Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins looks great on paper: a musical in which four assassins and five failed would-be killers sing and dance about the joys of killing or trying to kill presidents and other VIPs. And, in fact, Assassins is a darkly brilliant musical full of astonishingly naughty humor and wicked…
I normally don’t review children’s theater, but the temptation to watch several dozen teenagers drown was too great, and so I attended an evening performance of Valley Youth Theatre’s Titanic last week. I’ve seen this show once before, enacted by adults, and so I knew what I was in for:…
A guy in a gown is usually good for a laugh, and the mere mention of a beauty pageant these days elicits at least a good, loud snicker. Thus Pageant — The Musical, a drag show that’s more than a drag show; a musical spoof that takes shots at beauty…
It’s true: There’s nothing new under the sun. But if we’re doomed to repeat ourselves — and the summer reruns on Valley stages lately suggest that we most certainly are — then we might as well make it a repeat like Skimpies, the Terry Earp musical spoof that recently launched…
I arrived at Desert Stages thinking Whatever dreck I see tonight is exactly what I deserve. And How desperate for a paycheck am I? And You know it’s summer in Phoenix when you’re driving for half an hour to see a community theater production of Cabaret. I left the theater…
If more part-time thespians approached their craft with the skill and imagination of Steven J. Scally, community theater would be a more cheerful place to visit. If Scally launched Awake and Sing Productions — which took its first bows last week with a revival of Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The…
The curtain has fallen on another theater season, one that featured a couple of world premieres, the usual dozen-odd Neil Simon retreads, and a handful of pleasant surprises. Chief among those surprises was that the most stunning productions of the season came from one of our tiniest companies. Nearly Naked…
I’m still trying to shake the memory of a particularly unattractive production of Jeffrey from several seasons ago, and Alternative Theatre Company’s new take on Paul Rudnick’s charming comedy has gone a long way toward helping me to forget. Rudnick’s writing is so wonderful, even a roomful of apes could…
Jacqueline Gaston arrives early in act two of Is What It Is Theatre’s production of Critic’s Choice, and her presence is like a breath of fresh air in a stifling room. Which is precisely where this play, a dated comedy by author Ira Levin, happens to take place. But I…
Black Theatre Troupe has scored another hit with its all-around pleasant production of Blues in the Night at the Herberger Theater Center. While the company has turned out several engaging dramas these past few seasons, its attempts to sell a decent musical have been less notable. This one, though, is…
A couple of hours before the curtain went up on opening night of Parade, a publicist from Theater Works phoned to say that that evening’s performance had been rescheduled as a final dress rehearsal. In Theater land, this is never a good sign. It usually means that the show is…
Anyone doubting that Latino theater has proven itself a worthy subgenre need look no further than last month’s Pulitzers. Nilo Cruz, Cuban-American author of Anna in the Tropics, the play about Tampa cigar-makers set in the Spanish-Cuban community of Ybor City, received this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama — the…
Spinning Into Butter is an Important Play, one of those that are lauded practically from their first curtain call for being brave and smart and honest in their depiction of difficult subjects. Rebecca Gilman’s work probes hidden racism and political correctness, and is based on an incident that occurred at…
Those of us who haven’t endured small-town life or anyone who believes that hate crimes aren’t high on the list of human failings will want to see The Laramie Project, an invigorating examination of hatred and backward thinking. And fans of first-rate theater won’t want to miss what Stray Cat…
I attended high school with some terrifically horrible people. Imagine my dismay at discovering several of them on ASU’s main stage last week — and my delight in discovering how expertly they’ve been drawn by playwright Jeff Hatcher and brought superbly to life by a group of talented theater students…
Amadeus is a smartly written, clever character piece that spins the life of Mozart into a demented bedtime story as told by the great composer’s rival, Antonio Salieri. And, as told by Phoenix Theatre, Amadeus is the longest, dreariest production I’ve witnessed all season. Blame it on sluggish direction, or…
There’s theater, and there’s great theater, and Dirty Blonde though enlivened by excellent performances and Arizona Theatre Company’s clever staging is just theater. Not even the best work of our biggest and brightest can make more of this pleasant trifle, a sort-of biography of screen star Mae West. Dirty Blonde…
If there’s a flaw in August Wilson’s Jitney, it’s that it bends the rule that says there are no easy resolutions in modern drama. Wilson, in his desire to present proactive plays about black solidarity, ties up too neatly the heartbreak and calamity in the lives of the cab drivers…
I’ve often admired playwright Michael Grady’s work, and Nearly Naked Theatre has staged some of the best theater I’ve seen in the last couple of years. Imagine my surprise and disappointment to discover a subpar production of Grady’s Baylin’s Monster at Nearly Naked last weekend. It seemed like a perfect…
About 45 minutes into Phoenix Theatre’s Cole, members of the cast fall into a superb jazz ballet that elevates the production from what it had been up to that moment: a pleasant near-miss. Cole is jammed with such showstoppers, which makes for an entertainment that’s both exhilarating and exhausting. Not…
No one can accuse Kenneth Lonergan of romanticizing the dilemmas of deluded, self-destructive rich kids. His This Is Our Youth is a gritty, moving, sometimes funny examination of the advantaged that perfectly captures the youthful horrors of the Me Generation. Lonergan’s 1996 play was nominated for a Drama Desk award,…
The Yellow Boat is the true story of a young boy who’s dying, and about how love and art can transform tragedy. It’s a much-produced children’s play that succeeds on several levels: as an educational tool, as a morality tale, and as entertainment for kids and grown-ups. Mostly, though, The…
