september 24
How often can you mention the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys in the same sentence? The lads take a break from fighting for their right to party in order to help out in the fight for the rights of the Lama's 'hood in Free Tibet, a film of the San Francisco Tibetan Freedom Concert, shot in Golden Gate Park in 1996. Also on that two-day bill were Beck, Bjsrk, Foo Fighters, Fugees, Pavement, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, the great John Lee Hooker and A Tribe Called Quest. A benefit screening of the film is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at AMC Arizona Center 24 Theater. All proceeds from the showing benefit the Milarepa Fund, a nonprofit founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and Erin Potts, "dedicated to promoting nonviolence and compassion." Tickets, available at the door, are $6.75. 956-4262.
friday
september 25
The fangs of little monsters--the customers of the Dave Pratt Dental Clinic--are the beneficiaries of a portion of the proceeds from Scream Theatre, a family-oriented "haunted house" that boasts of being "premier in its detailed set design, prop visuals, trained actors and actresses, special-effects make-up, and state of the art masks." It operates daily (Sunday through Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to midnight; Fridays and Saturdays from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.) from Friday, September 25, through Halloween, Saturday, October 31, in the Manistee Towne Center, 57th Avenue and Northern in Glendale. The opening celebration, scheduled from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, September 25, includes live music. Tickets are $13, $10 when pre-purchased at Smith's and Smitty's with a Fresh Values card, and $9.98 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with a KUPD "Red Card." Kids younger than 8 will not be admitted. 253-9037.
The monthly cinema series "MAC Movies 5" kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, September 25, at Mesa Arts Center, 155 North Center, with a screening of Al Pacino's acclaimed directorial debut Looking for Richard (1996), a semi-documentary exploration of Shakespeare's Richard III that mixes staged scenes from the play with interview and rehearsal footage. Everyone from Sir John Gielgud to Estelle Parsons to Winona Ryder, Kenneth Branagh to Kevin Kline to F. Murray Abraham turns up--Clarence is played, surprisingly well, by Alec Baldwin; Buckingham is played, unsurprisingly well, by Kevin Spacey. Admission is a suggested donation of $2. The series continues most months through Friday, May 14, 1999; other selections include A Chef in Love, Cold Comfort Farm, The Pillow Book, The Tango Lesson, Surviving Picasso, The Line King: Al Hirschfeld and Kundun. Fred Linch facilitates the post-film discussions, many of which feature special guests; Kevin Dressler of Southwest Shakespeare Festival is slated to be present for Looking for Richard. 644-2242.
saturday
september 26
For those whose headache from St. Patrick's Day has just now faded, the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee has devised a way to give you a dose of the Celtic that should last you until next March: the Half-Way to St. Patrick's Day Party, featuring music by local Irish-music bands including the Rambling Rovers, the Carroll MacGregor Band and Pat McCrossan, and step dancing by the Bracken, the McElligott and the McTeggert Schools of Irish Dance, is slated from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, September 26, at the Red River Music Hall, Mill and Washington in Tempe. Silent auctions, raffles and food and drink will also be featured. Tickets, available through Red River or at local Irish restaurants and pubs, are $13 for adults and $8 for kids; proceeds benefit the 1999 St. Patrick's Day Parade. 829-6779 (Red River), 503-5555 (Dillard's).
Budget-minded bibliophiles, take note: The Friends of the Chandler Public Library's annual Used-Book Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, September 26, at the City Council Chambers, on the second floor of the library, 222 East Commonwealth in Chandler. Proceeds benefit library programs. 786-2308, 786-2086.
sunday
september 27
Legendary Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson, author of the book Sacred Hoops, talks about his own brand of Zen/yoga/Lakota Sioux spiritualism at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 27, at Phoenix Civic Plaza Ballroom, Second Street and Adams. Tickets range from $45 to $75. 262-7272 (Civic Plaza Box Office); 503-5555 (Dillard's).
After an opening set by the Devlins, vocalist/keyboardist Tori Amos, who began her professional life as a heavy-metal act billed as Y Kant Tori Read, performs her confessional songs on Sunday, September 27, at America West Arena, 201 East Jefferson. See the story on page 101. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $29. 379-7800 (AWA), 503-5555 (Dillard's).
monday
september 28
How many of us can say, along with the Rhythm Room's Bob Corritore, that we've had Magic Slim and the Teardrops play at our birthday bash? Guitarist/vocalist Slim and his Chicago-based company are scheduled to play their classic-style blues sounds Monday, September 28, at the Rhythm Room, 1019 East Indian School, in support of their superbly old-fashioned Blind Pig CD Black Tornado; the evening also serves as Corritore's birthday festivities. Showtime is 9 p.m. The cover is $9. 265-4842.
How's this for a whiny title? Maureen Kirby Lassen's self-help tome (co-authored with Charles Elliot) is called Why Can't I Get What I Want?. But apparently it's all in the inflection--a variety of critics insist that this book is actually a healthy and sensible dissection of self-defeating behavior. Lassen, a Ph.D., is scheduled to talk about her work at 7 p.m. Monday, September 28, at the Barnes & Noble store at 10500 North 90th Street in Scottsdale. Admission is free. 391-0048.
tuesday
september 29
"The sun'll come out, tomorrooooow . . ." No, it's not your imagination, you really have been hearing that song for two decades, as the 20th-anniversary production of Annie goes to show. Sally Struthers plays Miss Hanigan in this Broadway tour; Daddy Warbucks is played by "Conrad John Schuck," presumably the same fine, familiar character actor who, for the rest of his career, has been billed simply as "John Schuck." Brittny Kissinger assays the title role. Performances are at 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 29; and 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 30. The run continues through Sunday, October 4. Tickets, at Gammage or Dillard's, range from $29.50 to $47. Gammage Auditorium, Mill and Apache in Tempe. 965-3434, 503-5555.
wednesday
september 30
Assuming there's no meddling by a certain pipey-voiced Arizona senator with ties to a beer fortune, Arizona fight nuts may at last get a chance to see some Extreme Cage Fighting, that notorious hybrid of martial arts, boxing and wrestling, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 30, at Club Rio, 430 North Scottsdale Road in Tempe. It is claimed that all match-ups in this evening of "amateur non-traditional fighting" in a 20-foot-by-20-foot steel cage are to be "monitored by two ringside doctors, a referee, and a ringside supervisor." Tickets are $45 for table seating, $35 for general admission. 266-9472, 784-4444.