and, SEEN!

many spoilers ahead (Wish (Disney))

boring Broderick (Babbitt, La Jolla Playhouse)

By Joe DiPietro Adapted from the novel by Sinclair Lewis Directed by Christopher Ashley You can’t always get what you want, but you might get what you need. Multi-award-winning star of stage and screen Matthew Broderick and Tony Award-winning playwright Joe DiPietro (Diana, Memphis) join forces with our own Christopher Ashley and a stellar cast for this remarkable theatrical event. Babbitt entered the zeitgeist in 1922 as a novel by white-hot satirist Sinclair Lewis, the first American Nobel Laureate. An instant literary classic, Babbitt has been a stalwart on ‘best ever’ lists for over 100 years, and is now adapted for the stage. George F. Babbitt is a middle-aged real estate broker in the Midwestern city of Zenith. By day, he has a prosperous, respectable middle-class existence. By night, he’s plagued by the thought that he has amounted to nothing. Searching for more to life than his top-of-the-line toaster and hickory golf club ― more meaning ― Babbitt leaps with abandon into the most spectacular rebellion of his life ― one that could end up costing him everything. Led by Matthew Broderick in the title role, the cast bringing this world premiere to life features Emmy Award nominee Anna Chlumsky (Veep), Ann Harada (Broadway’s Avenue Q) and Julie Halston (Sex and the City).

coming of age in a loincloth ( Sumo, La Jolla Playhouse)

Written by Lisa Sanaye Dring Directed by Ralph B. Peña A co-production with Ma-Yi Theater Company This production is sold out. A limited number of tickets are released daily, so please check back. True victory is victory over oneself Entrenched in an elite sumo training facility in Tokyo, six men practice, eat, love, play and ultimately fight. Akio arrives as an angry, ambitious 18 year old with a lot to learn. Expecting validation, dominance and fame, and desperate to move up the ranks, he slams headlong into his fellow wrestlers, especially Mitsuo, the highest ranked fighter. With sponsorship money at stake, their bodies on the line, and their futures at risk, the wrestlers struggle to carve themselves – and one another – into the men they dream of being.

clockwork comedian (Dishwasher Dreams, The Old Globe)

By Alaudin Ullah Directed by Chay Yew Music by Avirodh Sharma What exactly is the American Dream? For Alaudin Ullah’s Bangladesh-born parents, it means opportunity and a stable job. But to comedian Alaudin, America is the home of the New York Yankees and George Carlin. In an autobiographical solo show that the Hartford Courant calls “memorable and meaningful,” Ullah and musician Avirodh Sharma take audiences on a journey of vivid remembrances and discoveries from 1930s India (now Bangladesh) to 1970s Spanish Harlem to present-day Hollywood. Through comedy and music, this remarkable play, directed by the acclaimed Chay Yew, recounts the immigrant experience, how this country gets made, and the dreams of those who make it.

destroyed (Cabaret, The Old Globe)

An Asolo Repertory Theatre Production Book by Joe Masteroff Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood Music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb Directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to Cabaret! It’s 1931 Berlin, and inside the Kit Kat Klub, British nightclub singer Sally Bowles keeps the delirious party raging. But no amount of booze, music, and dancing can slow the ominous march of a changing Germany as it draws ever closer. Featuring an iconic score from Kander and Ebb—including “Maybe This Time,” “Mein Herr,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” and, of course, the title song—this Tony Award–winning musical is reimagined in a visionary new staging by Globe favorite Josh Rhodes (Guys and Dolls, Bright Star). BroadwayWorld calls this production, “Hands down the most cohesive, well-rounded, fully conceptualized staging of this musical that I have seen to date. My friends, this is how you do Cabaret.”

las vegas the musical (The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S Thompson Musical, La Jolla Playhouse)

Who was Hunter S. Thompson? He changed journalism. He defined counterculture. Equal parts philosopher, clown and genius, he was armed and dangerous with a typewriter as his preferred weapon. Careening from the 1940s to his death in 2005, this gonzo musical blasts into the life of one of America’s most influential and destructive icons. In relentless pursuit of the meaning of the American Dream during an era of political and social upheaval, Hunter S. Thompson cultivated a new form of journalism that ― for better or worse ― injected his subjective view into the heart of the story. Now, in another, even more severe moment of fake news, propaganda and polarization, Hunter’s story helps explore how we got here, and how to keep fighting. Set to Joe Iconis’ anarchic and tuneful score, this musical is a rock ‘n’ roll thrill-ride into the life of an artist seeking greatness and coming to terms with his own legacy. It’s a heartfelt trumpet call to the moral idealists, the outraged, the outlaws and the outsiders.

the turntable has turned (Merry Wives of Windsor, Old Globe)

By William Shakespeare Directed by James Vásquez Shakespeare meets “I Love Lucy” in this 1950s spin on one of the Bard’s wildest and most appealing comedies. The notorious John Falstaff, larger-than-life in every way, leaves the big city to work his charms on the suburban inhabitants of Windsor. Always hustling for his next buck, he sets his sights on two of Windsor’s ladies-who-lunch, but when they figure out Falstaff’s game, they decide to teach him a lesson he won’t forget. Under the direction of Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez, mistaken identities, romance, and an unforgettable gallery of Shakespeare’s most vivid characters fill the stage for a theatrical rollercoaster ride that’s raucous, kooky, and entirely bewitching.

dead horses and bad jokes (Crime and Punishment, a Comedy - The Old Globe)

Globe-commissioned world premiere By Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen Directed by Gordon Greenberg Dostoevsky’s turn-of-the-century masterpiece is reimagined as a 90-minute romp of a morality tale, performed by five ridiculously talented actors who play over 50 zany characters, riffing on the famous novel—and all of Russian literature. The brilliant comic team of Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen (Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show) brings to 1860s Russia the same whacked-out sensibility they gave to Dickens in this world-premiere, Globe-commissioned comedy. This classic story follows Raskolnikov, an impoverished student who becomes a murderer in order to save his family. Based on the book you didn’t actually read in high school, this is literature retold like you’ve never seen it before.

flanged and ratcheted (Passengers by Seven Fingers, Old Globe)

A production by The 7 Fingers Conceived and directed by Shana Carroll “We all have somewhere to go.” Experience a train trip like never before with Montreal-based contemporary physical theatre troupe The 7 Fingers. This innovative show blends acrobatics, theatre, music, and dance in a truly magical performance about strangers in transit. Rather than sit in silence, the passengers on this train express their dreams and visions through the exuberance of their bodies, telling human stories with superhuman skills. “This train is bound for glory,” cheered The Boston Globe, and it’s one ride you won’t want to miss!

just a fuckade (Play That Goes Wrong, Kennedy Center)

The Play That Goes Wrong EISENHOWER THEATER Called “the funniest play Broadway has ever seen” (Huffington Post), this classic murder mystery by award-winning Mischief is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania! Welcome to opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), it’s “comic gold” (Variety) sure to bring down the house.