Theater Review – January 28, 2018

BROADWAY STAR KELLI O’HARA DAZZLES LOCAL AUDIENCE AT SCOTTSDALE CENTER

KELLI O’HARA
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Scottsdale, AZ

Magic happened at the Scottsdale Center Saturday as the dazzlingly beautiful Broadway star Kelli O’Hara launched into one of her now famous “South Pacific” song renditions as she began a richly rewarding concert of musical theater classics.

The fabulous evening was hosted and accompanied remarkably by Seth Rudetsky from XM Radio’s Broadway channel.  It was a relaxed but thoughtfully produced performance that allowed O’Hara to tell us about the development of her Broadway career that earned her a Tony Award … Continue Reading

Theater Review – January 28, 2018

PHOENIX THEATRE’S RAUCOUS “IT’S ONLY A PLAY” DELIVERS ROLLICKINGLY GOOD TIME

“IT’S ONLY A PLAY”
Mainstage, Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

There’s abundant raucous laughter and madcap confusion in “It’s Only a Play” at Phoenix Theatre.  The delightfully daffy production is due to Terrance McNally’s hysterical script and a superlative local cast of comic farceurs.  The zany charade affectionately slaps the machinations of producing a Broadway comedy.  Impossibly egocentric performers, a struggling playwright, and a no-clue producer cavort as they mock and laugh at a play’s creation.  There’s even an errant theater critic who gets bombarded by the insiders that … Continue Reading

Theater Review – January 8, 2018

STUNNING “MAN OF LA MANCHA” IS A MUST SEE AT ATC

“MAN OF LA MANCHA”
Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage, Herberger Theater Center
Phoenix, AZ

The 1965 musical “Man of La Mancha” is based on playwright Miguel de Cervantes life philosophy that has evolved into a clichéd show done to death by every community theater.  The simple show requires one unit set, a prison, where Cervantes, as a late-in-life convict, is imprisoned for his errant life that becomes a tale woven around his lead character, Don Quixote.  The show also triumphed because of its pleasing but well known Mitch … Continue Reading