San Diego Symphony Media Coverage: Jan. 5 through Jan. 23

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/arts/culture-report-turning-music-listenersmusic-makers/

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/arts/culturecast/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/san-diego-culturecast-by-voice/id1108044024?mt=2

12–18 JANUARY

Weekly Entertainment Guide

San Diego favorite Hershey Felder addresses LGBT rights with new show ‘Our Great Tchaikovsky’

TOPICAL TRIBUTE February 4 – March 12

By Steve Martin Directed by Barry Edelstein

NIGHT: JOE JONAS AND DNCE 20 DAY: ‘T-REX PLANET’ IN DEL MAR 27

The Hilarious Comedy by Steve Martin

Philippe Bowgen Donald Faison (Macbeth at Hartford Stage)

(TV’s “Scrubs”)

Liza Lapira

Hal Linden

Justin Long

Luna Vélez

(TV’s “Dollhouse”)

(TV’s “Barney Miller”)

(Live Free or Die Hard)

(TV’s “How to Get Away with Murder”)

(619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623) www.TheOldGlobe.org

4 JAN. 12 – 18, 2017 UNION-TRIBUNE

Revisiting ‘The River’

OUR EXPERTS RECOMMEND THE BEST EVENTS

FRIDAY 01.13 — SUNDAY 01.15 “Powers New Voices Festival” 4 p.m. Friday and Sunday; 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

(Consult theater for specific play schedule.) Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park. Free, but reservations required (call the box office). (619) 234-5623 or theoldglobe.org The Globe’s free celebration of new work returns for a fourth year, with freshly minted plays by Anna Ziegler (“Arranged”), JC Lee (“What You Are”), Tanya Saracho (“Fade”) and Karen Zacarías (”Native Gardens”). Both Ziegler’s and Lee’s plays were commissioned by the Globe, which also will stage an encore presentation of the San Diego-centric piece “The Living Altar.”

JAMES HEBERT • U-T

THURSDAY 01.12

>>

San Diego Symphony presents Rosanne Cash: “The River and the Thread” 7:30 p.m. today. Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown. $35-$65.

(619) 235-0804 or sandiegosymphony.org /ouramericanmusic As the oldest of the seven children of the legendary Johnny and June Carter Cash, Rosanne Cash grew up steeped in the legacy of a legendary country music family. She won three Grammy Awards for her 2014 album “The River and the Thread.” It will be the focus of her San Diego Symphony-sponsored — but orchestra-free — “Our American Music” concert here tonight.

Marinated in Southern music traditions, the album sounds simultaneously weathered and fresh, as Cash puts a new spin on old traditions. Live, onstage, she and her songs should blossom anew.

GEORGE VARGA • U-T

SUNDAY 01.15 Carlsbad Marathon 6:15 a.m. for marathon; 7:45 a.m. for half-marathon Sunday. The Shoppes at Carlsbad, 2525 El Camino Real, Carlsbad. $130-$150 (processing fee not included). carlsbadmarathon.com On your mark, get set, go! Thousands of determined runners will kick their New Year’s resolutions into high gear at the Carlsbad Full Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday. Both routes will take runners and walkers along Highway 101 and through spectator-packed Carlsbad Village. Online registration is closed, but you can register at the Health & Lifestyle Expo from noon to 6 p.m. Friday or 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

CAROLINA GUSMAN • U-T

21 JAN. 12 – 18, 2017 UNION-TRIBUNE

BY G EO R G E VA R G A GEORGE.VARGA @SDUNIONTRIBUNE.COM (619) 293-2253

JOE MOORE

Gilbert Castellanos is in his third year as the curator of the San Diego Symphony’s Jazz @ The Jacobs Series.

C A S T E L L A N O S K E E P S I T ‘ C O O L’ FOR SYMPHONY SERIES, SAN DIEGO TRUMPET STAR PRESENTS TRIBUTE TO WEST COAST JAZZ LEGENDS

F

ew musicians have done as much to boost the San Diego jazz scene as Gilbert Castellanos, who has just started his third year as the curator of the San Diego Symphony’s Jazz @ The Jacobs Series.

Under the symphony’s auspices, the tireless trumpeter, teacher and promoter has presented such Grammy Award winners as singers Dianne Reeves and former San Diego State University football scholarship winner Gregory Porter, saxophonist Tom Scott, San Diego piano phenom Joshua White and, in November, the Count Basie Orchestra and Jane Monheit.

On Saturday, he’ll present — and perform in — the series’ most ambitious concert to date. Entitled “Birth of the Cool: A West Coast Jazz Salute,” it will pay homage to the music of six deceased legends: trumpeters Miles Davis and Chet Baker; pianists Dave Brubeck and

George Shearing; baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan; and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, who was a key member of Brubeck’s famed quartet.

“I came up with the concept over a year ago,” Castellanos said. “It was just so hard for me to try and fit all the West Coast musicians we’re honoring into one concert.

