Email Author Robrt L. Pela

2004 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• Staged Resolutions

  published December 30, 2004

  I've been thinking about making some New Year's resolutions. Normally I don't bother; it's too easy to give in to the bad habits I've honed to... More >>

• Just Claus

  published December 23, 2004

  He sees you when you're sleeping; he knows when you're awake. And if that doesn't completely freak you out, how about this: He spends all his time... More >>

• Don't Park It

  published December 16, 2004

  Last Wednesday, while Phoenix City Council members considered an ordinance that would allow police to evict transients from city parks, Kurt... More >>

• Scrooged Again

  published December 16, 2004

  It's been a very long time since I've reviewed Actors Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol. I see it every year, but I haven't... More >>

• Satan Place

  published December 16, 2004

  Okay. Let's say that Jesus Christ is real, and that he was born to a virgin mother and is the son of an all-powerful but invisible being who... More >>

• Stone Soul Partridge

  published December 9, 2004

  Some people have a stash of porn in their home, or a little box of pills or a hoard of Twinkies or something shameful they've hidden away under... More >>

• Sex and the City

  published December 2, 2004

  Ah, downtown Phoenix. Home to Bank One Ballpark, the famous Luhrs Building, that stunningly awful Patriots Park. It's a tangle of high- and... More >>

• A Good Cigar Is a Smoke

  published December 2, 2004

  I saw Arizona Theatre Company's production of Anna in the Tropics with a second-weekend audience, having missed its opening night.... More >>

• Homo for the Holidays

  published December 2, 2004

  Has anyone but me noticed that Arizona Jewish Theatre Company never produces plays or musicals that depict Jews as whiny cheapskates? And that the... More >>

• Thanks for the Mashed Cauliflower

  published November 25, 2004

  Being thankful isn't enough. We -- every one of us fortunate enough to be alive during this scary, exciting time -- want dessert besides. We want... More >>

• Waiting for Stuff, Man

  published November 18, 2004

  Those of us who have been bemoaning the state of the Union lately have clearly lost sight of the great bounty America offers. We live in a land... More >>

• Tinseltown Tirade

  published November 18, 2004

  What are the chances that Nearly Naked Theatre will continue to rack up winners with its string of subversive, complex plays? I've watched as... More >>

• A Play in a Day

  published November 18, 2004

  I got another piece of hate mail the other day -- this one from some sniffy playwright whose musical I'd recently panned. Mr. How Dare You ended... More >>

• Senior Moment

  published November 11, 2004

  When Bert Parks sang "There she goes . . ." about Ms. Senior America, he might well have meant it. The contestants at this pageant are judged on... More >>

• Smart AZ the Rest

  published November 4, 2004

  It's Arizona's high standards that are screwing us. At least that's what Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is saying about Arizona's... More >>

• These Three

  published November 4, 2004

  Stray Cat Theatre has made a name for itself by mounting dicey material and testing untried plays by unknown authors, nearly always triumphantly.... More >>

• Love Me Not

  published November 4, 2004

  You know it's November when Circle K starts carrying eggnog, and you know some theater troupe is in a pinch when it announces a last-minute... More >>

• Debbie Does Phoenix

  published November 4, 2004

  Debbie Does Dallas is coming to town, but her prospective admirers can leave their raincoats at home. The musical version of this infamous... More >>

• Hold Back the Don?

  published October 28, 2004

  If you believe what you've read about Donald Harris, he's little more than a loudmouth crackpot out for retribution --and maybe a little tail on... More >>

• Born with a Trunk

  published October 21, 2004

  Poor Dion Johnson. Surrounded by other "actors," he's nonetheless left all alone to make his way through two acts of The Elephant Man. That... More >>

• Last Call

  published October 21, 2004

  Note to the next person to answer a cell phone call during a theater performance at which I am present: Enjoy your telephone conversation, because... More >>

• Junior High?

  published October 14, 2004

  Once upon a time, eighth graders bought pot from classmates and smoked it right on school grounds, with barely a glance over their shoulders.... More >>

• Too Close for Comfort

  published October 7, 2004

  When the presidential debate rolls into Tempe next week, Yaser Alamoodi, a 27-year-old political science major from Saudi Arabia, almost certainly... More >>

• Say You Want a Revolution

  published October 7, 2004

  The nice folks at the Shakespeare Theatre have had the courage and temerity to attempt playwright Peter Weiss' The Persecution and... More >>

• Wherefore Art Thou, Shakespeare?

  published October 7, 2004

  I had a friendly e-mail from Wes Martin the other day. Normally, theater people only write to tell me that I'm profoundly fucked up and need to be... More >>