Bear Likes Broadway

It’s been a busy year with two trips to New York, one to Minnesota and lots of fantastic theater right here in sunny San Diego. Here’s what I narrowed down as my Top 10 theater experiences.

Jesus Christ Superstar (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles)

Amidst a two-year promotional tour for Wicked, Cynthia Erivo somehow managed to squeeze in possibly the best performance of her career.  I was going to skip this very limited production because it was during a busy time, and I was a little skeptical of any musical at a venue as big as Hollywood Bowl.  But man, was it worth it. This was the PLACE TO BE.

The superstar cast also included Adam Lambert, Phillipa Soo, Raul Esparza and Josh Gad (or in our case, sadly, John Stamos).  Promoted as a return to “rock”, the Hollywood Bowl production embraced the guitar-based arrangements we want and expect from JCS.  And Cynthia and Adam can hold their own in a rock song.  There were softer moments as well. During Garden of Gethsemane, at that venue of ~17,000 people, the audience was silent, hanging on to every note.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber showed up at the end to round out the evening.

https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/events/performances/3605/2025-08-01/cynthia-erivo-and-adam-lambert-in-jesus-christ-superstar

Buena Vista Social Club (Broadway)

Buena Vista Social Club the musical, inspired by the 1990s documentary and album, tells a story about a group of young musicians during Cuba’s peak nightlife era before the Cuban Revolution and also a decades-later reunion.  Woven into the real-life story is a fictional romantic story centered around Natalie Venetia Belcon’s Tony Award-winning performance as Omara.

The other star of this show is the band.  Cuban music never really clicked with me until this show.  I couldn’t get enough. I got goosebumps.

Fun Fact: Buena Vista Social Club won 5 Tony Awards, and we saw the matinee the day of the awards. Even though they had awards to accept, the cast and band still showed up for the matinee.

https://buenavistamusical.com/

Chess (Broadway)

It’s a musical about several high-profile chess games during the cold war.  Music is by Benny and Björn of Abba fame.  This production that seemingly came out of nowhere features Broadway regular Aaron Tviet, newcomer Nichola Christopher and Lea Michele.  All three of these leads gave a knockout performance, particularly Lea Michele who alone is worth the price of admission at any show.

The rewritten book and updated song sequence for this production really work.  Notably, the Arbiter (narrator of the show) breaks the fourth wall from time to time. He delivered a few unexpected, laugh-out-loud moments in a show that I never would have anticipated being funny.

The simple but stylish set and costumes and a large cast of dancers and backup singers made this production feel big and exciting.

https://chessbroadway.com

Ragtime (Broadway/Lincoln Center)

I’ve had an on again/off again love of Ragtime.  At times, I’ve thought of it as the best musical ever, and that declaration isn’t way off with songs like New Music and Wheels of a Dream.  But the show runs l-o-n-g, and some parts work better (Colehouse’s songs) than others (Tateh’s songs).

The latest iteration of Ragtime feels like it fixes everything.  It’s the most ideal Ragtime possible. Maybe it was the staging or slightly sped up scenes, but it just felt punchier.  And all of the emotional moments were as powerful as they should be.  Lots of tears.  This All-Star cast features Cassie Levy (Frozen), Joshua Henry (whose Carousel performance I’m still obsessed with) and Shaina Taub (writer and star of Suffs).

https://www.lct.org/shows/ragtime/

The Baker’s Wife (Classic Stage Company, New York)

In this 1976 musical by Stephen Schwartz, a baker and his young wife show up in a new town.  Drama ensues when the baker’s wife meets an attractive, young suitor.

The breakout song from Baker’s Wife that you may know is Meadowlark, but the score has several beautiful tunes like Gifts of Love and Chanson.  This Classic Stage Company production was beautiful and very intimate.  We were literally inches away from the leads at times.

The initial selling point for us was Oscar-Award-winning Ariana DuBose as the baker’s wife, and she was great, but Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) as the baker and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas and Fun Home) really stole the show.

Fun Fact: Scott Bakula seems like a random choice to play the baker, but he was actually in a production of Baker’s Wife decades ago, as Dominique, the young suitor. When he heard of this Classic Stage Company production, he lobbied to be in it.

https://playbill.com/article/after-45-years-scott-bakula-is-grateful-for-a-2nd-chance-with-the-bakers-wife

Purple Rain (State Theater, Minnesota)

As a big Prince fan, it was a dream come true to see a musical based on the 1984 hit film in Prince’s hometown. Purple Rain the musical sticks pretty close to the source material, but thankfully some aspects of it that haven’t aged well have been updated.

