- Shows and Tickets
- Plan Your Visit
- Other Programming
- Support Us
- Arts Engagement
- Get Involved
- MFA Program
- About The Globe
- News and Media
SAN DIEGO (December 7, 2018)—The Old Globe has been granted a second three-year cycle of support from The James Irvine Foundation’s New California Arts Fund (NCAF). The grant of $1.9 million represents an increase of $175,000 from the first cycle of support. The funding will power the Globe’s nationally recognized arts engagement programs, which engage diverse communities throughout the San Diego region, and will also fund the development of long-term strategies to continue and expand this work. The first three-year grant enabled the Globe to create a vibrant arts engagement department that has brought engagement to the core of the institution.
“The generous support of The James Irvine Foundation will help us continue the impactful work of the Globe’s arts engagement programs,” said the Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “These programs are changing lives all over San Diego—in homeless shelters, senior centers, military and veterans organizations, correctional facilities, and community organizations that serve to enfranchise populations who’ve traditionally been marginalized.
“NCAF funding has helped us to develop and adopt a new strategic plan focusing on theatre as a public good, and on the creation of public value through our art form. We’ve forged deep, ongoing partnerships with 24 community-based not-for-profits and governmental agencies serving low-income and diverse individuals and families throughout the region. Last year alone, our free, participatory arts engagement programs made theatre matter to over 37,000 people. The Globe is a national leader in this work, and the Irvine Foundation is a fundamental reason why. We are deeply grateful.”
For the full press release on The James Irvine Foundation, click here!
SAN DIEGO (October 29, 2018)—The Old Globe will expand San Diego’s celebration of the holidays with a world premiere American musical about family, faith, and the magic of Christmas. Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas, inspired by the country music legend’s 1995 chart-topping holiday album, features music and lyrics by Clint Black, book by James D. Sasser with Black, and music supervision and music direction by Matt Hinkley, and is directed by Kent Nicholson. Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas begins performances on November 11 and has just been extended by popular demand through the holidays, running until Monday, December 31 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $39.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run November 11–19. Opening night is Tuesday, November 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Amid the commotion of the holidays, Staff Sergeant Mike Randolf returns from Afghanistan and home to his family. But before Mike can open his heart to the joy and spirit of the season, he must make peace with the past and let go of the ghosts of the battlefield. While Mike’s wife helps him readjust to civilian life, it’s their precocious young daughter’s sweet search for the true meaning of Christmas that leads the family toward healing. This heartwarming musical is sure to become an enduring holiday classic.
The cast includes DeLeon Dallas (Wild Goose Dreams at La Jolla Playhouse, Honky and Actually at San Diego Repertory Theatre) as Douglas Miller, Aaron C. Finley (Broadway’s Kinky Boots, It Shoulda Been You, and Rock of Ages) as Mike Randolf, Kaylin Hedges (title role in Annie at the Hollywood Bowl) as Ellie Randolf, Liana Hunt (Broadway’s Newsies and Mamma Mia!, national tours of Bright Star, Wicked,and Mamma Mia!) as Jessie Randolf, and Syndee Winters (Broadway’s The Lion King, Motown The Musical, Pippin, and Hamilton; NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) as Alissa Miller. The ensemble includes Reanne Acasio, Bobby Chiu (Billy Watson), Veda Cienfuegos (Joanie Watson), Giovanni Cozic (Jimmy McElroy), Scott Richard Foster (Jack Peters), Bryant Martin (Santa), Reese McCulloch (Melissa Peters), and Katie Sapper; with swings Lauren Livia Muehl, Jonathan Sangster, and Lauren Ellen Thompson.
The creative team includes Wendy Seyb (Choreographer), Sean Fanning (Scenic Design), Charlotte Devaux (Costume Design), Rui Rita (Lighting Design), Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design), Cody Owen Stine (Associate Music Director, Music Director – November 11 to December 31), Jason Styres, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).
“Clint Black is a giant of American music, and his wonderful holiday album has given us a great production to fill our intimate theatre in the round with feeling and good cheer, and to bring 2018 to a sweet and moving climax,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas is full of beautiful and winning songs. But what moves me most about it is that it’s a simple and honest story of love in all its forms: the love between parents and children, the love between friends, love of country, and love of God. Clint and the great artists who’ve come to San Diego to make this world premiere have given us a lively and touching show that’s a balm for turbulent times and that I believe will become a true Christmas classic. I can’t wait for our audiences to experience it.”
The Old Globe and Clint Black are both committed to serving our large community of military families. Complimentary tickets for military service members and their families are being underwritten by Gail and Doug Hutcheson, Elaine Lipinsky Family Foundation, Walter J. and Mary C. Zable Foundation, and Pamela Farr and Buford Alexander. Additional underwriters are being sought so that more servicemen and women and their families can experience theatre during the holiday season. For more information on supporting the Globe’s military initiatives, please contact Bridget Cantu Wear at (619) 684-4144 or bcantuwear@TheOldGlobe.org.
For the full press release on the extension of Clint Black's Looking for Christmas, click here! For more on Clint Black's Looking for Christmas, click here! To buy tickets for Clint Black's Looking for Christmas, click here!
Photo: Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
SAN DIEGO (October 19, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced the 2019 Summer Shakespeare Festival lineup, which will include two of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays: the romantic comedy As You Like It, directed by Jessica Stone, will run June 16 – July 21, and love-filled tragedy Romeo and Juliet, directed by the Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, August 11 – September 15. Both will play outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.
Indoors, the 2019 Summer Season overflows with music, adventure, and laughter, starting with the award-winning PigPen Theatre Co., which delighted Globe audiences in 2017 with The Old Man and The Old Moon. This talented ensemble returns July 6 – August 11 with a world premiere musical The Tale of Despereaux. Based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo and the Universal Pictures animated film, with book, music, and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co., this inspiring family-friendly adventure will be directed by Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and PigPen Theatre Co. Rounding out the summer is a sparkling comedy by the Globe’s second most popular playwright-in-residence—a guy named Steve Martin: The Underpants. Adapted from Die Hose by Carl Sternheim, the play was originally commissioned by Edelstein when he ran New York’s Classic Stage Company, and it will play July 27 – August 25. 2019 Summer Season subscriber tickets will go on sale Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 12:00 noon.
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.”
