Kinda Funny Live was Kinda Awesome

For Submission Sunday, I submit my Recap of last night's #KindaFunnyLive so you can read everything in one place. I think I covered most of it. Sorry if I missed anything/switched around the order of some stuff.

Alright. It started w/ them letting the VIPs in early. Right upfront, we noticed that pretty much everyone working the event NOT affiliated w/ the venue were friends or family of the KF guys. Because it's about family.

First thing to greet VIPs was Greg and Portillo. There were also exclusive Presidential Debate posters signed by the cast for the VIPs but (because it's a flaming garbage truck rolling down a hill) nobody was sitting at that table at first so a lot of people walked right by until Nick came by to hand them out. I ran to the merch table to try and tell anyone who'd missed them not to buy one and just go grab their own.

Greg hopped on the mic to ask how important the Royal Rumble was to people. Since so much of the event was highly produced, they were able to get the N64 setup on the big screen so it was sitting back in the entrance room so we could still DO it, it was just gonna be a rigamarole and the VIPs kind of collectively went "It's Fiiine." So it got more or less scrapped (don't know if they revisit it sometime since it was a Patreon goal, or replace it with something else/better. I'll try to ask when I hang out w/ them Tuesday (Author's Note: I'm recording the Gamescast next week).

The rest of the VIP-only section was just a low-key meet and greet. Everyone had a chance to say hi to all of the guys, who were all very very very excited for what was in store for all of us. And merch was sold. Three Pandamusk posters (the Once Upon a Tim romance novel cover, a new Shadowboxer one, and the Presidential Debate one) and three shirts (one with the name/date of the Event, and then a new exclusive design for each of the parties - Moriarty/Miller, Scarpino/Gettys). They did NOT make enough, especially of the posters. I felt super bad about getting one of the last Tim posters for my girlfriend and THE LAST Shadowboxer one (they even had me peel the display one down off the wall myself so any damage done was on me). So even a lot of the VIPs went home w/o stuff they would have gladly bought. Oh well, I'm sure the guys are gonna learn for next time.

Troy Baker came out for a little bit and was gracious enough to sign some things for people. Which was great for Sean Pitts and I who both had the same idea to bring his album.

Around 7, the rest of the masses were let in. People started grabbing seats, lots of Old Fashioneds were sold at the bars. The whole atmosphere was great and exciting. It was also a bit weird because there's been a group of 15-40 of us hanging out the last few days so it was crazy to see all of the OTHER 350+ coming in.

Eventually, they kicked things off with a video introducing the event. And then Troy came back out to kick off the debate. Colin came out very stately, shaking peoples hands. Greg came out w/ Porty in a tiny suit and played the wrestler persona. Then Tim and Nick came out together as "Co-Presidential" candidates with Cheetos (Alfredo in a mask?) and a selfie stick in tow taking pics w/ the crowd.

The format of the debate itself as I'm sure you'll see was effectively: "Troy asked a real-world political debate question, Colin gave a stock Colin answer, Greg played the hype man and echoed Colin's points, and then Nick/Tim would have a funny Nick/Tim type of rebuttal. The highlight of which was the debut of a short rap video "Talk Shit/Get Shot." It was a fun, light way to get the crowd excited. No votes were cast as to who would win. Instead Troy effectively said, please remember to vote so that it's NEITHER of these guys.

Then a quick break for more drinks and conversation, while they set up for the Game Over Greggy show. They had a great bit where they started, then realized something felt off so they removed the black flats that had been up for the Debate to reveal a replica of the bedroom set. There was much applause. The show itself, as you'll see was pretty much entirely an audience Q&A, with a couple random things here and there (Andrea Rene refilled a drink for someone, Marty came up to say a quick hi, and then so did Goldfarb who did NOT join Kinda Funny - he just moved back to San Francisco for his new job to be announced Monday - and was there to support the guys. Very great episode. Everyone's gonna love it. But there are probably going to be some crowd things that they respond to that weren't picked up on the mics.

Following the show. There was another intermission. Then Tim came out to introduce Tonedeff, his favorite rapper and the guy behind all of the Kinda Funny themes. It was very clearly incredibly exciting for Tim. Tonedeff performed for about 15 minutes. His whole thing was essential how fast he could spit words out so I didn't understand a thing he was saying but he got the crowd hyped.

Then we came to the Kinda Funny Press Conference, kicked off by Shuhei Yoshida via a Skype video. This was where they announced a lot of the things they have in the works.

Colin announced that they have heard the people's wishes regarding getting Colin and Greg Live onto YouTube. They're staying on Twitch. But starting Monday (5/18), they're adding access to the YouTube videos of Colin and Greg Live (that they already back up for their own archives) to anyone with the Kinda Funny Games Patreon $15+ tier. This is in addition to the Monthly Q&A benefit. Reviewing the Patreon pages, it looks like this is specifically on the Games page.

Tim and Alfredo are going to reunite for stupid Tim and Alfredo videos. #TandAWillNeverDie

We got our first look at the Tim and Nick show "Love and Sex Stuff." That's going up Conversation w/ Colin style (i.e. once a week) starting June 1st. (Talking to Tim after the show, he said they've already recorded 5 episodes and need to record the part 2 of the first season).

There was a teaser image of the Kinda Funny Animated Pilot, with the art being done by Colin's brother Dagan (sp?), who I think Colin said works for the Sesame Street Workshop.

