{"id":245166,"date":"2012-06-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/returning-home-to-great-applause\/"},"modified":"2012-06-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T07:00:00","slug":"returning-home-to-great-applause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/returning-home-to-great-applause\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning home to great applause"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actor Tom Zohar takes the stage once again for a Diversionary Theatre world premiere<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Returning
Dylan Hoffinger plays DJ in Diversionary Theatre\u2019s \u201cHarmony, Kansas.\u201d (Photo by Ana Pines)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Set on a farm in small-town America, \u201cHarmony, Kansas\u201d is a musical for young, old, gay and straight, with music by Anna K. Jacobs and book and lyrics by Bill Nelson. The play opens with its world premiere Saturday, June 23 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights.<\/p>\n

The production is being helmed by James Vasquez, the current go-to director in San Diego. In addition to producing and directing films for his production company, Daisy 3 Pictures, Vasquez\u2019s most recent work includes directing \u201cNext Fall\u201d for Diversionary as well as last year\u2019s \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show\u201d for the Old Globe.<\/p>\n

John Alexander, Diversionary\u2019s executive director, said he liked the script for \u201cHarmony, Kansas\u201d immediately and sent it to Vasquez for his opinion. After receiving the script one afternoon, Vasquez said he emailed and phoned Alexander later that evening, saying, \u201cYou should do the show, and I want to be considered as director.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander then put Vasquez in touch with the authors, Jacobs and Nelson, who were at that moment interviewing prospective directors for the position. Vasquez said he believes they hired him because of his candor and suggestions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had rehearsal rooms and free rein to play and rehearse,\u201d Vasquez said of his first few weeks with the writers. \u201cWe fought a lot but it was always out of passion: this works [or] that doesn\u2019t \u2026 giving us a chance to hear what wasn\u2019t working [and] what wasn\u2019t clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the play, Vasquez said he believes the story is especially relevant with the current emphasis on the bullying of and suicide among LGBT teenagers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something about this story: finding a support group [and] finding a chosen family to help lift you up and support you, and [to] help you find your own voice, literally and metaphorically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

San Diego actor Tom Zohar, who plays the \u201cHarmony, Kansas\u201d protagonist, Julian, moved to New York two years ago, and a week after the move, met Anthony Methvin. Methvin and Zohar later married, and when they were both cast in Vasquez\u2019s production, they decided to relocate back to San Diego. The pair now lives in Hillcrest.<\/p>\n

Zohar, who has a deep theatrical past in San Diego, works for a large retail company with locations in New York and San Diego, affording him the opportunity to transfer back. \u201cOne of the reasons I decided to move here and not stay in New York is because I was ready to settle down and see if I, like my character Julian, can do both [theater and a day job] at the same time,\u201d Zohar said. \u201cJulian is figuring out how to find what feeds his soul and be a farmer at the same time. He doesn\u2019t want to have to choose. I don’t want to choose either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saying he is glad to be back in theater in San Diego, Zohar called the audition process in New York daunting and said he was not sure he had the ambition needed to last. \u201cI\u2019m okay with that,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to collaborate with people I love and have a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For \u201cHarmony, Kansas,\u201d Vasquez said the writers did \u201cbeautifully, creating seven guys who are flawed,\u201d as all humans are.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the fact [the writers] haven\u2019t wrapped the story up in a perfect way, because it\u2019s about finding your inner voice and the confidence to stand up and sing,\u201d he said. \u201cEven though I\u2019ve seen the show so many times, there are still moments in songs where I stop and listen, and watch and cry. Audiences are in for something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zohar agrees with Vasquez\u2019s sentiment whole-heartedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna Jacobs is a genius in every sense of the word,\u201d Zohar said. \u201cThe music is unbelievable. I don\u2019t have words to describe it. It\u2019s beyond gorgeous. We all get to sing some of the most beautiful songs I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHarmony, Kansas\u201d opened in previews June 14, and has its official world premiere on Saturday, June 23. The play continues through July 22 at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd. Tickets start at $27. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit diversionary.org or call 619-220-0097.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Tom Zohar takes the stage once again for a Diversionary Theatre world premiere By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Reporter Set on a farm in small-town America, \u201cHarmony, Kansas\u201d is a musical for young, old, gay and straight, with music by Anna K. Jacobs and book and lyrics by Bill Nelson. The play opens with […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Returning home to great applause","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245166","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\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}