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Nerdy movie madness, basketball, and holiday haps make this week's must-do list.
The Day of the Doctor @ AMC Ahwatukee 24 Cincinnati Bengals fans say "Who Dey" and New Orleans Saints fans opt for "Who Dat." We'll roll with "Who Day," in honor of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, which will be commemorated with the 3D episode The Day of the Doctor on Monday, November 25
See also: 41 Must-Attend Holiday Events in Metro Phoenix
Full-on geek love for Doctor Who has reached a fever pitch over the past decade, a far cry from its black & white beginnings on the BBC. This 50th anniversary special, properly episode 240, will have everyone's favorite Time Lord rocking the TARDIS with appearances by the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), and John Hurt as The Doctor.
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor in 3D screens at AMC Ahwatukee 24, 4915 East Ray Road, at 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 10 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more info and additional Valley theaters hosting a screening, visit www.doctorwho.tv. -- Jose Gonzalez
The Mountaintop @ Herberger Theater Center It's been 50 years since 1963's March on Washington (itself timed to the Emancipation Proclamation's centennial) featuring Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Over the next five years, President Kennedy, Malcolm X, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. King would be assassinated. Hundreds more were murdered. Heights of courage and inspiration battled horrifying violence. Civil rights' unstoppable train keeps rolling.
The Mountaintop, presented by Arizona Theatre Company through Sunday, December 1, imagines King alone in his Memphis motel room on the last night of his life, visited by a mysterious chambermaid bearing coffee and cigarettes. After the show's London première made Katori Hall the first black woman to receive the Olivier Award for Best New Play, The Mountaintop moved to Broadway in 2011. Snag your tickets ($49 to $72) for Tuesday, November 26's 7:30 p.m. show at Herberger Theater Center, 222 East Monroe Street, at www.ticketmaster.com or 602-256-6995. -- Julie Peterson
Phoenix Suns vs. Portland Trail Blazers @ US Airways Center Markieff Morris might be for real. The 13th player taken in the 2011 draft, Morris was wholly underwhelming in his first two seasons (he averaged nearly as many fouls per game as he did points) and figured to be little more than a role player on a bad team this year. Instead, Morris suddenly looks like an unstoppable inside scoring presence. His turnaround goes a long way toward explaining the Phoenix Suns' surprising start, but it's still too early to tell if this is all a fluke.
Morris will face a stiff test Wednesday, November 27, when the Suns host All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge and his Portland Trail Blazers at US Airways Center, 201 East Jefferson Street. Morris' hot start will look a lot less fluky if he can keep pace with Aldridge.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $20 and are available through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 602-379-7867. -- Ed Kummerer
ZooLights @ Phoenix Zoo Remember that time you wrapped up your family dog in Christmas lights and watched him zoom around the back yard like a swarm of angry fireflies? Yeah, ZooLights is better than that. The annual winter festival turns the Phoenix Zoo into a dazzling display of luminescence that features 3.7 million total lights and more than 700 light displays spread throughout the animal exhibits, and this year you'll even find some characters from The Wizard of Oz -- including those damn flying monkeys.
ZooLights illuminates the Phoenix Zoo, 55 North Galvin Parkway, from Thursday, November 28, through Sunday, January 12, 2014. The attraction is open from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. Admission is $10 Sunday through Thursday, $14 Friday and Saturday, and always free for kids 2 and younger. Call 602-273-1341 or visit www.phoenixzoo.org for more. -- Zachary Fowle
The Capitol Steps @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Politics have always been a hot topic for comedians. Throw in a little song and dance, plus some wry word play, and you have the Capitol Steps. This long-running comedy troupe -- originally comprising Senate staffers in search of some off-kilter holiday cheer -- has been satirizing presidents, American politics, and the public's sense of governmental confidence and well-being since 1961. Known for such lyrical ditties as "If I Tax a Rich Man," "Buy, Buy American Pie," and "Loonies on the Right," the current political follies that confront Washington provide plenty of fresh fodder ripe for the picking. With 30 side-splitting albums already requiring Top Secret clearance, the latest, Fiscal Shades of Gray, is available by NSA download.
Step out with the Capitol Steps at 8 p.m. Friday, November 29, at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 East Second Street. Tickets are $49, $59, and $69. Call 480-499-8587 or visit www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org. -- Glenn BurnSilver
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