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 grew to maturity during the era of highways and television. Both of these features of modern life, in different but complementary ways, tended to act against the cultivation of a robust urban lifestyle. A highway based city lacks an older city's warm, human-scale pedestrian life, with its pleasure of walking from shop to shop, and neighbors gossiping on the corner.
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.
Perhaps it is time to retire the term "fly over country" completely, now that such sophisticated pleasures are available in such a sophisticated urban environment. Suddenly the desert is a desert only in the sense of its lack of water, for there is no lack of culture. More and more often, people are turning off the television and coming downtown to take in a show. One can always leave the DVR running, after all.
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 grew to maturity during the era of highways and television. Both of these features of modern life, in different but complementary ways, tended to act against the cultivation of a robust urban lifestyle. A highway based city lacks an older city's warm, human-scale pedestrian life, with its pleasure of walking from shop to shop, and neighbors gossiping on the corner.
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.
Perhaps it is time to retire the term "fly over country" completely, now that such sophisticated pleasures are available in such a sophisticated urban environment. Suddenly the desert is a desert only in the sense of its lack of water, for there is no lack of culture. More and more often, people are turning off the television and coming downtown to take in a show. One can always leave the DVR running, after all.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment