I’m
David L. Coddon,
and here’s your guide to all things essential in San Diego’s arts and culture this week.
With the arrival of the new year, I’ve been thinking as many of you have about what I will do when someday the world is safe again. Among the many things I’ve missed is traveling, in particular to major hubs of arts and cultural entertainment.
You don’t get more major than New York City.
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Though I’ve visited the Big Apple on occasion before, I’ve never made it to the storied Apollo Theater in Harlem. Its history, which dates back to 1914, is populated by generations of Black musicians and performers across multiple genres and artistic disciplines.
SAN DIEGO
A massive fire dooms a warship in San Diego’s waterfront. Training accidents kill 11 in San Clemente Island. Some long deployments come to an end as others are just beginning.
These are a few of the stories affecting the San Diego military community in 2020.
Underpinning it all is the coronavirus pandemic, which sickened many and strained local military forces as they tried to maintain regular operations.
The pandemic tested military leaders and changed day-to-day operations. Sailors endured weeks-long quarantines before going to sea. and Marine recruits isolated in hotels before starting boot camp.
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Before the virus reached US shores, the year began with tensions escalating into violence between the United States and Iran, as both countries sought to exert influence in Iraq.
When San Diego theaters abruptly shut down March 12 due to the pandemic, nobody expected they would stay dark for the rest of the year. And yet, out of the darkness, local artists began producing hundreds of online productions, play readings, cabarets and concerts, audio-casts, podcasts, interviews and education programs to stay connected to their art and their audiences.
For this year’s look back at the 2020 year in theater, I found it impossible to choose a top 10, since there’s no way to compare the work produced onstage before a live audience with shows presented on Zoom and Facebook Live, or filmed plays. So I offer my picks for standout work in a multitude of formats and themes.