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October 06, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "All Shook Up"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the musical "All Shook Up," a musical that uses two dozen Elvis Presley hit tunes in a love story set in a small, unnamed Midwest town in 1955.



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September 29, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Producers"

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews two diverse plays that recently opened in Phoenix. The first show, Mel Brook's musical "The Producers," is based on his film that focuses on the vaudevillian antics of producing the worst Broadway musical. The second show is the Stray Cat Theatre production of "Everything Will Be Different" that traces Charlotte, a disturbed teenager, whos struggles to escape her miserable life by living in an imaginary world.



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September 22, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Blackbeard"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the world premiere musical "Blackbeard" that revolves around the notorious pirate, Blackbeard, who blockaded Charleston's harbor in the early 18th century.



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September 15, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Doubt, A Parable"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews Actor's Theatre's season opener, the first local production of the award-winning "Doubt, A Parable," a prize winning play about the impact of unsubstantiated doubt has in our lives. The discussion evolves from a suspicious nun's thoughts about an approchable priest and his relationship with a young student in the Church's school.



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September 08, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The All Night Strut"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Black Theatre Troupe's season opener, "The All Night Strut," a musicla review with 24 song hits by various composers. It's set in the '30s and '40s at the famous El Morocco nightclub.



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September 04, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "A Chorus Line"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway Across America-Arizona re-creation of the original "A Chorus Line" as crafted by the late Michael Bennett. The 1975 musical tells individual stories about how 17 performers ended up on Broadway.



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August 25, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Rocky Horror Show"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Nearly Naked Theatre's stage version of the popular cult film musical, "The Rocky Horror Show," that is about the whacked out Dr. Frank-N-Furter who creates an ideal man to satisfy his own cravings.



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August 11, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Unbeatable"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the world premiere musical "Unbeatable," about Laurie Frey's successful battle with Stage III breast cancer.



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August 04, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Honky Tonk Angels"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Threater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre production of "The Honky Tonk Angels," a jukebox musical that links over two dozen country-western tunes together using a plot about three women who dream of being Nashville singing stars.



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July 14, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Music Man"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Hale Centre Theatre's production of Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man." The musical, which includes "SEventy-Six Trombones," pits turn-of-the-last-century Iowans against conman's Harold Hill's zealous selling of a boy's band thet the town librarian and piano teacher, Marian Paroo, watches cautiously.



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June 26, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "High School Musical"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway in Arizona production of "High School Musical" that is based on the popular Disney channel television musical. It has a simple boy meets girl, boy falls for girl story complicated by a high school environment.



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June 19, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "My Fair Lady"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway in Arizona production of Trevor Nunn's new British treatment of the musical "My Fair Lady" based on George Bernard Shaw's witty "Pygmalion" that tells of phonetics professor's Henry Higgins teaching flower girl Eliza Doolittle how to talk and act as a lady.



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June 16, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Oliver!"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway Plam Dinner Theatre production of "Oliver!," a musical version of the classic Charles Dickens story about the 19th century orphan Oliver Twist.



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June 10, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Reefer Madness-The Musical"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Nearly Naked Theatre's Arizona premiere production of "Reefer Madness-The Musical." It's based on the now infamous 1936 propoganda film that told Americans of the evils of marijuana and how it would doom youth.



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May 26, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Smokey Joe's Cafe"

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Black Theatre Troupe production of the Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller musical review, "Smokey Joe's Cafe," that includes 40 of the team's popular hits.



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May 22, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Wedding Singer"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the road company production of the Broadway musical "The Wedding Singer," based on the hit 1998 movie. It's a simple boy meets girl tale set in 1985 so the show tries to be a tribute to that era.



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May 19, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Lucky Star"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Phoenix Theatre world premiere musical, "Lucky Star," that deals with an old Picacho Peak saloon where an excentric assortment of bar patrons decide to save the place because it is their home away from home.



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May 12, 2008

This links opens to an audio file :Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the local premiere production of "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" by iTheatre Collaborative. The play deals with the three trials that found Wilde guilty and marked the decline of the English playwright, novelist and poet.



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May 05, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "The Clean House"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio revies the final Arizona Theatre Company production of the current season, the local premiere staging of Sarah Ruhl's comedy/drama "The Clean House." The play focuses on two successful surgeons who hire a Brazilian maid who hates to clean house but who helps them rediscover a critical but missing ingredient in their marriage.



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April 28, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Speak Spanish to Me"

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the final Actors Theatre production of the current season, a world premiere staging of the new Bernardo Solano comedy/drama, "Speak Spanish to Me." The play focuses on two ASU freshmen, Frank and Liz, who fal in love nd confront the cultural challenges of an Anglo and Latino relationship.



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April 21, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "La Traviata"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the final Arizona Opera production of the current season, Verdi's "La Traviata." The opera focuses on Violetta, a Paris courtesan dying of tuberculosis.



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April 18, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Sweeney Todd"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway touring version of John Doyle's revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," a dark musical about a revengeful but wronged barber who kills his customers and uses them in meat pies.



