Valley of the Dolls
It’s been 50 years since the film adaptation of Valley of the Dolls, a movie filled with pop art imagery, hit theaters. So Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is celebrating. The museum will host a screening of the film at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, with longtime Phoenix New Times contributor Robrt L. Pela.
“It’s typically considered notoriously bad,” Pela says of the 1967 film. “It’s campy, over the top, and ridiculously overacted.” Even so, Pela has a soft spot for VOTD. “It was really making a point about that moment in time.”
He’ll be on hand to discuss Valley of the Dolls, and share behind-the-scenes tidbits. “I’ll bring my defense of the film, which actually succeeds on many levels,” Pela says.
Admission is $7. The event takes place in SMoCA Lounge, 7374 East Second Street, where entertainment will include music and other festivities with a retro vibe. Visit the SMoCA website. Lynn Trimble
Bar Flies: Best of Phoenix
Love black cats but get anxious when they cross your path? You probably always pick up that potentially lucky penny. It’s okay, you’re not alone in letting weird superstitions guide your actions.
At New Times’ storytelling event, Bar Flies: Best of Phoenix, you’ll hear about the superstitions that have infiltrated the lives of local writers. This supersize Bar Flies event, curated by Amy Silverman, mirrors the publication’s yearly Best Of issue, which is loaded with tales about charms or hoodoos. The storytellers are Cindy Dach, Jacob Meders, Rudri Patel, Sativa Peterson, Kim Porter, Brad Snyder, and Ray Stern. Jason P. Woodbury will keep the music flowing throughout the night.
Your lucky night begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, at Crescent Ballroom, 308 North Second Avenue. Admission is $10. Call 602-716- 2222 or visit the Crescent Ballroom website. Amy Young
“From Protest to Peace”
When Ireland began to crave separation from the U.K., it took only 400 years to get that done. And then the hits just kept on coming. In 1972, in Northern Ireland’s Derry, British paratroopers killed 14 people during a demonstration. The surviving suspects might soon be charged.
While we wait, Derry’s Bogside Artists have turned the streets into a gallery of murals commemorating civil rights and the victims of their violation. A traveling installation of fabric replicas and historical context, “From Protest to Peace,” brings The People’s Gallery of Bogside to the Irish Cultural Center through Saturday, May 26, 2018. Hours on Thursday, October 5, are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1106 North Central Avenue. Admission is $5 to $10 at the Irish Cultural Center website or 602-258-0109. Julie Peterson
The Flaming Lips
“There should be unicorns / The ones with the purple eyes / Not the green eyes.” Those lyrics come directly from the song “There Should be Unicorns,” by experimental rock band The Flaming Lips. Though they tend to incorporate the mythical creature into their performances, we agree that more unicorns would be a good thing.
That track is from the band’s recent release, Oczy Mlody. Like all Flaming Lips albums released since 1986, it merges the beautiful and the bizarre to create the band’s signature alt-rock. And the music sounds like it was created on another planet and sprinkled onto Earth. This band’s live shows are as intriguing as their tunes, with such colorful theatrics as unicorn figures and imagery, balloons, puppets, and sometimes Miley Cyrus.
Prepare for a wild sonic, psychedelic ride when you enter the band’s magical universe at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, at Comerica Theatre, 400 West Washington Street. Tickets are $40 to $50. Call 602-379-2800 or visit the Comerica Theatre website. Amy Young
A blast from the “Chaos Theory” past.
Lynn Trimble
One night each year, Legend City Studios becomes the epicenter of the metro Phoenix art scene. It’s happened every First Friday in October for nearly two decades, thanks to a trio of artists who started the free “Chaos Theory” exhibition that’s become an annual must-see.
The show is named for a mathematical principle that says small changes can produce large effects. Today, “Chaos Theory” is organized by Randy Slack, who helped launch it. He chooses dozens of artists to participate, mixing up the roster just enough each year to keep people coming back for more.
Make your way to 521 West Van Buren Street anytime after 6 p.m. on Friday, October 6, to check it out. You’ll see works by some of Arizona’s best-known creatives, and get the chance to rub elbows with fellow art lovers, collectors, and creatives. Visit the Legend City Studios Facebook page. Lynn Trimble
During the annual Otsukimi Moonviewing Festival, the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix highlights traditional Japanese music and dance.
Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix
In Japan in September, people observe the practice of otsukimi, or moon viewing, to show appreciation for and to ask for a good harvest. The Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix pays tribute to the tradition each year with its Otsukimi Moonviewing Festival.
The event will be held Friday and Saturday, October 6 and 7, and features an array of things to do. The Phoenix Astronomical Society will lead a stargazing session. Throughout the garden, performers will showcase traditional Japanese dance and music, including the art of playing taiko drums, pipa guitar, Shakuhachi flute, and a stringed instrument called the koto.
The celebration also will have lantern, bamboo, and calligraphy displays. Traditional Japanese tea ceremonies on Saturday night will have limited seating.
Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. each night at 1125 North Third Avenue. For the general public, admission is $25 in advance and $30 at the entrance, and kids 3 to 12 get in for $5. Discounts are available for garden members. The tea ceremonies cost an extra $15 per person. For more information, visit the Japanese Friendship Garden website. Laura Latzko
Arizona Dance Festival
Why stay home with your reality TV dance competitions when you can experience the real thing? It’s nearly time for this year’s Arizona Dance Festival, a two-night affair that showcases work by emerging and established dancers from Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, and other cities around the state. It kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 6, at Tempe Center for the Arts.
The opening night lineup features more than a dozen performances in styles that include ballet, contemporary, and modern dance — as well as flamenco, Indian dance, and swing. Companies with dancers performing Friday night include CONDER/dance, Desert Dance Theatre, and Movement Source. The festival is organized by Lisa Chow, artistic director for Desert Dance.
Saturday, October 7, features a whole other program. Both nights, there’s a post-performance discussion with dancers. Tickets are $20 for a single performance, or $30 for both. Visit the Desert Dance Theatre website. Lynn Trimble
Howie Mandel
It’s hard to picture Howie Mandel without hearing the words “Deal or No Deal,” the name of the NBC game show he hosted for several years. His career has been steeped in TV, from roles on the defunct hospital drama ER to a current stint as a judge on America’s Got Talent.
When he’s not busy appearing on television, Mandel hits the road — typically about 200 days a year — to entertain crowds with his energetic stand-up show. He takes his off-the-rails style through a range of subject matter.
Enjoy the comedic roller-coaster ride at 7:30 or 10 p.m. on Friday, October 6, at Stand Up Live, 50 West Jefferson Street. Admission for the 21-and-older show is $40; a two-drink minimum is required. Call 480-719-6100 or visit the Stand Up Live website. Amy Young
Retro Disneyland Slide Show
Someday, a bunch of you will die off, and things from the 1950s won’t be so blindingly popular. (Though Formica may be the indestructible cockroach of decor.) Until that day, there’s Charles Phoenix, a cheerful, disarming fella who sealed his fame by championing the cherpumple, a.k.a. the turducken of desserts. Three pies inside three cakes is a no-brainer — of course it caught our attention!
Shockingly, Phoenix isn’t from Phoenix, but he’ll visit us again on Friday, October 6, to share his slides and “lecture” spotlighting the early days of The Happiest Place on Earth. See his Retro Disneyland Slide Show at Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 North Arizona Avenue, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28 and $38 at 480-782-2680 or the Chandler Center for the Arts website. Julie Peterson
Monster Market
Fans of Halloween, it’s the month you’ve been waiting for. The scary season is in full swing, evidenced by the hordes of costumes, decorations, and other eerie ephemera for sale at shops across the Valley right now. If your tastes in Halloween gear are bit more arty, however, consider ditching the displays at the big-box stores or chain retailers in favor of the more homespun and hand-crafted items found at Monster Market.
The one-day event on Saturday, October 7, will feature dozens of local artisans, vendors, and crafty types selling their spooky wares, art work, and apparel inside the Moxy Hotel, 1333 South Rural Road in Tempe. Workshops covering how to create your own Halloween makeup, geeky eats, and other subjects also will be conducted and a screening of The Lost Boys in planned.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. General admission is $20 per person, and VIP packages offering a variety of perks are $30 to $100. See the Monster Market website. Benjamin Leatherman
Read on for more of the best things to do in metro Phoenix this week.
Phoenix Wine Festival
Fall has arrived, which means it’s time to get outside and drink wine. Bring your tolerance for alcohol and identification to the Phoenix Wine Festival, where the 21-and-older set can sample vintages from more than 50 wineries from around the world. Local food trucks, including Two Fat Guys Grilled Cheese, will be on hand — because you can’t have wine without a little cheese. Lawn games and live music will round out the festivities.
Take a sip from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 7, at Civic Space Park, 424 North Central Avenue. Tickets run from $55 to $65. For more information, visit the Uncorked website. Jason Keil
Monster Jam
For better or worse, there’s no shortage of entertainment outlets that celebrate machismo and masculinity in all its barbaric glory. But few can boast raw power equal to that of Monster Jam. Enormous trucks, often adorned with fangs and spikes, whose insinuating names — Raminator, Rammunition, Devastator, Slinger, etc., — are trumped only by their cartoonish size in their demonstrative adulation of manhood.
For a not-so-exaggerated parody of this, one might refer to the “dildozer” scene in Mike Judge’s frighteningly prescient film Idiocracy. Or you could check out the real thing when Monster Jam returns to Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium, 1 Cardinals Drive, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 7. Tickets to the all-ages event are $26 and up. Visit the Monster Jam website or call 623-433-7101 for details. Rob Kroehler
The Storrs Objection: Rights
Matt Storrs is pretty passionate about being right. And his upcoming installment of The Storrs Objection takes that to the next level — by being right about rights.
