Turbula
Online since August 2002
Theater

January 6, 2008
San Diego Opera announces their 2008 season, and Carol Davis is excited to see "Aida" back on the schedule ...

San Diego theater news

January 2008:

San Diego: If it's January, it's opera time
By Carol Davis

Latest reviews

December 2007:

San Diego and Carlsbad: What's new, pussycat?
By Carol Davis

November 2007:

Vista: 'The Magic Fire' still holds truths
By Carol Davis

San Diego and Solana Beach: The holidays start with Halloween this year
By Carol Davis

October 2007:

Carlsbad: Top-notch cast makes 'Humble Boy' a hive of attention
By Carol Davis

Coronado: Ideal is as ideal does
By Carol Davis

San Diego: An affair of the heart
By Carol Davis

San Diego: Harris' 'Pink Lady' performance a treat for San Diego audiences
By Carol Davis

Recent reviews

September 2007:

San Diego and La Jolla: Of jam 'n' jive 'n' Fats, odd balls and adding machines
By Carol Davis

Costa Mesa: South Coast Rep teams with Sondheim for beautiful night music
By Carol Davis

San Diego, Vista and Encinitas: Triple whammy of musical theater in San Diego in September
By Carol Davis

San Diego: 'Mama Mia,' 'Chicago' and all that jazz
By Carol Davis

San Diego: Ideal cast keeps 'Communicating Doors' revolving at Cygnet
By Carol Davis

August 2007:

San Diego: 'Globe's 'Bell, Book and Candle' perfect summer fare
By Carol Davis

Turbulence

Charlene Baldridge's theater diary

Original drama

December 2006:

Christopher Woods:
Café Orcus

January 2006:

Gary Beck:
Clown Show

Spring 2003 issue:

Salt Mine Exchange
By Christopher Woods

Previous reviews and profiles

March 2006:

Dublin: 'The Bacchae of Baghdad' an uneven, confused ride
By Jim Trageser

December 2005:

San Diego: 'Christmas Carol' good; unevenness prevents its being better
By Jim Trageser

November 2005:

La Jolla: Brilliant 'Miser' at Playhouse
Greed and love face off in disturbing production of the classic
By Charlene Baldridge

October 2005:

La Jolla: Laughs – and something to chew on after from creators of 'A Walk in the Woods'
Still, Blessing's new 'The Scottish Play' could use some tightening
By Jim Trageser

New York: 'Primo' a memoir of Auschwitz by Italian resistance fighter Primo Levi
Antony Sher gives chilling, moving account of the numbing minutiae of evil
By Lucy Komisar

New York: Maugham's 1927 comedy gets delicious Roundabout revival
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'The Breadwinner' a fine revival of 1931 Somerset Maugham play
Comic satire of wealthy stockbroker who rebels against spoiled wife and kids
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Lennon' a vibrant musical reprise of his music, life and times
Show illustrates how he became committed to peace politics and an unusual woman
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams' exudes cynicism
Do lies and illusions mark not only theater but also those who make it?
By Lucy Komisar

New York: Hokey, fun, vibrant staging in musical version of 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'
Just don't expect much Shakespeare
By Lucy Komisar

June 2005:

New York: 'Monty Python's Spamalot' outrageously brilliant political satire
Class struggle, love and the search for the Holy Grail prove a witty mix
By Lucy Komisar

La Jolla: An inkling of a comedic hit
With a nip here and a tuck there, 'Palm Beach' could be Broadway-bound
By Jim Trageser

New York: 'The Light in the Piazza' a charming operatic fable about romance
A fanciful Florence and thrilling voices provide the magical setting
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'On Golden Pond' a charming, fresh and funny look at generations
James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams shine as loving, bickering pair
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Doubt' a riveting morality play about possible sexual abuse by a priest
Should the Mother Superior act on strong suspicion if children are at risk?
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'The Pillowman' a bizarre gothic horror story
Riveting but far-fetched tale an unlikely literary metaphor
By Lucy Komisar

New York: Denzel Washington's 'Julius Caesar' is best when there's action
But Washington fails to project Brutus' moral doubts
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Steel Magnolias' a funny, charming tale of women's solidarity
Southern friends help each other over crises caused by men
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'A Streetcar Named Desire' vibrates with the power of sexuality
Tennessee Williams' play depicts classless prejudice about sex and women
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Dessa Rose' a moving musical of antebellum South
'Ragtime' creators tell story of female and black solidarity
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Hurlyburly' a vivid portrayal of people who can't connect
Hollywood becomes a metaphor for people exploiting each other
By Lucy Komisar

