{"id":475545,"date":"2025-12-27T19:31:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T19:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/475545\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T19:31:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T19:31:17","slug":"our-picks-for-the-top-20-san-diego-theater-shows-of-2025-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/475545\/","title":{"rendered":"Our picks for the top 20 San Diego theater shows of 2025 \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

This was a big year for San Diego theater, with many ambitious world premiere musicals and plays produced by theaters large and small. In 2025, I reviewed nearly 120 local productions. Normally, I make a top 10 list with some runners-up, but there was so much good theater this year I chose 20.<\/p>\n

While the content of this year\u2019s plays and musicals varied wildly, many were about psychological trauma and featured depictions of violence, sexual assault, torture and even an onstage execution. Many of these plays may reflect the chaos in the world today, but the shows that most inspired and spoke to me celebrated hope, resilience and human kindness, three things we need more than ever.<\/p>\n

Here are my top 20 picks for 2025<\/p>\n

\u201cRegency Girls,\u201d The Old Globe<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 I\u2019ve been lucky enough over the past 30 years to be in the opening-night audience at the La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe for a new musical so thrilling and original that I felt in my gut it would become a Broadway hit. \u201cThe Outsiders,\u201d \u201cCome From Away,\u201d \u201cJersey Boys,\u201d \u201cThe Full Monty\u201d and \u201cA Gentleman\u2019s Guide to Love and Murder\u201d are just a few on that list. I feel the same way about the world premiere musical \u201cRegency Girls,\u201d which debuted last April at the Globe. It\u2019s a rollicking, hysterically funny Regency Era romp about women\u2019s rights and reproductive freedom in 1810 Engand. Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan wrote the witty, biting and anachronistic script with laugh-out-loud lyrics by Amanda Green, a diverse score by Curtis Moore, and eye-pleasing direction by Josh Rhodes. The musical\u2019s firt act, with an overlong all-girls carriage ride, needs cuts, but little other surgery is required to make it Broadway-ready.<\/p>\n

\"WrenWren Rivera as organ donation coordinator Marthe, foreground, with the cast of La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s world-premiere musical \u201cThe Heart.\u201d (Rich Soublet II)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Heart,\u201d La Jolla Playhouse<\/a> <\/strong>\u2014 Although less conventional in style than \u201cRegency Girls,\u201d this beautiful and deeply moving world premiere musical that opened at the end of August really tugged at my\u00a0 heartstrings. Based on a French novel, but relocated to La Jolla\/San Diego by bookwriter-lyricist Kait Kerrigan, it\u2019s a fast-paced, 80-minute docudrama-style musical about all of the lives touched during a human heart\u2019s 24-hour journey from dying donor to transplant recipient. Director Christopher Ashley, Kerrigan and composer\/lyricists Ian and Anne Eisendrath \u2014\u00a0 who created an unusual electronic dance music-enhanced score \u2014 worked closely with San Diego transplant coordinators, surgeons, nurses and patients to understand and tell the story with authenticity, creating multidimensional characters who were flawed, but real. Ashley told the story with urgency and minimal scenery. Choreographer Mandy Moore moved the actors around the stage like pieces on a chessboard in a high-speed match and the physical production was icy-cool. Some of the musical\u2019s characters felt underwritten, and I found myself wanting a more cathartic cry at the end, but it was a touching story with heart.<\/p>\n

\"QuentinQuentin Earl Darrington as Frederick Douglass, left, and Ivan Hernandez as President Abraham Lincoln in La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s world-premiere musical \u201c3 Summers of Lincoln.\u201d (Rich Soublet II)<\/p>\n

\u201c3 Summers of Lincoln,\u201d La Jolla Playhouse<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 A third new musical I loved this year opened at the Playhouse last March. It portrayed the transformation of President Abraham Lincoln from stiff, rule-bound lawyer to animated, law-breaking abolitionist over the course of the Civil War, thanks in large part to the enlightenment he received from his friend and trusted advisor, Frederick Douglass, the brilliant and fiery Black abolitionist. Joe DiPietro wrote the swift-paced book and shared lyrics-writing credits with Daniel J. Watts. Crystal Monee Hall wrote the score. And creative tap dance and African dance-inspired choreography by Watts and Jon Rua brought a propulsive urgency to the show. Director Christopher Ashley gradually built the story, sprinkling in nuggets of humor, to balance the dark tone of the story. The magnetic Quentin Earl Darrington was the show\u2019s standout performer as Douglass.<\/p>\n

