Phoenix isn't usually among those cities one thinks when one lists the nation's capitals of culture. This is in spite of the city's sheer size, which has it ranked as fourth biggest in the nation. As Arizonans increasingly partake of theatre Phoenix, the biggest city in the Southwest, begins to take its place among the more renowned culture centers.
It can be challenging for a newer city, one lacking two or three centuries of background, to assert itself. But there is a lot more at stake here than civic ego. There is also the matter of building a community in a typical Western city built along highways, and the theatre is a great community builder.
Phoenix, AZ has roots in the Old West, but it truly came of age during the same decades that brought us the highway system and the novelty of TV. In ways that tended to dove-tail each other, these novelties worked to corrode the development of a sophisticated urban life. People driving about at eighty miles per hour rarely take the time for the pleasure of walking about, taking in the night life alongside fellow citizens.
TV is perhaps still more of a poison to urban culture, as it offers the numbing temptation of entertainment without so much as leaving the living room couch. Today whole generations might be savvy to quality drama on TV, but lack any notion of the thrill of live drama in front of hundreds of their fellows.
In response, the city has developed its downtown into a secret treasure and cultural corridor. Not just the venues, but the architecture itself is a delight to the eyes. The downtown is, in itself, the first course of an evening out that can include fine dining and strolling beneath the stars.
Some halls provide first rate but popular entertainment, which adds to the vitality of the new downtown. The Orpheum specializes in popular, broadly loved musicals as well as other entertainments. The Comerica concert hall offers world-class popular music and comedy.
Two treats of architecture are showcases for living drama. The Phoenix Theatre gives fresh dramas penned by the nation's best dramatists, as well as the most sophisticated new musicals. It provides classes in writing as well as acting for teenagers among a broad menu of community outreach projects to build a public appetite for drama.
The Arizona Theatre Company, also downtown, makes its home in the small, intimate Herberger Theater Center, but it also has a site in Tucson. It also offers a full complement of outreach programs, with special attention to programs for teachers and students. Its programming runs to suspense, thrillers, and new plays written by top TV writers.
There seems to be no more "fly-over country, " at least not here. The desert is beginning to bloom culturally, and the secret is out. Increasingly, Arizonans are leaving their homes and TVs behind, perhaps with the DVR recording for some future night. Tonight, they have decided, is time for dinner and a show.
It can be challenging for a newer city, one lacking two or three centuries of background, to assert itself. But there is a lot more at stake here than civic ego. There is also the matter of building a community in a typical Western city built along highways, and the theatre is a great community builder.
Phoenix, AZ has roots in the Old West, but it truly came of age during the same decades that brought us the highway system and the novelty of TV. In ways that tended to dove-tail each other, these novelties worked to corrode the development of a sophisticated urban life. People driving about at eighty miles per hour rarely take the time for the pleasure of walking about, taking in the night life alongside fellow citizens.
TV is perhaps still more of a poison to urban culture, as it offers the numbing temptation of entertainment without so much as leaving the living room couch. Today whole generations might be savvy to quality drama on TV, but lack any notion of the thrill of live drama in front of hundreds of their fellows.
In response, the city has developed its downtown into a secret treasure and cultural corridor. Not just the venues, but the architecture itself is a delight to the eyes. The downtown is, in itself, the first course of an evening out that can include fine dining and strolling beneath the stars.
Some halls provide first rate but popular entertainment, which adds to the vitality of the new downtown. The Orpheum specializes in popular, broadly loved musicals as well as other entertainments. The Comerica concert hall offers world-class popular music and comedy.
Two treats of architecture are showcases for living drama. The Phoenix Theatre gives fresh dramas penned by the nation's best dramatists, as well as the most sophisticated new musicals. It provides classes in writing as well as acting for teenagers among a broad menu of community outreach projects to build a public appetite for drama.
The Arizona Theatre Company, also downtown, makes its home in the small, intimate Herberger Theater Center, but it also has a site in Tucson. It also offers a full complement of outreach programs, with special attention to programs for teachers and students. Its programming runs to suspense, thrillers, and new plays written by top TV writers.
There seems to be no more "fly-over country, " at least not here. The desert is beginning to bloom culturally, and the secret is out. Increasingly, Arizonans are leaving their homes and TVs behind, perhaps with the DVR recording for some future night. Tonight, they have decided, is time for dinner and a show.
About the Author:
If you want to be a part of a great children's local theatre Phoenix residents can come to Valley Youth Theatre. To volunteer or purchase season tickets, visit our home on the Web at http://www.vyt.com today.
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