Archived Reviews of the 2004/2005
Season's Productions
A Letter from Summer Camp
Artists' Theatre Project's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Sleeping
Beauty or; Coma 7/8/05 - 7/21/05
Charity by Committee
Desert Stages Theatre's Sweet
Charity 6/24/05 - 7/31/05
A Mid-summer's Midsummer
The Shakespeare Theatre's A
Midsummer Night's Dream 7/1/05 - 7/23/05
James Borgmann,
Egeus in The Shakespere Theatre's current production of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, disagrees with my way of commenting on his performance,
and my response
A member of the theatre community who wishes
to remain annonymous responds to James Borgmann's challenge with a simple
Google search that resulted in this
link to a review by a critic specifically citing a "memorable Egeus" in
paragraphs 6 and 7
A Tasty Chocolate Cream Confection
Shakespeare Sedona's Arms and
the Man 7/2/05 - 7/23/05
Not Worth Peeking in a Key Hole For
Fountain Hills Community Theatre's What
the Butler Saw 6/17/05 - 7/10/05
Local
actor/dialect coach Diane Senffner comments on the circumstances leading
to my review of FHCT's What the Butler Saw , and my reply
Opposite Ends of the Season, Opposite Ends of the Valley, Opposite
Ends of the Spectrum
Tempe Little Theatre's Company 6/10/05
- 6/26/05
Local
actor Brad Rupp agrees with me on my review of TLT's Company
Maria Get Your Gun
Broadway Palm West Dinner Theatre's The
Sound of Music 6/9/05 - 7/30/05
Michael
Shell offers a formal apology for his negative personal comments concerning
my review of an actress in Broadway Palm West's production of The
Sound of Music
E2! True Monarchy Stories
Nearly Naked Theatre's E2: A Heretical
Adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Edward the Second 6/3/05 - 6/25/05
He's Got a Lot of Living to Do
iTheatre Collaborative's Gallows
Humor 6/3/05 - 6/19/05
Performing Against the Odds
Desert Rose Theatre's The Lark 5/18/05
- 5/21/05
“This parting must be / endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly.”
Stray Cat Theatre's Stop Kiss 5/13/05
- 5/28/05
Local actor/director
Kimberlee Hart agrees with my review of SCT's Stop Kiss
The Weird Sisters Have a Deadline for Fascist Macbeth
Arizona Theatre Company's Macbeth 5/5/05
- 5/22/05
Overly Merry Maids
iTheatre Collaborative's The Maids 4/29/05
- 5/15/05
Guest Review by Jackson Fisher
Hale Centre Theatre's The
Curious Savage 4/7/05 - 5/14/05
The Curious Savage: A quick note from local actor
Bill Graham - 5/1/05
The Curious Savage: A longer critique from a local stage
manager and properties person (and, in the spirit of full disclosure, my
wife's best friend)
Eva Richards - 4/21/05
The Curious Savage: A short comment from a local actress
(with whom I've worked in the past)
Barbara McBain - 4/17/05
Like Cotton Candy, but Lacking the Flavor
M&I Bank Broadway in Arizona
ASU Gammage Auditorium's Thoroughly Modern Millie 5/3/05 - 5/8/05
The Oy of the Beholder
Actors Theatre's Sight Unseen 4/22/05
- 5/8/05
You can lead blue-hairs to culture, but you can't make them think.
Phoenix Theatre's And They
Dance Real Slow in Jackson 4/13/05 - 5/1/05
Pardon me, but I think you forgot abortion...
Is What It Is Theatre's 102 4/15/05
- 5/1/05
A "Band of Brothers" in Cargo Pants
Southwest
Shakespeare Company's Henry V 4/7/05 - 4/16/05
Critical Condition
Tempe
Little Theatre's Critic's Choice 3/25/05 - 4/10/05
Acting Out
Desert Foothills Community
Theatre's Moon Over Buffalo 3/17/05 - 4/3/05
When Black and White Obscures Color
Arizona Theatre Company's Permanent
Collection 3/24/05 - 4/10/05
Local
actor Bill Graham agrees with my review of ATC's production of Permanent
Collection
Soft Shue
Fountain Hills
Community Theatre's The Nerd 3/18/05 - 4/3/05
Some Win, Some Place in this Show
Broadway
Palm West Dinner Theatre's Guys and Dolls 2/17/05
- 4/4/05
Observing the Consequences of the Zipless Fuck
Nearly Naked Theatre's Sexual
Perversity in Chicago 3/18/05 - 3/26/05
They Prohibited the Wrong Thing in the 20s
Nearly Naked Theatre's Les
Liaisons Dangereuses 3/11/05 - 3/26/05
The Darkness of Sight
iTheatre Collaborative's Molly
Sweeney 3/11/05 - 3/27/05
A Flash of the Old Days
Scottsdale Community Players' The
Foreigner 3/4/05 - 3/20/05
Bigger than Necessary, but Still Great
Actors Theatre's The Last
Five Years 3/5/05 - 3/20/05
The Night Larry Kramer Kicked Me
Stray Cat Theatre's The Normal
Heart 2/17/05 - 3/12/05
A Well-Meaning Shipwreck
Desert Stages Theatre's Gilligan's
Island: The Musical
Divvying Up the Blame
Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's The
Price 2/12/05 - 2/27/05
Disney Does Broadway Right
ASU Gammage Auditorium M&I Bank's
Valley Broadway Series' The Lion King 1/20/05 - 3/6/05
Feydeau's Don't
Arizona Theatre Company's For
Better or Worse Tucson 1/15/05 - 2/5/05 and Phoenix 2/10/05 - 2/27/05
From a Crypt, New Life
Desert
Rose Theatre's Romeo and Juliet 2/11/05
- 2/19/05
Great Fun at the Kit Kat Kloset
Fountain
Hills Community Theatre's Cabaret 1/21/05
- 2/13/05
How the Other Half Starves
Actors
Theatre's Nickle and Dimed 1/22/05
- 2/6/05
Historical Inevitability
iTheatre
Collaborative's Topdog/Underdog 1/28/05
- 2/12/05
A Lifeless Lear
Southwest
Shakespeare's King Lear 1/13/05 -
1/29/05
The Best Whorehouse I've
Been To
Desert
Foothills Theatre's The Best Little Whorehouse
in Texas 1/13/05 - 1/30/05
A Singular Sensation
Phoenix
Theatre's A Chorus Line 1/12/05
- 2/6/05
Simple Times, Simpler
Solutions
Hale
Centre Theatre's Barefoot
in the Park 12/30/04 - 2/12/05
Hot Mama
Broadway
Palm West Dinner Theatre's Gypsy 12/30/04
- 2/12/04
The Pride of Her Majesty's Pirates
Arizona
Theatre Company's The Pirates of Penzance 12/30/04
- 1/23/05
The Sopranos do Karaoke Shakespeare
The
Shakespeare Theatre's Romeo and Juliet 12/31/04
- 1/15/05
Jest Barely
Arizona
Jewish Theatre Company's Beau Jest and Jest
a Second! (reviewed in tandem 12/19/04)
12/18/04 - 1/9/05
Jere
Van Patten, a member of the cast of Hale
Center Theatre's A Christmas Carol asks
why I'm not reviewing their production, and
my response
Enough for the Kids and the Connoisseurs
Ballet
Arizona's The Nutcracker Suite 12/3/04
- 12/26/04
Andrew
Ranshaw, the Prince in Ballet Arizona's The
Nutcracker Suite thanks me for my review
A Little Easter for Christmas
ASU
Gammage Auditorium
M&I Bank's Broadway
in Arizona
Series' Jesus Christ Superstar 12/7/04
- 12/12/04
Still much to do with this Much
Ado
Actors
Renaissance Theatre's Much Ado About
Nothing 12/3/04 - 12/18/04
Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Good
Smoke
Arizona
Theatre Company's Anna in the Tropics 11/18/04
- 12/5/04
Fear and Loathing in La La Land
Nearly
Naked Theatre's Hurlyburly 11/12/04
- 12/4/04
A Sad So Long to Theater Works
Theater
Works' Company 11/5/04 - 11/21/04
Local
actor Jesse Berger explains why he's upset
about my leaving Theater Works' Company at
intermission, and my reply
Actress
Toni Hull, a member of the cast of Theater
Works' Company whom I did not
review as I left at intermission, attacks
me for my review of that production, and
my response
Actress/Director
Kimberlee Hart, who recently directed a
show at Theater Works, takes issue with
my comments about the company and its administration,
and my response
Jack
Lytle, the C.E.O. of Theater Works, suggests
that I'm lacking understanding, and my
response
Peter
J. Hill, the Artistic Director of Fountain
Hills Community Theatre and Copperstate
Dinner Theatre, comments on my call last
season to support Theater Works versus
my recent removal of such support, and
my response
Local
actress of stage and screen Mandy Nichols, who
DID NOT see any of the contested productions about
which I've recently received email, thanks me for
my tact. Wow.
The Power of the Ensemble
arizona
women's theatre company's Necessary Targets 11/5/04
- 11/28/04
Drowning in Mediocrity
ASU
Gammage Auditorium
M&I Bank's Valley
Broadway Series The Graduate 11/9/04 - 11/14/04
Denting Yonkers' Heart of Steel
Arizona
Jewish Theatre Company's Lost in Yonkers 11/6/04
- 11/21/04
Playwriting, Producing, and
Pasta Fagioli
Desert
Foothill's Theatre's Breaking Legs 11/5/04
- 11/21/04
The Nuts Don't Fall Far From
the Sycamores
Phoenix
Theatre's You Can't Take it With You 11/3/04
- 11/21/04
Seinfeld meets Ionesco
Stray
Cat Theatre's [sic] 10/29/04 -
11/20/04
The Loonies Carry the Night
Hale
Centre Theatre's Arsenic and Old Lace 10/14/04
- 11/27/04
Florence and Oscar go to The
Odd Couples
Copperstate
Dinner Theatre's The Odd Couple and The
Odd Couple (Female Version) A
He-Said/She Said Review of Both Versions
with a Guest Review by the Arizona Production
Association's Julie Lee 9/24/04 - 11/21/04
Must See Simon!?! Pela Forgive
Me.
Tempe
Little Theatre's Chapter Two 10/29/04
- 11/7/04
Still Crazy After All These Years
Fountain
Hills Community Theatre's One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest 10/21/04 - 11/7/04
Someone Else's Bordertown
Actors
Theatre's Bordertown 10/23/04
- 11/7/04
Theatre of the Awkward
THEATRESCAPE'S The
Elephant Man 10/7/04 - 11/7/04
Viola in the Tropics
Southwest
Shakespeare Theatre's Twelfth Night 10/7/04 - 10/16/04
Hearts of Texas
Arizona
Theatre Company's The Immigrant 10/7/04 - 10/24/04
She's Great, I Hear
Theater League's Tea at Five 10/5/04
- 10/10/04
The "Eat" is on in Saigon
Broadway Palm West Dinner
Theatre's Miss Saigon 9/30/04 - 11/13/04
A
vitriolic letter from actor Patrick
O'Herron ripping me for my lack of
preparation and education in reviewing Miss
Saigon by Broadway Palm West Dinner
Theatre, my equally nasty response,
and his subsequent apology to all involved
Local
Actor Peter Good responds to Patrick
O'Herron's letter
Local
Actress and frequent performer for
Broadway Palm West Nicole Savitt responds
to Patrick O'Herron's letter
Local
Actor Ben Medina, a member of the Miss
Saigon cast, responds to Patrick
O'Herron's letter
Ring My Belle
Tempe
Little Theatre's Steel Magnolias 9/24/04 - 10/10/04
The Madness of Wes Martin
The Shakespeare Theatre's Marat/Sade 9/24/04
- 10/9/04
Unbalanced Art
Algonquin
Theatre Company's Art 9/17/04 - 10/3/04
Not-So Down and Out in Berlin
Phoenix
Theatre's Cabaret 9/8/04 - 10/3/04
Averting a Disaster
Scottsdale
Community Player's Titanic 9/10/04 - 9/26/04
Putting a Handsome Face on an Ugly Script
Fountain
Hills Community Theatre's Jekyll
and Hyde 9/3/04 - 9/26/04
Heaven Can Wait; The Audience, However, Has No Choice
Hale
Centre Theatre's Heaven
Can Wait 8/13/04 - 9/25/04
Grrls Night Out
Desert
Stages Theatre's A...My Name is Alice 8/27/04 - 9/19/04
Who's Afraid of Virginia Sacrifice?
