Review: PHANTOM at Arizona Broadway Theatre
by Herbert Paine - March 10, 2025
By now, the phrase Phantom of the Opera conjures one thing: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s juggernaut, a chandelier-crashing, organ-blasting spectacle that has been haunting Broadway since the Reagan administration. But Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit’s PHANTOM, currently at Arizona Broadway Theatre in Peoria ...
Review: JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN Reframes An American Masterpiece
by Robert Encila-Celdran - March 05, 2025
Kimberly Belflower's writing blends academic fluency with the unfiltered energy of teenage argot. Crisp and emotionally charged, the script expertly transitions between scenes from The Crucible and the students' classroom debates, crafting a narrative that is as urgent as it is thought-provoking....
Review: THE CLEAN HOUSE at Theatre Artists Studio
by Herbert Paine - March 04, 2025
Theatre Artists Studio's staging of Sarah Ruhl's THE CLEAN HOUSE, captures the playwright's intention of a meditation on how people grapple with grief, love, and their own imperfections....
Review: FETAL at Stray Cat Theatre
by Herbert Paine - February 24, 2025
Stray Cat Theatre’s production of FETAL is a necessary, gripping, and unforgettable theatrical experience—one that demands not only contemplation but also collective action and solidarity regarding reproductive rights....
Review: BLUES IN THE NIGHT at Arizona Theatre Company
by Herbert Paine - February 23, 2025
ATC's BLUES IN THE NIGHT: It’s about feeling - pure, raw, and undeniable...if you’re looking to be wrapped up in a night of sensational voices and music that hums in your bones, this is a show to get lost in....
Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT at ASU Gammage
by Herbert Paine - February 12, 2025
It’s always a risk to transplant a beloved classic film to the stage, particularly when that film is one so thoroughly embedded in its time as SOME LIKE IT HOT. Yet this latest Broadway adaptation, now performing at ASU Gammage until the 16th, with kinetic direction and crowd-pleasing choreography b...