Ballet Arizona Presents La Bayadère at Symphony Hall Ballet Arizona's production of La Bayadère will be a feast for the eyes. With costumes and sets designed by Sergiy Spevyakin, borrowed from Boston Ballet's 2010 production, the show will offer the vibrancy of India's most fantastical palette with rich silks and crystal embellishments.
See also: 14 Valentine's Day Events in Metro Phoenix
Those beautiful trappings come with a story of love, lust, and loss that takes the Romeo and Juliet this-ain't-gonna-work formula to a new level of complexity. A temple dancer falls in love with a warrior, and happily ever after their story is not, thanks to palace politics and a princess in need of a husband. Thankfully, opium and death await -- happy Valentine's Day.
The story of the temple dancer plays through Sunday, February 16. The production opens at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 13, at Symphony Hall, 75 North Second Street. Tickets are $25 and up and available by calling 602-381-1096 or at www.balletaz.org. -- Becky Bartkowski
Whitney Cummings at Stand Up Live Nothing says romance like Whitney Cummings telling you and your beau what's really going on. Cummings is an actress, comedian, creator of Whitney, and co-creator of the hit CBS show 2 Broke Girls.
The edgy Los Angeles-based comic has made a name for herself telling men what women are really thinking. Examples range from: How they couldn't give a shit about a piece of paper -- specifically, a marriage license -- to how they can't wait to take a shit at the Rite Aid down the street.
Feel the love when Cummings returns to Phoenix Friday, February 14, through Sunday, February 16, to perform at Stand Up Live, 50 West Jefferson Street. Showtimes are 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $28 with a two-drink minimum for this 21-and-over show. A special three-course Valentine's Day meal package will be offered on Friday for $57.28. Visit www.standuplive.com or call the box office at 480-719-6100. -- Katie Johnson
WWE Live! at US Airways Center It's often said that wrestling is one of the oldest and purest forms of athletic competition. For the ancient Greeks, who made the sport the highlight of their olympic games, wrestling was both science and divine art. We wonder what they would think if we took them to the US Airways Center for WWE Live.
Would they cheer as The Rhodes Brothers, New Age Outlaws, The Real Americans, and The USO's battled in a four-way tag-team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship? Would they be awestruck during the steel cage match between current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and John Cena? Would they understand the import of every match as these wrestling giants pimp-slapped and pile-drove their way toward Wrestlemania 30, the biggest wrestling event of the year? Probably not. But the ancient Greeks also wrestled in the nude, so what do they know?
The smackdown starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 15, at 201 East Jefferson Street. Tickets start at $20. Visit www.wwe.com or call US Airways Center at 866-625-4586 for more. -- Zachary Fowle
Fetish Revolution 2014 at Marquee Theatre It's time to get down with your bad self. Horns and Halos Productions is celebrating its 10th anniversary season with Fetish Revolution 2014. The Genitorturers will bring their 20 Years of Depravity Show to the stage along with other acts including Valerie Gentile & Abbey Nex, The Audio Virus, Midori, Samar, Life Suspended, and Horns and Halos' resident DJ Pneumatic Fist. A limited number of VIP packages are available and include express entry into the venue, a VIP seating and bar area, a human sushi platter, a human dessert platter, and a souvenir lanyard.
Fetish Revolution 2014 goes down Saturday, February 15, at Marquee Theatre, 730 North Mill Avenue in Tempe. The show starts at 8 p.m. General admission is $22 in advance, $27 at the door, and VIP tickets are $50. Guests must be 18 years or older to party, 21 and over to drink. To purchase tickets, visit www.luckymanonline.com or call 480-829-0707. -- Katie Johnson
The 26th Annual Renaissance Festival at Renaissance Festival Grounds For many of us the budget's tight this time of year. Still reeling from our holiday hangovers, we lock down our pocketbooks, put our credit cards on an aggressive diet and some of us even begin to make good on our New Year's resolutions.
Well, this weekend should just about spoil all of that. Not only is this Friday Valentine's Day, a holiday specifically designed by subversive corporations to combat the economy's annual February funk, but the Arizona Renaissance Festival is back in action. So if you and your spouse had been planning on tightening up the tourniquet on that hemorrhaging mess of a checking account, but you simply can't resist herculean turkey legs, medieval margaritas, and jousting reenactments, best saddle up, ye wenches and serfs, because the pleasure feast awaits.
Gates open at 10 a.m. Sunday, February 16. Festival grounds are located at 12601 East Highway 60, Gold Canyon. Tickets for adults are $21 online or $22 at the festival's box office. Visit www.royalfaires.com/arizona or call 520-463-2600 for details. -- Rob Kroehler
