Around this time a century ago, Arizona was just one year into its fledgling statehood. But it was already the most badass state in the union. Long before Valentine’s Day 1912 — Arizona’s birthday — Tombstone had garnered a violent and rugged reputation, while Jerome had been dubbed “the wickedest…
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is surprisingly full of not just witty bons mots (“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train”) but also awful groaners that are all the funnier because…
While Halloween has us dressing up like the dead for cheap thrills and free candy, Dia de Los Muertos makes sure we stay in their good graces. Spend the day honoring Mexican traditions as well as the deceased at the Second Annual Dia de Los Muertos Phoenix Festival.This interactive cultural…
Being comfortable can be overrated. At least that’s what the Movement Source Dance Company is counting on with its collaborative Halloween-themed project, The Danse Macabre. Because, while dance alone can stagnate, bringing theater, illusion, and the undead together promises a new take on the arts.Meant to unsettle the audience through…
How do you pick the 10 best food trucks in America? The Huffington Post tried recently, and not one of its picks was in Phoenix. What do they know, anyway? Phoenicians can put together their own top 10 lists when the 2013 Taste of the Trucks returns to Roosevelt Row…
Psycho remains a horror classic — and no, we do not mean the 1998 Gus Van Sant version, which is just horrible. Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller pushed the envelope in 1960 with the infamous shower scene. Contrary to some critics’ insistence, you cannot see Janet Leigh naked, and the knife…
“Xul Solar and Jorge Luis Borges: The Art of Friendship,” an exhibition currently at the Phoenix Art Museum, makes clear how mutually influential their relationship was in forging new worlds in both art and literature. On Wednesday, October 30, PAM hosts a symposium centered around the reality of Solar’s and…
Truth be told, we’re getting a little burnt out on pumpkin this and pumpkin that. Do we really need pumpkin spice Jell-O, pasta, or Pop-Tarts? If, like us, you want to eschew the flavoring and get to the gourd’s roots, head to Schnepf Farms to pick your own fresh pumpkin…
Arguably the Southwest’s most far-reaching modern and contemporary art gallery, and certainly one of the largest, the LewAllen Galleries have a history of displaying everything from abstract to pop art, minimalism to expressionism. Falling under the latter is “Visual Paradox and Perceptual Art,” a collection of solo work spanning the…
When Actors Theatre’s financial challenges pre-empted its season last winter, the arts community was discouraged indeed. But the troupe’s swimming on with a return to regular production: A Steady Rain, a take on the buddy-cop genre in which, in the words of AT’s own publicity, one of the partners is…
Professional wrestling was so popular in the late 1990s that it’s sort of hard to explain how the “sport” lost its luster. Wrestling was, perhaps, a victim of its own popularity. Broader audiences drove major wrestling federations like the WWE to water down the product — making storylines less complex…
What Arizona lacks in haunted Victorian mansions, abandoned asylums, and early New England cemeteries, we make up for with ghost towns. Just in time for Halloween, the Pueblo Grande Museum is opening a new exhibition showcasing the historic and no doubt haunted structures of the Wild West of yesteryear. “Ghost…
At first glance, many of Kevork Cholakian’s paintings look like photographs. The Los Angeles-based artist works in both painting and sculpture to create still lifes that mirror reality, while somehow eschewing it at the same time. This month, a selection of Cholakian’s paintings and sculptures will be on view in…
This time last year, Bryan Harding was getting a new tattoo. On a Saturday evening before Halloween, the local bicyclist, who works for State Bicycle Co., raced (literally) to Electric Haven Tattoo shop in Tempe. There he waited, perhaps not-so patiently or painlessly, as his left side became the canvas…
Attention breeders with a penchant for procrastination: Halloween is next week. And while it’s easy enough to get your kid the old stand-by costume in a bag — princess, vampire, the plain but classic pumpkin — this year, we want you to think outside the box, and possibly the realm…
The setup: Most scholars think The Two Gentlemen of Verona was William Shakespeare’s first play (that anyone knows about). It’s a lightweight romantic comedy with a terrible, terrible ending. A guy forgives his best friend for attempting to rape his fiancée, everyone forgives everyone for everything else (about 400% more…
There are plenty of treats to be had during the Halloween season, and we ain’t just referring to all that candy. We happen to be making reference to treats of a more adult-oriented nature, like specialty and themed cocktails, fantastic drink deals, and scads of prizes that are available at…
Good news for all you football haters and feline fans. The Hallmark Channel revealed more details about its first-ever 2014 Kitten Bowl — and it’s television genius…
Pedal Craft Volume 3 will help bring Phoenix Design Week to a close on Friday, October 25, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Monorchid in downtown Phoenix…
Phoenix is a resort town in many ways, with one important exception: There’s no beach. That (more or less) changed in 1969, when the Big Surf wavepool opened at 1500 North McClintock Drive in Tempe, providing Phoenicians with the closest alternative to real sand and giant waves…
The Grand Avenue Merchants Association cut the ribbon on new, green bike lanes, conveniently completed in time for the Grand Avenue Festival this past weekend. In addition to the new bike lanes, which run northwest along Grand from Seventh Avenue to 15th Avenue, Grand Avenue received a more substantial facelift,…
Between oversize coats, fall shades of gray and emerald, and ladylike layers of leather, there’s plenty to keep you clothed (and stylish) this season. But there are three trends so sad and unflattering that we’d rather you go naked than partake in their unfortunate popularity…
