As this year’s season begins, the variety of theaters and troupes in downtown Phoenix have some fantastic new shows starting up over the next three months. For the downtown theater-lover (or dance-lover, or general performance-lover), we’ve laid out some shows as they’re scheduled for September, October, November and early December.
If you know any shows going on downtown that we missed, don’t hesitate to comment or email the columnist. Curtain Critic strives to have an all-inclusive reach, but there are always some shows that we fail to note.
September
September starts out slow, as many companies start their season in October or even later, but there are a few promising shows coming up that we’d like to share.
“The Album Project: Jagged Little Pill” from Nearly Naked Theatre at Phoenix Theatre
“Jagged Little Pill” was Alanis Morissette’s debut album, for which she won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1996. The show will add a few extra songs, some from other albums and some composed specifically for the stage.
Playing: Sept. 5-14
Tickets: $24 plus box office fees for general admission, $19 plus fees for students
“Memphis” from the Mainstage Theatre at Phoenix Theatre
This musical won four Tony Awards in 2010, including Best Musical. It features a radio DJ and club singer focused, respectively, on making a change and finding fame, and is based on real events.
Playing: Sept. 17-Oct. 12
Tickets: $30-$75 for adults
“Sexy Sci-fi” from Scandalesque at Phoenix Center for the Arts
Burlesque meets science fiction in this show from live music, dance theater, comedy and circus arts group Scandalesque. The performance includes a sexy sci-fi attire costume contest that audience members can participate in.
Playing: Sept. 26-27
Tickets: $20-$30
“Radio Golf” from the Black Theatre Troupe at Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center
The final play of the ten-part series August Wilson wrote, “Radio Golf” features a lawyer educated in the Ivy Leagues who has become a developer. As part of his platform to become the first black mayor in Pittsburgh, he hopes to redevelop an impoverished area of his city, and comes to discover the significant past of one of the houses slated to be demolished.
Playing: Sept. 26-Oct. 12
Tickets: $35
October
October brings in the swing of many seasons as they open, including the first show from the Arizona Theatre Company at the Herberger Theater Center and the first show of the season from Valley Youth Theatre.
“Mr. Burns” at Space 55
This post-apocalyptic show follows the way human culture evolves after much of our cultural memory is destroyed, featuring primarily the reconstruction of an episode of “The Simpsons.” Need I say more?
Playing: Oct. 3-25
Tickets: $15
“South Pacific” from ProMusica Arizona at the Herberger Theater Center
“South Pacific” is a well-known musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, set during World War II on an island in the south Pacific Ocean. The ProMusica Arizona chorale and orchestra will be featured in the performance.
Playing: Oct. 10-12
Tickets: $43.50 plus additional fees for ordering online
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” from Arizona Theatre Company at the Herberger Theater Center
Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for best play, this piece by Christopher Durang features a farm family in rural Pennsylvania. Two siblings live in the farmhouse, kept afloat by their sister, who is a dramatic, self-absorbed movie star and who shakes things up when she returns home.
Playing: Oct. 9-26
Tickets: $36-$60
“Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” at Valley Youth Theatre
The musical version of the popular book comes from the second novel — chronologically, at least — in the C.S. Lewis novel series “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
Playing: Oct. 10-26
Tickets: $18
“Light and Shadows” from The Parking Lot Project at Phoenix Center for the Arts
“Light and Shadows” is the company show for The Parking Lot Project, a contemporary jazz dance group consisting of seven dancers from across Arizona.
Playing: Sept. 20 and 21
Tickets: $10
“The Bad and the Beautiful” from Center Dance Ensemble at the Herberger Theater Center
This show features Billy the Kid/The Ballet. Though we don’t know much more than that, with Center Dance Ensemble’s 26-year run as part of the Phoenix community, we’re excited to see what this show will bring.
Playing: Oct. 23-26
Tickets: $28 for adults, $23 for seniors and $14 for students
November
Shows are spread out after seasons kick off in September and October, and November currently only has a few shows lined up — which, of course, isn’t to say there’s any less quality here than in any other month.
“Shear Madness” at Phoenix Theatre
A long-running comedy on its 35th anniversary, “Shear Madness” is a murder mystery set in a hairstyling salon. It features improvisation from the cast and was inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, setting the play up as one of the most successful comedies in U.S. history.
Playing: Oct. 29-Nov. 23
Tickets: $30-$60
“Wait Until Dark” from Arizona Theatre Company at the Herberger Theater Center
This thriller comes from Frederick Knott, the author of “Dial M for Murder.” It features two con men seeking out something owned by a woman who was blinded in a car accident — something she doesn’t even realize she has. A film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn was made of the play in 1967.
Playing: Nov. 13-30
Tickets: $36-$60
“Mary Poppins” at Phoenix Theatre
The classic story of Mary Poppins takes the stage in mid-November at Phoenix Theatre. The 1934 children’s book series by P.L. Travers gained its fame as a movie in 1964 and is now a stage musical. The stage musical, which won a Tony Award, was only created on Travers’ insistence that no Americans be involved in its creative process.
Playing: Nov. 19-Dec. 28
Tickets: $30-$75
“Tommy J & Sally” from Black Theatre Troupe at Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center
This two-character play focuses on race relations to show how racial tensions are perceived by both white people and people of color. The story is further complicated by the inclusion of Jewish culture, which makes for a show that considers the intersection of many issues around marginalization in U.S. society.
Playing: Nov. 28-Dec. 14
Tickets: $35
While there is certainly more to come in the way of compelling shows for the 2014-2015 theater season, the shows of fall prove to be a particularly ambitious bunch. Keep your eye out for reviews of some of the shows listed here, and we wish you luck as you forge into the intense, playful, dramatic, hilarious, thoughtful world undertaken by these theaters this season.
Contact the columnist at molly.bilker@asu.edu
