Need plans? Here's how to spend your weekend in and around Phoenix.
The Rocky Horror Show @ Desert Stages Theater In a culture brimming with "cult classics," only one can claim to have created the genre. After countless adaptations, The Rocky Horror Show comes to Scottsdale Desert Stages Theater, 4720 North Scottsdale Road, with a production fit for veterans and virgins alike.
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The transvestite tour de force chronicles the encounter between newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, and Dr. Frank N. Furter, a crazed, cross-dressing scientist. Madness and musical numbers ensue, like fan favorite "Time Warp."
Director Jean-Paul Clemente says his production stays true to Richard O'Brien's original, with subtle winks to the film (starring Tim Curry) through set design and audience participation -- but his characters aren't parodies.
"Even Rocky Horror has an underlying basis in reality," he says.
Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through August 10, with late night 10:30 p.m. shows Saturday, July 27, and Friday, August 2 and 9. Tickets are $22 and $25, available at www.desertstages.org or 480-483-1664. -- Janessa Hilliard
Lit Lounge @ SMoCA Lounge Lit Lounge don't stop. Having routinely filled SMoCA Lounge to capacity, the event migrated to the big Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts theater across the way in May and filled that. Now it returns to the exclusive vibe, sharing a taste with "outsiders" via a wild streaming simulcast in the Center's Stage 2 with lobby bar. A multiple litgasm, if you will (and we know you will).
Afterward, the overflow audience can travel an alleged 15 feet and join in celebrity worship, additional drinking, and running around Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art until it closes -- all the sweet ish that fans of the live show are there for, but for half the price of the already-sold-out-before-press-time SMoCA Lounge seats ($5 vs. what was $10).
Your next journey, with readings by SNL writer Cindy Caponera, actress Hilary Shepard, legendary storyteller Megan Finnerty of the *cough*Arizona Republic*cough*, and Eva Vega (pictured above), among others, starts at 7 p.m. sharp Friday, July 26. The Center's at 7380 East Second Street. Visit www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org/smoca-events or call 480-499-8587. -- Julie Peterson
Pirate Mud Wrestling @ Revolver Records Perhaps no question is asked with less sincerity than "What did you do this weekend?" People ask it because it would be rude not to, but unless you did something really out of the ordinary your answer ends up being a chore for both parties. You have to try to find a way to make eating two boxes of Franken Berries and watching three seasons of Frasier seem interesting; they have to make it seem like they're interested.
A possible cure for this awkwardness is to spend your weekend doing something so outside the box that it demands people's interest, which may be all the reason you need to attend DREAD's Pirate Mud Wrestling Saturday, July 27, at Revolver Records, 918 North Second Street. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., will feature pretty much exactly what the name advertises: members of a pirate-themed performing troupe mud-wrestling against each other. -- Ed Kummerer
Equality Walk Afterparty @ Lustre Bar Walking 101 miles outside in the middle of the summer is borderline insane, but HERO does it every year for good reason. Equality walkers trek one mile for every year that Arizona has been a state without giving full rights to its LGBTQ community. The HERO walkers will travel all over the state over the course of 11 days, visiting 15 county seats to raise awareness about LGBTQ rights. HERO founder and director Meg Sneed acknowledges that the equality walk is no easy task, "but so is denying LGBTQ people the right to marry the one they love," she says. The Maricopa County leg of the walk concludes with a swanky Equality walk afterparty at Lustre Bar, where you can donate to HERO and congratulate this year's walkers.
Drink for a good cause on Saturday, July 27, starting at 8 p.m. at Hotel Palomar's Lustre Bar, 2 East Jefferson Street. This all-ages event has no cover, but donations are encouraged. Call 602-253-6633 or visit www.facebook.com/herophx. -- Melissa Fossum
Etsy Panel Discussion @ MADE Browse the discussion boards at Etsy.com for a few minutes, and you'll quickly see that just because someone has opened a digital storefront doesn't mean they have a clue how to run it. Let alone run it well. The "Etsy Success" discussion group has some 1,574 pages of questions regarding the best ways to sell custom work, how to get social media followers, and the most cost-effective boxes for shipping, among a multitude of other things.
Instead of perusing those numerous Q&A sessions, Phoenicians who want to up their Etsy game can attend an hourlong panel on the matter when MADE art boutique hosts a trio of creatives well-versed in proper play. The Etsy Success Panel Discussion will feature Sebastien Millon, Cassandra Uhl, and Matt Hinrichs. In addition to taking questions, they'll talk about their experiences and the best practices for starting and running a solid Etsy shop.
Learn from the pros from 10 to 11 a.m. at 922 North Fifth Street. Admission is free. Participants may register by calling the store at 602-256-6233. More information is available at www.madephx.com. -- Becky Bartkowski
