and, SEEN!

SEEN: Nov 7, 2021   Shutter Sisters World premiere A Globe-commissioned world premiere By Mansa Ra Directed by Donya K. Washington A Globe-commissioned world premiere that was developed in the 2020 Powers New Voices Festival. Shutter Sisters tells the story of two women living parallel lives on the hardest days of their lives. A White woman named Michael attends her adopted mother’s funeral, while a Black woman named Mykal kicks her adult daughter out of her home. It’s a heartfelt and surprising journey through womanhood, identity, and what it means to belong.

SEEN: Oct 5, 2021 Gardens of Anunicia Globe-commissioned world premiere musical Book, music, and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa Directed and co-choreographed by Graciela Daniele A Globe-commissioned world premiere musical by five-time Tony Award nominee Michael John LaChiusa. The Gardens of Anuncia is inspired by the life story of an icon of the American stage who directs and choreographs the show at the Globe: Broadway legend Graciela Daniele. Anuncia tends the garden of her country house as she reflects on her life, looking back on her girlhood in Juan Perón’s Argentina and paying homage to the family of women whose sacrifices allowed her to become an artist. This funny, poignant, and beautiful musical features a beguilingly romantic and tango-infused score filled with the exuberant sounds of women reveling in the joys of being alive.

SEEN: Aug 31, 2021   Hair The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical Book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado Music by Galt MacDermot Directed by James Vásquez Choreography by Mayte Natalio Music Direction by Angela Steiner The Age of Aquarius dawns again! It’s the Summer of Love, and a group of young Americans are looking to change the world! Directed by Old Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez (The Old Globe’s American Mariachi and Tiny Beautiful Things), this legendary rock musical bursts onto the outdoor stage with its Grammy Award–winning score, featuring iconic hits such as “Let the Sunshine In,” “Good Morning Starshine,” and the exuberant title song. Make love, not war!—and celebrate “harmony and understanding” with Broadway’s first great rock musical.

This is not a play. Repeat: this is not a play. We were so excited to be out doing things! in the world! next to other people! that we couldn't resist recording this episode. 

This is not a show. Repeat: This is not a show. But we were excited to hear about theatre making a come back, and our favorite pre-Old Globe-show restaurant, The Prado in Balboa Park, opened up again. SO we made dinner reservations and had date night where we pretended that life was normal again and that we could see shows. 

SEEN: March 30, 2020 Hurricane Diane By Madeleine George Directed by James Vásquez This unconventional new comedy from Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George sees the Greek god Dionysus return to the modern world disguised as the butch gardener Diane, whose secret mission is to seduce mortal followers and restore the earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four real housewives from New Jersey? The New York Times cheered Hurricane Diane as an “astonishing new play,” and New York magazine hailed it as “hilarious and full of keen observation and profound human affection.” 

SEEN: Feb 11, 2020. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.  August Wilson's Jitney By August Wilson Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson Originally produced by Manhattan Theatre Club A jitney is an unlicensed taxicab. Five tireless drivers in Pittsburgh’s Hill District fight for love, survival, and respect as the powers-that-be threaten to close down their garage in the name of neighborhood improvement. The Los Angeles Times recently proclaimed it a Critic’s Choice, saying, “This is an extraordinary company! A triumphant melding of acting and drama. Don’t make the mistake of skipping this one. It’s among the finest productions of a Wilson play I’ve seen.” The Washington Post calls Jitney “a consistently funny and absorbing evening,” while The Hollywood Reporter asks, “Is there a more accomplished living interpreter of the plays of August Wilson than Ruben Santiago-Hudson? The timing feels ideal to visit Wilson’s inimitably pulsating world with a peerless company of actors.” Contains strong language.

SEEN: Oct 15, 2019   Noura By Heather Raffo Directed by Johanna McKeon A riveting West Coast premiere loosely inspired by Ibsen’s A Doll’s House from acclaimed playwright (and Old Globe/USD Shiley M.F.A. Program graduate) Heather Raffo. Noura and her husband are Chaldean Christian refugees from Iraq, celebrating their first Christmas Eve as American citizens. But the long-anticipated visit of an orphan girl they once sponsored, now a promising college student, causes them to question who they’ve become and what they’ve left behind. The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout calls this powerful drama “one of the finest new plays I’ve ever reviewed. Full of unexpected revelations and flashes of sudden, blinding illumination.” Contains strong language.