The 2019 Shakespeare Festival kicks off with As You Like It, the Bard’s fabulously charming romantic comedy, whose heroine is one of his most remarkable creations. The magical forest of Arden is the play’s famous setting, where a gallery of eccentric characters comes together to find love, fortune, redemption...and themselves. Banished from the court by her deceitful and treacherous uncle, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy, not knowing that the man she loves, also on the run, is behind the next tree. Bucolic Balboa Park is the ideal spot for Shakespeare’s enticing tale of mistaken identity, heartfelt romance, and the endearing fumbles and foibles of love. Jessica Stone’s recent body of work, including Barefoot in the Park, Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, has had Globe audiences rolling in the aisles. Her Shakespearean directing debut will run June 16 – July 21 and open Saturday, June 22, 2019.
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”
After his smash-hit Othello and record-breaking Hamlet, Barry Edelstein returns to the Shakespeare Festival to take on the greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet. Verona’s Montague and Capulet families have been feuding for ages, and whenever they meet, violence breaks out. But when Romeo glimpses Juliet across a crowded dance floor, something different happens. Can star-crossed love survive in a world of rivalry and rage? With a plot featuring a masqued ball, sleeping potions, and all-out brawling in the street, wrapped in a text full of soaring poetry, it’s no wonder Romeo and Juliet has inspired countless adaptations, from ballets to movies to musicals like West Side Story. Young love has never been as dangerous or delightful as it is in Shakespeare’s romantic masterpiece, brought to vivid life on our outdoor stage under the stars. Edelstein is currently working with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on a unique version of The Tempest combining Shakespeare, opera, and Broadway for November 2018, and he returns to his home territory with Romeo and Juliet, which will run August 11 – September 15, with opening night on Saturday, August 17.
The acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co. charmed and astonished Old Globe audiences with The Old Man and The Old Moon. Now they return to San Diego, bringing their one-of-a-kind theatrical and musical inventiveness to Kate DiCamillo’s beloved, Newbery Medal–winning modern fable, The Tale of Despereaux. Despereaux is a courageous mouse who dreams of becoming a knight. He sets off on a noble quest that will take him down into dungeons and up to the heights of a castle tower to rescue a beautiful human princess—but the dark-hearted rat Roscuro has other ideas. The Boston Herald proclaims, “PigPen Theatre Co. is already a phenomenon,” while The New Yorker says, “It’s like watching child geniuses at play!” Full of gorgeous music, stunning stage effects, witty performances, and a message of optimism and community, The Tale of Despereaux is an inspiring and beguiling story for all ages. Directed by Marc Bruni and PigPen Theatre Co., it will run July 6 – August 11, opening Saturday, July 13, 2019.
Legendary comedian and writer Steve Martin is back with a riotously funny farce, The Underpants. Newly married Louise is bored with her demanding and uptight bureaucrat husband. Then one day at the royal parade, she jumps up on a bench to see the king go by, and oops—wardrobe malfunction!—her bloomers come loose and fall down around her ankles. Her husband is frantic that her faux pas will cost him his job and reputation. But suddenly the room they’ve been trying to rent out has plenty of takers, and it just might have something to do with…the underpants. Steve Martin, who gave Globe audiences hits like Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Bright Star, and Meteor Shower, brings us a hilarious look at sudden fame and the crazy things people do when they’re in the grip of romantic fever. The New York Times calls the play “laugh-out-loud funny!” and “an amalgam of comic book and social commentary made out of sex jokes, slamming doors, and sophisticated repartee.” The Underpants will run July 27 – August 25, opening Thursday, August 1, 2019.
“The Globe’s 2019 summer lineup is bursting with two things we all need more of: love and laughter. The four productions in the season will be created by cherished artists, including some of our dearest friends, who return to our stages in brilliant form,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “We are delighted to see the gifted comic director Jessica Stone make her Shakespearean directing debut with the beguiling As You Like It. I can’t wait to work on a play I’ve longed to do, the greatest love story there is, Romeo and Juliet. The wizardly and extraordinarily gifted PigPen Theatre Co. will thrill us with their world premiere musical fable for all ages, The Tale of Despereaux, directed with Marc Bruni, fresh off the success of Beautiful on Broadway and national tour. And the Globe’s dear friend Steve Martin returns for a fourth time, following the great San Diego, New York, and nationwide successes of Bright Star and Meteor Shower, with The Underpants, a play he and I originally created together and which seems even funnier and more prescient these many years later. These shows are everything the Globe exists to create: great theatre art by great artists telling great stories about things that matter. I am thrilled to share it all with our audiences.”
For the full press release on the 2019 Summer Season, click here! For more details on the 2019 Summer Season, click here!
Photo: (from left) Matt Nuernberger, Dan Weschler, Ryan Melia, and Curtis Gillen of PigPen Theatre Co.’s The Old Man and The Old Moon, 2017 at The Old Globe. Photo by Jim Cox.
SAN DIEGO (October 18, 2018)—The Old Globe believes that theatre matters, and our mission every day is to make theatre matter to more people. We invite friends and families to celebrate the great Mexican tradition Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) with a weekend full of unique activities and artistic expression, as well as premiere performances of a community-generated theatre piece.
For the third year in a row, two of the Globe’s signature arts engagement programs—coLAB and AXIS—unite in the spirit of creative collaboration to share the artistry created within a community, then demonstrated by the members with a performance. After a coLAB workshop hosted by guest director and co-creator Ramón Verdugo, the City Heights community participants and local artists are able to share a piece of their community and traditions in the premiere performances of La Visita de la Abuela (The Grandmother’s Visit), with costumes by Mayté Martinez. The collaborative piece is to be presented three times over the weekend, in both English and Español.
The initial coLAB performance of La Visita de la Abuela will take place at SAY San Diego’s City Heights Día de los Muertos Celebration on Saturday, October 27 at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park (3795 Fairmount Ave., San Diego, 92105). The event will include music for singing and dancing; performances from Aztec dancers and Drummers Without Borders; a display of community altars; face painting; sugar-skull decorating; and prizes for the best traditional Catrina and Catrin costumes. The event will run from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with a performance of La Visita de la Abuela at 4:00 p.m.
The free AXIS Day of the Dead Celebration will take place on Sunday, October 28 on the Globe’s Copley Plaza in Balboa Park. This inclusive family event will celebrate the traditions that encompass this holiday remembrance of deceased loved ones. It will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with La Visita de la Abuela at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Hosted by special guest Tony Valencia, the event will include traditional face painting by Lucia Ramirez, large interactive props, and the opportunity for audience members to join in for an open mic moment. Both the coLAB and AXIS programs involved in Day of the Dead are managed by the Globe’s Arts Engagement Programs Associate Katherine Harroff.
