What do you know about the Theater Works theater co. in Peoria, AZ?

March 31, 2008 9:02 AM

What do you all know about the Theater Works theater group in Peoria, Arizona? My partner and I are going to AZ in a few weeks and want to see their production of the Sondheim musical "Assassins." Their online ticketing system, however, shows that very few tickets have sold, even for the show times that are in a few days. What's the quality of their productions/theater? Just how "amateur" is this group? Google just returns results with address, contact info, etc. Thanks in advance.
posted by jroybal to media & arts (5 comments total)

I know absolutely nothing about the Peoria theater scene, but I know about Peoria in general, as my sister's family used to live there. What passes for theater in Peoria is probably fairly amateur; whether that's a bad thing or not, I can't say, but I can tell you that Peoria is almost assuredly not known for its arts, it's known for having lots of Walgreens and chain restaurants. So, caveat emptor, but I'd still go check it out. If nothing else, it makes for a good story when you get home.
posted by pdb at 10:20 AM on March 31, 2008

This is not quite answering your question but I've lived in the Valley for almost two years and until this question, I had no idea Peoria even had a theater company. I imagine it's about what you'd get from any other amateur theater company in a suburb. You might have better luck driving into Phoenix and checking out that scene instead. There are a few good productions going on now.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 10:55 AM on March 31, 2008

I just want to say that there could not possbly be anything more entertaining than amateurs doing Assassins. So- go either way.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 12:49 PM on March 31, 2008

TheaterWorks has been around for many years in the Phoenix Area actually starting in a barn in west Phoenix, then moving to a strip mall, then finally settling in the recently built Peoria Center of the Arts.

As far as it being amateurish? I really hate using that word to describe Community Theatre, but it's no secret that the PAC is very close to retirement community Sun City and therefore Theatreworks sometimes caters their productions toward our eldery...so it's really no surprise that ticket sales online are a little low due to the nature of this musical and the fact that live blanks will be used during the production(LOUD NOISES!!). But as far as the production itself: it's in a new theatre with all the bells and whistles involved with moder professional productions, you got an 11piece live orchestra accompanying the performers, the company itself has won it's share of Arizoni awards(theatre excellence in Arizona theatre)...and c'mon it's Sondheim!


...and this post is in no way biased even though i'm working in the production of Assassins..;)

come watch!
posted by griglager at 1:18 PM on April 2, 2008

Thanks, griglager. Good info--I'll get our tickets soon.
posted by jroybal at 8:23 AM on April 10, 2008