May Is For More Than Just A BBQ

By Bob Morey

May is a special month in the Performing Arts scene. For some, the current season is closing. For others, new seasons are announced or opening, some companies are shifting locations, and a handful of seasonal theatres are opening for us to enjoy a night under the stars for the next handful of months.

The San Diego Symphony, for years, would play at Symphony Hall through May, then take a month off before returning for their summer season by the bay. The Rady Shell has changed all that, and because San Diego has such fabulous weather and the days are longer now, they are already there! This is a big week down on the bay; I’ve said in the past that the Symphony strives very hard to have something for everyone throughout the year. On May 10th, The Violent Femmes join our Symphony for some serious jamming. Next up, just a couple of days later, it’s family night. On May 13th and 14th, pack up the kids for a night under the stars with Star Wars: A New Hope. This might be the perfect night to get your kids to sit still at the performing arts without asking them to, and they might learn to appreciate the Symphony and all they have to offer. This is the one that started the saga that still emerges today. There is no need to recount the story here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Conductor Conner Gray Covington and our Symphony will bring John Williams’s galactic score of this timeless story to life.

The San Diego Musical Theatre is rolling along with Xanadu up the hill in Kearney Mesa. Xanadu is the story of an ambitious artist, who’s stuck in a dead-end job, then throws off his limitations to follow his dreams with some encouragement from a muse, and of course, there are roller skates. Adapted for the stage from the 1980 film favorite starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Xanadu spins its magic at The San Diego Musical Theatre through June 4th.

In Balboa Park, The Old Globe has a full month starting with Destiny Of Desire, opening on May 19th. On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two babies are born — one into a life of incredible wealth and one into a life of poverty. When a ruthless ex–beauty queen swaps the newborns, the stage is set for two outrageous misfortunes to grow into an extraordinary destiny. Directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (August Wilson’s Jitney) and filled with vibrant choreography and live music, Destiny of Desire explores the emotional rollercoaster and social commentary that make the telenovela the most popular form of storytelling on the planet.

On June 4th, The Globe’s outdoor stage, the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, opens for its summer season with one of William Shakespeare’s most perfect plays, The Twelfth Night. Shipwrecked and alone in foreign Illyria, young Viola masquerades as her lost twin brother and becomes the go-between for the lovesick Duke Orsino and the beautiful Countess Olivia. Soon Viola finds herself in the middle of a topsy-turvy love triangle with lunacy and laughs on every side. This one has it all -- romance, music, poetry, comedy, swordplay, and more! Directed by Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Globe’s Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labor’s Lost), The Twelfth Night is one of The Bard’s true comic masterpieces and will be one of the perfect nights under the San Diego stars you can have.

Across the bay, The Lamb’s Players has their own unique formula for showcasing talent in productions that are so popular that the only thing they can do is hold it over and over and over (It seemed like Mixtape ran forever at the Horton Grand Theatre). This time, The Lamb’s Players have conjured up pure magic with Respect - The Amazing Women Of The 60’S. Respect features some of the region’s best singers in celebrating the music of Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Dionne Warwick, Janis Joplin, the Supremes & many, many more! Respect is a delightful evening filled with songs of love and laughter that audiences can’t get enough of and has been held over five times and will close on June 4th

Before our next edition arrives in your mailbox, here are a couple of shows to keep on your radar.

Old Town is always a great place to be this time of the year and one of the best stops you can make is the Cygnet Theatre, which brings us the suspenseful, slow-burning dark comedy Sharon, opening on June 10th Not all is as it seems in this hilarious and Hitchcockian story that makes you question…well, everything. Sharon and Jakey are a loving mother and son, running the crumbling apartment building in Everett, WA, that’s been in the family for generations, repainting the walls as the tenants move in and out. Soon we start to realize that perhaps this family is not what they seem. Or are they…? Over the course of a very tense dinner, the story unfolds, and power switches hands. We finally get to the bottom of this comedic thriller, asking the question: What does survival look like? And who the f*ck is Sharon.

And the other show you will want to keep your eye open for is at The La Jolla Playhouse, which is launching its 2023-2024 season with The World Premiere of Love All on June 3rd in The Mandell Weiss Theatre. Written By Anna

Deavere

Smith and Directed by Marc

Bruni, Love

All is the triumphant story of the rise of a sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King. The trailblazer for equality faced tough competition on the court and adversity in the world, all against a backdrop of the massive social changes of the 1960s and 70s. Love All evokes the highs and lows of Billie Jean’s extraordinary career and asks not just what it takes to be a champion but what it takes to change the course of history. “We’ve been curtsying for years. Now it’s time to stand up.” Billie Jean in Love All.

June is the month for weddings, The Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista has another show pulled from a fan favorite film with The Wedding Singer opening on June 7th under the stars. The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, “The Wedding Singer’s” sparkling score does for the ‘80s what “Hairspray” did for the 60s. Just say yes to the most romantic musical in twenty years. It’s 1985, and rock star wannabe, Robbie Hart, is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever.

If this appears to be a busy month for our Arts, take a deep breath and let me hold your beer because, in June, just about every company in town will have something running; so much will be out there for you, it might take three pages of this preview page to get it all in. And while you’re out hitting our theatres this month, don’t forget to take a few minutes to remember all the Veteran s who made the ultimate sacrifice, so we can live in and enjoy the greatest nation the world has ever known. To those Veterans — Salute.