Sunday’s AXIS celebration will precede the 2:00 p.m. matinee of The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program’s Julius Caesar. A joint venture of the Globe and USD, the program nationally recruits seven students each year to participate in an intensive two-year course of graduate study in classical theatre, and this is their final production of 2018.
“Both of these arts engagement programs help us get even closer to our goal here at the Globe: making theatre matter to more people,” said the Globe’s Director of Arts Engagement Freedome Bradley-Ballentine. “These programs strengthen the connections between our neighbors and our theatre. Our Department of Arts Engagement aims to spark creativity through theatre-based activities and encourage direct participation. AXIS opens Copley Plaza up to our Balboa Park neighbors, and coLAB helps show the art in our communities. Together, these programs unite various levels of artistry and skills to tell stories that are important, innovative, participatory, and multigenerational.”
coLAB and AXIS are programs supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation. Financial support of The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego.
For the full press release on the AXIS Day of the Dead Celebration, click here! For more on AXIS Day of the Dead Celebration, click here!
Photo: Day of the Dead Celebration, 2017, at The Old Globe. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
SAN DIEGO (October 17, 2018)—The Old Globe will expand San Diego’s celebration of the holidays with a world premiere American musical about family, faith, and the magic of Christmas. The Globe is delighted to announce the complete cast and creative team for Looking for Christmas, the new Clint Black Christmas musical, inspired by the country music legend’s 1995 chart-topping holiday album. With music and lyrics by Clint Black, book by James D. Sasser with Black, based on an idea by Sasser and Black, music supervision and music direction by Matt Hinkley, and directed by Kent Nicholson, Looking for Christmas will run November 11 – December 16, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $39.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run November 11–19. Opening night is Tuesday, November 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Amid the commotion of the holidays, Staff Sergeant Mike Randolf returns from Afghanistan and home to his family. But before Mike can open his heart to the joy and spirit of the season, he must make peace with the past and let go of the ghosts of the battlefield. While Mike’s wife helps him readjust to civilian life, it’s their precocious young daughter’s sweet search for the true meaning of Christmas that leads the family toward healing. This heartwarming musical is sure to become an enduring holiday classic.
The cast includes DeLeon Dallas (Wild Goose Dreams at La Jolla Playhouse, Honky and Actually at San Diego Repertory Theatre) as Douglas Miller, Aaron C. Finley (Broadway’s Kinky Boots, It Shoulda Been You, and Rock of Ages) as Mike Randolf, Kaylin Hedges (title role in Annie at the Hollywood Bowl) as Ellie Randolf, Liana Hunt (Broadway’s Newsies and Mamma Mia!, national tours of Bright Star, Wicked,and Mamma Mia!) as Jessie Randolf, and Syndee Winters (Broadway’s The Lion King, Motown The Musical, Pippin, and Hamilton; NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) as Alissa Miller. The ensemble includes Reanne Acasio, Bobby Chiu (Billy Watson), Veda Cienfuegos (Joanie Watson), Giovanni Cozic (Jimmy), Scott Richard Foster (Jack Peters), Bryant Martin (Santa), Reese McCulloch (Melissa Peters), and Katie Sapper; with swings Lauren Livia Muehl, Jonathan Sangster, and Lauren Ellen Thompson.
The creative team includes Wendy Seyb (Choreographer), Sean Fanning (Scenic Design), Charlotte Devaux (Costume Design), Rui Rita (Lighting Design), Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design), Jason Styres, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).
“Clint Black is a giant of American music, and his wonderful holiday album has given us a great production to fill our intimate theatre in the round with feeling and good cheer, and to bring 2018 to a sweet and moving climax,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Looking for Christmas is full of beautiful and winning songs. But what moves me most about it is that it’s a simple and honest story of love in all its forms: the love between parents and children, the love between friends, love of country, and love of God. Clint and the great artists who’ve come to San Diego to make this world premiere have given us a lively and touching show that’s a balm for turbulent times and that I believe will become a true Christmas classic. I can’t wait for our audiences to experience it.”
The Old Globe and Clint Black are both committed to serving our large community of military families. Complimentary tickets for military service members and their families are being underwritten by Gail and Doug Hutcheson, Elaine Lipinsky Family Foundation, Walter J. and Mary C. Zable Foundation, and Pamela Farr and Buford Alexander. Additional underwriters are being sought so that more servicemen and women and their families can experience theatre during the holiday season. For more information on supporting the Globe’s military initiatives, please contact Bridget Cantu Wear at (619) 684-4144 or bcantuwear@TheOldGlobe.org.
For the full press release on Looking for Christmas, click here! For more details on Looking for Christmas, click here! To buy tickets to see Looking for Christmas, click here!
Photo: Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
SAN DIEGO (October 11, 2018)—The Old Globe announces its inaugural New Voices in the Community series: free public performances at libraries across San Diego County, followed by conversations with the playwrights and experts in the community. The first New Voices in the Community features three solo shows by women: Hold These Truthsby Jeanne Sakata, “A” Train by Anne Torsiglieri, and Unveiled: A One-Woman Play by Rohina Malik.
New Voices in the Community builds on the success of The Old Globe’s annual Powers New Voices Festival, which brings new work to the Globe’s stages every January. The Old Globe believes that theatre matters, and our work each day is to make theatre matter to more people. With the New Voices in the Community series, the Globe brings exciting contemporary playwrights to San Diego’s neighborhoods, collaborating with the San Diego library system to broaden the city’s access to new plays.
The Old Globe, in partnership with the Mira Mesa Public Library, kicks off the series on Saturday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. with Hold These Truths, written by Jeanne Sakata, directed by Jessica Kubzansky, and performed by Ryun Yu. The Mira Mesa Public Library is located at 8405 New Salem St., San Diego, 92126. The performance is FREE to the public. Reservations recommended: https://sandiego.librarymarket.com/old-globes-community-voices.
For the full press release on New Voices in the Community, click here!
