Wade Moran

When it comes to theatre and Disney fans alike, the stage production of Beauty and the Beast is a staple. For many a performer, the chance to personify the characters we've grown up with is a lifelong dream, envisioning our selves dawning the gown, the fur and claws, or not so reluctantly beating on our friends. When shows like these come to life, patrons are drawn to the nostalgia and get the chance to leave with the feeling of seeing it fresh and new. This is all due to amazing casts and crews, committed to giving us the magic that we the theatre-goers deserve to the best of their abilities, as they would do with any other show. Zao Theatre's production of Beauty and the Beast brought the nostalgia, along with adding a few fresh touches that kept audience members like myself feeling as if it were our first time seeing the classic. As well, I had the opportunity to get a peek into the process through my interview with Zao's very own Gaston, Zac Bushman.

Desert Stages Theatre's production of Maxwell Anderson's THE BAD SEED is on stage through November 18th.

Under Virginia Olivieri's inspired direction, Stephen Mallatratt's play adaptation of Susan Hill's novella, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is more cerebral than scary but gifted in the production by the performances of two excellent actors, J. Kevin Tallent and Tim Fiscus. The is on stage now at Mesa Encore Theatre's Black Box through October 22nd.

I don't think my goal is to be a performer, rather more of a person who makes theater happen. Whether that is being an actor, a designer, a director, a patron, a donor, a supporter, an observer, or the executive director of a theater company, that's completely up to fate, really. All I want is to be a part of the progression of this art.

SPECTACULAR is the key word for Valley Youth Theatre's current production of DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID, directed by Bobb Cooper and featuring enough pearls of talent to fill an oyster bed or two. Karol Cooper's lavish costumes, Dori Brown's sets, Mike Eddy's lighting, Mark Fearey's orchestra all add up to an exhilarating hit for the family.

Director Jere Van Patten has put the fun into the funereal, thanks to high octane performances by Harmon Swartz and Janna Hanson and a spirited cast of ghoulsters in Desert Stages Theatre's production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY.

A bullet train of laughs is reverberating across the Opening Night walls of Desert Stages Theatre, thanks to the deft direction of Virginia Olivieri and Gary Zaro and the quirky comic thespians who breathe fire into the script of Neil Simon's elegant farce, RUMORS.

Theater Works announces the cast for the Arizona premiere of FOLLIES, the legendary musical The New York Times calls 'one of the greatest musicals ever written'. FOLLIES will open on the Gyder Stage at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts on February 20, 2015.

Alexandra Ncube, of The Book of Mormon, talks about tripping onstage, auditions and life on the road!

Desert Stages Theatre presents the ever poignant, epic musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Fri., Jan. 10 - Sun., Feb. 2, 2014, directed and choreographed by Kyle C. Greene. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

HAIRSPRAY kicks off a jam-packed Season Nine at the Valley's premier musical theatre - Arizona Broadway Theatre (ABT). To begin the new season with a bang, the professional theatre will produce the big-hearted and family-friendly musical sensation now through November 10. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!