This review aired on KBAQ June 30, 2014

ACTORS THEATRE’S DOSEN’T MASTER DRAWING ROOM COMEDY WITH “THE COTTAGE”

“THE COTTAGE”
Actors Theatre, Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center
Phoenix, AZ

English drawing room comedy is some of the hardest theater to bring off for American actors because the plays are silly and require stilted acting as they explore the uptight society.  Actors Theatre falls flat with a heavy thud executing the miserably dull and boring “The Cottage.”  Every plot turn and twist is well expected as Sandy Rustin Fleischer’s play gives dramatic hints at everything about to occur.  Nothing startles, amuses, or delights as the … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ June 23, 2014

ACTORS THEATRE’S “THE BOOK CLUB PLAY” IS FUNNY COMEDY & GOOD STAGING

“THE BOOK CLUB PLAY”
Actors Theatre, Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center
Phoenix, AZ

Our summers are hot and unpleasant so summer theater should present light comedies that amuse and distract audiences from the heat.  But comedies can hide deeper messages about the intricacies of our lives.  Leave it to Actors Theatre to find such a play, Karen Zacarias’ “The Book Club Play,” stage it sharply, cast it perfectly, and use it to kick off the troupe’s first summer season in style.

Oh, it’s not the … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ June 9, 2014

MEDIOCRE “STEEL MAGNOLIAS” AT SCOTTSDALE’S STAGEBRUSH THEATRE

“STEEL MAGNOLIAS”
Scottsdale Community Players, Stagebrush Theatre
Scottsdale, AZ

In Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias,” the audience eavesdrops on six gossipy women who go to the same beauty shop and babble about the group’s youngest member, Shelby, an uncontrolled diabetic, as she prepares to marry.  The show has been around since 1985 and is wearisome in this Scottsdale Community Players production.  This mediocre production won’t save this struggling community theater.

Why do such a tired, cliché-ridden, and shopworn play?  The only reason to produce “Steel Magnolias” is to present a stellar cast … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ June 5, 2014

REMARKABLE “PORGY AND BESS” AT ASU GAMMAGE THIS WEEK

“PORGY AND BESS”
Broadway Across America – Arizona, ASU Gammage
Tempe, AZ

Back in 1935 when George and Ira Gershwin’s masterpiece “Porgy and Bess” premiered on Broadway, it set many records.  Most significantly, it was and remains a stirring emotional journey through the lives of Blacks trying to create their own American dream.

Revived on Broadway in 2011, the show garnered a Tony Award as best musical revival. It wasn’t a great financial success but the producers decided it should tour the country and it was remarkable at Tuesday’s … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ June 2, 2014

SUPERB CONCERT VERSION OF “MY FAIR LADY” PRESENTED BY PHOENIX SYMPHONY/PHOENIX THEATRE

“MY FAIR LADY”
Phoenix Symphony/Phoenix Theatre, Symphony Hall
Phoenix, AZ

That’s a bit of Frederick Loewe’s brilliant “My Fair Lady” overture played by the original Broadway orchestra back in 1956 when the show opened.  Now, imagine that same overture played by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ted Sterling, a leading Broadway conductor.  Add Phoenix Theatre’s outstanding producing artistic director Michael Barnard’s masterful staging and outstanding local and national musical theater pros as the leads and you’ll have an idea of the superb performance these … Continue Reading