SAN DIEGO (October 11, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the Globe’s 21st annual production of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!The holiday musical will run November 3 – December 29 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Previews run November 3 – November 7. Opening night is Thursday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. The Grinch isdirected by James Vásquez, with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin. The original production of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was conceived and directed by Jack O’Brien with additional lyrics by Theodor S. Geisel, additional music by Albert Hague, and original choreography by John DeLuca.
Tickets start at $29.00 for adults and $19.00 for children (17 years and under). Children under the age of three will be admitted to 11:00 a.m. performances only, which are open to all ages. At the 11:00 a.m. performances only, children under the age of two are free but must occupy the same seat and sit on the lap of a parent or guardian in attendance. Regardless of age, each audience member, including babes in arms, must have a ticket to be admitted into the theatre. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office.
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a wonderful, whimsical musical based upon the classic Dr. Seuss book. Back for its 21st incredible year, the family favorite features the songs “Santa for a Day,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and “Welcome, Christmas (Fah Who Doraze),” the delightful carol from the popular animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Celebrate the holidays as the Old Globe Theatre is once again transformed into the snow-covered Whoville, right down to the last can of Who-hash.
Edward Watts returns to the Globe after receiving critical acclaim and delighting audiences as The Grinch in 2017. He has appeared on Broadway in Scandalous, Finian’s Rainbow, It’s a Bird...It’s a Plane...It’s Superman, The Fantasticks, The Most Happy Fella, and Lincoln Center’s Show Boat, in addition to the national tours of The Book of Mormon, Les Misérables, and The Little Mermaid. His recent regional appearances include The Little Mermaid (Music Theatre Wichita), The Music Man (The Lexington Theatre Company), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Goodspeed Musicals), and he appeared on PBS in the acclaimed “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcast of Show Boat with the New York Philharmonic.
Sadie Tess Coleman, who has been part of the Little Who ensemble for two years, alternates in the role of Cindy-Lou Who with Leila Manuel, who is making her Globe debut.
Two-time San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award winner Steve Gunderson returns as Old Max and marks his 16th appearance in The Grinch at the Globe. In addition to his extensive San Diego credits, he has been seen Off Broadway in Suds: The Rocking ’60s Musical Soap Opera, Back to Bacharach and David, and others. He received a 2016 Creative Catalyst Program grant as writer and composer for The Artificial Woman. He is co-creator and arranger for Everybody’s Talkin’: The Music of Harry Nilsson and musical arranger for 33 1/3 and Yours, Truly, both to premiere in 2019. Tommy Martinez, making his Globe debut, will scale Mt. Crumpit as Young Max. He played the lead role of Jack Kelly in the first national tour of Disney’s smash Broadway musical Newsies. His other recent credits include lead roles in Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Addams Family, Next to Normal, and Legally Blonde.
Rounding out the cast of The Grinch are Robert J. Townsend (Papa Who), Bets Malone (Mama Who), Larry Raben (Grandpa Who), Kyrsten Hafso Koppman (Grandma Who), Zoe Carnot and Audrey Fundingsland (Annie Who), Taylor Coleman and Bianca Rodriguez (Betty-Lou Who), Alexander Ikizyan and Sean Pope (Boo Who), and Gavin August and John Perry Wishchuk (Danny Who). The ensemble consists of Sophia Adajar, Joelle Dana Advento, Nicholas Alexander, Jacob Caltrider, Janaya Mahealani Jones, Hannah Lee, Lindsay Mains, Sarah Meahl, Mackenzie Nibbe, Arden Pala, Viviana Peji, Amare Phillips, Marcus Terrell Smith, Hailey Topolovac, Kelsey Venter, and Stella Grace Wahl, as well as James Vásquez (Swing).
This season’s production features Additional Choreography by Bob Richard and Musical Direction by Elan McMahan. The Grinch creative team also includes John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design), Robert Morgan (Costume Design), Pat Collins (Lighting Design), Paul Peterson (Sound Design), Anita Ruth (Orchestrator), Joshua Rosenblum (Vocal Arrangements and Incidental Music), David Krane (Dance Music Arranger), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager).
“The Grinch is once again returning to the heart of Balboa Park! All of us at The Old Globe are delighted to welcome him back,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “For more than two decades this magical show has been a San Diego institution, introducing young people to the joys of theatre and bringing families together for the heartwarming rush of good cheer that only the live theatre can provide. We are thrilled to reunite our beloved Who family old and new with the brilliant Ed Watts, who is returning as The Grinch. Many of these extraordinary actors return year in and year out, and we love watching the littlest Whos grow up onstage along with our audience members. For many San Diegans the Grinch Tree Lighting Ceremony kicks off the holiday season, and we’re looking forward to it. This year’s sensory-friendly performance will offer additional surround events created by artists on the spectrum, including Grinch-y AXIS workshops and performances! This is a special time of year at the Globe, touched with the genius of Dr. Seuss and chock-full of surprise, entertainment, and joy.”
For the full press release on Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, click here! For more details on Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, click here! To buy tickets to see Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, click here!
Photo: The cast of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, 2017. Photo by Jim Cox.
SAN DIEGO (October 11, 2018)—The Old Globe invites your participation and coverage as Globe for All celebrates five years of making theatre matter to more people! This talented company of professional actors will tour William Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, throughout San Diego County to a wide variety of economically, geographically, and culturally diverse communities. The free Globe for All Tour begins Tuesday, October 30 and will visit 17 Community Partner venues new and old, from Oceanside to the South Bay, from Linda Vista to the Imperial Valley. Patricia McGregor returns to direct her second Globe for All Tour, following Measure for Measure in 2016. She recently received critical acclaim for her direction of the world premiere of Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (People’s Light, Geffen Playhouse) and Skeleton Crew (Studio Theatre, Geffen Playhouse).
Audiences across San Diego County will fall under this midsummer night’s spell filled with magic, humor, music, and magnificent poetry. A dream unfolds in an enchanted forest where fairies play tricks on unsuspecting lovers, and bumbling actors are transformed beyond their wildest imaginings. Add to this a secret potion that grants love at first sight, and anything can—and does—happen!
The cast features Sam Avishay* (Demetrius, Snout, Cobweb), Nora Carroll* (Hermia, Fairy, Moth), Daniel Ian Joeck* (Egeus, Peter Quince), Jose Martinez* (Lysander, Snug, Peaseblossom), Jake Millgard* (Theseus, Bottom), Kimberly Monks (Titania, Robin Starveling), Renardo Charles Pringle Jr.* (Oberon, Flute), Larica Schnell* (Helena, Mustardseed), and Samantha Sutliff* (Hippolyta, Puck). *Indicates a graduate of The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program.
