Best Costumed Mischiefmakers 2012 | Arizona Cacophony Society | People & Places | Phoenix
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Best Costumed Mischiefmakers

Arizona Cacophony Society

Whenever the members of the Arizona Cacophony Society don crazy costumes and stage one of their events, three things are guaranteed to ensue: drinking, hilarity, and mass amounts of chaos (pretty much in that order). These masters of madcap mischief organize four outrageous outings throughout the year that are open to the public and boast hundreds of participants. Each essentially is a massive bar crawl or boozefest where nutty outfits (not to mention a sense of humor) are the norm.

In the midst of the Christmas season, they don red Kris Kringle wear for Santarchy and descend upon Old Town Scottsdale in droves for a ho-ho hootenanny. Come springtime, bridal gowns are de rigueur for both men and women during the Brides of March bar crawl, followed a few weeks later by Fluor-Ascent (where participants cover themselves with glowsticks before climbing Piestewa Peak at night). The most creative annual event has to be the yearly Idiotarod, featuring humorously decorated shopping carts getting pulled and pushed around downtown Phoenix. If you happen to spy any of the Cacophony members bombing around, find a safe spot away from the madness and grab a few memorable pics with your cell phone. Or better yet, hit up their website and plan on joining in the fun.

Best Local Fantasy Author

Kevin Hearne

Local pub Rúla Búla is a stomping ground for all manner of colorful characters, including beer-swilling frat cats, devotees of Irish culture, and the usual Mill Avenue party crowd. And according to local author Kevin Hearne, it's also the preferred hangout of a 2,100-year-old druid named Atticus O'Sullivan, or at least it is in the pages of his bestselling urban fantasy novels. In the canon of Hearne's teen-oriented Iron Druid Chronicles, which depict an alternate universe version of the Valley in which supernatural beings like werewolves and demons are real, O'Sullivan is an immortal warrior-monk who possesses flaming red hair and a pair of mystical swords called Fragarach and Mortalltach. When he isn't working at his fictional Tempe occult shop Third Eye Books and Herbs or fighting demons or Celtic gods, the acerbic and quick-witted antagonist downs pints, feasts on fish and chips, and flirts with cute waitresses (one of whom reportedly is a witch) at Rúla Búla. Hearne, who was born and raised in Arizona, fills each Iron Druid tome (now at six books and counting) with plenty of humor and wry observations about Arizona life. We especially dig the fact he chose to set his series entirely in the Valley.

Best Local Porn Star

Priya Rai

By anyone's measure, Priya Anjali Rai is in the midst of a successful acting career. The 34-year-old East Indian starlet has been featured in dozens of movies, had her picture splashed across the pages of glossy magazines, won a major award for her talents, and has countless fans across the globe. Not bad for an ASU dropout.

There's one small difference between Rai and your average Hollywood ingénue, however: She acts in hardcore pornography. A native of New Delhi who emigrated to the United States as a child, she eventually wound up in Tempe studying as a Sun Devil in 2008, stripping and starring in skin flicks to help pay her way. When porn proved to be far more lucrative than higher learning, the voluptuous vixen (whose measurements are 34-25-35) decided to put ASU in the rearview. And she hasn't looked back. Rai, who divides her time between Phoenix and L.A., has been cast in more than 60 videos, including Office Perverts 2, Spicy Sexcapades, Cougar Hunter, and even an X-rated parody of HBO show Entourage. By the way, Rai's middle name roughly translates to "angel" in Hindi. Isn't it ironic?

Best Tutu

Bob Carey

Longtime Valley residents have loved homegrown photographer Bob Carey for years, but in 2012, the rest of the world met him — and fell in love, too. Carey first donned a tutu for a self-portrait in 2002 at the behest of Ballet Arizona, but sometime after his wife Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, The Tutu Project took on a name and a mission: raising money for breast cancer research. And then Bob-Carey-in-a-tutu went viral on the Internet. Maybe it was the void left by the beleaguered Susan G. Komen organization; most likely, it was the image of a burly 50-something dude in a pink tutu posing everywhere from a football field to Times Square that captured the world's attention, landing him on television shows from here to Australia. In any case, we all waited impatiently for Carey's book (full disclosure: New Times contributor Kathleen Vanesian wrote the introduction) to be released this fall, in conjunction with a show at Mesa Arts Center that runs through December 2. Bob, you are too-too much — and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Best Ballet Under the Desert Stars

Topia by Ballet Arizona

Ballet Arizona has had a "ballet under the stars" program for years. We've been, and it's lovely.

But last spring, our resident ballet company and its artistic director, Ib Andersen, teamed up with the Desert Botanical Garden to spoil us rotten — and now we're not sure any ballet will ever live up to Topia. Set on a stage custom-built for the performance (and twice as long as a traditional stage) and (in a ballsy move) placed outside at the far end of the garden, with a perfect backdrop of the Papago Buttes, desert foliage, and a star-spangled sky, Andersen's original choreography teamed with beautiful dancers, gorgeous near-naked costumes, and music by Beethoven to create one of the most breathtaking ballet experiences the Valley has ever witnessed. If you were lucky enough to see it, you know that Topia was magic — and best of all, a celebration of the best of our Valley. Too often we're jealous of other cities' arts experiences; not this time. Eat your heart out, world — we had Topia.

Best Contemporary Dance Collective

Scorpius Dance

Courtesy of Lisa Starry

Before you try a few new moves, you'll want to take some notes from the pros. And while the footwork choreographed by Lisa Starry for her Scorpius Dance Theatre might be a little much to take to the club, every step, bend, lift, and stretch performed by her dancers would be guaranteed to get you a double take — given you can pull 'em off. Starry founded Scorpius Dance in 1999, and ever since, her troupe of sexy, humorous, and kick-ass dancers has taken to countless stages in productions including A Vampire Tale, Catwalk, and this year's much-anticipated Kick-A, a local spin-off of the nationally acclaimed Carnival: Choreographers Ball, in which Starry found the "Best in the West" for Scorpius' first-ever choreographer showcase. Scorpius moves with a collective — and, yes, contemporary — emotion, grace, and magnetism that you'd be lucky to come across (or practice yourself) on a dance floor.

Best Classical Avant-Garde Performances

Downtown Chamber Series

Anyone convinced that classical music is all stuffy musicians in starched white collars needs to investigate the Downtown Chamber Series, a concert series that features highly skilled musicians of all ages interpreting the music of composers like minimalist Steve Reich and Beethoven in unexpected places, like downtown art space The Icehouse, restaurant/multi-purpose venue The Duce, and the Phoenix Art Museum. The sounds are strange and exciting, and the musicians bring an edgy spirit to the classical material that rivals the noisemakers at Trunk Space and can be as heavy as anything going on in the Nile Basement.

Best Independent Movie Theater

FilmBar

Sometimes sipping a stiff drink and taking in a movie is the best way to unwind. Lucky for cinephiles and cocktail enthusiasts (and those who fall into both categories) FilmBar lives up to its compound moniker.

With near-daily screenings of indie and foreign films, a stocked bar, and club-style nights with DJs, comedians, and other performers, it offers up a moviegoing experience unlike any other in the Valley. Combine all that with its recent expansions — including pairing up with AIGA for monthly design-focused documentary screenings, opening its doors to the under-21 crowd, and showing midnight flicks — and you're headed to the multiplex because why?

Best Luxury Movie Theater

AMC Esplanade 14

Reclining seats. Swing-over tray. Waitstaff that comes when you push a button. Going out to a movie has never seemed so civilized. AMC renovated and re-opened this theater in August 2011, and the experience is now first-class. Each time at the Dine-In Theater, we felt almost giddy for the first few minutes in our ultra-cushy recliner, and when we got our first cocktail, we giggled out loud. After a lifetime of cheap-to-middlin' movie seats, munching on popcorn and Milk Duds while sipping a Coke we shouldn't have upsized, we find the novelty of being served real food and alcoholic beverages — in a real glass! — very appealing. Another cool thing: Some of the 14 theaters are only for adults over 21 — nixing the possibility that we'll have to see someone take their 6-year-old to the new Saw flick. As the lights dim and the feature presentation begins, we raise a White Russian to AMC.

Best Budget Movie Theater

Pollack Tempe Cinemas

 The last time we took the kids to a movie, we had to take out a second mortgage on the house first. Next time, we figure, it'll be time to sell the second car. Just getting in the door of a first-run theater is a ridiculous prospect — let alone the situation at the snack bar. Which is why we are so grateful to Michael Pollack. Not only does the guy own just about every strip mall in the East Valley (really, people, where would Phoenix be without the strip mall?), he graciously houses the best budget theater in town in one of them. The selection is good (you'll catch the films that have just left the big movie houses) and best of all, movies are $3 — $2 on Tuesdays. Sure, the snack bar is still pricey, but Pollack's got such a crazy collection of movie memorabilia for your family to gawk at that the sensory overload will knock the appetite right out of 'em. The air-conditioning blasts, just like at the fancy joints, and no one will try to up-sell you on your bag of popcorn. Now that's luxury.

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