Phoenix Metro Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 40

BWW Reviews: Arizona Broadway Theatre's THE PRODUCERS Has IT and Flaunts IT - A Virtual Cornucopia of Standout Performances
by Herbert Paine - October 13, 2014

The Producers is Mel Brooks' irreverent and satirical but ever-loving homage to Broadway show biz and has etched into the minds of theatregoers some of the most memorable if not outlandish concepts, characters and lines ever. It is nearly impossible not to measure later performances of Max Bialystoc...

BWW Reviews: Fountain Hills Theater's NIGHT WATCH Is A Tightly Wound Riddle!
by Herbert Paine - October 10, 2014

Nothing is as it seems in the mildly amusing and riddlesome mystery, Night Watch by Lucille Fletcher, now on stage at Fountain Hills Theater. Director Peter J. Hill knows what his audiences like and has served up a nifty and suspenseful brain-teaser for them to mull over. Amy Serafin, riveting in he...

BWW Reviews: Copperstar Rep's THE ADDAMS FAMILY Is Fair Fun But Flawed Fare
by Herbert Paine - October 06, 2014

Copperstar Rep's THE ADDAMS FAMILY is an enjoyable show with standout performances by Janna Hanson as Morticia and Geoffrey Goorin as Fester and splashy staging by MaryJo Okawa…but with significant performance elements that need to be fixed for it to get a top grade....

BWW Reviews: RADIO GOLF Not Quite Ready for Prime Time
by Herbert Paine - October 03, 2014

David Hemphill's production of August Wilson's Radio Golf needs some work on a script that may be the least impressive of August Wilson's epic decalogy of black life in America, the Pittsburgh Cycle. If there are bright spots in the show, they are in the performances of T.A. Burrows and Roosevelt Wa...

BWW Reviews: Stray Cat Theatre's THE BROTHERS SIZE Pulsates With The Rhythms of Loss, Freedom, and Redemption ~ A Tour De Force!
by Herbert Paine - September 29, 2014

Ron May once again distinguishes himself as a creative force in his brilliant and sensitive direction of Tarell McCraney's 'The Brothers Size.' Damon J. Bolling, Michael Thompson, and DeJean Brown deliver riveting, muscular, and breathtaking performances as the play's protagonists (Ogun, Oshoosi, an...

BWW Reviews: Hockadoo! And Awesome Too! MEMPHIS Boosts the Music of Our Souls
by Herbert Paine - September 22, 2014

Hockadoo! Phoenix Theatre's production of Memphis is exhilarating! CJ Pawlikowski is electrifying as Huey Calhoun, the department store stockboy who finds the music of his soul in rock and roll and propels himself to local fame as a DJ, but not without stirring up the animosity of the local bigots. ...

BWW Reviews: Phoenix Symphony Maestro Tito Muñoz Seals His Triumphal Debut with Breathtaking CARMINA BURANA
by Herbert Paine - September 22, 2014

On the occasion of his debut as Phoenix Symphony's new Music Director, Tito Muñoz regaled his audience with a rich and robust performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Among the coterie of young conductors seizing the baton of major metropolitan orchestras, Muñoz will certainly be among the luminar...

BWW Reviews: KINKY BOOTS Is Laced with Punch and Brio!
by Herbert Paine - September 17, 2014

Kinky Boots has ushered in the 50th Anniversary of ASU Gammage in Tempe AZ with a righteous and literally uplifting kick in the pants of intolerance and stereotyping, featuring a star-spangled cast of characters and theatrical elements....

BWW Reviews: Childsplay's CHARLOTTE'S WEB Is A Heartwarming and Uplifting Tribute to Fidelity
by Herbert Paine - September 15, 2014

Hats off to Childsplay for mastering the transfer from page to stage of E.B. White's classic Charlotte's Web and for casting an ensemble that renders authenticity and depth to this joyous and heartwarming paean to love, friendship, loyalty, and, yes, mortality. Anthony Runfola has directed a seamles...

BWW Reviews: Theater Works Scores Hugely with I GET A KICK OUT OF COLE
by Herbert Paine - September 08, 2014

Bravi! Bravi! Bravi! To the five women ~ Kathleen Berger, Brenda Goodenberger, Marie Gouba, Alanna Kalbfleisch, Alexandra Utpadel ~ and four men ~ Tony Blosser, Ken Goodenberger, Roger Nelson, Dominik Rebilas ~ who grace the Theater Works stage in the 29th Season opening production of I Get a Kick O...

BWW Reviews: THE ANGRY HOUSEWIVES Rock the House at Arizona Broadway Theatre
by Herbert Paine - September 08, 2014

When it comes to consistency and quality in musical performance, Arizona Broadway Theatre stands among the top of the Valley of the Sun's list. Its current production of The Angry Housewives closes its Ninth Season with a rollicking and rolling blast from the past ~ the '80's, that is ~ featuring an...

BWW Reviews: Theatre Artists Studio Nearly Drowns BABY WITH THE BATHWATER
by Herbert Paine - September 08, 2014

Censorship, psychoanalysis, and dysfunctional families all have been at the biting pen's end of Christopher Durang's satirical works. His genius lies in his ability to make us squirm, feel the pain, and yet laugh at the kooky protagonists of his plays ~ or, in his own words, to marry absurdist comed...

BWW Reviews: SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL ADVENTURE Is Beyond Elementary!
by Herbert Paine - September 02, 2014

Among the stars of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, currently showing at Grand Canyon University's Ethington Theatre, are the crews responsible for set, lights, and wardrobe who have created atmospherics befitting a Sherlockian mystery. Costume designer Nola Yergen, hair and make-up designer Ka...