Theater Review – November 17, 2019

“SILENT SKY” RECEIVES RICH STAGING AS IT EXPLORES ASTRONOMER

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

Lauren Gunderson has quietly crafted a major theatrical career and for two years has been the most produced American playwright but even without one play on Broadway.  The Arizona Theatre Company has convinced Gunderson to premiere two new plays and a musical here.  To start off her local connection, the company is mounting a rich staging of Gunderson’s 2013 play “Silent Sky” which takes a touching look at late 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt.  She discovered the “period–luminosity … Continue Reading

Theater Review – November 17, 2019

SWEET “SOUND OF MUSIC” GETS STELLAR TPTC PRODUCTION

“THE SOUND OF MUSIC”
The Phoenix Theatre Company, Mainstage Theatre
Phoenix, AZ

“The Sound of Music” debuted in 1959 on Broadway where it became an audience success as the final Rodgers and Hammerstein musical triumph.  But the popular show never satisfied theater critics because of its sentimental treatment of the now famous story of nun-in-training Maria who morphs into a governess and finally becomes the wife and mother of widowed naval war hero Captain Georg von Trapp and his seven children.

The Captain disciplines his children like soldiers and never allows them … Continue Reading

Theater Review – November 10, 2019

STRAY CAT’S UNCONVENTIONAL “AMERICAN PSYCHO” SLAMS RICH IN SUPERB STAGING

“AMERICAN PSYCHO THE MUSICAL”
Stray Cat Theatre, Studio Theatre, Tempe Center for the Arts
Tempe, AZ

If you are looking for a conventional musical, wait until The Phoenix Theatre Company opens “The Sound of Music” next week.  But if you want to see an unconventional musical that slams the rich and the fake things that impress these phony people, check out the superb Stray Cat Theatre’s Arizona premiere production of “American Psycho” based on the novel that inspired the dark film.

You couldn’t find a bleaker tale to turn into … Continue Reading

Theater Review – November 1, 2019

“ANASTASIA” TELLS RICH HISTORIC STORY WITH DULLNESS AND CLICHES

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

“Anastasia” musicalizes the well known life of the last Russian Czar’s fourth daughter.  It is a grand story not only about the young woman’s maturation but also about the crumbling reign of the aristocracy that sought personal wealth while everyday Russians suffered.  The historical tale demands a big production to represent the conspicuous consumption of the ruling class but it must also display the common man’s plight.

Unfortunately, Terrence McNally’s book inspired by the film tells the story with dry, plodding … Continue Reading