Then they came out to announce they they know there's ONE thing that everyone is asking to see. Cut to a video title of "Kevin Coello - Employee #1" and the reveal of Kevin...

...Talking about the reveal of the Kinda Funny Forums in a talking head. TWO reveals in one. Everyone else has their own talking heads talking about how great the community is and how the Forums are going to make it even better.

Then they came out with their "ONE MORE THING" announcement. And a video very similar to the Forums video starts playing but for the Kinda Funny App. As the video was playing, I immediately started searching Google Play for the app. Just as they said it's available NOW... "Why can't I find it?!" ...only on iOS. Android coming "soon." "Dammit!!!!" Following the video, Greg apologized for not having it on Android yet and blamed it on being harder to develop for Android.

Then, the Best Friends video played for them. A complete surprise to them. Delighted the crowd. Made Greg and Tim cry. Congrats to Wes, Amy, Sean, and everyone else who worked on that.

They each went through and said their thank yous (and brought out Kevin in person). Then they stayed up on stage to take pictures with everyone who wanted one, and Sean was all too happy to be the photographer for everyone.

After that, it became a very informal gathering. Everyone was just visiting with everyone else. I ducked out around 1:15AM. Don't know what happened after/how late people stayed out.

So that was #KindaFunnyLive. Great night! Great energy! Great Best Friends!

Lend Me a Soapbox

Since the controversy surrounding Lend Me a Tenor has still trickled on through the week long enough for me to find some dedicated time to write down my thoughts, here they are.

What is acceptable to put onstage?

A lot of uproar blew up my Facebook feed from the use of blackface in Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor. Up front, I’ve never seen or read the show. I have little interest in farce anyway and adding in something like blackface would just drive my already high “white male guilt” into overdrive. So this show’s probably not for me.

That said; I firmly believe in any theatre’s right to present the show. I also firmly believe anyone (regardless of race) has the right to be offended by the show’s nature and their right to express those feelings. These two statements are not contradictory and they are not mutually exclusive.

But damn did a lot of people I know seem to think they were. I mostly stayed out of the fray but I definitely read a lot of the statuses and comments and this quickly became a very black or white issue on Facebook and, as with most issues, I found it far less cut and dry.

As storytellers, we often push the envelope and – particularly where we have the freedom of expression – many artists will take full advantage when given the opportunity. Blackface, the n-word, the c-word are offensive to many people. As are same-sex relationships, every other curse word under the sun, and casual violence. The list goes on. And in my years in theatre, I’ve noticed that audiences might be perfectly fine with something like a sing-along to “Swanee” (a song filled with racial overtones from a pre-civil rights America) but will balk at the slightest curse word. Two men kissing might be a moving experience for one audience and a disgusting affront to God for another. A play with black characters using the n-word evokes a very different sentiment than a play with white characters using the n-word. But if these situations exist in service to the story that is being told, these offenses can create electrifying theatre, sparking a conversation that will exist long after the final bows.

So my biggest concern when I hear an argument like “it’s unacceptable for that piece of theatre to be put onstage” is that it opens the floodgates. Saying “____________ shouldn’t be done because I/we find _______ offensive” does very little to further the conversation that is Theatre with a capital ‘T’. If you don’t want to see the show, then don’t see the show. And if you want to tell everyone you know not to see the show, then do that too. That is your right just like it’s the theatre’s right to produce whatever they want.

Double standards

Personally, my biggest gripe with Hale Centre Theatre utilizing a culturally insensitive tool like blackface – and the only point I actively bothered to make on Facebook – is that it reeks of hypocrisy. When I performed in their production of The Mousetrap a few years ago, we had to remove simple curse words like “hell” and “goddamn” (from a 50-year-old play) because they offended the sensibilities of the producers and their notably conservative audience-base. Fast forward to today where they show no such reservations for what is arguably a far greater offense, presumably because it doesn’t offend them or their audience.

“It’s called for in the script” is the argument I’ve heard bandied about. And sure, it is called for in the script in the same way that “hell” and “goddamn” were called for in The Mousetrap. That didn’t stop them from violating the contract with Samuel French to make the changes they wanted to make. If Hale wanted to get around it, I’m sure they could. I’ve seen plenty of anecdotes this week about how other theatres addressed the issue without causing offense (using masks, changing the opera from Othello, etc.). This isn’t even the first production in Phoenix this season, so what about this production has caused such an uproar? Perhaps at some level, this response is how the Phoenix theatre community is responding to life after Michael Brown and Eric Garner dominated the news in late 2014. We can’t fix the racial divide in this country but maybe we can direct all of those pent-up, complex racial tensions into a nearly 30-year-old comedy.

The theatre echo chamber

Another thing that this controversy highlighted for me was the notion that even theatre people like to exist within an echo chamber. Many of my friends are involved in theatre. And many of those friends are very progressive liberal people. These people are regularly posting or comment on each other’s walls because usually things are kept light. Politics don’t usually come up because people are kind of on the same page for the most part so there isn’t too much that disturbs this ecosystem. But these people are an incredibly small percentage of the theatre audience in Phoenix. I figure I see more theatre than at least 95% of my Facebook friends.  As of this writing, I’m sitting at 719 friends so I’m allowing for about 36 of them to feasibly see more than me and I probably see between 2 and 4 shows a month averaged out through the entire year. But let’s assume that all 720 of us saw 2 shows a month. That’s 17280 tickets for the year. While that would sellout a couple of combined seasons of both Stray Cat and Nearly Naked, it would only sell about two 4-week productions at Phoenix Theatre, and it doesn’t even fill up a single one-week run at Gammage. So when I imagine how much theatre my friends list actually sees, we’d be lucky to fil up half a season at Stray Cat.

