
Before San Diego is inundated with Sugar Plums and Grinches, there is still time for theatrical indulgence, whether it is family fare or for adults only. Of great appeal for the entire family, Disney’s “The Lion King” continues through Nov. 8 at the Civic Theatre. At the evening performance Oct. 15, a little girl of 4 or 5 sat near the aisle in row four, so rapt she stayed awake for the entire show. Her eyes shone more brightly than her silver slippers. Children of all ages thrill to the Tony Award-winning musical spectacle originally created for the stage by director/designer and MacArthur Fellow recipient Julie Taymor. The spectacle includes imaginative jungle animals on parade, a pair of vaudevillians—a warthog and a meerkat—and of course the King of the Jungle and his son, Simba. The music includes “Circle of Life,” “They Live in You,” “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” It’s the best coming-of-age tale since Shakespeare wrote about Prince Hal. Info and tickets: www.broadwaysd.com or (619) 570-1100 Romantics identify with Lanford Wilson’s 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Talley’s Folly,” which concerns an unlikely romance between a 31-year-old Missouri spinster and a 42-year-old Lithuanian/Jewish immigrant. The action takes place July 4, 1944, in a rotting Victorian boathouse on the Talley estate in Lebanon, Mo. Both characters have self-disqualified themselves from love and marriage. Matt Friedman (David Ellenstein, who also directs) met Sally Talley (Amy Biedel) a year ago at a dance across the river. A St, Louis accountant, he has wooed Sally with daily letters for a year. Now, on the anniversary of their meeting, he comes “to settle this matter between us” once and for all. This lovely production of “Talley’s Folly” continues through Nov. 8 at North Coast Repertory, 987 D Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. Info and tickets: www.northcoastrep.org or (858) 481-1055. Language and Shakespeare lovers must see the remount of Moxie Theatre’s award-winning production of Liz Duffy Adams’ comedy, “Dog Act,” which concerns two vaudevillians, Dog (Jason Connors) and Rozetta Stone (Liv Kellgren). Dog, a devolved human, and Rozetta pull a colorful cart that contains all that’s left of language and civilization, while walking to China in the post-apocalyptic northeast of what was formerly the USA. They meet up with another itinerant vaudevillian, Vera Similitude (Sylvia M’Lafi Thompson) and her wild assistant, Jo-Jo the Bald Face Liar (Jo Anne Glover). All tell stories, eventually to their would-be assassins, a couple of toughs named Bud (Rob Kirk) and Coke (Justin Lang), obviously devolved from jocks. “Dog Act” is a hysterically funny, word-lovers paradise, playing through Nov. 22 at Moxie’s new digs, the Rolando Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. Tickets and information: www.moxietheatre.com or (858) 598-7620. Not to be missed by (adults only) lovers of the psychologically macabre is Ion Theatre’s riveting production of Bryony Lavery’s 2004 Broadway drama, “Frozen,” directed by Claudio Raygoza. The title refers to the emotional state of the work’s three major characters. Sunny Smith plays Dr. Agnetha Gottmundsdottir, an American academic who travels to London to deliver her academic paper on serial killers. While there, she interviews just such a man, Ralph Wantage (Matt Scott) whose killings spanned 21 years and involved the rape, murder and dismemberment of pre-pubescent girls. The third character is Nancy Shirley (Dana Hooley), mother of one of Wantage’s first victims. The beauty of this production is the quality of the acting, the staging and the writing, which reveals these emotionally frozen characters piecemeal. “Frozen” continues through Oct. 31 at Sushi Space, 390 11th Ave. (at J), San Diego. Info and tickets: www.iontheatre.com or (619) 600-5020.