La Jolla Playhouse has long been recognized as a creator of new theatrical work, but Monday’s awards announcement from the Edgerton Foundation proves just how dominant the Playhouse has become in this field.
Four of the 12 plays and musicals Edgerton honored with its national 2023-2024 New Play Awards originated at La Jolla Playhouse in the 2023-24 season. They are Tina Landau and Kate Diaz’s musical “Redwood,” starring Idina Menzel, that opens in February; and this year’s productions of “The Untitled, Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical” by Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss; Lisa Sanaye Dring’s play “Sumo”; and Joe DiPietro’s “Babbitt,” starring Matthew Broderick.
A scene from La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere production of “The Untitled, Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical.”
(Courtesy of Rich Soublet II)
The Edgerton Foundation provides development grants that allow producers to extend the life of new plays and musicals with more development and rehearsal time. The 12 plays will split a combined $722,000 in awards. Over the past 18 years, Edgerton grants have helped 38 plays and musicals make it to Broadway, including the Playhouse-developed “33 Variations,” “Escape to Margaritaville,” “Junk: The Golden Age of Debt” and “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” as well as the Old Globe’s musical “Bright Star.”
Bhangra musical also moving forward
Members of the cast of “Bhangin’ It” during the high-energy opening number.
(Rich Soublet II)
“Bhangin’ It,” another La Jolla Playhouse musical that made its world premiere in March 2022, is also moving on but with a new name. Now renamed “Bhangra Nation — A New Musical,” it’s the story of American college students who compete in national competitions of bhangra, a high-energy traditional folk dance form from the Punjab region of South Asia. The musical was written by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza with a score by Sam Willmott and direction by Stafford Arima.
“Bhangra Nation” will be produced in February at Birmingham Rep in England. Although the La Jolla production starred San Diego-raised Ariana Afsar in the lead role of Indian American dance team founder Preeti, the role will be played in England by U.K stage and film actor/dancer Zaynah Ahmed.
COSA student wins national YoungArts award
Isabella Pruter, a senior at Coronado School of the Arts, has won a prestigious award from the 2024 YoungArts national competition.
(Courtesy of COSA)
Isabella Pruter, a senior at Coronado School of the Arts, has earned a Winner with Distinction medallion this month in the theater/musical category of the 2024 YoungArts national competition. Winner with Distinction is the contest’s highest level of achievement.
A four-year CoSA student, Pruter described the win as “surreal,” adding: “I’m so grateful and honored. I actually got the call while I was on an airplane coming back from college auditions.”
Pruter lives in Clairemont and has performed professionally in San Diego since she was 8 years old, with the support of her parents.
“I definitely got my love of singing and arts from my Dad. We love listening to music together. He has a huge music collection and he’s also really into movies. He used to be in a band called the Jam Daddies. My younger brother is 14 and not artistic at all, but loves sports. And my mom. who immigrated from the Philippines when she was young, supports all of us,” Pruter said.
Some of Pruter’s past professional credits were roles in San Diego Musical Theatres’ “Christmas Story” and “Miracle on 34th Street”; San Diego Rep’s “Fun Home”; and the Old Globe’s “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” At CoSA she has played roles in “Cry Baby,” “Mamma Mia” and “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”
CoSA acting teacher Kim Strassburger, who worked with Pruter on her YoungArts competition application, described her student as “ a powerhouse and we saw it right away in her freshman year when she was cast in ‘The Laramie Project.’”
“We are so proud of Izzy! The YoungArts winner with distinction award is extraordinarily prestigious for high school theater. It’s one of the most important recognitions there are,” Strassburger said.
The YoungArts competition, open to actors ags 15 to 18 or in grades 10-12, attracted more than 9,000 applicants in 10 different disciplines this year. Each participant performs one monologue and two songs for the judges. Nearly 700 winners were chosen this year, with the top Winner with Distiction awardees exhibiting “exceptional technique; a strong, sophisticated, nuanced, and clear artistic point of view; and a depth of thinking/performance that far exceeds the level of peers at this career stage.”
As a top winner, Pruter will participate in National YoungArts Week Jan. 7-13 in Miami, where she’ll participate in workshops and receive mentorship from professional performers.
City College lands ‘The Prom’
James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells and Meryl Streep in a scene from the Netflix movie “The Prom.”
(Associated Press)
It’s rare when a community college lands the regional premiere of hot new musical, but that has happened with “The Prom,” the 2018 Broadway musical that will make its San Diego debut in April at San Diego City College.
The musical by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin is about four self-absorbed and out-of-work Broadway actors who descend on an Indiana town to attract publicity for helping a teenage girl, whose high school prom was canceled after she announced plans to bring her girlfriend to the dance. Their comedy musical won the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical, and in 2020 was turned into a film musical for Netflix by TV producer Ryan Murphy of “Glee” fame.
“The Prom” will play April 19 through 27 at City College’s Saville Theatre. It will be directed by drama professor Katie Rodda, who is co-chair of the college’s visual and performing arts department. Richard Dueñez Morrison will serve as musical director and the choreographer is Kristin Arcidiacono. For tickets, visit citycollegetheatre.com.
2024 Latinx New Play Festival announced
Maria Patrice Amon is the founder of the Latinx New Play Festival.
(Courtesy of Peggy Ryan)
La Jolla Playhouse has announced it will host the 2024 Latinx New Play Festival Oct. 4 through 6, 2024. The festival moved to the Playhouse this year after losing its original home at San Diego Repertory Theatre, which shut down in mid-2022.
Festival directors are now accepting new play submissions through Jan. 15. Plays can be in both English and Spanish. Four scripts will be selected for rehearsal and development at the Playhouse next fall, culminating in free, live readings for the public. For submission details, visit lajollaplayhouse.org/latinx-new-play-festival/.
Trinity Theatre unveils 2024 season
Trinity Theatre co-founder and artistic director Sean Boyd, right, and associate artistic director Connor Boyd inside their new theater headquarters in the Mission Valley mall.
(Courtesy of Susan Clausen)
Trinity Theatre Company has announced its 2024 season, which will feature four shows, running January through August. The first play will be presented at the company’s new headquarters in the Mission Valley shopping center at 1640 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 128, San Diego. For tickets, visit trinityttc.org.
“The Cocktail Hour” by A.R. Gurney. Jaeonnie Davis-Crawford will direct the production of this award-winning off Broadway play about a playwright who returns to his family home with his latest script that focuses on the inner dynamics and dysfunction of his own family. Jan. 12 through Feb. 4.
“I Love You Because” by Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman. This off Broadway musical is a modern twist on Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” set in New York City. March 29-April 21.
New Works Festival 2024. New scripts will be presented in a one-weekend festival. May 10-12.
“35MM: A Musical Exhibition.” This 2012 musical by Ryan Scott Oliver was inspired by images taken by theater and dance photographer Matthew Murphy. Oliver created songs and stories inspired by the moments in time captured in 15 individual images. July 19-Aug. 11.