This quick mathematical tangent is intended to highlight that there are way more people seeing theatre than the small bubble of actors, directors, designers, and technicians talking about it on Facebook. Too often, we forget that we're a very, very, very small part of this puzzle. And as much as we’d all love for the audience to be a younger crowd, statistically speaking, it’s just not. So you wind up with a predominantly white audience over the age of 60 that are more than happy to go sellout the twenty-somethingth production of Lend Me a Tenor in Phoenix in the past 16 years (and from what I hear, this production is pretty much selling out). Now some of these people might not be bothered by blackface because they’re products of a different era and just don’t know any different (it’s amazing how many people of a certain age are in complete denial about how racist they actually are). Some of them might be bothered by it but they’ll chalk it up to being a “period” show and write it off (“If Mad Men could put John Slattery in blackface, why not a play?”). Some of them might even be offended enough to leave. But they’re showing up in droves in the first place, which means theatres like Hale that play it safe when it comes to programming will continue producing it because it’s a known moneymaker. And if it were me in charge and I was driven purely by pragmatism, I’d make the exact same choice. Because the money is good and the people who are complaining aren’t Hale’s audience and weren’t going to see the show anyway.

Final thoughts

Of course, I’m not purely pragmatic. Hale and many theatres of its ilk offend me not because they choose to tell stories with questionably offensive content, but because with the plethora of stories available to them, they choose the same ones over and over again. They don’t take risks. People who say Lend Me a Tenor is a risk are not accounting for the fact that it’s a Tony-winning play geared pretty much squarely at the older white audience that Hale serves.

The last argument I heard often this week was “we (as theatre people) should support each other.” I often hear this argument made in context like this: there is a pervasive belief that we shouldn’t be critical of each other. I cringe every time I hear this argument. If a company produces bad theatre, I am not rooting for them. When I worked at Phoenix Theatre, it was not uncommon for a production to have a 20% new-to-file rate, meaning 20% of the audience had never purchased tickets to Phoenix Theatre before. If those people see a bad show, they are far less likely to go see another show at any theatre. So why would I want any potential audience member to see a bad show that could drive them away? So I will continue to be critical of the shows I see because I want theatre to be good: not necessarily for me (because I’ll see it anyway) but because if it’s not good, it will drive away new audiences and that is not something the arts can afford.

Of course, theatre is incredibly subjective and I certainly wouldn’t want my tastes to dictate what kinds of theatre should or should not be produced. So let’s remove quality and programming from the equation and focus on something objective. If a company is poorly managed, I might go so far as to actively wish for their failure. Theatres that are not respectful to the artists they employ (in whatever definition that entails) and theatres that squander their patrons’ money (in tickets and contributions) give everyone else a bad name. So I limit my support of those theatres if not drop my support entirely. I won’t go so far as encourage others to do the same, but I do question the logic of those artists who insist that “we’re all in this together” because it would seem that they’re not paying attention. If that truly is your belief, then demand better of these organizations. If they’re not looking out for you, why would you support them without question?

So much theatre, not enough time for writing

I saw a ton of theatre in the past couple weeks. At the same time, I'm drastically shaking my life up. And while I love writing, a lot of my time at the moment is focused on some self-improvements. So I haven't had (nor I will I likely find) the time to write up my more in depth thoughts on all the stuff I've seen but here are some bullet points. I'm more than happy to discuss my thoughts on any of these more in depth. I just don't have the time to devote a separate piece to each of them.

Julius Caesar at Class 6 Theatre, viewed April 30th, ran through May 11th

• I was in a Southwest Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar a few years back, playing a bunch of bit parts. While I enjoy some of the people just fine, there's a reason I haven't really been back.
• Very hit or miss on the individual performances with regards to grasp of the language. Fortunately, most of the ones with the bulk of the lines were pretty comfortable (Brutus, Cassius, Marc Antony, and Casca).
• I liked the non-traditional gender casting. With Brutus and Caesar the only men, Cassius' plot to assassinate Caesar and install Brutus has more weight. As a woman, maybe she doesn't feel the people would follow her so she has to imbue her ambition on a man. I'd have liked to have seen this played around with more.
• Less successful (but still better than most of the "concepts/settings" I've seen at SWShakes) was the use of cell phones. I didn't have too many gripes in the moment but discussing it with others afterwards it just didn't really hold up as well. It comes across less as (as the director's notes would imply) a scathing commentary on communication or the lack thereof in the smartphone age, and more like a shorthand to cut a few Messenger characters.
• Still, I appreciate the niche Class 6 aims to fill and I look forward to what they do next.

Once at ASU Gammage, viewed May 1st, ran through May 4th

• I loved the movie Once and everything I heard about the musical suggested that Gammage was going to be a horrible venue for it. And it was for the purposes of seeing the show and the subtle choices that the performers make.
• When I bought my ticket, I sat by the sound board. This is one of my preferred locations at Gammage. If I'm near where the Sound Operator is mixing from, I'm probably going to hear the best possible version of the show in that venue. I was not disappointed.
• The music was extraordinary.
• The movement was beautiful.
• The story was heartbreaking, yet hope-filled.
• As I posted on Facebook. The show was so good, that it overcame the fact that it belongs in an intimate space instead of Gammage's 3000+ seat auditorium.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Stray Cat Theatre, worked May 2nd and 3rd, runs through May 17th

• Didn't actually watch the show either of these days. I was tending bar one night and running the box office on the other.
• That said, I still think it's an incredibly fun show. Every audience I've heard has a great time getting into the mode of "wrestling audience."
• The show is almost a bait and switch, promising a show about wrestling on the surface but in actuality is a satirical look and race in America. (But there's still some wrestling too).
• It's also the most technically ambitious show in Stray Cat's history (save maybe Heddatron and its robots) with a lot of media, flashy moving lights, live video, and the standard deck has been completely removed in favor of an actual wrestling ring.