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April 14, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Pulp"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Stray Cat Theatre's production of a comedy by Patricia Kane, "Pulp." It's based on the trashy lesbian novels of the 1950s.



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April 07, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Six Dance Lessons in 6 weeks"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic, Chris Curcio reviews the Phoenix Theatre's production of a new comedy by Richard Alfieri, "Six Dance Lessons in 6 Weeks," about a lonely widow who tries to disguise her shallow life through dance lessons with a sharp tongued instructor, Michael.



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March 30, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "To Kill a Mockingbird"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic, Chris Curcio reviews the Arizona Theatre Company's stage adaptation by Christopher Sergel of Harper Lee's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel about racial injustice in a small fictional Alabama town in 1935.



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March 24, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "A Tale of Two Cities"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Childsplay production of local playwright Dwayne Hartford's adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, "A Tale of Two Cities." In this work, the playwright has stripped away the novel's excessive detail and focused on its two major themes, justice & vengance.



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March 12, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "East Texas Hot Links"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Black Theatre Troupe production of Eugene Lee's play "East Texas Hot Links," that shows how African American men betray each other and sell out to whites.



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March 10, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "9 Parts of Desire"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic, Chris Curcio reviews the Actors Theatre production of "9 Parts of Desire," a one woman show starring playwright Heather Raffo that traces the reactions of nine different Iraqi women to the war in that country.



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March 03, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Broadway Musicals

( Phoenix,AZ )

Our theater critic, Chris Curcio, made his annual trip to Broadway and in his second of two segments he reviews the four musicals he saw; "Curtains," "Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening," "Legally Blonde," and "Young Frankenstein."



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February 25, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Goodnight Moon"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the current Chidlsplay production of "Goodnight Moon." based on a popular children's nursery rhyme that focuses on a bunny who is too hyper to fall asleep. Instead he uses the toys in his bedroom to travel to exotic places.



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February 21, 2008

This links opens to an audio file "Twelve Angry Men"

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the touring production of the Broadway revival of Reginald Rose's teleplay "Twelve Anrgry Men." The courtroom drama focuses on the jury deliberations in a murder trial and looks at the psychological debate that causes all but one juror to change his opinion on the verdict.



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February 18, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Hello, Dolly!

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre's production of Jerry Herman's "Hello, Dolly!" that traces Dolly Gallagher Levi's matchmaking efforts and ends with several successful pairings plus her own union with Horace Vandergelder, a Yonkers half-a-millionaire.



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February 11, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Dr. Jekylland Mr. Hyde

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Arizona Theatre Company's world prmeire production of Jeffrey Hatcher's new version of the popular Robert Louis Stevenson horror story, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Hatcher's aproach looks at the psychological aspects that made the dual character commit the notorious killings he did.



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February 07, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Broadway Plays

( Phoenix,AZ )

Our Theater Critic, Chris Curcio, made his annual trip to Broadway and in this first of two segments he reviews the four plays he saw. He tells us about "August: Osage County," "Rock n' Roll," "The Farnsworth Invention and "The Seafarer."



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February 03, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Kate Crackernuts

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Stray Cat Theatre's local production of"Kate Crackernuts." This most unusual play is set in an adult fairy tale kingdom about two sisters, Anne, a real hottie, and plain Kate. The story follows their journey to find Anne's attractive head that she's lost and has a sheep's head instead.



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January 28, 2008

This links opens to an audio file As Bees in Honey Drown

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio attended the Nearly Naked Thetre's local premiere production of "As Bees in Honey Drown." This contemporary play by Douglas Carter Beane twists the conventional plot of an opportunistic woman using a successful young writer for her needs to explore new and unexpected turns.



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January 14, 2008

This links opens to an audio file Almost Maine

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Phoenix Theatre southwest premiere production of "Almost Maine." This contemporary play looks at love in the tiny Maine town of Almost through various loosely linked episodes that feature town people.

www.phoenixtheatre.com www.phoenixtheatre.com
"Almost Maine" plays through January 27 at the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Phoenix. For tickets, call the Phoenix Theatre box office at 602-254-2151 or go online at www.phoenixtheatre.com



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January 07, 2008

This links opens to an audio file The Pajama Game

( Phoenix, AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Arizona Theatre Company production of "The Pajama Game," a 1954 musical that looks at management relations and union negotiations at the Sleep Tite pajama factory. The score boasts several hit songs including "Steam Heat," "Hey There," and "Hernando's Hideaway."

arizonatheatre.org arizonatheatre.org
"The Pajama Game" plays through January 20 at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. For tickets, call the Arizona Theatre Company box office at 602-256-6995 or go online at arizonatheatre.org.



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January 01, 2008

This links opens to an audio file The Busy World is Hushed

( Phoenix,AZ )

KBAQ Theater Critic Chris Curcio reviews the Actors Theatre southwest premiere of "The Busy World is Hushed." This contemporary play explores religion and contemporary lifestyles through a progressive Episcopalian minister, a young writer she hires to help her create a book about a newly discovered gospel that may precede the bible.



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