Your week is officially planned, Phoenix.
Beers With Friends Scrabble Party @ Handlebar Real talk. We play what probably would be classified as an excessive amount of Words With Friends. We love those triple word squares, picking up a "Q," and toiling to come up with killer plays. But, the Scrabble knockoff app doesn't live up to the real deal, and often leaves us craving physical letter tiles and keeping manual score.
See also: Ignite Phoenix No. 15 Is Accepting Submissions Through Next Friday
To satisfy such a hankering, the cure resides at Tempe establishment Handlebar & Grill, which hosts the weekly Beers With Friends Scrabble Party. The booze-fueled tourney pits against each other teams of four and rewards gift cards, beers, and french fries for making special plays and winning. -- Becky Bartkowski
"Micro/Macro: The Sculptural Art of Kevin Caron" @ Chandler Center for the Arts Sometimes size does matter. Certainly, that's the case with Kevin Caron's sculptures, ranging from palm-sized to monumental. With "Micro/Macro: The Sculptural Art of Kevin Caron," it's all in the eye of the viewer. He says via press release: "Some people look at my sculptures and see a universe, while others see a molecule." Caron attempts to accommodate those views as "Micro/Macro" explores the limits of size and the visual perceptions generated by his three-dimensional forms. A Valley resident and named 2012 Sculptor of the Year by Art Trends magazine, Caron's sculptures turn heads -- sometimes way up, sometimes way down -- and a new perspective is always good.
Caron's work is on view in the Chandler Center for the Arts Exhibition Hall, 250 North Arizona Avenue. Hours Tuesday, September 10, are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is free, and runs through Saturday, October 26. Call 480-782-2695 or visit www.chandlercenter.org. -- Glenn BurnSilver
Rent @ Phoenix Theatre Maybe Hair and The Who's Tommy set the bar way high, or else rock musicals are simply challenging -- they didn't really ignite as a genre on the live stage before Jonathan Larson's 1996 Rent. Perfectly set on Manhattan's Lower East Side as the 1980s blurred into the 1990s, featuring artists, addicts, squatters, and free spirits facing romantic issues, neighborhood gentrification, and the horrifying first decade of the AIDS epidemic, the show echoes Puccini's opera La Bohème.
By now, you might recognize a few songs: "Seasons of Love" (a.k.a. "525,600 Minutes"), "I'll Cover You," and "Out Tonight" (famously caterwauled by Penny on The Big Bang Theory). Though we've enjoyed sexy, high-energy local productions of Rent already, Phoenix Theatre's season-opening version (for mature and worldly audiences) should rock severely, with seasoned thespians who've been in the show before (some as more than one character in different mountings) and exciting new faces. Thursday, August 29's curtain is 7:30 p.m. at 100 East McDowell Road. Tickets start at $30 for performances through Sunday, September 15. Call 602-254-2151 or visit www.phoenixtheatre.com. -- Julie Peterson
Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie @ Tempe Improv Filmmaker Kevin Smith has spent nearly 20 years intermittently donning the trenchcoat of his on-screen avatar, Silent Bob. Smith and his real-life pal Jason Mewes, a.k.a. mouthy stoner Jay, gear up again, bringing their crosscountry tour behind their newest adventure to the East Valley Thursday, September 12.
Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie is the latest revisit of the Jersey-based dynamic duo first introduced in the 1994 indie film hit Clerks. Adapted from the real-life Smith-penned comic book Bluntman & Chronic, the convenience store loiterers win the lottery and become weed-themed superheroes. In contrast to the man of few words that he portrays, Kevin Smith has the gift of gab, both in his ability to spin yarns effortlessly and in spearheading his own podcasting network. Smith and Mewes will navigate fan queries during a post-movie podcast recording.
Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie is at the Tempe Improv, 930 East University Drive, starting at 8 p.m. Admission is $35. To purchase tickets and for more information, call 480-921-9877 or visit www.tempeimprov.com. -- Jose Gonzalez
Electric Run @ Hohokam Stadium Close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself running through a forest of glowing neon trees that dance and change colors to booming electronic music. You travel through a tunnel illuminated with dancing patterns and figures on the walls, ceilings, and floors, then emerge above a lake glowing in otherworldly iridescence. Colored fountains flow to the beat as a tube of rainbow-hued lasers leads you to a building lit so brightly it can be seen from space.
Usually you'd have to be on some pretty intense psychedelics for a trip of that magnitude, but the only high you need experience at the Electric Run is runner's. Throughout all five kilometers of this all-ages run, immersive "lands" of light and sound will transport you to an LED wonderland, and the DJs spinning at the finish line will turn the inside of Hohokam Stadium into an electro-funtimes dance party. No molly required.
The Electric Run begins 7 p.m. Friday, September 13, at Hohokam Stadium, 1235 North Center Street in Mesa. Registration is $60 per person. Visit www.electricrun.com for more. -- Zachary Fowle
