Page 27 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

CA.PERFORMING ARTS
BY JAN RODRICKS
Golden State Greasepaint
Throughout California, performance is a passion
What would one expect, though, from
the birthplace of I Love Lucy and the home
of the San Francisco Mime Troupe? The
performing arts rank among California’s
stellar strengths, and the variety of
choices—sacred, profane and everything
in between—is exhilarating and mad-
dening. A full accounting is impossible in
a few paragraphs, but here are some sug-
gestions to bear in mind if you are visiting
the state’s urban hubs, north or south.
MORE THAN
MOVIES
Hollywood gets all the notoriety,
but performing arts of all sorts
thrive in California, from the San
Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker,
above, to LA’s Roundabout
Theatre Company’s Anything
Goes, right. For more on San
Francisco, see pages 72-76;
for more on Los Angeles,
see pages 94-101.
From the Gold Rush days to the Tech
Boom, performance has been the
lifeblood of California. Even in the classic
1936 film San Francisco, Mary Blake
(Jeanette MacDonald) is seen singing her
heart out at the Paradise moments before
the Great Earthquake strikes. Today,
nearly every town in California boasts a
stage of its own—from the North Coast
Repertory Theater in Eureka to San
Diego’s Coronado Playhouse. The state’s
dozens of concert halls, symphony
orchestras, comedy clubs, dance compa-
nies, theater groups, operas, fringe
festivals, jazz haunts and even circuses
offer a constant threat to the notion of
spending a quiet night (or even an after-
noon) at home.
Regional Theaters
In San Diego, the La Jolla Playhouse has
seen ten of its productions move across
the continent to Broadway. The Old Globe
Theater presents the plays of Shakespeare
as well as works by the likes of Arthur
Miller and the late local resident, Dr. Seuss.
Los Angeles, naturally, features dozens
of small theater companies—such as the
Cornerstone, Open Fist, Actor’s Co-op and
profound Blank Theater (which hosts the
Young Playwrights Festival in June 2014). The
city’s star attraction is the Center Theatre
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