It’s hard to keep a good duo down. The crime-solving team of Navajo Nation police detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee lives on in the latest work from Anne Hillerman, who’ll discuss her first foray into fiction on Thursday, March 20.Leaphorn and Chee are the beloved protagonists of 18 of…

War Horse might prominently feature puppets but it’s definitely not going to be mistaken for a kid’s show show any time soon. The National Theatre Live presentation of the National Theatre’s production of the theatrical sensation gallops in on Friday, March 14.The acclaimed play was indeed adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s…

When the AZ GOP tried to send the state backward in time with SB 1062, we were already looking forward to the riled up crowds during Phoenix Pride weekend. The regressive ghouls behind the bill might have been beaten back, but we’re still fired up for the ramp up to…

In addition to the strong culture and spirit of Native Hawaiians, Hawaii is also a melting pot of South Pacific cultures. The 20th annual Arizona Aloha Festival brings some of that island style to downtown Tempe on Saturday, March 8.With three different stages for performances, you’re just as likely to…

The first three notes of the Super Mario Bros. theme song might be the most recognizable in the world. Seriously. Vocally ping out those three notes in a crowd and see if you aren’t joined instantly in blooping out that sweet Goomba-stomping music. Video Games Live will give the soundtracks…

When someone says that there’s no culture in Phoenix, they’re idiotically ignoring the popping local scene and the thousands of years that indigenous peoples have spent creating art around these parts. The 56th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, slated for Saturday, March 1, features contemporary Native American…

In La Traviata, Arizona Opera’s latest offering, it’s hard to believe that Alfredo Germont, the young nobleman in Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 opera, didn’t inspire the sad-sackery in Young MC’s “Bust-A-Move.” The dude’s heart gets dragged around like a rag doll.That’s not to say that Violetta Valéry, the central figure of…

As cool as some athletes from the Suns, D-Backs, and Cardinals are, it’d be a rare occasion that we’d see them engage in some cross-discipline collaboration. The Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona, and the Phoenix Symphony, on the other hand, are coming together on one stage for one night for the…

The restless music-hunter isn’t satisfied with what’s served up on the Top 40. If you found the Grammys more blah-some than awesome, the Oh My God, My Body, My Ears! concert performance marathon of modern, new, and emerging music compositions on Saturday, February 15, might be your bag.To kick off…

Jay Pharoah started on Saturday Night Live as the one of the youngest cast members and four seasons in he’s hit his stride. The stand-up and comic impressionist swings through the Valley on Friday.The Chesapeake, Virginia, native started his performer life in school and community theater productions but it was…

Weekend-long film challenges have become popular as a way for local filmmakers to maximize their creativity under pressure. Director Travis Mills leveled up and, with his Running Wild Films team, spent each week of 2013 creating a short film, all of which are featured in the 52 Films/52 Weeks Festival…

The new American Dream for Millennials involves flipping your Tumblr blog into a book deal. But the Indie Author Publishing Conference & Pitchapalooza at Burton Barr Central Library on Saturday, February 1, is all about teaching aspiring scribes about more realistic avenues.Giving advice on going DIY or seeking big league…

The Walking Dead is essentially the hottest television show on the planet. As the fourth season of AMC’s ongoing horror serial prepares to commence in a couple of weeks, the Amazing Arizona Comic Convention becomes ground zero for all things zombie, comics, and pop culture starting Friday, January 24.If you’ve…

The cool weather is nice, but Valley heatseekers might be getting antsy. If you can’t wait for the summer and you want to provide the flames, The Circus Farm’s Dragon Training is for anyone who wants a belly full of fire on Saturday, January 25.Crystal Cruz, better known to fans…

It’s pretty easy to fall down a Wikipedia K-hole: a quick search for that one actor whose name you can’t remember in that one movie that you can’t recall leads to an afternoon eventually swallowed up by a carousel of click-throughs. In contrast, The Encyclopedia Show AZ keeps us on…

Halloween seems like a distant memory and Comicon is over six months away. If your costume yen needs to be fulfilled, the fourth annual edition of Taiyou Con celebrates the different dimensions of Japanese pop culture starting Friday, January 3, that includes, yes, cosplay.You can bet your very rare Shining…

You might not ever make it to Austin, Texas, for SXSW, but one of the city’s institutions, Alamo Drafthouse, has been re-releasing long-lost movies that make for perfect late-night fare. The recently unearthed Ms. 45 is the Abel Ferrara-helmed revenge flick that will light up the screen at FilmBar Thursday,…

It’s a shame that Apple ditched its big cat-naming scheme for its operating system before the company could unveil OS X Sex Panther. Fortunately, the beer sultans of the San Tan Brewing Company created a brew worthy of the Anchorman-inspired moniker, which will be tapped and available Monday, December 30,…

The lull between Christmas and the New Year is a precarious time where mopeyness can creep in. Don’t let your guard down. Instead, put your nervous system into the capable and hilarious hands of sketch comedians Bully Mammoth on Saturday, December 29.Over the years, the Bully Mammoth crew (Christian Atkins,…

Nowadays, we kind of accept that rap stars might pop up on the silver screen. For better or for worse, Drake and Nicki Minaj are fair game for stunt casting. When legendary group Run DMC made the 1988 flick Tougher Than Leather, which screens Friday, December 27, that wasn’t the…

Give it up to the 170 years of the greatest holiday grump we’ve known. Ebenezer Scrooge gets down in the west Valley with his miserly self Friday, December 20, in Theater Works’ production of A Christmas Carol.Charles Dickens’ classic tale of spiritual turnaround was first conceived in 1843 as a…

For filmmaker George Lucas, there’s one embarrassment bigger than box office turkey Howard the Duck and prequel abomination Jar Jar Binks. FilmBar and Nerd Nite team up to unearth and laugh at The Star Wars Holiday Special on Wednesday, December 18.The Star Wars Holiday Special, unaired since 1978, is a…