The news that artist Rose Johnson had died suddenly in Bali on May 31 seemed like a bad dream. Johnson left indelible marks on Arizona in her final 10 years in Bisbee and, prior to that, during a long residence in Phoenix. The strongest impressions were not painted on her…
We want our belongings to work as hard as we do. That wish sometimes clashes, gladiator-like, with artists’ urge to make art that does not, on the surface, seem to offer such immediate usefulness. But not at MADE art boutique, where daily inventory and scheduled exhibits both show off what…
For every person who claims that Tempe’s Gammage Auditorium is a marvel of acoustic excellence, you can probably find one who’s been subjected to plays that sound like talking mud. Apparently, it has to do with where you’re sitting and what kind of performance it is — whether it’s instrumental…
By the end of the summer, a lot of parents will probably be thinking, “The last thing my kid needs is more creativity and self-esteem.” But you know that’s just the vacation desperation kicking in; really, we all need to be dragged away from our glowing screens, and Childsplay’s little summer revival of last season’s…
Just in case you’re wondering, the third annual AZ Salsa Festival is not about the stuff you eat. It’s a celebration of Latin dance featuring hot DJ sets and electrifying performances by international superstars. To quell the potential confusion, the patient, good-natured event organizers at www.AZSalsa.net provided the following answers…
This part of Arizona’s growing season, though somewhat curtailed by heat, is a fun, quirky treasure hunt, too, because every local ag-head is harvesting a unique mix of produce. But colorful fresh peppers are a constant at the moment, just about everywhere you look. Carl Seacat enjoys introducing us to…
Summer evenings hereabouts illustrate our own personal theory of relativity: 97 degrees feels pretty darn good if you’re climbing out of a 104-degree hot tub. Similarly, while some Minnesota pansy might find a Flashlight Tour of Desert Botanical Garden a trifle warm, we’re doing the happy dance about getting away…
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the first musical based on Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, is a warm-hearted, straightforward appreciation of the joys and challenges of being a regular little kid. Little kids in the audience tend to enjoy the scenes about lunchtime, Valentine’s Day, romantic crushes, struggles with…
We talked with farmer Sri about what’s in this week’s harvest, and she waxed eloquent about summer fruits: “The figs are awesome! And we have a whole big apple box of lemons for ten bucks. Lemons are almost gone — they’re dropping,” probably from those storms just before Memorial Day…
I can’t keep saying I don’t like musicals when it turns out I enjoy myself at so many of them, so I guess I’ve processed whatever early trauma was getting in the way. Though I run into a clinker every now and then, our Valley has a lot of talented, fun, creative…
Here’s some really new news: Event management company Pro Em is hosting a farmers’ market and rummage sale (plus an informal job fair) at their facility at 4707 East Baseline Road (just west of I-10) tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon. If all goes well, the event might return in…
Oh, these crazy contemporary English playwrights, always messing with us one way or another and making us feel like wet-behind-the-ears Colonial idiots. Prime example Howard Barker, who created a movement called Theater of Catastrophe, plunks his nasty, alienating scenarios into historical settings the U.S. public schools tend not to touch on (so for…
Arizona State University professor and intermedia star Muriel Magenta has drawn on a career’s worth of creativity to develop CLUB M, an immersive “video environment” that’s likely to rule festivals, galleries, and the Internet with its fusion of dance, music, and tech, including footage of human dancers from ASU and…
Shannon Whirry and Steven J. Scally play people with problems in Bug. I could see from the promo photos that iTheatre Collaborative’s production of Bug re-uses Christopher Haines’ evocative cheap-motel box set from Eat the Taste earlier this season, which is great by me. I can think of several other plays that would also look…
Discretion is the less sweaty part of valor, we muse as we stare into the daunting maw of summer. Take Ro Ho En, the Japanese Friendship Garden, which takes its ultra-sensible annual break beginning June 1. But before we say sayonara, we’ll watch girls go by dressed in their summer…
Some flowers make a cute and colorful edible garnish. Some, like roses and hibiscus, impart magical flavor through their essences. But the large and meaty squash blossom is practically an entree on its own and has enriched its local cuisines for centuries. The taste is much like young tender squash,…
Kansas City-based Theater League presents in just seven U.S. cities, so it’s always felt kind of like Phoenix’s own little Shubert Organization. Although TL does produce shows itself, its Passport to Broadway series snags national road companies of hot musicals from the tour producers (for example, the sparkling Mamma Mia!…
Each of the Valley’s farmers’ markets has its own distinctive atmosphere. That’s fun to suss out, but we’re all about the produce, too. The Roadrunner Park Farmers’ Market, just off the 51 on Cactus Road, is Phoenix’s oldest — it’ll celebrate its 20th birthday in October — and both the…
Nineteen-year-old Aline Sibomana was a toddler when her family fled their Burundi home for a refugee camp in Tanzania, but says, “I remember pretty much everything. You grow up fast there.” Sibomana is one of the castaways featured in the “Refugee Status at School: Photographs by Eliza Gregory” exhibit, developed…
First off, I want to make sure you know that Black Theatre Troupe replaced their originally scheduled season closer, Three Sistahs, with a second run of Revenge of a King, which you really ought to catch if you haven’t already (it plays through Sunday, May 10). (Read Robrt L. Pela’s…
A jungle, an ocean, a wild maze of huge, sprawling plants bearing thousands of colorful, fragrant fruit. That’s how it feels just a few steps into the tomato beds in Seacat Gardens’ leased acre on the edge of Blue Sky Farms in Litchfield Park. “I just started here last fall,”…
Feminists knitting in their dorm rooms. People buying handmade. Folks making stuff out of garbage. (Words fail us. Did you know there are Houston taggers who knit their graffiti?) We totally saw DIY coming, and so did Milwaukee’s Faythe Levine, who explored the indie crafting and art community for her…