“I don’t have the final order yet, but we’ll have a Brubeck set, a Baker/Mulligan pianoless quartet set, and a Shearing set. I have Charlie Shoemake coming down, who was Shearing’s original vibraphonist for many years. Those will all be done by small groups. Then we’ll close out the night with music from Miles Davis’ ‘Birth of the Cool’ album with all the musicians playing together.”

The lineup also features such standout instrumentalists as drum dynamo Jeff Hamilton, pianist Tamir Hendelman, guitarist Gra-

ham Dechter, alto saxophonist Keith Fiddmont, trombonist Matt Hall, baritone saxophonist Adam Schroeder and the improbably versatile bassist Chuck Berghofer, whose credits range from Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa and the Beach Boys to Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley and Mary J. Blige.

Like Castellanos, Hendlemen, Fiddmont, Dechter and Hamilton are all members of the Los Angelesbased Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, one of the nation’s leading big bands. Castellanos envisions Saturday’s concert comprising four 25-minute segments.

“If it was up to me,” he said, “we’d play until 5 in the morning!”

The Jazz @ the Jacobs series continues with a March 18 “Women in Jazz” concert, which will feature violinist Regina Carter, singer Dena DeRose and nationally noted San Diego flutist Holly Hofmann. They’ll be followed by a May 21 perform-

ance by Cuban piano master Chucho Valdés.

The series will conclude with the April 29 debut of the Jazz @ The Jacobs Orchestra, a 16-piece big band led by Castellanos. The San Diego Symphony and singer Barbara Morrison, an audience favorite at the 2015 Jazz @ The Jacobs kickoff concert, will be the special guests.

“I was completely overwhelmed at how the people of San Diego have stepped up to support this,” said Castellanos, who credits symphony CEO Martha Gilmer for encouraging him to envision an expansion of the series over time.

“Martha is very supportive,” he said. “I met with her a few weeks ago, and she told me: ‘I want you to dream big for these concerts. Don’t think you will be constricted to a certain group of people or budget.

Dream big!’ And that’s what I’m doing.”

DID YOU KNOW? ON JAN. 28, GILBERT CASTELLANOS WILL LAUNCH “ART MEETS JAZZ” AT BREAD & SALT IN LOGAN HEIGHTS.

U

< THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY’S JAZZ @ THE JACOBS PRESENTS “BIRTH OF THE COOL: A WEST COAST JAZZ SALUTE,” FEATURING GILBERT CASTELLANOS

When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown Tickets: $20-$65 (plus service charges, which are waived for tickets bought at the box office) Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org

Reception: Third annual The Crow Show 2017: 6 p.m. Feb. 3; exhibition through Feb. 26. Studio Door, 3750 30th St., San Diego. Free. (619) 255-4920, thestudiodoor.com Judith Foosaner, Jimi Gleason, Thomas Zitzwitz: 3 WAYS Paintings: Through Feb. 10. R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave. Suite 201, La Jolla. Free. rbstevensongallery.com Christina Ilene Thomas and Chris Smith: Counterpoint: Jan. 12-19; closing party 6 p.m. Jan. 19. Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego.

Free. facebook.com

MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ LOS ANGELES TIMES

Louis Lortie will present a solo piano recital at Sherwood Auditorium on Saturday.

San Rafael Handbell Choir: “Ringing in the New Year”: 3 p.m. Jan. 14. Rancho Bernardo Library, 17110 Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego. Free; donations. friendsoftheranchobernardolibrary.org La Jolla Music Society: Louis Lortie: 8 p.m. Jan. 14. MCASD Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. $30-$80. (858) 459-3728, ljms.org Stanford Mendicants and Counterpoint: Stanford University Acappella Groups: 2 p.m. Jan. 15. St. James by-the-Sea, 743 Prospect St., La Jolla. $5-$15. (760) 685-2185, alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/events Concert: The Brahms Trio (violin, French horn and piano): 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15. Scripps Miramar Ranch Library Center, 10301 Scripps Lake Drive, San Diego. Free. (858) 538-8158, srfol.org

Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85.

(619) 235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

Jan. 28. St Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral San Diego, 2728 Sixth Ave., San Diego. $25. sdbaroque.ticketleap.com

San Diego Youth Orchestra Winter Concert 2017: 6 p.m. Jan. 21. Bethel Baptist Church, 855 Brotherton Road, Escondido. $15-$25. thenewyouthorchestra.com

American Riffs and Rhapsodies: 8 p.m.

Jan. 27; 2 p.m. Jan. 29. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85.

(619) 235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

Bernstein, Perlman, Hollywood: 8 p.m.

Jan. 21. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85. (619) 2350804, sandiegosymphony.org

Beyond the Score: Things Our Fathers Loved: 8 p.m. Jan. 28. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85. sandiegosymphony.org

La Jolla Music Society: Edgar Moreau, cello: 3 p.m. Jan. 22. The Auditorium at TSRI, 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. $30. (858) 459-3728, ljms.org

Art of Élan: Reactive Listening: 7 p.m.

Jan. 31. The San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, San Diego. $40-$50.

(619) 232-7931, sdmart.org

Concert Series: Yve Evans: 3 p.m. Jan. 22. Hope United Methodist Church, 16550 Bernardo Heights Parkway, San Diego. Free. (858) 485-5840.

