The Valley’s live theater scene is more diverse and outré than you may think, with local troupes pushing the boundaries of performance well beyond the Broadway norm. Here’s a look at five local companies who challenge convention with bold subject matter and daring, hilarious stagecraft.
All Puppet Players founder and artistic director Shaun Michael McNamara admits that his 18-and-over puppet cabaret is difficult for many people to wrap their heads around.
From plays and concerts to workshops and lectures, there's fun for all this fall.
Exciting as this Odyssey is, however, there’s a sadness to it as well, a sense that we're seeing the end of a Golden Age and the beginning of an era of disillusionment brought about through the brutality of war and the flouting of social and civic norms.
The goggled, giggling little goobers who look like ambulatory yellow Tic Tacs are back in Minions & Monsters.
By the standards of big summer blockbusters, this Supergirl is relatively modest in scope, which I found agreeable.
Played by Hugh Jackman, the title character is presented here as a scoundrel, murderous brigand and varlet.
The Dracula legend adapts well to zany comedy; the movies Love at First Bite and Dracula: Dead and Loving It are just two examples. But Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Arizona Theatre Company’s production playing at Tempe Center for the Arts through June 7, is arguably sillier than either of these, and just as much fun. Directed by Gordon Greenberg from a script by Greenberg and Steve Rosen, DACOT is a furiously paced, intermission-free burlesque of Bram Stoker’s vampire yarn....
Tall and imposingly fleshy, Fraser also manages to give us a human Eisenhower.
Morgan Andersen set out to be a computer programmer. “Then I started doing theater in college,” she says, “and I fell in love with it. I switched my major and got an MFA in costume design instead.”
To the ever-lengthening list of things that make me feel old may be added the fact that The 40-Year-Old Virgin is observing its 20th anniversary.
As the mercury drops, the Valley’s arts scene heats up. Plan your patronage with this guide.
Our culture columnist – a longtime Valley theater critic – reflects on the 2024-2025 theater season.
