Phoenix Theater Reviews

BWW Review: SLAUGHTER BROTHERS DIME CIRCUS - A Radio Fantasy at Baby Monster Productions
by Jeanmarie Simpson - January 18, 2021

Equal parts Bugs Bunny and Guillermo del Toro, THE SLAUGHTER BROTHERS DIME CIRCUS - A RADIO FANTASY is a meta-theatrical reflection on the nature of power and revenge. A highly theatrical blend of low-end carnival, violent vaudeville, clowns with issues, and insectoid horror, elevated by original mu...

BWW Review: Susan Morgan Cooper's Riveting Expose On Hot Car Deaths: FATAL DISTRACTION
by Herbert Paine - January 08, 2021

FATAL DISTRACTION, Susan Morgan Cooper’s gripping documentary on a national crisis ~ hot car deaths ~ that begs for resolution....

BWW Review: Arizona Opera Presents STUDIO SPOTLIGHT CONCERT
by Maria Nockin - December 21, 2020

On Saturday evening, December 19, 2020,  Arizona Opera premiered its third  Studio Spotlight Series Concert online at no charge. The first part of the program featured tenor Bille Bruley, soprano Kaitlyn Johnson, and bass-baritone Brandon Morales singing opera arias. The second part was a performanc...

BWW Review: THREE DECEMBERS at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - December 13, 2020

Faced with the inability to perform live opera because of COVID, Opera San Jose opted to film an opera that could be made to fit California health regulations in its new Fred Heiman Digital Media Studio. General director Khori Dastoor chose Jake Heggie’s three-person chamber opera, Three Decembers. ...

BWW Review: UNWRAPPED: AN ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS REVUE Creates Hopeful Magic at The Phoenix Theatre Company
by Seth Tucker - December 09, 2020

UNWRAPPED: An Original Christmas Revue not only represents the topnotch entertainment and production quality we’ve come to expect from The Phoenix Theatre Company (TPTC), but this unique partnership with Brock Pro Entertainment (BPE) also offers a glimpse into the role collaboration may play in rebu...

BWW Review: OBJECTION! DISORDER IN THE COURT at Limelight Performing Arts
by Emily Noxon - November 15, 2020

How do you prove you aren't a murderer when the whole town is against you?...

BWW Review: THE 39 STEPS at Hale Centre Theatre
by Emily Noxon - November 10, 2020

Richard Hannay is tired of his boring life. It becomes far from boring after meeting a dark stranger. Murder, mayhem, and hilarity ensue....

BWW Review: ARIZONA OPERA M R PULLIN STUDIO CONCERT at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - November 07, 2020

Cheyanne Coss opened with “Qui la voce,”  Elvira’s mad scene from Bellini’s bel canto opera, I Puritani. Elvira lived in a time when women had no rights, so in opera madness allowed her to proclaim her true feelings. Coss expressed them most eloquently. Terrence Chin-Loy as Des Grieux sang “Ah! Fuye...

BWW Review: Hale Centre Theatre Reopens Its Doors
by Lee Cooley - October 14, 2020

With a few streaming exceptions, including some political fundraisers, it looks like Broadway will remain dark through May of 2021 thanks to the pandemic. ...

BWW Review: High Praise For Stacey Maltin's TRIPLE THREAT
by Herbert Paine - October 09, 2020

TRIPLE THREAT, Stacey Maltina??s first feature film as a director, is a beautifully crafted and finely acted ode to theatre and the dreams and realities that imbue it with energy and vitality. Scheduled for screening at BelAire Diner Drive-In (31-91 21st Street, Astoria, New York) on October 11th....

BWW Review: ARIZONA OPERA STUDIO CONCERT at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - October 06, 2020

On October 5, 2020, I listened to Arizona Operaa??s Studio Spotlight Series online concert held in the newly named the Shoshana B. and Robert S. Tancer Plaza adjoining the companya??s building on Central Avenue in Phoenix. General Director Joseph Spector greeted the tiny audience of donors and the m...

BWW Review: HELOISE WILSON SHINES IN WEEZY GOES OUTSIDE
by Herbert Paine - September 26, 2020

WEEZY GOES OUTSIDE is a delightful cine-epiphany about fidelity, love, and eternal life ~ produced by Little y and featuring a sterling performance by Heloise Wilson. One of the Comedy Shorts to be screened at the Coney Island Film Festival and available for virtual screening between September 22nd ...

