Once again, the Matinee Friends were shown that our Phoenix-area teens are very talented singers/actors and should not be overlooked in a search for excellent theater. Three of us traveled to Fountain Hills to see “Six, the Musical–teen edition”. We were concerned that the teen edition would be abbreviated or changed from the original Tony-Award-winning Broadway show, but the only difference was that some of the language was changed to be more age-appropriate. All the songs and stories were there, and oh so well staged and sung. “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a celebration of 21st-century girl power!” The teen actresses (one was only 12!) gave each queen her own personality in song, dance, and words. We were so impressed with the entire production!
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On Sunday afternoon, October 26, seven Matinee Friends took a trip downtown to see the play “Kimberly Akimbo” on the Kax stage at the Herberger. This is the drama on which the Broadway hit musical by the same name was based. In this intimate theater, everyone had a fine view of the action on the four different set locations used in this show. This was the story of a teenage girl with a rare condition causing her body to age faster than it should. The adult actress playing a 16-year-old who looked 40 did a superb job. “When she and her family flee Secaucus under dubious circumstances, Kimberly is forced to reevaluate her life while contending with a hypochondriac mother, a rarely-sober father, a scam-artist aunt, her own mortality, and, most terrifying of all, the possibility of first love.” Even though one carload of us got slightly lost on our way back to the parking garage, we were all glad we took the outing to see this fine production.
