Regional Theater of the Week: Mesa Encore Theatre in Mesa, AZ

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States.

This Week's Featured Regional Theater: Mesa Encore Theatre in Mesa, AZ

When Joseph S. Jarvis became head of Mesa Parks and Recreation Department in 1937, his desire was "to make Mesa a beautiful place for all to live". Recognizing the need for a community recreational and cultural program, one of his first orders of business was to start a theatre group.

From its humble beginnings on a school stage, to loading flats and properties on a truck and traveling to performance locations, MET has remained a part of Mesa's cultural experience for over 75 years.

Throughout those years, thousands of volunteers have worked to carry on the Jarvis legacy. By donating their time, talent and financial support, MET has produced over 200 full length plays and musicals. MET has brought together members of the community to act, sing, build sets, stage manage, run lights and sound, plus much more. We believe that's what community theatre is all about!

Today, Mesa Encore Theatre still operates through the efforts of volunteers working to provide a wonderful evening of live theatre season after season. We hope you will join us and share in the experience as we present some of theatre's greatest theatrical productions, both historical and current.

Mesa Encore Theatre (MET) brings the fun and excitement of live theatre to the community with integrity and dedication to excellence. We are committed to being an integral part of the cultural experience that contributes to the quality of life for all - adults of any age, youth and children. MET respects the talents and skills of its volunteers and welcomes everyone to participate, enjoying and enhancing their performing arts experience, both on stage and behind the scenes.

The 2013-2014 season includes the following productions:

GREASE

Aug 16 ~ Sept 1
Here is Rydell High's senior class of 1959 duck-tailed, hot-rodding "Burger Palace Boys" and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking "Pink Ladies" in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Head "greaser" Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their "Summer Nights" as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as "Greased Lightnin'", and "We Go Together", recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Elvis Presley that became the soundtrack of a generation. An 8-year run on Broadway and two subsequent revivals place Grease among the world's most popular musicals.

Contains mild language, recommended for teens and older.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

Oct 4 ~ Oct 20
Based on the popular 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS centers on two con men living on the French Riviera. Lawrence Jameson makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money. Freddy Benson more humbly swindles women by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother's failing health. After meeting on a train, they attempt to work together only to find that this small French town isn't big enough for the two of them. They agree on a settlement: the first one to extract $50,000 from a young female heiress, wins, and the other must leave town. A hilarious battle of cons ensues that will keep audiences laughing, humming and guessing to the very end! Contains mature content.

OKLAHOMA

Nov 8 ~ Nov 17
In 1943 OKLAHOMA! launched a new era in the American musical. It also began the most successful songwriting partnership in Broadway history, and was named "Best Musical of the Century" by the New York Drama League. Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA! Suitable for the entire family!

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Jan 31 ~ Feb 9
Winner! 2008 Pulitzer Prize
Winner! Tony Award, Best Play
A vanished father. A pill-popping mother. Three sisters harboring shady little secrets. When the large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. Mix in Violet, the drugged-up, scathingly acidic matriarch, and you've got a major new play that unflinchingly-and uproariously-exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Contains mature content, not intended for children.

BIG RIVER

Apr 4 ~ Apr 20
Mark Twain's timeless classic sweeps us down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their adventures along the way are hilarious, suspenseful and heartwarming, bringing to life your favorite characters from the novel-the Widow Douglas and her stern sister, Miss Watson; the uproarious King and Duke, who may or may not be as harmless as they seem; Huck's partner in crime, Tom Sawyer, and their rowdy gang of pals; Huck's drunken father, the sinister Pap Finn; the lovely Mary Jane Wilkes and her trusting family. Propelled by the award winning score from Roger Miller, the king of country music, this jaunty journey provides a brilliantly theatrical celebration of pure Americana.

Adapted from the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, BIG RIVER won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score.

Suitable for the entire family!

THE FULL MONTY

May 30 ~ June 15
Seeing how much their wives enjoy watching male strippers during their "Girls' Night Out," unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, New York come up with a bold way to make some quick cash. In the process they find renewed self-esteem, the importance of friendship and the ability to have fun. As the guys work through their fears, self-consciousness, feelings of worthlessness and anxieties (over everything from being overweight to child custody, to bigotry, to being gay), they come to discover that not only are they stronger as a group, but that the strength they find in each other gives them the individual courage to face their demons and overcome them.
There is great heart to THE FULL MONTY, and the ultimate themes expressed in the show, about taking charge of one's life and following one's dreams are great lessons for all of us. And truth be told, the final impact of THE FULL MONTY can be achieved without ever losing your jockey shorts!

Contains mature content and language.

For tickets or more information about the Mesa Encore Theatre, visit: http://www.mesaencoretheatre.com/

Know of a theater we should feature? Contact christina@broadwayworld.com