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PHOTO EDITORS: Photos of The Old Globe’s 2023 Season can be found here.
SAN DIEGO (October 5, 2022) — The Old Globe proudly announces its 2023 Season with a diverse, thought-provoking, and hugely entertaining lineup. The season features four world premiere productions, including Kemp Powers’s (Pixar’s Soul, One Night in Miami) The XIXth (The Nineteenth),inspired by real events from the historic 19th Olympic Games in Mexico City, directed by Carl Cofield (Seize the King, The Bacchae); José Cruz González’s(American Mariachi) Under a Baseball Sky, a Globe-commissioned play about baseball’s deep roots in the Mexican American community in San Diego that celebrates individuals and communities coming together to find hope, healing, love, and the occasional homerun, directed by Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez (Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!);Keiko Green’s(Sharon) Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play, a whimsical, time-traveling adventure directed by Jesca Prudencio (Vietgone); and Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s (Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show) Crime and Punishment, A Comedy, a Globe-commissioned play that reimagines Dostoyevsky’s turn-of-the-century masterpiece, directed by Greenberg.
The season includes Tony Award winner and MacArthur Genius Grantee Mary Zimmerman’s (The White Snake, Metamorphoses) The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, based on da Vinci’s own notebooks, adapted and directed by Zimmerman; Karen Zacarías’s (Native Gardens) Destiny of Desire, a brilliantly funny homage to the telenovela filled with live music and choreography, directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (August Wilson’s Jitney); the innovative theatrical company The 7 Fingers’s production of Passengers,a mind-blowing and innovative blend of acrobatics, theatre, music, and dance in a truly magical performance about strangers in transit, conceived and directed by Shana Carroll (Traces); and the West Coast premiere of Alaudin Ullah’s (In Search of Bengali Harlem) Dishwasher Dreams, an autobiographical solo show that explores the meaning of the American Dream, directed by Chay Yew (Lady in Denmark) and featuring music by Avirodh Sharma. The Globe will also produce a soon-to-be-announced grand musical not to be missed.
And, the summer of 2023 will be highlighted with the Globe’s Shakespeare Festival, featuring Twelfth Night directed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Globe’s Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labor’s Lost) and The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez (Hair).
“The Old Globe is back to brilliant life with a 2023 lineup that’s as vibrant and exciting as any in our history,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “These shows demonstrate why the Globe is one of our country’s most dynamic and engaging theatres. The slate includes world premieres, musical theatre, hilarious comedy, and deep feeling. The works span a range of theatrical forms, and each one is imagined by artists of national and international renown. This thrilling body of work embodies the Globe’s values even as it provides evening after evening of entertainment to San Diego. The shows center stories that reflect the many communities that make up our region, and those stories bring delight, elicit emotion, and provoke thought. Two Old Globe–commissioned works showcase this theatre’s strides in creating new writing for the American stage, and San Diego–based talent figures prominently. There’s something for every theatre lover in this season, and I am thrilled to bring the bounty of all of these works to audiences whose stalwart support continues to help the Globe make theatre that matters.”
THE OLD GLOBE 2023 SEASON INCLUDES:
DONALD AND DARLENE SHILEY STAGE
OLD GLOBE THEATRE
CONRAD PREBYS THEATRE CENTER
2023 Schedule
January 21 – February 26, 2023 (opening: Thursday, January 26)
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman
You know you’re pretty special when painting the Mona Lisa is the least of your accomplishments! Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest thinkers of all time. Now Tony Award winner and MacArthur Genius Grantee Mary Zimmerman (The White Snake, Metamorphoses) shapes a genre-busting play entirely from da Vinci’s own notebooks. A cast of chameleon-like actors takes us on a journey through da Vinci’s mind as he considers everything from math and engineering to philosophy and love. Created by one of the most acclaimed artists working in the American theatre, this unique and breathtaking show that The New York Times called “a fun house of the mind” illuminates what it truly means to be a Renaissance man.
March 17 – April 23, 2023 (opening: Thursday, March 23)
World premiere
The XIXth (The Nineteenth)
By Kemp Powers
Directed by Carl Cofield
Mexico City, 1968. Two Black American sprinters, the fastest men on Earth, raise their fists in protest. Inspired by real events from the historic 19th Olympic Games, and directed by Carl Cofield (Seize the King, The Bacchae), this suspenseful world-premiere play by Kemp Powers (Pixar’s Soul, One Night in Miami) chronicles the intersection of sports and activism, and shows the life-changing repercussions of being a champion who chooses to speak out.