BWW Review: SLOW FOOD at Arizona Theatre Company
by Herbert Paine - September 16, 2020

Wendy MacLeod's hilarious comedy, SLOW FOOD, is the latest in Arizona Theatre Companya's series of online digital play readings, this one co-directed by the company's Artistic and Associate Artistic Directors, Sean Daniels and Chanel Bragg. Featuring delightful performances by Daina Griffith, Joel V...

BWW Review: Collaboration Labs And Bevival Present Devorah Medwin's WOODEN NICKELS ~ A Life And Death Drama
by Herbert Paine - August 23, 2020

In WOODEN NICKELS, holistic healer and playwright Devorah Medwin has crafted a unique theatrical approach to exploring aging and dying with dignity. Bristling with the emotion of a family facing questions of filial fidelity and quality of life choices, the delivery of the play is blessed and enhance...

BWW Review: ALMA at Arizona Theatre Company
by Herbert Paine - August 20, 2020

Arizona Theatre Company's production of Benjamin Bennea??s emotion-laden drama, ALMA (livestreaming through August 22nd, at 5:00 p.m.PT/8:00 p.m. ET), while promoted as an online reading, is something far more. Directed by Catherine María Rodríguez and featuring riveting performances by Danaya Esper...

BWW Review: THE ISOLATION PROJECT at Limelight Youth Theatre
by Timothy Shawver - July 29, 2020

THE ISOLATION PROJECT is two one-acts told through a series of Zoom chats between teenage friends (and frenemies), both set during the current health crisis....

BWW Review: BROADWAY DRIVE-IN THEATRE Offers Socially Distant, In-Person Concert at Fountain Hills Theater
by Seth Tucker - June 14, 2020

The a?oeBroadway Drive-In Theatrea?? at Fountain Hills Theater (FHT) is a significant step for the performing arts and a largely successful early attempt to recapture the magic of live performance....

BWW Review: A LIVE BENEFIT READING OF SEAN DANIELS' THE WHITE CHIP at Arizona Theatre Company
by Herbert Paine - May 10, 2020

LIVE BENEFIT READING OF SEAN DANIELS' THE WHIT CHIP at Arizona Theatre Company, to be broadcast at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific/Arizona Time) / 8 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time), Monday, May 11th, simultaneously on Arizona Theatre Company's Facebook page and YouTube channel....

BWW Review: ONCE ON THIS ISLAND at ASU GAMMAGE. The Jewel of the Antilles becomes The Jewel of the East Valley.
by Nathaniel Jones - March 05, 2020

If I could just write a?oeThis show was perfect. The enda?? for this production, I would. It would be the simple truth for a show so breathtaking, that trying to put words on this page is near impossible. There are no words that I could type that would truly encompass what is the Magnificence of ONC...

BWW Review: RICHARD II at Southwest Shakespeare Company
by Emily Noxon - March 01, 2020

Richard II was crowned King at a young age and his immaturity ultimately causes his downfall when his Crown is threatened by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke....

BWW Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Southwest Shakespeare Company
by Emily Noxon - February 26, 2020

2 couples head into a forest and get caught in the middle of a magical prank that leads to disastrous and hilarious results....

BWW Review: THE LAST ROMANCE at Stage Left Productions
by Jeanmarie Simpson - February 23, 2020

Heart-warming, indeed. It's in the writing, yes, but it's the great acting, deft direction and excellent production values that takes this production the distance....

BWW Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at GAMMAGE AUDITORIUM
by Timothy Shawver - February 23, 2020

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING STORY is the most earnest jukebox musical to date. The chord progressions and resolutions felt like being at an oxygen bar. It's ripe with nostalgia, fascinating for its window into 1960s pop and rock music, and spirit lifting for its recording of a beautiful human life...

BWW Review: MASTER HAROLD... AND THE BOYS at Arizona Theatre Company
by Timothy Shawver - February 20, 2020

Arizona Theatre Company's current production hits the mark as a historical reminder and, through masterful performances by its cast of three, depicts institutionalized racism's capability to destroy even the most loving relationships....

BWW Review: THOMAS HAMPSON at Song Of America: Beyond Liberty
by Maria Nockin - January 29, 2020

At the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall. on January 28, 2020, the Tucson Desert Song Festival presented Thomas Hampson, baritone, with Lara Downes, piano, and the Beyond Liberty Players: Stephen Buck, synthesizer; Judy Kang, violin; Jesus Morales, cello; and Alex Laing, clarinet; The show lib...