The setup: Doing anything artistic in the Valley for five straight (as it were) years is a huge accomplishment. A sketch comedy troupe that’s been performing several times a year in a dump on Grand Avenue, beginning in 2008 when the economy tanked? Hella impressive. Guess what else? They’re smart,…
The setup: Dale Wasserman, who lived and worked in Paradise Valley from 1992 until his death in 2008, was one of the old school of stage and screen scribes who ran off as a youth from a boring small town and made his bones in the golden age of TV…
The ways in which revolutions disrupt the lives of the winners has been well documented. In Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man, we consider the losers — in this case, of the Civil War — and reside, courtesy of a strong production at the Black Theatre Troupe, with three actors whose…
The setup: There’s a lot of backstory here. Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre went out of business last year, and a venerable, family-friendly Salt Lake City (well, Murray) company, Desert Star Playhouse, took over the cavernous space at Brown and Higley roads to launch a metro Phoenix branch of their silly,…
In the spirit of freedom of space travel for all of mankind, adult film star Coco Brown is scheduled to take one giant leap with the help of space tourism company Space Expedition Corporation (SXC). In March, 2014, the actress known (in circles) for her roles in Black Panty Chronicles…
For 20 years, stand-up comic Louis C.K. has shocked, offended, and connected with audiences around the globe. His vulgar material is nothing short of hilarious as the comic continues to stun fans with new knee-slapping routines. After postponing his originally scheduled Phoenix visit in December, Louis C.K. decided to move…
The setup: Ken Ludwig, great American farceur, has penned such solidly wild comedies as I Hate Hamlet, Lend Me a Tenor, Moon over Buffalo, and the mystifyingly underproduced Leading Ladies. Since all those plays are about show-business people (mostly actors), I was curious to see what Ludwig did with the…
The setup: Next to Normal marks the first time since Rent that a musical won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. (Interestingly, composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey had written even less for the stage than had Jonathan Larson at that point.) Arizona Theatre Company mounted a production last fall,…
Experimental theatre usually plays to a very niche interest group. But the locally-conceived SparrowSong, which opens this weekend at ASU’s Prism Theatre, aims to create an inclusive environment for all types of theatre-goers. SparrowSong is the brainchild of three of ASU’s MFA students who began discussing the project over tacos…
The setup: Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps is a breakneck farce that doesn’t exactly parody the classic film and spy novel that inspired it — it’s more of a concept that makes fun of them as they are, taking every element that’s a little weird or over-obvious or supremely early-20th-century…
On Saturday Ira Glass, host of the award-winning radio program, This American Life, stood before an auditorium of “NPR Junkies,” at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to discuss everything from his love of Radiolab to his weekly battles with the FCC to his limited knowledge of Arizona (namely,…
It’s been a long time coming — 6 years, in fact — but the Black Theater Troupe will finally move into its new home in a few weeks. With the dust still settling, the troupe now prepares to debut their next show in the new theater on February 8. The…
I called my friend Nathan the other day and asked him to join me in seeing Nearly Naked Theatre’s new production of Equus. “No,” he told me, without hesitation. “The production they did 10 years ago was perfect, and if this new one isn’t, it will ruin my memory of…
James E. Garcia wears a lot of hats. The Phoenix-based creative is a playwright and journalist who’s taught writing and ethnic studies courses at Arizona State University since 2003 and has worked as a reporter, columnist, foreign correspondent and television and radio commentator. In 2002, Garcia founded the New Carpa…
Later this month, a three-day contemporary dance and film festival will take place at Tempe Center for the Arts. >Breaking Ground 2013 Festival will feature three days of dance performances and films by choreographers and performers from Arizona and other states. As an added bonus, they’ll also host two Masters…
The setup: Though I’m sure Jane Austen has plenty of male fans as well, let’s just say that young women who originally thrilled to the 1995 films and miniseries Clueless, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility (and lingered on through Bridget Jones’ Diary) now have teenage daughters who’ll…
A quick public service announcement: If you’re not looking to share a bench and some quality skin time with a few pants-less commuters (and yes, they are just happy to see you), you might want to take the car on January 13. The No Pants Light Rail Ride ride is…
As I write this, the year isn’t over. But I can say that, once again in 2012, I didn’t see a whole lot more than 10 plays I enjoyed so super-much I had to debate internally about putting them on this list. On the other hand, the ones that were…
UPDATE: The Thursday, December 20, performance of this show has been canceled. Performances resume Friday, December 21, at 7 p.m. (post-apocalyptic hellscape permitting). The setup: Bless their hearts, the founding directors of Brelby Theatre Company are still wrangling with getting their Historic Downtown Glendale studio all properly remodeled for public…
In 1996, Eve Ensler interviewed 200 women about relationships, sex, prejudice, harassment, and violence against women. While her original intent was to publish a series of monologues based on casual conversations with friends and a celebration of femininity, her project quickly morphed into a banner act that aimed to stop…
Christmas has come early for fans of good writing and excellent acting, courtesy of Stray Cat Theatre’s production of Steve Yockey’s Wolves. The play, which squeaks onto my list of best plays of 2012 at the very end of the year, is a violent drama with no real gore; a…
The setup: Ironically, it was the almost-entirely-sold-outness of another popular holiday show (iTheatre’s perennially popular Back Home for the Holidays cabaret) that led Curtains to check out this offering in Mesa, which is in its second year. Tonight is actually your best chance to see Southwest Shakespeare Company’s A Christmas…
