Robert Encila-Celdran

With Koso, the energy shifts: these are not students learning a craft, but working professionals returning to it, refining it in real time. In this setting, the usual theatrical scaffolding falls away. With minimal design (and practical lighting), the actors generate tension through behavior alone, turning a small studio into a Mojave motel room with little help from the space itself. This isn’t minimalism for its own sake. There’s just nowhere to hide.

Marsha Mason has long been defined by her film work in the 1970s and ’80s, and by her storied marriage to the late Neil Simon. Their collaboration nurtured a distinct sensibility, shaping a kind of American comedy rooted in idiosyncratic behavior: how people talk, misread each other, and circle back.

In a piece defined by moments that dissolve as quickly as they form, the dedication lends the evening a quiet gravity, where the act of gathering in the Tornabene becomes its own gesture of remembrance. In many ways, the Tornabene itself becomes a collaborator. The theatre's quirky yet flexible geometry resists the predictability of a conventional stage picture, requiring actors to carve presence from angles, tiers, and distances that can shift the emotional logic of a moment.

Even in a nation celebrated for its singers, Lea Salonga occupies a realm entirely her own. Her distinction lies not in her crystalline tone, but in the intelligence that animates it—the deliberate thought, the emotional architecture of each phrase. She sings with an actor's intuition and a philosopher's clarity. Her voice doesn't simply ascend; it unveils.

For Filipino performers of my generation, Lea Salonga has always been both. Her voice was a map homeward and outward at once: the sound of possibility breaking through perceived cultural ceilings.

Some art offends not out of malice, but out of necessity. It erodes our defenses and upsets the hierarchies we've internalized for generations. Cloud 9 thrives in that awkward space where laughter and shock trade places. Caryl Churchill's comedy, though seemingly gratuitous, diagnoses our assumptions about who truly holds power.

At its core, VANITIES is a meditation on time—how it shapes and betrays us, and how friendship endures in its wake. It follows three Texas cheerleaders whose youthful confidence carries them into adulthood with varying degrees of success and self-delusion. Their lives unfold across three decades, each scene tracing the arc from the casual optimism of youth to the sobering compromises of maturity.

Of course, off-color references are only gratuitous when taken out of context. In SHIP, Williams blends incisive commentary with dark, outrageous comedy, painting a vivid portrait of a unique, idiosyncratic trio. The play balances moments of reflection with incidental, often crude, humor, thereby crafting a jaded yet emotionally complex rhythm.

Beneath the jokes and sharp-edged dialogue is a rumination on labor, grief, and human connection in unlikely places. Garbage becomes literal and symbolic: the physical refuse they haul daily and their emotional baggage. For all its grime, the job becomes a kind of secular ritual—repetitive, humbling, oddly revealing. What we throw away says more about us than we realize, and Joelle leans into that idea with restraint and precision.

At the heart of THE MINUTES lies the bitter debate over the town's origin—a controversy surrounding a long-commemorated event that reveals uncomfortable contradictions under closer scrutiny. What begins as a procedural discussion about a public monument gradually evolves into a broader struggle over whose version of history will prevail and at what cost.

Kimberly Belflower's writing blends academic fluency with the unfiltered energy of teenage argot. Crisp and emotionally charged, the script expertly transitions between scenes from The Crucible and the students' classroom debates, crafting a narrative that is as urgent as it is thought-provoking.

Curated in collaboration with musical director Sy Johnson, acclaimed director Sheldon Epps first staged BLUES IN THE NIGHT in 1980 as a musical revue. The show follows three women and one man, each offering a different take on love and loss. Structured around legendary songs by Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, et al., it debuted on Broadway in 1982 and earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical.

Whether by design or coincidence, The Rogue Theatre kicks off its 20th season with a vivid and prophetic opener: THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH by Thornton Wilder, a playwright acclained for his fierce deconstruction of 20th-century norms. This selection sets the tone for a remarkable season, reaffirming the theater's dedication to subversive yet edifying productions.

Aaron Cammack, an Arizona actor, has navigated a multitude of personal setbacks, proving his character in a career that demands inexorable resilience. The newly minted, 2024-2025 Resident Artist at Arizona Theatre Company treads the boards on stages big and small. Aaron stays sharp and ready, undertaking everything from experimental two-handers in a 90-seat house to full-blown classic musicals, TV, and feature films. His prodigious talent is matched by a consummate focus on his craft. It's only a matter of time before he sets foot on a Broadway stage.

I've just highlighted a long list deserving of recognition, if for no other reason than to remind audiences of the invisible force that fuels this pre-eminent theatre department. I'm aware of the unresolved public trauma caused by the university's decision to discontinue the program. Intentional or not, SWEENEY is the apt choice; the metaphor of slitting one's throat resonates with an aggrieved following, for that's what it must feel like to lose a vital artistic resource. And that, my good friends, is the real tragedy.

To his credit, Klugheit sees the controversy as a chance to engage an otherwise piercing inquiry into our cultural obsession with physical beauty. REASONS TO BE PRETTY paints an unflinching portrait of seemingly reasonable Americans in emotional crisis -- socially well-adjusted folks who suffer from profound insecurity and power struggles. 

This weekend, Tucsonans have the privilege of witnessing the site through the lens of a master storyteller. The interview uncovers the inspiration, challenges, and profound insights that shaped Elaine's remarkable play. Renowned for her impressive repertoire that captures the emotional essence of culture and history, Elaine charts the play's development while keeping the pulse on the spiritual underpinning of her work.

In this interview, we have the privilege of evoking Greg Pierotti's insights. He is a University of Arizona Theatre professor, a distinguished artist, and the co-author of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, which he now directs at the university. The script evolved from his work with Moisés Kaufman and the renowned Tectonic Theater Project in New York City. The company is best known for developing new plays using 'Moment Work,' a trademarked playwriting method that employs rigorous research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. The process is a significant part of Pierotti's work, which resides at the intersection of theater and anthropology.