By Richard Schultz, April 2016 Issue.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
The time is 1959. The place is a seedy bar in Philadelphia. The audience is about to witness one of Billie Holiday's last performances, given four months before her death. More than a dozen musical numbers are interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses. The score includes “God Bless the Child,” “Strange Fruit,” and “I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone.”
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
Through April 3
Phoenix Theatre
100 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix
Tickets: $36-$86; 602-254-2151
phoenixtheatre.com
The quintessential backstage musical comedy classic is the song and dance fable of Broadway with an American Dream story. Based on a novel by Bradford Ropes and Busby Berkeley’s 1933 movie, this rousing production tells the story of a starry-eyed young dancer named Peggy Sawyer who leaves her Allentown home and comes to New York to audition for a new Broadway musical and becomes a star. The score includes timeless classics like “We’re In The Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” “Dames,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and of course “42nd Street.”
42nd Street
March 30-April 3
Broadway in Tucson
Centennial Hall
1020 E. University Blvd., Tucson
Tickets $25-$100; 866-821-2929
broadwayintucson.com
Of Mice and Men
Emotional and stirring, John Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice And Men follows two friends, Lennie and George, as they drift from job to job across the fields and farms of central California during the hardship of 1920s America. In a time when dreams seemed a thing of the past, these two unlikely friends dare to believe in a better life. Directed by Mark Clements, this timeless tale of friendship, loneliness, loyalty, sacrifice emphasizes those human connections that are the bedrock for survival in desperate times.
Of Mice and Men
March 31-April 17
Arizona Theatre Company
Herberger Theater Center
222 E. Monroe St. Phoenix
Tickets: $28-$68; 602-256-6995
Tommy Tune
This Broadway legend returns to the Valley in a one-man tour de force performance, In Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales. Broadway’s tallest tapper takes to the stage in an evening of dancing, singing and tale-telling. The 10 time Tony Award® winner takes an autobiographical stroll, celebrating 50 plus years of an amazing career. Tune takes the audience from his arrival in New York City as a fresh-faced kid from Texas and through his most popular roles on stage and screen to his ascension as one of Broadway’s most accomplished director-choreographers. Accompanied by Michael Biagi, his music director for nearly four decades, the evening features Tune’s personal renditions of standards by Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Burt Bacharach, the Gershwins, Carole King, Green Day and more.
Tommy Tune: In Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales
April 2
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale
Tickets: $59-$89; 480-499-8587
scottsdaleperformingarts.org
Under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, a white researcher named Susannah, travels the South looking for original songs from the slave era. She finds herself in workhouses and prisons where black women toil. On a rural Texas prison farm she meets “the Pearl” and is spellbound by her beautiful voice and her unbreakable spirit.
Susannah records Pearl and sends the songs to the Library of Congress where she is immediately acclaimed as “an authentic doorway to the past.” The two women set out on a journey to find their way out from the shadows of both their pasts and leads them to the bright lights of New York City, where Pearl takes her place as the last of the authentic black songstresses from the South.
Black Pearl Sings
April 8-24
Black Theatre Troupe
1333 E. Washington St., Phoenix
Tickets: $32; 602-258-8129
blacktheatretroupe.org
Legally Blonde The Musical
Harvard's beloved blonde takes the stage by pink storm in this upbeat story of self-discovery. Based on the movie, Legally Blonde, which starred Reese Witherspoon, this popular musical follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, snobbery, and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. Directed and choreographed by Cambrian James, the show risks the heroine, Elle Woods (and of course, her Chihuahua, Bruiser, from the sorority house to the halls of justice.
Elle appears to have it all. Her life is turned upside-down, however, when her boyfriend dumps her so he can start getting serious about his life and attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, she uses her charm to get into Harvard Law. At school, she struggles with peers, professors, and Warner Huntington. With the help of Paulette and Emmett, though, Elle quickly realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.
Legally Blonde The Musical
April 8-16
Mesa Community College Performing Arts Center
1833 W. Southern Ave., Mesa
Tickets: $10-$18; 480-461-7172
purplepass.com/MCC
