Email Author Robrt L. Pela

2010 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• Play Date

  published May 13, 2010

  Ballerinas as broccoli? Dancers as dessert? Ib Andersen isn’t talking about victuals when he describes his new ballet, Play, as “a... More >>

• Classy Cline

  published May 13, 2010

  Impersonating famous women is high on the list of Kelly Carpenter’s acting skills. She has, for the past four years, played Mrs. Claus in... More >>

• Magic Figures

  published May 6, 2010

  The heck with pulling a rabbit out of a hat. The infamous duo of Penn & Teller has reinvented the traditional magic show by grafting on comedy... More >>

• Hop on "POP!"

  published May 6, 2010

  It seems likely that Andy Warhol wouldn’t have loved being on a double bill with another artist. But one can imagine that he’d at... More >>

• Nobody's Perfect

  published April 29, 2010

  Pine City, Minnesota is so peaceful; so serene. Everyone who lives a life there is a model American citizen -- they never miss church, pay... More >>

• The Book of David

  published April 29, 2010

  After he reads some of his more recent essays from the podium of what’s being touted as “the new Virginia G. Piper... More >>

• The Statue of Liberty Stands Tall on Seventh Avenue

  published April 22, 2010

  My friend Dan phoned the other day. "You have got to drive by this house in Paradise Valley!" he exclaimed. "It's got a plastic deer in the yard!... More >>

• The Blackboard Jungle

  published April 22, 2010

  Folks who fear ill-behaved teenagers (and those who don’t fancy struggle-hope-and-laughter dramas that rehash the plot line from To... More >>

• Maal Culture

  published April 22, 2010

  He’s been nominated for Grammys and logged hits on Billboard’s dance charts. He’s headlined at the Hollywood Bowl and... More >>

• Desert Stage's Tommy Makes Us Wish We Were Deaf, Dumb, and Blind

  published April 15, 2010

  When I was 13 years old, I had very long hair and braces. I was skinny and effeminate and favored garish clothing. My brother David, who was... More >>

• Book It

  published April 15, 2010

  Opera is occasionally good for some yuks, and Arizona Opera is out to prove that to the people who might otherwise just be shopping for the... More >>

• The Right Watch

  published April 15, 2010

  There's no concession stand; no coming attractions trailers. You won't be made to listen to cheesy pop music before the movie commences, nor is... More >>

• The Fred Harvey Standard Is Long Gone, but the Architecture of Mary Colter Remains

  published April 8, 2010

  Hands down, the worst restaurant meal I've ever been served was at El Tovar, the resort at the Grand Canyon. I was disappointed, because the El... More >>

• In the House

  published April 8, 2010

  It’s not enough just to own an old house. These days, we must celebrate it. For desert dwellers whose homes were built in the... More >>

• Arizona Theatre Company's The Glass Menagerie Builds a Story Around Story Building

  published April 1, 2010

  I hesitate to describe the staging tricks that make Arizona Theatre Company's production of The Glass Menagerie so magnificent, for fear... More >>

• See Grade

  published April 1, 2010

  Any show featuring new work by Bob Adams is cause for celebration. And “See/Perceive,” in which the longtime local artist offers a... More >>

• See Grade

  published April 1, 2010

  Any show featuring new work by Bob Adams is cause for celebration. And “See/Perceive,” in which the longtime local artist offers a... More >>

• Superstar Power

  published April 1, 2010

  Just in time for Easter, everybody’s favorite rock opera about the political and personal struggles of Judas Iscariot is back in town.... More >>

• Is Paradise Gardens a Genuine Beadle Design or Just Suffering From Beadle Mania?

  published March 25, 2010

  It sounds like the title of a Nancy Drew potboiler, but the mystery of Paradise Gardens is really just another story about some cool old houses... More >>

• Flash in the Chopin

  published March 25, 2010

  It seems likely that Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, the Baroness Dudevant, would have been delighted that Frederic Chopin, with whom she had a... More >>

• Built Trip

  published March 25, 2010

  Julius Shulman created stunning visual records of the work of pretty much every modern architect of the last century -- from Frank Lloyd Wright... More >>

• Glassic Play

  published March 25, 2010

  Word on the street about Arizona Theatre Company’s new production of The Glass Menagerie is that it is not your grandparents’... More >>

• In Indivisible, Steven J. Scally, the Valley's Most Underrated Actor, Shines

  published March 18, 2010

  It's a pity there aren't more play scripts like Taylor Doherty's Indivisible. If there were, one might have the opportunity to watch Steven... More >>

• No Vacancy at Log Cabin Motel

  published March 18, 2010

  Editor's note: This is the second piece in an occasional series about Van Buren Street. Read the first installment More >>

• Rock Me Amadeus

  published March 18, 2010

  Written in part as he lay dying, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s majestic Requiem is considered the composer’s greatest unfinished... More >>