New York: Bonnie Lee Sanders a jazzy, sophisticated, inventive cabaret singer and writer
'Positive Influences' at Opia a modern woman's upbeat take on love and life
By Lucy Komisar

Winter 2004 issue:

San Diego: Of blues and redemption
'I Just Stopped By to See the Man' opens at The Old Globe
By Jim Trageser

Autumn 2004 issue:

San Diego: Dickens' glorious gift to the season
'A Christmas Carol' a San Diego theater tradition
By Jim Trageser

La Jolla: Working their way back to us
'Jersey Boys' captures magic of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
By Jim Trageser

La Jolla: Lugubria light
'The Love of Three Oranges' a celebration of commedia dell'arte
By Charlene Baldridge

Summer 2004 issue:

New York: 'Much Ado About Nothing' a delightful riff on male foolishness
Shakespeare takes on jealousy in popular comedy
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Sight Unseen' plumbs psychology of ambitious painter and the woman he discarded
Past intrudes through surprising, shifting flashbacks that alter the present
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'The Musical of Musicals (The Musical)' a witty satire of the genre
Spoofs and puns float through tale of destitute heroine and nasty landlord
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Assassins' a stunning, tantalizing, surreal kaleidoscope of historical killers
But why does the show reduce motivations to psychology and discount politics?
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Finian's Rainbow' a deft satiric musical fantasy about racism
A Broadway smash from the '40s is reprised by the Irish Rep
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'A Raisin in the Sun' a vivid saga of black life in the 1950s
Broadway revival evokes a Chicago family's dreams
By Lucy Komisar

New York: 'Fabulation' a witty satire about the black bourgeoisie
Nottage also throws comic barbs at rappers, gigolos, drug culture and welfare system
By Lucy Komisar

New York: Stoppard's 'Jumpers' a witty, surreal riff on God and morality
Murder, adultery and a distraught actress make up rowdy intellectual puzzle
By Lucy Komisar

San Diego: Genet and genre
Learning to appreciate experimental theater
By Charlene Baldridge

New York: Shows for sophisticates who like jazz and wit
Cabaret and musical reviews in New York
By Lucy Komisar

Spring 2004 issue:

New York: A hip acrobatic happening with angst
'Villa Villa' flies angrily through the air
By Lucy Komisar

San Diego: Intimate theater, great grub
'I Do! I Do!' at the Fritz, with dinner at Sixth Avenue Bistro
By Charlene Baldridge

San Diego: Small stages, big emotions
By Charlene Baldridge

New York: Artistry and politics animate this season's musicals
By Lucy Komisar

Winter 2003 issue:

Reinventing classics: 'Agamemnon,' 'The Mysteries' and 'After Miss Julie'
By Lucy Komisar

A review of a year of political theater in New York
By Lucy Komisar

San Diego REP — "A Christmas Carol"
By Jim Trageser

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Striking 12"
By Jim Trageser

Autumn 2003 issue:

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
By Jim Trageser

The La Jolla Playhouse — "Comedy of Errors" (Aquila Theatre production)
By Jim Trageser

Summer 2003 issue:

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Much Ado About Nothing"
By Jim Trageser

45 Bleecker Street at Lafayette (New York) — "The Exonerated"
By Lucy Komisar

Minetta Lane Theatre (New York) — "Talking Heads"
By Lucy Komisar

Diversionary Theatre (San Diego) — "Love! Honor! Compassion!"
By Charlene Baldridge

Richard Rodgers Theatre (New York) — "Movin' Out"
By Lucy Komisar

Sam S. Shubert Theatre (New York) — "Gypsy"
By Lucy Komisar

La Jolla Playhouse — "Eden Lane"
By Jim Trageser

Eugene O'Neill Theatre (New York) — "Nine"
By Lucy Komisar

Al Hirschfeld Theatre (New York) — "Man of La Mancha"
By Lucy Komisar

Belasco Theatre (New York) — "Enchanted April"
By Lucy Komisar

Plymouth Theatre (New York) — "Long Day's Journey Into Night"
By Lucy Komisar

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Time Flies"
By Charlene Baldridge

