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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 8, 2020
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‘Sweeney Todd’ energizes theater troupe BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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n honor of American composer Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, the Scottsdale Musical Theater Company will round out its 10th anniversary season with a production of “Sweeney Todd.” But this isn’t your typical production of “Sweeney Todd.” “This is a concert version, which just basically means there’s no sets rolling on and off or tracking. There’s no backdrop flying in and out. The orchestra will be on stage, and then the action will go on in front of the orchestra,” explained SMTC Executive Producer David Hock. “Sweeney Todd: In Concert” will be presented March 31 and April 1 for the first time at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. “I really liked the idea of the encore presentation model of concert versions, and
Cast members of the upcoming Scottsdale Musical Theater Company (SMTC) production of “Sweeney Todd: In Concert” and Executive Director David Hock (far right) pose at SMTC’s new venue, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts fits that format better,” Hock said. “This move ... is a very exciting development for SMTC and our audiences.” SMTC’s previous productions were at Tempe Center for the Arts, but because Hock plans to pursue the encore presentation model, he will continue to rent the Virginia G. Piper Theater at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. “What has typically set SMTC apart from the other theaters in town is I’ve always used a live orchestra,” Hock said, adding that he uses a full live 20-plus-piece orchestra. “It’s the full arrangements as they were written for the original Broadway show. “It’s just a different way of approaching doing the shows — more intimate because you don’t have everything moving around,” he added.
see SMTC page 34
(Chris Mortenson/Progress Staff Photographer)
Maya brand evolved from ballet and bartending BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ Progress Staff Writer
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imi Jasperson’s parents enrolled her in ballet and tap classes when she was 4. There was no turning back for the Chicago native. “Wow, talk about love at first sight, or more specifically at first toe tap,” said Jasperson, who now lives in Scottsdale. As a teen, she successfully auditioned and joined Ballet North, an Illinois dance company for young ballet dancers to learn technique. It was dance that brought her to the Valley in 2009. “I was accepted into Arizona State University’s acclaimed fine arts program to study dance performance and choreog-
It is all fun and games for Jasperson, who leads Maya like a director leads a Broadway play. (Photo by Alison Bailin Batz)
raphy,” said Jasperson, who found her next great loves in school. First, she found Zachary Jasperson. “Yes, I married my college sweetheart,” Jasperson said. It happened during her senior year, when she took a job as a cocktail server in Scottsdale for extra money. That “part-time job” changed her life. “This is going to sound a little odd, but as I moved up the ranks in the hospitality world, I started to make the connection that an efficient bar is not unlike a perfectly choreographed dance,” Jasperson said. “There is a beautiful rhythm to it that captured me within my first few months behind the bar.” One of her favorite parts of this new “dance” that she was learning: the art
and science that goes into mixology. “Here I am, just credits into graduating and thinking I had my entire life planned out. Then – bam! – a new passion exploded within me,” Jasperson said. “I know they say life happens when you are busy doing other things, but I never thought this would be me.” So, though she did finish her degree, she doubled down on her passion for hospitality, growing through some of Old Town’s greatest hospitality groups. She earned a position with Maya Day + Night Club in 2017. “I joke that there I began my master’s degree, because it was the education of a lifetime in all things mixology, manage-
see MIMI page 34
