Sedona resident Bruce Licher’s instrumental aggregate Scenic is breaking a two-and-a-half-year performance hiatus at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s opening reception for “southwestNET: architecture and design” on Thursday, May 29, followed by an encore performance the next evening at Modified Arts. Scenic, whose lineup includes Stinkweeds Records and Modified…
Thursday, May 29 Many celebrities owe their success to the early-’90s TV variety show In Living Color: the Wayans brothers, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez. Tommy Davidson can also include himself in that list, having launched to stardom as one of the comedy hit’s original…
On December 1, 1967, Time delivered the startling news: “The miniskirt is here to stay (till spring, anyway).” Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich appeared on the cover of that issue (the first American designer to do so), flanked by two models in space-age dresses. According to the magazine’s feature article, he…
Thursday, May 22 Glendale Union High School District shows off its assets on Thursday, May 22, with “Magnificent Seven,” an exhibition of seven stellar works of student art from each of the district’s nine schools. Refreshments and live entertainment from student musicians make for a lively opening reception from 5…
You could belt out Blondie’s “Call Me,” or ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” Maybe “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles. Fitting snugly in the cushiony pod, you select a song — David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” seems the most appropriate — and sing into a microphone, your voice echoing against a chorus of…
Thursday, May 15 There were few things more ominous and terrifying than the atomic bomb in the 1950s, but somehow the devastating new technology inspired a renaissance of dynamic, biomorphic art and design in that decade — just stroll through Phoenix Art Museum’s current exhibition, “Vital Forms: American Innovation in…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Thursday, May 1 Film Forward, a new film series at Madstone Theaters, offers the freshest batch of independent films to hit the Valley since the Phoenix Film Festival. Featuring two debut movies every two weeks starting Thursday, May 1, the series offers the only chance to see these films locally…
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…
4/25-4/27 One of the more interesting aspects of this particular planet’s people is the way we compartmentalize ourselves into identifiable groups. Nations are formed; flags are waved; and beliefs, customs and practices become identifiable over time as part of individual cultures. The word “culture” also can mean the enlightenment and…
Thursday, 24 You can’t help but be stunned by the incredible imagination of author Jasper Fforde, whose best-selling novel The Eyre Affair took readers on a fantastic journey with heroine Thursday Next, the “literary detective” who delves into the pages of the world’s great books to save the day. Now…
Denise Hamilton had no idea that her calling was to be a novelist. After all, with 10 years’ experience as a Los Angeles Times reporter and several more as a freelance writer, she was already successful in the world of newspapers. Then she joined a writing group and found unexpected…
Sat 4/12 In 1987, escalating war forced an estimated 17,000 Sudanese boys to flee their villages, many after seeing their parents killed. Only one-third survived a 1,000-mile, three-nation journey to a Kenyan refugee camp. In the last several years, nearly 4,000 of these “Lost Boys” have been resettled in the…
From Hiroshima to the Hula-Hoop, American visual culture was dramatically transformed by World War II and its aftermath. A new aesthetic emerged as reflected in fine art, architecture, fashion and furniture that stood in stark contrast to the harder, more machinelike forms of prewar design. And the fruits of this…
Thursday, March 27 Seductive silver-screen siren Mae West is the obsession at the heart of Dirty Blonde, the latest production from Arizona Theatre Company, which begins previews with an 8 p.m. show on Thursday, March 27. Snippets of the Hollywood bombshell’s career are interspersed with the tale of a budding…
People in different parts of the world take pride in their local specialties, especially if they have a high alcohol content. So in the Southwest, with our proximity to Mexico, it’s practically patriotic to knock back some mighty fine tequila, which takes its place in the pantheon of world libations…
Considering how the Valley was blessed with a mild winter balmy days and even a hot streak back in January we sure can’t complain about cabin fever. But nevertheless, we’ve been struck with an inexplicable urge to get out and catch some rays before they turn brutal in a couple…
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Thursday, February 20Arizona Dance Arts Alliance brings several of the Valley’s top modern dance companies to Scottsdale Center for the Arts on Thursday, February 20, to launch the 9th Annual Arizona Contemporary Dance Festival. Performances by A Ludwig Dance Theatre, Center Dance Ensemble, Desert Dance Theatre, Instinct Dancecorps and Scorpius…
