The new season of theatre is on.

We spent the day with our lovely granddaughters Katelyne and Brianne

With lunch at Mac Alpines Soda Fountain, a 1920’s soda fountain and lunch, a real treat for a 11 and 13 year old, who have never seen a jukebox that play records not an Ipod. It was a delightful day for Lewis and myself.

Here is our day in pictures

MacAlpines in the 1930’s

Bubble gum soda!!

One of our favorite places in Phoenix the vintage soda fountain MacAlpine’s. This drugstore fountain was built in 1928, and when the pharmacy closed in 1992, it began a new career as a restaurant and fountain.  Located adajacent to the Cornado Historic District http://www.gcna.info . Lovely place to have a cold drink (real cherry coke my favorite) or make your own creation   

Grease the musical

August 13 through 29, 2010
Valley Youth Theatre

First produced on Broadway in 1972, this show is filled with lighting – greased lighting! Grease is the word . . . and a throwback to the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll, when fast cars and grease in your hair were the most important things in the life of a teenager. Enjoy show-stopping songs like “Summer Nights”, “Beauty School Dropout”, and “We Go Together” in the intimate setting of the Valley Youth Theatre

Established in 1989, Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) is dedicated to helping young people learn and grow as performers and creators; and to instill in all young people an appreciation for the performing arts that can be carried with them into adulthood. Valley Youth Theatre has created a most unique opportunity with our own children’s orchestra, technicians and actors   http://www.vyt.com/

  A Great day was had by all!!

Love Never Dies is a musical with a book and lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. A sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, it will be directed by Jack O’Brien and is scheduled to open at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 9 March 2010, on Broadway on 11 November 2010, and in Australia in 2011. It will be the first time a musical sequel is staged in the West End.

On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber launched the musical at a press conference held at Her Majesty’s Theatre, where the original Phantom has been running since 1986. Also present were Sierra Boggess, who has been cast as Christine Daaé, and Ramin Karimloo, who will portray the Phantom, a role he has previously played in the West End. Karimloo sang his character’s first song in the new production for the journalists, industry insiders, and fans who had assembled for the presentation. Boggess originated the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway and the role of Christine in Phantom The Las Vegas Spectacular.

The musical is set a decade after the end of Phantom. Christine is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort.

http://www.reallyuseful.com/news/love-never-dies

Valley arts groups are getting an early Christmas present.

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust will announce today a one-time unrestricted $1 million grant to

be split among 37 arts groups and cultural organizations in the Valley.

“Economic distress has hit our anchor institutions as well as smaller community organizations,” said

Judy Mohraz, president of the trust. “This is a one-time deal. There were no applications and no forms

for organizations to fill out.”

The money can be spent on anything the groups need it for, with no restrictions, Mohraz said.

Groups benefiting from the grants include the larger institutions, such as the Phoenix Art Museum and

the Desert Botanical Garden, but also smaller groups like Audubon Arizona, the Bead Museum and

Fountain Hills Community Theater.

“My eyes teared up when I got the call,” said Kevin Myers, management consultant for Ballet

Arizona, which received $61,000 from the trust, who heard the news on Thursday. “They are true

angels.”

The Ballet Arizona grant is more than the company got in stimulus funding from the National

Endowment for the Arts, Myers said.

The Piper Trust has given $23 million in normal grants so far this year. It has given $250 million to

local non-profits and programs since it began awarding grants in 2000. It supports health-care and

medical research, education and religious organizations in addition to the arts.

Last year, the trust committed $1 million in community relief grants to aid Maricopa County human

services non-profit organizations, who were hit by the economic downturn.

“This year, we have witnessed a growing crisis in the arts community,” Mohraz said. “The vitality and

the very existence of some of these organizations is at risk.

“We decided that while we cannot adequately provide fiscal stability, we can highlight how important

the arts are to the community and to give some assistance as they struggle to make payroll week to

week.”

The Phoenix Art Museum will get $130,000.