Nearly
Naked Theatre's The Rocky Horror Show 8/27/04 - 9/19/04
Choice Cuts of Meat (and a Great Meal)
Copperstate
Dinner Theatre's Ashes to Ashes 7/23/04
- 9/12/04
"On an occasion of this kind,
it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind, it becomes a pleasure."
Actors
Renaissance Theatre's The Importance
of Being Earnest 8/27/04 - 9/5/04
Cut Loose Footloose
Theater
Works' Footloose 8/13/04 - 9/5/04
A
Letter from Kimberlee Hart, Director of Theater Works' Footloose,
responding to my review
The Simultaneous Fall and Rise of Love
Ovation
Theatre Troupe's The Last Five Years 8/20/04 - 9/5/04
Would You Be My (Fuck)Buddy?
Stray
Cat Theatre's Poona the Fuckdog...and Other Plays for Children 8/13/04
- 9/5/04
I Love It, It's Perfect, Don't Change (Much)
Desert Stages Actor's
Café's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now
Change 7/14/04
- Now Closed
A
Letter from Copperstate Dinner Theatre's Artistic Director Peter J. Hill
impuning my impartiality in choosing to review Stray Cat Theatre's Poona
the Fuckdog, and my response
A
Letter from Actor Steve Scally, a member of the cast of Poona the Fuckdog,
responding to Peter J. Hil
lA
Letter from Copperstate Dinner Theatre's Artistic Director Peter J. Hill
responding to Steve Scally's letter
A
Letter from valley actress Andi Watson weighing in on my impartiality,
and my response
Shakespeare in Limbo
THEATRESCAPE's Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead 8/5/04 - 8/29/04
Invasion of the Definitely Ready for Prime Time Players
Mesa Community
College Music Department's Fundraiser Little Shop
of Horrors 7/30/04 - 8/8/04
Shameless Pirates
Hale Centre Theatre's The
Pirates of Penzance 6/25/04 - 8/7/04
Electricity Comes to River City
Broadway Palm West Dinner Theatre's The
Music Man 6/18/04 - 8/7/04
Earnest, Energetic, if Not Exactly Good Performances
Desert Stage's The Best Little
Whorehouse in Texas 7/9/04 - 7/25/04
Sticks and Stones may Break Your Bones, but Words will Surely Kill
You
The Shakespeare Theatre's Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 7/2/04 - 7/17/04
Athena
Reiss' number one fan sends a letter
Former
Phoenix actor Michael Sherwin thanks me for the role goldfishpublishers.com
played in helping him land a role in a play in his new home in Chicago,
and my response
Former
Phoenix actor Ben Brittain drops a line to let everyone in the community
know how things are going in his new home
A
Letter from actress Karen Binder taking issue with my inclusion of last
season's Jesus Christ Superstar by Scottsdale Community Players
on my Fishy List, and my response
A
Letter from The Shakespeare Theatre's Executive Producer Wes Martin to
Bobb Cooper explaining his planned absence from this year's ariZoni Award
Presentation
A
Letter from Copperstate Dinner Theatre's Artistic Director Peter J. Hill
commenting on my review of Desert Stages' I Love You, You're Perfect,
Now Change, and my response
A
Letter from Susan Banqueparch pointedly commenting on her perception of
my conflicts in giving out awards and reviewing, and my response
A
Letter from Director Diane Rodriguez of L.A.'s Latino Theatre Initiative
at the Mark Taper Forum commenting on my past reviews of shows she'd directed
in Phoenix, and my response
A
Letter asking about my policy of not revewing colleges in relation to the
Goldy Awards, and my response
Questions? Comments? I truly encourage reciprication and dialogue. Drop me a cybernote at:
