There’s no business like slide-show business. And, certainly, there’s no stage act like the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. “We are a conceptual art-rock-pop-music-multimedia spectacular unlike anything the city of Phoenix has ever seen before,” says Jason Trachtenburg, singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist. “I’m not just saying that.” Saying what, exactly? “Here’s the concept: The…

11/5-11/9 The nuptial mood can go to hell in about two seconds when the bride’s ex is in the honeymoon suite next door, as in Noel Coward’s play Private Lives. “It’s what I call quaint comedy,” says actress Maren Maclean. “It’s not slapstick or falling-down funny, it’s intelligent, witty humor.”…

Fri 10/31 This Halloween, the Arizona Science Center puts the “ick” in trick-or-treat, inviting little demons to indulge in groovy gross-out activities — designing spider webs, making slime and dissecting a pig’s heart. Halloweenies need not apply.From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, October 31, Hallopalooza Family Night transforms the center,…

Sat 11/1 Bursting with civic pride? Take a civic ride. This Saturday, November 1, the Central City Bike Expedition takes to the streets of downtown for an exercise in urban awareness.Sponsored by the City of Phoenix, the excursion — seven miles, four hours — departs Encanto Park at 8 a.m…

10/30-11/2 They call it “the 14th Annual Arizona Classic Jazz Festival,” and by “classic,” they primarily mean Dixieland, ragtime and swing: the three faces of pre-World War II jazz that rocked your grandparents’ world.As Dick Knutson — a featured musician and husband of fest director Jeanne Knutson — puts it,…

Call it “the Valley of the Sundance.” Hardly known as a hotbed of indie or international film, the Valley — thanks to the Scottsdale International Film Festival — is finally making some cinematic strides. According to festival director and founder Amy Ettinger, the big shots at the Toronto International Film…

10/23-10/26 Darkness falls across the land/ The midnight hour is close at hand/ Creatures crawl in search of blood/ To terrorize yawl’s neighborhood . . . Michael Jackson — not just the king of pop, but also the king of freaky — isn’t the only one with the 411 on…

10/25-10/26 In a rather calculated move, Phoenix Theatre’s Cookie Company is setting math to music. The children’s theater troupe opens its season this weekend by Taking the Wrath Out of Math. The new play’s grade-school heroine learns — with a little singing and dancing along the way — that (ugh!)…

Sat 10/25 It’s the State Fair’s most gripping entertainment — hands-down. On Saturday, October 25, “the Super Bowl of Arm Wrestling” — i.e. Armwrestling USA’s United States Championships — pits competitors from across the country against feisty fairgoers wanting to elbow their way into the action. The culmination of a…

Sat 10/25 For all of you Peeping and would-be Peeping Toms, The Roosevelt Historic District is offering the perfect way to peep without getting slapped with jail time. TourFest, a guided tour of more than 20 houses, lofts and businesses, allows a rare view into buildings that date back to…

10/18-10/19 The first Rastafarian, Leonard Howell, said, “Everyone, regardless of race or religion, is a Rasta deep within.” Get together with the rest of mon-kind at the 5th Annual Legends of Rasta Reggae Festival Tour (formerly the Annual Bob Marley Festival Tour) from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, October 18,…

Sat 10/18 You deserve a breakdance today. The ASU Hip Hop Coalition boogies into Burton Barr Library’s Teen Central this Saturday, October 18, for a hip-hop hoedown. From 2 to 4 p.m., DJ demos set the beat as breakdancers, graffiti artists and freestylers take to the floor, and participants ages…

Sat 10/18 Hunched over your Cheerios in the morning, staring at the 2 percent milk, ever find yourself thinking, “I could build a boat out of this here milk carton . . .”? Us neither. But some brainiac in Seattle did, and the city now hosts an annual milk carton…

10/17-11/16 The 38th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Sale kicks off its boots on Friday, October 17, at the Phoenix Art Museum. For a mere $200, you can rub elbows with some of the most notable art collectors in the state. But if $200 has you cringing, you can attend…

He may be a comedy legend, but Tim Conway knows that the humor business — and his place in it — aren’t to be taken seriously. Though he rode the fame wave on The Carol Burnett Show, not all of Conway’s projects have been successful. He recently spotted a cable…

Sun 9/28 Author Eric Carle has illustrated more than 70 books with his hand-painted collage imagery. His whimsical tales of the animal world are read by millions of children worldwide. With the help of a black light and puppets based on Carle’s illustrations, Very Eric Carle brings three of these…

9/25-11/6 Spread the words: The Valley’s top slam poets have a shot at the big time — the World Championship Poetry Crown. Slammers judged to be the best of the verse will represent Phoenix at the 2004 World Poetry Slam Championship, set for February in the world poetry capital –…

Sat 9/27 No time to cruise? No matter. Landlocked Arizonans can experience exotic island culture at this weekend’s Caribbean Multicultural Festival, which brings native music, food, dancers, storytellers, and arts and crafts to Heritage Square, 601 East Monroe. The Caribbean American Association of Arizona, in conjunction with the Children With…

9/19-10/5 In one play, a gay man is found tied to a fencepost after 18 blows from the butt of a handgun killed him. In the other, a young woman’s uncle teaches her to drive, and then sexually abuses her. Both plays — The Laramie Project and How I Learned…

9/19-4/18 They may not be as fleet-footed as frogs or as flashy as, say, fireflies, but turtles — unhurried and self-contained — have charms all their own. Starting this Friday, September 19, a world-première exhibition at the Mesa Southwest Museum takes a long look under the shell. Through specimens living…

Sat 9/20 You support them with every paycheck, but how well do you really know them? Public lands, we mean. This Saturday, September 20, is National Public Lands Day; from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., take the kids to meet your other legacy — the United States’ wide-open spaces –…

9/18-9/20 It is fitting that September marks not only the opening of an inspiring exhibition in Scottsdale, but also the month that Frida Kahlo endured a horrific accident. In 1925, Kahlo woke up with a disabled body she hadn’t counted on and would have to live with for the rest…