The Black Mustache, Gilbert

The Black Mustache isn't the kind of theater where audiences sit silently, distanced from the stage and the action, while actors emote and deep messages are subtly conveyed. What The Black Mustache creates is something special and increasingly hard to find these days: over-the-top, old-fashioned melodrama. It's the kind of show where villains twirl the thick handlebars above their lips as they tie fainting damsels to railroad tracks. The kind where heroes wear white and where slapstick reigns, and sing-alongs pop up at the drop of a ten-gallon hat. And most importantly, it's theater that encourages the viewers to get in on the action, booing and cheering the way audiences did in the days of vaudeville and the way they still do at most elementary school spelling bees.

The Black Mustache shows are perfect family fare, partially because the operation is a family affair for creators Julie and Marcus Ellsworth. The duo started their tradition at Sweet Nell's Melodrama Theatre in the White Mountains with the rest of the Ellsworths before moving their show wagon to Phoenix.