Once at ASU Gammage, viewed again May 3rd matinee.

• After my initial viewing, I knew I'd want to see the show again before it left town.
• This time I sat in the second row.
• Before even taking my seat though, I took advantage of the onstage bar so I could be up there when the performers came out to play their preshow set of songs. That experience alone was worth the price of a second admission.
• And sure enough, sitting in the second row where I was able to actually make out faces is definitely the way that show is meant to be seen.
• This show came at just the right time for me and has helped to re-ignite my passion for theatre.
• I really want to learn guitar and work on my voice a bit to play Guy some day.

Avenue Q at Phoenix Theatre, viewed again May 4th matinee, now extended through May 31st.

• I've already written up some more thorough thoughts of this one but it's such a great show I chose to see it again before Les Miserables that evening.
• This particular performance had a handful of technical issues (wrong sound/music cues, mics going out, prop pieces falling apart, etc.) but the cast pushed on through and it was still another great performance.
• I was listening to the original cast recording while writing today and would argue that, for the most part, the vocal performances of the Phoenix Theatre cast even outshine the Broadway cast. Emily Mulligan-Ferry in particular has a much more powerful sultry performance as Lucy than I think Stephanie D'Abruzzo does on the cast recording.

Les Miserables at Phoenix Theatre, viewed May 4th, now extended through June 1st.

• Like Rent before it this season, I'm at a point where a lot of the magic of Les Miserables has worn off for me.
• In my time working at Phoenix Theatre, the 2009 production has achieved somewhat mythic heights that were probably never going to be met for me.
• That's not to say this is a bad production. It's quite good. But I've pretty much seen it all before. There was nothing new in this one to surprise me.
• It's just such a dour musical that I don't really want to spend 3 hours with Valjean et al anymore.
• And it doesn't help that the biggest bit of levity, in the form of the Thenardiers is the most needlessly over-the-top of any of the productions I've seen. They exist in a completely different play than everyone else and it's a bit jarring every time they return.

Good People at Actors Theatre of Phoenix, viewed May 7th, ran through May 11th.

• Good performances (save an accent that sounded at times like South Boston by way of Tennessee and other times by way of England).
• I am not a fan of the Arizona Opera's rehearsal/performing space (where the show was presented) at all. The building's less than a year old so why in the hell is the A/C unit squealing through the entire show?!
• Design was lacking.
• Sound design beat us over the head with Bruce Springsteen. I'd be more forgiving of this if the show had been set in Jersey, but it was South Boston so some variety in "hard-working American" songs was sorely needed.
• Set design didn't really ever give any reason why it needed the periaktoi, unless the purpose was to allow me to dust off my theatre history/design knowledge and remember what the three-sided flats were.
• Lighting design had a number of moments where I noticed the visible change in light during a scene and wondered, "why did those lights just change that quickly? Are they highlighting a moment? No. Was something profound just said? No. Did the sun just fall out of the sky? Probably not. So why not go with a slower cue?" It's one of those times when having studied theatre detracts from my enjoyment of it.
• And one of my biggest gripes was unmotivated blocking that served no purpose other than to adjust a sightline or add movement to the scene. Unnaturalistic movement onstage is a big pet-peeve of mine and this show even had a drinking game that people were playing: "every time somebody moves for no reason, drink." The script is gripping, have faith that the audience doesn't need to watch a ping pong match onstage. And don't do the show in a Thrust arrangement if you're just going to be fighting it the entire time.
• This production in particular had a lot of positive buzz around it (reviews, statuses on Facebook, etc.) but I saw a very different show.

As always, I'm eager to hear what everyone else thought.

Welcome (Back) to Avenue Q!

Review of Avenue Q at Phoenix Theatre

Avenue Q is an interesting show for me. It was one of the five shows I got to see in my (so far) one and only trip to New York when my sister graduated high school and the two of us went to celebrate back in the Summer of 2005. The other four were Rent, Wicked, Spamalot, and Movin' Out. I have since seen all of these shows at least a second time so comparing one production to another is not particularly new to me.

Phoenix Theatre's Avenue Q, however, is not simply a different production of the show I saw in New York. What makes this unique is that it's a remount of their production from the 2010-2011 season. As such, it might be the first time I have seen both an original production and its remount. It is at least the only instance I can pinpoint. I saw Nearly Naked Theatre's remounts of Shakespeare's R & J and Equus but I had not seen the original productions. Even with Phoenix Theatre's other season-ending remount of Les Miserables, I will be seeing the new production having missed the original back in 2009.

Of course, here's your reminder that I work for Phoenix Theatre so it certainly in some roundabout way benefits me to praise the show as my job security increases when the company does well. But I genuinely had a great time on opening night of this remount which, as I'm sure my co-workers can attest to, is not always the case with me. While there were some elements I preferred from the earlier Phoenix Theatre production, overall this one surpassed both its predecessor and my New York experience.