\"TaylorTaylor Renee Henderson, left, and DeAndre Simmons star in New Village Arts\u2019 \u201cThe Mountaintop.\u201d (New Village Arts)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mountaintop,\u201d New Village Arts<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 \u2014 This was the third time I\u2019ve seen a production of Katori Hall\u2019s historical fantasy play, and New Village\u2019s June production was the best. The play imagines the last night night of Martin Luther King Jr. \u2018s life, before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Exhausted and at a low ebb emotionally, he finds solace in conversation with Camae, a no-nonsense, angelic maid at the Memphis hotel where he\u2019s staying. With naturalistic direction by Durwood Murray Jr., DeAndre Simmons and Taylor Renee Henderson were both extraordinary and realistic in the roles of King and Camae. And the projection and video design by Michael Wogulis added a spacey new dimension to the production.<\/p>\n

\"SandySandy Campbell and David Humphrey as Sally and Ben, left, and Audrey Deubig and Drew Bradford as the younger versions of their characters in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s \u201cFollies\u201d at The Joan in Arts District Liberty Station. (Karli Cadel)<\/p>\n

\u201cFollies,\u201d Cygnet Theatre<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 San Diego\u2019s Cygnet Theatre inaugurated its new home, the $43.5 million The Joan theater in Arts District Liberty Station, with a September production of this 1971 musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman. It\u2019s about a reunion party at a shuttered Broadway theater that\u2019s about to be torn down. As long-retired dancers, actors and employees come together to share cocktails and old stories, the ghosts of their former selves move, dance and linger in the background. Karole Foreman, Sandy Campbell and David Humphrey delivered standout performances. The musical itself is a little creaky, but the songs are wonderful and the show was gorgeously and imaginatively staged by Sean Murray in a lavish production that showcased the Joan\u2019s state-of-the-art, 280-seat Joseph Clayes III Theater.<\/p>\n

\"NadineNadine Malouf as Penelope, Michaela Watkins as Jane and Ryan Vasquez as Gabe in the Old Globe\u2019s world premiere play \u201cThe Janeiad.\u201d (Rich Soublet II)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Janeiad,\u201d The Old Globe<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Anna Ziegler\u2019s 90-minute, time-hopping world premiere play, presented last June on the Globe\u2019s in-the-round stage, wove together facts with fiction, and contemporary tragedy with an ancient Greek poem. It\u2019s a moving and often funny story about one woman\u2019s 20-year cycle of grief and recovery. Maggie Burrows directed the heartbreaking yet whimsical story of Jane, a woman stuck in time after the disappearance of her husband, Gabe, who was in the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers fell on 9\/11. Believing Gabe will eventually return, like Odysseus after his Trojan War odyssey, Jane waits, hopes and ultimately lets go. I found it a beautiful, mythical story.<\/p>\n

\"KandaceKandace Crystal, left, WIlliam \u201cBJ\u201d Robinson, Kailey Agpaoa and Lester Isariuz in Loud Fridge Theatre Group\u2019s \u201cWe Lovers.\u201d (Daren Scott)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Lovers,\u201d Loud Fridge Theatre Group<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 In September, Loud Fridge presented the first full-length staging of San Diego playwright Christian St. Croix\u2019s 90-minute play, which was first presented as a 40-minute show at 2024 San Diego International Fringe Festival. It\u2019s about a group of adult friends who escape their busy lives and find comfort in each other by gathering regularly at a campsite and telling spooky stories by lantern light. Each of their stories subtly reflect their secrets and personal journeys. Director Kate Rose Reynolds infused the play with elements of dance, rhythmic drumming and highly creative use of props. The physical production, with scenery by Heather Larsen, sound by Estefania Ricalde and lighting by Mashun Tucker, was magical.<\/p>\n

