If i could give this place 0 stars i would! this place only cares about money and economic status not talent! very unprofessional! some of these kids dream of becoming big broadway stars! i can tell you right now, don’t spend your money at this theater that doesn’t care about true talent! go to a theater with fairness and that cares more about talent than money! very disappointed with desert stages! it’s time for a change!

Desert Stages Theatre has several small theaters (it was previously a movie theater) which are great for small productions (and no seat is bad!). Theres an intimate feel as the actors are only a few feet away from your seat. I have seen two shows there and have enjoyed each one. At times, they may feel a bit over-acted because of the small space. Definitely check it out!

This place is horrendous. I almost commit at the thought of this place. First of all I saw a dead rat in one of my daughters costumes. Her dress was covered in urine stains. There is rat droppings all over the theatre. EXTREMELY disgusting place. Even more disgusting is Ms. Lisa’s HIDEOUS attitude. You’re all gross. This place is just straight up nasty.

Hi, I noticed that some other kids have been leaving their responses to this theater. Now I haven’t been in anything at this location I have heard through the grapevine About the drama that goes on here. I have seen kids get emotionally abused, and I DO NOT support this. Also paying to get roles is tacky and just inappropriate. Thank you for reading this, if you do. Please change

Nice theater. Can easily see the stage from every seat.

PTBYJOE had posing for bodybuilders too practice on stage. Was a nice place to practice for a show!

This place is ok.......although it was a little toasty or my liking please fix that before daughter come back and preforms

Hello fellow reviews today I have come here to rate my experience with desert stages. I will admit i’m a little over 300lbs but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying a lovely evening at a play to watch youthful virgins sing and dance! Although i’m very disappointed in the service the hallways are dark and the walls are very crammed in they also wouldn’t let me get a middle seat and made me sit aisle because of my weight #heartbreaking but besides that i’ve been coming to this see this one girl and she has amazing talent but I overheard they chose a girl with voice cracks and cheese breath for the main role because the parents PAID EXTRA! Despicable i’ll be contacting gru for this! More like Despicable desert stages! The only thing good was the SNACK BAR and pretty little girls

This place is horrifying. u have to pay for roles. not cool. hate it here.

If you want a good role in this theater, sadly you’d have to pay money. Super unprofessional.

The only complaint I have is the seating. Its very possible that you will not be able to see due to the persons head in front of you. The theatre is large enough that you should be able to find an unobstructed seat once everyone is seated. The first row is elevated, so makes for a perfect seat!

Love this theatre! Started both seeing shows and acting here since 2017 at their old location. Ive enjoyed every show Ive seen and had a blast with every show Ive been a part of. :)

My friend did this theater and let’s just say.....it didn’t end well

Saw Puffs. It was okay. Stage is so small, it is hard to do it properly. The cast and director did a good job of maximizing the space. There was a terrible stench that made it difficult to sit through the show. Not sure what it was. A mix of unwashed bodies and refuse, with a sewer backup chaser. Not the most delightful experience.

Excellent place for youth theater. They put on a great show. They do a wonderful job of working with the kiddos and developing a passion for performing arts. Also have teen and adult shows they put on that are great too!

The teen productions of Legally Blonde and Wedding Singer were great to attend to and enjoyed every single aspect of both shows. The acting, dance moves, set changes, and singing were great and done well. This was my first and second time at this theatre and I will keep coming back for more top quality shows. Comfortable seating, good prices, and 110% great acting=an enjoyable and awesome production and time well spent. Great job!!

Interesting theater. Good customer service. Convenient in the mall for restaurant & parking.

Great venue and also a great show! We saw Swim Dixe Club there, and it was very well done. They actually have 2 different theaters at this venue so they had 2 great shows happening at the same time. The theater was pretty small, my guess would be about 100 seats. Very cozy feeling in the theater, and there are no bad seats because the venue was a small size. Id love to visit again, however Scottsdale is way way hotter than where I live in Bisbee, I think the highest temp we saw while we were there was 118! Too hot for me!

Great place for local theatre. Nice staff. Cute show.

Great production of David Mamets play Oleanna. Comfortable and intimate venue for plays. Online purchase and attentive box office staff.

