• Mary Poppins
• 2009
• ASU Gammage
  School To Work Program
• 5 Questions For "Weezy"
• Legally Blonde Review By Lindsay Halfhill '10
• OMIGOD YOU GUYS!
• Wicked Review
• Upcoming 2009-2010 ASU Gammage Season
• Camp Broadway at ASU Gammage
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Review
• Camille Mancuso Interview
• Meeting Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal. Mark and Roger of Broadway's RENT.
• The Lion King: A Review.
• Dan'yelle Williamson Appearing In Disney's "The Lion King"
• Review: MTV's The City
• 2008
• Spring Awakening Comes To Tempe
• Happy Days in Tempe
• Rockin' and Rollin' : Joey Sorge is the New Fonz
• Space 55 Announces 2008-2009 Season
• Emma Rose Evans Interview
• What He Did For Love
• A Chorus Line is Back, and Better Than Ever
• The Play's The Thing. This Is Why I Act.
• Dana DeLisa Takes On A Loverly Role in My Fair Lady
• "Wedding Singer" Musical Comedy Back To The 80's.
• A Snippet of A Dancer's Journey
• High School Musical. Coming To Gammage In June, 2008
• Show Review: Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
• Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd
• Taylor Sternberg of Jersey Boys
• Melissa Strom Dreams Big In Jersey Boys
• 2007
• A Christmas Carol
• Arizona Pursues 'Happiness!'
• Arizona Enjoys The Jersey Boys
• Lifts and Leaps of Love
• Broadway’s Sweet Charity Review
• How Dancing Has Evolved And Movies Have Portrayed The Changes

Arizona Pursues 'Happiness!'

• November 2007
• Lindsey Halfhill '10
• Primavera Online High School

Within five minutes of the shows start, the audience had erupted into a fit of laughter, which would soon be only one of many times that evening. The dysfunctional family comedy definitely succeeded in it's goal of providing entertainment for the viewers. The Pursuit of Happiness is a performance suitable for all ages, and is definitely one that the entire family could find amusement with. Providing a real life scenario, there were a dozen opportunities for members of the audience to relate to the characters. There was a great deal of real life upon the stage, with added humor that was practically impossible to deny. It gave the viewers a chance to laugh at some of the issues they may have faced, in a more light hearted manner.

At the start of the play, we approach a debate on whether young Jodi (Lindsay Marlin) will pursue her mother's dreams of her attending college. As a free spirited girl, the idea of being confined in four more long years of school isn't entirely appealing. Determined to see her daughter follow liberally in her own footsteps, Annie (Katie Mcfadzen) is willing to go to the limit to get her accepted at her old alma mater. Of course, not every mother would be willing to go to such drastic measures as Annie, but it did show exactly what they are willing to do for their children. And then, we have Neil (Gene Ganssle) who is the picture of almost every American father. Not wanting to engage in the ongoing mother-daughter battle, he is reluctant to side with either of the women. As the saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

What would a dysfunctional family be without a few equally dysfunctional friends? I personally anticipated each return of Tucker, (Kyle Sorrel) Neil's socially troubled co-worker. Sorrel brought forth a very entertaining performance, that truly completed the show. As the young actor stated in a Q&A afterwards, his whole 'Tucker persona' was taken from "Some guy he saw at the grocery store." And to forget about Spud (Joseph Kremer) would have been a complete injustice to the production as a whole.

As the second part of Richard Dresser's trilogy on happiness through different social classes, Happiness holds its own in the race. The trilogy began last season with Augusta, and will conclude with the upper class play, A View of the Harbor.


Photos by Candee Productions

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