Email Author Robrt L. Pela

1997 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• The Good, the Bah and the Ugly

  published December 18, 1997

  At first glance, the lineup of this season's holiday plays looks encouraging. In tandem with the usual sackful of Christmas Carols that gets... More >>

• Party of One

  published December 11, 1997

  Remember that attraction at Disneyland that features a creaky, prosthetic Abe Lincoln who talks about his life and rattles off an animatronic... More >>

• Hope Opera

  published November 27, 1997

  Athol Fugard has written some of the most important plays of our time. His Master Harold . . . and the boys and My Children! My Africa! have... More >>

• Benchmark Drama

  published November 20, 1997

  The Ensemble Theatre's production of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story is the sort of theater we see precious little of these days: a spare,... More >>

• Saving Faith

  published November 20, 1997

  Among this month's local events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel is a pair of thoughtful, Jewish-themed theater... More >>

• Beat Transvestite

  published October 30, 1997

  It is a few minutes before midnight on a recent Saturday and I am about to relive my childhood in a dark, smelly moviehouse in Tempe. Now... More >>

• Homo Erratic

  published October 16, 1997

  "Gay men are supposed to be this highly evolved, artistic band of people," says theater producer Christopher Wynn, "so how come our plays are sold... More >>

• Simon's Playground

  published September 4, 1997

  When Neil Simon's name appears in print, it's usually set off by one of those nearly epigrammatic phrases like "a name that is synonymous with... More >>

• Diverse Decree

  published May 15, 1997

  Last week, two very different plays about ethnic minority cultures opened at local Equity houses. August Wilson's brilliant Seven Guitars is a... More >>

• Long Night's Journey Into Gay

  published May 8, 1997

  The Actors Group production of Love! Valour! Compassion!, Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning epic about friendship and fealty told by a lot of... More >>

• Grad Bag

  published May 1, 1997

  College theater depends heavily on the largess of its audience. It may be fair to expect a workmanlike performance from an Equity player, or to... More >>

• Moe Power to It

  published April 10, 1997

  It's tough, even in a town with a large theatrical talent pool, to cast an all-singing, all-dancing musical revue. In Phoenix, it's next to... More >>

• But Newt for Me

  published April 10, 1997

  Watching Phoenix Theatre's production of Lizard is like listening to a bad joke told by a beautiful person. Dennis Covington's meandering morality... More >>

• Flying Sorcerer

  published April 3, 1997

  Before there was Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America, there was the playwright's adaptation of Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion... More >>

• Kachina Syndrome

  published March 20, 1997

  In an early draft of Phoenix playwright Carol DuVal Whiteman's Katsina, the story ends with a stage full of extras dressed as elaborate... More >>

• Escaping Planet Earth

  published March 13, 1997

  The musty old warehouse at Second Street and Roosevelt is better known for its garish mural than for what goes on inside. After five spotty... More >>

• The Old and the Beautiful

  published February 20, 1997

  Michael Grady is a playwright/actor/director who not only turns out fine work, but is content to stay in Phoenix putting out for a theater... More >>

• The Winner of Our Discontent

  published February 13, 1997

  In 431 B.C., Euripides' Medea took last place in an annual festival of plays held in honor of the god Dionysus. Although the dramatist usually... More >>

• Another Opening, Another Show

  published February 6, 1997

  The last time you looked, the Orpheum Theatre was probably either boarded up or maybe hosting a concert by your favorite rock band, say R.E.M. But... More >>

• Banquo Is Me

  published January 30, 1997

  There's nothing worse than bad Shakespeare. A successful mounting of any of the Bard's plays requires confident acting and a director and cast... More >>

• Bad Hair Play

  published January 23, 1997

  There are more reasons not to see Shear Madness than there are alternate endings to the play. The device of this senseless shriek fest, which is... More >>

• Reversal Hall

  published January 16, 1997

  On opening night of Phoenix Theatre's production of Chapter Two, when its star Kathy Fitzgerald took her final bows, she received what could only... More >>

• Kvetch 22

  published January 9, 1997

  The king of Seventies comedy still reigns in Phoenix: Rare is the community theater company that each season doesn't feature one of Neil Simon's... More >>