Blink and you’ll miss UC San Diego’s production of “The Revenger’s Tragedy,” as well as Lyric Opera San Diego’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” Each has its merits, the former for its rarity and the second, just because it’s Sondheim well done. La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley, this season’s Quinn Martin Director in Residence at UCSD, stages Thomas Middleton’s Jacobean revenge tragedy at the Potiker Theatre though Saturday night only. There are 21 characters (played by MFA graduate actors) in “The Revenger’s Tragedy,” most of them related in some way to a licentious Italian Duke. The protagonist, Vindice (Johnny Gill) blames the Duke (Hugo Medina) for the death of his compromised sweetheart some years ago, so he sets about eliminating the Duke, his second Duchess (Marshel Adams), his eldest son Lussurioso (Ross Crain), and all his offspring, legitimate and illegitimate, including the Duke’s bastard son Spurio (Zachary Harrison), who is bedding the Duchess. Though complicated to follow, clues appear in the form of electronic “flash cards” depicting the characters and their names. One family portrait includes Vindice, his mother, his sister and his brother. The physical production, designed by Robert Tintoc, Sarah Cogan, Stephen Siercks and Alyssa Ishii, with digital design by Ian Wallace, is a visual and aural knockout of endless fascination, and Gill, Medina and Crain are always worth seeing. Middleton’s play has much in common with Hamlet. No one is left standing at the end. Remaining performances take place at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 20. Visit http://theatre.ucsd .edu/season or call (858) 534-4574. Also take note of UC San Diego’s upcoming “The Cherry Orchard.” Stephen Sondheim turns 80 next month, so it’s appropriate to produce his melodic masterwork, “A Little Night Music,” which is in truth a spoof on the old European-influenced American musicals. Set at summer solstice in turn-of-the-19th-century Sweden, the book by Hugh Wheeler concerns Fredrik, a middle-aged lawyer; his young wife Anne; his mistress Desiree; his son Henrik; his mistress’s lover, Carl-Magnus; and Carl-Magnus’s wife, Charlotte. All wind up at the country estate of Desiree’s mother, Mme. Armfeldt. Director J. Sherwood Montgomery’s most brilliant coup is the casting of classical actor/Old Globe associate artist Kandis Chappell as Mme. Armfeldt. With her vibrant voice and expert sprechgesang, Chappell is tops. The other singing actors are excellent and under the baton of Leon Natker, a 24-piece orchestra plays Sondheim’s brilliant original score. This is one of Lyric Opera’s finest productions, not to be missed. Four performances remain, 7:30 tonight (Thursday, Feb. 18), 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Birch North Park Theatre, 2891 University Avenue, San Diego. For tickets ($32-$62, children 17 and under half price) and information, visit www.lyricoperasandiego.org or call (619) 239-8836.