“It came as a surprise,” said James Ballinger, the museum’s longtime director. “They had been talking

with us about needs and what they might be able to do, but we were talking about ideas and

philosophy, not specific money.

“Last year, they did the same thing for social services, to keep people on the beam when times were

tough. To demonstrate this kind of leadership for the community is very important.”

Steve Martin, managing director of Childsplay, says his group will receive $32,000. He said that the

fact the money has no restrictions is especially helpful.

“When we get funding, normally, there’s an application, a review and money is given for specific

projects. We do a lot of project work and we get project funding, but it’s often difficult to convince

people that paying for the overhead is just as important as the projects. There’s a light bill and copy

paper.

“Cash flow has been really difficult for us and this infusion of cash is huge and will go a long way, not

only toward making our payroll, but keeping us up to date with our vendors, too.”

Martin said his horoscope on Thursday told him not to leave the office.

“I’m glad I didn’t,” he said. “This was a great phone call.”

Reach the reporter at richard.nilsen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8823.

Advocates for Latin Arts and Culture

 http://www.alacaz.org/

 Aguila Youth Leadership

 http://aguilayouth.org/

 Arizona Citizen’s for the Arts

 http://www.azcitizensforthearts.org/

Actors Theatre                                                                    

http://www.actorstheatrephx.org/

Arizona Hispanic Chamber

 http://www.azhcc.com/

Alwun House                                                                    

http://alwunhouse.org/

Arizona Humane Society                                               Adopt a four legged friend

http://www.azhumane.org/

Arizona Opera                                                                   

http://www.azopera.com/

Arizona Theatre Company ATC                                                            

 http://www.aztheatreco.org/index.html?topbar.html&0

 ASU Gammage                                                                               

 http://www.asugammage.com/

 Ballet Arizona                                                                  

 http://www.balletaz.org/

 Black Theatre Troupe                                                    

 http://www.blacktheatretroupe.org/

 Center Dance Ensemble                                            

 http://www.centerdance.com/

 Childsplay                                                                     

 http://childsplayaz.org/

 Equaity Arizona

 http://www.equalityarizona.org/

 Free Arts of Arizona

 http://www.freeartsaz.org/

 Herberger Theatre

 http://www.herbergertheater.org/

 International Rescue Phoenix                                          

 http://www.theirc.org/where/united_states_phoenix_az/

 Mesa Center for the arts   2008-2009 season               

 http://www.mesaartslive.com/

 Mesa Encore Theatre                                              

 http://www.mesaencoretheatre.com/

 Neighborhood Housing Services Phx                     All about affordable housing

 http://www.nhsphoenix.org/

 Nearly Naked Theatre                                                                                                                      

 http://www.nearlynakedtheatre.org/

 Phoenix Art Museum – Comtemporary art Forum

 http://www.contemporaryforum.org/

 Phoenix Theatre                                                           

 http://www.phoenixtheatre.com/Home.aspx

  Phoenix Symphony                                                                                                   

 http://www.phoenixsymphony.org/

 Scorpius Dance Company                                                                  

 http://scorpiusdance.com/index.html

 Southwest Center for HIV/Aids               

http://swhiv.org/

A Stepping Stone Foundation                                

http://www.asteppingstone.org/

Stray Cat Theatre                                                                                                                                    

http://www.straycattheatre.org/

Teatro Bravo                                                               

http://www.teatrobravo.org/TeatroBravoSeason.html

Valley Leadership

http://www.valleyleadership.org/

Valley Youth Theatre                                                                                    

http://www.vyt.com/

Young Arts Arizona                                                  

http://www.youngartsaz.org/Welcome.html

The end of the theatre season at Valley Youth Theatre   www.vyt.com  

We took our granddaughters Katelyne and Brianne to see Gepetto and Son and had a blast







Tata Mario and the girls




Katelynne and Brianne   aren’t they beautiful?

