Fall is typically the start of the theater season, but even though we're in the dog days of summer, there are still a number of productions to see around metro Phoenix if you're in the mood for a show.
Little Shop of Horrors
Through August 8Arizona Broadway Theatre
7701 West Paradise Lane, Peoria
The cult favorite musical about a man-eating plant from outer space and the mild-mannered florist who finds it gets the dinner theater treatment at Arizona Broadway Theatre in the west Valley. Tickets start at $48 for the show only, or $70 per person for the show, an appetizer, and an entree.
Pump Boys & Dinettes
Through August 22Phoenix Theatre
1825 North Central Avenue
Imagine four rural gas station employees and two diner waitresses singing country music and playing their hearts out. That's the premise of Pump Boys & Dinettes, a Tony-nominated musical that was born at The Cattleman steakhouse in New York City. Tickets start at $44.
A Chorus Line
July 30 through August 8Desert Stages Theatre
7014 East Camelback Road, #586, Scottsdale
A group of hopeful young dancers audition for a Broadway show and learn about themselves in the process in this classic musical by Marvin Hamlisch that won nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Tickets are $25.
Steel Magnolias
August 18 through September 12Phoenix Theatre
1825 North Central Avenue
Fans of the hit 1990 movie may not know that the story originated on the stage, where a group of Southern female friends talk about life and love at Truvy's Beauty Spot. Tickets start at $44.
Say Goodnight Gracie
August 20 through September 5Fountain Hills Theater
11445 North Saguaro Boulevard, Fountain Hills
Entertainment legend George Burns is missing his late wife, Gracie Allen, but he can't be reunited with her until he gives the performance of a lifetime for God. That's the premise of the Tony-nominated play Say Goodnight, Gracie, a one-man show that takes the audience through Burns' unforgettable life. Tickets are $35.