Tucson’s 2008-2009 theater season is almost over. After Invisible
Theatre opens Don’t Talk to the Actors next week, your friendly
neighborhood drama critic will have to hustle to fill this space during
the coming months. Summer may be Tucson’s primary rainy season, but in
terms of play-going, it’s parched.

This week, with some time to relax for a change, I’ll catch up on a
few things I’ve neglected, and alert you to some things coming
up—including those few productions that will help us get through
the summer.

The Red Barn Theater Company has been operating for five seasons now
in, yes, a red building on Main Avenue, about a block south of Speedway
Boulevard. It’s a community-theater group whose purpose is not to
compete with the city’s more polished productions, but to give amateurs
of varying experience a place to perform. This is exactly the sort of
company that every community needs, but the resulting work is not
really reviewable. It wouldn’t be fair to hold it to the standards of
groups of higher ambition and proficiency, yet sliding the critical
scale down might raise your expectations to levels the company can’t
really meet.

I did check out Red Barn’s production of The King and I last
weekend, and I can report that the leads certainly acquit themselves
well. In the role of Anna, the Welsh schoolteacher brought to Siam to
give the king’s children a modern, “scientific” education, Kate
Smithyman was in fine voice last weekend. Frederick A. Edwards was a
confident, lively bantam as the king, and it would be nice to see him
infiltrate productions elsewhere.

True, this is exactly the sort of “let’s put on a show” amateur
production that Gaslight loves to spoof, but it made me imagine living
in a small town where neighbors get up a production for their own
amusement, and throw their hearts into it. And frankly, this sort of
grassroots effort is every bit as important to our cultural health as
an Equity organization like Arizona Theatre Company.

Performances continue at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m.,
Sunday, through May 17, at the Red Barn Theater, 948 N. Main Ave.
Tickets cost $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors and students. The info
number is 622-6973.

Because of declining advertising in this tanking economy, the
Weekly‘s page count has shrunk, so I’ve had to cram the standard
number of reviews into about half the usual space. That means that a
lot of little details fell by the wayside.

This week, I thought I’d offer a grab-bag of observations I hadn’t
managed to get into print. But then I realized I’d forgotten almost all
of the choice observations I’d hoped to make.

The one thing I distinctly recall not getting into my review of
Hedwig and the Angry Inch in January is a mention of the
projected images. The drawings by Christopher Johnson, who also played
Hedwig, were sleek and simple and did a lot to support the storytelling
of the songs. Even on a tight budget in a small space, a little
imagination can greatly expand a show.

Hedwig was a late-night offering from Live Theatre Workshop, which
is one of the two Tucson theater companies that don’t go dark most of
the summer. (The other is the indefatigable Gaslight Theatre.) LTW will
be cranking up the air conditioning all summer, with light fare on the
main stage—The Mystery of Irma Vep, Shirley Valentine and
The Housekeeper—and more provocative stuff for grown-ups
who stay up late—Speech and Debate and Kitty Kitty
Kitty. Live Theatre Workshop (and Gaslight) should be commended for
remembering that several hundred thousand Tucsonans do not flee for the
summer.

The UA’s Arizona Repertory Theatre, despite losing most of its
student population in the hot months, is making its annual effort to
entertain us in the summer. Its production of Rum and Coke will
open in June, run a few weeks, then estivate a while until it’s revived
in September.

Also, Arizona Onstage Productions promises a production or two in
the coming months, mainly Jewtopia in June (or is that “Jewn”?),
something postponed from this spring.

Which reminds me: Producers, if you need to postpone or cancel a
show, please let us know. On one occasion recently, I noticed that
there hadn’t been the usual barrage of publicity for a show that had
been announced, but I hadn’t gotten a cancellation notice; the
production was still popping up in the listings of the Tucson
Weekly and another major publication; and the producer didn’t
return my voice mail.

Once you put out a press release, or even just list an upcoming
event on the back of your program, chances are, it’s going onto my
schedule. So if things fall through, you need to make an announcement
to that effect. For the Weekly, you should send two e-mails: one
to me at jreel@tucsonweekly.com, and one to
the listings editor at listings@tucsonweekly.com. I
have nothing to do with listings, so if something’s wrong there, you
need to call the main office number and work things out with somebody
who is actually involved.

Also, please do not call me to complain about your listings. One
producer made the mistake of calling my home number when I was absent
and berating my wife, who has absolutely nothing to do with the
Weekly, because his next production wasn’t in our list of
upcoming shows. First of all, what’s in the “upcoming” list is limited
by space considerations, and on most occasions, you won’t hit the
listings until the week of your production. Second, as I mentioned, I
have nothing to do with the listings. Third, it’s extremely
unprofessional to be abusive to the wife of somebody who has nothing to
do with the listings.

I didn’t return the guy’s call, but if I had, my message would have
included the words “fuck,” “you” and “asshole.”

This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.