Email Author Robrt L. Pela

2008 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• All About Eve

  published October 16, 2008

  This is perhaps the only article in the history of her career which will not mention by name the sitcom on which actress Eve Plumb became... More >>

• All About Eve

  published October 16, 2008

  This is perhaps the only article in the history of her career which will not mention by name the sitcom on which actress Eve Plumb became... More >>

• Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy Packs a Punch You Won’t Want to Miss

  published October 9, 2008

  To describe what makes Mark Schultz's Everything Will Be Different such a magnificent piece of writing is to give away the tricks that are... More >>

• The Whole Enchilada

  published October 9, 2008

  What’s bilingual and is surrounded by four plays, one musical, mariachi performances, art exhibits, a book signing with local glitter... More >>

• Tovrea Castle Still Stands as a Symbol for Ambitions Lost and Found Again

  published October 2, 2008

  I spoke recently to a college journalism class on the subject of critical thinking. "You mean," a student asked after I was done blabbing... More >>

• Reality Bytes

  published October 2, 2008

  A girl needs a sofa. A guy wants to gripe about his bitchy boss. Another fellow wants to rent an apartment with a stranger who likes teacup... More >>

• Phoenix has Culture

  published September 25, 2008

  It’s getting harder to pull off that old argument about Phoenix not having any culture, especially when the arts season here is so... More >>

• Has Phoenix Finally Arrived? Feel the Love

  published September 25, 2008

  In Jason Hill's Phoenix, the sun never sets. His paintings of the city — a vibrant Valley National Bank framed by a glowing sky; a dazzling... More >>

• Doubt, a Parable Presents a Catholic Boys' School Melodrama That Will Leave You Second-Guessing Yourself

  published September 25, 2008

  There's no preaching in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, A Parable, which is set in a Catholic boys' school in 1964. Its story concerns that... More >>

• Actors Theatre presents View of the Harbor, Black Theatre Troupe has Gem of the Ocean, and more in this fall theater preview

  published September 11, 2008

  I had a subscription to TV Guide when I was a kid, and I remember looking forward each September to the magazine's annual Fall Preview... More >>

• Nun Sense

  published September 11, 2008

  It was only a matter of time before someone wrote a play about the mess the Catholic Church has gotten itself into the past several years. When it... More >>

• Allison Manch’s “Sampling” at Practical Art stitches pop lyrics and rap bling into old-fashioned hankies

  published September 4, 2008

  At first glance, Allison Manch's work looks quaint, maybe a little fussy. Her delicate, hand-embroidered handkerchiefs recall a prettier era,... More >>

• Biltmore Fashion Park: Part two of "Look What They’ve Done to My Mall, Ma!"

  published September 4, 2008

  Biltmore Fashion Park used to be so full of itself. Once, about 10 years ago, I went there to buy a wedding band, and no one would wait on me. I... More >>

• Labor Pains

  published September 4, 2008

  A local day-labor center is about to close, bowing to the pressures of anti-immigration advocates. The immigrants who rely on the center for... More >>

• Dearly Departed is DOA

  published August 28, 2008

  Something hilarious happens within the first few minutes of Chyro Arts' Dearly Departed: A woman, played by Jacqueline Gaston, reads a... More >>

• Phoenix Vietnamese Catholics will have a place to worship in their native language upon the completion of Vietnamese Martyrs Church

  published August 21, 2008

  For months, I thought it was a Chinese restaurant. Good, I'd think as I drove each morning past the grand, pagoda-like monster being... More >>

• The Nearly Naked Truth

  published August 21, 2008

  There’s a lyric from one of the Richard O’Brien tunes in his intergalactically famous The Rocky Horror Show that goes,... More >>

• God can’t save you from Nunsense, Amen

  published August 14, 2008

  I'm not a praying man. If I were, my prayers — especially those offered up after watching a performance of Nunsense, Amen at Desert... More >>

• Phoenix native Neal Green remembers the golden days of his grandmother's adobe home

  published August 7, 2008

  Neal Green remembers when downtown Phoenix spilled into neighborhoods filled with hundred-year-old adobe houses surrounded by acres of land. He... More >>

• The Sorrow and the Pithy

  published August 7, 2008

  Summer shorts are typically made of light, wrinkle-free cotton and are de rigueur in July and August. Less typical and much more entertaining... More >>

• And the Robbie Award goes to…

  published July 31, 2008

  It's that time of the year again, when playhouses are mostly dark and pretend awards take the place of real entertainment. This, the fifth Robbie... More >>

• A palm to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix for saving downtown’s Monroe School

  published July 24, 2008

  Considering all the public whimpering and hair-tearing I've done about the routine razing of really great old buildings, I have to hand a palm to... More >>

• Points of Pride

  published July 24, 2008

  Much of what once made it bustling and lovely to look at is gone, but the shadow of downtown Phoenix casts a long memory. It’s a dark... More >>

• South Pacific at Desert Stages does little to rock the boat

  published July 17, 2008

  I'm sorry. It was my intention to review Desert Stages' production of South Pacific this week, but I'm afraid I was so distracted by the... More >>

• The Kids Stay in the Picture

  published July 17, 2008

  You’ve met them before, and you may have even loathed them in high school: the nerd, the jock, the popular girl, and the quirky/arty... More >>