What a summer for live theater -- Broadway and local summer stock varieties abound.

 The dramatic journey starts at the La Jolla Playhouse with the provocative Gifts and Guns which had a run in New York before it took to the road. From the opening curtain to the closing bows, it's a winding political tale with the backdrop of wars in Afghanistan, politicos in Pakistan, and magnificent performances by actors and characters alike. The audience is privy to a rare birds-eye view of each country's key representative on the ground -- American, British, Russian and Afghani/Pakistani. That last one is a double because the setting for the story is Pakistan, but I was never sure if the key guy was Afghani or Pakistani. The partners change with the trends of war and terrorist bands, so the bad guys become the good guys, and the money and guns to fight evil support it in the end. Tangled.  And I do mean more than a head full of long blonde hair falling from a Disney castle window. The never-ending loop of history has more than a few bewildering moments. Sad news is that it's likely to stay this way until the next partners dance and ultimately discover the bonds of ancient tribal loyalties and cultural practices are beyond their wildest understanding and hopeful optimism. But that's a pessimist talking. If there's going to be peace on earth (Middle East), let it begin with the women and schools, not the tribes and guns.

Alas, the unpleasant taste left by familiar tragedies of politics and war is quickly forgotten in the recent production of Wicked at San Diego's Civic Theater.  The blonde, cheery, playful Glinda witch offers a striking contrast to her more serious, studious sister witch, Elphaba, whose green skin is her burden to bear in this life. Elfa's fate was sealed at conception, when her mother and the Wizard of Oz engaged in a tryst that led to sips of his, yes-you-guessed-it, green potion. The two sisters struggle to be separate and then together, to claim the same man (guess who wins that one), and to support and deny the animals a place in their world.  But these subplots are upstaged when the third sister witch, Nessarose, spirngs up from her wheelchair and dances around the stage! My personal favorites among the cast were the agile monkeys of Oz who pranced and leaped and crouched on the sets, including a tall structure of ladders that spanned the entire stage, reminiscent of a jail number in Chicago. A moment of unexpected levity arrives when a door in the floor is lifted and slammed shut, to keep "that little farm girl from Kansas" imprisoned below. The production quality and performances were worthy of praise, and offered an abundance of opportunities for an eager audience to clap and shout their approval.

If good girl witch Glinda has any aspirations for acting, she might want to audition for the role of Elle, the female lead in Legally Blonde, at Vista's Moonlight Theater.  Her blonde, cheery outlook on life, albeit naive, is well suited to Elle’s stereotypical reputation as the dumb, energetic blonde that no one takes seriously when she arrives at Harvard Law School to win back the guy who broke her heart when he left UCLA.  The musical numbers crackle with energy.  At once memorable is the number with Elle’s hairdresser and her soon-to-be-husband, the UPS delivery man, who takes the lead in a chorus line of characters in an Irish dance reminiscent of Riverdance.  A real-life UCLA student, the actress who plays Elle is an engaging performer with talent to spare.  Her vocal delivery and timing are outstanding as the lead of a considerable cast of worthy performers who spin a yarn that turns everything sideways before Elle demonstrates her brainy chops and recognizes true love.