All stories by Pam Kragen on BroadwayStars

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Review: San Diego Opera's 'Stephen squared' concert a well-sung hit parade by Pam Kragen

Tenor Stephen Costello and baritone Stephen Powell formed an unusual duo in season-closing concert at Balboa Theatre

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:23AM
Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Review: Moxie's 'Yoga Play' finds laughs on the road to enlightenment by Pam Kragen

Comedy pokes fun at the Western commercialization of Eastern spiritual practice

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 06:54PM
Monday, April 8, 2019

Review: InnerMission's 'Church' is funny, well-sung but lacks focus by Pam Kragen

Playwright Young Jean Lee wrote the 2007 play about her lifelong struggle with Christianity

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:15PM
Monday, April 1, 2019

Tijuana-raised singer makes major premiere in San Diego Opera's 'Carmen' by Pam Kragen

Mission Hills mezzo-soprano resident Guadalupe Paz plays Mercedes the Gypsy in production of Bizet's opera at the San Diego Civic Theatre

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:00AM
Sunday, March 31, 2019

Review: San Diego Opera's well-sung 'Carmen' is beautiful, bold and brutal by Pam Kragen

San Diego Opera closes its mainstage season this week with a mostly sold-out production of Bizet's tragic love triangle

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 12:30PM

San Diego Opera's 2019-20 season features 'Aida' concert, 'Barber of Seville' by Pam Kragen

Scaled-down company, with budget half the size of five years ago, plans three mainstage and three Detour series shows next season

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:00AM
Monday, March 18, 2019

Review: 'Menopause' musical a comfortable fit for Welk theater by Pam Kragen

If ever there was a show tailor-made for the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido, it’s “Menopause the Musical.” The 90-minute musical revue takes a light and sometimes hilarious look at t…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 01:30PM
Sunday, March 17, 2019

'Carmen' star finds the smart, seductive in her opera character by Pam Kragen

Besides being one of the most beloved operas in history, Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” has another international distinction. It’s also widely accepted as one of the best operas for a fir…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:00AM

'Carmen' star finds the smart, seductive in her opera character by Pam Kragen

Besides being one of the most beloved operas in history, Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” has another international distinction. It’s also widely accepted as one of the best operas for a fir…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:00AM
Saturday, March 9, 2019

San Diego Opera's 'Three Decembers' both intimate and epic in scope by Pam Kragen

In the opening scene of Jake Heggie’s chamber opera “Three Decembers,” the seemingly pedestrian subject matter, lengthy plot exposition via long-distance phone call and unmelodic recit…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:30PM
Friday, January 18, 2019

High-flying 'Hello, Dolly!' tour a tribute to the grand shows and divas of Broadway's past by Pam Kragen

The national touring production of “Hello, Dolly!” opened a six-day run at the San Diego Civic Theatre on Tuesday, which was the same day its original star, Carol Channing, passed away a…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:42AM
Sunday, November 4, 2018

At Welk Resorts Theatre, an effeverscent 'Mamma Mia!' bubbles over by Pam Kragen

For decades, a 4-foot-tall illuminated crystal Champagne glass stood in the lobby of the Welk Resorts Theatre in Escondido. Today that oversize TV prop from “The Lawrence Welk Show” is g…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:45PM
Sunday, August 5, 2018

San Diego Musical Theatre's inspiring 'Hairspray' teased to a comic peak by Pam Kragen

In “Hairspray,” idealistic Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad becomes famous for teasing and spraying her hair to gravity-defying heights. That’s also a good way to describe San Diego Music…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:45PM
Sunday, June 24, 2018

Roustabout Theatre's modern love triangle 'Romeo' is frothy fun by Pam Kragen

The premise for The Roustabout Theatre Co.’s new comedy “Romeo, Romeo & Juliet” can be told in a nutshell: She loves him, but he loves another him. Yet despite the script’s basic lov…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:15PM
Sunday, May 20, 2018

Moxie Theatre's 'Madres' zeroes in on human toll of infamous 'dirty war' by Pam Kragen

It’s mere coincidence that Stephanie Alison Walker’s play “The Madres” premiered Saturday at Moxie Theatre during the era of America’s Women’s Marches. The playwright actually ba…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 01:35PM
Thursday, March 29, 2018

'Love Never Dies' looks great, but less filling by Pam Kragen

“Phantom of the Opera” holds the record as Broadway’s longest-running musical, but its sequel, “Love Never Dies,” has a hard a time living up to its elder sibling. After “Love”…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:40PM
Sunday, March 11, 2018