The creative staff includes Samantha Rojales (Scenic Design), Amanda “Junior” Bergman (Costume Design), Miki Vale (DJ), David Huber (Voice and Text Coach), and Chandra R.M. Anthenill (Production Stage Manager).
“We are delighted to present Shakespeare’s masterpiece A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 17 Community Partner venues this year. Our community connections have deepened considerably since we launched Globe for All five years ago, and we value these crucial and rewarding partnerships,” said Old Globe Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Globe for All is inspired by two simple but deep beliefs: that theatre is an art form for everyone, and that as the flagship arts institution of San Diego, The Old Globe should be accessible to the entire community. Taking our show on the road each year to new corners of our region advances our values of equity, inclusion, access, and, of course, excellence. This year’s tour embodies these values vividly, and our close friend Patricia McGregor’s beautiful production of Midsummer will bring joy, fun, and the special magic of Shakespeare to our neighbors around San Diego County.”
For the full press release on Globe for All's touring production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, click here! For the Globe for All A Midsummer Night's Dream press page, click here!
Photo: Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
SAN DIEGO (October 5, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program presentation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Directed by Allegra Libonati, the classic political tragedy will run October 20–28, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Opening night is Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to Julius Caesar are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.”
Though Caesar is beloved by the people of Rome, after his latest military triumph, senators Brutus and Cassius sense a dictator in the making. But the honorable Brutus faces a wrenching decision: stage a coup for the sake of country, or stay loyal to Caesar. The Globe’s intimate arena stage gives you an up-close seat for Shakespeare’s masterful tale of cunning diplomacy, fast-shifting alliances, and the unpredictable consequences of betrayal. The classical actors of tomorrow, now training in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, expertly perform one of the world’s great plays.
“The Old Globe and USD Shiley Graduate Theatre Program is one of our country’s leading professional actor training conservatories, and I’m as proud of the work the Globe does in nurturing the next generation of American actors as I am of anything else in this institution’s life,” said Old Globe Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “First-rate talent thrives in this program, as evidenced from their amazing work in student showcases, their annual Shakespeare presentation, and their roles onstage in the Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival performances. This is talent that will continue to shape American entertainment in the future. Allegra Libonati, the director of Julius Caesar, makes her Globe debut with a thrilling new approach to this classic story of political intrigue and national upheaval. I look forward to sharing this glimpse of our best emerging talent with San Diego’s audiences.”
The cast features Carlos Angel-Barajas (Cicero, Cina the Poet, Octavius), Summer Broyhill (Calphurnia, Lepidus), Ramon Burris (Casca), Mason Conrad (Artimidorus, Cobbler, Servant), Yadira Correa (Caisus Cassius), Aubrey Deeker Hernandez (Decius Brutus, Lucilius), Bibi Mama (Trebonius, Messala), Hallie Peterson (Marcus Brutus), Jersten Seraile (Julius Caesar), Morgan Taylor (Cinna, Titinus), Wenona Truong (Portia, Servant to Octavius), Jared Van Heel (Mark Antony), Marco Antonio Vega (Metellus Cimber, Pindarus), and Eric Weiman (Soothsayer, Lucius). Further supporting characters will be played by the ensemble.
The creative team includes Anna Lineham Robinson (Scenic Design), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Design), Brandon H. Rosen (Lighting Design), Kevin Anthenill (Sound Design and Original Music), Jan Gist (Voice and Speech Coach), George Yé (Fight Choreographer), Abraham Stoll (Dramaturg), Nicole Ries (Production Stage Manager), and Sebastian Perfetto (Assistant Stage Manager).
For the full press release on Julius Caesar, click here! For more details on Julius Caesar, click here! To buy tickets to see Julius Caesar, click here!
Photo: Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
SAN DIEGO (September 5, 2018)—The Old Globe believes that theatre matters, and our work each day is to make theatre matter to more people! As part of the Globe’s free monthly AXIS performing arts series, once a month we welcome everybody on the Globe’s Copley Plaza in Balboa Park to enjoy a free performance of dance, spoken word, music, and theatre. For September, we will host MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION featuring Mariachi Las Colibrí, commemorating Mexican Independence Day, also referred to as “El Grito,” with a free mariachi concert on Saturday, September 15 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Join us for the all-female group Mariachi Las Colibrí, along with craft making, margaritas, and traditional Mexican folk dances, with DanzArts illustrating the rhythms onstage. Our special host Tony Valencia will introduce and explain all aspects of this marvelous celebration, both in English and Spanish!
“There is a deep and rich connection to Mexican culture in San Diego – we saw this with the wonderful response to our production of American Mariachi” said Associate Director of Arts Engagement, Karen Ann Daniels. “AXIS offers a way for us to continue to engage with this tradition of music, dance and culture, in a meaningful way. At the core of the Mexican Independence celebration is a common belief in our right to personal freedom - something we all can get behind no matter where we come from.”
DanzArts will offer dance lessons so everybody can join the fiesta! As a special treat, the Globe will have papel picado crafting (tissue paper with cut-out shapes) and flag painting with Arts Engagement Teaching Artist Valeria Vega. And you can cool off by ordering a traditional margarita at Caroline’s Pub! This great event will precede the 2:00 p.m. matinees of our two current hits, Barefoot in the Park and The Heart of Rock & Roll.
Mariachi Las Colibrí (which translates to “The Hummingbirds”) has a passion for music, beauty, and girl power. These women are flying into new territory as one of the most unique ensembles of its genre by returning to the all-string instrumentation of the early 20th-century mariachi tradition and the colorful, feminine costumes of the Mexican cinematic divas of the ’40s and ’50s. After years of achieving much success individually as instrumentalists and vocalists in various professional arenas, these women have come together with their lovely blend of vocal harmonies, unique arrangements, and interpretation of traditional sones, huapangos, and rancheras with a contemporary twist.
DanzArts is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve Mexico’s and Spain’s heritages by raising cultural awareness and giving back to the community through dance. Its members strive for it to become a self-sustaining dance academy featuring classically and technically trained instructors who develop other performers and seek to share the theatrical dance experience throughout the region, as well as be an innovative cultural organization that educates and entertains.
AXIS is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.
For more information, click here! For the AXIS press page, click here!
Photo: Danzarts performs at The Old Globe, 2017. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
SAN DIEGO (August 8, 2018)—The Old Globe’s Barefoot in the Park opened last Thursday and will extend again by popular demand, now running through Sunday, August 16. Director Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) returns to the Globe, extending the theatre’s decades-long relationship with giant comic playwright Neil Simon with this fresh and hilarious new look at his “bubbling, rib-tickling comedy” (The New York Times). Barefoot in the Park plays July 28 – September 16, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets now start at $49.00 and are on sale to the general public now.
Fresh off a honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, free-spirited Corie and her buttoned-down husband Paul find themselves struggling to adjust to married life in their run-down New York walk-up. Throw in a loopy meddling mother, an eccentric Bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a double date that goes disastrously wrong, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for laughter.
The cast includes Kerry Bishé as Corie Bratter (“Halt and Catch Fire,” “Narcos,” “Billions,” Argo, Pygmalion on Broadway, My Name Is Rachel Corrie Off Broadway), Jere Burns as Victor Velasco (Broadway’s After the Night and the Music and Hairspray, “Angie Tribeca,” “I’m Dying Up Here,” Incredibles 2), Mia Dillon as Mrs. Ethel Banks (original Broadway cast of Crimes of the Heart, Our Town with Paul Newman, The Miser, Hay Fever, The Cherry Orchard at La Jolla Playhouse), and Chris Lowell as Paul Bratter (“GLOW,” “Private Practice,” “Veronica Mars,” The Help, Off Broadway’s Jacuzzi); with John Garcia as Deliveryman (the Globe’s Anna Christie) and Jake Millgard as Telephone Repairman (the Globe’s Benny & Joon, Guys and Dolls).
The creative team includes Tobin Ost (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design), Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design), Lindsay Jones (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Libby Unsworth (Production Stage Manager).
“Summertime at the Globe means laughter and fun, and no one delivers both better than Neil Simon,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Barefoot in the Park is a sweet, funny play about how delightful it is to figure out how to build a life that balances life, work, and love. In Corie and Paul, the young newlywed couple at the center of the story, the play reflects to all of us our best selves and reminds us that sometimes we all need to kick off our shoes and dance in the grass. Neil Simon is a towering figure in the American theatre, and we are thrilled to continue the Globe’s decades-long relationship with him. It’s also a treat to have the great comic director Jessica Stone back in San Diego. She and her crack team have put together a summer ice cream cone of a show, and I can’t wait to share it with our audience.”
For the full press release on the Barefoot in the Park extension, click here! For more details on Barefoot in the Park, click here!
Photo: Kerry Bishé and Chris Lowell. Photo by Jim Cox.
SAN DIEGO (August 6, 2018)—The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program today announced the hire of Jesse J. Perez as its new Director. Perez is an accomplished actor, choreographer, director, and professor who comes to San Diego after 12 years of distinguished teaching at The Juilliard School in New York.
Perez will join the faculty of the University of San Diego’s Department of Theatre and oversee the internationally renowned master of fine arts in acting program, which is a joint effort between the university and The Old Globe.
“We could not be more pleased to welcome Jesse, an immeasurably accomplished actor, teacher, and leader, to the University of San Diego as the Director of our M.F.A. in acting program,” remarked Noelle Norton, Ph.D., Dean of the University of San Diego’s College of Arts and Sciences. “His ambitions for growing the program and supporting our students will help take our collaborative program with The Old Globe to new heights. We are honored to welcome him to our university.”
His impressive list of credits includes acting roles in Off Broadway productions, international exhibitions, dance productions, television shows, and movies, including Party People (The Public Theater), The Father and A Doll’s House (Theatre for a New Audience), Up Against the Wind (New York Theatre Workshop), Lucia di Lammermoor (The Metropolitan Opera), Venice Biennale, Salzburg Festival, “Law & Order,” “Life on Mars,” American Splendor, and Adopt-a-Highway. He has been Company Choreographer for the Lake Lucille Project since 2003, choreographing all of Anton Chekhov’s major plays under the direction of Brian Mertes and Melissa Kievman.
“Joining such an esteemed group of professionals, who are committed to educating the next generation of classical actors and supporting San Diego’s flourishing theatre community, is not something I take lightly,” said Perez. “I look forward to advancing the shared mission of both The Old Globe and the University of San Diego in their aim of fostering a world-class graduate acting experience.”
“The appointment of Jesse J. Perez to direct The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program is a great thing for this theatre, the university, and the American theatre at large,” said The Old Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Jesse is a rare and significant talent. A classical actor of real range and skill and a highly imaginative director and choreographer, he has worked on important stages around the United States and the world. An educator and mentor, he has taught and trained actors at our country’s leading conservatories. And his gifts as an artist and teacher are only exceeded by his gifts as a thinker and activist. He has a vision of what the future of the American classical theatre can look like, and his artistry and leadership, combined with his kindness and deep well of humanity, will make that vision real as he builds on this program’s already excellent reputation in the time ahead.”
A joint venture of The Old Globe and the University of San Diego, the master of fine arts in acting program nationally recruits seven students each year to participate in an intensive two-year, year-round course of graduate study in classical theatre.
In advance of his role with the Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, Perez will play Richard III in La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere production of Seize the King by Will Power, running August 21 – September 16, 2018.
For more information, click here!
SAN DIEGO (July 20, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced casting as its 2018–2019 Season kicks off with the world premiere of The Heart of Rock & Roll, inspired by the music of Huey Lewis and the News, featuring a book by Jonathan Abrams and story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams. It will be directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Lorin Latarro and music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Brian Usifer. The Heart of Rock & Roll will be presented by special arrangement with Tyler Mitchell, W. Leo Kiely, Bill Kiely, Whitney Kiely Moehle, and Tamar Climan.
The Heart of Rock & Roll will run September 6 – October 21, 2018 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run September 6 – September 13. Opening night is Friday, September 14, 2018. Tickets are currently available by subscription only and will go on sale to the general public on Sunday, August 5, 2018, beginning at 12:00 noon. Tickets start at $39.00 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.