Salk Science & Music Series: Sa Chen and Greg Lemke: 4 p.m. Jan. 22.

Additional concerts Feb. 12, March 12, April 30. Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla. $55 per concert; $275 for full series.

(858) 587-0657, salk.edu/music

Black Violin: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2. California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. $20-$40.

(800) 988-4253, artcenter.org Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4: 8 p.m.

Feb. 3. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85. (619) 235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org A Lang Lang Super Sunday: 1 p.m. Feb. 5. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85. (619) 235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

Portland Cello Project: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22. California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. $30$45. (800) 988-4253, artcenter.org

Navy Band Southwest Woodwind Quintet: 2 p.m. Feb. 5. Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas.

Free. encinitaslibfriends.org

Camarada: Mingle: Memories in Watercolor: 6 p.m. Jan. 15. Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. $25-$30. camarada.org

Enso String Quartet: 8 p.m. Jan. 24.

Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $40-$54; $9 UC San Diego student. (858) 534-8497, artpower.ucsd.edu

The Classical Style: 8 p.m. Feb. 10, 11.

Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $20-$85. (619) 235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

Community Concerts of Rancho Santa Fe: Melinda Doolittle: 7 p.m. Jan. 20.

The Village Church Fellowship Hall, 6225 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe. $75. communityconcertsofrsf.com

Orvieto Piano Trio: 6:15 p.m. Jan. 25.

Rancho Bernardo Library, 17110 Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego. Free; donations. friendsoftheranchobernardolibrary.org

San Diego Youth Orchestra Winter Chamber Concert 2017: 7 p.m. Jan. 20. San Diego Youth Performing Arts Center, 10855 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego. $15-$25. thenewyouthorchestra.com

La Jolla Music Society: Prague Philharmonia: 8 p.m. Jan. 25. Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., San Diego. $28-$97. (858) 459-3728, ljms.org

Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Choir: 4:30 p.m. Jan. 15. St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 3502 Clairemont Drive, San Diego. Free. mlkccsd.net

La Jolla Music Society: Kronos Quartet: 8 p.m. Jan. 20. MCASD Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. $30-$80. (858) 459-3728, ljms.org LA/NY: Jan. 20, 22. Jacobs Music

Amore: An Affair with the Music of Handel, Vivaldi & Corelli: 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26. Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas. $10-$25. sdbaroque.ticketleap.com Amore: An Affair with the Music of Handel, Vivaldi & Corelli: 7:30 p.m.

Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling: 8 p.m. Feb. 10. Balboa Theater, 868 Fourth Ave., San Diego. $23-$73.

(858) 459-3728, ljms.org Leonidas Kavakos, violin, and Yuja Wang, piano: 8 p.m. Feb. 11. Balboa Theater, 868 Fourth Ave., San Diego. $18-$68. (858) 459-3728, ljms.org La Jolla Symphony & Chorus: “Sinfonia”: Feb. 11, 12. Mandeville Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $15-$29. lajollasymphony.com

For more events or to submit event information, visit sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/things-todo

Cowboys and Vaqueros: Legends of the American West: Jan. 14-Feb. 26.

California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. $5-$8.

(800) 988-4253, artcenter.org Reception: Wood: a Furniture Show VIII: 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14; exhibition through Feb. 4. Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., Escondido. Free. escondidoarts.org Reception: Visions of Latin Art: 6 p.m.

Jan. 14; exhibition through Feb. 25.

Meyer Fine Art, 2400 Kettner Blvd., Suite 104, San Diego. Free. (619) 358-9512, meyerfineartinc.com Ian Ely New Release Party: 6 p.m. Jan. 14. Ian Ely Gallery, 1141 Prospect St., La Jolla. Free. (858) 291-8084, ianely.com

Closing

4UP: Sherry Krulle-Beaton and Jackson Thilenius: Through Jan. 15.

Studio Door, 3750 30th St., San Diego.

Free. (619) 255-4920, thestudiodoor.com

Upcoming

Urban Beats: The Walk: Youth Art Showcase: 6 p.m. Jan. 19. Alpha Center, 6323 Imperial Ave., San Diego.

Free. facebook.com Lecture: Brian Bomeisler: “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”: 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19. Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. (858) 454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Reception: Jon Koehler, Leah Pantéa and Brittni Cute: Abstract Shapes in Metal & Multimedia: 5 p.m. Jan. 20; exhibition through March 3. La Playa Gallery, 2226 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla. Free. (858) 454-6903, laplayagallery.com Reception: 4UP: Nancy Plank and Patrick Brown: 6 p.m. Jan. 21; exhibition through Jan. 29. Studio Door, 3750 30th St., San Diego. Free. (619) 255-4920, thestudiodoor.com Local Butcher Group Show: 6 p.m. Jan. 28. MaxWood Co., 3358 F. St., San Diego. Free. maxwood.co Reception: Ilona Peteris: Spiritlands: 6 p.m. Jan. 28; exhibition Jan. 13-March 31. L Street Fine Art, 628 L St., San Diego. Free. director@lstreetfineart.com Kick Start: Through Jan. 29. San Diego Watercolor Society Gallery at Arts District Liberty Station, 2825 Dewey Road, Bldg. #202, San Diego. Free.

