San Diego, CA
These San Diego Regional Theaters Meet The Moment With Must-See Shows

Quentin Earl Darrington as Frederick Douglass and Ivan Hernandez as President Abraham Lincoln in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere musical, “3 Summers of Lincoln.”
Rich Soublet II
You never need an excuse to escape to sunny San Diego but major premieres at two of the coveted destination’s award-winning theaters are reason enough to drop everything and book a trip now.
3 Summers of Lincoln at La Jolla Playhouse and What the Constitution Means to Me at North Coast Rep are both exceptional shows that are impactful, important and thought-provoking, especially at this time in history. Although they share themes focused on the US government, they are totally different – one’s a musical, the other a play; one is an exploration of the effort to end the Civil War, the other an exploration of the effort to create the Constitution – and each brings something exciting and relevant to the table.
3 Summers of Lincoln at La Jolla Playhouse
It’s impossible to talk about 3 Summers of Lincoln without mentioning Hamilton but they really have little in common other than the fact that they’re both contemporary musicals about a game-changing period in US history. While Hamilton mostly features hip hop and rap, 3 Summers of Lincoln is more traditionally Broadway, filled with anthems, ballads and enough catchy songs to eventually earn it a Tony nomination. If I could find the soundtrack on Spotify, I would have downloaded it as I left the theater.
The La Jolla Playhouse run is the musical’s world premiere, and you’ll be sucked in from the first notes of its opening number, “Ninety Day War.” Featuring a riveting performance by a soldier played by Evan Ruggiero, a self-described “one-legged tap dancer,” who offers a physical representation of the telegraph that experts believe helped Lincoln win the war, its percussive beat goes right through you and you can’t help sit up straighter, instantly at attention.
(L-R) Eric Anderson, Noah Rivera, Johnathan Tanner and Evan Ruggiero in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere musical, “3 Summers of Lincoln.”
Rich Soublet II
The show covers the summers of 1862, 1863 and 1864 as President Lincoln tries to end the war that has been going on for days, months, years – which are regularly displayed on the impressive set, conveying the heaviness of this endless battle and its massive body count. He worries about the soldiers, doubts his decisions and gets more and more frustrated with General McClellan. He also develops a treasured and often volatile relationship with abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Their meetings are electrifying.
It’s so moving to watch Lincoln struggle over whether to issue the Emancipation Proclamation against the warnings of his cabinet. When he finally decides to do the right thing and end slavery, despite the fact that it may cost him a second term, it feels like a miracle.
Every performance in 3 Summers of Lincoln is outstanding, with Ivan Hernandez totally embodying the President (if you saw him on the street, you’d swear Lincoln had come back to life) and Quentin Earl Darrington stealing the spotlight every time he appears on stage as Douglass. Carmen Cusack is a three-dimensional Mary Todd Lincoln, Saycon Sengbloh becomes more than Mary’s trusted friend and dressmaker and John-Andrew Morrison is a stand out as Lincoln’s butler.
With gorgeous sets, costumes and songs, 3 Summers of Lincoln deserves to follow many of La Jolla Playhouse’s former hits (including Jersey Boys, Come From Away, Redwood) to Broadway.
What the Constitution Means to Me at North Coast Rep
Jacque Wilke in “What the Constitution Means to Me” at North Coast Rep.
Aaron Rumley
A few miles north, in Solana Beach, North Coast Rep has just extended the San Diego premiere of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck. I had seen the Tony-nominated show on Amazon Prime and loved it but seeing it in person, especially in the intimate North Coast Rep theater, was truly meaningful.
Jacque Wilke stars as the playwright herself, who recreates her real-life experiences as a 15 year old student who paid for college with money she earned by winning Constitutional debate competitions at American Legion halls across the country.
The show is deeply personal, making it a much more natural way to teach people an important thing or two than lecturing them. It’s well-structured, hilarious, heartbreaking, educational and relatable. Wilke is likeable and personable as Heidi and it’s easy to get invested in her stories and history, all of which are tied into the Constitution and its amendments. We suddenly grasp the meaning of this document as she reveals both its brilliance and flaws, using actual recordings of Supreme Court justices involved in their own debates about real cases.
Em Danque and Jacque Wilke in “What the Constitution Means to Me” at North Coast Rep.
Aaron Rumley
It quickly becomes clear that women have been underserved by the Constitution, which Heidi argues is a “living document” that can and should evolve over time. One of the highlights of the show is the debate between Heidi and a local student (Em Danque), who each take a side on whether to keep or abolish the Constitution. Every audience member is given a pocket copy of the Constitution to keep and encouraged to cheer for points they agree with and boo when they disagree.
At every performance, one audience member is chosen to pick the winner of the debate. At mine (and 85% of the performances, according to the stage manager) , she opted to keep the Constitution with the caveat that it needed more amendments to protect rights for all. Or, to quote President Lincoln himself, “The people – the people – are the rightful masters of both congresses, and courts – not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.”
The audiences of both What the Constitution Means to Me and 3 Summers of Lincoln were totally engaged and vocal, applauding wildly when specific lines hit home, reinforcing the plays’ messages that we, the people, have to participate if we want to influence the outcome of elections, wars, bills, the future of democracy. We can’t just be spectators.