May 19 – June 25, 2023 (opening: Friday, May 26)
Destiny of Desire
An Unapologetic Telenovela in Two Acts
By Karen Zacarías
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
The joys, tribulations, and plot twists of epic love are bursting onstage in this brilliantly funny homage to the telenovela by Karen Zacarías (Native Gardens). On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two babies are born—one into a life of outlandish wealth, and one into a life of poverty. When the newborns are swapped by a ruthless ex–beauty queen, 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.
July 1 – July 30, 2023 (opening: Saturday, July 1)
Passengers
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!
September 7 – October 22, 2023 (opening: Wednesday, September 20)
Musical to be announced
The Old Globe is finalizing the details for an exciting musical taking the stage in fall 2023. In the spirit of Hair, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical, and other grand productions that Globe audiences have come to expect.
SHERYL AND HARVEY WHITE THEATRE
CONRAD PREBYS THEATRE CENTER
2023 Schedule
February 11 – March 12, 2023 (opening: Thursday, February 16)
Globe-commissioned world premiere
Under a Baseball Sky
By José Cruz González
Directed by James Vásquez
From José Cruz González, author of American Mariachi, comes a Globe-commissioned story about baseball’s deep roots in the Mexican American community. When troublemaker Teo is put to work cleaning up a vacant lot belonging to his elderly neighbor, this unlikely pair forms a bond forged in history and America’s pastime. Inspired by San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood, and directed by Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez, this beguiling world premiere celebrates communities and individuals coming together to find hope, healing, love, and the occasional homerun.
April 8 – May 7, 2023 (opening: Thursday, April 13)
World premiere
Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play
By Keiko Green
Directed by Jesca Prudencio
It’s 1999, and Ami is an awkward Asian American high schooler whose world comes crashing down with a terrible discovery: her family is responsible for manufacturing MSG, the mysterious ingredient getting all the kids hooked! Meanwhile, a cool new girl arrives from Japan, and she’s not playing by the rules. In Keiko Green’s world-premiere play, Ami vows to redeem her family name and save the world from MSG. This whimsical, time-traveling adventure, directed by the celebrated Jesca Prudencio, is a riotous and hilarious romp through wild teenaged crushes, family legacies, and the magical properties of instant ramen!
July 15 – August 13, 2023 (opening: Thursday, July 20)
Globe-commissioned world premiere
Crime and Punishment, A Comedy
By Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Directed by Gordon Greenberg
Dostoyevsky’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.
September 30 – October 29, 2023 (opening: Thursday, October 5)
West Coast premiere
Dishwasher Dreams
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 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.
LOWELL DAVIES FESTIVAL THEATRE
2023 Schedule
June 4 – July 9, 2023 (opening: Saturday, June 10)
Twelfth Night
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Kathleen Marshall
One of Shakespeare’s most perfect plays—romance, music, poetry, comedy, swordplay, and more! 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. Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Globe’s Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labor’s Lost) directs Twelfth Night, one of the Bard’s true comic masterpieces—and the perfect San Diego night under the stars.
July 30 – September 3, 2023 (opening: Saturday, August 5)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
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.
Tickets for The Old Globe’s 2023 Season are currently available by subscription. Five-play subscription packages start at $154. For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit www.TheOldGlobe.org or call at (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623).
In alignment with the State of California, which has removed mask and vaccine requirements for indoor events, The Old Globe will not require patrons to provide proof of vaccination or to wear masks while attending shows or events in either our indoor or outdoor venues. However, the theatre still strongly recommends mask-wearing while at the Globe, and patrons should feel comfortable wearing a mask anywhere on our campus if they choose
Financial support for The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities.
Bios and photos of all participants can be found at www.TheOldGlobe.org/Press-Room.
The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 88th year, the Globe is San Diego’s flagship performing arts institution, and it serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and the Audrey S. Geisel Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 16 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages, including its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people annually attend Globe productions and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Its nationally prominent Arts Engagement Department provides an array of participatory programs that make theatre matter to more people in neighborhoods throughout the region. Humanities programs at the Globe and around the city broaden the community’s understanding of theatre art in all its forms. The Globe also boasts a range of new play development programs with professional and community-based writers, as well as the renowned The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Numerous world premieres—such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star,The Full Monty,Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!—have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.
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