Pick a theme. Make a list. Share it with us. The artistic director of Artists' Theatre Project and one of the founders of @pro, resident troupe of Soul Invictus in downtown Phoenix, offers up ten favorite edgy musicals.
What is this HANDPICKED thing?
Being a Big Ol’ Theatre Queen, I have spent countless hours going to see plays, listening to cast recordings, reading scripts, and occasionally producing the shows that bring me such joy. That is one of the good things about being the Artistic Director of local theater troupe Artists’ Theatre Project; I have had the opportunity to breathe life into some of these brilliant shows.
@pro was founded by three drag queens with a dream: ”to create art for art’s sake." It was five years ago when the three of us threw on some drag and hopped in a car headed for Vegas to see "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." That trip changed our lives! As we sat in a quaint little Italian restaurant, located just off the strip, we decided that we needed to bring "Hedwig" to Phoenix. But we needed to do the show in an intimate setting (preferably a bar), like the production we had just seen in Vegas. Our wheels started spinning and six months later @pro’s production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" opened at Tinseltown Tavern in Scottsdale, Arizona. After our successful run in Phoenix, we brought the show to the historic Hotel Congress in Tucson and had the opportunity to perform with one of the show’s creators, John Cameron Mitchell, at a benefit for the Loft Cinema.
What a Long, Strange Trip it has been since we got our start. We continue to bring ground-breaking, thought-provoking, and just plain twisted shows to The Valley of the Spun (I mean Sun) at our new home, Soul Invictus, located in downtown Phoenix.
For more information on @pro’s 2007/2008 season or upcoming events at Soul Invictus simply go to the official Soul Invictus website. Tickets for select shows available at ShowUp.
Photo by Andy Watson, courtesy of Living Art Studios 2007.
Pandora’s Handpicked
Top Ten Musicals
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask
Be sure to see the movie! Buy the soundtrack/cast recording! And run out to see it live whenever it is in a town near you…you will thank me later! @pro will be performing the music from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" during the “Sheer Madness Cabaret” at Soul Invictus on Fri, Nov 2 and Sat, Nov 3.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
by Richard O’Brien
At this point in time, if you haven’t seen "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," then you must have been living under a rock! The motion picture is amazing… especially when you see it with audience participation (check out AZ Rocky to find out more about it showing at a local theater near you). Nearly Naked Theatre produced an amazing version of this classic show during their 2004/2005 season and @pro will be getting a group of very talented local thespians together to celebrate the music from this show during the “Sheer Madness Cabaret” on Fri, Oct 5 and Sat, Oct 6.
Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical
by Erica Schmidt, Andrew Sherman and Susan Schwartz
This is the musical that earned us the title of Best Theatre Company from Get Out magazine in our first season. A classic porno turned musical…does it get any better than that? Not if you are one of the twisted minds at @pro who will be “Doing Debbie Again” due to popular demand. The show will open on Thurs, Nov 8 with a “pay what you can preview” and run Friday through Sunday until Nov 25. So, cum and see what all the fuss was about!!!
Urinetown: The Musical
by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis
“Don’t you think people want to be told that their way of life is unsustainable?” is a line from this hysterical play about what happens when the water tables start to dry up and people have to Pay to Pee. This show is totally twisted, yet quite profound at the same time. Tempe Little Theatre will be producing this show at the new performing arts center at Tempe Town Lake. The show runs from Sept 14 through 23. For tickets call 480-350-8338 or go to the Tempe Little Theatre website.
Slut: A Wholesome New Musical
by Stephen Sislen and Ben H Withers
I ran into this musical while searching around on MySpace and immediately fell in love with it. The music is absolutely brilliant! So, I contacted the playwright to see if the performance rights were available. As it turns out, they were available and the writers both played an instrumental role in assisting us in obtaining the performance rights for our 2007/2008 Season. In fact, the writers will be traveling out to Phoenix for the premiere which will run Jan 10 - 27 at Soul Invictus.
Bat Boy: The Musical
by Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming and Laurence O’Keefe
If you didn’t get to see "Bat Boy: The Musical" when it recently played at Nearly Naked Theatre, then you missed a really good show! The music from this show features some very catchy little ditties including: "Another Dead Cow" and "Apology to a Cow." It is rumored that George Lucas obtained the rights to bring this show to life through film. This show is dark, disturbing and extremely funny. Just the way I like my musicals!
Rent
by Jonathan Larson
I traveled to NYC with my partner in crime and co-founder of @pro, James Asimenios, back in 1997. We slept on the streets and endured rain, sleet and snow to see this ground-breaking musical. It was written by the incomparable Jonathan Larson who died of an aortic aneurysm on the night of its final dress rehearsal. It was later made into a movie by Christopher Columbus, but there is nothing like the experience of seeing this show live. When the touring cast of "Rent" was in Phoenix recently they came and performed an after-show at Soul Invictus. Someone in the audience actually bootlegged the show and you can check it out on YouTube (just search for Soul Invictus and you will find it). Ed note: Or you can view the video below!
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