Behind the Curtains

Stage

NOT TILL NOW, in decades of choosing my best of local theater, have I picked the same play in consecutive years. Carlsbad’s New Village Arts reprised its 2007 hit Sailor’s Song, and the freshened version, again staged by Kristianne Kurner, was even better than the original. John Patrick Shanley’s script was even more sublime with a couple of cast changes. Manny Fernandes, switching to the role of the older man, added new dimension, and the inestimable Joshua Everett Johnson was equally winning as the younger sailor. Both also shined in another NVA gem, Clifford Odets’ classic boxing tale Golden Boy, in which Johnson additionally burnished his bright résumé with creative directing.

Boxing provided another 2008 knockout. The Old Globe’s premiere of Steven Drukman’s In This Corner featured a sterling cast, directed by Ethan McSweeny, dramatizing the rollercoaster life of the great heavyweight Joe Louis.

A second “best” from the local past (1990) again excelled. Cygnet, teaming with the San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre, revived August Wilson’s Fences, and it, too, surpassed the previous production. Its riveting cast, headed by Antonio “T.J.” Johnson and Sylvia M’Lafi Thompson and helmed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, limned the tale of a man hemmed in by fences real and imagined.

Cygnet also clicked with two provocative dramas and a musical. Caryl Churchill’s A Number was about a son discovering he’s a clone, and Adam Bock’s The Receptionist turned what appeared to be a lighthearted day at the office into something sinister. Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music was Cygnet’s initial production in its second venue, the reopened Theatre in Old Town. Like Cygnet, Lamb’s Players marked a good year with renewed management of a second theater. In July, they returned to the Horton Grand with an update of their popular musical revue, Boomers. While a fun diversion, it didn’t register like Lamb’s local debut of the Broadway hit The Light in the Piazza, highlighted by the vocal performance of Deborah Gilmour Smyth.

Lamb’s mainstay Mike Buckley, who usually draws kudos for his set designs, this year scored as a playwright. His aptly named comedy The Hit, about an incompetent hitperson, replaced a play whose rights were pulled, and The Hit proved more than ready for prime time. Robert Smyth directed a fine ensemble, led by Cynthia Gerber.

Lamb’s also gave us one of the two top solo performances of 2008, as Tracy Hughes stunningly vivified Charlene Woodard’s autobiographical work Pretty Fire. The other standout, at Ion Theatre, was Linda Libby’s heartbreaking depiction of a lost soul in Franz Xaver Kroetz’ Request Programme. Ion also hit the heights with Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, excellently staged by Claudio Raygoza and anchored by Jeffrey Jones as a writer accused of killing children.

Two outstandingly acted shows about artworks and their ramifications were the Globe’s Donald Margulies’ Sight Unseen, staged by the redoubtable Emery, and Mo‘olelo’s Permanent Collection, directed by Seema Sueko. The superior mystery play of 2008 was North Coast Rep’s Madagascar, J.T. Rogers’ script about the aftermath of a man’s disappearance, insightfully directed by David Ellenstein.

Musically, La Jolla Playhouse offered two winners in vastly different milieus. Moises Kaufman’s time-traveling 33 Variations beautifully blended two stories of obsessions——Beethoven’s and a modern scholar’s. And Memphis, staged by Christopher Ashley, spotlighted the fusion of musical styles that became rock-and-roll.

Diversionary’s Yank! dealt with gays in the military during World War II. Even with its serious theme, it amusingly spoofed musicals of the period. Tom Zohar led a stellar cast with his acting, singing and a bit of tap-dancing.

Moonlight topped its abbreviated summer season with a magnificent Les Misérables. A flawless cast, supremely directed by Stephen Glaudini, demonstrated why the Boublil-Schöenberg adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel has become an all-time favorite.

Topping touring shows, Broadway/San Diego gave us our first look at the eight-Tony-winning Spring Awakening, the tuneful adaptation of Frank Wedekin’s 1890s play about youthful sexual angst. Its reputation was well-deserved.

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