An electrifying world premiere musical comedy inspired by the songs of one of the most beloved and iconic acts in music history, Huey Lewis and the News. Mainstays on the Chicago dive bar circuit, Bobby and his band are hustling for their big break. But after their latest rejection, Bobby decides it’s “Hip to Be Square,” trades in his guitar, and starts “Workin’ for a Livin’” in corporate America. His boss, Cassandra, has struggles of her own, having sacrificed her personal life for the company. When they both get a shot at their dreams—for Bobby, another crack at rock stardom, and for Cassandra, a chance to become CEO—they must decide “If This Is It” for their careers, or if “The Power of Love” triumphs over all. The Heart of Rock & Roll celebrates the classic songs of Huey Lewis and the News in this heartwarming and hilarious new musical.
The Broadway veterans in the cast include Matt Doyle as Bobby (Sweeney Todd, The Book of Mormon, War Horse, Spring Awakening), Katie Rose Clarke as Cassandra (Miss Saigon, Allegiance, Wicked, The Light in the Piazza), Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Nina (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde, Hairspray), Patrice Covington as Roz (The Color Purple, Motown The Musical, The Book of Mormon), John Dossett as Stone (the Globe’s The First Wives Club; Newsies, Chicago, War Paint, Tony nominated for Gypsy), Paige Faure as Paige (played the title role in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, How to Succeed, Bullets Over Broadway), F. Michael Haynie as Glenn (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wicked, Holler If Ya Hear Me), Orville Mendoza as Fjord (Peter and the Starcatcher, Pacific Overtures; The Wiz and The Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse), Lucas Papaelias as JJ (Once, Cyrano de Bergerac, “The Knick”), Zachary Noah Piser as Eli (Wicked, Off Broadway’s Sweeney Todd), Christopher Ramirez as Wyatt (Icon Off Broadway, Freaky Friday at La Jolla Playhouse), and Billy Harrigan Tighe as Tucker (revivals of Sweeney Todd and Pippin, The Book of Mormon on the West End). The ensemble includes Nicolette Burton, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, James Royce Edwards, Oyoyo Joi, Lucas Papaelias, Robert Pendilla, Christopher Ramirez, MiMi Scardulla, Salisha Thomas, and Josh Tolle, as well as swings Bryan Banville and Katie Banville.
The creative team includes Tony Award winner Derek McLane (Scenic Design), Tony winner Paloma Young (Costume Design), Tony winner Howell Binkley (Lighting Design), David Patridge and Tony winner John Shivers (Sound Design), Matt Doebler (Music Director), Tara Rubin Casting/Eric Woodall, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).
“Everyone at the Globe is beyond excited to have Huey Lewis’s thrilling songs open our 2018–2019 Season in this rocking and rollicking new musical,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Full of laughter and joy, The Heart of Rock & Roll tells a sweet story of how our wildest dreams sometimes do come true, only in slightly different ways than we imagined. Huey Lewis and the News’s songs—one monster hit after another—deliver jolts of joy and surges of energy, all perfectly suited to the musical theatre stage in Brian Usifer’s amazing arrangements. Huey’s talent has drawn a brilliant team of theatrical visionaries together, led by the witty and imaginative director Gordon Greenberg, and they’ve made a musical that’s about as great a night out as I can imagine. I can’t wait to share it with San Diego’s audiences.”
For the full press release on The Heart of Rock & Roll cast announcement, click here! For more details on The Heart of Rock & Roll, click here!
Photos: Katie Rose Clarke and Matt Doyle.
SAN DIEGO (June 18, 2018; updated July 24)—The Globe Guilders are pleased to announce their 28th annual fashion show and luncheon, Celebrating Couture 2018, presented by Neiman Marcus, to benefit The Old Globe’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Once again, Neiman Marcus is producing The Art of Fashion, an exclusively curated show featuring the Fall collections of several celebrated designers, including an exclusive preview of 18 gowns from Zac Posen’s Pre-Fall 2018 Collection. Celebrating Couture 2018 will take place on Thursday, August 16, 2018 in the Costa Del Mar Ballroom of the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
Each year, the Globe Guilders Fashion Show features couture expertly selected by Neiman Marcus from the elite designers they represent, including Posen, Naeem Khan, Tom Ford, Carolina Herrera, and Marchesa. From New York to Milan, fashion has become the creative platform to reflect a world of assertion and empowerment. The 2018 Fall trends include peacock hues in an eye-catching palette of saturated blues and greens; leather everything, matte or patent from top to toe; power tailoring, strong shoulders, and double-breasted shapes; and anytime sequins. Mix, match, and layer fierce animal prints—leopard, zebra, tiger, and more. Accessorize with Western or lace-up boots, chunky but chic; top-flap handbags; smoky-crystal and jet-black jewelry; and glowing, luminous, selfie-perfect skin that makes every social media post perfection. Attendees will see how top designers bring these disparate trends to life on the catwalk, and then they can shop to take them home!
This year the Globe Guilders Fashion Show is honoring Peggy Matthews as a beacon of fashion and a longtime supporter of The Old Globe. Fashion informed most of Peggy’s life, 17 years of which she spent as Midwest Editor at Mademoiselle magazine, based in Chicago. As part of her responsibilities, she traveled across America to stage fashion events. She mingled with iconic couturiers and also enthusiastically worked with student fashion organizations. After she retired, she and her husband Bob moved to San Diego, where she was persuaded to accept the position of Regional Promotions Director for the Broadway department store. She was a consummate volunteer, managing publicity for a myriad of organizations here in San Diego. With her background deeply imbedded in fashion, the fact that Peggy gave generous monetary gifts to the Globe Guilders and The Old Globe costume department surprises no one. Hats off to Peggy!
Guests will be greeted with a champagne reception at 10:00 a.m. in the sunlit foyer—where the competition begins with the chance to bid on silent auction items. New this year is a virtual bidding opportunity through the Gesture mobile application (http://www.guilders18.gesture.com). The live auction and opportunity drawing begin at 12:00 noon in the ballroom, followed by the fabulous fashion show and delicious lunch. After the show, Neiman Marcus will present a one-of-a-kind boutique for browsing and shopping in the foyer.
Globe Guilder President Kim Neapole is the proud Chair of Celebrating Couture 2018. “We are thrilled to be working with Neiman Marcus again this year,” said Neapole. “The grand finale of Zac Posen gowns will be spectacular! It is such a privilege not only to be a part of this beautiful event, but also to bring awareness to the important work that The Old Globe is doing in San Diego.” The proceeds will continue to expand the impact the Globe makes in the community and will help make theatre matter to more people. Over 500 supporters of the Globe are expected to attend this important event benefitting the Globe’s artistic and arts engagement programs, including prominent philanthropists, heads of corporations, and representatives of major organizations.
