Tolstoy was right: It’s more fun watching people be miserable. And so we have David Mamet, the American playwright who has brought us the delightful anguish of Oleanna (in which a young woman accuses her professor of sexual harassment) and the stunning treachery of Glengarry Glen Ross (about disreputable realtors…
Okay, so it was on the Cracked website, but nevertheless, science is discovering that reason is as specious and arbitrary as anything else created by the human mind. It’s a set of rules we pulled out of our asses to be able to win arguments, because winning arguments is a…
Dancers and instructors, as well as fans and arts community members will host a party, dubbed Meet Me at the Barre, to introduce the new space and to discuss upcoming performances and the future of dance in the Valley. …
Oh, these troubled times–especially for the arts community, always the first to be cut loose in any kind of economic crunch. The latest arts organization to fall apart is Actors Theatre, one of a handful of professional theater companies here. The Herberger Theater Center resident, which launched its 26th season…
Need a drink this weekend? The bawdy thespians of Nearly Naked Theatre will be happy to mix up something special to wet your whistle, especially since it will help their bottom line.Thespians and crewmembers from the notorious Valley drama troupe (who have built a reputation for their risqué and clothing-optional…
People jumping fences in the middle of the night. Armed Border Patrol agents driving along a long, metal fence. Minute-men sitting in lawn chairs staring out at a vast desert landscape. These are the images we think of when we hear the word “border” — and that’s what the new multi-discinplinary…
In Bill Harris’ Stories About the Old Days, an elderly man and woman stand in an old church and recount their lives. They bemoan the passing of time and the ways in which the world has changed and slowly reveal to us the reasons they’re the broken people they’ve become…
A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity (friends’ bookcase and a head cold) to sit down and read John Irving’s Until I Find You — which should be more popular, given its “everything but bears” score on this grid. What happens to the book’s hero wound up happening to…
Kim Porter has no qualms about acting in her own play; while the local playwright and actress hasn’t been on stage with other actors for more than a decade, she jokes that she’s had her lines memorized for some time. Porter quit what she calls “straight acting” (or acting with…
When we were around 13 or 15 years old, we frequently and solemnly swore that whatever else happened, we’d remember what it was like to be a kid. We knew adults who remembered and we knew those who apparently didn’t, and we’d sooner die than grow up to be the…
For people who aren’t on the Falsettoland train, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is probably the William Finn musical they’re familiar with. I love William Finn with all my heart — the very first Curtains blog was a wordy, gushing review of his A New Brain.The current Broadway…
Stray Cat Theatre has kicked off its 10th season with a meandering mess of dramatic devices masquerading as a play. A murder mystery of sorts, The Sparrow has broken wings. The real mystery here is why Stray Cat’s talented artistic director, Ron May, optioned Chris Mathews and Jake Minton’s lifeless…
It’s officially autumn, and you can feel it in the morning on a good day. But we still face a good month’s worth of weather worth complaining about, and a short, silly collection of irreverent sketches and songs from Th [sic] Sense is just the ticket. Soul Invictus’ space on…
We were, as we do most Saturday nights, dressing for theater. “Why does this shirt look so nice on the hanger,” I asked my spouse, “and so dumpy on me?” “I don’t know,” he replied, pointing to my head. “But you need a haircut. Those bangs make you look like…
Arizona Opera Arizona Opera’s 41st season opens Oct. 7 with a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. It’s been a dirty little secret for far too long that opera is not just for aging Little Lord Fauntleroys and ladies whose cats’ names begin with “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Behind the…
Class 6 Theatre is a company that doesn’t always perform in the same venue, which is a little challenging if for no other reason than that people are creatures of habit. Even with all kinds of social media at your disposal, your returning audience will sometimes try to go where…
On July 20, Kellie Walker and her Voices Lifted choir packed their songbooks and headed to Dobson Home — one of three homes overseen by Hospice of the Valley. Walker, along with choir members Rebecca Riggs, Nancy Wittenberg and Melissa Bush, sing regularly for a number of patients and their family…
It’s disillusioning but, ultimately, reassuring to learn that improv comedy has structure and rules and stuff like that (for its performers). The reassuring part comes when you realize that 1) “solid improv experience” is not an oxymoron and 2) dedicated application of technique makes for reliable craziness (also not an…
If you want to see Jon Stewart cry a little on the inside, ask him about his sadly brief career as an actor. The leap from stage to screen is a notoriously tricky one, best facilitated by “Saturday Night Live” and, increasingly, Stewart’s own star-making machine, “The Daily Show.” Today, comedian Nick…
Famed female pilot Betsy Coleman was a groundbreaking figure in the world of aviation. In the 1920s, she not only broke down racial and gender barriers by becoming the world’s only African-American aviatrix, but also was the first woman to ever hold an international pilot’s license. So it’s something of…
It’s difficult to pin Stray Cat Theatre down — just one thing the company has in common with actual stray cats. The troupe’s selections are often super-gay, not unlike Nearly Naked’s; they like to do shows Phoenix hasn’t seen before, which is something Actors Theatre is also superb at. Maybe…
Things were looking up, even before Nearly Naked Theatre’s Oedipus for Kids! commenced on opening night. It’s always nice to open a playbill and read that Johanna Carlisle is among the actors about to take the stage. And even nicer to read the occasional actor bio that pokes fun at…