San Diego, CA
Segway recalls 220,000 of its scooters due to a fall hazard that has resulted in 20 injuries

Segway is recalling about 220,000 of its scooters sold across the U.S. due to a fall hazard that has resulted in user injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones.
According to a notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the folding mechanism in Segway’s Ninebot Max G30P and Max G30LP KickScooters can fail during use — causing the handlebars or stem of the scooters to fold.
That can result in serious injuries, the Commission warns. Thursday’s recall notice notes that Segway has received 68 reports of folding mechanism failures — and 20 injuries that include abrasions, bruises, lacerations and broken bones.
Consumers in possession of these now-recalled scooters are urged to stop using them immediately and contact Segway to request a free maintenance kit. This kit includes tools and step-by-step instructions to inspect and adjust the scooters’ locking mechanism as needed, Segway says.
“Over time, depending on riding conditions, the folding mechanism may require periodic checks and tightening,” California-based Segway writes on its website. “No returns or replacements are involved.”
According to the CPSC, the Segway scooters involved in this recall were manufactured in China and Malaysia and sold at in-person retailers across the U.S. — like Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, Target and Sam’s Club, as well as online at Segway.com and Amazon.com, between January 2020 and February 2025. Sale prices ranged from $600 to $1,000.
San Diego, CA
Bryce Miller, Union-Tribune sports columnist and outdoorsman, dies at 56

Bryce Miller, who for a decade told stories of San Diegans’ successes and failures, trials and triumphs as the Union-Tribune’s sports columnist, died Saturday. He was 56.
Miller was diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer two years ago and wrote regularly for the Union-Tribune as he underwent treatment. His final column, about San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas, appeared in the Feb. 23 print edition.
An avid outdoorsman since his childhood in Iowa, Miller viewed San Diego first with an outsider’s awe before becoming a true local. He fished off the Coronado Islands, stalked the backstretch at Del Mar and was as comfortable in the Padres’ clubhouse as he was at an outdoors expo.
His coverage of the 2017 Lilac fire, which killed at least 46 horses at San Luis Rey Downs and burned their caretakers, earned Miller the 2019 Eclipse Award, given annually to the best horse racing writing by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
“Bryce was an insightful columnist, a keen observer of the human condition and a masterful storyteller who easily won the trust of others — whether they were sources, strangers or stars,” said Lora Cicalo, the Union-Tribune’s editor. “But more than any of those things, he was a truly exceptional human being — generous, kind and unfailingly approachable — as anyone who crossed paths with him would attest.”
A superb storyteller
As the U-T’s sports columnist, Miller told stories of San Diegans at their highest — and lowest.
Miller stood on the White House’s South Lawn last July, when Point Loma Nazarene’s women’s soccer team was hailed by Vice President Kamala Harris for winning the Division II national championship. Days later, he was in the Nationals Park press box as Dylan Cease threw the second no-hitter in Padres history.
Miller was in the champagne-soaked clubhouse after the Padres slayed the Dodgers in the 2022 National League Division Series, and again when they beat the Braves in October’s wild-card series.
(Experience elsewhere meant Miller had a plan to stay dry; Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon’s errant champagne spray had ruined one of Miller’s tape recorders in the aftermath of Boston’s curse-breaking World Series title in 2004.)
Miller followed SDSU’s men’s basketball team all the way through its 2023 NCAA Tournament run. When Lamont Butler’s jump shot beat Florida Atlantic and moved San Diego State to the national championship game, Miller put it in proper perspective.
“The nation wondered aloud if a team that valued defense first and always could climb past offensive obstacles to summit the ‘One Shining Moment’ mountaintop,” he wrote. “They debated whether San Diego, the sports bridesmaid still hunting for the white dress, was doomed to getting close without a cigar in sight.”
Miller’s gripping story about the Lilac fire and its aftermath was among his best work while at the Union-Tribune.
Miller prided himself on his versatility. He wrote about marathoners, endurance athletes, animals of all stripes — and one Tiger. (His column on golfer Tiger Woods from the relocated Genesis Invitational was published last month).
“Pretty much anything I asked him to do, he was willing to try,” said Jay Posner, who retired as the Union-Tribune’s sports editor in 2022. “I don’t think he knew much about horse racing when he came here, but he discovered there were good stories at Del Mar, and he enjoyed the chance to tell a good story. He quickly developed relationships there, covered the big races there and elsewhere, and I’ll always remember his incredible work after the Lilac fire.”
Miller flew to Eritrea to tell the story of long-distance runner Meb Keflezighi, a San Diego High School graduate who grew up in the country. He shadowed late Padres owner Peter Seidler as he walked the streets of Pacific Beach, ministering to the homeless.
Miller drew inspiration from those stories as he faced cancer treatment. Former Padres manager Bruce Bochy and Keflezighi were among those who reached out to Miller in recent weeks.
“Lessons like those, unpeeled by spending time with those who are exceptional, resonate in myriad ways,” Miller wrote in August 2023. “Stick to it. Focus on today. Don’t quit. On to the next. Words like those, just words in some ways at the time, have gained significant heft.”

