Theater Review: SecondStory Rep’s “Linda Vista” by Tracy Letts

Review: Linda Vista by Tracy Letts

SecondStory Repertory

Through October 11, 2026

Playwright Tracy Letts isn’t known particularly as a comedic writer. But SecondStory Rep found his Linda Vista, and produced a great show with a solid cast. Led by Lantz Wagner, as Wheeler, a 50-year-old divorcee working at a camera shop and bemoaning a lost career as a photographer, the ensemble cast of Tadd Morgan, Lisa Branham, Tamara Burgess, Jay Jenkins, Sara Albertson, and Lauren Erwin join together in this rueful comedy.

Newly divorced, Wheeler moves into San Diego’s Linda Vista neighborhood to start over. When his friends (Morgan and Branham) hook him up with a blind date, life coach Jules (Burgess), he quickly thinks he’s in love again. When a pregnant neighbor, sharp-tongued millennial Minnie (Albertson), has nowhere to live after leaving an abuser, he moves her in and suddenly he thinks he’s in love with her and dumps Jules. Of course, ultimately, he ends up with neither, but it’s a fun ride watching him go through all that.

Wagner embodies Wheeler in a way that makes you hate him, so mission accomplished. (Wagner is one of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet, so that’s some good acting.) Burgess convincingly acts as a combination new-agey coach, and woman who has a broken “picker,” and we want to shake her out of it. Albertson has to convince us that she could maybe love this guy and has some of the funniest lines. Jenkins and Erwin are lovely as camera shop co-workers, both quirky and realistic. Morgan plays the long-time friend, suitably skeptical of Wheeler’s choices, yet standing by him. Branham (Wagner’s real life wife) has a blow out moment that is greatly satisfying as she takes down her one-time boyfriend, and the audience likes that Wheeler gets taken down several pegs.

Letts has definitely written toxically male characters before, but more often dramatically. It’s more fun, sometimes, to laugh at them than to be scared of them.

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