Favorite Video Games, Part 4

And now for another installment of my favorite video games; this one focusing on what I dubbed as I created this list a couple months ago now: "PC - The Middle Years." These are the CD/DVD-ROM computer games I enjoyed over the years.

How They Ended "How I Met Your Mother"

How I Met Your Mother came to a close this week and I was surprised by how many friends on my news feed watched the show and even moreso, how it seemed to be the most polarizing finale since Lost. As a fan of the show myself, I thought I'd jot down my pros and cons on the last hour of the show.

Favorite Video Games, Part 3

I haven't seen any theatre in a couple weeks so I'll continue with round three of my system by system trek through the history of my favorite video games. Rounds 1 and 2 covered the beginnings of the Nintendo/Sega console war (as well as their handhelds, some early computer games and Atari).

Growing up, I remember regular trips to places like Outer Limits up at the Scottsdale Pavillions to enjoy a variety of arcade games (as well as the occasional laser tag, mini golf, or go karting). This was, of course, before it turned into a Fiddlesticks (which I still visited and had many a high school friends who worked there) and then later closed its doors all together (an early sign of the times and the collateral damage to the oncoming Playstation/X-Box console wars). With that in mind, I figured before diving into the Super Nintendo for the brunt of this piece, perhaps now is as good a time as any to slip some of my favorite Arcade Cabinets. Back in the days before something like Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 or this little thing called the internet changed multi-player gaming forever, the arcade was the best play to go hang out with some friends and enjoy gaming together. Or if we wanted to divide and conquer, we could go our separate ways and enjoy games like Top Skater (that skateboarding one with the footboard and handrails, classics like Pac-Man and Asteroids, or on-the-rails shooters like the Star Wars Trilogy, Area 51, and Time Crisis. But screw the Dance Dance Revolution games. If I wanted to dance, I'd dance instead of spend my time coming up with elaborate moves to coincide with the button pattern of jumping around on those pads.

Favorite Video Games, Part 2

I've spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks enjoying South Park: The Stick of Truth. It is easily one of the funniest games I've ever played and the whole game is littered with fan-service references to the show's past. This coming week, I'll be diving into the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (the last games in the series I really engaged in and didn't just play hoping for the best) and Infamous: Second Son (the first next-gen game I'm really excited about). I imagine I'll write up some thoughts on each of these games in future posts.

So here is round two of some of my favorite video games/video game memories over the years.  If you're just joining me, you can catch up on my thoughts on Atari, early PC, and Nintendo games in Part 1.

ASU Gammages 14-15 Season: Webber, and Schwartz, and Fosse, oh my...

While writing up my next video game post tonight, I was following along to the live stream of ASU Gammage's 2014-15 season announcement. I'm a little mad at this blog right now because for some reason, none of my work saved so now I have to go back and rewrite the damn post. Grumble grumble grumble...

Add to that my very underwhelming response to the season and I'm not a happy camper tonight. But before I rewrite the video game post, here are my brief thoughts on the 2014-2015 50th Anniversary Season of Gammage:

Kinky Boots (Sept. 16-21, 2014) - The one and only show I'm really interested in seeing at Gammage next season.

Pippin (Dec. 2-7, 2014) - It's not often that Phoenix Theatre gets a show before Gammage does but because they'd had the rights since before the Broadway Revival actually happened, that's what we've got going on right now. Yes, the tour will probably have flashier, more big-budget spectacle, but you can also see it at Phoenix Theatre for the next two weeks in a much more intimate space (probably a little cheaper too).

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Jan. 13-18, 2015) - Seen it. At Gammage.

Dirty Dancing (Feb. 17-22, 2015) - Baby, you stay in that corner. If I want to watch this story, I'll pull it up on Netflix. But I'm much more likely to just watch the Everything Wrong With video again.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Mar. 10-15, 2015) - The version with Brandy in the 90s was all I really ever needed to see.

Motown (Apr. 21-26, 2015) - I've never been one for musical revues so I'll just listen to a Motown playlist on Pandora or Spotify instead.

The Phantom of the Opera (May 27-June 7, 2015) - Seen it. At Gammage. Plus, I've got Gerard Butler as the Phantom on DVD thank you very much. I'd much rather get some friends together and Mystery Science Theater 3000 the hell out of that.

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS

Chicago (Mar. 27-29, 2015) - Seen it. At Gammage. And another fun one to MST3K. Or just have the world's most boring drinking game where you only drink when you can see Renée Zellweger's pupils.

Wicked (Aug. 26-Oct. 4, 2015) - Let's see, we had The Lion King at Gammage this season. And the season before that was Les Miserables (plus Phoenix Theatre is doing it in the coming months). That must mean Wicked gets back in the rotation.  Also. Seen it. At Gammage. And New York.

Other thoughts:

Obviously The Book of Mormon is still a no-show. The long-standing rumor (that-I-have-absolutely-no-evidence-to-support-but-we-all-talk-about-anyway-so-don't-sue-me) has for years been that allegedly Ira Fulton is a major supporter of ASU/Gammage and opposes the mockery of his faith in the show so it will never come through the roadhouse or supposedly he'll pull his funding. I hear this year after year but I also heard through a variety of theatrical back channels this year that Gammage had secured the tour rights anyway. Guess not. Well, I'll spend my money elsewhere. It's just a shame I can't compare to that housing market money.

