Phoenix Interviews
Barry Yellen Took Broadway to Puerto Rico 50 Years Before HAMILTON
by Lee Cooley - September 23, 2019, Phoenix Metro After graduating from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts in 1953, Barry Yellen wore many hats: stage manager, lighting designer, car show producer, managing director, touring show booker, film producer and distributor, fund manager.... (more...) 
D. Scott Withers, Phillip Fazio & Seth Tucker of PARADE at Arizona Regional Theatre
by Seth Tucker - August 09, 2019, Phoenix Metro They discuss a?oeParadea?? by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown now playing at Arizona Regional Theatre until August 18th (www.ArizonaRegionalTheatre.org). They also talk about their connection to one another and the show, as well as Arizona Equity Coalition.... (more...) 
Joseph McGrath, Artistic Director of Tucson's Rogue Theatre
by Jeanmarie Simpson - July 10, 2019, Phoenix Metro There is tremendous support in our audience for bringing younger people into the theatre, and we're having some success in that regard. I'm positive, but I'm also unsure of where we are headed with digital technologies and what they mean for our industry and the larger culture. Our challenge, I supp... (more...) 
Robert Encila - Heart and Soul
by Jeanmarie Simpson - July 01, 2019, Phoenix Metro We can placate a certain segment of society by providing 'enrichment' courses in the arts, but it should no longer be a mystery that you can't achieve holistic education without a strong emphasis in the arts. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released an astounding statistic that reports o... (more...) 
Tucson's Mark Klugheit
by Jeanmarie Simpson - June 26, 2019, Phoenix Metro Early in my acting career, I was represented by an agency that got me an audition for a recurring role in the series Breaking Bad. It clearly would have been the biggest break of my acting career. I had a short side of two pages to learn for the audition. Usually, I have a pretty photographic memory... (more...) 
BEN VEREEN of STEPPIN' OUT WITH BEN VEREEN at the Musical Instrument Museum
by Timothy Shawver - April 09, 2019, Phoenix Metro The Musical Instrument Museum presents STEPPIN' OUT WITH BEN VEREEN bringing the legendary perform to Phoenix for two shows on April 20th.... (more...) 
Alex Tuchi of POLYPHEMUS at B3 Productions
by Jeanmarie Simpson - June 27, 2018, Phoenix Metro It's really easy to write someone off as mentally ill when you don't understand them, and it's often easier to do this to yourself when you can't reconcile who you are and who you want to be.... (more...) 
Hazel White of THE LITTLE MERMAID JR at Sandra Day O'Connor High School
by Emma Suttell - January 27, 2018, Phoenix Metro Hazel White, a junior at Sandra Day O'Connor High School, took a "dive" into the aquatic kingdom of King Triton to stage-manage THE LITTLE MERMAID JR. this Spring. I had the privilege to ask her about her experience as a stage manager of a high school production, in hopes that maybe some of Broadway... (more...) 
HARVEY Is Coming To the Valley of the Sun
by Herbert Paine - January 07, 2018, Phoenix Metro HARVEY, Mary Chase's 1945 Pulitzer Prize winning comedy, is slated to hop into the Don Bluth Front Row Theatre in Scottsdale from January 12th through February 24th. In its multiple adaptations, most notably the 1950 film with Jimmy Stewart, the tale of Elwood P. Dowd and his imaginary pooka has a... (more...) 
Lance Gharavi of ASU's School of Film, Dance And Theatre, Including a Look at This Season
by Emma Suttell - October 27, 2017, Phoenix Metro Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to interview Dr. Lance Gharavi, the Artistic Director of ASU's Theatre Department. He is an extremely wise man that heavily emphasizes the influence of diverse voices in the theatre department, a topic that has become extremely relevant in the past couple of... (more...) 
Mackenna Goodrich of ARIZONA YOUNG ACTOR'S ALLIANCE
by Emma Suttell - July 23, 2017, Phoenix Metro Mackenna Goodrich, founder of Arizona Young Actor's Alliance, and host of the AYAA Awards, is an Ohio college student majoring in drama. She started theatre at the age of six, in a production of The Frog Prince in Montana. While playing a 'venus fly trap' she got to 'hang backstage and eat snacks'. ... (more...)
Ilana Lydia's DROPPIN' JOHNS Opens July 14th at SIC Sense
by Jeanmarie Simpson - July 04, 2017, Phoenix Metro Ilana Lydia is an Arizona-based playwright and director. Her new play, Droppin' Johns is produced by B3 Theatre Company and premieres at SIC Sense July 14th and runs just two weekends, closing on the 22nd. The play is clever and shocking, funny and profoundly sad, but reading it didn't leave me cryi... (more...)
