This review aired on KBAQ May 21, 2012

STAGE ROBOTS DON’T IMPRESS IN STRAY CAT’S “HEDDATRON”

“HEDDATRON”
Stray Cat Theatre, Tempe Performing Arts Center
Tempe, AZ

There’s a lot of on-stage commotion at Stray Cat Theatre’s “Heddatron” as five robots tool around the stage as part of the action in Elizabeth Meriwether’s play.  Unfortunately, the stage robots – and they work amazingly well – take audience attention away from the play.  It’s a theatrical gimmick that doesn’t intensify the action and creates unnecessary distractions.

“Heddatron” deals with a pregnant housewife abducted after much rambling chatter by the robots.  She’s taken to a remote rainforest where her … Continue Reading

IMPRESSIVE “TIME STANDS STILL” EXPLORES TWO DIFFERENT COUPLES

“TIME STANDS STILL”
Actors Theatre, Stage West, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

Donald Margulies powerful “Time Stands Still” is delivered by Actors Theatre in an impressive production that closes their current season.  The Tony Award-nominated play explores the lives of two very different couples.  Changes in the relationships of the couples are stimulated by evolutionary developments of one couple who were impacted by their Iraqi War coverage, while the other couple looks at a man’s midlife crisis that result in a marriage to his hot girlfriend and an unexpected baby.

The play focuses on war photographer Sarah … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ May 7, 2012

SUPERB ATC “RED” LOOKS AT ART’S CREATION AND COMPARES IT TO LIFE

“RED”
Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

“Red,” Arizona Theatre Company’s superb season ending production, is a fascinating look at art’s creation, a process playwright John Logan brilliantly compares to the multifaceted routines of life.  “Red” won last year’s Tony Award as the Best Broadway Play.  It follows artist Mark Rothko’s creative process in 1958 as he crafted thirty canvases for the Four Seasons Manhattan restaurant.  As Rothko creates the canvases, with help from his assistant Ken, the artist teaches that … Continue Reading

WARM AND TOUCHING “THE COLOR OF STARS” AT CHILDSPLAY

“THE COLOR OF STARS”
Childsplay, Tempe Center for the Arts

Tempe, AZ

What a wonderfully warm and touching play Dwayne Hartford has created for Childsplay in “The Color of Stars.”  It looks at World War II’s impact on a family in rural Maine.  In Graham Whitehead’s marvelously tender production acted with the usual aplomb of the fine Childsplay ensemble, this production is guaranteed to have young audiences and their chaperones in tears by the end.

“The Color of Stars” tells young Eddie’s story.  He’s moved in with his grandparents on the family farm while his father … Continue Reading