(619) 876-4550, sdws.org Constructs: A collaboration of WeaveLife and Sophies Gallery: Through Jan. 31. Sophie’s Kensington

Through Feb. 5. Madison Gallery, 1055 Wall St., Suite 100, La Jolla. Free. (858) 459-0836, madisongalleries.com

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Group Show: Animalia: Through Feb. 12. Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., San Diego. Free with online RSVP at sparksgallery.com

THURSDAY • JANUARY 12, 2017 | THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE | Night + Day

Gallery, 4186 Adams Ave., San Diego.

Free. stmsc.org

Gloria Galbraith and Sharon Hyde: Bright and Bold: Feb. 16-28. Southwestern Artists’ Association, 1770 Village Place, Gallery 23, San Diego.

Free. swartists.com

Print Culture: Midcentury Modern Graphic Design: Through Feb. 26. San Diego Central Library Art Gallery, Ninth floor, 330 Park Blvd., San Diego. Free. sdplcalendar.org

Bright and Bold: 10 a.m. Feb. 16.

Southwestern Artists’ Association, 1770 Village Place, Gallery 23, San Diego.

Free. swartists.com

Southern CA Sculpture: A Group Show: Through March 5. Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., San Diego. Free.

(619) 696-1416, sparksgallery.com

Ultimate Dinosaurs: Feb. 25-Sept. 4.

San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, San Diego. $28. (619) 232-3821, sdnhm.org

The Erik Gronborg Experience: Through March 12. Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. $5-$10. (619) 704-7495, mingei.org

First Friday: Oceanside Art Walk: 5 p.m. March 3. Various venues throughout downtown Oceanside area. Free. oceansideartwalk.org

Ongoing Sandow Birk: Depravities and Monuments: Exhibition through Jan. 29.

SDSU Downtown Gallery, 725 W. Broadway, San Diego. Free. (619) 501-6370, art.sdsu.edu The Lore Behind The Roar! 100 Years of the San Diego Zoo: Through Jan. 31.

San Diego History Center, 1649 El Prado, Suite 3, San Diego. $10 general admission. (619) 232-6203, sandiegohistory.org Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture: Through Jan. 31. The San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, San Diego. $15; $10 member; $12.50 military and seniors; $5 student. (619) 232-7931, sdmart.org Russell Forester: Space, Structure, Light: Through Feb. 5. Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. $8 general admission.

(760) 435-3720, oma-online.org, irvingjgill.org Jaehyo Lee: The Principles of Nature:

The Dreadnought: 100 Years of a Mighty Martin Guitar: Through April 30. Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. $10 admission. (760) 304-5844, museumofmakingmusic.org Layers of Brilliance: The Journey of Japanese Lacquer Tools: Through April 30. Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. $7-$10. (619) 239-0003, mingei.org Photo Ark: Through April 30. San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, San Diego. $19. (619) 232-3821, sdnhm.org Imprint: Recent Acquisitions from the David W. May Collection: Through May 19. David W. May American Indian Gallery, Serra Hall, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego.

Free. (619) 260-7516, sandiego.edu/ galleries

For more events or to submit event information, visit sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/things-todo

ARTS

AMERICAN GREATS Conductor James Gaffigan and the San Diego Symphony salute U.S. composers E3

T R AV E L

STYLE

AN ISLAND FOR EVERYONE

WILD AND CRAZY

Whether you are seeking the best beaches, natural wonders, celebrity sightings or just solitude, there’s a Caribbean island to fit the bill E10

The menswear at Milan Fashion Week is not for the meek E8

SECTION E

SUNDAY • JANUARY 22, 2017

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L G A N N A O H I T C O X E M

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MARGOT SCHULMAN

The cast of Signature Theatre’s world-premiere production of “Freaky Friday,” which now comes to La Jolla Playhouse.

Creators of new musical ‘Freaky Friday’ see real poignancy in zany story of mother and daughter who swap bodies

I

BY JAMES HEBERT

ts Disney-movie pedigree and high comic concept don’t exactly paint “Freaky Friday” as the stuff of solemn drama. ■ And yet Bridget Carpenter says those who settle in for the musical-stage version of the switched-personalities saga might be surprised to find some of their smiles swapping places with sighs. ■ “They’re not going to be wrong if they think they’re going to laugh a lot,” says Carpenter, who wrote the story adaptation for the new musical that’s about to hit the La Jolla Playhouse stage. “But I hope they might cry a little bit, too.” ■ That’s at least in part because at the show’s center is the close but contentious bond between a parent and child, and the mutual appreciation they discover after spending time in each other’s skins. ■ Playhouse artistic chief Christopher Ashley, who’s directing “Freaky Friday,” likewise finds plenty of poignancy in “the mother-daughter story at the center of it — the idea that if you could see through someone else’s eyes, live their life, feel the pressures on them, you would forgive, you would stop trying to make them into who you want them to be. And try to help them fulfill themselves. ■ “The deepening of the love between mother and daughter that happens during the course of that day, I find very emotional.”