Sunday Ocotober 26, 2008, we just came back from a busy theatre day with our granddaughters Katelynn and Brianne.

We started the day with lunch at MacAlpines on 7th St in the Coronado Historic District.

Rexall Drugstore that was launched on the site in 1928. To the left of the entrance is the long, curved soda fountain; tall wooden booths and a handful of ice cream-style tables and chairs make up the rest of the seating. Fixtures are original, from the cherry-red Formica tabletops, spiffy black and white tiled floors and circular glass display case for the cashier in the middle of the floor and a circa-1950s jukebox

Katelyne and Brianne

Katelyn at counter and the restaurant

MacAlpines owner

Lewis, Brianne, Katelyne and the Soda Jerk (Jessica) 

 Then we were off to Valley Youth Theatre, ( www.vyt.com  and their production of Treasure island. Established in 1989, Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) is dedicated to helping young people learn and grow as performers and creators; and to instill in all young people an appreciation for the performing arts that can be carried with them into adulthood. Valley Youth Theatre has created a most unique opportunity with our own children’s orchestra, technicians and actors.

Lewis, and the girls in front of Valley Youth Theatre

 Mario & Lewis in Lobby of Valley Youth Theatre

Lovely Sara Meyers with Valley Youth Theatre

Treasure Island

 Brianne & Katelyne getting autographs from the actors

With the show over we are on our way home and came across the following building across the street on Central Ave

The Westward HO

 When the Westward Ho Hotel opened in downtown Phoenix, it was the tallest structure in the area. Phoenix was a small town — progressive, but small owing to the killer summer heat. Water was relatively plentiful thanks to the completion (in 1912) of the Roosevelt Dam; and farming was a large part of life.

Throughout the years, the Westward Ho saw its share of fame: radio star Jack Benny stayed there while doing radio shows during World War Two, Elizabeth Taylor had a suite, Paul Newman filmed the 1972 film “Pocket Money” there. It was visited by presidents, statesmen, and just plain folk. (You can see it in the opening sequence of the 1998 version of “Psycho.”)

During the general exodus of homes and jobs to the suburbs in the 1970s, the hotel began its inevitable decline, closing in 1979. Luckily, bucking the trend that once crowned Phoenix as the “tear it down and build a fast food restaurant” champion, the Westward Ho escaped demolition and was converted to senior housing in 1981. The new millennium brought with it an $8,000,000 remodel completed in late 2004

 The musical revue, despite its popularity, is a curious little genre. Its entire reason for being is music, and the measure of its success is how well it re-creates the concert experience – great songs (and familiar ones) sung well.

On the other hand, a revue can’t be honest about itself and offer only a concert experience. Otherwise, what would separate it from a tribute band at the casino? And so the playwright must spin some dramatic thread, no matter how thin, upon which to string the musical pearls.

Every once in a while, a revue will transcend its genre and achieve dramatic depth, but that’s just a bonus. What really matters – and gets those standing O’s – is the concert. 
With Ella, an anthology of jazz tunes made famous by the great Ella Fitzgerald, there was never any question that Arizona Theatre Company would deliver the musical goods. The state’s leading play producer is the only one that has both the technical expertise and the budget to rival Broadway production values, and in the case of Ella, it has not one but three other theaters chipping in from around the country.

In addition to a gorgeous set and top-notch backing band, all that clout buys Tina Fabrique, a Tony-nominated Broadway diva who sings the heck out of Ella’s songbook. The actress’ somewhat husky voice isn’t as pure as Fitzgerald’s in its prime, but Fabrique has the range, power and finesse to capture the right feel, including the all-important scat singing inspired by bebop horns. 
Oh, yes, she has pipes. That’s what the audience wants, and they offer their thanks with copious and spontaneous applause, not to mention a pair of standing ovations.

On the dramatic side, however, Ella doesn’t exactly hit the ball out of the park. The action, such as it is, is set at a concert hall in Nice, France, in 1966, where Fitzgerald is preparing for a big show. Urged to be ready with some “patter” for between songs, she finds herself reminiscing about her life.

