San Diego Is Drunk on 'Sideways'

Editor's Note: The La Jolla Playhouse released the following announcement on August 1, 2013:

Once again due to popular demand, La Jolla Playhouse announces a second week-long extension of its hit comedy Sideways, by Rex Pickett, directed by Playhouse Director Emeritus Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots). The show will now run in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre through Sept. 1. Tickets for the second extension are available by calling the Patron Services Department at 858-550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org

The audience and critical response to this new play has been overwhelming. The show “crackles and surprises,” wrote the UT San Diego, while City Beat called it “fruitful summertime entertainment – the cast is like a good pinot noir, rich and memorable.” La Jolla Light raved, “Full bodied humor in Sideways…Delivers laugh after laugh!”

“This singular production has truly resonated with our patrons,” said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. “It’s a universal, road-trip story, laced with humor and pathos, and we’re delighted to be able to offer more San Diegans the opportunity to see Sideways with yet another week of performances.”

The Playhouse is also pleased to announce that wine tastings will be offered following the Thursday, Friday andSaturday evening performances throughout the run of Sideways. The tastings take place in the La Jolla Playhouse Coffee Bar and Restaurant, hosted by UC San Diego Hospitality Services, which offers pre-show seated dining Tuesdays through Sundays.

Patrons are invited to enjoy three- and five-flight wine tastings while mingling with other audience members, as well as Playhouse staff and cast. A selection of wines from five renowned Santa Barbara County wineries will be featured, in celebration of this wine-themed comedy. Tastings include the Melville 2011 Estate Chardonnay, the Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post 2011 Highliner Pinot Noir, the Buttonwood 2009 Cabernet Franc; the Byron 2010 Pinot Noir and the Kenneth Volk 2009 Pinot Noir. Tastings are $12 for three flights and $15 for five flights; price includes a souvenir Sideways wine glass.

The La Jolla Playhouse Restaurant and Coffee Bar is also open for pre-show seated dining Tuesdays through Fridays starting at 5:30 p.m. The delectable menu features featuring a wide array of organic, locally-sourced and organic dishes, including grilled organic romaine heart salad, braised certified Angus beef short ribs and coconut panna cotta with candied jalapeno papaya salsa. The coffee bar offers salads, sandwiches and a selection of Starbucks barista drinks. Please note: the restaurant and coffee bar are not open for food service during post-show wine tastings.

Sideways follows two friends – Miles, a frustrated novelist; and Jack, a no-name TV actor and director – and their journey across the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. During one last blowout road trip before Jack is to be married, the two men run tangle-footed into their midlife crises, all the while exploring the beautiful central California wine region.