I’ve been covering theater in San Diego for nearly 30 years, and despite the financial challenges every local company is facing now, the spirit of creation has never been greater in my experience than it is today.
Right now, two La Jolla Playhouse-born musicals are playing on Broadway (“Redwood” and “The Outsiders”) and two new musicals launched here in the past month (“3 Summers of Lincoln” at the Playhouse and “Regency Girls” at the Old Globe) are clearly on the path to the Great White Way.
But the city’s two largest theaters aren’t the only producers of new work this spring. This month, two local theaters are premiering new work (OnStage Playhouse’s “Knock Loudly” and North Coast Rep’s “Peril in the Alps”). Several of the shows at the Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival April 24-27 are premieres, and next month’s San Diego International Fringe Festival is sure to be brimming with local premieres.
And virtually every professional theater company in San Diego is now producing their own annual new play-reading series.
Why has San Diego become such fertile ground for emerging playwrights and musical theater teams? I see three reasons.
First, playwrights and musical theater artists are drawn here by theaters eager to develop new work, and to creative people like the Playhouse’s Tony-winning artistic director Christopher Ashley who are known for their prowess with molding new material.
Second, San Diego has many very generous local donors who collectively donate millions of dollars each year to help local theaters produce new work.
And finally, San Diego audiences are conditioned to seeing new plays and musicals so they aren’t afraid to take a risk with their ticket investment. In fact, San Diegans are excited and proud to be the first theatergoers in America to see shows that have gone on to great fame.
Remember seeing Sutton Foster become an overnight sensation on opening night of “Thoroughly Modern Millie”? Or the strippers finally revealing themself in a blinding flash of light in “The Full Monty”? Or how about the brass section musicians swaying their way across a raised platform for “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” in “Jersey Boys”?
Pat yourselves on the back San Diegans. You have had a major role in making San Diego one of the top producers of new theater in America.
- Pam Kragen
Celebration of San Diego Playwrights
If you want to be a part of the audience helping San Diego playwrights, then The Roustabouts Theatre Company has a perfect evening for you!
On Monday, May 12th at 7pm you can enjoy an evening showcasing and encouraging San Diego’s playwrights as they present readings of their original plays. This is a unique opportunity to support emerging voices of theatre, all of whom are from San Diego!
This year the theme is exploring the past, present, and future of San Diego’s diverse communities and culture.
This Roustabouts Theatre Company event will be held at Scripps Ranch Theatre. For additional information on the playwrights and ticket information go to https://www.theroustabouts.org/newwriters
Wagner New Play Festival is back!
On Friday (April 25), UCSD Theatre & Dance opens its annual Wagner New Play Festival, with five plays by MFA playwriting students being presented through May 17 at three on-campus theaters.
Founded in 1999, the festival has produced more than 20 plays that have gone on to regional theater and off Broadway runs, and its alumni include "Severance" writer Anna Ouyang Moench and prolific Southern California playwright Keiko Green.
Tickets for this year's plays are $20 and details can be found at theatre.ucsd.edu/performances-and-events/theatre-performances.
The Broadway San Diego Awards are May 25th and this is your chance to help celebrate excellence in high school theatre, and cheer on the top 20 performers in San Diego. By the end of the evening, the top two performers will go on to represent San Diego on a Broadway stage as finalists in the national Jimmy Awards.
The finalists are comprised of performers from all around San Diego County that have been nominated for their eligible roles over the past school year. Leading up to the awards, nominees will undergo a week-long intensive training program, including coaching sessions and workshops with local theater professionals.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Historic Balboa Theatre in Downtown San Diego on Sunday, May 25th and will feature twenty talented nominees and honor the Best Musical.
The 16th annual Jimmy Awards® (National High School Musical Theatre Awards®) will take place on Monday, June 23, 2025 at 7:30pm at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre. The ceremony highlights the best of high school musical theatre talent and features nominees from over 50 regions across the U.S. To date, more than 1,000 student nominees have participated in the program and participants have gone on to perform professionally on Broadway, regionally, and all around the world.
The Broadway San Diego Awards final nominees will be announced in May and tickets will go on sale at https://www.broadwaysd.com/broadway-san-diego-awards
On theme of San Diego theatre making an impact, on Monday, March 31, director Christopher Ashley was honored with the “Mr. Abbott” Award for Achievement on Broadway by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. Many of the people there have graced San Diego theatres over the years - Moisés Kaufman ( “Velour: A Drag Spectacular”, “Here There Are Blueberries”) presented the award spoke of Ashley’s memorable and impactful work with additional tributes by music director Ian Eisendrath (“The Heart”), actress Harriet Harris (“Cry Baby”, ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie”), choreographer Sergio Trujillo ( “The Wiz”, “Memphis,” “What The World Needs Now”) and many more.
The evening was hosted by James Monroe Iglehart, who starred in “Memphis” at the Playhouse, and there were numerous musical numbers from shows Ashley had directed in the past including “Welcome to the Rock” from “Come From Away,” “Colored Woman” from “Memphis.” and “If” from “Diana: The Musical.”
Let’s go to the theatre!
Upcoming Openings
April
Without Walls Festival (WOW), La Jolla Playhoouse - April 24 - 27
Gruesome Playgound Injuries, Loud Fridge Theatre Group - through April 26th
Knock Loudly, OnStage Playhouse - through April 27th
Mary’s Wedding, Scripps Ranch Theatre - through April 27th
La Havana Madrid, New Village Arts - through April 27th.
The Hot wing King, Cygnet Theatre - through May 2nd
Regency Girls, The Old Globe - through May 11th
Peril in the Alps, North Coast Rep - through May 11th
Upcoming Openings
Grease, Moonlight Stage Productions- April 30th - May 17th
The Prom, San Diego Musical Theatre - May 2nd - June 1st
Hamilton, Broadway San Diego - May 6th - 18th
The House of India, The Old Globe - May 10th - June 1st
Latin History for Dummies, Oceanside Theatre Company - May 23rd - June 15th
Merry Me, Diversionary Theatre - May 15th - June 8th
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, La Jolla Playhouse - May 17th - June 15th
Unnecessary Farce, Scripps Ranch Theatre - May 23rd - June 15th
One of The Good Ones, The Old Globe - May 24th - June 22nd
San Diego Fringe Festival - May 15th - May 25th
White Guy on the Bus, OnStage Playhouse - May 30 - June 22
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, Broadway San Diego - May 27th - June 1st
This list was generated by submission. For any omissions, please email season dates to info@sdcriticscircle.org.
Looking to find our critics’ work? Follow the links below:
David Coddon - Stage West
Carol Davis - Carol’s Theatre Reviews
David Dixon - San Diego Story
Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti - From Another Zero
Cassiopeia Guthrie - On The Craft, and San Diego Story
Makayla Hoppe - To See or Not To See
Pam Kragen - San Diego Union Tribune
Jean Lowerison - San Diego Stage and Screen
ErinMarie Reiter - BroadwayWorld and Talk Theatre To Me
See you at the theatre!
