Cancer’s cure has eluded scientists for years. Discovering that cure is at the heart of “Secret Order,” a fascinating new play by Bob Clyman now at Actors Theatre in a supercharged production that is fantastically engaging and thought provoking.

“The Light in the Piazza” is a delicate romantic musical that deals sensitively with an emotionally and developmentally challenged young woman who discovers love for the first time. The lovely Phoenix Theatre production, like many of their recent musicals, equals and occasionally betters the stunning Broadway original.

As a musical theater lover, I wondered if Arizona Theatre Company’s regional debut of “[title of show],” a piece about two New York writers creating their first musical, would appeal to Valley theatergoers. It’s crammed with obscure musical theater references including titles of long forgotten musical failures. It’s loaded with insider tricks used to write musicals, and it’s full of jokes best understood by Broadway musical denizens.

I shouldn’t have worried. A large and appreciative opening night audience guffawed lustily throughout this marvelously entertaining show. The show’s success is also attributable to David Ira Goldstein’s clever and energized staging and a cast who delivers the show’s delicious comedy with irreverent mockery while adding subtle jabs and hysterical jests to the already funny affair.

I haven’t laughed as hard as I did at Stray Cat Theatre’s “The Play About the Naked Guy” in a long time. But, let me start this review with a warning. This very funny play will appeal to a select audience that enjoys sexual innuendo jokes and slurs.

The stage adaptation of Disney’s magical “Mary Poppins” arrived last week at ASU Gammage, and the scaled down but still elaborate touring version flows better than the clunky Broadway one.

There were surprises in the five Broadway musicals I saw last month.

The economic downturn is impacting Broadway. Last October, things on Broadway were still robust. Now, most Broadway shows have good crowds but discount tickets are readily available and restaurants around Broadway that recently required reservations now take walk-ins. And several Broadway shows closed while I was in town.

Where to start with David Lindsay-Abaire’s far fetched but telling “Fuddy Meers”? Let’s start with the title. It comes from the carnival fun house and the mirrors that distort reality. That’s exactly what the play is about. Claire, the central character, has a weird form of amnesia that makes her mind blank each morning when she wakes up. She remembers nothing about her life. Her husband, Richard, has prepared a book that reminds her of significant things and people.

After he leaves, Phillip arrives claiming to be her brother but is he? In our lives what is real and what is fiction?  During “Fuddy Meers” we veer every which way because almost every person Claire encounters has another identity as they hide things from her and each other. Phillip takes Claire to her mother, Gertie. Gertie’s a stroke victim so she struggles to communicate. In her gibberish, she warns Claire that Phillip is not whom he seems.

Actors Theatre’s “Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told by Himself)” has quite a title and the show is a marvelously creative fanciful adventure that is fascinating to watch and is wonderfully entertaining. It’s the first show, other than its annual “A Christmas Carol,” that Actors Theatre has mounted that will prove a richly dazzling entertainment for young audiences as well as adults. Actors Theatre’s usual cutting edge off-Broadway style plays usually don’t work for the kids. The company mounts this brilliant Donald Margulies play in a riotous production crafted eloquently by director Matthew Wiener and played with comic gusto by three inventive actors.