The funnyman with a background in law hosts a recurring show in which he corrects fellow jokesters while they’re onstage. This month, Storrs and “co-counsel” Trejon Dunkley will cross-examine other comedians during The Storrs Objection: Rights. Comedians will take the stage to discuss current controversial topics, and Storrs and Dunkley will fact-check them during the set.
The crossfire comedy show goes down on Saturday, October 7, at Herberger Theater’s Kax Stage, 222 East Monroe Street. Admission for the event is $10. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Lindsay Roberts
“You Can’t Go Home Again”
Brooklyn artist Charlie Welch is fascinated by the concept of home, in part because he moved a lot during childhood. “I was always the new kid, a stranger, or just strange,” Welch says in press materials. Two traits have long served him well: a powerful imagination and a knack for creating with whatever materials he can find.
See what Welch came up with when he decided to make architectural models of his many childhood homes, then photograph them as part of his larger body of work exploring identify formation and related themes.
Welch’s photos are featured in the free “You Can’t Go Home Again” exhibition at Shortcut Gallery inside Phoenix General, 5538 North Seventh Street, Suite 120. Sunday hours on October 8 are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit the Phoenix General Facebook page. Lynn Trimble
Chris Guillebeau
Need some extra dough? It might be time for you to put into action one of those money-making ideas swirling around in your head.
Author Chris Guillebeau shares tips in his book Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days. Guillebeau also wrote the New York Times bestseller The $100 Startup, another guide to ways to make money while doing things you love.
Find out how to fill your penny jar when the author shares his latest at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, at Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 West Camelback Road. Admission is $25, which gets you one copy of the book and entry for two people. Call 602-274-0067 or visit the Changing Hands website. Amy Young
Indigenous Peoples Day
Time to party like it’s Indigenous Peoples Day. On Monday, October 9, the Heard Museum’s activities and entertainment run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and include scavenger hunts, the Wellness Warriors obstacle course, printmaking, live music, and way more things involving tepary beans than you ever imagined doing in front of other people.
Keynote speaker Arlene Joyce Hughes will talk about language retention and make you realize you do care about it, and you’ll get to play Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna), the first video game co-created by Alaska’s Iñupiat, on a big screen. At 7 p.m., short film 7th Voice (Sakowin Ho) focuses on indigenous youth protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Event admission is free (exhibitions still require regular admission) at 2301 North Central Avenue. Visit the Heard website or call 602-252-8840. Julie Peterson
Trivia and Taps
Drinkers and thinkers, Tuesdays are about to get a little better.
On October 10, DeSoto Central Market hosts Trivia and Taps. Front Row Trivia Live presents the Q&A session, which also features $5 pitchers of Blue Moon and prizes, at 915 North Central Avenue.
Get ready for a battle of smarts or just stop by to get your drink on starting at 7 p.m.
There is no cover for this all-ages event. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Lindsay Roberts
The Craft
Long before Mean Girls’ coven of high schoolers metaphorically killed fellow students with a wink, Fairuza Balk’s character in the 1996 cult classic The Craft actually did. She joins Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell as outcasts who discover witchcraft, unaware of the consequences of their sorcery.
Accompanied by a soundtrack of rock musicians covering songs from The Smiths to The Beatles, this film helped usher in the teen horror film revival of the late 1990s.
Conjure up some magic when The Craft screens at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 10, at Alamo Drafthouse Chandler, 4955 South Arizona Avenue. Admission is $12.94, which includes candles and (fake) snakes for you to cast your own spell. For more information, visit the Alamo Drafthouse Chandler website. Jason Keil
The Center for Native and Urban Wildlife’s annual plant sale offers different types of desert-adapted plants.
Edward Weigand
The right plant can make all the difference, whether you’re landscaping or sprucing up interior decor. During the Center for Native and Urban Wildlife’s annual plant sale on Wednesday and Thursday, October 11 and 12, you can browse different types of cactuses, shrubs, succulents, custom arrangements, and potted house plants — and get advice on plant care from experts.
The plants available are desert-adapted and help to provide food, nectar, and nesting spots for animals. Proceeds from the bi-annual sale go to the center, a nonprofit organization that’s part of Scottsdale Community College’s Life Sciences Department. The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at the SCC Greenhouse, 9000 East Chaparral Road. Plant costs range from $3 to $25, and the center only accepts cash and checks. For more information, see the Scottsdale Community College website. Laura Latzko
Phoenix Suns v. Portland Trailblazers
If patience is a virtue, Phoenix Suns fans rank among the NBA’s most virtuous. Once the Valley’s most beloved professional sports franchise, the Suns enter this season on a playoff drought that dates back to 2010, an eternity in sports years. And the team has seen their popularity wane as the appeal of local counterparts like the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Mercury continues to rise.
Still, the Suns have some promising pieces in place, most notably third-year guard Devin Booker and rookie defensive specialist Josh Jackson, suggesting there might be light at the end of the tunnel after all. Make no mistake though, it’s a long tunnel. The Suns host the Portland Trailblazers for a preseason showdown at Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 East Jefferson Street, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11. Tickets are $5 and up. Visit the Phoenix Suns website or call 602-379-2000. Rob Kroehler
