San Diego Performing Arts League’s annual San Diego Theatre Month promotion has returned, with participating organizations offering discounted tickets to shows through March 31 and beyond.
In years past, the promotion offered a flat 50 percent off on all tickets. This year, tickets are being sold instead at price tiers of $15, $30 and $45. There are also a few participating organizaitons offering free tickets. SDAL President Jay Henslee said the new pricing system simplifies the process for the ticket-buyer and the seats they purchase through the program will be the best unsold seats in the house that night. Some participating organizations are also offering discounts through April.
This month’s participating shows include a wide mix of professional, community and touring theater productions, a ballet, comedy shows and concerts. They include New Village Arts’ “The 39 Steps”; Oceanside Theatre Company’s “Chicken & Biscuits”; the national touring production of “Aladdin” at the Civic Theatre; Lamb’s Players Theatre’s “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate”; and Cygnet Theatre’s “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” Also featured are City Ballet’s “An American in Paris” dance show and CCAE Theatricals’ “Motown: The Groove that Changed America” concert.
For the full list and tickets, visit sandiegotheatremonth.com.
Jerry Pilato was the artistic director of Point Loma Playhouse. He passed away on Feb. 27, 2024.
(Courtesy photo)
Theater director mourned
Jerry Pilato, the artistic director of Point Loma Playhouse, passed away last month after a long battle with cancer.
Despite Pilato’s health challenges, longtime friend Dori Salois of San Diego’s Vantage Theatre said he stayed active with Point Loma Playhouse right up until he passed away on Feb. 27 in Alabama. He sent in a director’s note for the company’s current production of the play “N” just a few days before he died.
An Alabama native, Pilato moved to San Diego in 2005 after serving as artistic director for The Actors Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, for 23 years. He was a prolific local stage director, and he served for several years as artistic director of the community theater group Different Stages before he was appointed to lead Point Loma Playhouse in 2017.
Salois praised Pilato’s diverse skills at directing comedies, musicals and drama. She also praised his professionalism.
“He was legendary for his process,” Salois said. “At the first rehearsal, each actor was given their blocking for the entire show. … The structure provided really worked. One could find the moments, the motivations within the framework and adaptations were made if needed. He was also generous in his support, always reaching out to other directors to include them in a season.”
Salois said some of the productions that Pilato was most proud of were “Building the Wall,” “She’s At the Library” and “Rose and Walsh,” the last of which earned him a 2023 Aubrey Award for Best Director from the Association of Community Theatres of San Diego County. There will be no local services at Pilato’s request, but his family will celebrate his life on June 5 in Alabama.
James P. Darvas is the artistic director of OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista.
(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
OnStage announces 2024 season
OnStage Playhouse has announced a four-show 2024 season that will include two dramas making their San Diego premieres and two world premieres by local playwrights. The Chula Vista theater company’s 40th season will kick off March 22.
Artistic Director James P. Darvas said the announcement was delayed because the theater company’s newly appointed board wasn’t sure it could afford to stay at its longtime space on Third Avenue. That downtown corridor has become a hot dining and drinking destination over the past five years and the rent was scheduled to rise sharply when the former lease expired this month.
But after several proposed new locations in the South Bay area did not work out due to the high cost of building a new theater onsite, Darvas said he was able to negotiate a three-year lease extension with the building’s owner. Darvas said he’s grateful to OnStage’s new board of directors for supporting the decision to renew the lease, and he’s also grateful to all the ticket-buyers who donated generously at “pay what you can” productions last summer and fall.
“I feel for the first time in about two-and-a-half years like my legs aren’t shaking,” Darvas said. “That’s a horrible feeling to not know about longevity and not know about commitment. But we have a wonderful board of new people who know what they’re responsible for. I always tell them anything I can do to support fundraising I will do. But I really just love to spread the paint on the canvas, and I feel like now I can focus on painting the art.”
The 2024 season will include four shows, with the possible addition of a fifth show during the holiday season. For tickets, visit onstageplayhouse.org. Here’s a look:
“The Harvest” by Samuel D. Hunter: This 2017 drama by the author of “The Whale” and “A Bright New Boise” is about a group of evangelical Christians in Idaho preparing to head to the Middle East on a mission trip. It deals with issues of identity, faith and personal growth. March 22-April 14
“Devil in a Box” by Tori Rice: Rice will be the first female playwright to have her worked produced a part of OnStage’s 3-year-old play development program. It’s a story about a group of people struggling with their journeys through addiction and sobriety. May 17-June 9.
“Gloria” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: This 2015 play from the author of “Appropriate” and “An Octoroon” deals with the often-challenging dynamics between a group of contemporary American office workers, and it has a surprise twist. July 12-Aug. 4
“Masa” by Salomón Maya: This local writer’s first play, “Mugre,” was presented at OnStage last year. His latest is based on the true story of Maya’s childhood housekeeper, Lolita, who his father recruited from Mexico City in 1986 because she made the best tamales he’d ever tasted. Oct. 6-27