Overall, it's a very safe 50th season:

• Two Andrew Lloyd Webber shows (Joseph and Phantom)
• Two Stephen Schwartz shows (Pippin and Wicked)
• Two Bob Fosse shows (Chicago and Pippin again)
• Two movie adaptations (Kinky Boots and Dirty Dancing)
• A musical from the "classic" era (Cinderella)
• And an everyone-loves-the-music musical revue (Motown)

(A previous version of this post had a needlessly snatchy bit about the presentation itself. Upon further thought, I've decided to remove it).

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the upcoming season. What do you think?

Double Double, Toil and Trouble: We've Got Magic to Do

Review of Pippin at Phoenix Theatre and Equivocation at Southwest Shakespeare Company

Last weekend, I attended the opening night performance of Pippin alongside many of my co-workers at Phoenix Theatre and followed it up Saturday night with a performance of Southwest Shakespeare Company's Equivocation. This wound up being one of the most oddly thematic one-two punches of theatre I can ever remember seeing.

Pippin features a troupe of performers telling a fictionalized version of the life of Pippin, son of Charlemagne. Equivocation features a troupe of performers working with William "Shagspeare" telling a fictionalized version of events in which the renowned playwright is commissioned to write a play about the infamous Gunpowder Plot.

Both productions showcase the idea of theatricality - often jumping in and out of their respective plays-within-the-plays, breaking the fourth wall, and embracing the magic of live theatre (Pippin somewhat literally on that last one). This focus on theatricality, however, also served as a metaphorical fork in the road of these two productions: one path really worked for me while the other did not.

My Return to the Opera

Review of La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi at the Arizona Opera

First, some background. Growing up, my favorite (and really only) opera experience was the opera scene from Final Fantasy III (VI) on the Super Nintendo: a beautiful little 10-minute opera in glorious 16-bit form.

Following my graduation from Arizona State University with a degree in Theatre in the Spring of 2008, I spent the summer as an Apprentice Carpenter for the Santa Fe Opera. This was my first an only foray into Summer Stock and, by all accounts, they're a pretty top tier Summer Stock gig. I was one of two carpenters and I got hired on prior to most other applicants even being interviewed because the Technical Director also happened to be an ASU alum. Yay alumni connections (though it hasn't really proved beneficial since)!

Anyway, while there I got to see all five of their operas that summer: Falstaff, The Marriage of Figaro, Billy Budd, Radamisto, and Adriana Mater. Outside of some videos in my Theatre History classes, this was my first introduction to opera. On the carpentry side, I wasn't really doing anything I hadn't done working in the scene shop at ASU, everything was just way more expensive. On the performance side, however, I was largely disappointed.

Follow Up to Putting AZ Back in AZ Theatre

I have had a couple people reach out with some questions regarding my last post so I thought I'd take the time to add a bit more food for thought.

The brunt of my criticism was directed at Arizona Theatre Company. Due to many of shows being their co-productions with other regional theatres, this is where we end up getting the highest ratio of out-of-state to local talent (save for the touring houses like Gammage). I then opened up those criticisms to the likes of Phoenix Theatre, Actors Theatre, and Southwest Shakespeare. I should have done a better job specifying that when I was speaking of these other companies, it tends to be a few roles here and there (rather than entire productions). But they are often the Lead roles in those productions.

Side note: I did not speak to Arizona Broadway Theatre as another local Equity house because I have not actually seen any of their shows and so it slipped my mind. Same with Theatreworks if they have made the jump to Equity house (as I've only seen Ragtime out there). But it is my understanding that they both have cast shows in the same way (bring in a New York/LA actor for the lead(s) and cast the rest locally).

I'm not completely opposed to this practice but I wish it were more of a last resort than it seems to be. From a business perspective, I guess I have a kind of Local First mentality in this regard. And artistically/communally, I've watched people leave town saying things like, "the opportunities just aren't here and those that are will go to out of town talent over me."

I should take a second now to emphasize that I'm never actually IN any of the casting sessions at any of these companies so what I'm saying is really all pure conjecture on my part. That said, let's look at some examples.

Pippin just opened at Phoenix Theatre this past weekend and I find it hard to believe there wasn't anyone local who could have played the Leading Player and/or Pippin but both of these roles were cast from a New York casting call. And that's not to take away anything from the performances of those two actors (which I'll try to write about later in the week) but I could have also seen a handful of local actors who would sunk their teeth into those roles. Going back to my original post, something like casting Kathy Fitzgerald in Gypsy makes sense because that's a name that means something in Phoenix and (even though it was before my time with the company) I remember Phoenix Theatre built a marketing campaign around her. But when we bring in that out of town talent without any kind of name recognition, we lose that option and have to rely much more on good word of mouth about their performances.

Actors Theatre's marketing of 4000 Miles was an example of utilizing this option with the local twist. I don't know if it was an intentional marketing strategy but everything I saw about the show also mentioned Patti Suarez (with many people throwing in superlatives like "Valley-favorite" before her name). You couple that with performances in a venue much more appropriate for their current audience than Stage West and you have sell-out houses. When they could afford to bring in out-of-towners, I personally think it was hit or miss. Bringing in someone when they were the originator of the role or someone who had done the show before (a la Triple Espresso or Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?) makes sense, but bringing in the leads when there are local actors willing and able (a la Dead Man's Cell Phone or In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)) was money that might have been better spent elsewhere. Again here, I'm not speaking to whether or not the performances were good, but rather if they were worth the added costs when compared to a local artist.

