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Maria Rita Meli

Maria Rita Meli

Maria Rita Meli is an Arizona native who grew up between the hot, arid desert and the Mediterranean coastal life in Sicily, Italy. In 2012, she earned her MA in Italian Studies from the University of Toronto, where she completed course work in Renaissance theatre and post-Tridentine drama. The year prior, Maria Rita completed her BA in linguistics and Italian language & literature at the University of Arizona, where she took part in a reading of Machiavelli's "La Mandragola." Currently, she lectures to students while frantically waving her arms and hands, like most Italians do.

Most importantly, she is an avid theatre fan and a lover of the arts who cannot think of a better way to spend an evening, or afternoon, than in the theatre.






MOST POPULAR ARTICLES


BWW Review: HOLMES AND WATSON Solve Another Case!
BWW Review: HOLMES AND WATSON Solve Another Case!
April 24, 2017

A thrilling new mystery from the playwright of Arizona Theatre Company's smash hit Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club and the film Mr. Holmes makes its world premiere at the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, Arizona; Jeffrey Hatcher's Holmes and Watson will leave you on the edge of your seat with such suspense.

BWW Review: RING OF FIRE Pays Tribute to a Legend
BWW Review: RING OF FIRE Pays Tribute to a Legend
March 13, 2017

The story of Johnny Cash, one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, comes vibrantly to life on stage in Arizona Theatre Company's crowd pleasing Ring of Fire: the Music of Johnny Cash.

BWW Review: LA ESQUINITA, USA at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Review: LA ESQUINITA, USA at Temple Of Music And Art
January 23, 2017

It's a small town, La Esquinita, USA. One, perhaps some of us are familiar with, while others not so much, but the story of such a place is not entirely uncommon.

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Brings Tradition to Tucson
BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Brings Tradition to Tucson
December 12, 2016

Regarded as one of the greatest musicals of all time, the Fiddler on the Roof comes to Tucson for the first time, making it the largest production the Arizona Theatre Company has produced in over thirty years, and it does not disappoint.

BWW Review: AN ACT OF GOD is Sinfully Good
BWW Review: AN ACT OF GOD is Sinfully Good
October 29, 2016

In a long overdue attempt to set the record straight, God (for the first time a woman) and her devoted angels answer a few of the deepest questions to haunt mankind since the beginning of time itself.

BBW Review: Long Live KING CHARLES III
BBW Review: Long Live KING CHARLES III
September 26, 2016

Is England prepared for Prince Charles' ascension to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II? King Charles III, making its regional premiere in the Arizona Theatre Company's 50th anniversary season, explores his possible future reign.

BWW Review: ATROCITIES OF THE ABSTRACT is One Great, Weird Time
BWW Review: ATROCITIES OF THE ABSTRACT is One Great, Weird Time
April 25, 2016

A new form of theatre has come to the Old Pueblo: the Red Theater Tucson - the fifth branch of the larger Red Theater Collective, which began in 2008 after the banishment from the University of Nebraska for performing controversial works.

BWW Review: DISCORD at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Review: DISCORD at Temple Of Music And Art
April 18, 2016

If you were ever curious as to what would occur if you locked our third president of the United States, the author of A Christmas Carol, and the author of War and Peace in an exitless room, you'll need to make it down to the Temple of Music and Art before April 30th.

BWW Review: OF MICE AND MEN Leaves You Breathless, Speechless
BWW Review: OF MICE AND MEN Leaves You Breathless, Speechless
March 21, 2016

John Steinbeck's classic Of Mice and Men, a co-production with Milwaukee Repertory Theater and winner of the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, continues the Arizona Theatre Company 2015-2016 season. It tells the emotional story of two migrant ranch workers, George (Jonathan Wainwright) and Lennie (Scott Greer), both of whom are trying to achieve their dream of settling down on their own farm, living off the fat of the land, and tending to the softest of rabbits.

BWW Review: FENCES is a Homerun in Tucson
BWW Review: FENCES is a Homerun in Tucson
February 1, 2016

When discussing August Wilson's Pulitzer-Prize and Tony Award winning play, Fences, it is most applicable to say that the Arizona Theatre Company's cast hits this poignant performance out of the park.