S.D. Opera embraces Latino culture with 'Florencia' by Pam Kragen

When San Diego Opera opens “Florencia en el Amazonas” on Saturday, the star soprano will be singing the title role for the very first time. But that’s no problem for Elaine Alvarez, wh…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 10:00AM
Sunday, February 25, 2018

Lush singing decorates lavish San Diego Opera production of 'Turandot' by Pam Kragen

Over the past 20 years, San Diego Opera audiences have been treated to the spectacle of Giacomo Puccini’s epic fairy tale “Turandot” four times. But until this week, they’ve essentia…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:00PM

'Figaro,' 'Rigoletto' highlight upcoming San Diego Opera season by Pam Kragen

Over the past three years, San Diego Opera's audience has grown accustomed to change as the company downsized, stabilized and refashioned its programming for new audiences. So they may be su…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:30AM
Sunday, February 18, 2018

Rising star joins veteran singers for San Diego Opera's 'Turandot' by Pam Kragen

When she was 4 years old, Angel Joy Blue saw her very first opera: “Turandot.” This week, the Southern California soprano will mark another first. She’ll make her role debut as Liù in…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 08:30AM
Sunday, January 28, 2018

Lively 'Full Monty' wears its age well in San Diego Musical Theatre production by Pam Kragen

“The Full Monty” has deep roots in San Diego. It was born at The Old Globe in 2000, and it was the first musical ever produced by San Diego Musical Theatre in May 2007. On Saturday, SDMT…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:45PM
Monday, October 16, 2017

Versatile actor rises above dated 'Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll' by Pam Kragen

Back in the 1980s, actor/playwright Eric Bogosian became an off-Broadway darling with his incendiary, multicharacter solo plays that pulsed with near-manic energy, rage and male testosterone…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:10PM
Sunday, October 8, 2017

S.D. Opera charts new course with 'Pirates of Penzance' by Pam Kragen

When “The Pirates of Penzance” made its world premiere in New York in 1879, the musicians in the orchestra pit threatened to strike because Arthur Sullivan’s intricate score was far to…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 09:00AM
Thursday, September 14, 2017

Moonlight reaches new 'Heights' with season-closer by Pam Kragen

In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2008 musical “In the Heights,” immigrant and first-generation Americans sing and rap about their hopes and dreams. They’re all struggling to make their way in…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 03:30PM
Monday, August 7, 2017

Laughs, blood flow in La Jolla Playhouse's pitch-dark 'Kill Local' by Pam Kragen

In Mat Smart’s black comedy “Kill Local,” Sheila’s in a dead-end job. Video games and Chipotle takeout are far more compelling than carrying on the family business. But murder doesn�…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:45PM
Thursday, July 27, 2017

'Book of Mormon,' back with a younger cast, still witty, funny and wildly profane by Pam Kragen

‘The Book of Mormon” is hardly a traditional stage musical, but in its third visit to San Diego in four years, the outrageous comedy has settled into comfortably traditional touring stat…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:15PM
Saturday, June 17, 2017

Slimmed-down 'Big Fish' a pleasant tale at Lamb's by Pam Kragen

The musical “Big Fish” is the story about a dying father and his adult son who become estranged over the dad’s passion for spinning wildly embellished tales. It was first told in a suc…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:50PM
Thursday, May 11, 2017

'Jersey Boys' rolls on like well-oiled musical machine by Pam Kragen

Thirteen years ago, “Jersey Boys” was born at La Jolla Playhouse and went straight to Broadway, where it prospered in a 12-year run that finally concluded in January. Now, the musical bi…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 05:45PM
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

'Come From Away' wins 5 Outer Critics' top awards by Pam Kragen

“Come From Away,” the 9/11-inspired Broadway musical that premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2015, won five awards Monday, including Outstanding Musical, from the Outer Critics Circle in…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 07:30PM
Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Stage magic adds sparkle to uneven 'Finding Neverland' by Pam Kragen

San Diego audiences are finally getting a look at “Finding Neverland” this week, five years after a planned production of the “Peter Pan”-inspired musical at La Jolla Playhouse was s…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:00PM
Friday, March 10, 2017

Dazzling design, dance add kick to 'Kinky Boots' by Pam Kragen

Three years after knocking San Diego’s collective socks off on its first tour through town, “Kinky Boots” is back. The touring musical that continues through Sunday at the San Diego Ci…

SOURCE: The San Diego Union-Tribune at 02:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards