Phoenix Metro Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 8

BWW Review: Unique Takes - Kerry Lengel on FARINELLI AND THE KING - Southwest Shakespeare Shakes It Up
by Herbert Paine - March 10, 2022

Kerry Lengel's unique and innovative take on FARINELLI AND THE KING, written by Claire Van Kampen and directed by Carmen Jakobi, getting its Arizona premiere at Southwest Shakespeare Company and running through March 20th at the Mesa Arts Center....

BWW Review: Arizona Opera presents a captivating production of Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
by Tim Shawver - March 10, 2022

Last fall, when local companies were announcing their various seasons, one particular show made my eyes widen as I thought, 'WHO'S doing WHAT?' I'm talking about Arizona Opera bringing to Phoenix and Tucson a fully orchestrated presentation of the infrequently produced, head-shakeningly brilliant St...

BWW Review: A MINISTER'S WIFE: Love, Marriage, and the Poetry in Between
by Robert Encila-Celdran - March 09, 2022

In A MINISTER'S WIFE, the composer's collaboration with Austin Pendleton (book), and Jan Levy Tranen (lyrics) dilutes his influence on CANDIDA's transcription, relegating the audience to a compendiary version that eliminates, among other elements, Candida's businessman father - a staunch capitalist ...

BWW Review: PBS Stations to Feature FOREVER WILD ~ The Fight To Preserve The Valley Floor of Telluride
by Herbert Paine - March 08, 2022

Sedona filmmakers Bryan Reinhart and Ronald Melmon's FOREVER WILD chronicles the valiant years-long struggle to preserve the Valley Floor of Telluride as open space. Compelling and inspiring, the documentary will be aired on PBS stations in April....

BWW Review: ATC Production Stuns With Artistic Fury
by Robert Encila-Celdran - March 07, 2022

In FOUR WOMEN, history reminds us there's no rest for the weary, and the call for racial justice is a collective effort requiring sustained vigilance. The irony here is not so subtle. Ms. Ham's play thumbs its nose at the growing political hysteria over which segments of American history should be t...

BWW Review: THE TEMPEST at Southwest Shakespeare Company
by Emily Noxon - March 03, 2022

A shipwreck by magical design maroons a group on a remote island where Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, confronts his treacherous brother....

BWW Review: Sedona International Film Festival Presents WAKE UP - A Call to Action Against Human Trafficking
by Herbert Paine - February 27, 2022

Janet Craig's WAKE UP is a raw and harrowing eye-opener to the insidious and seductive tactics that entrap young innocents. Featured at this year's Sedona International Film Festival....

BWW Review: Sedona International Film Festival Presents OUR ALMOST COMPLETELY TRUE STORY- A Perfect Gem Of A Love Story
by Herbert Paine - February 25, 2022

Mariette Hartley and Jerry Sroka sparkle in OUR ALMOST COMPLETELY TRUE STORY, a sterling account of their love story, told with humor and poignancy. One of the features to be screened at this year's Sedona International Film Festival on Saturday, February 26th at the Sedona Performing Arts Center....

BWW Review: Sedona International Film Festival Presents A CRACK IN THE MOUNTAIN ~Where A Dreamland Confronts Reality
by Herbert Paine - February 23, 2022

Alastair Evans's documentary, A CRACK IN THE MOUNTAIN, brings to the forefront the potential threats to the grandeur and sanctity of one of the world's great environmental treasures. Featured at this year's Sedona International Film Festival (February 19th-27th)....

BWW Review: Math And Love Triangle In The Industrial Age
by Robert Encila-Celdran - February 23, 2022

ADA AND THE ENGINE is a sprawling narrative that dabbles in the intersection of mathematics and a love triangle - and it does so eloquently while shedding light on the immortal shadow of a father's abandonment. It's a handful, but it's one way to alleviate the esoteric chatter of binary codes and al...

BWW Review: Theatre Artists Studio Presents Karen Burns's AN OTHERWISE MAGICAL LIFE
by Herbert Paine - February 21, 2022

Karen Burns's AN OTHERWISE MAGICAL LIFE, showing at Theatre Artists Studio through March 6th, is a stunning and uplifting account of one woman's journey to overcome life's trials and tribulations....

BWW Review: Sedona International Film Festival Presents TRUST ME - A Powerful Call for Media Literacy
by Herbert Paine - February 14, 2022

Roko Belic's must-see documentary TRUST ME exposes the pervasive manipulation of information by forces aiming to create social disruption and influence human behavior. Screening at this year's Sedona International Film Festival (Feb 19-27)....

