- \n
- The Old Globe\u2019s lovable new musical, \u201cOctober Sky,\u201d and Steve Martin\u2019s goofy backyard comedy, \u201cMeteor Shower.\u201d\n
![](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\")
Robert Smyth (foreground) in Bill Cain\u2019s treatise on theatrical truth, \u201cEquivocation,\u201d directed by his wife, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre. (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n - My favorite production of the year, Bill Cain\u2019s treatise on theatrical truth, \u201cEquivocation,\u201d directed by Deborah Gilmour Smyth at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre and starring her husband, Robert Smyth, as \u201cShagspear.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Intrepid Theatre\u2019s amazing \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u201d at the Horton Grand Theatre, directed by Christy Yael Cox and starring the Smyths. After assuming shared programming (with San Diego Musical Theatre) of the Horton Grand, Intrepid produced an equally impressive production of Yasmin Reza\u2019s \u201cArt.\u201d<\/li>\n
- North Coast Repertory for its surprising and involving production of \u201cWay Down River.\u201d<\/li>\n
- San Diego Repertory Theatre for its exquisite Moliere adaptation \u201cManifestis Destinitis,\u201d written by playwright-in-residence Herbert Siguenza, and its intense, suspenseful production of Ayad Akhtar\u2019s Pulitzer Prize winner, \u201cDisgraced.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Notable performances<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Jo Anne Glover\u2019s portrayal of a manipulative lesbian in Moxie Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cThe Kid Thing.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Herbert Siguenza\u2019s sincere, straight-ahead portrayal of the household maid in his own \u201cManifestis Destinitis.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Jonathan Raviv for his multi-faceted portrayal of Jahandar, who owns the boy who dances on air in the Diversionary production of Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne\u2019s world premiere musical, \u201cThe Boy Who Danced on Air.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Claudio Raygoza\u2019s portrayal of the Ken Kramer character in ion theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Normal Heart.\u201d\n
Linda Libby as Mama Rose in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cGypsy.\u201d (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n - Linda Libby as Mama Rose in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cGypsy\u201d and \u2014 because who in the world could\/would be expected to play such a packed performance week? \u2014 her colleague, Melissa Fernandes, who spelled Libby weekly and then for her next act, less than a month later, turned in a stunning performance as Dot in ion\u2019s \u201cSunday in the Park With George.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As Mama Rose, the two women were amazing, each unique, each nuanced and vocally solid. I doubt there\u2019s another city in the USA that could field such a duo.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s to more great theater in 2017!<\/p>\n
\u2014Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. You can follow her blog at <\/em>charlenecriticism.blogspot.com<\/em><\/a> o llegar a ella en <\/em>charb81@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Charlene Baldridge Theater critics are usually given complimentary tickets for a performance near the opening of each production. A ticket to see another performance is ordinarily at the critic\u2019s expense. The Dec. 21 deluge did not matter. I had purchased a ticket to see ion theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Normal Heart\u201d again before it closed and […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":238914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"A subjective look back at San Diego theater in 2016","_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-238913","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\/238913","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=238913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Linda Libby as Mama Rose in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cGypsy\u201d and \u2014 because who in the world could\/would be expected to play such a packed performance week? \u2014 her colleague, Melissa Fernandes, who spelled Libby weekly and then for her next act, less than a month later, turned in a stunning performance as Dot in ion\u2019s \u201cSunday in the Park With George.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Equivocation-cast-Photo-by-Ken-Jacques-300x177.jpg\")
![](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/web_Linda-Libby-as-Gypsy-Photo-by-Ken-Jacques-300x200.jpg\")