Arizona Theatre Company News

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, continues its 80th season with the hilarious musical comedy "Nunsense," with book, music and lyrics by Dan Goggin.    The lighthearted musical has a six-week run starting Sept. 9 through Oct. 18.  "Nunsense" received the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Music and Best Off-Broadway Musical. 

Diversionary Theatre is proud to kick-off preview performances tonight at 8pm for the innovative launch season of new Executive Artistic Director: Matt M. Morrow.  The 30th anniversary for the non-profit will invite beloved audiences to five remarkable San Diego premiere productions.  The first piece of this landmark year; Amazons and Their Men, is a West Coast Premiere that will feature Mr. Morrow's San Diego directing debut.

Two of the Valley's favorite and most-celebrated actors will bring their special gifts to the holiday season in limited engagement one-person performances of Charles Dickens' beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, and David Sedaris' hilarious anti-holiday tale, The Santaland Diaries.  Produced by Arizona Theatre Company in association with the Herberger Theatre Center, both shows will play in an intimate custom-built 250-seat stage-within-a-stage located in the grandly theatrical setting of Center Stage in downtown Phoenix.

Rubicon Theatre Company welcomes stage and screen veterans Linda Purl, Brett Rickaby and Peter Van Norden to star in the company's mainstage production of the Tony-Award winning play COPENHAGEN, directed by international artist Judy Hegarty Lovett.

Rubicon Theatre Company just announced stage and screen veterans Linda Purl, Brett Rickaby and Peter Van Norden will star in the company's mainstage production of the Tony-Award winning play COPENHAGEN, directed by international artist Judy Hegarty Lovett.

Arizona Theatre Company, in a special collaboration with Stray Cat Theatre, will present Laura Eason's new comedy about the calculations people are making to find love or fame in an age of social media, brightly-lit phone screens and blogging. SEX WITH STRANGERS plays Sept. 24-Oct. 11 in Stage West at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe.

DROP DEAD PERFECT, the madcap comedy starring the legendary Everett Quinton returns to the Theatre at St. Clements (423 West 46 Street - between 8th and 9th Avenues) and begins previews on Wednesday, August 19th, for a limited eight week engagement. The official opening is set for Sunday, August 23rd.

Quintessential American songwriter Irving Berlin left an indelible mark on the classic American songbook with hits like 'White Christmas,' 'Puttin' on the Ritz,' 'There's No Business Like Show Business' and, of course, 'God Bless America.' Arizona Theatre Company brings Berlin's story to vibrant, toe-tapping life in the 2015-16 season-opening production of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Sept. 16-Oct. 4 at the Temple of Music and Art, 333 S. Scott Ave. in Tucson.

Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Simpkins and Managing Director Justin Ball, will present TV's Disney Channel star of "That's So Raven" Anneliese van der Pol as Audrey in the award-winning musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors on the Mainstage from August 13-30.

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) heads into its 49th season with a bold new look. ATC has launched a redesigned website highlighted by a striking new logo that underscores the company's energy, strength and rich history. The effort was funded by a grant from Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.

Hot on the high heels of last year's acclaimed sold-out production, the madcap comedy DROP DEAD PERFECT, starring the legendary Everett Quinton returns to the Theatre at St. Clements (423 West 46 Street - between 8th and 9th Avenues) for a limited 8-week engagement Off-Broadway with an opening set for Sunday, August 23rd.   Previews begin Wednesday, August 19th. With overwhelming rave reviews, critic picks, and audience accolades, DROP DEAD PERFECT is directed by Joe Brancato and written by Erasmus Fenn. The comedy is produced by Penguin Rep Theatre, Morton Wolkowitz, Barbara Freitag and Jamie deRoy.  Tickets are $69 and can be purchased by visiting www.dropdeadperfect.com or calling 845-786-2873.

Post5 Theatre presents the third and final Shakespearean comedy of its 2015 season: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Directed by Darragh Kennan, the show runs today,, July 17th through August 16th, 2015.

Thanks to statewide support, Arizona Theatre Company is expected to raise more than $700,000 from a challenge match grant by an anonymous donor who increased the original amount from $500,000 to $600,000 in June.

Having broken Geffen Playhouse season production box office records, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin returns to the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse for two weeks only, August 4-16, 2015.  The director is Trevor Hay, who collaborated with the performer and creator on An American Story, Abe Lincoln's Piano, Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt and The Pianist of Willesden Lane.

Continuing to bring exciting stories and new productions to beloved Chicago audiences, 'Hershey Felder Presents' (George Gershwin Alone, Maestro Bernstein, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Louis and Keely 'Live' at the Sahara) now brings a brand new production of the award-winning and internationally acclaimed play JAMAICA FAREWELL, written and performed by Debra Ehrhardt and directed by Joel Zwick, to Chicago's Royal George Theatre. Based on her true life story, writer-performer Ehrhardt's JAMAICA FAREWELL chronicles her escape from revolution-torn Jamaica in the 1970's to fulfill her lifelong dream of coming to America. Performances begin at Chicago's Royal George Theatre 1641 North Halsted, 60614, on Tuesday September 8, and continue through Sunday October 11th in a strictly limited engagement. All tickets are $50 for all performances.

I always say that the mark of a good story can make us alter the way we think. In attending the East Coast premiere of Five Presidents at the Bay Street Theatre, by way of the Arizona Theatre Company and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, I actually found myself sympathizing, if slightly, for people that I, frankly, don't like… politicians.

The Old Globe's presentation of Kiss Me, Kate, the classic musical comedy featuring a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and an iconic score by Cole Porter, begins tonight, July 1, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Matthew Paul Olmos's the living life of the daughter mira has been named the winner of Arizona Theatre Company's 2015 National Latino Playwriting Award (NLPA), and the recipient of the $1000 prize. 2015 marks the 20th year of the competition.

ArtsWest is pleased to announce the launch of After Hours with Mathew Wright, its new summer cabaret series. Hosted by Artistic Director Mathew Wright, these one-night only events feature five of the fiercest leading ladies in Seattle theater, Sarah Rose Davis (7/20), Laura Griffith (8/10), Cayman Ilika (8/3), Jessica Skerritt (7/27), and Katherine Strohmaier (8/17). Each will dish on their lives and careers through provocative, freewheeling interviews and sing everything from Broadway standards to pop songs, backed by Mathew Wright on piano.

The complete cast and creative team have been announced for The Old Globe's presentation of Kiss Me, Kate, the classic musical comedy featuring a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and an iconic score by Cole Porter.