This review aired on KBAQ August 30, 2010

PHOENIX THEATRE’S “NOISES OFF” GREAT MADCAP SLAPSTICK FARCE

“NOISES OFF”
Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

If madcap, slapstick farce performed at rapid-fire pace by superb comedians tickles your funny bone, you’ll howl in delight at the wildly hysterical zany antics in Phoenix Theatre’s season opener, “Noises Off.” Matthew Wiener, on loan from Actors Theatre, stages Michael Frayn’s 1982 backstage joke-fest with delicious comic relish.

The playwright’s farcical expose explores a third-rate British traveling theater company’s staging of “Nothing On,” a comedy. The motley troupe performing it attaches lusty and bawdy silliness to the already inane plot with a maniacal … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ August 16, 2010

NEARLY NAKED’S “SAUCY JACK…” NOT THEATER BUT CABARET AND NOT A MARVELOUS ROMP

“SAUCY JACK AND THE SPACE VIXENS”
Nearly Naked Theatre, The Little Theatre at Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

Forget everything you’ve ever come to expect from a theater performance if you see Nearly Naked Theatre’s bizarrely wacky new musical, “Saucy Jack and The Space Vixens.” It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen that labels itself theater.

Nearly Naked’s artistic director Damon Dering has transformed the tiny Little Theatre at Phoenix Theatre into Saucy Jack’s cabaret. The regular tiered seats are gone and the remaining flat floor has … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ August 9, 2010

“LAUGHING STOCK” IS AN AMUSING VIEW OF HOW THEATER IS PRODUCED

“LAUGHING STOCK”
Theatrikos
Flagstaff, AZ

Theater is a time-consuming passion. Most theatergoers haven’t a clue how much effort and skill go into a production. Flagstaff’s Theatrikos mounts a funny “Laughing Stock,” Charles Morey’s comedy that explores an errant and tacky New Hampshire summer stock theater, The Playhouse, which mounts lame productions in a 200-year-old converted barn. The play provides an amusing insider’s view of theater and just how awful summer stock can be.

The company performs a three-play summer season on a limited budget employing largely talentless … Continue Reading