BWW Review: ASU Gammage Presents The National Tour Of THE BAND'S VISIT
by Herbert Paine - February 09, 2022

THE BAND’S VISIT, now playing at ASU Gammage in Tempe until February 13, may tell the small, modest tale of a group of musicians from another country stranded overnight in the middle of nowhere, but it's really about friendship, loneliness, and wasted opportunities; characters discovering how simila...

BWW Review: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN at The Phoenix Theatre Company
by Emily Noxon - February 06, 2022

Don Lockwood and Lena Lamont are the most famous silent movie stars of their time. When audiences start clamoring for talkies, Don, Cosmo, the Studio, and Don's new lady love, Kathy, have to get creative to ensure the movie is a success because Lena doesn't have the voice for the talkies....

BWW Review: Sedona International Film Festival Presents World Premiere Of POWERLANDS ~ A Sobering Chronicle Of Environmental and Cultural Exploitation
by Herbert Paine - February 02, 2022

POWERLANDS is a riveting tribute to the Resistance of Indigenous peoples to the exploitation of their lands. To be screened at this year's Sedona International Film Festival....

BWW Review: THE GODS OF COMEDY at Stage Left Productions
by Lee Cooley - January 26, 2022

THE GODS OF COMEDY are forcing us to choose between hilarity or health. This #stageleftaz production of Ken Ludwig's two-hour romp has been extended through Feb. 6. Not by popular demand, although it deserves it, but because of #COVID exposure. If you're up-to-date on your vaccinations and crave a l...

BWW Review: Arizona Broadway Theatre Presents GYPSY
by Herbert Paine - January 23, 2022

Arizona Broadway Theatre's handsome new production of GYPSY, featuring Cassandra Klaphake as Mamma Rose and a solid supporting cast, gives the audience the chance to enjoy the Rodgers and Hammerstein form of musical theatre storytelling all over again. Runs through February 20th....

BWW Review: Dynamic Ensemble Delivers Devastating Performance of DEATH OF A SALESMAN
by Robert Encila-Celdran - January 11, 2022

Director Matt Bowdren helms this steady ship and fashions a piece of theater that strikes an impeccable balance between nuance and grandiloquence. With delicate adherence to Miller's sensibilities, actors never go out of bounds even as they achieve their bombastic heights; conversely, poignant momen...

BWW Review: Scoundrel and Scamp Brings Dickens Classic to Sacred Desert
by Robert Encila-Celdran - December 13, 2021

In A SONORAN DESERT CAROL, Claire Mannle had the insight to adapt Charles Dickens' Christmas classic as a sacred homage to our native ancestors, but not without admonishing the predatory elites of our modern economic system. Dickens would likely approve the latter inasmuch as income inequality had b...

BWW Review: HAMLET at Southwest Shakespeare Company
by Emily Noxon - December 12, 2021

The Southwest Shakespeare Company has abridged and adapted one of Shakespeare's most famous plays to introduce younger audiences to classical theater. This troupe of actors does a phenomenal job with a shortened script that packs a punch....

BWW Review: Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre Presents THE SOUND OF MUSIC
by Herbert Paine - December 12, 2021

Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre’s production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by Trisha Ditsworth is refreshing and entertaining holiday fare for the entire family. Runs through December 19th....

BWW Review: Black Theatre Troupe Presents Langston Hughes's BLACK NATIVITY
by Herbert Paine - December 11, 2021

Black Theatre Troupe’s production of Langston Hughes’s BLACK NATIVITY is a moving celebration of life and faith. A Seasonal must-see! Runs through December 19th at The Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in Phoenix....

BWW Review: Mesa Community College Theatre and Film Arts Department Presents Melissa Leilani Larson's GIN MUMMY
by Herbert Paine - December 10, 2021

As an homage to Oscar Wilde and his genius, Mesa Community College's production of Melissa Leilani Larson’s GIN MUMMY is an enjoyable and enlightening comedy of manners. Limited engagement through December 11th....

BWW Review: ASU Gammage Presents the National Tour of MY FAIR LADY
by Herbert Paine - December 09, 2021

The National Tour of MY FAIR LADY is a theatrical joy ride that bursts into life the moment the giant pillars of Convent Garden are lowered from above and the opening scene is established. Running through December 12th at ASU Gammage in Tempe, AZ....

BWW Review: Arizona Broadway Theatre Presents ELF THE MUSICAL
by Herbert Paine - November 29, 2021

Tyler Pirrung is terrific as Buddy in Arizona Broadway Theatre's ELF THE MUSICAL, directed and choreographed by Kurtis Overby. The show runs through December 29th....