In the first act, memories of her big break, her first love, etc., serve as introductions to songs from different stages in her career, from her amateur-night debut at the Apollo Theater as a 17-year-old (Hoagy Carmichael’s Judy) to the many standards she made her own as America’s “First Lady of Song,” including a fiery take on That Old Black Magic.

The music is great, but the script feels perfunctory. Instead of creating a character, Fabrique is reduced to narrating biographical facts. There’s no plot arc or dramatic tension, and the links between the monologues and songs are mostly chronological, without creating any resonance between Fitzgerald’s music and her life.

The second act is completely different. After intermission, it’s showtime: The play is the concert. No more flashbacks, no more need to suspend disbelief over why Ella is checking off the details of her life to an empty concert hall. The only spoken lines are her concert patter.

The twist is that the creators of the play haven’t simply given up and admitted it’s all about the music. Instead, the concert-as-play has all the dramatic elements that the first act lacked.

As Fitzgerald introduces songs and dedicates them to the people in her life, Fabrique is now acting in real time, showing her character’s emotions instead of merely telling us about them. Her talk draws the connections between Ella’s songs and biography that were missing before, and there’s even a genuine dramatic climax as she dedicates a number to her adoptive son, now estranged, who’s in the audience.

The irony is that none of this would be possible without the first act. Having sat through a primer on Ella’s many loves and losses, the audience knows what it needs to turn the concert into something more, into drama.

No, as a play Ella isn’t a homerun. Instead, the first act is a sort of sacrifice fly: It’s not a hit, but it turns the second act into a winner.

 Kerry Lengel
The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/

With 1,500 performances under her belt, you can say that Ann Nieman is a veteran of 42nd Street. Nieman was on the first national tour after the show’s inception on Broadway in 1980. Since then, she has performed many of the musical’s roles, from ensemble to chorus girls Anytime Annie, Phyllis and Lorraine. At one time, she was the understudy for the entire ensemble.

“I loved every single second of it,” Nieman said. “I have never got tired of it.”

Which is fortunate, because she directs and choreographs the production that takes the stage Friday at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. The Texas resident is in Mesa for the first time.

42nd Street tells the story of once-great director Julian Marsh, who tries to make a comeback with a musical called Pretty Lady. The show’s title comes from the famous street in the heart of New York’s theater district.

In Depression-era New York, a hit show will mean a steady paycheck for the cast of theatrical veterans and young hopefuls. Marsh’s star, Dorothy Brock, is a Broadway diva trying to ensure that the spotlight stays centered on her, while fresh-faced chorus girl Peggy Sawyer is looking for her first break. But when an accident befalls a cast member, the show’s survival is at stake.

The show, which won Tony awards for choreography and best musical, is loosely based on the movie of the same name that was released in 1933 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

There’s music, dance, glitz and glamour of 1930s New York, plus classic songs, production numbers and tap dancing.

The Mesa run stars Dan Schiff as Julian Marsh and Carolyn McPhee as Dorothy Brock.

Jennifer Cameron plays Peggy Sawyer. For 25-year-old Cameron, who moved to New York City after college two years ago to perform on Broadway, art imitates life.

“Peggy’s is pretty much my real-life story,” said Cameron, who is yet to reach her goal and travels out of New York to perform in theater. “It’s the whole story of pursuing your dream.”

In New York, Cameron lives on 43rd Street and each day walks past the theater district.

“This is why I live in New York. This is why I’m pursuing my dream,” she said.

Leslie Jabara, marketing manager of Broadway Palm, calls 42nd Street “the Broadway musical for people who love Broadway musicals.”

The underlying message is the achievement of the American dream: If you want something badly enough and work toward it, it really can happen.

“This show embodies what performers love about theater,” Nieman said.

Srianthi Perera
The Arizona Republic

http://www.azcentral.com