JAZZ: Chick Corea and Eddie Palmieri head the list of jazz artists set to appear at Anthology, the upscale restaurant and live-music venue set to open June 6 near Little Italy.
On India Street, between A and Ash, the multilevel, 13,000-square-foot venue will seat 250 people. It's the brainchild of local real estate developer Howard Berkson, who had Anthology designed to evoke a modern supper club. Noted chefs Bradley Ogden and Jim Phillips are overseeing the menu.
Anthology opens June 6-7 with acclaimed pianist Bill Charlap and his trio. “Grand opening” performances by veteran pianist and jazz TV host Ramsey Lewis and his group will follow June 8-9. Other artists confirmed for next month include singer Karrin Allyson (June 12-13) and Jane Monheit (June 15-16); expatriate Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (June 20-21); and pianist Corea (June 22).
Guitarist Larry Coryell and singer-pianist Mose Allison are scheduled in July, and Lee Ritenour and the Yellowjackets in August. But Anthology will offer a musical menu that extends beyond jazz. Country-pop singer Raul Malo and bluesy slide guitar wiz Sonny Landreth are booked to perform in August. The Anthology House Band, which is led by top San Diego guitarist and singer Billy Thompson, debuts June 28, and singer-songwriters Jesse Colin Young and Kenny Rankin are also on tap.
Tickets for the first 50 concerts at Anthology are available at Ticketmaster or can be bought at the venue's box office – sans Ticketmaster fees – starting June 6. For a list of performances, log onto: www.anthologysd.com.
– George Varga
'Grinch' back to New York
THEATER: As the Old Globe's “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” gets dusted off and gussied up for its 10th-anniversary run in San Diego, the Broadway incarnation of the Dr. Seuss musical, directed by Jack O'Brien, will get a second holiday run for New York and tourist audiences.
The New York Times reports the show that “made a mint last year at the Hilton Theater, taking in more that $1.5 million at the box office some weeks,” will move to the St. James Theater for performances Nov. 1-Jan. 6.
With a shorter running time than most musicals (85 minutes), “Grinch” plays 12 performances a week rather than the usual eight, so the box-office gross can be bigger than usual, too.
The Hilton is already booked for this year – either with the critically panned “The Pirate Queen,” or, if that extravaganza closes, by Mel Brooks' post-“Producers” show, “Young Frankenstein.” Hence the Audrey Geisel-blessed show (she's Dr. Seuss' La Jolla-based widow) will reside for the holidays at the St. James.
– Anne Marie Welsh
Cygnet series June 6-10
MORE THEATER: Actor Antonio (T.J.) Johnson first sprang to local prominence in an August Wilson play; in 1990, he gave a big, bold, passionate performance as Negro baseball league veteran Troy Maxson in a Southeast Community Theatre production of Wilson's “Fences” at the Lyceum. Now Johnson will kick off a reprise of a successful series of readings of the top five of Wilson's cycle plays with “Walking in the Shadows of August Wilson” at 7:30 p.m. June 6 at Cygnet Theatre.
Cygnet and the San Diego Black Ensemble have produced the staged readings throughout the year and now will repeat them as an August Wilson Festival June 6-10. After Johnson's opener, the festival brings readings of “Joe Turner's Come and Gone” (7:30 p.m., June 7); “Seven Guitars” (7:30 p.m., June 8); “The Piano Lesson” (2 p.m. June 9); “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” (7:30 p.m., June 9); and “Fences” (2 p.m., June 10).
All shows are at Cygnet in the College Area, 6663 El Cajon Blvd. Tickets are $10 for each performance or $40 for the entire fesitval at (619) 337-1525 or www.cygnettheatre.com.
– Anne Marie Welsh
