January 21
Quoth the wise bard Ogden Nash: "Tiny tots of either sex/Adore Tyrannosaurus Rex/Indeed, all little ones adore/Any savage carnivore/Of which, O Rex, though rightly boastest/Thou art not only first, but mostest." If this is true, it's a cinch that the kiddies will like T-REX: Back to the Cretaceous, the newest IMAX-3D film, which features Peter Horton as a paleontologist and Liz Stauber as his daughter, who take a fanciful trip back 65 million years for a close encounter with the title beast. The film plays on a double bill with Mark Twain's America, also in 3-D; they're in repertory with the 2-D feature The Living Sea. See Showtimes listings for details. IMAX Theatre, Priest and Baseline, at Arizona Mills mall in Tempe. 945-4629.
Canadian comic Jeremy Hotz, a Kids in the Hall veteran who has also appeared in such films as Speed 2: Cruise Control and the upcoming My Favorite Martian, takes the stage at 8 p.m. Thursday, January 21; 8 and 10 p.m. Friday, January 22; the same times Saturday, January 23; and 8 p.m. Sunday, January 24, at the Tempe Improv Comedy Theater, 930 East University (at Cornerstone mall). 921-9877.
The four-piece acoustic rock outfit Canvas takes the stage at 9 p.m. Thursday, January 21, at Balboa Cafe, 404 South Mill in Tempe. The cover is $3. 966-1300.
Friday
January 22
Michael Barnard directs the Actors Theatre of Phoenix production of Gunmetal Blues, a musical spoof of detective noir by Scott Wentworth, with lyrics and music by Craig Bohmler and Marion Adler. Opening performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, January 22; 8 p.m. Saturday, January 23; and 2 p.m. Sunday, January 24, in Stage West at Herberger Theater Center, 222 East Monroe. Tickets range from $17.50 to $28.50, available at Herberger and Dillard's. The run continues through Sunday, February 7. 252-8497, 503-5555.
More than 125 exhibitors from the West, Mexico and Canada display their wares--ranging in style from "Santa Fe" to Mission, Contemporary, Shaker, Country and Spanish Colonial--at the Santa Fe Furniture Expo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, January 22; and the same hours Saturday, January 23; and Sunday, January 24, at Exhibit Hall A of Phoenix Civic Plaza, Second Street and Adams. Admission is $5, free for kids under 12. 1-800-299-9886, 262-7272.
Austin, Texas, bluesman W.C. Clark, touring in support of his powerful, meaty Black Top CD Lover's Plea, takes the stage on Friday, January 22; and Saturday, January 23, at the Rhythm Room, 1019 East Indian School. Showtime both evenings is 9 p.m. 265-4842.
Saturday
January 23
About 150 dealers display one of the widest assortments of Western Americana and cowboy collectibles ever to be crammed 'neath one roof at the ninth annual High Noon Wild West Collectors Show and Auction, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, January 23; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, January 24, at Mesa Centennial Hall, 201 North Center. The auction--featuring pricey rarities like Barbara Stanwyck's dress from 1935's Annie Oakley, Ken Maynard's gun rig, signed books, movie posters and oil paintings by such artists as Will James, Olaf Wieghorst, Harold Von Schmidt, H.W. Hansen and others; as well as real-life Old West artifacts like a 1910 G.C. Garcia saddle or a series of politically incorrect letters to territorial marshals in Arizona griping about "Chinamen" or seeking guidance in the prosecution of sellers of whiskey to Indians--starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission of $5 is good for both days. 644-2560, 1-310-202-9010.
You might want to leave the Kawasaki in the garage to visit the Harley-intensive Easyriders Bike Show Tour, scheduled for noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, January 23, at Phoenix Civic Plaza, Second Street and Adams. The 11th annual show features various American-made motorcycles, as well as displays of the latest riding apparel and the chance to enter to win one of two custom bikes by Arlen Ness and Pure Steel Custom. Tickets are $12, $6 for kids ages 5 to 12, free for kids under 5. Call 1-800-962-9857 or 262-7272 for more information.
James Yestadt conducts the Sun Cities Symphony of the West Valley, which is joined by pianist Juliana Markova, for a program of works including Samuel Barber's Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Wagner's "Prelude and Liebestod" from Tristan and Isolde and Enesco's "Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1," along with Tchaikovsky's much-loved Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring Markova at the ivories. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 23, at La Sala, located in the University Center Building on the ASU West campus, 4701 West Thunderbird (543-2787); and 3 p.m. Sunday, January 24, at the Sundome, 19403 R.H. Johnson Boulevard in Sun City West. Tickets range from $12 to $20, available at the Sundome and Dillard's; call 975-1900 or 503-5555.
Sunday
January 24
New Times' own Terry Greene Sterling's stories on groundwater pollution were part of the inspiration for Water, a play by Mary Daisy also partly based on Ibsen's Enemy of the People. The (fictionalized) plot concerns an investigative journalist's probe of Arizona's Superfund sites. Actors Workout Inc. presents the work as a "Project Risk" performance--i.e., the actors are "holding book," and have had minimal rehearsals--at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, January 24; and 7 p.m. Monday, January 25, at the Church of the White Spire at Arizona School for the Arts, 1407 North Second Street. Admission is free; donations are welcomed. 631-9251.
Monday
January 25
A company specializing in the hot, dramatic dance form that's become, along with silver, one of Argentina's major exports, Tango Buenos Aires comes to Phoenix for a single show at 8 p.m. Monday, January 25, at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 West Adams. Southwest Dance presents the performance. Tickets, ranging from $32 to $36, are available at Dillard's box office; call 503-5555.
Tuesday
January 26
SCORE, a volunteer organization of retired businesspeople sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, presents the Small Business Tax Workshop. It runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, January 26, at Western International University, 9215 North Black Canyon Highway. The fee is $35 in advance, $40 at the door. 640-2329.
Wednesday
January 27
Secret, Masonesque rites, snake attacks, attempted rapes, musical instruments with the supernatural power to charm, double-crosses, long-lost lovers reunited--that's the stuff of Die Zauberflste (The Magic Flute). Arizona State University's Lyric Opera Theatre presents Mozart's comic masterpiece of fantasy and high adventure, with a libretto by the actor Emaneul Schikaneder. The run opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 27, at the Paul V. Galvin Playhouse at ASU's Nelson Fine Arts Center, 10th Street and Mill in Tempe. It continues for just three more performances--at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 29; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 30; and 3 p.m. Sunday, January 31 (there's no Thursday performance). Tickets are $12, $10 for faculty and staff, $8 for students and seniors. 965-6447.
"Squeal like a hog!" Nobody who ever saw John Boorman's Deliverance is likely to forget that line. The James Dickey novel that inspired the film is the subject of this week's edition of the twice-monthly Book Discussion Group from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, January 27, at the Tempe Public Library, 3500 South Rural. The event is free; participants bring their own copies of the book. 350-5508.