“Freaky Friday”

SEE ‘FREAKY FRIDAY’ • E4

When: Previews begin Jan. 31. Opens Feb. 3. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through March 12.

Where: La Jolla Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Theatre, Playhouse/UC San Diego Theatre District, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive Tickets: About $64-$81 (discounts available) Phone: (858) 550-1010 Online: lajollaplayhouse.org

E3

SUNDAY • JANUARY 22, 2017

American showcase Conductor James Gaffigan leads the San Diego Symphony in a celebration of several U.S. composers

CM ARTISTS

James Gaffigan is one of several guest conductors being considered to replace Jahja Ling as the San Diego Symphony’s music director.

I

BY BETH WOOD

n classical music, there’s only one James Gaffigan: the internationally in-demand conductor who leads the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and is guest-conducting the San Diego Symphony this weekend. ■ But in the wider world, there’s also comedian-actor James Gaffigan. In 2001, when conductor Gaffigan was studying at Rice University in Houston, he bought a laptop and soon heard his phone ring. The irritated caller was the comedian.

“It turns out that we both bought a MacBook the same day under the name Jim Gaffigan and he was billed twice,” recalled the conductor, with a laugh. “He was freaking out, thinking his identity was stolen.”

A friendly conversation ensued, and now they follow each other on Twitter.

“Recently he tweeted something like it was ‘unfair to be mixed up with this guy who is more talented and more handsome’ than him,” Gaffigan said. “ ‘Not true,’ I tweeted back. ‘And I’m sick of people expecting me to be funny.’ ” Expectations should be high for this weekend’s program, which is part of the symphony’s “Our American Music” series.

On Friday and Sunday, the symphony will perform the works of six outstanding U.S. composers — Henry Cowell, Steven Stucky, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould and Duke Ellington. Gould’s “Tap Dance Concerto” features dancer Cartier Williams.

“It’s safe to say the program is a study in American music,” Gaffigan said. “The symphony chose two masterpieces, the Barber symphony and Ellington’s ‘Harlem,’ two difficult works by genius composers.

The symphony is at an extremely high level.

It’s a very challenging program and I’m excited to do it.

“The second half is simply a party, emphasizing rhythm. Bernstein’s ‘Prelude, Fugue and Riffs’ is one of his most exciting pieces — completely wild. And there’s the tap dance concerto. When they first told me about it, I started laughing; I hadn’t heard of such a thing. But I listened and it’s just great. It’s really fun and entertaining.”

Early days

DANIELA KIENZLER

“The biggest problem with classical music is that it has become stodgy and museumlike,” says Gaffigan.

TALKING WITH ...

Gaffigan started playing music by ear on piano and guitar when he was a public school student on Staten Island. His father suggested trying the bassoon or oboe because he’d be more likely to qualify for scholarships. Despite acknowledging that

the bassoon was a “funny instrument,” Gaffigan became fascinated by it.

“Playing the bassoon was how I fell in love with classical music,” he said. “I then went to LaGuardia (Academy for Arts & Technology). Very quickly it became clear how fascinated I was with the score and how a piece came together. So, by the age of 18, I knew I wanted to become a conductor.

Both my mother and father were very supportive.

“They had no money to buy an instrument; they had to take out a loan. Here’s their lower-middle-class son who wants to become a musician. They saw my love for it — they didn’t have professions they loved so much. Even when my career was beginning, when other family members worried about me not making money as a conductor, my parents were supportive. Now people realize you can have a nice career and make a good living waving a stick around.”

Gaffigan attended the Juilliard PreCollege Division and later attended several prestigious programs, including the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School (when he was 19), the New England Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. He was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, under Michael Tilson Thomas. Earlier, Gaffigan served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 2003 to 2006.

Bullish on San Diego

While in Cleveland, Gaffigan had frequent interactions with Jahja Ling, who is wrapping up his 13-year tenure as music director of the San Diego Symphony this season. Ling has had a continuous relationship with the Cleveland Orchestra for 30plus years. During the San Diego Symphony’s 2013-2014 season, Gaffigan conducted Poulenc’s “Concerto for Two Pianos,” feaSEE GAFFIGAN • E5

Sheila Kohler

AUTHOR RETURNS TO SISTER’S DEATH IN A NEW MEMOIR Car crash has been a constant presence in Kohler’s fiction writing

BY JOHN WILKENS Author Sheila Kohler grew up in South Africa’s privileged upper class, in the time of apartheid, with a sister she loved deeply and lost tragically in a car crash she never believed was an accident.

Over and over in her fiction she’s returned to that loss, and now it’s at the heart of a new memoir, “Once We Were Sisters.”

Kohler, who lives in New York City and teaches at Princeton, will be at Warwick’s at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Q: A:

Why did you write this memoir, and why now?

Ever since my sister’s death occurred, which was 35 years ago, I’ve been writing about it. It was such a traumatic event. I was in a rage with my brother-inlaw because there had been this history of battering and I felt, I suppose, guilty because I hadn’t been able to protect my sister.

