PHOENIX THEATER REVIEWS

A small, sincere musical that reaches for neither spectacle nor modernity....

By the mid-1920s the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) were already well known on the vaudeville circuit. Broadway gave their mayhem a larger canvas. Producer Sam Harris commissioned a musical comedy built around them, pairing their improvisational chaos with the polish of Berlin’s ...

A tour de force, a musical perfectly crafted and performed, and directed by Dzifa Kwawu with remarkable precision. A must-see!...

INSIDE OUT is a truly moving piece of theatre....

With four actors on a generally bare deck, and a whale that exists in our imagination, the old story of compulsion and the sea finds a fresh, unexpectedly playful life....

This production is filled with sparkling wit and fantastic performances!...

THE ROOMMATE is a clever and well-acted production....

What’s more satisfying than watching six wronged women reclaim their power? Watching them do it in rhinestone corsets, backed by a thunderous girl band and enough LED lighting to short-circuit Times Square. SIX, the British import that’s barreled from university revue to Broadway headliner like ...

Stephen Casey, the director and choreographer of Arizona Broadway Theatre’s production of PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL, understands something essential about adapting a modern fairy tale, especially one rooted in a Rodeo Drive fantasy, for the stage: unless the performers anchor the story in authenti...

Nearly 161 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre as he watched a production of OUR AMERICA COUSIN. Every American knows this famous and tragic tale, but not everyone will know the story of those on stage that night. Making its full-length premie...

Every couple deserves a space to feel safe, accepted, celebrated, and normal. Although a milestone was crossed in 2015 with the legalization of gay marriage in the United States, many people, both in and outside of the United States, are still unable to love freely. The Bridge Initiative’s perform...

THE RIVER by Jez Butterworth is now playing at The Rogue Theatre, and it packs a punch. This deeply intimate work draws viewers into a psychological and surreal world where a man brings a woman (and other women) to a riverside cabin....

UNCLE VANYA arrives at Theatre Artists Studio with thoughtful intentions and a capable ensemble, though the results are somewhat uneven. Presented in Conor McPherson’s streamlined adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic, and directed by Carol MacLeod, the production leans heavily into emotional im...

A joyful revival that reanimates the spirit of the show that once jolted Broadway....

This is a delightful and fun fairy tale production!...

There have been previous stage versions of the Parker Brothers' board game Clue, none that had any connection to the beloved 1985 film or made any significant mark artistically or commercially....

Wars of the past are viewed by many as a necessary evil, and certain battles are even thought of as glorious or grand. This perspective overlooks the lives lost on both sides, the trauma so many soldiers have faced throughout history, and that many still face today. Southwest Shakespeare Company’s...

Lean and evocative, funny and frightening, tender and profane...reckoning with how to survive trauma....

Mounted with in-the-round polish and flair, Hale Centre Theatre’s GUYS AND DOLLS is bright, brassy, and built on rhythm. And for a few hours in Gilbert, the neon-drenched skyline glows, the dice roll, and Broadway’s Golden Age feels very much alive....

Although society may have tried to conceal them, bold and daring women have existed throughout history. Sisterhood and the realities of being a woman in the Civil War era are central themes in this musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel. The Bridge Initiative’s concert version o...

Audience members who enjoy Shakespeare but are looking for a new take on his classic stories, or those who have struggled with Shakespeare in the past, will enjoy THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. This trailer-park take on the play is full of fun performances and laugh-worthy moments....

The play is suffused with the sympathetic wisdom that defines Wilson’s writing. He looks at lives many would dismiss as small or defeated and finds in them an undeniable nobility....

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' is a toe-tapping and vocally impressive show now playing at ATC!...

COME FROM AWAY makes you care with a humility and vigor that feel bracingly out of step with our more cynical age....

Grief can feel like its own disease, a highly personalized feeling where no two people will share the exact thoughts or emotional journey. It lingers, and if those facing it are not careful, it can quickly consume the person’s life. Ronin Theatre Collective’s production of Ashley Rose Wellman’...