Jennifer Gantwerker of THE PLEDGE at Brelby Theatre Company
by Jeanmarie Simpson - June 11, 2017, Phoenix Metro Jennifer Gantwerker is an Illinois native. She told me she made her theatrical debut at age eight in a summer camp production of Prejudice is an Ugly Color. 'There was definitely face paint and a candlelit performance of Imagine,' she said. She went on to graduate from the University of Southern Cal... (more...)
Jeff Deglow of INTERRUPTING VANESSA at Childsplay
by Jeanmarie Simpson - April 26, 2017, Phoenix Metro Interrupting Vanessa is a very sweet compact play; it is slow, compassionate, and very concise. It does not pander to its audience, and is not superfluous in its story telling. It is beautifully paced and allows for audiences of different ages to enjoy it. The message of holding on, and moving on, i... (more...)
Dominique Holley of Driftwood Quintet
by Jeanmarie Simpson - April 26, 2017, Phoenix Metro As an event organizer, I always feel like it's important that I organize the types of events that I see myself going to. If I can't personally see myself attending or spending money to see my own performances then how can I expect other people who don't know me to do the same. What that means for me... (more...)
Matthew Jones of SHREK THE MUSICAL at Lyric Opera Theatre
by Erin Kong - April 20, 2017, Phoenix Metro While Jones may seem like the typical, cliched tale of the Athlete/Frat Boy who found his true self through theatre and the performing arts, Jones is anything but average. He relays his backstory with ease, with the kind of calm rare for an actor his age. But his laidback nature should not be mistak... (more...)
John Perovich of Now and Then Creative Company
by Jeanmarie Simpson - April 12, 2017, Phoenix Metro Now & Then Creative Company is a culmination of perceived needs in the valley, coupled with opportunities for learning and growth with students at Metropolitan Arts Institute. The 'now' focuses on new play development and film production-working with local artists on the development of plays, screen... (more...)
Gerald Thomson of UNEXPECTED at Brelby Theatre Company
by Jeanmarie Simpson - April 03, 2017, Phoenix Metro I am most concerned with what the audience sees, as they are the viewers/hearers of our story, so what they gather from our performance must be paramount. I come in with a strong image of what I want the show to look like. I then block the show right away to get it on its feet. I call this building ... (more...)
Interview: Before The Parade! A Conversation With Michael Childers About His Upcoming HELLO JERRY! In The Desert
by David Green - February 24, 2017, Costa Mesa The last remaining tickets are on sale for the desert's most anticipated annual star-studded concert event, Michael Childer's 'One Night Only', benefiting Jewish Family Services Of The Desert (JFS), to be held Thursday, April 20, 2017 at The McCallum Theatre. This 10th season's theme is 'Hello Jerry... (more...)
John Perovich on NEW WORKS at Metropolitan Arts Institute And Brelby
by Jeanmarie Simpson - February 10, 2017, Phoenix Metro We're excited for the New Works Festival! The plays were written by Metro students, predominately from my beginning and advanced theatre classes. Once completed, the plays were read by a group of 9 readers. The readers consisted of one of my advanced theatre students and a group of artists from Brel... (more...)
Lucas Gomez of BLACKLISTERS at Brelby Theatre Company
by Jeanmarie Simpson - January 30, 2017, Phoenix Metro When I wrote Blacklisters, I was focusing on fascism and totalitarianism through the perspective of the individual in relation to absurdism. It's strange now considering the relevance a lot people who've been involved with the script have given it. On one hand it bugs me that the current events are ... (more...)
Ian Gray - Front and Center
by Jeanmarie Simpson - January 30, 2017, Phoenix Metro My favorite experience was playing the part of Young Cain in The Children of Eden. I loved being with all of the college students. They were so talented and taught me a lot. I only knew one person from a previous Valley Youth Theatre play, but by the end had a lot of great friends. Even though I was... (more...)
Louis Farber of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at Brelby Theatre Company
by Jeanmarie Simpson - January 03, 2017, Phoenix Metro I was attracted to Peter and the Starcatcher because of the script. It is an extremely well-crafted and an exceptionally inventive grown-up's prequel to Peter Pan where twelve actors play over 100 assorted characters, through the use animated characterization and the boundless limits of imagination.... (more...)
Anthony Kearns to perform at Irish 'oasis' in Phoenix
by Lee Cooley - October 08, 2016, Phoenix Metro Youngest member of #IrishTenors shares memorable moments, favorite sopranos and more!... (more...) |
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