I also saw Southwest Shakespeare Company's Equivocation this past weekend and I think it is a great example of why this mentality of casting out-of-towners is NOT necessarily needed (and really the whole "living within their means" side of my argument as it was a scaled-down production compared to some of their other recent works). This is another one I'll try to formulate a more focused write-up about later this week but I loved everything about that show and it is a testament to the talent we have around town. Now, does that come as a result of Director David Barker's involvement across the Valley scene? Maybe. When I think about the Southwest Shakespeare shows I've really enjoyed the pass few seasons, it has been those with David Barker or David Vining at the helm. I would submit that those two work on and see enough theatre around town that they have a great grasp on the community. And this knowledge of who's out there puts them in a position where they are able to identify somebody who might be great for a role. Other directors with less of an external focus in the community might have a much smaller idea of what talent we actually have in town.

There's also certainly an argument here that the local actors just aren't showing up to the auditions so the companies have to look elsewhere. I've certainly sat through auditions where people I knew just didn't show up. Hell, I myself have backed out of a handful of auditions (though I always notify the company because I know how frustrating no-shows are). There's a chicken and egg thing at play here, too. Regarding the local actors I do see on stage: do I see the same actors on these stages because other actors don't show up? Or do the other actors not show up because they always see the same actors onstage and think "what's the point?"

Or do I see the same faces because everyone shows up and I just have an over-inflated sense of the talent pool? As always, I'm eager to hear your thoughts about this as well.

Put "Arizona" Back into Arizona Theatre

Commentary on Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz - Arizona Theatre Company

Note up front that this is a commentary inspired by the show, not a review of the show itself. And if you're new to my writing, I would encourage you to check out where I'm coming from in my introductory post.

I liked Other Desert Cities just fine. I enjoyed the script when I read it (save the last scene which feels off tonally from the rest of the show; as if it's the Sixteen Candles Pretty in Pink of plays where an original ending focus-tested poorly so the current ending was created instead). And as I've described the production to friends, I found Arizona Theatre Company's rendition "adequately serviceable." And by that I mean, not bad (solid performances all around) but also nothing that is going to stay with me. But watching this production and reading through the program got me interested in another topic: the lack of "Arizona" in a lot of what Arizona Theatre Company does.

Not a single role in this production was cast from local talent. There seems to be this pervading belief at a lot of the Equity houses in town that Arizona talent just can't compare to the kind of talent New York or Los Angeles or some other major theatrical city (i.e. Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis) can provide. As an artist who has seen a lot of theatre in this town (likely more than some Artistic Directors because they are often too busy running their companies, or in rehearsals, or even out of state on other directing gigs), I take great offense to that assumption. The talent is here. I've seen it first hand. And using it could save companies a lot of money.



Arizona Theatre Company famously (at least if you follow Arizona theatre news) had a million-dollar deficit at the end of their 2012-13 fiscal year. That's not the kind of thing that just creeps up overnight. I imagine there were plenty of warning signs along the way that just went unheeded in the lead up to that announcement. But as they have poised themselves as Arizona's Premiere Regional Theatre, there were also probably a lot of costs they couldn't cut: shows that they were committed two because of partnerships with other organizations. Two of my favorite productions last season across the Valley were Next to Normal and Clybourne Park, both of which were Co-Productions with other Regional Theatres.  And again, to the best of my recollection, neither of those productions featured local talent (save the miniscule walk-on role at the close of Clybourne Park that could have been - and often is - cast from one of the other seven actors in the show). That's twelve actors that the company had to provide housing and per diems for over seven weeks of performances (three in Tucson and four in Phoenix). Not exactly a small line item in a budget.

As I mentioned above, all three of these productions (as well as another recent favorite of mine Red) have been Co-Productions with other Regional Theatres. This likely reduced some of the costs associated with design elements like set and costumes. In these arrangements, production costs are typically shared between the two producers. Other Desert Cities, for example, was a co-production with Indiana Repertory Theatre. It would appear that the set and costumes were built down in Tucson for the ATC run down there, then trucked up here for the Phoenix engagement, and then were immediately shipped off to Indiana for a March 12 - April 5 run. And given that four of the five actors were making their ATC debut, but the understudies were Tucson-based, I would gather that the show was primarily cast from an Indiana (or LA/New York casting pool) but rehearsed in Tucson (adding another couple weeks of housing and per diem costs).

But what are the revenue gains by this kind of production decision? The one actor who had performed on the ATC stage before was here back in 1998. So you can't really market the actors of a show as familiar faces to your audience ("You loved John Doe in Last Year's Award-Winning Drama so we brought him back for you: our loyal audience."). They probably weren't sooooo amazing in that one episode of Law and Order they were in that anybody would recognize them, let alone decide their "star power" was worth dropping the money to see them in a play. And it is unlikely (though not impossible) that they have a lot of friends and family in town that would come out to support them. So you're left paying a lot of extra money for this out-of-state talent for things that you wouldn't have to pay using local talent. Yes, there'd still be some costs for a Phoenix actor in Tucson or a Tucson actor in Phoenix but casting locally would cut those line items nearly in half at least. And you potentially gain any kind of following that those actors have. Because trust me, I've heard the little old ladies in the lobby saying "Oh I love him, I'll see him in anything he does. If I was forty or fifty years younger..." (Not about me of course but that's beside the point.)

