and, SEEN!

Freestyle Love Supreme (the Old Globe)

SEEN: JUNE 28, 2022 Conceived by Anthony Veneziale Created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale Directed by Thomas Kail Before Hamilton, before In the Heights, there was Freestyle Love Supreme. Now—direct from Broadway—the original hip-hop musical improv phenomenon from Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale is coming to San Diego. The subject of the Hulu documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, every performance of this Tony Award–winning and Grammy Award–nominated show brings the unexpected, as the crew takes the crowd on a freestyle, hip-hop, improvisational comedy ride. The performers take suggestions from the audience and spin them into instantaneous riffs and full-length musical numbers. See it for the first time—each time—as no two shows are ever the same. A “delightfully wit-laced evening of comedy rap for a wide range of ages” (The Washington Post).

Taming of the Shrew (Old Globe)

SEEN: JUNE 14, 2022 With special guests Colette, Fomby, and Gabe. By William Shakespeare Directed by Shana Cooper “Come on, and kiss me, Kate.” Is anyone a match for the brash and strong-willed Katherine? The dashing adventurer Petruchio thinks he’s up to the challenge. Two of the sexiest figures in all of world theatre set off sparks in a clash of wills that is as bold as it is uproarious. Shakespeare’s masterful comedic take on the battle of the sexes turns everything we think about love, marriage, and gender on its head. Director Shana Cooper brings to the Globe her daring and contemporary staging, which The New York Times praised as “an exhilarating new way to look at the comedy through modern eyes,” and The Wall Street Journal’s theatre critic called “the best Shrew I’ve ever reviewed.” An earlier version of this production of The Taming of the Shrew premiered at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (Davis McCallum, Artistic Director; Kate Liberman, Managing Director) in June 2018. The Taming of the Shrew is supported by lead production sponsor Darlene Marcos Shiley, production sponors Diane Berol in memory of John Berol, Karen and Donald Cohn, Silvija and Brian Devine, The Conrad Prebys Foundation, Jean and Gary Shekhter, and the Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Fund, with additional artist sponsors The Lodge at Torrey Pines (for director Shana Cooper). This production is supported in part by the Jean and Gary Shekhter Fund for Classic Theatre.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in the Vines)

SEEN: JUNE 11, 2022 Shakespeare in the Vines, Temecula, CA

Hadestown (San Diego Civic Theatre)

SEEN: JUNE 2, 2022

Mala (Old Globe)

SEEN: May 31, 2022 By Melinda Lopez Directed by David Dower

The Popcorn Debacle (blah blah Dumbledore, film)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (film, 2022)

SEEN: May 24, 2022

A Raisin in the Sun (Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis)

SEEN (by one of us): May 18, 2022

 

A Raisin in the Sun

by LORRAINE HANSBERRY
directed by AUSTENE VAN

McGuire Proscenium Stage

 

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” In 1951, poet Langston Hughes posed these questions, and Lorraine Hansberry answered with a theatrical masterpiece that broke down racial barriers both on and off the stage. The play follows the three-generation Younger family as they grapple with different definitions of the American dream and how to achieve it. When the matriarch, Lena, buys a home in an all-white neighborhood, the Youngers are greeted by thinly veiled racism and financial pitfalls that threaten to pull the family apart and push their dreams out of reach.

Three things to know

• Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s own family’s experience in Chicago in the 1930s, A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959 and, for the first time, hailed an all-Black principal cast, a Black playwright and a Black director.
• The play was nominated for four Tony Awards, and Hansberry was the first Black woman to be produced on Broadway.
• Director Austene Van is an acclaimed Twin Cities theater professional, co-founder of New Dawn Theatre Company and Producing Artistic Director at Yellow Tree Theatre. She was last seen on the Guthrie stage playing Truvy in our 2019 production of Steel Magnolias.

Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ (Old Globe)

SEEN: April 26, 2022

 

Bob Fosse's Dancin'

Original Broadway production created, directed, and choreographed by Bob Fosse
Choreography by Bob Fosse
Direction and musical staging by Wayne Cilento
Produced in cooperation with Nicole Fosse

Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse)

SEEN: Apri 5, 2022

 

Bhangin' It at the La Jolla Playhouse

 

Bhangin' It: A Bangin’ New Musical

Book by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza | Music & Lyrics by Sam Willmott

Additional Music by Deep Singh | Musical Staging by Lisa Shriver

Choreography by Rujuta Vaidya | Directed by Stafford Arima

WORLD-PREMIERE MUSICAL

Find your beat. Find your team. Find yourself.

While East Lansing University senior Mary Darshini Clarke has spent her entire life trying to figure out where she fits in, she has always found community dancing on the school’s prestigious bhangra team. But when she becomes the self-appointed captain of a new team of enthusiastic novices more interested in making friends than the right moves, Mary quickly learns that carving out her own path complicates her journey. As the pressure of the big national competition approaches, can both teams learn that what makes them unique could actually be the key to their success? Bursting with vibrant dance and electrifying music, Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical is an exhilarating and joyous new musical comedy for America today.

El Borracho (Old Globe)

SEEN: March 8, 2022

El Borracho

By Tony Meneses
Directed by Edward Torres

Raul is ill. He drinks, because he always drinks, just like el borracho on the lotería card. In his final months, Raul moves in with his ex-wife, who swore she’d never see him again, and their son, who’s longing to connect with his father at last. Developed as part of the Globe’s 2020 Powers New Voices Festival, the world premiere of Tony Meneses’s vibrant dramedy follows one family’s journey to come together so they can finally say goodbye.

Contains strong language.