In the beginning, I felt that fiction was the better way for me to go. Plus, there were other considerations. My brother-in-law was still alive, and there were six children to think about. My mother wanted to basically forget the whole matter and treat it as an accident.

But at this point, the children are very much grown, they have

children of their own, and my brother-in-law is no longer with us, nor is my mother. I felt like I could perhaps now with some fairness write the story and get as close as possible to the truth, or at least the truth I knew.

Q:

In the early days, was fiction better because it enabled you to approach the story from a safer distance?

Exactly. What is it that Emily Dickinson said? “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.” I needed the slant at that point.

A:

Q:

As you mentioned, you’ve returned to your sister’s death in your writing many times.

What keeps bringing you back?

SEE KOHLER • E4

BEOWULF SHEEHAN

Sheila Kohler, author of “Once We Were Sisters.”

E4

THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

SUNDAY • JANUARY 22, 2017

‘FREAKY FRIDAY’ • Musical’s book based on ’72 novel FROM E1 Such reactions to “Freaky Friday” might come as a surprise to those who remember the story mostly for the wackiness of its premise, as seen in the 1977 Disney film (starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris) and 2003 big-screen remake (with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis).

The core story of the middle-age mom and teen daughter who suddenly find themselves in each other’s bodies hasn’t changed for the musical adaptation.

But the stage version, which premiered at the D.C.-area Signature Theatre last fall under Ashley’s direction, features new music by composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning duo behind “Next to Normal.”

It also features a fresh take on the story by Carpenter, who knows a little something about big Friday happenings: The seasoned playwright has been an executive producer on the TV football drama “Friday Night Lights” (as well as “Parenthood” and other shows).

Carpenter based her book for the musical on both the “Freaky Friday” movies and the original 1972 novel

by Mary Rodgers, daughter of the Broadway icon Richard Rodgers and an accomplished writer and composer in her own right.

She says one moment in particular from Rodgers’ novel helped persuade her to take on the project. It’s a scene in which the teenage Ellie struggles to make it through a day in the guise of her mom, Katherine.

(Emma Hunton of Broadway’s “Next to Normal” plays Ellie; the Broadway-seasoned Heidi Blickenstaff of “Something Rotten!” and “[title of show]” portrays Katherine. But they also kind of play each other. Yes, it’s confusing.)

At any rate: “As they say, complications ensue,” Carpenter notes. “It’s very comic. At the end, though, she gets really panicked, and her heart starts racing, and she goes in her room and closes the door. And she says, ‘Mommy.’

“I love that. I can make myself tear up thinking about it. I think that’s a universal, human moment you have when you’re 5, and then you’re 15, and then

“Freaky” and friends Although the new musical “Freaky Friday” involves a very specific kind of identity swap, here are a few other works of theater that have messed with the general idea of transplanted personalities:

JIM SAAH

The musical “Freaky Friday” premiered at the D.C.-area Signature Theatre last fall.

“Prelude to a Kiss” (1988): In Craig Lucas’ play (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), a kiss from a mysterious elderly man at a wedding causes him to switch bodies with the bride (and results in one very confused groom).

“Big” (1996): Based on the 1988 movie starring Tom Hanks, this musical centers on a boy who finds himself in a grown-up’s body after making a wish to be older. The show ran about six months on Broadway.

JIM SAAH

Emma Hunton (left) and Heidi Blickenstaff star in “Freaky Friday” at La Jolla Playhouse. you’re 25, and you’re 35.

That’s a very recognizable moment to feel.

“And then if you’re lucky, you get to hear somebody say ‘Mommy’ (to you). I love that duality. And the way that moment made me feel was how I wanted to write the musical.

“Not to write it seriously, but to take it seriously.”

Spirit guide

Carpenter says Rodgers, who died in 2014 at age 83, was “unbelievably supportive” during the early stages of writing the musical.

Director Ashley had similar affection for Rodgers — as well as a long history with her and “Freaky Friday.”

In fact, Ashley’s first job after graduating from Yale University in the mid-1980s was as the director of a children’s-theater version of the story.

“Mary Rodgers was my spirit guide,” Ashley says now. “I just thought she was the most loving, hilarious, sardonic, glamorous person ever.

“We would work on (the

children’s show) at the piano where Richard Rodgers wrote ‘Oklahoma!’ and ‘The Sound of Music.’ So it’s surreal and wonderful to come back to a story 30 years later and tell a grown-up version of it.

“There’s also something about the story that’s particularly well suited to the American musical theater.

It’s a subjective story about what it’s like to be inside (someone else’s) head.

“And that’s something music does beautifully. It explores the emotional reality of a moment in a way that words in a scene have a hard time doing. So (the story) becomes a musical so naturally and organically.”

Blickenstaff has some experience with the music of Kitt and Yorkey (and with playing a mother figure in one of their shows): She took on the lead role of the bipolar suburban mom Diana in a 2013 production of “Next to Normal.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been set free as much, as an actor-singer, as when I’ve done one of their characters,” Blickenstaff says of her

“The Gentleman in Black” (1870): Reaching back a bit: This operetta by W.S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame) and Frederic Clay involves a rich old man and a poor young one whose mutual envy triggers a body-swap.