BWW Review: SNAPSHOTS Charms at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Review: SNAPSHOTS Charms at Temple Of Music And Art
December 7, 2015

Opening in an adorable comedic glory at the Arizona Theatre Company is Snapshots, a romantic comedy that reimagines the songs of Stephen Schwartz. Fans old and new of Schwartz's previous works will enjoy hearing their favorite, familiar melodies from Godspell, Pippin, the Baker's Wife, and Wicked, to name a few, as we watch the story of a tired, married couple unfold in their upstairs attic.

BWW Review: DISGRACED Will Leave You Stunned
BWW Review: DISGRACED Will Leave You Stunned
October 24, 2015

It clearly is more than evident at this dinner: politics and religion are two topics one would consider to be off topic at any social gathering. What playwright Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced shows is that both topics, central and crucial in one play, makes for an evening of theatre spent on the edge of your seat.

BBW Review: HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN, Audiences Will Be Loving You, Always
BBW Review: HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN, Audiences Will Be Loving You, Always
September 20, 2015

You are never truly alone, not when you are in the company of a song, the great American songbook composer and lyricist reminds the opening night's audience of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin at the Temple of Music and Art in downtown Tucson. It is a statement that rings true throughout the evening as patrons find themselves coming together to hum and sing along to Berlin's classics, when invited -- and spontaneously, as well.

BWW Reviews: A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO Comes to Life Vibrantly in Tucson
BWW Reviews: A WEEKEND WITH PABLO PICASSO Comes to Life Vibrantly in Tucson
April 13, 2015

The Temple of Music and Art transports its audience this time to circa 1957. We are somewhere on the southern coast of France, in a private studio known as "Le California," where we spend A Weekend with Pablo Picasso.

BWW Reviews: ROMEO & JULIET Pleases Audiences at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Reviews: ROMEO & JULIET Pleases Audiences at Temple Of Music And Art
March 7, 2015

A boy meets a girl, they fall in love, and perhaps they would have lived happily ever after had it not been for the terrible feud between their families. After 48 seasons, the Arizona Theatre Company brings William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet to the stage of the Temple of Music and Art with award-winning director Kirsten Brandt at the helm.

BWW Reviews: MURDER FOR TWO Follows Protocol at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Reviews: MURDER FOR TWO Follows Protocol at Temple Of Music And Art
December 8, 2014

A cop who plays by the rules, dreaming of making detective, and his suspects deliver a full 90 minutes of a madcap fun evening of theatre -- and this is all pulled off by two actors.

BWW Previews: MURDER FOR TWO at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Previews: MURDER FOR TWO at Temple Of Music And Art
November 19, 2014

The national tour of Off-Broadway's zany comedy whodunit two-man musical, Murder For Two, launches this month at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., from Nov. 29th to Dec. 20th.

BWW Reviews: WAIT UNTIL DARK Keeps Tucson on the Edge of Its Seat
BWW Reviews: WAIT UNTIL DARK Keeps Tucson on the Edge of Its Seat
October 27, 2014

Continuing Arizona Theatre Company's 2014/2015 season is a 1966 Broadway hit thriller and a 1967 Oscar-nominated movie classic starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin: Wait Until Dark, by playwright Frederick Knott and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher in 2013.

BWW Previews: WAIT UNTIL DARK at Temple Of Music And Art
BWW Previews: WAIT UNTIL DARK at Temple Of Music And Art
October 8, 2014

The Arizona Theatre Company's 2014-2015 season continues with Broadway's 1966 gripping thriller and 1967 Oscar-nominated classic film starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin.

BWW Reviews: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Brings Laughter to Tucson
BWW Reviews: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Brings Laughter to Tucson
September 22, 2014

Mixed in are the confused chuckles of the younger audience, but they soon, as well, become loud bellows as everyone watches Janasz stand at the edge of the stage, nearly on the edge, shouting at the top of his lungs, 'WE LICKED POSTAGE STAMPS.'






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