Theater Review – March 20, 2017

ATC PRESENTS A FASCINATING AND VISUALLY EXCITING “ALBATROSS”

“ALBATROSS”
Arizona Theatre Company, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

A fascinating and visually exciting 90-minute play, “Albatross,” is about an 18th-century English sailor, The Mariner, cursed by a never-ending life, who is shoved into contemporary times.  The show is vibrantly alive because of Benjamin Evett’s spellbinding solo performance in the gripping Arizona Theatre Company staging that is aided brilliantly by Rick Lombardo’s inflammatory staging of Cambridge’s The Poet’s Theatre’s original production.  The unusual presentation sparks the play’s stimulating allure because of the performance and a different visual look crafted by three … Continue Reading

Theater Review – March 16, 2017

ENGAGING “FINDING NEVERLAND” IS MAGICAL AT ASU GAMMAGE

“FINDING NEVERLAND”
Broadway Across America – Arizona, ASU Gammage
Tempe, AZ

The engagingly fascinating musical “Finding Neverland” tells a magical story of author J. M. Barrie’s development of his fictional icon Peter Pan and the struggles that went into the creation of the other kids.  It shows how Barrie met and wooed the beguiling Sylvia Llewelyn Davies as well as the challenges presented by her sternly unbending matriarch, Mrs. Du Maurier.

When I saw the show In New York, it was a weakly produced dud at the end of an unusually long … Continue Reading

Theater Review – March 13, 2017

WONDROUS “BULLETS OVER BROADWAY”  AND STRAY CAT’S INSIGHTFUL “NATIVE SON” ARE BOTH HITS ON LOCAL STAGES

“BULLETS OVER BROADWAY”
Phoenix Theatre, Mainstage
Phoenix, AZ

An insightful “Native Son” produced superbly by Stray Cat Theatre is about a down-and-out young Chicago Black man in the 1930s, while a wondrous Phoenix Theatre staging of the musical version of Woody Allen’s 1994 movie comedy “Bullets Over Broadway,” present two diverse productions for local theatergoers.

When Woody Allen’s classic 1994 movie comedy, “Bullets Over Broadway,” was adapted into a musical, Susan Stroman’s Broadway production bombed.  The story is about David Shayne, a 1920s playwright, … Continue Reading

Opera Review – March 6, 2017

WORLD PREMIERE OPERA BY LOCAL COMPOSER SHOWS PROMISE

“RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE”
Arizona Opera, Symphony Hall
Phoenix, AZ

It’s always exciting when a world premiere performing arts event occurs in Arizona.  And when the world premiere comes from a locally based composer, Craig Bohmler, the work stirs even more interest.  Add a world-famous local visual artist to create the striking sets and the audience at Friday’s night’s Arizona Opera’s performance of “Riders of the Purple Sage” was pulling for the work.  It justified the excitement.

Bohmler’s creative score and Steven Mark Kohn’s libretto are based on Zane Grey’s well-known … Continue Reading