“Uncanny Valley” (2014): The sci-fi play by Thomas Gibbons had one of a series of “rolling” world premieres at San Diego Rep. It focuses on a robot whose mind has been downloaded from a terminally ill man in a bid to achieve a kind of immortality. experiences with the songwriting duo. “Their style, their sensibility — it’s such a good match, if I do say so myself.”

And not only does she appreciate the kind of example “Freaky Friday” sets (in its own loopy way) by letting its characters see the world through another’s eyes, but “we also have a real girlpower message in our show, which I couldn’t be more proud of,” Blickenstaff says.

“It’s a such a beautiful show, and I think it can give people a little two-hour vacation to Empathy Island.” jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

KOHLER • Guilt played ‘a huge role’ in much of her writing FROM E3 It was just such a terrible event. A young woman, she was 39, she had all these children, she was beautiful and brilliant and full of all these projects and plans. And I think she really did mean at that time to leave him. But it’s very hard when you are confronted by a bully and someone who will use force.

And there may have been other emotional reasons.

In fact, that answers your question: I kept asking myself, how did this happen? How could this happen? How could evil exist in the world if you believe in a benevolent God? I was taking to the page to find the answers.

A:

Q:

Do you think you would have become a writer if your sister hadn’t died the way she did?

I think I would. I always wanted to write from when I was a very little girl. When I was 5 or 6, I can remember sitting on the toilet of all places and starting to write a novel. I don’t know what it was about.

So it was something I always wanted to do. I was the girl in the dormitory at boarding school who told stories. They were always running through my mind.

But I got married very young, had three children, and my middle daughter was born deaf. I was really fixated on trying to help her to talk.

I kept writing, diaries and whatever, but it’s true that my sister’s death was something that really sent me scurrying to the page. I had a real agenda there, which is difficult with fiction. That’s probably why the first time I tried I couldn’t do it.

A:

Q:

You mentioned earlier feelings of guilt. What role did that play in your writing?

It played a huge role.

I was always telling myself, If I’d done this, if I’d hired a bodyguard, if I’d stayed by her side, then it couldn’t have happened.

A:

Find Your Music™ at Copley Symphony Hall

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JAN 27 – 8pm | JAN 29 – 2pm From Henry Cowell’s evocation of colonial era hymnal music to Samuel Barber’s brief but melodically rich, youthfully optimistic Symphony No. 1, from Leonard Bernstein’s supremely swinging Prelude, Fugue and Riffs to Morton Gould’s highly unorthodox but quintessentially American Tap Dance Concerto, Copley Symphony Hall will be filled with music that is bold and brassy, confident yet introspective. James Gaffigan conducts.

FEB 3 – 8pm This program features Dmitri Shostakovich’s nearly perfect concert opener for the ages, his Festive Overture. Next is the tautly constructed Third Violin Concert from Camille Saint-Saëns, featuring guest violinist Benjamin Beilman. Finally, Music Director Jahja Ling closes the concert with Piotr Tchaikovsky’s alwaysrousing Symphony No. 4.

THE CLASSICAL STYLE

Tickets and Information | SANDIEGOSYMPHONY.ORG

256 pages And in fact, the first book I ever managed to write, which was based on a murder of a young girl, the narrator herself is the guilty one.

What do you call that, survivor’s guilt? Whatever it is, that feeling in those circumstances is that you should have saved them.

Q:

In some of your fiction, you’ve kind of rewritten the ending of your sister’s story, haven’t you?

Yes, I did. In “Crossways” I had the sister run down (with her car) the brother-in-law. Revenge is sweet, on the page anyway.

Not in life.

A:

Q:

Has all this wrestling with these issues made you come to any conclusion about whether it’s possible to find closure?

I don’t think so. I hate to say that. For me, it fuels my writing. It fuels my work. Even when I’m writing something that’s very different — I’ve done historical novels, written about the Brontes, and I’m currently writing a book about Sonia, who is the prostitute in “Crime and Punishment” — these are all women who never got to tell their stories. So in a way I’m still writing my sister’s story.

She would tell me, as women do — tell me things as if they were happening to someone else. Then I would realize it was her story. I would say, “This happened to you?” And she would say, “I promised not to tell.” And so I would say, “You didn’t tell.” She was frightened for her husband’s career, frightened for her own life.

A:

A:

TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 4

FEB 23 – 7:30pm This concert features Johann Strauss, Jr.’s An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), Vilém Tauský’s Coventry: Meditation for String Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. David Danzmayr conducts.

Penguin Books

You mention in several places in the memoir that writing became a way for you to understand the mysteries and secrets of the people around you. What have you learned about yourself from your writing?

Things appear on the page that you didn’t know. Probably I started out with my initial attempt to write this with the sister being perfect. I as the narrator was perfect. I was the victim. How could this happen to me? Then you discover that you, too, have had aggressive feelings and you’re not perfect either. It’s a good way to discover yourself, on the page. That’s for sure. The dark side of human nature appears.