"But what about the talent and experience out-of-state actors bring with them?" you're asking. Well, imaginary reader, how is it any different than that of our local actors and actresses? As I watched Other Desert Cities, I thought of at least two other local actors I could have imagined seeing in each of the five roles. Our actors have their own talent and experiences, as well. Whether or not they've done a national tour or had one line in a television episode nobody saw doesn't matter if they can do the part. And the only thing keeping them from doing the part is this belief that Arizona actors are somehow inferior to these other locations.

This doesn't even get into the notion of the ego that someone from New York or L.A. might have. If someone considers themselves a New York actor, they're probably getting cast in an Arizona production because they're not getting cast in New York. But rather than appreciate that they've been given an opportunity to play a dream role, they focus on this idea that Arizona is beneath them and so why should they bother listening to what the Arizona director has to say and they phone in their performances and cash their checks and enjoy the weather and end up letting the Ensemble of local talent completely outshine them. We the audience are left with a lackluster performance that would have been a hundred times better if that Ensemble who was so hungry to show what they can do in this community were given the leading roles instead. And the company wasted a bunch of money on those per diem and housing costs for actors who never really left New York.

This post has largely harped on ATC for this issue as it is my most recent example and the spark for this conversation. But the scenario I just provided wasn't an ATC situation but rather my perception of how my own company's production of season opener RENT could have been better than it was. I can't confirm that's what happened, but that's sure what it looked like to me.

All four of our major Equity houses have gone through financial troubles in recent years (in my opinion) because they've forgotten how to live within their means.  There were some very plush years, but we're in a funding drought right now and you need to find a way to reign in the costs in if you want to weather the storm. You can only raise ticket prices so high before you tip the scales and people stop providing that income as well.

And as a member of this incredibly talented community, I believe putting the Arizona back in Arizona Theatre Company, the Phoenix in Phoenix Theatre and Actors Theatre of Phoenix, and the Southwest in Southwest Shakespeare Company would be a solid first step on this road to recovery. Ideally, you'd do it because you want to and believe in this community and not out of some kind of financial necessity but I really can't speak to why these companies make the decisions they do. I can only hypothesize that going this route would help balance some books; it's up to them to perform the experiment.

Favorite Video Games, Part 1

During the month of February, the editors over at IGN presented write ups on their favorite games. A gamer as long as I can remember, it got me thinking about my favorite games and how I'd never really quantified/categorized them in that manner. In high school, we were tasked to write about a collection of ours and I wrote about (and was mildly ridiculed for) my video game collection. But even that was more focused on what my collection of video games said about me as a person. For example, I argued that video games were, in part, responsible for my intelligence and problem solving skills as I grew up playing more on strategy games or role-playing games than first-person shooters. It has been nice to see these thoughts validated in the years since through numerous studies about the positive effects video games have on a variety of faculties.

Anyway, I've decided to tackle this on a system by system basis (and I didn't realize how many I've actually had/played until compiling this list). Below you'll find the games that stood out to me in on each system I've owned. It was hard to classify the two and a half decades of PC gaming into one chunk so I've divided it up into three: the Early Years (featuring the old school Floppy Disks), the Middle Years (CD/DVD-ROMs), and the Modern Years (Steam).

More Water Please...

Review of H2O by Jane Martin at Arizona State University

Last week I saw a performance of a two-night only engagement of H2O by Jane Martin. Jack Reuler directed and the play featured three MFA students I had the great pleasure of working with on The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Stray Cat a couple seasons back: Meg Sullivan, Tyler Eglen, and Adriano Cabral. It was by far the best ASU production I have seen in years for a myriad of reasons but it all boils down to this:

It was the least “ASU” production I have seen in years.

How The Whale Surprised Me in All the Right Ways

Review of The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter – Stray Cat Theatre

If this is your first time reading, welcome. It's kind of my first time posting. I encourage you to read the background and "ground rules" of the blog if your have the time.

Full Disclosure #1: I currently serve as the Stray Cat Board President so I invite you to take anything I say about the company and its work with a grain of salt. Although, I would argue that you should really take any review with a grain of salt because they’re always just one person’s opinion.

But when a lot of people start saying the same thing about a show, you can season your meal with those grains of salt and bring out the flavor. I’m not really great in the kitchen so feel free to call me out on that being a crappy comparison. But the point is a lot of people are saying a lot of really wonderful things about The Whale.  You can see it in the social media buzz that Artistic Director Ron May keeps updated on the Stray Cat website.

Full Disclosure #2: When I first read through the plays of Stray Cat’s 13-14 season, The Whale was the show I was least looking forward to this season. I didn’t hate it but it also didn’t grab me in the way that the other shows did.

About This Blog

About This Blog

I have recently found myself wanting to exercise my creative writing muscles.  I see a lot of theatre and tend to have a lot of thoughts on these various productions so I’ve decided to start writing some of those thoughts down. Read them or don’t. This is pretty much for me but if I spark a reaction in you, that’s cool too. After all, I’ve named the blog “Trevor Trove.” If I’m willing to be that cheesy/stupid with the title, maybe you shouldn’t take it too seriously.

Where I’m Coming From?

First and foremost, I want to point out my basic belief that all art is subjective. The thoughts in the blog posts that follow are based on my own experiences with the productions. I kind of go into this with the understanding that as an artist writing about productions, there’s every possibility I’ll inadvertently burn some bridges and never work in this town again. I obviously hope that isn’t the case. But it has bothered me for a long time that we tend to be a largely thin-skinned bunch when it comes to criticism so I'd rather have the conversation.