Come to this page for insightful reviews of the rich arts and culture of San Diego.

Betzi Roe and Dancers: 'The White Dresses' at SUSHI
Simple elegance
"The White Dresses" opened with a provocative installation. Dozens of dresses were hung just above eye level in the lobby, and each had a tag with a personal note, such as "…mother sewed this tutu for ... [More]

"Twelfth Night" at the Old Globe Theatre
Mediterranean cruise
Dear, dear old “Twelfth Night”! Young love sets the senses reeling, nobody gets hurt except the fools and the coined phrases pile up like poetical doubloons: “Cakes and ale,” “present laughter,” “damask ... [More]

Handel's "Theodora" by the Bach Collegium
Better Than "Messiah"?
George Frideric Handel's prolific musical output included forty-six operas and thirty-two oratorios. In the rather schematic and formal Baroque musical narrative style, however, the two genres were often only distinguished by the fact that the ... [More]

"Restoration" at the La Jolla Playhouse
Marble rules
“Restoration,” now in its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, is not a play about Michelangelo’s iconic masterpiece David. It’s a play in which the 500-year-old marble statue is a main character.The David is ... [More]

'Cyrano de Bergerac' at The Old Globe
Non-Shakespeare play gets face time at festival
For the first time since the Old Globe Theatre reintroduced it in 2004, the summer Shakespeare Festival breaks from the Bard with Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Broadway veteran Patrick Page brings Cyrano ... [More]

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Welk Resorts Theatre
Boys will be boys
There probably couldn’t be a more ideal show for the Welk Resorts Theatre than “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” It is family-friendly, has something to be enjoyed by every age group, and is likely to be familiar to ... [More]

"Over the Tavern" at North Coast Rep
Crises of faith and family -- and both funny
For North Coast Rep’s season-closing “Over the Tavern,” getting its West Coast debut, David Ellenstein demonstrated excellent direction before the show even started rehearsals: He chose a superior cast. That’s ... [More]

Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra June 18 concert at the Balboa Theatre
Tchaikovsky rules in a brilliant performance
Tchaikovsky ruled at the Mainly Mozart Festival concert on Thursday, June 18. The Festival Orchestra under conductor David Atherton gave a spectacular performance of that composer’s Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48, as the finale on a program ... [More]

"The Lonesome West" by Triad Productions
The fighting Irish
For at least the first scene in Triad Productions’ offering of Martin McDonagh’s “The Lonesome West,” the audience is likely to believe that this is the wrong troupe doing the wrong play in the wrong venue.The ... [More]

New Music Festival at the La Jolla Athenaeum
More Nostalgic Than New
Attending the opening concert of the La Jolla Athenaeum's new music festival Thursday (June 18) evening brought on a wave of unexpected nostalgia, starting with "Flight," Stuart Saunders Smith's 1978 duo for flute and piano. It immediately ... [More]