Moonlight Amphitheatre

THEATER REVIEW: Moonlight stages a sensational “Sweeney Todd”

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
September 24th, 2012

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." -- Attributed to Confucius

Sweeney Todd (Robert J. Townsend), “the demon barber of Fleet Street,” has a chip on his shoulder the size of Judge Turpin (Randall Dodge).

Fifteen years ago, Turpin raped Todd’s wife Lucy and sent Todd to the slammer in Australia on trumped-up charges. Now Todd is back in London to find his young daughter Johanna and exact his revenge.

“Sweeney Todd” to close season at Moonlight Amphitheatre

SDGLN Staff
September 7th, 2012

VISTA, Calif. – “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street” will slice its way to the stage of the Moonlight Amphitheatre as the final production of Moonlight Stage Productions’ 32nd summer season with performances Sept. 19 through Oct. 6.

Tickets are on sale now and cost $15 to $50. To purchase tickets or for more information, call 760-724-2110 or click HERE. The show recommended for mature audiences.

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THEATER REVIEW: The delightful “Anything Goes” will never grow old

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
August 25th, 2012

Phony clergymen, sailors, a nouveau pauvre society dame and her daughter, gangsters and a stodgy Englishman rub elbows and dance up a storm on the S.S. America in the 1934 Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes.”

The show, which has delighted audiences for nearly 80 years and is still one of the most performed shows in schools and community theaters around the country, plays through Sept. 8 at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre. Jon Engstrom serves as director and choreographer.

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THEATER REVIEW: “Legally Blonde: The Musical” perks up Moonlight Amphitheatre

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
June 29th, 2012

Omigod you guys! That perky but determined Elle Woods (you know, the paragon of terminal pinkness) is back to chase boyfriend Warner (Anthony Carillo) from UCLA all the way to (and through) Harvard Law School in “Legally Blonde.”

Based on Amanda Brown’s novel and the 2001 MGM film, the seven-time Tony- nominated musical (with book by Heather Hach and music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin), plays through July 14 at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. John Vaughan directs and choreographs this lively and entertaining production.

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THEATER REVIEW: “The Marvelous Wonderettes” live up to their billing at Moonlight Amphitheatre

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
September 17th, 2011

It’s prom night, 1958 at Springfield High School (Go Chipmunks!), and the scheduled entertainers – the Crooning Crabcakes from the glee club – have been fired from the gig because their leader was caught smoking behind the girls’ gym.

Replacing the boys are the girl group “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” all squealing excitement and nervousness in their pastel crinolines and hopes for the evening.

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THEATER REVIEW: Moonlight's “Hairspray" is terrific

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
August 22nd, 2011

Tracy Turnblad (Kim Zolozabal) just wants to dance.

It’s 1962 – on the eve the big civil rights push in the U.S. – and the pudgy bobby-soxer wants to be on Baltimore’s popular Corny Collins teen dance show.

Mom Edna (Randall Hickman) tries to shield her daughter from the depressing facts of life for plus-sized TV wannabes, but Tracy will not be dissuaded from that audition.

THEATER REVIEW: “Forever Plaid” is a delightful bonbon

Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
June 20th, 2011

Those Plaids have been in and out of purgatory for some 20 years now.

They’re back (again), in Vista, complete with voices and dinner jackets and ready to “make the biggest comeback since Lazarus” in their “Forever Plaid” show at the Moonlight Amphitheatre. David Engel, the original Smudge, directs.

For the non-Plaidheads out there, the Plaids were a high school male quartet. They were innocents – nerdy guys who never got the girl. You know, the ones who trundled the a-v carts around campus and held the door open for girls.