The space was being remodeled so I wont give any negatives for the ambiance. It just wouldnt be fair. The production was fun and priced well. A few negatives though. Ms. Puccettis headset kept failing which was really disruptive to the flow of the show. I would have loved to have truly heard her voice. Second and probably the easiest to fix, the staff (ushers specifically) allow the front row to put their feet up on the railing during the performance. (Four people to be exact)What, are we twelve? This was very annoying as I had to stare at this ladies boots whenever the actors were near the front of the stage, or even off the stage as they were for this production. The ushers were seated less than ten feet from this women and said nothing. Ill just assume she was regular and they didnt want to offend her. Which is sad for those of us who wanted to enjoy the show sans feet.....

This is an adorable theater located inside Fashion Square Mall near the Food Court. The shows are top notch. They also hold auditions for shows. Adults and youths encouraged to audition, and donations encouraged by purchasing, a chair, or a plaque, for example. A great way to enrich the performing arts and support local. Come down and see it for yourself.

Took my daughter and her friend to see Legally Blonde. The entire teenage cast was absolutely AMAZING!Emmett is an excellent young actor! Very sincere performance and a lovely voice. He also gave us hugs when we complimented him at the end of the night (so adorable).Elle was caprivating! Excellent stage presence, energy and a great voice. Very statuesque young woman.Paulette was incredible! So believable, great set of pipes and too funny!Brooke was just impressive. Acting during intense choreography WHILE singing!?I could name them all, but truly every member of the cast was excellent. From the law professors chilling rendition of Blood in the Water to the Peace Corp students great comedic timing.The Ensemble was just as amazing! They make up a huge part of the show and everyone was ON with great energy, characterizations, facial expressions, and singing prowess.The set and props were great, the cast and crew did a great job switching things quickly and quietly between scenes.Overall, I was just wildly impressed and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show. This was our first time at Desert Stages. It will definitely not be our last!

Chicago: high school edition was amazing and the theater was great. All the staff were friendly and helpful.

Love seeing shows at DST! Kids do an amazing job, great night of theatre!

The current production of Oliver! Is really good. They have a great local cast of young people and adults. The kid who plays Oliver has a great singing voice and a pretty good little actor, too! Its a good family show with a lot of catchy tunes. Prices are really low for the amount of fun entertainment you receive. Check it out through May 4th or 5th. Support local theater!

A great theater where every seat is a good seat so it always makes you feel like you have front seat. The acting is always fantastic and for the affordable price you owe it to yourself to go and see for yourself yourself

Perfect size for an intimate theatre performance. Very convenient location. Great acting!

Cute and comfortable little performance area. There is no bad seat in the place and the shows are well done.

Good talent. Fun shows.

I loved all the productions Ive seen there. Intimate and entertaining!

We love DST. Our daughter has only done 4 shows there but loved every single one. I know some reviews are saying it is a rip off since only friends of DST get good parts. This is not true. There are lots of talented kids at DST and there are not enough good roles for them all. There is also nothing wrong with being in the ensemble.This is why DST does an early and late cast for all of their children shows. They then have kids trade off parts for each cast. This is because they are trying to give kids a chance for a good role. My daughter was in the ensemble every time and loved it. The older kids are great with the younger ones. We are currently not doing shows at DST but that is only because of the distance from our home. We found a studio by us that does classes and plays. It had nothing to do with the parts my daughter was getting. She just wanted to try for shows at other locations. She definitely plans on returning to DST. Anytime we go back to DST to watch a show, my daughter is hugged like a long last family member. That is what DST is, no matter how long you are away. It is like coming back to a part of your family.

Very friendly staff and fun activity to watch local plays! The seats in the smaller theater were pretty old and in general seemed a little dusty. Old theater from the 80s maybe?

Always an enjoyable show! Great casting and affordable ticket prices. Weve been subscribers since we moved to the Valley in 2004.

Had an awesome time! I really like this venue and will be back for more shows! Cant wait for them to do Young Frankenstein again!!!

Very nice. Roomy

So much better than the movies. Worth every penny.

Loved these talented young adults.

I love that this is a repurposed movie theater. We really enjoyed the performance of Disaster! The musical.

The kids were great and so talented!

Great theater and play (Disaster musical). Only issue was last two rows cant see the cast when they climbed up on the top props. Theyre visible from the waist down!

Heard bout this place.

Young Frankenstein performance was just fabulous. We laughed so hard. So much fun. Thank you ?

Fun venue and great price for live theatre.

Great programs for kids and convenient.

Love performing and seeing shows here! The Actors Cafe is the best!

Great community theater that supports actors of every age. Productions for the most part are excellent.The theater has two sections - one more intimate, and a larger theater in the round.All staff, actors, etc. are great...they will help you in anyway possible.The theater will be moving to their new digs in January - hope that they can keep its personality.

