Tim Trumble, courtesy of ASU Herberger College School of Theatre and Film Lee Margaret Hanson plays the title role in Eurydice. In case you haven’t heard, playwright Sarah Ruhl is très hip, kind of the Albee/Wasserstein/Mamet mashup of this decade. When Paula Vogel was her teacher, Vogel claimed she learned things from Ruhl…
courtesy of GAPT Oh, wheel of fortune: The king and the miller’s daughter meet cute in Rumpelstiltskin. Something’s terribly wrong when some of our own local professionals, the puppeteers of Great Arizona Puppet Theater, get passed over every year at Oscar time. What’s that? They aren’t in films? Well, okay…
Peas that have been canned or frozen are vastly inferior to a freshly harvested springtime pea. They might as well be completely unrelated vegetables. When people first try the fresh ones, they usually say something like, “These are the best peas I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.” Now’s the…
Tempe Little Theatre was founded nearly 40 years ago (full disclosure: I’ve worked with them in three of those four decades, as a performer, an elected officer, a director who was paid a small stipend, and one who wasn’t). Their bylaws-mandated preference to eschew a traditional community-based fundraising board of…
The curious little kid in us really comes out when we see a funky new fruit or vegetable. (It makes fixing dinner a bit more interesting, too.) One of the loveliest oddities available right now is romanesco, a mysterious relative of cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. Did you know that all…
[jump] For a theater that seats you on folding chairs in a former clothing store, Starlight is doing a pretty good job. The acoustics are quite good (the actors’ vocal strength is a key part of that, too), everyone’s super-friendly, and you can buy a coffee or water in the…
Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, you can soothe your heart and soul at Downtown Phoenix Public Market and grab a couple of nifty presents while you’re at it. Many vendors also sell their goods at local stores, online, or at more than one Valley farmers’ market, so check the…
Don Crosby and Eric Thompson are pretty darn sweet in Lend Me a Tenor. I thought I’d seen Lend Me a Tenor several years ago, but as the plot unfolded at Gilbert’s Hale Centre Theatre I realized what I’d seen back then was Moon Over Buffalo. Both are Ken Ludwig farces about touring entertainers, so perhaps my…
Left to my own motivation, I don’t tend to follow through on things I decide to start doing. My legs don’t get tan (1973); I don’t exercise (1994-present); I don’t tweak the script of my one-woman show (2004-present). I haven’t learned to fly. In junior high, I thought if I…
Say it out loud, hookers: “Dixie Longate.” Mmmm, they sure do. Photo by Bradford Rogne. Hey, it’s another one-person off-Broadway touring show that features a lot of audience interaction. This trend is probably a good thing, with all these big expensive new Valley venues to fill up with stuff. So the late Spalding…
Eduardo Montalvo, David Tinsley, and Jade Johnson in Revenge of a King. Photo by Laura Durant. Messing with Shakespeare can be a very good thing. It introduces audiences to a variety of genres and styles of theater that they might have overlooked or avoided in the past. The cross-pollination runs…
Matt DeAngelis, Kyle Harris (front), Lauren Lebowitz, and the company, in Hair. Photos © Tim Fuller. Arizona Theatre Company has announced an additional week of performances for their current production of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, and that’s good news for Valley audiences, because this show is bumpin’. When you…
Oy, the schmaltz: Jake Ehrenreich embraces his heritage in A Jew Grows in Brooklyn. Photo by Carol Rosegg. Full disclosure, and probably the weirdest one Curtains will ever have to make: In the middle of this (mostly) one-man show, during which: a. Creator-performer Jake Ehrenreich shows slides of, among other things, his…
It’s okay, ladies, it’s almost over: Jenny Mulcahy and Rebecca Ruegg are featured in Blithe Spirit. Photo by Heather Butcher. I can’t say exactly why, in the 13+ years they’ve been around, I’d never been to a show at Scottsdale Desert Stages until the other day. But enough about me. Desert Stages…
We laughed, we cried, we fashion policed: Edward Prostak (Scrooge) and David Errigo Jr. (Christmas Past). Photo by Scott Samplin © 2008 I’ve brushed off my black trousers and Ugly Christmas Sweater one last time to review a production at a Broadway-style dinner theater (yes, that’s an oxymoron): the…
Damon Dering (standing, center) plays Irish O’Flanagan in Times Square Angel in its Arizona premiere, presented by Nearly Naked Theatre. Photo by Nancy Lynn Miller. This week, Curtains flees gratefully back into the arms of the counterculture, but not far enough to avoid seeing another Christmas show. Charles Busch’s campy melodramedy…
Kelly Leeth and Fred Bornhoeft are adorable in Miracle on 34th Street. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he was heard mildly cursing into his body mic during a quick backstage costume change last Saturday night in Peoria. But he shouldn’t feel bad. Seriously, actor Fred Bornhoeft…
By Julie Peterson Mary Riley and Richard Baird in The Winter’s Tale. Photo by Laura Durant, graphic enhancements by Southwest Shakespeare Co. Watching a play by William Shakespeare can be like watching a biopic (or, for that matter, like trying to get on an O.J. Simpson jury) — you already know what…
We dig events that feel like some nice person’s living room: free admission, mingling, new stimuli, maybe some snacks. Our perfect storm: the screening of Inside Creative Minds Episode 16. ICM is a nifty local TV show that’s accessible on most Valley cities’ channel 11 and online at www.phoenixartspace.com. But…
Okay, Thanksgiving’s come and gone, so even the Grinchiest humbuggers should be ready to feel Christmasy. It helps to wait for evening, when there’s that nip in the air. Get out of the car. See pretty lights. Not there yet? Here’s the prescription: a loading dose of cheer at the…
By Julie Peterson Let’s lay some cards on the table, here: I’m not crazy about traditional, mid-century, Rodgers-and-Hammerstein-style musical theater. I’m also not crazy about more recent spectaculars like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s. It’s not that I think less of those genres; it’s just that musical theater has so many challenging…
Are you sitting down? Good. Are you sitting at the bridge of the Starship Enterprise? You can at “Star Trek: The Exhibition.” Boldly go through 12,500 square feet and explore actual sets, costumes, and props from all five Star Trek TV series and all 10 films. Purchase cool souvenir photos…
