Hello, Dolly!: It's so nice to have her back where she belongs — which, in this case, appears to be one of our better dinner theaters(!) in the East Valley. Almost no one "of a certain age" isn't able to hum much of the score from Jerry Herman's musical comedy classic about matchmaker Dolly Levi, which plays at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater through April 5. Admit it. Right now, you're hearing "It Only Takes a Moment" or "Before the Parade Passes By" in your head. Why not, as the song says, "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" and go grab some pork loin at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 5247 E. Brown Rd. in Mesa? Call 480-325-6700 for tickets and showtimes.
Fiddler on the Roof: It is, of course, too much to ask that we should make it through a single theater season without this kosher chestnut getting dusted off for our perusal. God forbid we should have to not hear "If I Were a Rich Man" or "Sunrise, Sunset" for a whole year, and so the valley's premier dinner theater is schlepping us to Tsarist Russia, circa 1905, for more of Jerry Brock and Sheldon Harnick's instantly recognizable tunes. There, we hope to find a Tevye worthy of the accompanying entrees, which are included in the ticket price for the show. Through March 2. Arizona Broadway Theater is located at 7701 W. Paradise Lane in Peoria. Dinner is served one hour and 45 minutes before curtain; showtimes are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 2 p.m., Sunday matinees at 1 p.m., and Sunday twilight shows at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $39-$49, which includes dinner, show, and tax. Call the box office at 623-776-8400, and tell them Hodel sent you.
Gilligan's Island: The Musical: For those of us who can't get enough of the Professor and! Mary Ann!, Gilligan creator Sherwood Schwartz has cobbled together this musical version whose varied distinctions include a world première at Desert Stages, where it is being restaged now through the end of March. Fans will thrill to the sounds of Thurston Howell III singing "It's Good to Be Rich" and watching everyone's favorite TV scientist bellowing "The Professor's Lament." The rest of us will, well, probably stay home. Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale through March 29 at 4720 North Scottsdale Road. Curtain is at 7:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. Call 480-483-1664 for reservations and ticket prices.
Nunsensations: The Nunsense Las Vegas Revue: As with any cheeseball network sitcom, it was only a matter of time before Dan Goggin's incredibly popular series of Nunsense sequels went on location. This, the sixth follow-up to the smash original Nunsense, finds the usual bewimpled Brides of Christ (led by Noel Irick, who's reprising her role as Reverend Mother Mary Regina from an earlier Goggin show) acting silly and singing about it. Copperstate Dinner Theater is enormously proud to have scored the Arizona première of this show, directed by Peter Hill and featuring Chrystalle Reed, Laura Webb, and Elizabeth Reeves as some of the other Sisters of Hoboken. Transubstantiation jokes continue through March 9. The theater is located at Phoenix Greyhound Park, 3801 E. Washington St. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings, with dinner at 6:30 and curtain at 8, and on Sundays at 5:30 with a 7 p.m. curtain. Show and dinner price is $39.95; reservations can be made at 602-279-3129.