Finding his tribe
Miller grew up in Redfield, Iowa, a no-stoplight town “that, depending on the hour, might top 700” people, he said. He was one of 33 people in his high school’s graduating class.
Miller graduated from the University of Iowa and worked for the Des Moines Register and with USA Today in Arlington, Va., before heading west to San Diego. He was hired in October 2015, an outsider in a city that can sometimes feel insular.
It didn’t take long for Miller to find his tribe.
He made fast friends near his homes in Pacific Beach and, later, Kensington.
A dinner thrown by former Union-Tribune outdoors reporter Jim Brown connected Miller with former U-T columnist Tom Cushman, ex-Padres radio broadcaster Bob Chandler and J. Stacey Sullivan Jr., the attorney who negotiated the Chargers’ move from Los Angeles to San Diego in 1961.
“We joked,” Brown said Saturday, “that he was the son we never knew we had.”
Brown connected Miller with Bochy because of their shared love of the outdoors.
Miller’s deep roster of friends and family were by his bedside in recent weeks, providing updates in the mornings and evenings to his friends from around the world.
Longtime friend Keith Murphy broadcast his Iowa-based “Murph & Andy” radio show from Miller’s hospital earlier this month. An Iowa Hawkeyes pennant hung in his hospital room.
On air, Murphy’s co-host, Andy Fales, called Miller “the minibike of friends.”
“You see Bryce and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I’m about to have some fun,’” Fales said. “He’s not a commuter friend. He’s not the friend that you lean on to get help with your TurboTax. He’s your buddy that you plug into a situation where you know you’re going to have fun, and he just makes it better.”
Murphy posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday that Miller “squeezed so much joy into his 56 years.”
“He did it by saying yes,” Murphy wrote. “Yes to fun. Yes to living. Yes to today. Figure the rest out later.”

A world traveler
Miller loved San Diego, but understood that a big world lay beyond the county line.
Miller covered six Olympics during his journalism career. While at the Union-Tribune, he ventured to Mexico City (twice), the Dominican Republic, Asia and Africa.
He traveled to Seoul, South Korea, last March to cover the Padres’ series with the Dodgers. A month later, he flew to Japan for vacation.
Nothing brought him as much joy (and peace) as his annual fishing trip to Lac Seul in Ear Falls, Ontario, Canada. Every summer for nine years, Miller and friends drove the 10 ½ hours from Minneapolis in pursuit of walleye, pike and smallmouth bass. He wrote that the lake was “as much a cherished friend as a destination.”
It took on added importance in June, during what would be his final trip.
“When your world includes near-weekly lab visits, chemotherapy treatments, a bathroom cabinet bulging with pill bottles and side effects that ambush you at every turn,” he wrote, “the rippling water and the riches it holds delivers powerful medicine of its own.”

