![\"](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Heights-10-Jai-Rodriguez_cp_photo-credit-Daren-Scott002.jpg\")
<\/a>Early in my life devoted to writing about theater and music I wrote a yearend piece that was divided into such sections as A) \u201cI hated it \u2013 everyone else loved it\u201d; B) \u201cI loved it \u2013 everyone else hated it\u201d; and C) \u201cNo one saw it, other than I.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was long ago, when I still looked for conformity. If I thought something was awful and the other critics praised it, my opinion must be wrong, right?<\/p>\n
These days, I seldom read what others write. There are some whose opinions I respect; but reading their opinions does not change my own: I am Taurus and I am always right.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what nearly 20 years does \u2014 it makes you more certain of your opinions, right or wrong \u2014 perhaps that is because you have a larger pool of experiences with which to make comparisons. Or maybe it\u2019s because with criticism there is no right or wrong, only subjective opinion.<\/p>\n
When I write about \u201cSpring Awakening,\u201d for instance, I\u2019m not going to compare it to other productions, tediously recounting the virtues of each. Nor will I go on at length about the source material, or question its suitability for youth of a certain age. Or even adults of a certain mindset. I might, however, admit I\u2019m partial to singer\/songwriter Duncan Sheik, and I might even mention his theatrical failure (\u201cWhisper House\u201d with Kyle Jarrow) and my disappointment that critics and audiences seemed to miss the piece and its intent.<\/p>\n
Those who love \u201cSpring Awakening\u201d will have another go at the piece when Cygnet Theatre produces it in Old Town in March and April. Cygnet has received a $10,000 NEA grant in support of events surrounding the production. More power to them.<\/p>\n
The best of 2013:<\/p>\n
\u201cVenus in Fur,\u201d \u201cIn the Heights,\u201d and \u201cFederal Jazz Project,\u201d at San Diego Repertory Theatre. Co-directed by Kim Rubinstein and Sam Woodhouse, \u201cVenus in Fur\u201d featured incendiary performances by Jeffrey Meek and Caroline Kinsolving.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe a Good Little Widow,\u201d \u201cOther Desert Cities,\u201d and \u201cA Gentleman\u2019s Guide to Love and Murder\u201d at The Old Globe. Directed by Darko Tresnjak and starring UCSD graduate Jefferson Mays, \u201cA Gentleman\u2019s Guide\u201d moved on to Broadway where it was still playing at press time.<\/p>\n
\u201cGem of the Ocean,\u201d \u201cAssassins,\u201d and \u201cTravesties\u201d\/ \u201cThe Importance of Being Earnest\u201d at Cygnet, which continues its tradition of work worth seeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCuatro Corridos,\u201d Experimental Theatre, UCSD \u2014 kind of fits into the \u201cNobody Saw It But I\u201d category \u2014 this haunting piece about cross-border human trafficking was co-produced and performed by Susan Narucki, one of the city\u2019s finest singers. Ruff Yeager was stage director and Jorge Volpi wrote the libretto. Music was composed Hebert V\u00e1zquez, Arlene Sierra, Lei Liang, and Hilda Paredes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trip to Bountiful\u201d at New Village Arts, featured a powerful performance by Sylvia M\u2019Lafi Thompson as the elderly woman who runs away in order to return the home where she raised her children.<\/p>\n
\u201cTribes\u201d and \u201cThe Tallest Tree\u201d at La Jolla Playhouse: Daniel Beatty, who performed in the latter, a one-man show about singer Paul Robson, also came out with a children\u2019s book toward the end of the year. Titled \u201cKnock, Knock,\u201d it\u2019s about Beatty\u2019s father, absent for much of the playwright\/performer\u2019s childhood because he was incarcerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bluest Eye\u201d and \u201cSkinless\u201d at Moxie Theatre, two well-produced, haunting and imperfect plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cChicago\u201d produced by San Diego Musical Theatre at Birch North Park Theatre, a fine production featuring Robert Townsend as the crooked lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,\u201d \u201cGrey Gardens,\u201d and \u201cShining City,\u201d at ion theatre company: Rajiv Joseph\u2019s \u201cBengal Tiger,\u201d one of my favorite pieces of all time, starred the splendid Ron Choularton as the talkative, dead Tiger, who declares he\u2019s an atheist, then goes on a search for God to find out why he\u2019s still alive and why he has such a hungry nature. Evan Kendig and Jake Rosko portrayed the American G.I.s responsible for the Tiger\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n \u201cMurder in the Cathedral,\u201d Ildebrando Pizzetti\u2019s 1953 opera, directed by Ian Campbell, at San Diego Opera: The great Italian bass-baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto portrayed Thomas Becket, the assassinated Archbishop of Canterbury in the piece based on T.S. Elliot\u2019s verse play. The production offered an extraordinary opportunity to see this rarely performed work.<\/p>\n \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d \u201cWit\u201d and \u201cThe 39 Steps\u201d at Lamb\u2019s Player\u2019s Theatre: Deborah Smyth was incandescent as the dying academic in \u201cWit.\u201d Look for \u201c39 Steps\u201d at Horton Grand Theatre beginning January 15, and \u201cFiddler\u201d at the Lyceum Theatre beginning January 10.<\/p>\n David Wiener\u2019s \u201cExtraordinary Chambers\u201d produced by Mo\u2019olelo Performing Arts Company at 10th Avenue Theatre, featured the return of actor Greg Watanabe and a splendid scenic design by David F. Weiner, representing the ruins at Angkor Wat.<\/p>\n \u201cShe-Rantulas from Outer Space \u2013 in 3D!\u201d at Diversionary \u2013 a fabulously funny new play by Ruff Yeager and Phil Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cBearded\u201d produced by Circle Circle dot dot at 10th Avenue Theatre, a world premiere play by Katherine Harroff based on interviews with department store Santas.<\/p>\n San Diego concerns as we travel into 2014:<\/p>\n The future of San Diego Musical Theatre at the Birch North Park Theatre, which recently changed ownership and management; the future of Diversionary Theatre as it searches for new leadership; and the future of Mo\u2019olelo Performing Arts Company as it seeks new leadership due to the departure of founding artistic director Seema Sueko, who moved to Pasadena Playhouse.<\/p>\n Charlene Baldridge moved to San Diego from the Chicago area in 1962. She\u2019s been writing about the arts since 1979, and has had her features, critiques, surveys and interviews included in various publications ever since. Her book \u201cSan Diego, Jewel of the California Coast\u201d (Northland Publishing) is currently available in bookstores. She can be reached at charb81@gmail.com.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Charlene Baldridge | Downtown News Editor\u2019s Note: During the 2013 season, SDCNN arts writer Charlene Baldridge witnessed 166 music\/theatre presentations, including lectures, play readings, dance programs and seminars \u2013 and that doesn\u2019t count things she returned to see again, concerts and lectures aboard ship in August and five operas in Santa Fe. Here is what […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":236670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Retrospective: A year before my eyes","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>