Turn up the heat at the cool Celebrity Theatre, as Midgetmania and Divas Unleashed hit the Valley of the Sun at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 30 (rescheduled from May 29). The music, the costumes and the excitement of big-time wrestling explode in full measure. Monitored by a mini-referee, favorite little…
5/22-6/28 It was 1984. Reaganomics were trickling down, collars were turning up, and an unknown Kevin Bacon, with his sassy spiked hair and angry choreography, made the world safe for dancing. Nearly 20 years later, the Footloose phenomenon parties on, as a stage version of the movie opens Thursday, May…
5-28-6/19 This week the watchdogs of the Phoenix art scene will drop their bones and let you have a look at what they’ve been up to. Opening Wednesday, May 28, “Sentinels: The Exhibition” is a mixed-media exhibition compiled by the likes of Janet de Berge Lange, Joel Coplin, Jeff Falk,…
5/24-5/31 Summer is a ripe peach, juice dripping off our elbows. At Schnepf Family Farms in Queen Creek, the trees bow low with fruit so junior pickers can reach the branches, in time for Grandma’s Baking Day. Sign up your son or daughter for this tasty event that has kids…
Sun 5/25 As the old saying goes, “Who does not love wine, women and song, remains a fool his whole life long” — which also happens to be the credo of Paula Cullison, who has gathered 23 female restaurateurs, caterers and wine experts for the second annual Wine, Women &…
5/16-6/22 Stuck in a society more concerned with the workings of popular culture than with works of fine art, a trio of local artists has struck a shrewd artistic balance. Offering a modern take on the Pop Art movement that painted the 1950s and ’60s with colorful, consumerist images, “Popped…
5/16-5/17 Tensions can run high during the merciless Phoenix summer; for those beaten down by ever-rising temperatures, some hoop therapy’s in order.Let the healing begin this weekend, when the fiery Phoenix Mercury sets the pace for season seven with two preseason games. The local ladies of the WNBA face the…
5/165/17 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Elvis Presley has been swimming in it since his death in 1977. From his hip-swiveling ’50s maverick, shown on TV only from the waist up, to his jumpsuit-wearing dinner show crooner of the Vegas years, Elvis provided poseurs with multiple personas…
5/9-6/1 In 1998, the musical Parade swept Broadway with its tragic tale of a man accused and murdered for a crime he didn’t commit. Based on the true story of Leo Frank, who was tried and lynched for the murder of one of his employees in 1917, the musical won…
5/8-5/31 With boldly colored canvases recently hung on the pristine white walls, David White, owner and director of downtown’s New Urban Art, beams with satisfaction at the work in his new exhibition. “This is optimistic art,” he says.Indeed, the work from Berlin-based Jean Milu Truesdale, Italian-born Marco Casentini, and prominent…
5/9-5/11 The endlessly optimistic Thomas the Tank Engine is rolling into Arizona. The modern-day equivalent to Watty Piper’s Little Engine That Could (“I think I can, I think I can”), Thomas has won the hearts and minds of many a tyke during his travels. Thomas pulls into the Grand Canyon…
ONGOING You want to go hiking, but you’re new to Arizona, or your partner is a spud, or you just need a new outdoor crew. The Arizona Motorola Hiking Club, a.k.a. The Trailblazers, invites you to join them for day hikes in some of the prettiest spots in Arizona. Formerly…
Sat 5/10 With a little imagination, the seemingly divergent can become surprisingly complementary. Combine the highlights of a football game with a night at the symphony, for instance, and you’ve got an interesting outing: Sipping wine from 32-ounce plastic cups and waving giant foam oboes, audience members stomp in unison…
Tattooists whose artistic vision transcends their trade often need a larger canvas to flesh out the details. “Tattoo AZ,” opening this weekend at downtown’s Alwun House, spotlights the works that result when tattooists forsake skin for nonorganic media. A party on Saturday, May 10, kicks off the second biennial exhibition…
Wed 5/7 Anyone who missed the wonderful documentary Buena Vista Social Club, about the fantastic musicians and music of Cuba, has a chance to more than make up for the karmic deficit by attending what promises to be a brilliant performance by the Afro-Cuban All Stars at 8 p.m. Wednesday,…
5/1-5/31 Plump infants, a Pietà scene and a man meditating in the lotus position are among the timeless images in artist Casey McKee’s latest exhibition, “Iconoclast,” which he suggests reflects a new direction in his work. “It’s a series I’ve been thinking about for at least a year and a…
5/1-5/11 The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, a powerful Japanese folktale turned children’s play, begins when a cruel lord captures a Mandarin duck because he covets his exquisite plumage. When a kitchen servant sees that the enforced captivity is destroying the bird’s beauty, she frees him, causing the evil lord…
Thu 5/1 We’ve thought long and hard about it — there’s no other puppet show quite like Puppetry of the Penis. When was the last time you saw such a ballsy performance?There’s a strong buzz about this stage show that’s selling out theaters from London to New York to Los…
This weekend’s Cinco de Mayo Phoenix Festival is set to celebrate Mexico’s 1862 Battle of Puebla victory in a big way: by piling up the world’s largest plate of nachos. Some 200,000 revelers are expected at the three-day fiesta, where the chips will be stacked so high that the Guinness…
Fri 4/25 Looking for a wild time? You’d be hard-pressed to find a more primal party on Friday, April 25, than ZooBrew at the Phoenix Zoo. Now in its third year, the celebration lets Phoenicians make a toast to the animal kingdom while enjoying the zoo’s exotic environment (sure beats…
Sat 4/26 “…My father had a foot in each country, where the mud on each boot caked the same, and the dirt sifted the same through each hand. And the earth had but one scent, and as far as he could see . . . the vista was unbroken.”So begins…
4/26-4/27 The Arizona Science Center is making a big stink, and kids with a nose for fun will want to get more than a whiff. A two-day salute to the fifth sense, the center’s Sense of Smell Weekend engages little learners with hands-on activities. Visitors can make soap from unconventional…
