Theater Review – February 23, 2025

“BLUES IN THE NIGHT” USES CLASSIC ‘30S SONGS TO TELL THREE WOMENS STORIES

“Blues in the Night”
Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage, Tempe Center for the Arts
Tempe, AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

In Arizona Theatre Company’s (ATC) outstanding “Blues in the Night,” the audience is transported back to an upscale 1930s Chicago hotel where contemporary songs by such composers as Bessie Smith, Benny Goodman, Vernon Duke, and Duke Ellington among the 13 composers used allow three very different Black women singers to probe their struggles and joys.

The Lady from the Road runs through her entertainment career by browsing an … Continue Reading

Theater Review – February 22, 2025

TPTC’S RICHLY ENTERTAINING “JERSEY BOYS” COULDN’T BE BETTER

“JERSEY BOYS”
The Phoenix Theatre Company, Hormel Theatre
Phoenix AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

The jukebox musical “Jersey Boys” probes the development of The Four Seasons starring Frankie Valli and the story is fascinating.  The show uses the great collection of songs crafted by the group during their long and successful career but, unlike other jukebox shows, “Jersey Boys” tells the largely unknown backstory of the group’s many ups and downs.  It explores the changes in the singers and it explains how key song composer Bob Gaudio used the singer’s turbulent lives … Continue Reading

Theater Review – February 16, 2025

A LESS THAN PERFECT PRODUCTION STIFFLES “FETAL’s” CRITICAL MESSAGE

“Fetal”
Stray Cat Theatre, Studio Theatre, Tempe Center for the Arts
Tempe, AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

Trista Baldwin’s new play “Fetal” is set in a Houston abortion clinic on the day Roe v. Wade was killed by the newly conservative Supreme Court.  The play is certainly a telling tale on women losing a cherished right to decide if and when they should bring a baby into this troubled world.  Unfortunately, The Stray Cat Theatre (SCT) production lacks sharp staging and dynamic acting so it sputters instead of sprinting toward enforcing … Continue Reading

Theater Review – February 12, 2025

ENTERTAINING “SOME LIKE IT HOT” MUSICAL BRINGS THE FAMILIAR STORY TO ASU GAMMAGE

“Some Like It Hot”
Broadway Across America – Arizona, ASU Gammage,
Tempe, AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

We all saw and affectionately remember the hit 1959 comedy film classic “Some Like It Hot.”  The movie cried out to be turned into a musical and that’s exactly what was done in 2023 when it debuted on Broadway.  After a modest New York run, the show hit the road and it arrived this week at ASU Gammage in a smashingly entertaining production performed with non-stop momentum.

A superb cast executes … Continue Reading

Theater Review – February 8, 2025

“CHURCHILL” DOESN’T CAPTURE THE DYNAMIC HISTORICAL FIGURE

“CHURCHILL”
The Phoenix Theatre Company, Hardes Theatre
Phoenix AZ

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

Winston Churchill was an extremely complex individual with military brilliance and the uncanny ability to read divergent people so he could implement his assorted plans that enabled him to win a complicated war for Great Britain.

The man is a challenging subject for a play and The Phoenix Theatre Company (TPTC) brings us David Payne’s portrait that he conceived, wrote, and directed.  But there’s something missing because the creation is too often flat and it never allows the well-known exuberant figure … Continue Reading