For all of its inspired side trips down Imagination Lane (let’s call it that, because the “memories” of protagonist Edward Bloom are too majestic to be trusted and too affecting to be discounted), Big Fish is ultimately about one thing: the relationship between a son about to become a father…
“The trends in book sales showed that African-American authors were crossing into the mainstream with a wider audience than maybe 40 years ago,” says Judy Register, former head of the Scottsdale Library and co-founder of the Celebration of African-American Authors, now in its fifth year. Register, along with Jewell Parker…
Thursday, January 1 Whether you need one last hurrah for the holidays or you’re simply looking to let someone else feed and entertain you now that family obligations are out of the way, celebrate the new year with Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre West, whose current show, Holidazzle, continues through Saturday,…
For those constrained to four-door sedans, family minivans and walnut-size hatchbacks, the Carquest World of Wheels is the perfect escape from the mundane. The 35th annual auto show hits the Phoenix Civic Plaza this weekend, when more than 280 classic and custom-built cars flood into Phoenix and provide an outlet…
On Wednesday, January 7, the Herberger Theater Center pays tribute to the burgeoning and much ballyhooed downtown arts scene with “Celebrating Visual Arts in Downtown Phoenix.” If you’re not a denizen of the frantic First Friday art walk scene, this exhibition should be a fitting introduction to the artists and…
No title at stake. No David-versus-Goliath match-up. No villainous group of gridiron ghouls like the Miami Hurricanes. Still, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium on Friday, January 2, has something the other Bowl Championship Series games don’t: the Ohio State Buckeyes, the defending national champs of college football…
1/1-1/4 Who knew that the world outside could be so perilous? The creepy and crawly take center stage in “Danger or Deception? We Dare You!” at the Phoenix Zoo. Children of all ages are invited to take a chance — and an up close and personal gander at some of…
Fri 1/2 Opening a gallery is like training an elephant: no easy task. But this didn’t sway performance artist JRC and his partner Stephanie Carrico, who felt that downtown needed a space that encompassed all art forms. So the former Paper Heart employees decided to open up The Trunk Space,…
1/7-2/1 SWING! in the New Year at Phoenix Theatre, where the high-flying musical revue shimmies onto the stage this Wednesday, January 7. Paying tribute to the kings of swing — Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Louis Prima — the show mines music from pre-war Harlem, Latin swing, Lindy…
The following is a select listing of concerts, balls, parties, dinners and other happenings around the Valley on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31. Reservations are required in virtually all cases; be sure to ask whether price includes tax and tip. Happy New Year! Phoenix-West Valley Arizona Theatre Company Herberger…
Yo, Janet Napolitano! Charles Goodson is still gunning for you. The Tempe resident and dyed-in-the-wool Confederate soldier is pressing on with his Recall Janet campaign, which must collect more than 300,000 votes by early next month to begin your ouster. The good news is . . . he doesn’t care…
Putting a face to the name is the name of the game in “Bill Jay: Photographers Photographed.” The exhibition, now on display at Segura Art in downtown Mesa, pairs black-and-white images of internationally renowned artist-photographers taken by Jay over a 35-year period with a characteristic photographic image made by each…
Anthony Minghella’s magnificent film version of the Civil War epic Cold Mountain has much more going for it than Hollywood grandeur. Beyond its striking set pieces and gruesome battle scenes populated with thousands of extras, in addition to its movie-star glamour — Jude Law and Nicole Kidman are like beautiful…
For those who pay no mind to Oprah, the dispute at the heart of House of Sand and Fog concerns the occupancy of a run-down little bungalow just inland from the northern California coast. It’s not much of a place, really. And to get a glimpse of the Pacific you’d…
It has become a subject of much discussion and debate amongst film fetishists in recent weeks: For which movie will Sean Penn win the Academy Award, Mystic River or 21 Grams? Perhaps this seems like so much jockeying for blurbs on a movie poster or a newspaper advertisement — Sean…
“All children, except one, grow up . . .” So begins J.M. Barrie’s classic children’s tale about the boy who defiantly refuses to grow up and the girl who is torn between remaining a child with him or accepting the inevitable passage into adulthood. Adapted from Barrie’s own 1904 stage…
You’ve heard of the Heard, but have you truly experienced it? The Heard Museum in Phoenix, which houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Southwestern and Native American art in the country, is opening its doors after hours for a glimpse behind the scenes. At the Heard Museum After…
Thursday, December 25 In the hunt for a holiday miracle? Look no further than Chandler’s Madstone Theaters, which salutes Santa on his big day by screening Miracle on 34th Street. Starring Edmund Gwenn as Kriss Kringle, a Macy’s Santa Claus who claims to be the man himself, the 1947 St…
From the ashes of failed ventures past, the National Lacrosse League becomes the latest to infiltrate what is an already over-saturated professional sports market in Phoenix. But the NLL’s Arizona Sting isn’t led by just some hack entrepreneurs. These guys are Canadians, seemingly North America’s largest population of Zen Buddhists…
Wed 12/31 Ding! The biggest showdown this week isn’t Ohio State against Kansas State, but Tempe versus Scottsdale in the battle of the New Year’s block parties. The Tempe Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Block Party is the incumbent, named one of the top 10 places to ring in the New Year…
Fri 12/26 Granted, it’s a far cry from being college football’s most attractive postseason invitation, but this year’s Insight Bowl has a great personality — really. The match-up pits the Golden Bears of California-Berkeley, who handed first-ranked Southern Cal its only loss of the season, against Virginia Tech’s Hokies, who…