SEEN: Oct 1, 2019   Almost Famous Book and lyrics by Cameron Crowe Music and lyrics by Tom Kitt Directed by Jeremy Herrin Based on the Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures motion picture written by Cameron Crowe It’s all happening… San Diego, 1973. Led Zeppelin is king, Richard Nixon is President, and idealistic 15-year-old William Miller is an aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, William is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide. Written by Academy Award winner Cameron Crowe based on his iconic film, Almost Famous is about a young man finding his place in the world and the indelible characters he meets along the way. Directed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Herrin, it features classic hits as well as new songs by Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt. This joyous world premiere is a celebration of community and the power of music. Contains strong language. This production contains lit (cocoa bean) cigarettes.

SEEN: Sep 3, 2019 Romeo & Juliet By William Shakespeare Directed by Barry Edelstein 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. 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.

SEEN: Aug 20, 2019   The Underpants By Steve Martin Adapted from Carl Sternheim Directed by Walter Bobbie Legendary comedian and writer Steve Martin is back with a riotously funny farce. 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.”

SEEN: July 30, 2019 Book, music, and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. Based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo and the Universal Pictures animated film Directed by Marc Bruni and PigPen Theatre Co. 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. 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.

SEEN: June 26, 2019 What You Are By JC Lee Directed by Patricia McGregor Don scrapes together a living and struggles to support his family through hard work and good intentions. But everything around him, from his younger co-workers, to the technology in his office job, to even his own opinionated daughter, seems alien to the certainties and stabilities he once knew. When a simple misunderstanding at work escalates into an all-out confrontation, Don hatches a plan to set right all the things he feels have gone wrong. Can the people who love him manage to hold him together? JC Lee’s Globe-commissioned world premiere is a riveting, of-the-moment exploration of the personal struggles that accompany sweeping social change. Contains strong language.

SEEN: June 4, 2019 Gods of Comedy By Ken Ludwig Directed by Amanda Dehnert In association with McCarter Theatre Center Daphne and Ralph are young classics professors who have just made a discovery that’s sure to turn them into academic superstars. But something goes disastrously wrong, and Daphne cries out in a panic, “Save me, gods of ancient Greece!”…and the gods actually appear! The Ivy League will never be the same as a pair of screwball deities encounters the carnal complexity of college coeds, campus capers, and conspicuous consumption. Two-time Olivier Award–winning comic playwright Ken Ludwig, who delighted Globe audiences with Robin Hood! and Baskerville, brings us a knockabout world premiere with laughs that are simply divine.  

SEEN: May 7, 2019 West Coast premiere By Laurel Ollstein Directed by Giovanna Sardelli In 1960 the famed “Mercury Seven” trained at NASA to become the first American astronauts. But they weren’t alone. Thirteen women also underwent the same rigorous psychological and physical testing. The first woman to be tested, Jerrie Cobb, even out-performed her male counterparts. But while Alan Shepard and John Glenn went on to become household names, Ms. Cobb never got that chance. In vividly theatrical terms, the West Coast premiere of They Promised Her the Moon tells the unknown true story of this exceptional and unjustly overlooked woman—skilled aviator, world-record-holding pilot, successful business executive—and the powerful forces that kept her from reaching orbit. Contains strong language.

SEEN: April 16, 2019 Book, music, and lyrics by Britta Johnson Directed by Barry Edelstein Choreography by Ann Yee Music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Lynne Shankel Grieving the recent loss of her famous father, 16-year-old Alice begins to question the events surrounding his death and sets out to uncover what really happened on the night that changed her family forever. Britta Johnson’s Life After is a bittersweet, witty, and life-affirming new musical that explores the mess and beauty of loss and love. Through the vivid imagination of a young woman looking for the facts, we find a more complicated truth instead. The Old Globe’s Barry Edelstein directs the American premiere of this rapturously beautiful and stirring new musical from a composer the Toronto Star calls “a startlingly talented emerging voice.” BroadwayWorld dubs Life After “musical theatre perfection…exquisite from start to finish.”

SEEN: Feb 26, 2019 By Danai Gurira Directed by Edward Torres Donald and his wife Marvelous have been living the American Dream since emigrating from Zimbabwe nearly three decades ago. They have a beautiful house and impressive careers, and now one of their daughters is getting married! But when the bride insists on a traditional African wedding ceremony, tensions start to rise. Throw in an eccentric aunt from the old country and a bewildered bridegroom, and soon it’s not certain the couple will ever make it down the aisle. Familiar, from Tony Award nominee Danai Gurira (Black Panther, “The Walking Dead”), takes a funny, warmhearted look at tradition, marriage, and what it means to be an American family. The New York Times calls it “an engrossing, fiercely funny comedy–drama that probes with subtlety and smarts.” Contains strong language.