\"JacqueJacque Wilke, left, and Andrew Oswald co-star in North Coast Repertory Theatre\u2019s \u201cWhat the Constitution Means to Me. (Aaron Rumley)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhat the Constitution Means to Me,\u201d North Coast Repertory Theatre<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 For good reason, Heidi Schreck\u2019s autobiographical play was the most-produced play in America during the 2024-25 season. Inspired by the U.S. Constitution contests Schreck competed in as a teen, the funny and thought-provoking play points out the flaws in our founding document, and how its authors (a small group of America\u2019s richest and most powerful White men) never considered women or slaves worthy of constitutional rights. Jacque Wilke gave a charismatic and funny lead performance in director Shana Wride\u2019s moving production in March.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Backyard Renaissance Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Waverly Gallery,\u201d featuring, left to right, Alexander Ameen, Katie MacNichol, Tom Zohar and Deborah Gilmour Smyth. (Michael Makie)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Waverly Gallery,\u201d Backyard Renaissance Theatre<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Kenneth Lonergan\u2019s drama, presented in November at a theater in San Diego\u2019s East Village, is a young man\u2019s memory tale about his beloved grandmother\u2019s gradual descent into Alzheimer\u2019s disease. I lost my mom to Alzheimer\u2019s and found Francis Gercke\u2019s direction painfully honest. Deborah Gilmour Smyth gave a stunning and heartbreaking performance as Gladys, the New York City art dealer losing her battle with the memory-robbing disease.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from the Old Globe production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins\u2019 \u201cAppropriate.\u201d (Jim Cox)<\/p>\n

\u201cAppropriate,\u201d The Old Globe<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 The best play I saw on Broadway last year arrived at the Old Globe in January, and it was no less potent or disturbing the second time around. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins 2014 drama, which won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Revival, is about a trio of dysfunctional White American siblings grappling with their Arkansas family\u2019s disturbing, centuries-long history of racism, cruelty and immorality. Laced with dark humor and shocking revelations, \u201cAppropriate\u201d is a wickedly good firecracker of a play about America\u2019s moral rot, and it couldn\u2019t come at a better time.<\/p>\n

\"ValerieValerie Vega, left and Lester Isariuz in OnStage Playhouse\u2019s \u201cFragment\/o\/s of Air\/e.\u201d (Daren Scott)<\/p>\n

\u201cFragment\/o\/s of Air\/e,\u201d OnStage Playhouse<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Chula Vista playwright Carla Navarro\u2019s world premiere play, presented last July at OnStage, told the harrowing story of Nina, a middle-aged woman in San Diego who is still struggling to emotionally recover from the horrors she experienced before escaping her native Chile during General Augusto Pinochet\u2019s reign of terror. Director James P. Darvas helped Navarro develop the script in OnStage\u2019s play-development program, and his stage direction was thrilling and imaginative, but also graphically violent. Valeria Vega gave an outstanding lead performance as Nina. The play was fascinating, but it left me with many unanswered questions.<\/p>\n

\"MartiMarti Gobel as one of six characters she plays in OnWord Theatre\u2019s \u201cBeauty\u2019s Daughter.\u201d (Bernadette Johnston \/ Narrative Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cBeauty\u2019s Daughter,\u201d OnWord Theatre<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Launched last spring, San Diego\u2019s new OnWord closed its first season in November with a simply staged but powerfully told production of Dael Orlandersmith\u2019s poetic 80-minute solo play. OnWord\u2019s producing artistic director Marti Gobel was spellbinding in portraying six different characters whose lives are intertwined in 1990s Harlem. OnWord co-founder Danielle Bunch\u2019s fluid direction and intimate staging was simple but effective.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Moonlight Stage Productions\u2019 \u201cAnastasia\u201d at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. (Karli Cadel)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnastasia\u201d<\/a> <\/strong>\u2014 Moonlight Stage Productions had a wonderful summer season with four musicals making their regional premieres at the outdoor Moonlight Amphitheatre. \u201cAnastasia,\u201d in July, was the most impressive with a fantastic singing cast led by Lena Ceja in the lead role, beautiful costumes and sets and state-of-the-art projections.<\/p>\n

\"EliEli Wood, Elliot Sagay and Marti Gobel in Diversionary Theatre\u2019s \u201cWe Are Continuous.\u201d (Talon Reed Cooper)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are Continuous,\u201d Diversionary Theatre<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 This subtle one-act play by Harrison David Rivers tells the heartbreaking story of a gay HIV-positive Black man whose parents have pushed him away, to different degrees, because of their religious faith. Kian Kline-Chilton\u2019s nuanced direction of the handsome production last March filled in the blanks of the minimalist story and the performances by Elliot Sagay, Marti Gobel and Eli Wood were wonderful.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Cygnet Theatre\u2019s \u201cOklahoma!\u201d (Karli Cadel)<\/p>\n

