This review aired on KBAQ November 29, 2010

SPUNKY “ANNIE” AT BROADWAY PALM FOR THE HOLIDAYS

“ANNIE”
Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre
Mesa, AZ

A spunky “Annie” production greets holiday theatergoers at Mesa’s Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. While there’s nothing remarkable about the production or cast, the fast-paced staging of the overly coy tale about the comic strip orphan will please those looking for festive holiday entertainment. There’s even a sure fire holiday number, “New Deal for Christmas,” that brings the season to life.

Before proceeding with this “Annie” review, though, a disclaimer is in order. This critic finds “Annie” sickenly saccharine. The zesty spirit that gets … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ November 22, 2010

PHOENIX THEATRE’S “HAIRSPRAY” ENTERTAINS AND DELIGHTS

“HAIRSPRAY”
Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

The entertaining and delightful “Hairspray” explodes all over the Phoenix Theatre stage in a dazzling Michael Barnard staging. Barnard’s exhilarating production finds new joys in the 2002 musical that pays affectionate homage to the 1960s. The show mixes thoughtful political comment into its light-hearted look at this period of great change in American society.

Interwoven into the huge production numbers there’s pithy comments about outcast teenagers and others dealing with isolation, about being overweight, but most profoundly, “Hairspray” illustrates segregation’s evils and the country’s need to embrace … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ November 15, 2010

ATC’S “MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM” POWERFULLY MOVING

“MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM”
Arizona Theatre Company, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

A powerfully moving Arizona Theatre Company production of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” provides graphic insight into bigoted American race relations in the early twentieth century.

The play is the first of Wilson’s ten part series that eloquently traces the African-American experience through the last century’s evolving decades. This one explores Rainey’s career in 1927 as a major blues singer.

It’s set during a Chicago recording session with the arrogant, shrewd, knowing, and demanding Rainey. She won’t let whites … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ November 8, 2010

NEARLY NAKED’S “MUCKLE MAN” DISAPPOINTING PLAY BASED ON FOLKLORE

“THE MUCKLE MAN”
Nearly Naked Theatre, The Little Theatre at Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

A thriller based on folklore, “The Muckle Man,” Nearly Naked Theatre’s latest Arizona premiere, is a confusing play delivered in a visually exciting production that doesn’t display fine acting in the leading roles while the minor roles are better etched.

The Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa play is muddled with a folk tale that few know mixed into a standard family drama. Set in Newfoundland, Canada’s Conception Bay, Addison, a marine biologist, has moved his wife, Marina, and … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ November 4, 2010

IMPLAUSIBLE “HARD LOVE” OPENS ARIZONA JEWISH THEATRE SEASON

“HARD LOVE”
Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, John Paul Theatre, Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ

“Hard Love,” the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company’s season opener, appears to have everything going for it. It’s written by one of Israel’s leading playwrights, Motti Lerner, and it deals with the struggle to reunite between a faith believing woman and her ex-husband who lost his faith.

But the play disappoints because the confrontation and solution is abrupt, is poorly developed, and is implausible. The characters are weakly etched so it’s difficult to relate to or care about … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ November 1, 2010

GLIBLY FUNNY “VIBRATOR” PLAY DEFTLY STAGED BY ACTORS THEATRE

“IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY)”
Actors Theatre, Stage West, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

Sarah Ruhl’s “In the Next Room (Or The Vibrator Play)” takes a little known and funny scientific fact and cleverly couples it with late 19th century sexual inhibitions to craft a glibly funny play that is produced with deft comic delight by Actors Theatre.

We are at Dr. Givings’ house and office in a prosperous New York town during the 1880s. The good doctor has success in diagnosing and treating an ailment … Continue Reading