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Dirty Blonde"
By Charlene Baldridge

La Jolla Playhouse — "The Country"
By Jim Trageser

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Julius Caesar"
By Jim Trageser

Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego) — "[sic]"
By Charlene Baldridge

La Jolla Playhouse — "Fräulein Else"
By Jim Trageser

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Rounding Third"
By Jim Trageser

The Old Globe (San Diego) — "Pentecost"
By Jim Trageser

Diversionary Theatre (San Diego) — "Falsettos"
By Charlene Baldridge

Spring 2003 issue:

Coal miners' daughters – and fathers, sons and brothers
"Fire on the Mountain" looks at Appalachia through its music
By Jim Trageser

La Jolla Playhouse — "Uncle Vanya"
By Jim Trageser

San Diego REP (San Diego) — "Fire on the Mountain"
By Jim Trageser

Neil Simon Theatre (New York) — "Hairspray"
By Lucy Komisar

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Knowing Cairo"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Loves & Hours"
By Jim Trageser

San Diego REP (San Diego) — "Cookin' at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter"
By Jim Trageser

Winter 2002 issue:

The end of the Irish literary renaissance
By T.S. Kerrigan

Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego) — "Berzerkergäng"
By Jim Trageser

Diversionary Theatre — "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Splendour"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All"
By Jim Trageser

National touring production — "The Producers"
By Jim Trageser

San Diego REP (San Diego) — "A Christmas Carol"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Santaland Diaries"
By Jim Trageser

Autumn 2002 issue:

'Full Monty' comes full circle
By Jim Trageser

Real-life literary feud leads Hollywood's Ephron to stage
By Jim Trageser

Rivera now ready to tackle politics
By Jim Trageser

'Pericles' comes to the Globe ... finally
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
By Jim Trageser

Diversionay Theatre (San Diego) — "The Mystery of Irma Vep"
By Jim Trageser

Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego) — "A Knife in the Heart"
By Jim Trageser

National touring production — "Full Monty"
By Jim Trageser

La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla) — "Peter & Wendy"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Imaginary Friends"
By Jim Trageser

San Diego REP (San Diego) — "Working"
By Jim Trageser

La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla) — "Adoration of the Old Woman"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Beyond Therapy"
By Jim Trageser

The Globe Theatres (San Diego) — "Pericles"
By Jim Trageser

The Blank Theatre (Hollywood) — "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
By T.S. Kerrigan

December 12, 2007
Our Carol Davis takes in new productions at the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Rep, Moxie, Cygnet and New Village Arts ...

November 11, 2007
Vista's Moonlight Theatre opens its winter season with a new production of "The Magic Fire" ...

November 3, 2007
It's beginning to look a lot like ... Halloween? "Dracula," "St. Nicholas" and "Turn of the Screw" bring fright to local stages. Carol Davis fills us in ...

October 21, 2007
Lamb's Players stages Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" and New Village Arts gives the West Coast premiere of Charlotte Jones' "Humble Boy"; our Carol Davis reports on both ...

October 11, 2007
Already booked for Broadway, "A Catered Affair" has the definitive smell of a Tony-winner about it in its world premiere run at San Diego's Old Globe, writes our own Carol Davis ...

October 4, 2007
Rosemary Harris dazzled as Peter's aunt in the "Spider-Man" movies; now she tackles a weighter role in a one-woman show at the Old Globe in Balboa Park ...

September 30, 2007
Turbula's Carol Davis takes in the latest productions at the La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego REP ...

September 22, 2007
A short drive north Costa Mesa takes our Carol Davis to South Coast Rep and their new production of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" ...

September 15, 2007
She prefers indoor seating, thank you, but for a solid musical, our Carol Davis is willing to brave the elements, such as they are in San Diego ...

September 7, 2007
Her kind of musical, "Chicago" is ...

September 4, 2007
Carol Davis is spoiling us already – two theater reviews in just a few weeks!

August 14, 2007
San Diego theater critic Carol Davis, a founding member of the revived San Diego Theater Critics Circle, joins Turbula and helps us revive a rather dustbound section. Her first review, of the Old Globe's "Bell, Book and Candle," is below ...

December 31, 2006
Christopher Woods, whose one-act play "Salt Mine Exchange" appeared in our Spring 2003 issue, is back with another short, dark drama. He also had two poems in that same issue, and we think you'll be as happy to see him back as we are ...




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