Herbert Paine - Page 15

Zao Theatre's production of THE ELEPHANT MAN, directed by Mickey Bryce, is a powerhouse of acting and stagecraft, moving and provocative in content, and featuring compelling performances by Kellen Garner as John Merrick and Tyler Boettcher as Frederick Treves. The show runs through September 8th.

Neil Simon's ROSE AND WALSH is a simmering but unsteady and almost trite rumination on love and loss and legacy. If it has potential, it's unfulfilled in Theatre Artists Studio's current production of the play, running thru Sept 2.

BEAU JEST, Don Bluth Front Row Theatre's season opener, features the welcome directorial debut of Lee Cooley, aided and abetted by a solid cast ~ Hillary Low, eric Bond, Jared Kitch, Patty Stephens, Jim Coates, and Robert Jahanfar ~ in a fun and highly entertaining family comedy…with a strong heartbeat. Runs through September 29th.

This reviewer is in awe of what he saw opening weekend of Valley Youth Theatre's production of NEWSIES The Musical: A spectacular triumph of talent and artistry, all the more impressive because of the amazing young performers (ages 12 to 18!) whose versatility and range of technical proficiency is jaw-dropping. Kale Burr is terrific! Tony Spinosa's choreography is tremendous! So is the entire ensemble! An auspicious way to begin the company's 30th Anniversary Season! Runs thru Aug 26 at Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix.

Arizona Broadway Theatre's production of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN makes for good summer fare...cool, innocuous, and passably entertaining..but Frank Abagnole's story gets lost in the mix. Through August 12th.

Hale Centre Theatre's current production of SISTER ACT, running through August 18th, features Cambrian James' imaginative direction and choreography, with standout turns by Ashley Jackson and Kathleen Richards.

Arizona Women's Theater Company presents Steven Carl McCasland's LITTLE WARS at Mesa Encore Theatre (MET) Black Box through July 8th.

Valley Youth Theatre continues its grand tradition with an uplifting and talent-rich production of ANNIE, now at Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix through July 1st.

Rocking performances by super kids and Rob Colletti make the National Tour of SCHOOL OF ROCK a riproaring good time. Now at ASU Gammage through June 24th.

Thirteen years into their NEW SUMMER SHORTS, the members of Theatre Artist Studio remain in top form, reaching into their collective pockets for story lines that play on our fancies and foibles. This year's collection of eight ten-minute plays rises to the level of the proverbial cherry on top of the sundae. It's dessert time for a Season that has feasted its audiences with some pretty fine productions. Running through June 24th.

THE HUMANS, now at ASU Gammage in Tempe AZ, features a star-studded cast, but a confused and disappointing ending undoes what to that point has been a play infused with humanity, wit, and emotion.

Sanjay Rawal's 3100: RUN AND BECOME is an illuminating documentary that centers on the Self-Transcendence ultra-marathon established in 1996 by Sri Chrinmoy, the famous spiritual guide who, among his visionary teachings, saw the act of running as a path to profound enlightenment. The film is one of the features at this year's ILLUMINATE Film Festival in Sedona, AZ.

Hale Centre Theatre has netted a big hit with BIG FISH, the utterly charming and whimsical narrative of a man (Edward Bloom) with a giant proclivity for tall tales and his son (Will) who yearns to uncover the truth about his storytelling hero. Directed and choreographed by Cambrian James and based on Daniel Wallace's novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the show features superb performances by Chad Campbell and Nicholas Gunnell. Runs through June 30th.

FROM SHOCK TO AWE, directed by Luc Cote, is a searing and gut-wrenching documentary that begs for as broad an audience as possible ~ because we need to understand far better and address with a greater sense of urgency the compounding of tragedies inflicted on the men and women who have served our nation on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is one of the featured films at this year's ILLUMINATE Film Festival in Sedona, Arizona ~ May 30th-June 3rd.

David Ira Goldstein, recently retired from his position as Arizona Theatre Company's artistic director, returns to put his distinctive signature on the play. The result is a sensitively drawn, powerfully commanding, and deeply unsettling portrait of a family in waiting for the inevitable, featuring a remarkable performance by Anna Lentz.

Robert Kolby Harper has conceived a thoroughly entertaining remake of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, running through June 10th in Phoenix Theatre's Mainstage, and featuring knockout performances by Kate E. Cook and Brian Golub as Seymour and Audrey.

The national tour of LES MISERABLES has come roaring like a cannonade into Gammage Memorial Auditorium. This 25th anniversary production, a bold reimagining of the international blockbuster, is musical theatre on steroids, packing the whole shebang of entertainment value into an emotionally uplifting and rapid-fire two hours and fifty minutes, and featuring rich and powerful performances by Nick Cartell, Josh Davis, Mary Kate Moore, Emily Bautista, Jillian Butler, and Robert Ariza.

By any measure, iTheatre Collaborative's production of Jason Odell Williams' CHURCH AND STATE, is a triumph of directing and acting. Director Rosemary Close has executed the playwright's vision with the precision of a marksman, guaranteeing that every moment of this one act play is on target and infused with the fullness of its wit and pathos. Her aim is steady and balanced, advantaged by a cast whose chemistry is magical, featuring Scott Hyder, Lindsey Marlin, Marlene Galan-Woods, and Eric Bond.

Sasha Wilson's BURY THE HATCHET is a thoroughly clever, wildly imaginative, and engaging romp through the evidence surrounding the murder of Lizzie Borden's parents. Wilson tears up the stage as she and her ensemble role out multiple scenarios in an effort to get to the truth about the crime that has spawned decades of speculation. The show, a co-production of Wilson's London-based Out Of The Forest Theatre and Southwest Shakespeare Company will run at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West through May 6th and then move on to Rosson House in Phoenix for two performances on May 3rd.

Theatre Artists Studio is closing its already impressive Season with Robert Anderson's I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER. Directed by Steve Fajardo, the presentation is appropriately stark and focused. A simple set with the bare essentials gives the right space to a string of stirring performances, featuring Tom Koelbel, Charles Sowder, and Judy Lebeau. The show runs through May 13th.