9/12-10/5 Putting the “community” in community theater, Teatro Bravo launches its Triple Rep Fest this weekend, addressing “important contemporary, even urgent issues of concern to various segments of our community,” according to artistic director Guillermo Reyes. Arizona’s only bilingual theater company opens the curtain Friday, September 12, with an 8…
Fri 9/12 During its heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the sport of women’s roller derby proved that ladies with skating skills and a penchant for foul play made for great entertainment. Some 30 years later, the derby keeps a lower profile, a condition that a group of…
9/13-10/4 Taking the concept of a core curriculum to extremes, creepy Mrs. Gorf turns her pupils into apples. The wacky Wayside School — where the 30 classrooms were accidentally stacked vertically rather than built side-by-side — inspires a slew of such tall tales, and Childsplay Theatre Company brings them to…
Sat 9/13 The name you’re given at birth can go a long way toward charting your course in life. Take the case of “Grapple Girl,” a young woman whose handle instantly ruled out any career involving ladylike comportment. Who needs manners, however, when the trilogy of martial arts, a fenced-in…
9/13-1/4 For as long as civilizations have existed, artists have shined a telling light on the social and political issues at play in their homelands. In Mexico, the folk artist has long filled the role of social commentator, documenting the struggle of a resilient people in overcoming adversity and achieving…
Edible clothing is always in good taste. And this Thursday evening, it’s elevated to an art form, as a dress fashioned from gumdrops hits the auction block at Artlink’s Third Annual Wearable Art Auction. When the folks developing the Phoenix Family Museum enlisted the talents of six Valley children, ages…
9/10-9/14 A librarian’s search takes him far beyond the card catalogue in Underneath the Lintel, the off-Broadway hit being co-produced by ASU West’s Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance and the Valley’s new nonprofit iTheatre Collaborative. Hailed as “a wonderful metaphor for life’s meaning,” Glen Berger’s play tracks an obsessed…
9/5-9/30 The Patriot Act may have inspired concern about American society becoming an Orwellian nightmare, but Big Brother already lives — and he looks just like the late pro wrestler Andre the Giant. Leading the conspiracy, or rather, the art movement, is Shepard Fairey, whose subversive fame started with his…
Sun 9/7 This weekend, make tracks and make a difference. In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Build-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive stuffed animal store, is inviting kids in 10 cities to join in the Nikki’s Bear Walk-A-Thon for Children’s Cancer. Valley families step up to the plate Sunday, September 7,…
9/8-9/14 A new hobby can be like a mail-order bride — before you know you like ’em, you’re committed. The prospect of pricey lessons and equipment, not to mention a whole new sports trousseau, can keep you from an activity you just might love. Problem solved at Come Out and…
9/5-9/30 How low can LoDo go? Lower than you’d expect from a cutting-edge gallery: 100 smackers. To celebrate its new name and nonprofit status, downtown’s Studio LoDo/Phoenix Center for Contemporary Art greets the fall arts season with “The $100 Show.” Launching with a 7 p.m. reception on First Friday, September…
8/31-9/1 “I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun rise,” Valley comic and impresario Jimmy Danelli says. “When the sun comes up in the morning, I’ll be wearing my sunglasses.” Danelli, host of the Funniest Person in the Valley comedy series, is talking about his upcoming stint MCing…
9/13-11/15 ASU is sending kids back to the drawing board — not to mention the painter’s easel, potter’s wheel and photographer’s tripod. The university’s yearly Eleanor A. Robb Children’s Art Workshop resumes this weekend, as art education students from the School of Art teach weekly classes to aspiring young artists…
Sat 8/30 When Jonathan Swift suggested in his famous work A Modest Proposal that the Irish eat their own young, he was being sarcastic. So when comic Ryan McKee began a local humor magazine in January and called it Modest Proposal, he knew he had picked a title that would…
ONGOING Anyone who writes haikus to cola is a soda aficionada, and we admit to it. Imagine our delight in discovering Pop the Soda Shop, a south Scottsdale beverage boutique at 2015 North Scottsdale Road. Pop caters to everyone’s tastes with 450 varieties of alcohol-free beverages, including juice, tea, soda…
8/27-9/19 On Wednesday, August 27, the planet Mars will be closer to the Earth — 56 million kilometers — than it has been in some 60,000 years; Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars in such proximity, according to NASA. It’s obviously an appropriate date for the opening of “See…
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Tue 8/26 Get down, kids — Matt Pryor’s New Amsterdams are set to rock Nita’s Hideaway, Tuesday, August 26. The side project of the Get Up Kids vocalist/guitarist — with drummer Jake Cardwell, guitarist Alex Brahl, and Get Up’s Robert Pope on bass and organ — the band brought expanded…
8/22-9/21 It just might be the sleeper hit of the season. Starting this Friday, Desert Stages Theatre presents Once Upon a Mattress, Broadway’s take on Hans Christian Andersen’s Princess and the Pea. The musical comedy finds Dauntless the Drab desiring to be the prince formerly known as single, but his…
Thu 8/14 Got a weakness for good wine? Then flight for your right to party starting Thursday, August 14, when Furio hosts Flight Night, a new wine event featuring flights of three boutique wines and chic eats prepared by executive chef Jagger Griffin. A different local wine lover hosts the…
8/23-4/2004 Not all actors are blessed with natural ability — some talents need to be nurtured. With a little encouragement and instruction, your budding Keanu and Madonna could blossom into Bogey and Bacall. Enter Valley Youth Theatre’s Fall Workshops, which offer a “comprehensive education in the performing arts” while building…
8/14-8/16 We moved to Arizona for the cowboy cachet, but the dusty trail has been paved over by cities’ mean streets. Cowboys still live and work in the West, though. Listen to their poems borne of solitude and the open range at Prescott’s Cowboy Poets Gathering, Thursday, August 14, through…
