This review aired on KBAQ October 27, 2014

ACTORS THEATRE’S “SEMINAR” IS RAUCOUS COMEDY

”SEMINAR”

Actors Theatre, Helen K. Mason Theatre

Phoenix, AZ

What’s better than a raucous comedy that cuts and jabs at the hypocrisy of professional writers but that also makes us think about writers contributions that range from thoughtful and insightful ideas to dull and one-dimensional claptrap.  Such are the idiosyncratic delights of “Seminar,” Actors Theatre’s perceptive but amusing new Theresa Rebeck play that is superbly staged and thoughtfully acted.  This tightly written comedy spins out fervently in less than two hours of thoughtfully amusing chatter.

“Seminar” is about a small writing class … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ October 20, 2014

MIDDLING “HOW TO SUCCEED…’ OPENS AT THEATER WORKS

”How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
Theater Works, Peoria Center for the Performing Arts
Peoria, AZ

Theater Works has come a long way from its early days in a barn.  They’ve had their share of impressive productions like last season’s “Ragtime,” but there are still too many middling shows.  Their current musical, a disappointing “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” is plagued by two factors.

The musical won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama plus the Tony Award and the Drama Critics’ Circle nod as Best Musical … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ October 13, 2014

“VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE” DELIGHTFULLY ZANY IN SHARP STAGING

”VANYA and SONIA and MASHA and SPIKE”
Arizona Theatre Company, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

Be prepared to laugh if you attend Arizona Theatre Company’s delightfully zany ”Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Christopher Durang’s new comedy delight that spoofs and slams everyday foibles that influence people’s lives as they glide into the endless rut of daily living.

Durang’s new comedy won the 2013 Best Play Tony Award and it is brought to vibrant life by a great ensemble of gifted comediennes who create charmingly … Continue Reading

This review aired on KBAQ October 6, 2014

“RADIO GOLF” NOT WILSON’S BEST PLAY ABOUT THE BLACK STRUGGLE

”RADIO GOLF”
Black Theatre Troupe, Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center
Phoenix, AZ

Playwright August Wilson wrote a ten play cycle about the struggles and development of the Black community in Pittsburgh’s Hill District during each decade of the 20th century.  The last of the cycle, “Radio Golf,” premiered in 2005 just before Wilson passed away.

“Radio Golf” is not the cycle’s best play and it doesn’t end the Hill District’s evolution on a positive note.  In fact, “Radio Golf” suggests the Black community’s struggle flounder to a … Continue Reading