Hale Centre Theatre - Arizona — Attraction in Gilbert

UPDATE APRIL 2022. The Hale is still an incredible small theater production company. This season my wife and I attended eight performances. Last night it was The Music Man. We were surprised at how well management replicated the costumes worn in the 1962 film. The Hale venue is intimate, accommodating, friendly, and always a treat.

If you've been to other musicals, concerts, plays, dinner theaters, then you will be struck the moment you walk in at the small scale of the Hale Theater, which we LOVED. Not a bad seat in the place and every seat is close to the performance. The Hale has an intimate atmosphere which heightens the experience of the performance. But this is a review of not only the venue but also the show - A Christmas Carol. It was simply outstanding and seemed to be closer in professionalism, props, music, special effects to a big city venue than a small town production. And I HAVE to comment about the costumes - "over the top". I've been to enough low-budget theater where the costumes are a bit shabby, worn and tired. Not here. Obviously they poured a lot of money into costumes. Tickets are very pricey but based on all that I've just said, it just makes sense. This is not a low budget production. Also, the cast of A Christmas Carol was surprisingly large. Management controls how and when late-comers are seated, which I love. It minimizes distractions and interference. No alcoholic beverages are served here because they strictly adhere to their family oriented philosophy. They do serve snacks and drinks. We have family flying in next month and have reserved seats for an upcoming performance. I highly recommend the Hale for a truly different theater experience.

January 20. Attended another performance tonight - Always, Patsy Cline. Simply an outstanding production loaded with talent....

When you want to see a quality production, Hale is the place to go. My family has been a few times for various productions over the years, and the theater has continually made improvements to make the experience better every time. The entrance to the building is classy and inviting, the lobby is clean and cozy, and it's easy to get tickets at will call or buy concessions (at intermission they even bring a cart into the theater to buy concessions from). The nice thing about this theater is the small size. No matter where you sit, you feel like you are immersed in the production. We saw Beauty & the Beast last night and were totally awed by the show. They are up to date on production technology and it feels like a high class production. They have wonderful talent at Hale and we always know it will be worth the price to go. The only drawback, which is common in theaters, is the tiny amount of space for each seat. I'm not a large person, and once I sat down there was little room to move at all. If I wanted to cross my legs, I would have to lift my leg all the up over the head of the person in front of me first, and once crossed I'd be taking up space from the person next to me, so that would have been awkward :). As long as you know you are in for cramped seating, and you prepare for it, you'll be fine. We've been in similar seating situations in theaters on Broadway in NYC, so we figure it's just part of the theater package! And they don't have quite enough women's restrooms to keep up with intermission demand, so prepare for that as well.

As for the Beauty & the Beast show itself, don't miss this one!...

Last night I attended the Comedy play “Cash on Delivery” as part of a group of 9 guests and it was OUTSTANDING!!!

It was over two hours of gut busting laughter, skilled acting and impeccable timing in delivery of their lines. It was very fast paced and how these actors were able to keep track of their lines is a credit to their professionalism.

I didn’t see an empty seat in the house and sadly if you don’t have tickets, the last 4 shows are sold out, it should be held over!

I can say I have never laughed so much and so hard in a performance ever and I was not alone, everywhere you looked was belly laughs galore.

One of the couples we were with have been to dozens of plays and musicals at Hale all of which they have enjoyed but they said this was the best so far.

Thank you to all those who put this outstanding performance on, we all loved it!

Side bar: during the first half of the performance there was a medical emergency in the audience, the actors were immediately and professionally called off the stage while several theatre guests (probably with medical background) rushed in to help. The individual was assisted out of the theatre and moments later the two actors returned to the stage and started back exactly where they left off. Amazing!

Thanks again Hale for a...