That’s actually an exercise I give students sometimes: to write from the point of view of someone you are in conflict with.

Somebody who does not have the same political views, for example. Write from their point of view and see what happens.

JAN 28 – 8pm A fascinating musical biography of American composer Charles Ives, his warm relationship with his bandleader father and the transmission of a surprisingly varied and rich musical heritage from father to son, as fully realized in Ives’ Symphony No. 2. James Gaffigan conducts.

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 7 WITH DAVID DANZMAYR

by Sheila Kohler

Q:

BEYOND THE SCORE ®: THINGS OUR FATHERS LOVED

FEB 10 & 11 – 8pm San Diego Symphony musicians are front and center for this concert exploring the meaning of “The Classical Style” as interpreted by three very different composers.

The concert is led by gifted 27 year old Israeli conductor Lahav Shani, first prize winner at the 2013 Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition.

“Once We Were Sisters”

Q: A New Play with Music Directed by Trevor Hay

PLAYING NOW THROUGH FEBRUARY 12TH ON THE LYCEUM STAGE

BOOK TICKETS NOW! ASK ABOUT FREE PARKING!

619.544.1000 | SDREP.ORG | Lyceum Theatre | Horton Plaza

This is a very personal book, but what are the universal messages you hope readers might get from reading it?

First of all, you hope that somebody can be distracted from their own world, from whatever it is in their own mundane existences. For a moment, they are taken out of themselves. Then at the same time, it might give them some insight into whatever is happening in their own lives. You hope to do both things.

We are, after all, a community of souls. So you hope to feel some kind of connection with each person who reads your book.

A:

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com

THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

E5

SUNDAY • JANUARY 22, 2017

‘ALLEGIANCE’ GETS AN ENCORE GAFFIGAN • Thinks highly of orchestra Old Globe-launched play will return to movie theaters

BY DEBORAH VANKIN If you missed George Takei’s Broadway musical “Allegiance” — or the subsequent one-night-only screening of the live production in movie theaters nationwide — then fear not. It’s coming back by popular demand.

The Dec. 13 movie-theater presentation of “George Takei’s Allegiance: The Broadway Musical on the Big Screen” set a record for the company that presented it, Fathom Events.

The premiere was its highest-grossing one-night Broadway musical event, the 14-year-old company said, bringing in more than $1 million in ticket sales in about 600 theaters.

“George Takei’s Allegiance” will return to select theaters for a one-day encore Feb. 19.

“Allegiance,” which was Takei’s Broadway debut, is about the internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It was loosely inspired by the actor’s own childhood, and

MATTHEW MURPHY TNS

Telly Leung and Katie Rose Clarke in the Broadway production of “Allegiance.”

Takei played a World War II veteran looking back on his youth.

The production debuted in 2012 at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre; it opened on Broadway in November 2015 and closed the following February.

“At a time when echoes of the interment ring once again far too loud in our political discourse, there’s never been a better moment for the story of ‘Allegiance’ to find new audiences,” Takei said in a statement. “It is a true testament to the power and the relevance of this story that so many people attended its premiere in

December, and it is only appropriate that even more people will be able to witness it on such an important day as Feb. 19, 2017.”

The screening is scheduled on what’s being called the Day of Remembrance, the 75th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which initiated the forced relocation and internment of an estimated 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom were American citizens.

Vankin writes for the California News Group, publisher of the Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

FROM E3 turing Ling and Ling’s wife, Jessie Chang, as piano soloists.

On Saturday, Gaffigan will be “waving his stick around” to lead the symphony in a Beyond the Score (BTS) concert, this one exploring the music and life of American composer Charles Ives. He conducted a BTS with the Chicago Symphony, where the concept was developed.

“The biggest problem with classical music is that it has become stodgy and museumlike,” said Gaffigan, one of several guest conductors being considered to replace Ling as the symphony’s music director.

“BTS is put together in a professional way and shows composers in a different light — as humans. BTS is beyond an educational experience. It’s a successful way of communicating the music and personalities of the composers.”

As a foodie and avid cook, Gaffigan hopes to have time to explore the lively San Diego restaurant scene. He credits concertmaster and violinist Jeff Thayer for introducing the conductor to “unreal” food and wine on his last visit

HOPE

“American Riffs and Rhapsodies” San Diego Symphony presents “Our American Music”: James Gaffigan, conductor; Cartier Williams, dancer When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. next Sunday Where: Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown Tickets: $20 to $96 Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org

“Beyond The Score: Things Our Fathers Loved” San Diego Symphony presents “Our American Music”: James Gaffigan, conductor When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Jacobs Music Center at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown Tickets: $20 to $96 Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org here. But above all, Gaffigan is looking forward to playing with the symphony.

“There are these little gems among the orchestras in the U.S., and the San Diego Symphony is one of them,” he said. “This is their time. Some organizations

have been in the spotlight too long and need to make room for upcoming orchestras like this one. With (CEO) Martha Gilmer at the helm, it will continue to shine.”

Wood is a freelance writer.

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