Lance Phillips News

Desert Theatreworks' production of Ron Clark's and Sam Bobrick's farce, MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S, is funny and imaginatively staged, and improves upon the source material. It will run Thursdays through Sundays, through November 21st

THE PRODUCERS, the first post-lockdown Desert Theatreworks (DTW) show, is perfect to welcome eager audiences back - a true winner. Ron and Lance Phillips, the married couple that operates DTW, took the opportunity of the hiatus to completely rework the Indio Performing Arts Center, adding a new 250-seat main stage for musicals. As most people know, the Mel Brooks show is loaded with bad taste, but is hilarious nonetheless.

It feels so great to see theatre doors opening which were locked by the pandemic.  In March 2020, Desert Theatreworks had just opened one of their best musicals ever, The Producers, and were forced to close it after just one night.  Now they are kicking off their 2021-22 season with that show which so few people got to see.  In fact, the sets have sat on the stage for some 16 months.

Desert TheatreWorks (DTW) has announced its 2021-2022 season and invites interested actors, singers and dancers to audition.  There will be four musicals (two of which will feature live bands) and three plays. Artistic Director Lance Phillips has chosen programs that he describes as “upbeat, fun, and an escape to a happy place.”

Just when gloom and doom seems to be coming at us from all angles, Desert Theatreworks presents one of the funniest, finest works they have ever staged. Following its laugh filled opening night, the company has put the show on hiatus per government guidelines, but it certainly must resume its run as soon as allowed.

Desert Theatreworks (DTW) has mounted an excellently acted, enjoyable, comedic production of Ken Ludwig's 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. The script drags in spots, but director Lance Phillips-Martinez has created a visual feast that keeps the audience's attention.

Desert Theatreworks has kicked off their 2019/2020 season of community inspired theatre with a frothy toast of champagne: a laugh-a-minute comedy called The Savannah Sipping Society. A group of women of a certain age, each of whom is facing a new situation in their lives, meet almost coincidentally. Three of them have enrolled in a Hot Yoga class, thinking that the term a?oeHota?? meant it would be hot fun. We meet them as they escape the torturously overheated room, and they agree to meet later that week for drinks and nibbles. A fourth lady joins them for their drinks, and the stage is set for two thoroughly enjoyable hours.

Desert Theatreworks is kicking off its 2019-20 season with the comedy, THE SAVANNAH SIPPING SOCIETY, running from September 6th through 22nd, 2019.

When I hear the term "Summer Camp," I have an idyllic vision of canoes on a lake, arts and crafts (I was a whiz at braiding lanyards), and sappy songs around a campfire. That vision, as Margaret once said, is "gone with the wind." Today's youth want to have a good time exploring more relevant skills such as acting, singing and dancing. This month, the Valley's largest theatre camp, KidsWorks in Indio, will be performing three different shows. It looks like they are worthy of our attention.

Desert Theatreworks, the Valley's fastest-growing theatre company, has stepped outside of their pattern of familiar Broadway hits with their current production of Real Women Have Curves. The audience is the winner! Director Rebecca Havely has taken five dynamite actresses, a 1987 script, and presented a production that is as relevant as this morning's headlines. Fortunately, it is delivered with so many laughs and so much love that any messages and societal observations are secondary. It's a genuine feel-good evening in the theatre.

Desert Theatreworks' (DTW's) encore presentation of Billy Van Zandt's and Jane Milmore's LOVE, SEX AND THE I.R.S. is a riotous farce with fabulous acting, brilliant direction, exquisite comic timing, and nonstop laughs - an evening of fun not to be missed.

If you hear an explosion of energy coming from the east end of the valley over the next couple of weekends, it is almost certainly the production of Hairspray at Indio's Desert Theatreworks. I enjoyed virtually every detail of the production so much that it's hard to know where to start. The performers, the sets, the singing, the dancing, and above all, the exuberance grab us from our chilly winter evenings and whisk us away to a truly happy place!

Indio's Desert Theatreworks has scored another bullseye with their current production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs. Simon's semi-autobiographical memory piece about his early teenage years in a crowded Brooklyn tenement is delivered in a finely-nuanced performance by a dream cast in the capable hands of director Rebecca Havely. As a result, the tale of a young teen's personal growth and exploration, set against a house full of family conflict and financial strife, takes the audience on a ride which they all seemed to greatly enjoy on the evening I viewed the show.

Alisha Bates, from La Quinta, is planning to sing and dance from California to Europe, as part of the January 2019 UP WITH PEOPLE six-month tour. She is currently trying to raise the final $3000 to participate.

Desert Theatreworks' THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a must-see, with great acting, singing, staging, and technical production.

Indio's Desert Theatreworks continues their strong 2018/19 season with a stylish production of Agatha Christie's MURDER ON THE NILE. Smartly dressed characters with distinct, larger-than-life personalities, come together in the early 1940's onboard an Egyptian riverboat. One of them gets shot through the head, and the remainder of the show deals with the characters figuring out whodunnit.

Desert Theatreworks has mounted a must-see production of Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's INTO THE WOODS. The acting, singing, and choreography are superb.

Desert Theatreworks has opened its 2018-19 season with a hilariously funny production of SOUTHERN FRIED FUNERAL. A clever script, great acting by the ensemble cast, great direction, and great set and costume designs ensure that audiences will have a great deal of fun at the dysfunctional Frye family's send-off for their husband and father.

Summer in the Coachella Valley certainly has a dearth of theatrical choices. However, the companies that do produce shows recognize that hot summer nights call for big, brash comedies. Desert Theatreworks' current offering, The 39 Steps, more than qualifies. The company's Artistic Director, Lance Phillips-Martinez, is the valley's best director of physical comedy, and The 39 Steps is physical comedy on steroids!

Hitchcock has never been funnier! This summer, Desert Theatreworks is presenting a stage adaptation of Hitchcock's film classic, The 39 Steps, but the suspenseful drama becomes a side-splitting comedy when the entire story involving dozens of characters is presented with only four actors, a handful of chairs, and couple of boxes. The mix of melodrama, action and lots of quick-change costuming all takes place in just 100 minutes. The results are hilarious!