Email Author Robrt L. Pela

2012 Stories by Robrt L. Pela

• Stray Cat Theatre's Wolves Blows the House Down

  published December 13, 2012

  Christmas has come early for fans of good writing and excellent acting, courtesy of Stray Cat Theatre's production of Steve Yockey's... More >>

• Arizona Theatre Company's Lombardi Leaves Little to Cheer About

  published November 29, 2012

  I almost never attend Sunday evening theater performances. I did on a recent weekend, when I went to see Arizona Theatre Company's... More >>

• Endangered Wright House Is Phoenix Architecture Worth Preserving

  published October 25, 2012

  If you hadn't heard of the David and Gladys Wright House until recently, it's because its late owners — the son and daughter-in-law of... More >>

• The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs Projects a Playwright's Outrage

  published October 4, 2012

  I found myself wondering, while watching Ron May being Mike Daisey in Actors Theatre's The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, how it would... More >>

• Nearly Naked Theatre's Season Opener Disappoints

  published September 6, 2012

  Nearly Naked Theatre has joined the fray and moved its curtain time from the more traditional 8 p.m. to a half-hour earlier, and therefore I... More >>

• "Peter Sarkisian: Video Works, 1998-2006" at SMoCA

  published August 30, 2012

  You're standing in an art museum, staring into a pot of blue water out of which air bubbles occasionally burble. You're chuckling to yourself... More >>

• Phoenix's New Theater Season Looks for an Edge

  published August 30, 2012

  It's happening again: Another Valley theater season is about to commence. Beginning in September, Phoenicians will step out of short pants... More >>

• Restoring the "'40s House" in Sunnyslope

  published August 23, 2012

  One day last summer, I found myself standing on a wobbly stool in a tiny, sweltering cottage in a part of midtown Phoenix that had long been... More >>

• Desert Stages' Rent a Heartfelt but Shopworn Production

  published July 19, 2012

  Desert Stages Theatre's production of Rent never stops moving. The relentless, often abrasive energy that fuels Jonathan Larson's... More >>

• Vintage My Florist Sign Saved -- For Now

  published July 5, 2012

  I used to tell people that I grew up on the same block as a local TV legend who owned a giant flower shop in downtown Phoenix. Neither... More >>

• Strange Bedfellows Join for Spring Awakening

  published June 14, 2012

  As usual, the summer theater season here is a vast, parched desert. Tried-and-true retreads are again the June and July standard: Hale Centre... More >>

• A Building By Any Other Name

  published May 31, 2012

  I was busted recently for not knowing my downtown buildings. Imagine my mortification. I was remembering the neon-lit majesty of the... More >>

• The Color of Stars: A Moral Lesson Without the Pandering

  published May 10, 2012

  With his new play, The Color of Stars, Dwayne Hartford offers fulfilling, adult entertainment that doesn't pander to kids. Much as I did... More >>

• Majestic Ruins: Phoenix's First Baptist Church and More

  published May 3, 2012

  A couple of years ago, I telephoned one of my editors to ask where Ikea was located. "You just wrote a feature about it," she said.... More >>

• The House of the Spirits: No Apologies Needed

  published April 12, 2012

  Caridad Svich's theatrical translation of Isabel Allende's bestselling The House of the Spirits arrives on the stage as a mere shadow of... More >>

• Bill Johnson's Big Apple Hopes to Endure Contentious Times

  published March 22, 2012

  It's hard to miss: a giant, neon-trimmed steer's head, towering over Van Buren Street and slugged with the goofball legend, "Let's... More >>

• Broadway’s Kathy Fitzgerald Returns to Phoenix in Gypsy

  published March 15, 2012

  When one writes of her here, she is "Broadway's Kathy Fitzgerald." In New York, for which she left us more than a decade ago, she is one among... More >>

• Desert Stages Theatre Does McDonagh's The Pillowman

  published February 23, 2012

  Desert Stages Theatre artistic director Terry Helland clearly is mad. Onto the tiny black box stage of his Actor's Café, he continues to... More >>

• Razing Arizona: Where Architecture Sometimes Takes a Backseat

  published February 9, 2012

  Arizona is exactly twice my age. Both born in February, we've had a complicated relationship for most of my 50 years. The state has offered me... More >>

• Wonky Architecture Stands Out Against the Bland

  published January 19, 2012

  One of the holiday gifts I received this year was a sweatshirt printed with the slogan "I Phoenix," which was intended, by the gift-giver, as... More >>

• Mesa's Fiesta District Hops on the Unfortunate "Re-Branding" Trend

  published January 19, 2012

  I like downtown Mesa. Every time I return from there, I have the same thought: Cool. I like the ma-and-pa book shops and antique stores... More >>

• Nearly Naked Theatre's Shakespeare's R & J Is an Early-Season Highlight

  published January 12, 2012

  Theater fans are anticipating Nearly Naked Theatre's upcoming production of Spring Awakening, but I'll venture that nothing else the... More >>

• Opera Superstar Dmitri Hvorostovsky to Take Orpheum Stage

  published January 5, 2012

  Editor's note: This story has been altered from its original version. The Arizona Opera reports it's holding steady, even in a difficult... More >>