I was really impressed its a small theater very comfortable can see from anywhere you sit. Very talented actors

I have attended Summer camp session 2 once and session 3 twice, all the counselors are fun and always kind and great with kids. The rotations are always a lot of fun, and I have made so many amazing and great friends there. I feel proud to be part of the DST family.️️️️️️️️️️️️️

The seats were comfortable.

Good show diversity and great talent

Disappointed.

Very comfortable theater. Great staff. Excellent cast!

The website needs clear instructions on where they are located. If it said INSIDE the mall in the food court, we would have been on time. The show had several Mic problems a few very loud noises and the Mic going in and out on a main character. A couple of main characters that made the movie I love are left out of the script totally or altered so that was very disappointing! Most houses charge $1 for snack but $2 for a snack size bag of chips and $2 for a candy bar!!!

Great theatre, with great shows out on by great people!

Its a beautiful new location.

Our daughter loved theater camp!

Totally unprofessional. You have to pay tons of money to be a lead, show dates change, directors are rude. Don’t come here if you want to be a part of a nice community theatre.

Didnt realize this is a youth thater, was there gor Mary Poppins. Very cute and some talented young actors

This is my home away from home! I have been performing here for 10 years! I am not a friend but still get good parts. This place true makes you feel like family!

Love this theater! Wonderful shows for kids, teens and adults.

Just watched the play of Driving Miss Daisy I was blown away and some people cried from happiness! The actors were simply amazing! I loved the black box intimate environment where you sit up close to actors!

If you have to pay extra for your child to have the opportunity to be in more than the ensemble, its a little hard to stomach. It ends up being a money game which I am not fond of because ultimately they are looking at the pocketbook not talent. They have separate audition days for those who did not pay the extra fee. In addition, the word whitewashing comes to mind. Hard to find kids of color (black, asian, chinese etc..) being cast. My daughter has auditioned several times with other girls that are not white as well. The girls being cast fit the typical whitewashing stereotype. Id go somewhere else if you really want to give your kid a chance.

Amazing theatre doing great things for the community. The childrens theatre does a great job fostering talent and supporting youth of all ages. The main stage and actors cafe has hosts some of The Valleys best community actors.

Wonderful the children were so talented.The theater is beautiful and clean

Very small but very good!! We thought we were going to this big production play (we dont do plays..... Ever.... Lol) but we walked in and there was literally like only 40 people in a 50 person capacity. But, the actors were good and we enjoyed ourselves. $25 per person when we went

This playhouse rocks! They do a damn good job in this little spot. Only thing that caught my attention was that the temperature was a bit warm. Two hours of that and I was ready to go lol.

Great location! Its easy to get a bite to eat prior to the performance, parking is a BREEZE and the theater is the perfect size. There are no bad seats! This used to be the Harkins movie theater and its at the end of the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall where the food carts are. Häagen-Dazs is right there too! Since its a small intimate theater in an upscale shopping mall, you dont feel the same theater experience as you would in downtown Phoenix.

Their production of the Producers was great! I wish i could see.it again, the talent is amazing and i love that they did it in a blackbox!

Great plays

Only passed it as we walked the mall

My friends acted in one of their shows and the directors were ridiculously unprofessional and rude. They cared more about their children then the other actors in the show. In order to get a lead role, you have to pay a large sum of money which is very unfair. If you are looking to join a community theatre, look elsewhere.

Awesome Place! YOU DONT PAY 100 DOLLARS TO AUDITION!!!!!! YOU CAN PLAY 100 DOLLARS AND IT GETS YOU A SOLO AUDITION! IT IS NOT REQUIRED AND DOESNT GUARRANTEE YOU A BETTER ROLE! I do shows here and its amazing! They offer summer camps every year and have 3 sessions! I have done 3 years of summer camp and its expensive but fun! Your child gets to audition and do a show in 3 weeks which is pretty impressive! MainStage shows are also amazing! it is theatre in the round. they dont threaten you sometimes they will yell at you too quite down but they never threaten! you have to be quite so that it doesnt ruin the show. you have to buy 12 tickets if youre in the show, but you can always sell those to your friend and make back the profit. you get your own costume but you can always use something from your closet and maybe buy a couple things. its a community theatre they dont have a lot of money.

Fun family shows!

Adorable theatre!

Loved it.

Wonderful performance and environment!

Great show

Nice local theatre

Great

Great staff

Awesome show.

Um, they tried.

Excellent

Outstanding place

This place is fun