The Anxiety Project is an original new musical written by Rachel Dean (composer) and David Brush (lyricist). The cast album dropped on August 13th, and is now available for streaming. Recorded in collaboration with Arizona State University Music Theatre and Opera, and featuring exceptionally talented ASU students, it is well worth a listen…
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#OnlyIntermission: Performers Take a Precautionary Pause
The days weigh heavy. Compounding. Each, somehow, heavier than the last. Saturated in monotony. Accompanied by a novel loneliness that can only come from seclusion at an epic level. Days, weeks, months without social gathering. An oddly unsettling guilt for having taken weekly family brunches, happy hours with friends, and live communal entertainment for granted for so long. This is the new normal in the time of COVID-19. This is our new normal…
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Social Distancing in a World Without Theatre
by Rebecca Rudnyk – This may be wildly inappropriate. Knowingly stepping out of my lane. I write about theatre. But writers need to write, out of...
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Unique Revival of ‘Once on This Island’ Tours Through ASU Gammage
Once on This Island originally premiered on Broadway in 1990. Based on the 1985 novel “My Love My Love” by Rosa Guy, which is ultimately based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” the musical is the brainchild of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty of Ragtime and Anastasia fame. The revival premiered at Circle in the Square in late 2017, winning a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and receiving several other notable nominations…
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Limited Run of ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ Hits ASU Gammage
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is a jukebox show about the singer and songwriter whose extremely successful career spanned decades. First through songs she wrote for others, ultimately culminating in a solo career. Originally premiering on Broadway in January 2014, it received several Tony nominations including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical. Beautiful played over 2,400 performances at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, launching its first national tour in 2015, and closing in October 2019…
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‘¡Americano!’ is a Must See at The Phoenix Theatre Company
¡Americano! is special. The show ended with such an impact, that I found myself giddy with excitement to start writing about it. Grateful for the experience,...
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Experience the Genre-Defying ‘Flight’ at Tempe Center for the Arts
by Rebecca Rudynk – So I just saw this show. This undefinable show. A show so unique that I don’t know which box I should try...
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Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical first appeared at the La Jolla Playhouse in late 2017, then moved to Broadway in 2018. It closed in late 2018, after 27 previews and 288 performances. The show recounts Summer’s story, starting in her childhood. Three actresses of varying ages play her in life stages. Duckling Donna is her youth. Disco Donna her early career. And Diva Donna at the top of her game, the undeniable Queen of Disco…
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Critic’s Picks: Best of Local Theatre 2019
by Rebecca Rudnyk
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The decade ascends into history, and we enter 2020 anew. Another year of incredible local theatre comes to a close…
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Celebrate the Season with ‘The Sound of Music’ at The Phoenix Theatre Company
The Sound of Music is one of the most iconic shows of Broadway’s Golden Age. Known to nearly all, in some form or fashion, and sacred to many. However, popularity can be a double-edged sword. While it equates to a most-assured larger potential audience, there are also expectations that everyone has going into the performance. We all know what the songs should sound like, in the best case scenario. And those preconceived notions are inherently baked in, so the cast always has an uphill battle to fight from the outset…
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Blue Man Group Leaves Audience ‘Speechless’ at ASU Gammage
My introductory encounter with the Blue Men occurred on my first trip to New York City when I was in high school. The show was unlike anything I had ever encountered. Pervasive, insightful and rather mind-blowing. When I experienced it again, over a decade later, it felt like I was essentially seeing the same show. Everything my memory retained was showcased gloriously, and I delighted in the nostalgia of it. But it didn’t feel like it had evolved. That has changed with the Speechless tour…
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‘Anastasia’ at ASU Gammage
Anastasia is a Broadway musical based on the animated 1997 feature film of the same name. An exploration of the long-held rumor that the Grand Duchess Anastasia survived the Bolshevik’s murder of the Raminov family, a tale DNA evidence has debunked. Twenty years after the movie was released, its newly-envisioned stage production premiered on the Great White Way. Magical characters replaced by historically-relevant ones. Slightly less focused on the fairy tale, and more with addressing the plight of the time…
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