As a kid, growing up in San Diego in the early 1950s, I had an uncle who was a character actor at the Old Globe and a song and dance man with the Starlight Opera.
As a result, I spent a lot of time in these two Balboa Park venues, and saw almost every musical production of the Starlight, until I became a sophisticated teenager in high school (which is to say, I was more interested in girls than art). But I still have great memories of going to the Starlight during the summer.
This, of course, was before the increased commercial air traffic at Lindbergh Field required the performers and musicians to stop the action for the overhead noise to abate. The last time I went to the Starlight, I counted more than 30 such interruptions during the show, and I haven't been back.
Recently, I attended the Moonlight Amphitheatre's production of "42nd Street," and was thrilled to experience once again the magic of the outdoor summer musical. I've been going to the Moonlight for the past 12 years, and initially the productions, while entertaining, were somewhat amateurish. The stage itself was outdated (for example, they had no drop curtain) and the sets looked as if they had been designed for a high school production. And while they had some very good voices, and pretty good actors, the dancing was often embarrassingly bad.
Over the years, the productions became much more professional, and when the Moonlight staged the extremely challenging "Ragtime" several years ago, it deservedly won a lot of local awards and attention. Enough that in 2006, the citizens of Vista approved a sales tax increase to build (in part) a new, up-to-date, professional production facility.
"42nd Street" is the Moonlight's first musical on the new stage, and from the slow rising of the opening curtain (to reveal a line of tap dancing feet) to the grand finale, it is a musical that demonstrates the full scope of the Moonlight's ability to provide a highly professional and totally entertaining theater experience.
The cast even managed an hommage to Busby Berkeley's renowned dance choreography with a wonderful light and shadow show. The dancers -- including the fabulous Cassie Silva in the role of stage-struck Peggy Sawyer -- all had the chops required for one of the great tap-dancing musicals of all time.
With tickets starting at only $22 for lawn seats (arrive early, bring a picnic), the Moonlight is one of the great bargains in summertime entertainment for a family.
Break a leg, Moonlight Amphitheatre.
RICHARD HICKS lives in the Cardiff community within Encinitas.