Writing, starring in stories
Miller wrote stories. But he could star in them, too.
Shortly after moving to San Diego, Miller connected with legendary sports broadcaster Dick Enberg, a longtime La Jolla resident who enjoyed a final act as the Padres’ play-by-play man on television. The two would meet periodically for breakfast near Enberg’s home.
One meeting in particular elicited chuckles nearly a decade later.
Miller, a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, watched the team clinch the 2016 World Series championship from a Pacific Beach tavern alongside many of his friends. The celebration continued deep into the night; by the time Miller arrived to meet Enberg the next morning, he was … run down.
Enberg, a baseball junkie himself, understood what a World Series win meant to a Cubs fan. The two agreed to reschedule.
Miller relished spring training trips to Peoria, Ariz., where he and Union-Tribune reporters and photographers would pile into a rented house to cover the Padres.
In 2023, aware there was a Seattle Mariners pitcher named Bryce Miller sharing the Peoria Sports Complex with the Padres, the columnist finagled a sit-down interview.
“In one place this spring there are two Bryce Millers, one a guy who can hit 100 mph on the radar gun and, at age 24, is flirting with a big-league rotation spot. The other, 30 years his elder, typing fingers raw about the Padres on the other side of the Peoria Sports Complex shared by the teams,” he wrote. “One, spry and fit with the world in front of him. The other, wondering if it’s time for that AARP card after all.”
Union-Tribune reporter Kevin Acee traded barbs and one-liners with Miller for years.
“The more I got to know Bryce, the more I liked him,” Acee said. “I teased him mercilessly, and he almost always just shook his head like he couldn’t believe I found myself so funny.”
When the 2024 baseball season ended, Miller and Acee left town and went fishing. It was Acee — not the veteran angler Miller — who caught a fish that day, albeit one barely the size of his palm. When he returned to San Diego, Miller and another angler sent Acee an enlarged photo of his (tiny) catch to mark the occasion.
“Oh, he drove me crazy,” Acee said. “… But he was also unselfish, hard-working and a really good human. He basically taught me how to fish, and I’ll be eternally grateful.”

Opting for understanding
In an age where media personalities often manufacture outrage to attract listeners and clicks, Miller opted for understanding.
His writing was poetic and nuanced and, reflecting the columnist’s personality, never reactionary.
“I’ll remember him for all those stories,” Posner said, “but mainly for just being a really good and kind person.”
Miller adored sports and sportswriting because it brought him closer to people — with all their triumphs and tragedies.
“That’s what you learn, covering all this sports stuff. It’s not really sports. It’s people,” Miller wrote in his final column for the Des Moines Register. “So it stays with you. It sticks to you — heart, mind and all.”
Miller is survived by his brothers, Brian and Bruce, and a sister-in-law, Melissa; his mother, Bea Winters; and friends in Iowa, Kensington and beyond. Services are pending.
Originally Published:
San Diego, CA
San Diego State coach has full-circle moment vs. Kim Mulkey, LSU in Women’s March Madness

Players in March Madness to watch before the WNBA draft
Mackenzie Salmon and Meghan Hall give a guide on what players to look out for in the March Madness tournament before the WNBA draft.
Sports Seriously
- The San Diego State women’s basketball will face LSU in the first round of the NCAA tournament, marking the Aztec’s first tournament appearance in 13 years.
- SDSU coach Stacie Terry-Hutson was an assistant coach for LSU during the two teams’ only other matchup in 2012.
- Terry-Hutson left LSU a year later to become SDSU’s head coach, a position she has held for 12 years.
BATON ROUGE, La — A series of coincidences surrounds San Diego State’s first appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament in 13 years.
For starters, the Aztecs have faced Saturday night’s opponent, LSU, only once before: In 2012 when the Tigers defeated SDSU 64-56 in the first round of March Madness.
Even stranger, SDSU coach Stacie Terry-Hutson was on the opposing bench during that game, as an assistant coach for LSU.
A year later, Terry-Hutson left LSU to start her first collegiate head coaching job at SDSU. She has remained in the position for the last 12 years.
“I’m a little torn because I have a lot of love for LSU,” said Terry-Hutson when talking about what it means to be back. “I’ve been really proud to watch what Coach (Kim) Mulkey has done with this program.”
Watch LSU vs. San Diego State on Fubo
Terry-Hutson described the coincidence as being serendipitous. Nevertheless, she stressed that this moment wasn’t about her.
“It’s a great story, but it’s really about these young women,” she said.
SDSU punched its ticket to March Madness in dramatic fashion, defeating Wyoming in triple overtime in the Mountain West title game. But SDSU lacks experience on this stage, with only one person on its roster having ever played in the tournament.
The Aztecs expect a loud and raucous atmosphere Saturday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“We know it’s deafening,” Terry-Hutson said. “When they go on a run, it’s really hard to hear.”
To prepare for this environment, SDSU played loud music and artificial crowd noise in the gym during practice. The team has even gone as far as learning hand signals for in-game communication, something they haven’t done all season.
“If we can stay connected in that environment, no matter who’s on the floor, we’ll have a good chance,” Terry-Huston said.
Tatum Esparza is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.
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