When we saw it, it was pretty early in live performances, so I imagine there have been some fixes.  It wasn’t a perfect show, but there were moments that were divine.

Jared Howelton’s performance as Morris Day was the highlight of the show.  He’s a real crowd pleaser!  Many audience members dressed in purple or wore Prince-related clothing.  I wish I knew ahead of time.  I would have Princed it up!

https://purplerainbroadway.com/

A New Brain (San Diego Musical Theater)

SDMT puts on a standard season of popular shows, and now they have also have their “Off Broadway series” where a cast performs readings of less-frequently-produced musicals.  It’s a win-win for musical nerds like me.  Even though the show is just a reading, the cast does plenty of performing.

A New Brain, by William Finn (Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), is about a songwriter with a deadline to write songs for a kids’ show. As he struggles with writer’s block, he experiences a brain-related medical emergency.  It’s a weird and fun musical with some really good songs.

Among the cast of San Diego theater regulars, we especially liked Jonathan Sangster (Associate Artistic Director at SDMT) in the lead role and Luke H. Jacobs as “The Other Nurse”.

https://www.sdmt.org/

Follies (Cygnet Theater, San Diego)

Stephen Sondheim’s Follies is a musical about a 1971 reunion of performers remembering their glory days at a soon-to-be-torn-down theater.  Everyone gets a chance to do a song, and the cast is surrounded by ghosts of their past.

This was Cygnet’s first production at The Joan, their new facility in Liberty Station. It would be impossible to beat the first production I saw of Follies which starred Bernadette Peters and Danny Burstein, but this cast delivered a stunning show.

The multi-story set was notably fancy.  I can’t wait to see what they do next.

https://cygnettheatre.org/show/season25-26/follies/

The Heart (La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego)

The Heart, one of the last La Jolla Playhouse musicals directed by La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley before he heads off to New York to be artistic director at Roundabout Theatre Company, is a musical about a heart transplant, featuring an EDM (electronic dance music) score.  The show is mostly fast-paced and runs straight through with no intermission.

I wish that they would have stuck with EDM music exclusively, but the music does branch out into some soul/pop music and a notably rough song called Nobody Gets Out Alive. Generally, it’s great stuff, though.  Visually, the show is very conceptual and futuristic.  There were moments where the EDM and visuals matched perfectly.

Heidi Blikenstaff (Freaky Friday, Something Rotten!, [title of show]) is featured in this ensemble cast.  I just love her.

https://lajollaplayhouse.org/show/the-heart/

West Side Story (LA Opera, Los Angeles)

Everyone has seen West Side Story, but this LA Opera production was West Side on steroids.  For the most part, it was a huge, very high quality, traditional stage musical, but a few of the leads were opera singers, and they sang their parts in the operatic style.  So random, but it’s brilliant.

In terms of style, the production seemingly takes place now.  I noticed a Bad Bunny poster on Maria’s bedroom wall.  It felt like an unnecessary anachronism, but I thought that was unique. They maybe should have gone further with that.

Being there was cool; seeing anything in the world famous Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is so exciting.

https://www.laopera.org/performances/2026/west-side-story

Bonus Mentions

Manifest Pussy (Diversionary Theater, San Diego)

A one woman show about transitioning, written and performed by Shakina.  There are similarities to Hedwig the Angry Inch, but it felt a little more real.  The story has several surprises and touching moments.  I lived for it.

Gypsy (Broadway)

Audra McDonald’s production of Gypsy, but for us, it was minus Audra.  But that’s ok, Audra’s standby Tryphena Wade delivered a very entertaining performance as the Audra-specific interpretation of Mama Rose.  Doing my research for the show, I fell in love with the original cast score.  Big fan.

Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York (Broadway)

It’s a super cute, 2-person musical about a naive British guy spending two days in America to meet his father for the first time.  He meets his aunt-to-be, and the two each have their own character development.  It’s hilarious and sugary sweet, and there are several surprises.  This really should be in my top 10, but I didn’t want to just name 10 Broadway shows.

Regency Girls (The Old Globe, San Diego)

Regency Girls is a comedy about 19th Century woman on an adventure. It’s very girl-power, the music is strong, and the comedy is smart (and silly).  KPBS called it, “Bridesmaids meets Jane Austen”.

There was one scene where two of the women dress up as men and embrace masculinity.  It was comedy gold.