Coronado Playhouse proudly announces their 78th season. 2023 features bold comedies, beloved musicals, a FREE Classic Series production, and an exciting world-premiere through our partnership program. Once again, the Playhouse offers programming audiences have come to love and expect from the second oldest arts organization in San Diego County.
Audiences can anticipate an ambitious and imaginative lineup of six fully staged productions plus a series of concerts and readings curated by Coronado Playhouse from submissions by local artists and arts organizations. Despite increasing costs, patrons will be happy to know that prices for Season 78 will remain unchanged as they have over the last several years.
New for this year, the Playhouse will be offering Saturday matinee performances for every production, allowing the San Diego theatre community more options to attend this thrilling new season.
The FREE Classic Series production is bringing audiences Noël Coward for the first time. Hay Fever, the biting comedy, has just been released into the public domain, and is a perfect and timely fit for today’s audiences.
The season’s co-production will be with Blindspot Collective for the immersive musical Underground, a departure from the season’s treasured musicals and wacky plays and a new venture into site-specific theatre. The goal of the partnership is to support a local theatre company that operates without a venue while also providing marketing, technical and administrative support. “There are a number of theater groups without a permanent home base who do amazing creative work. The board saw this as a wonderful opportunity to help provide a more open space for them in our community,” stated Heather Barton Tjalma, former member of the CPH Board and Co-Chair of the season selection committee that advocated for this collaboration.
January 13-January 29, 2023
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Ripcord
by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Kira Blaskovich
It’s not every day you see a play based on two senior women in competition for sole access to the room of an assisted living facility. But that’s exactly what David Lindsay-Abaire, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Rabbit Hole, Fuddy Meers, and Good People, has put forth in the quirky comedy, Ripcord. Full of hijinks and pranks, the fun doesn’t stop at the opposing personalities of Abby Binder and Marilyn Dunne. Ripcord pushes past the typical “Odd Couple” formula to present nuanced and interesting characters with the type of lived experiences that could only come from age. From sudoku to skydiving, the secrets among them will almost break these women while simultaneously solidifying their friendship.
Coronado patrons are in for a total delight of witty banter, goofy laughs, and companionship redefined.
“A lyrical and understanding chronicler of people who somehow become displaced within their own lives…Mr. Lindsay-Abaire has shown a special affinity for female characters suddenly forced to re-evaluate the roles by which they define themselves.”—The New York Times
March 3-March 26, 2023
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Company
Book by George Furth
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Blake McCarty
Stephen Sondheim’s beloved musical Company is rolling into Coronado! Some of the biggest stars in Broadway history have played these iconic characters because no matter the cast or setting, the story’s universal themes of love and longing, marriage and mistakes, and regret and redemption remain as relevant as ever. In many ways, Company was the precursor to treasured romcoms featuring flawed characters gallivanting through posh bars and restaurants while contemplating their love lives.
The show plays out through a series of vignettes as Bobby reflects on their past relationships and the marriages of their friends to determine what exactly they want in their future. Can a birthday wish manifest the perfect partner? Audiences are sure to enjoy the company of the big personalities in this timeless show.
“Company is the best of what Broadway has to offer adult theatergoers: a playful slap, an honest tickle and one of the 20th century’s greatest musicals gorgeously realized — and refined — to reflect the moment.” – Variety
May 19-June 4, 2023
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Hay Fever
by Noël Coward
Directed by Hannah Meade
For year 27 of the Free Classic Series, Coronado audiences will be transported to 1920s England to meet the outrageous and opinionated Bliss family in Noël Coward’s Hay Fever. In this biting script, a quiet vacation goes awry when David and Judith Bliss’s children Simon and Sorel crash their holiday, bringing along unassuming guests. A torrid game of charades, a whirlwind engagement, and dramatic fainting all occur in a single act! The characters’ emotive personalities and curt bickering play against the atmosphere of English high society in this layered comedy. The self-absorbed Bliss family fails to recognize their own petulant behaviors as the weekend unravels.
With a committed ensemble, this sharp-witted and over-the-top comedy will surely be a riot as Hay Fever continues to delight audiences with its astute observations on family relationships and rivalries.
Coronado Playhouse offers the Free Classics Series to the public from of a grant from the City of Coronado. Season subscribers receive reserved seats. Patrons can reserve up to 5 tickets free of charge. It’s important to release tickets if you are unable to attend to make available for other patrons. Schools and organizations can contact our Box Office to reserve large groups.
“An evening of intoxicating escape.” – The New York Times
July 7-July 23
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Underground
a co-production with Blindspot Collective
Created by Amy Cordileone, Donnie Tuel, & Rachel Tuggle
Whorton Musical Supervision & Arrangements by Rachel Tuggle Whorton
Directed by Amy Cordileone
Underground is the most distinct pivot in a season of stylized comedies. This immersive, world premiere musical is based entirely on the discography of Ben Folds – blending flashbacks, dance, and complex harmonies to illuminate the histories and inner lives of the regulars down at your local pub. Audiences will enter Coronado Playhouse and be transported to their favorite dive bar, where former bandmates will reunite, exes will collide, and secrets will be revealed as patrons get a glimpse of the hope and heartbreak concealed in plain sight within the strangers next to us. Part theatre, part concert, and part drinking game, this modern parable is a celebration of community and resilience as we “learn to live with what we are.” Blindspot Collective develops transformative theatre that amplifies marginalized voices, illuminates untold stories, bridges disparate experiences, and energizes vulnerable communities. They produce radically inclusive programming at the intersection of advocacy, education, and entertainment that cultivates and celebrates new work, emerging artists, diverse audiences, and fresh ideas.
This production continues the company’s history of groundbreaking site-specific and immersive performances like Hall Pass and Black Séance, which were presented in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse.
August 25-September 10, 2023
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Nunsense
by Dan Goggin
Directed by Thomas Haine
Continuing with the year’s theme of fun and farcical shows, Nunsense is a musical comedy that lives up to its name!
The Little Sisters of Hoboken face the deadly dilemma of burying dozens of fellow nuns on a budget. Naturally, the most logical move is to stage a variety show against a backdrop of Grease the Musical, right? The zany sisters work their way through organizing a Vaudevillian-esque production, utilizing the past talents – Reverend Regina was a former carnie – and current circumstances – Sister Mary Amnesia’s memory loss makes for great conversation.
This small cast is tasked with carrying the uniquely twisted humor of this wild musical. You won’t want to miss the surviving talents of Little Sisters of Hoboken in Nunsense!
“Wacky and outrageous with a hysterical ‘anything goes’ sense of fun!” – The New York Times
October 20-November 12
Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday and Sunday @ 2pm
Xanadu
Book by Douglas Carter Beane
Music & Lyrics by Jeff Lynne & John Farrar Based on the Universal Pictures film
Screenplay by Richard Danus & Marc Rubel
Directed by Marc Caro Willcox
Rounding out the Coronado Season is one last foray into the fanciful and absurd with the ever-popular musical Xanadu!
Based on the 80’s movie and the music of futurist British rock-pop band, Electric Light Orchestra, Xanadu follows Kira the muse as she leaves Mount Olympus for Venice Beach, California to inspire the mortal Sonny. Those familiar with Greek mythology may guess what happens next – a forbidden love, sisterly envy, and the pursuit of the first roller disco, of course! Full of 80’s nostalgia, references, and fashion, mixed with a crash course of the most recognized Greek Gods, this colorful and dreamy show is sure to keep audiences on their feet – or skates – with a collection of catchy songs and hopeful melodies.
“…simultaneously indefensible and irresistible… there’s so much silly bliss to be had.” The New York Times