\u201cOklahoma!,\u201d Cygnet Theatre<\/a> <\/b>\u2014 This classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was the final production Cygnet staged in in Old Town before moving to The Joan in August. The barnlike theater was the perfect setting for the love story of cowboy Curly and farmgirl Laurey. Director Sean Murray\u2019s production mixed in elements of Daniel Fish\u2019s 2019 Broadway revival of the musical, which brought more depth, darkness and authenticity to the characters. I particularly liked the performance of Jacob Caltrider as the show\u2019s Jud Fry, who in the revival was portrayed more as a misunderstood and ridiculed outsider than the one-dimensional villain in the original 1943 production.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Read as Anthony, left, Sandy Campbell as Maria and Kyle Adam Blair as Manny in Scripps Ranch Theatre and The Roustabouts Theatre Company\u2019s coproduction of \u201cMaster Class.\u201d (Tim Botsko)<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Class,\u201d Scripps Ranch Theatre and The Roustabouts Theatre Co.<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 This well-staged co-production starred Sandy Campbell, reprising a role that won her a San Diego Theatre Critics Circle award in 2015. She starred in Terrence McNally\u2019s 1995 play as retired opera diva Maria Callas, sharing her wisdom and passion with vocal students at\u00a0 New York\u2019s The Juilliard School in the early 1970s. Director Phil Johnson\u2019s November production was funny and interactive and Campbell was even better this time as the fragile, edgy and outspoken singer.<\/p>\n

\"JoshuaJoshua Powers as Melchior in Oceanside Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cSpring Awakening.\u201d (Ken Jacques)<\/p>\n

\u201cSpring Awakening,\u201d Oceanside Theatre Company<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater\u2019s 2006 Broadway rock musical isn\u2019t staged very often, so I applaud OTC for producing the challenging piece in September. Based on an 1891 play, it\u2019s about the sexual awakening of a group of teens in a religious German town in the late 1800s. The young and committed cast gave their all, and Gerilyn Brault\u2019s direction, with frenzied choreography by EU Washington, had an explosive amount of pent-up energy.<\/p>\n

\"CarterCarter Piggee, left, Deja Fields, Kevane La\u2019Marr Coleman, Janine Taylor and Xavier Daniels in Moxie Theatre\u2019s \u201cBlues for an Alabama Sky.\u201d (Jason Sullivan)<\/p>\n

Blues for an Alabama Sky, Moxie Theatre<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 Moxie presented Pearl Cleage\u2019s heartbreaking 1995 period drama in a well-cast and lavish October production. Set in 1930 Harlem, it\u2019s the story of a group of friends who hold tight to their dreams while battling unemployment, poverty, addictions, homophobia, racism, sexual harassment and violence. Moxie executive artistic director Desire\u00e9 Clarke Miller directed the production, which featured strong performances by Deja Fields as jazz singer Angel and Kevane La\u2019Marr Coleman as gay costume designer Guy.<\/p>\n

\"MelissaMelissa Fernandes, left, Megan Carmitchel, center, and Spencer Gerber in Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre\u2019s \u201cArms and the Man. (J.T. MacMillan)<\/p>\n

\u201cArms and the Man,\u201d Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 George Bernard Shaw\u2019s 1894 satire about war and politics may sound dry and old-fashioned, but director Deborah Gilmour Smyth\u2019s October production was charming, funny and exceptionally well cast. Set in 1885, it\u2019s about an unexpected romance that blooms between a Bulgarian military officer\u2019s daughter and a war-weary Swiss soldier fleeing a nearby battle against the Bulgarian army.<\/p>\n

\"RichardRichard Bermudez as Dr. Henry Jekyll in San Diego Musical Theatre\u2019s \u201cJekyll & Hyde.\u201d (Karli Cadel)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cJekyll & Hyde,\u201d San Diego Musical Theatre<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Frank Wildhorn\u2019s 1997 musical \u201cJekyll & Hyde\u201d is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of show. I lean toward the \u201chate it\u201d side because of its gory, melodramatic story, which is usually presented in woefully over-the-top stagings. But for this October production, director Omri Schein did a fine job shaving away some of the story\u2019s silliest elements and he fielded a strong singing cast led by gifted vocal powerhouses Richard Bermudez and Melissa Musial as Dr. Henry Jekyll and barmaid Lucy Harris, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This was a big year for San Diego theater, with many ambitious world premiere musicals and plays produced…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":475546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,8737,171,3548,1370,8738,3549,3550,7264,1148,1072,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-475545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-carlsbad","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-la-jolla","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-north-county","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-san-diego-county","18":"tag-sandiego","19":"tag-theater","20":"tag-things-to-do","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}