Email Author Robrt L. Pela

2008 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• Reality Bytes

  published February 28, 2008

  It may have been inspired by Euripides’ ancient commentaries on masks and false identities, but Carlos Murillo’s dark play or... More >>

• A Phoenix man scored when he bought Ralph Haver's family home for a song

  published February 21, 2008

  At last, there's a reason to be glad for the crummy housing market here, and for the lack of awareness among Phoenicians about our local... More >>

• Fury Duty

  published February 21, 2008

  Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men was already a loud, furious play, adapted from the author’s 1950s television script, before... More >>

• Johanna Carlisle

  published February 14, 2008

  She may be playing the monster mom in Stray Cat's Kate Crackernuts, but her friends and fans know that Johanna Carlisle is a real beauty... More >>

• Reviews and previews of what's on Valley stages now

  published February 14, 2008

  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Arizona Theatre Company's favorite playwright, Jeffrey Hatcher (Turn of the... More >>

• The kids are just alright

  published February 14, 2008

  About halfway through Act One of Stray Cat Theatre's super-fashionable Kate Crackernuts, my middle-aged companion leaned over and whispered... More >>

• Robrt L. Pela finds some of the area's most intriguing architecture at old Valley National Bank branches

  published February 7, 2008

  I worry I've lived here so long that I don't notice my architectural surroundings as I'm driving through Phoenix. That landmarks, no matter how... More >>

• Robrt L. Pela pays, uh, respect to the great Cloris Leachman

  published January 31, 2008

  I used to know a crazy lady who looked exactly like Cloris Leachman. Ella was the kind of crazy that can never be cured; the kind of crazy... More >>

• Reviews and previews of what's on Valley stages now

  published January 31, 2008

  Fiddler on the Roof: It is, of course, too much to ask that we should make it through a single theater season without this... More >>

• Nearly Naked Theatre delivers sweet relief with As Bees in Honey Drown

  published January 31, 2008

  Here's a one-word review of Nearly Naked Theatre's production of As Bees in Honey Drown: Phew! And here's a 601-word... More >>

• Scary Tale

  published January 31, 2008

  Poor Anne. The former beauty has awakened this morning to discover a sheep’s head in place of her own. Hey, it could happen to you, but... More >>

• Roy Story

  published January 24, 2008

  Roy Orbison rarely expressed anything celebratory in his work. In songs like “Blue Angel” and “Mean Woman Blues,” he -- and... More >>

• JoAnn Yeoman dishes on her love for John Cleese and Waiting for Guffman and her aversion to stand-up

  published January 17, 2008

  JoAnn Yeoman's played in everything from Becket to Bye, Bye, Birdie! (her fave role: Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha), from... More >>

• Best intentions: Jump high or stay home

  published January 17, 2008

  I suck at New Year's resolutions. Resolving to discontinue my various bad habits is, I know, nothing more than an exercise in good intentions.... More >>

• Despite its hitting the right notes, ATC's The Pajama Game seems, oh, ho hum

  published January 17, 2008

  I needn't have worked very hard this week reviewing the show I saw, because the noisy dame who sat in front of me critiqued every musical number,... More >>

• Reviews and previews of what's on Valley stages now

  published January 17, 2008

  The Oldest Profession: The cast of Algonquin Theater Company's first show of the season features JoAnn Yeoman, Judy Rollings,... More >>

• Coffee, Tea, or Mea Culpa?

  published January 17, 2008

  Anything subtitled “Confessions of a Flight Attendant” blares a warning equivalent to “proceed to the nearest emergency... More >>

• Yes, it is possible to love the ubiquitous Phoenix strip mall

  published January 10, 2008

  I've been thinking about strip malls again lately. They've been an on-again, off-again obsession of mine since the '80s, when I started traveling... More >>

• Sturm und Durang

  published January 10, 2008

  To heck with James Cameron and his Leo-centric fantasy about the doomed ocean liner Titanic. In Christopher Durang’s stage version... More >>

• Flat(ware) Season

  published January 3, 2008

  Early in the year, I wrote that I wondered whether I'd see a scene all season that was as astonishing to me as the one I saw in Space 55... More >>

• Reviews and Previews of What's Running Now

  published January 3, 2008

  Pajama Game: Word from Tucson, where Arizona Theatre Company debuted this recently revived Broadway favorite last month, is... More >>

• Pajama Party

  published January 3, 2008

  It’s likely none of us will be invited to come to the theater in our pajamas again anytime soon, so for that reason -- and several others... More >>