Rhymes With Equality
You Racist, Sexist, Bigot is a film directed by Matty Steinkamp and Pita Juarez, host of the podcast Mira Listen. It features stories of Americans overcoming discrimination. Rhymes With Equality is a benefit event for the documentary, which will make its way around the festival circuit next year. Poet and performer Melissa Dunmore of Mujeres del Sol will host a night of poetry from Yovani Flores and Rashaad Thomas and young poets from the School of Hip-Hop Phoenix. Additionally, The Stakes will perform, and they plan to debut the video for their latest single, “Prophecy.”
The event starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, at Valley Bar, 130 North Central Avenue. Admission is $10. For more information, visit the Valley Bar website. Jason Keil
Obscura Dance Night Winter is Glamorous (WIG) Party
Get your wigs, kids, because after a hiatus, the Obscura Dance Night Winter is Glamorous (WIG) Party is back.
Rips Ales & Cocktails, 3045 North 16th Street, will host the hairpiece-themed party. DJ Court will soundtrack the evening with synthpop, Britpop,New Wave, and indie. In the spirit of holiday giving, there will be ticket giveaways for upcoming concerts like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Real Estate, and STFKR.
The 21-and-up event will kick off at 8:30 p.m. and run until 2 a.m. on Saturday, December 23. There is no cover charge before 9 p.m., and it’s $5 after. For more information, visit the Facebook event page. Lindsay Roberts
Arizona Cardinals v. New York Giants
There’s nothing more American than football and cheeseburgers. And when it comes to the NFL, if the Dallas Cowboys are the Big Mac, then the New York Giants are the Whopper, as enduring and iconic a team as any the league has to offer. So when first-time head coach Ben McAdoo benched the team’s most respected member, quarterback Eli Manning, in favor of mercurial and unproven backup Geno Smith, he caused quite a stir in the national sports community.
Not surprisingly, when the Giants visit Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium, 1 Cardinals Drive, on at 2:25 p.m. on Sunday, December 24, Eli will be on the field and Coach Ben will be on the bench — make that the couch. Tickets are $18 and up. Visit the Cardinals website or call 623-433–7101 for details. Rob Kroehler
The cast of Scrooge in Rouge plays the cast of something else. Don’t ask.
Candice Thornton, Easel Photography
Stage comedy teems with meta-situations in which characters who are actors (keep up, here) must go on in place of other actors (that is, characters) who’ve fallen ill and/or died or something. “Unplanned” cross-dressing and quick changes fail humorously (on purpose — keep up, here). Other shows showcase the virtuosity of players who officially depict 50 people each.
For the second year now, Mesa Encore Theatre presents Scrooge in Rouge, a rowdy English-music-hall homage in which three plucky actor-characters suddenly have to portray everybody in A Christmas Carol. The humor’s naughty, the songs are astonishing, and it’s partly inspired by real-life male impersonator Vesta Tilley. Sunday, December 24’s showtime is 2:30 p.m. at MET’s Black Box, 933 East Main Street. For tickets, $15, visit the Mesa Encore Theatre website or call 480-834-9500. Julie Peterson
