The setup: Next to Normal marks the first time since Rent that a musical won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. (Interestingly, composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey had written even less for the stage than had Jonathan Larson at that point.) Arizona Theatre Company mounted a production last fall,…
Experimental theatre usually plays to a very niche interest group. But the locally-conceived SparrowSong, which opens this weekend at ASU’s Prism Theatre, aims to create an inclusive environment for all types of theatre-goers. SparrowSong is the brainchild of three of ASU’s MFA students who began discussing the project over tacos…
The setup: Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps is a breakneck farce that doesn’t exactly parody the classic film and spy novel that inspired it — it’s more of a concept that makes fun of them as they are, taking every element that’s a little weird or over-obvious or supremely early-20th-century…
On Saturday Ira Glass, host of the award-winning radio program, This American Life, stood before an auditorium of “NPR Junkies,” at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to discuss everything from his love of Radiolab to his weekly battles with the FCC to his limited knowledge of Arizona (namely,…
It’s been a long time coming — 6 years, in fact — but the Black Theater Troupe will finally move into its new home in a few weeks. With the dust still settling, the troupe now prepares to debut their next show in the new theater on February 8. The…
I called my friend Nathan the other day and asked him to join me in seeing Nearly Naked Theatre’s new production of Equus. “No,” he told me, without hesitation. “The production they did 10 years ago was perfect, and if this new one isn’t, it will ruin my memory of…
James E. Garcia wears a lot of hats. The Phoenix-based creative is a playwright and journalist who’s taught writing and ethnic studies courses at Arizona State University since 2003 and has worked as a reporter, columnist, foreign correspondent and television and radio commentator. In 2002, Garcia founded the New Carpa…
Later this month, a three-day contemporary dance and film festival will take place at Tempe Center for the Arts. >Breaking Ground 2013 Festival will feature three days of dance performances and films by choreographers and performers from Arizona and other states. As an added bonus, they’ll also host two Masters…
The setup: Though I’m sure Jane Austen has plenty of male fans as well, let’s just say that young women who originally thrilled to the 1995 films and miniseries Clueless, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility (and lingered on through Bridget Jones’ Diary) now have teenage daughters who’ll…
A quick public service announcement: If you’re not looking to share a bench and some quality skin time with a few pants-less commuters (and yes, they are just happy to see you), you might want to take the car on January 13. The No Pants Light Rail Ride ride is…
As I write this, the year isn’t over. But I can say that, once again in 2012, I didn’t see a whole lot more than 10 plays I enjoyed so super-much I had to debate internally about putting them on this list. On the other hand, the ones that were…
UPDATE: The Thursday, December 20, performance of this show has been canceled. Performances resume Friday, December 21, at 7 p.m. (post-apocalyptic hellscape permitting). The setup: Bless their hearts, the founding directors of Brelby Theatre Company are still wrangling with getting their Historic Downtown Glendale studio all properly remodeled for public…
In 1996, Eve Ensler interviewed 200 women about relationships, sex, prejudice, harassment, and violence against women. While her original intent was to publish a series of monologues based on casual conversations with friends and a celebration of femininity, her project quickly morphed into a banner act that aimed to stop…
Christmas has come early for fans of good writing and excellent acting, courtesy of Stray Cat Theatre’s production of Steve Yockey’s Wolves. The play, which squeaks onto my list of best plays of 2012 at the very end of the year, is a violent drama with no real gore; a…
The setup: Ironically, it was the almost-entirely-sold-outness of another popular holiday show (iTheatre’s perennially popular Back Home for the Holidays cabaret) that led Curtains to check out this offering in Mesa, which is in its second year. Tonight is actually your best chance to see Southwest Shakespeare Company’s A Christmas…
The setup: For several years, New Carpa has presented an annual holiday pastorela in the Valley. Following a centuries-old tradition, the play incorporates iconoclastic, topical political humor into the story of shepherds traveling to visit the Christ Child, culminating in a battle between Satan and the Archangel Gabriel (because most…
If you have a solid holiday show that people love and buy tickets to, obviously you have to do it at least once more. Or 18 more times. Or whatever. So here we go — this season’s reruns, with links to the original Curtains reviews. 1. Childsplay’s Junie B. in…
Vince Lombardi was a football coach known for his time spent leading the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowl trophies and a number of league championships in the 1960s. He was enshrined in the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. Lombardi never lost a season as a…
Monkey Pants Bar and Grill’s Thursday night comedy event will feature Jackie Kashian, a comedian who has toured with Maria Bamford, performed on NPR’s This American Life, and does a podcast called The Dork Forest. The show will feature local comedians Teddy Bearskovich, Anthony Desamito, and S&M Comedy Podcast hosts…
I almost never attend Sunday evening theater performances. I did on a recent weekend, when I went to see Arizona Theatre Company’s Lombardi, about the life and football coaching career of NFL hero Vince Lombardi. Sunday night audiences, I can now tell you, are distinctly different from the opening night…
The setup: In 1991, standup comedian Rob Becker developed his observations about men and women into a full-length one-man show, Defending the Caveman. Its premise that the differences between the sexes are age-old, inherent, and the source of our strength must have something to it, because the show is still…
To escape the political commentary and election analyses that are likely to fill the 24-hour news cycle for the next week or so, Ernesto Moncada and his Arcana Cabaret suggest comedy, music, and a little creative movement. The collective’s “Politika” will take over Space 55 this weekend. Moncada says the…
