The setup: Not everything that takes the Manhattan theater scene by storm (besides the polar vortex) is a musical extravaganza or a heavy, thoughtful, or surreal drama. One of the hottest tickets right now is C. Denby Swanson’s The Norwegians, a fairly ridiculous short comedy that opened off-off-Broadway at The…
The setup: Nina Raine’s thought-provoking Tribes, about a typically troubled family whose deaf adult son, Billy, illuminates further hurt when he discovers the Deaf community he’s been denied, has been acclaimed since it premièred in London in 2010. Winner of New York’s 2012 Drama Desk Award for Best Play, the…
Big things are afoot for Raychel Diane Weiner. The Ballet Arizona company dancer was recently cast in Flesh and Bone, an upcoming Starz dance drama created, written, and produced by Moira Walley-Beckett, who produced and wrote for Breaking Bad. Not much has been revealed about the show — except that…
“It’s like we’re kittens in lion costumes.” That’s how Whitney Cummings describes the one part vulnerability to two parts adrenaline that is stand-up comedy. Like any good comedian, she brings her personal experiences to the stage, specifically the unspoken good, bad, and ugly of relationships. As Cummings wraps up her…
Most of us don’t have a spare Benjamin or two nowadays to drop on a fundraising gala, even for those causes dear to our hearts, even if it’s deductible at the end of the year. Also, it’s usually no picnic (literally) to nosh on banquet food or stand around in…
The setup: Tracy Letts’ epic, relentlessly dismal yet moving and entertaining August: Osage County won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and came through Tempe on a national tour four years ago. Since then, Julia Roberts and Ewan McGregor have grown old enough to play middle-aged in the film version…
The setup: Mary’s Wedding is a contemporary play set during and just after World War I. This partially historic romance/dream/action adventure about a young Canadian couple has been the most widely produced play in Canada in the decade since its première…
As Danny Tanner on the family-friendly Full House and the host of YouTube predecessor America’s Funniest Home Videos, Bob Saget spent much of the 1980s and ’90s as America’s dad — a fun-loving 30-something with a knowing look and a smile. These days, the same 12-year-old girls who watched him…
CONDER/dance’s Breaking Ground took over the Tempe Center for the Arts for two nights this past weekend in hopes of highlighting choreographers and videographers on the cutting edge of the contemporary dance scene. If diversity was the end goal, the show was a raging success…
The setup: In my old, crumbly Folger Library The Taming of the Shrew that I grabbed for a quarter to get through school, there’s an introductory essay about how William Shakespeare never meant to suggest that enhanced coercive techniques such as food and sleep deprivation, manufactured cognitive dissonance, and the…
Now in its seventh year, the annual Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance and Film Festival seems poised to be better than ever. The two-night event will bring 17 established and emerging artists from all over the country and the world to Tempe Center for the Arts for an event that will…
After hosting monthly aerial arts workshops for about the past year, Scorpius Dance Theatre found a permanent location to offer regular aerial arts classes in the Valley. This Saturday, January 18, from noon to 4 p.m. they’ll unveil the new space during an open house event. Attendees will be able…
The setup: The 2007 stage musical Xanadu comes with so much baggage that it should be a Southwest flight. Thing is, most of that baggage is at least 34 years old. That’s why people buy tickets to the show — everything it’s based on is embarrassing and awful (roller disco…
Nearly Naked Theatre’s current production of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, which the company also presented eight years ago, suffers in comparison to that earlier version. Watching it, I strained to forget the dynamic performances of the company’s 2006 season-opener (particularly that of Ron May, who raised his own game…
Nearly Naked Theatre’s current production of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, which the company also presented eight years ago, suffers in comparison to that earlier version. Watching it, I strained to forget the dynamic performances of the company’s 2006 season-opener (particularly that of Ron May, who raised his own game…
Better call a doctor, ’cause you’re gonna be in stitches. Or, wait, no. You’ll need stitches from the doctor because… because of side-splitting laughter. There we go. For all that to happen and for some well-constructed jokes from folks who know what they’re doing, head to the Phoenix Improv Festival…
Elvis Presley is the king rock n’ roll, but he’s also the man who started the country on a hip-shaking, pelvis-gyrating kick that doesn’t seem to have lost any steam since he first went on national television with his controversial moves in 1956. Which is why it makes sense to…
If you’re looking for fun ways to get moving in the New Year, you’ll have a chance to test run your dancing shoes this weekend when Ballet Arizona opens the doors to its state-of-the-art studios for a day of free classes. On Sunday, January 12, the professional dance company will…
Comedian Sasheer Zamata will join Saturday Night Live this month as the show’s newest featured player, making her the show’s first black female cast member since 2007. Her midseason addition follows SNL’s search for a black woman to join the cast this winter. The long-running show came under fire after…
This weekend, the audition process begins for the 2014 Arizona Sidewinders, the cheerleading and dance team for Phoenix’s arena football team, the Arizona Rattlers. Dancers and cheerleaders interested in joining the squad are invited to attend preliminary auditions this Sunday, January 5, at US Airways Center. The final auditions will…
Anyone who has watched RuPaul’s Drag Race for at least 10 minutes can vouch for the magic of drag. Seeing a burly man (eyebrows optional) transform into a gorgeous woman is more entertaining than you might think. The process isn’t easy, thanks to tucking and creating the illusion of a…
The setup: It’s that time of year to look back and remember what the most amazing and marvelous experiences of 2013 were. (You don’t have to, but it’s our job.) I am filled with a sense of personal development when I realize that at least three times this year I…
