Check out the best performances and plays in San Diego this month.
Beau Jest
Jan. 6-Feb. 12. Sarah’s parents are delighted she is engaged to a charming doctor. Only thing is, she’s not. When they arrive in town for a dinner party, she hires an actor to keep the fiction alive—hilarity and romance ensue in this riveting production. Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado, 619.437.6000. lambsplayers.org
Rent
Jan. 10-15. Catch the 20th anniversary touring production of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning rock musical—originally premiered in 1996—that reimagines Puccini’s La Boheme. San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown. 619.570.1100. broadwaysd.com
Marjorie Prime
Jan. 11-Feb. 5. This smart, thought-provoking play about memory takes place in the near future, when artificial intelligence has reached new heights, and lifelike robots provide companionship for the lonely. North Coast Repertory Theatre. 987-D Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, 858.481.1055. northcoastrep.org
Bad Jews
Jan. 12-Feb. 12. The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal battle over a family heirloom in this savage comedy about family, faith and legacy. Cygnet Theatre at Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town, 619.337.1525. cygnettheatre.com
Arranged
Jan. 13. Abe and Julia are high-profile celebrities embarking on a dangerously flirtatious correspondence. Esther and Yoni are shy young Orthodox Jews embarking on an arranged marriage. On the surface, the lives of these two couples couldn’t be more different. But Anna Ziegler’s funny, insightful and mysterious new drama Arranged explores the hidden connections between seemingly disparate worlds, illuminating the surprising forces that bind strangers together. Ziegler returns with this exciting Old Globe commission following the world premiere of The Last Match. 7:30 p.m. Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. 1363 Old Globe Way. 619.231.1941. theoldglobe.org
What You Are
Jan. 15. The time: Today. The place: A small Nevada town. Don, a middle-aged white American, does his best to make ends meet even as he struggles to connect with his politically active daughter. When he finds himself embroiled in a racially charged incident at work, his life and his living turn upside down. JC Lee’s What You Are, an Old Globe commission, is an up-to-the-minute look at a fractured nation desperately trying to reconnect. 4 p.m. Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. 1363 Old Globe Way. 619.231.1941. theoldglobe.org
American Riffs and Rhapsodies
Jan. 27, 29. This concert offers our most thorough exploration of the American classical music idiom within a single program. Copley Symphony Hall will be filled with music that is bold and brassy, confident yet introspective. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
Americans and Paris
Jan. 6, 8. American composers Aaron Copland and George Gershwin both made significant visits to France during their formative years, and some of their resulting impressions are expressed beautifully, though with a thoroughly American attitude, on this program. A short new piano concerto by rising young American composer Andrew Norman is also featured. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
Beyond the Score: Things Our Fathers Loved
Jan. 28. With live actors, visual illustrations and musical examples, this multimedia experience reveals the illuminating stories found “inside” the score. After intermission, concertgoers return with newly discovered knowledge to hear a performance of the work played in its entirety. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
Birth of the Cool: A West Coast Jazz Salute
Jan. 14. Series curator Gilbert Castellanos celebrates the music that made the “West Coast sound,” paying homage to some of the greatest west coast artists: Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond and that “prince of darkness” himself, Miles Davis. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
LA/NY
Jan. 20, 22. This program of music by John Adams, Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein is driven by the rhythms of Los Angeles, New York and metropolises in between. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
Bernstein, Perlman, Hollywood
Jan. 21. In this one-of-a-kind concert, the movies come to Jacobs Masterworks! The concert features music from On the Waterfront, The Seahawk, Casablanca, Far and Away, Schindler’s List and more, all arranged for violin and orchestra by the greatest film composer of them all, John Williams. San Diego Symphony, 1245 Seventh Ave., downtown, 619.235.0804. sandiegosymphony.org
