Standing Ovations

SIGH. IT’S TIME AGAIN for that bittersweet task of naming what I consider the year’s top achievements on local stages. I enjoy citing outstanding work, but I always regret having to omit some worthies because of space limitations. And of course, ranking people and projects in a field as ephemeral as theater is terribly difficult. More recent shows have an advantage because memories fade (oftentimes faster than I would like). Nonetheless, good productions manage to linger in a special compartment of the mind, and these will dominate the 2006 niche (the lists are alphabetical).

Musicals: Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (Theatre in Old Town): Miracle Theatre Productions distinguished its last year at the Old Town venue with a sparkling rendition of the latest Gerard Alessandrini spoof. Into the Woods (Lamb’s Players): The company’s first venture into Stephen Sondheim territory was a fairy-tale winner. My Fair Lady (Cygnet and Lawrence Welk): Two versions of the melodic Lerner-Loewe classic, one small-scale, one larger, and both delightful. Urinetown (Starlight): A tart and hilarious Brechtian satire with an underlying serious message, delivered by an impeccable ensemble. The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse): Des McAnuff’s own wizardry revived the familiar Oz opus and the ’75 Tony-winning score with a crackerjack cast, redesigned Weiss Theatre, dazzling technology and brilliant costumes.

Productions: Body of Water (Old Globe): A tantalizing mystery play, beautifully realized. Copenhagen (Cygnet): A most provocative work, with questions of nuclear responsibility compellingly etched by Joshua Everett Johnson, Rosina Reynolds and Jim Chovick. Exonerated (Lynx): Another Al Germani gem, true stories of innocents on death row. Intimate Apparel (San Diego Rep): A touching glimpse of African-American life in the early 20th century. Limonade Tous les Jours (Moxie): A sweet little cross-generational romance, featuring Joanne Glover’s unerring French gamin. Othello (Old Globe): Shakespeare’s classic rivetingly rendered, with splendid portrayals by Jonathan Peck as the Moor and Julie Jesneck as Desdemona. The Playboy of the Western World (New Village Arts): Synge’s rarely seen classic, complete with deftly handled Irish brogues. Since Africa (Mo‘olelo): Cultures get lost and gained in this moving story of a Lost Boy of Sudan. Zorro in Hell (La Jolla Playhouse): California past and present gets skewered, along with much else, in Culture Clash’s hilarious sendup of the legendary hero.

Other standout performances: Robin Christ in Bug (Cygnet) and Iphigenia at Aulis (6th@Penn), Francis Gercke in Nocturne (New Village Arts), David Cochran Heath in Amadeus (Lamb’s Players), Dan Guerrero in Gaytino (Diversionary), Rachel Van Wormer in A Beautiful Thing (Diversionary).

EVER THOUGHT OF BEING SPELLBINDING on stage? Well, you’re about to have a chance to fulfill at least part of that wish. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a surprise-hit Broadway musical, is coming to town under the auspices of Broadway/San Diego (December 5-10, Civic Theatre), and at each performance, four volunteering audience members are selected to join the onstage orthography competition.

Spelling Bee, with a score by William Finn of Falsettos fame, evolved from a play to a musical and from off- to on- Broadway, delighting audiences and critics along the way. The show, still running in New York, was nominated for six Tonys, winning for featured actor Dan Fogler and book writer Rachel Sheinkin. Her witty script focuses on six geeky contestants vying for the spelling championship they believe will change their lives, overseen by three adults who have issues of their own. 

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