Curtains: Arizona Theatre Company’s Somebody/Nobody at the Herberger

A friend of mine swears that she read somewhere that David Mamet is really a chick. More widespread and credible, but much less fascinating, is the rumor that reclusive, pseudonymous Pulitzer-nominated playwright Jane Martin is actually director Jon Jory. In any case, MartinJory have collaborated successfully many times, and ever…

Rabbit Hole at the Herberger Dumbs Down Death

I kept thinking about John Lennon as I watched Actors Theatre of Phoenix’s Rabbit Hole the other night. Specifically, about how Paul McCartney was widely quoted as having said simply, “What a drag!” upon learning that his friend and former collaborator had died. I was mindful of this because that…

Curtains: Eurydice at ASU Downtown

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…

Curtains: Rumpelstiltskin at Great Arizona Puppet Theater

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…

Curtains: Murder Among Friends at Tempe Little Theatre

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…

Curtains: Lend Me a Tenor at Hale Centre Theatre

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…

A House with No Walls at the Herberger Theater Center Fails to Set Free the Emotions Associated with Slavery

A House with No Walls is neither an enlightening history lesson nor a compelling entertainment. Thomas Gibbons’ play tells us nothing we didn’t already know about America’s unfortunate history of slavery, and its iTheatre Collaborative production, which commenced last weekend, provides little more than a handful of interesting performances. Flashbacks…

Curtains: Dixie’s Tupperware Party at Mesa Arts Center

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…

Curtains: Hair Extension: Arizona Theatre Company Makes It Longer

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…

Curtains: A Jew Grows in Brooklyn at Herberger Theater

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…

Curtains: Blithe Spirit at Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre

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…