The Canterbury Tarot is a new play by local playwright Ashley Naftule, whose other works include Ear and The First Annual Bookburners Convention. It is a mashup of Chaucer’s classic novel “The Canterbury Tales” and characters from Alejandro Jodorowsky’s tarot deck. Our players converge in an inn that sits in the shadow of Canterbury Cathedral, sharing stories as they make their pilgrimage. Motivations unfolding as interactions do…
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‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ at The Phoenix Theatre Company
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play by Simon Stephens based on Mark Haddon’s book of the same name. And it is staged in a way to viscerally convey how overwhelming existence can be as a child who is special, and brilliant, and often afraid. A child with sensitivities to light, sound, and touch. A savant who finds solace in numbers and the stars…
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‘Sweeney Todd’ Strikes True at Arizona Broadway Theatre
A fantastic production of the musical is an ideal way to start the Halloween season. And that is exactly what Arizona Broadway Theatre is delivering. A witty yet horrifying, gorgeous yet grotesque, incredibly impressive version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street…
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‘Miss Saigon’ Reveals Consequences of War at ASU Gammage
Miss Saigon is generally considered a modern classic. A cannon work in Broadway’s soaring age of powerful, post-Golden Age, works. It opened in the West End in 1989 and premiered on Broadway in 1991, winning several Tony Awards for performances, although none for technical or developmental components. Based on Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and inspired by a photograph of painful childhood separation after the Vietnam War, it was the Schonberg/Boublil collaborative work immediately following Les Misérables…
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‘Kinky Boots’ Sashays Through The Phoenix Theatre Company
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Kinky Boots is based on an independent British film, which was inspired by the true story of Steve Pateman who found a niche market in an attempt tried to save his family’s failing shoe business. Although it had a somewhat rocky start, Kinky Boots defied the odds, ultimately winning 6 Tony Awards in 2013, including Best Score (for pop icon Cyndi Lauper, the first female to win an individual Tony in the category) and the top spot, Best Musical. The show closed in April of this year, after more than 2,500 performances on Broadway…
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‘Unmentionables’ Takes Cross-Country Trek to Space 55
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Unmentionables is a new work written by Molly Greville and developed at Boston University in collaboration with Kirsten Greenidge, the award winning playwright of Milk Like Sugar. It premiered in 2018 at the Boston Fringe Fest, and was recently brought to Arizona, thanks to a collaboration with Space 55 in Phoenix. The production team is comprised of recent Boston University BFA graduates, almost all female, and all incredibly talented. Annie Brennan Coursey directs, and Sophie Gore is both Stage Manager and Intimacy Director…
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Valley Youth Theatre Brings Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda’ to Life
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Matilda is a musical based on the beloved children’s novel written by Rold Dahl, the author of other acclaimed classics including “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach.” The show premiered in London in 2011 before moving to Broadway. It was nominated for a multitude of Tony Awards in the 2013 season, winning Best Book, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design…
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Stray Cat Theatre’s ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ Makes Brave Moves at Tempe Center for the Arts
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Stray Cat Theatre’s newest production, Small Mouth Sounds, is bravely unconventional…
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‘The Book of Mormon’ Rings in Unapologetic Delight at ASU Gammage
by Rebecca Rudynk
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The Book of Mormon is simply delightful: Unwaveringly blunt, raucously hilarious, and unapologetically offensive. It tackles the taboo and the sacred. The absurd and the heartwrenching. While it maintains the structure and cadence of a traditional Broadway musical, it is anything but. Unlike any other show out there, it is absurdly special…
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Scottsdale Musical Theatre Company Presents ‘The Pajama Game’ at Tempe Center for the Arts
by Rebecca Rudnyk – The Pajama Game is a musical straight out of the Golden Age of Broadway. Based on the novel “7 ½ Cents” by...
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Get ‘Freaky’ with Valley Youth Theatre at the Herberger
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Freaky Friday is a story familiar to most (if not all of us) thanks to the original 1972 book by Mary Rodgers, and its subsequent film adaptations, most recently in 2003 starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan. The musical version premiered on stage in Virginia in late 2016, with a cast album released in 2017 and a Disney Channel Original Movie airing in 2018…
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Pure Imagination: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Delights ASU Gammage
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a new musical based on the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl. A story that was woven into the everlasting fabric of our zeitgeist by the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Gene Wilder’s portrayal of the odd-but-intriguing candy man left a lasting impression on an entire generation of young people. A warmth and nostalgia that, although some have tried, has never been fully replicated…
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