For the full press release on the Globe Guilders Annual Fashion Show, click here! For more details on the Fashion Show, click here!
Photo: The runway show from the 2016 Globe Guilders Fashion Show. Photo by Douglas Gates.
SAN DIEGO (June 13, 2018)—The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team as the 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival continues with the finest of the Bard’s work outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Celebrate romance with Much Ado About Nothing, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe’s Love’s Labor’s Lost), running August 12 – September 16, 2018. Tickets start at $30.00, on sale to the general public now. Previews run August 12–17. Opening night is Saturday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Marshall makes her triumphant return as director to our Festival Theatre stage with one of the greatest romantic comedies ever, in a production full of colorful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare’s wittiest wordplay. Everyone can see that confirmed bachelor Benedick and headstrong Beatrice are meant for each other—except for Benedick and Beatrice themselves! While their friends try to trick the bickering pair into admitting they’re in love, their young sidekicks Hero and Claudio start a romance of their own. But will false accusations, broken promises, and even a nutty and bumbling police force prevent a happy ending?
“Much Ado about Nothing is one of the masterpieces of Shakespeare’s canon, and in a glorious production like this one, it delivers a special kind of joy,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “The play is sparklingly witty, sweepingly romantic, and full of music, laughter, dance, and poetry. It’s everything that’s thrilling about Shakespeare, all in one play. The brilliant director Kathleen Marshall returns to the Globe to make summer Shakespeare magic again, and her company of actors and designers is as good as it gets. This will be a highlight of the Globe’s work, and I know that our audiences will join me in cheering for it.”
The cast features Sara Topham as Beatrice (Olivia in the Globe’s 2015 Twelfth Night, Broadway’s Travesties revival and The Importance of Being Earnest, Saint Joan at the Shaw Festival, U.K. world premiere of Love Me Do) and Michael Hayden as Benedick (last at the Globe in Double Indemnity, Broadway’s Carousel, Judgment at Nuremberg, Cabaret, Henry IV, Parts I and II, “Chicago Fire”); Fred Applegate as Dogberry (Broadway’s Wicked, Tuck Everlasting, The Last Ship, La Cage aux Folles), Michael Boatman as Don Pedro, Balthasar (Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!, “The Good Fight,” Broadway’s “Master Harold”…and the Boys revival), Manoel Felciano as Don John (the Globe’s The Tempest, Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!, and Twelfth Night, Broadway’s Sweeney Todd, Amélie), James Newcomb as Antonio, Verges (the Globe’s Twelfth Night and Coriolanus), and René Thornton Jr. as Leonato (The Tempest, entire Folio at American Shakespeare Center in Virginia). The cast also includes students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, all of whom were seen earlier this summer in the Globe’s The Tempest: Carlos Angel-Barajas (Claudio), Sam Avishay (Messenger), Nora Carroll (Margaret), Yadira Correa (Conrade), Daniel Ian Joeck (Friar Francis), Jose Martinez (Watch), Renardo Charles Pringle Jr. (Messenger), Larica Schnell (Ursula), Jersten Seraile (Watch), Samantha Sutliff (Watch), Morgan Taylor (Hero), Wenona Truong (Sexton), Jared Van Heel (Messenger), and Eric Weiman (Borachio). The musicians are Abigail Grace Allwein (Violin) and James Michael McHale (Guitar).
The creative team includes John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design), Michael Krass (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Sten Severson (Sound Design), Stephen Flaherty (Composer, “Sigh No More”), Abigail Grace Allwein (Music Director), Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach), Tara Rubin Casting/Laura Schutzel, CSA (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager).
For the full press release on Much Ado About Nothing, click here! For more details on Much Ado About Nothing, click here!
Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
SAN DIEGO (July 10, 2018)—The Old Globe’s 2018 Summer Season continues with today’s announcement of the complete cast and creative team for Barefoot in the Park, as director Jessica Stone (Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) returns to the Globe to extend its decades-long relationship with giant comic playwright Neil Simon with this fresh and hilarious new look at his “bubbling, rib-tickling comedy” (The New York Times). Barefoot in the Park will play July 28 – September 2, 2018 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run July 28 – August 1. Opening night is Thursday, August 2 at 8:00 p.m.
Fresh off a honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, free-spirited Corie and her buttoned-down husband Paul find themselves struggling to adjust to married life in their run-down New York walk-up. Throw in a loopy meddling mother, an eccentric Bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a double date that goes disastrously wrong, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for laughter.
The cast includes Kerry Bishé as Corie Bratter (“Halt and Catch Fire,” “Narcos,” “Billions,” Argo, Pygmalion on Broadway, My Name Is Rachel Corrie Off Broadway), Jere Burns as Victor Velasco (Broadway’s After the Night and the Music and Hairspray, “Angie Tribeca,” “I’m Dying Up Here,” Incredibles 2), Mia Dillon as Mrs. Ethel Banks (original Broadway cast of Crimes of the Heart, Our Town with Paul Newman, The Miser, Hay Fever, The Cherry Orchard at La Jolla Playhouse), and Chris Lowell as Paul Bratter (“GLOW,” “Private Practice,” “Veronica Mars,” The Help, Off Broadway’s Jacuzzi); with Ed Hollingsworth as Deliveryman (the Globe’s Guys and Dolls) and Jake Millgard as Telephone Repairman and Deliveryman (the Globe’s Benny & Joon, Guys and Dolls, more).
The creative team includes Tobin Ost (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design), Amanda Zieve (Lighting Design), Lindsay Jones (Sound Design), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Libby Unsworth (Production Stage Manager).
“Summertime at the Globe means laughter and fun, and no one delivers both better than Neil Simon,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Barefoot in the Park is a sweet, funny play about how delightful it is to figure out how to build a life that balances life, work, and love. In Corie and Paul, the young newlywed couple at the center of the story, the play reflects to all of us our best selves and reminds us that sometimes we all need to kick off our shoes and dance in the grass. Neil Simon is a towering figure in the American theatre, and we are thrilled to continue the Globe’s decades-long relationship with him. It’s also a treat to have the great comic director Jessica Stone back in San Diego. She and her crack team have put together a summer ice cream cone of a show, and I can’t wait to share it with our audience.”
For the full press release on Barefoot in the Park, click here! For more details on Barefoot in the Park, click here!
Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
