The Wonderful World Of Theater

By Minnie Whitley


The vibrancy and the art mixed with its rich cultural heritage made Phoenix a beautiful city. People are downright born artists on this side of Arizona, where public art museums and cultural centers are found. The government strongly supports artists in the city by offering scholarship grants to deserving students who excel in their work. Theater Phoenix is one form of their creative side.

Tourists locally and foreign are drawn to events and performances in the world famous Phoenix Convention Center. This cultural facility, along with others like the Orpheum and Herberger Theater is under the management of the Convention Center Department of the city. It is amazing how this side of Phoenix was a great contributor to the growth in the economy of the city and the state it belongs.

Theater in the city is almost the highlight of every celebration day in or out. They believe that the world is their stage. This why they strive to have every performance as their best every day. Musical and performance arts at its finest is being showcased in the famous Herberger Theater.

Performances are hosted on a wide open platform, also known as the stage. This takes place in an auditorium, or any other theatrical arenas. A play can be an all in one presentation which combines song, dance, speech, musical accompaniment and gestures. Every platform is decorated extensively to better depict the scene they have to portray.

The word theatre was derived from the ancient Greek word, theatron, which means a place for viewing. It also is translated from the word theaomai, which roughly translates, to see, to watch or to observe. The Modern Western play was greatly influenced from ancient Greek dramas. The technical terminology, genres, many of its themes, characters and plot were mostly borrowed from the latter.

There are different kinds of theater plays, namely, the drama, comedy, musical and tragedy. Comedy is probably the most enjoyable form which uses humor to narrate a story. Drama, as the word employs, tells of fiction and specific emotions in a play. A play which combines speech, dance and music is a musical. And tragedy, is another type of drama but in unique, mainly because it tells about the historical events in the civilization.

The newly renovated and historic Orpheum Theater is the only last standing theatre palace in Phoenix. It was built way back in 1929 in the corner of West Adams Street. Concerts, broadway shows and operas are shown in the only theatre in Phoenix which is listed in the register for Historic Places in the country.

It can accommodate around one thousand three hundred people. The renovation done on the place made it a modern theatre with a classical touch. It was closed for renovation, but is now back in business since the 1997.

Expressing yourself can be made in different forms. Show your artistic side in a creative manner. Being artistic is something innate and can also develop through time. What you show to other people, also mirrors your true self and how you really feel. The performing arts had long been part of your heritage, treasure it deeply.




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