gladys

What stands out most is the credibility and humanity of each and every cast member as they come to grips with their emotional highs and lows. Tom Zohar is Daniel Reed, Gladys’s grandson. As the playwright’s alter ego he breaks through the fourth wall and tells us about Gladys and then slips right back into his role as Daniel. 

Alexander Ameen, Katie MacNichol, Tom Zohar and Deborah Gilmour Smyth

Alexander Ameen and Katie MacNichol (who goes through a range of emotions from helplessness to impatience, anger, devotion and acceptance) are her son in law and daughter Howard and Ellen Fine, and William Huffaker is Don Bowman, a quirky artist from Mass.(with his broad R’s intact) whom Gladys allows to use her space to show his art along with offering him a place to sleep in a cot in the back of the gallery much to the chagrin of her family. 

William Huffaker and Deborah Gilmour Smyth

Both MacNichol and Ameen are perfect as they go through the stages of recognizing what will happen to their family as the burden of Gladys’s illness weighs in the balance. Will she/ won’t she have to eventually have to live with them when she reaches a point of not being able to live on her own? 

But the focus is, after all on Gladys, and Ms. Smyth has never been as amazingly on target as she is with Gladys. In all the years I’ve followed her career, she has the ability to transform herself into her character. 

Deborah Gilmour Smyth and Tom Zohar

With Gladys, she embodies this woman and that’s what makes it so gut wrenching and real. Like her family, you want to remember her as a vibrant and active, no nonsense woman, (who has a law degree) feisty and fun loving who loved to entertain and throw big dinner parties, but now her absent mind gets in the way and memories of her in the now, take over.

Tom Zohar (in background) William Huffaker and Alexander Ameen

These are questions addressing so many families across the nation; the what ifs. 

On the technical side, Duane McGregor’s  and John Zamora set design makes good use of the 10th Avenue space separating it into three functioning areas; a dining room, gallery and sitting room. Logan Kirkendall sound design, (using church bells to mark time is most significant and deafening but necessary.) 

Curtis Mueller’s lighting effectively  separates the three playing areas and Jessica John Gerck's costumes put the finishing touches to an already very finished show. 

Cast

Don’t miss this timely play. 

It plays through Nov. 22nd.

See you at the theatre

Enjoy!!

When: Previews begin Nov. 13. Opens Nov. 22 and runs through Dec. 6. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays

Where: Backyard Renaissance Theatre at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., downtown

Photo: Michael Makie

Tickets: $15-$50

Phone: 760-975-7189

Online: backyardrenaissance.com

 

“MASTER CLASS” CAMPBELL MASTERS THE MASTER TO PERFECTION

If you are looking for perfection in a theatre performance look no further than Sandy Campbell’s channeling of Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s ‘Master Class’.  

It is now playing through Dec. 14th at Legler Benbough Theatre at Scrips Ranch Theatre in conjunction with Roustabouts Theatre Company. Under the skillful  direction of Phil Johnson and dramaturge Tim Botsko, Campbell approaches her students with passion, conviction and purpose.  

Campbell, who sings like a nightingale herself, is no stranger to hard work, endless rehearsals and hours, no a lifetime of commitment to mastering her craft as both singer and actor. 

She is well known to San Diego audiences for her award winning performance as Lucille Frank in the Alfred Uhry/Jason Robert Brown musical ‘Parade’, and more recently in Cygnet’s Follies. Her credits are too long to list; just know that this master is taking on another master. 

Maria Callas was indeed, the La Divina. From an overweight, nearsighted youngster born in the U.S. to ‘an overbearing mother’ and beautiful sister, to her struggles with poverty during the war in Greece, to her musical education there and her rise to recognition, her bel canto voice became her passport to fame, fortune and her talk of the town, temperament. 

She slimmed down mid -career, and turned herself into a svelte and glamorous prima donna; the envy of her rivals and there were many. When her voice failed, she turned to teaching a Master Class at Juilliard College. That was in 1971. Based on true events, McNally’s piece picks  up during one of these sessions where she critiques three advanced Juilliard students.   

She enters the stage: Manny (Kyle Adam Blair, also musical director) the Accompanist at the school, takes his place and settles in. Callas (Campbell) follows. She is dressed in a drop dead stunning and fitting to the bone expensive black pants suit, matching scarf, ‘Italian shoes’ and ‘Chanel Bag’. (Dawn Fuller-Korinek)

‘No applause. We’re here to work’. ‘Singing is serious business.’’ You’re scared to death of me” Eh? Is that it? I don’t bite. I promise you. I bark…’ She addressed the audiences as she would a class she is teaching. At times she throws a little humor into the conversation, asking the audience a question and then bringing it right back to her class

Campbell and Sara Frondoni

Bark she does, frightening to death her three students; soprano Sophie De Palma (Abigail Grace Allwein), singing Amina’s final aria from Bellini’s opera “La Sonnambula.” ‘You sang it. You didn’t feel it. It’s not a note we’re after, it’s a stab of pain’. 

Soprano Sharon, ‘Astonish us Sharon’ (Sara Frondini) singing from Verdi’s “Macbeth” and tenor Tony (Ben Read) beautifully singing Cavaradossi’s  “Recondita armonia” from Puccini’s ‘Tosca’.  

  She goes after them singularly interrupting them at every turn, for one thing or another while allowing her mind to drift back to her glory days with her recordings singing some of her favorite and well- recognized arias play in the background.  Her voice no longer what it was, she speaks the words in perfect Italian diction.

Abigail Grace Allwein, Ben Read, Sara Frondoni and Sandy Campbell. 

She recalls her La Scala debut, her rivals, her critiques of Dame Joan Sutherland (her looks and size, ‘a 12 foot Lucia?) and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis and the heartbreak that followed their breakup in 1977 just before Onassis married Jaqueline Kennedy. He never married Maria and refused to allow her to have their child which she so desperately wanted. 

No doubt, Campbell has perfected her role of Callas even at the expense of the backstage manager ( Tim Benson) badgering him first for a pitcher of water, pillow to sit on and then for a footstool to rest her feet since her feet don’t touch the ground on the chair they gave her. This she does with an exasperated look, but with satisfaction when all is said and done.

Ben Read, Sandy Campbell with Kyle Adam Blair

Callas was one tough, uncompromising lady, oft times quite vicious and petty when complaining about her rivals.  One can almost feel sorry for her but… ‘The only thanks I ask is that you sing properly and honestly. If you do this, I will be repaid.’

As for Campbell, she IS the star of this show reprising it after ten years. She is impeccable, professional and flawless. You don’t have to be a fan of opera, or even a Callas fan to enjoy this show, but you will be blown away by Campbell’s performance.

Dixon Fish designed the set, sound and projection design/co -producer, Ted Leib, props design  /set dressing/scenic painting Duane McGregor,  Peter Hermann, wigs and Jill Drexler is the Artistic Director of Scripps Ranch Theatre. 

Enjoy.

See you at the theatre. 

When:  Runs through Dec. 14. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Legler Benbough Theatre, 783 Avenue of Nations, Allied International University, San Diego

Tickets: $30-$52

Photo: Daren Scott

Phone: 858-395-0573

Online: theroustabouts.org