Best Evening Radio Show 2022 | The Bill Brady Show | Megalopolitan Life | Phoenix
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Best Evening Radio Show

The Bill Brady Show

Aching to ogle at Arizona's craziest candidates ahead of November's general election? Pining for a preview of the Arizona Cardinals' season debut against the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs? Talk radio veteran Bill Brady says, "Why not both?" The Bill Brady Show airs every weekday afternoon from 5 to 7 p.m. on 1100 AM radio, so tune in on your drive home from work and enrich your day with what he calls "a return to common sense commentary." His instantly recognizable voice has graced the ears of Valley residents during interviews with everyone from CIA directors to sports greats such as NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. Most recently, Brady has taken in-depth dives with the Arizona Wildcats, state candidates including Adrian Fontes, and even New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Best Newscaster

Brahm Resnik

Journalists are used to taking their lumps. Many save hate mail as a badge of honor and a story to swap over beers. GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake's beef with Brahm Resnik, KPNX-Channel 12's host of the Sunday Square Off talk show, is something categorically different. It came to a head a year ago when Lake held a rally to stomp on a COVID mask for the cameras. Resnik tried to get a question in; Lake ducked it and called Resnik a traitor and accused him, for the cameras, of refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. After she aired an ad during Sunday Square Off making the same bogus claims, Resnik invited her for a sit-down interview at any time. (He's still waiting.) Historical note: Many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were publishers, and it's no coincidence that the first addition to the Bill of Rights established freedom of the press. In that tradition, Resnik has carried on doing his job, not stooping into the gutter, and calling bullshit on political nonsense in Arizona, of which there is an ample supply. Enemy of democracy? Try guardian of it.

Best Place to See a Broadway Musical

ASU Gammage

The bright lights of Broadway are about 2,500 miles northeast of here. But we don't miss the Great White Way so much when we're sitting in the audience at ASU Gammage. The 3,000-seat auditorium is the last building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright — he based it on a design he made for a Baghdad, Iraq, opera house that was never built. After decades of attending shows there, we're convinced there's not a bad seat in the house. ASU Gammage is the only place in town that's shown the blockbuster musical Hamilton, and it's usually the first one of the local theaters to get Broadway hits such as Come From Away and Frozen when they begin their national tours. Add in tasty themed cocktails for every show, plenty of parking, and great dining options near its Tempe location, and you've got a script for a perfect night out at the theater.

Best Callup to the Big Leagues

¡Americano!

It's a scenario most of us can't even fathom (unless we're Alexander Hamilton or Carole King): seeing our life story turned into a successful musical. But the life of Tony Valdovinos, an Arizona man who tried to join the Marines and discovered that he was an undocumented immigrant, brought to the U.S. at the age of 2, captivated local audiences when it came to the stage at The Phoenix Theatre Company as ¡Americano! in 2020, directed by Phoenix Theatre's producing artistic director Michael Barnard. Then came the big news: ¡Americano! was headed east to Off-Broadway, where it opened at New World Stages in May. It ran until mid-June and attracted attention from everyone from former President Barack Obama to Broadway darling Lin-Manuel Miranda while highlighting the struggles of DREAMers such as Valdovinos, those individuals who seek citizenship and acceptance in the only home most of them can remember. Bravo.

Best World Premiere

Juan Gabriel

It's hard to shake the stereotype that ballet is boring, but there was no doubt that ballet can be bold and beautiful as dancers with Ballet Arizona took to the stage to perform Juan Gabriel, a work choreographed by the company's artistic director, Ib Andersen. The full-length ballet perfectly embodied the flamboyant spirit of this iconic Mexican performer through movement, music, and costume design. Latinos have deep roots in Phoenix, and soon they'll comprise the majority of people living in the greater Phoenix community, so we love the way that Andersen is leaning into Latino culture, creating work that embraces and celebrates its vibrancy and impact.

Best Outdoor Performance

Round

It's easy to take the beauty of the Sonoran Desert for granted, surrounded as we are by its alluring textures, colors, and sounds. When Ballet Arizona performed Ib Andersen's Round at Desert Botanical Garden, we were thrilled to be reminded of all its bounties. Andersen exquisitely choreographed this site-specific work to make the desert itself the set, and the sky a dazzling lighting element that shifted over time as the sunset delivered a vast array of pastel and fiery hues. Everything about the piece, including its compelling movement, embodied the complex ecology of the desert. We loved having an excuse to sit under the stars and do a bit of wining and dining while witnessing this collaboration between nature, artistry, and community.

Best Storytelling

Memorial

The best storytelling has a visceral, authentic quality that grips all those who experience it. That's exactly what happened at Tempe Center for the Arts, when Teatro Bravo presented a short play called Memorial created by Antonio Miniño, a Caribbean genderqueer artist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Collaborators including theater and visual artists explored the stories of children and families in U.S. detention centers, while centering the memories and relationship of one particular mother and daughter. But instead of storytelling through a traditional, staged production, they coupled tales of migrant journeys and experiences with powerful works of visual art that viewers encountered as they wandered through the space. The experimental mix of culture and creativity reverberated with the power of present, future, and past.

Best Monthly Storytelling Event

The Storyline

Flash back a few years before the pandemic, and you couldn't go a week in Phoenix without tripping over a live storytelling event. Storytelling series and open mics sprouted up faster than weeds. Time, the most patient and merciless of gardeners, has yanked most of them out by their roots. But some plants are hardier than others — The Storyline's roots run deep in downtown, and it continues to bear sweet storytelling fruit each month at Changing Hands' Phoenix location. Hosted by Dan Hoen Hull and Joy Young, The Storyline Slam combines the confessional storytelling you'd see at places such as The Moth with the competitive energy and scoring of a poetry slam. Each month, a group of storytellers tell stories around a theme like "magic" or "camp," wowing crowds with their hilarious and emotional personal stories while a panel of audience judges score each storyteller. Ever wanted to tell a story? Don't be afraid to throw your name into the hat — this event is open to newcomers and veteran performers alike.

Best Library

Burton Barr Central Library

Sometimes you just need to get lost in a sea of stories where you can have your pick of thousands of adventures spanning myriad times and places, while also delving into the wonders of your own little corner of the world. There's so much more to explore at Burton Barr Central Library than just a fabulous collection of books. There's the architecture of Will Bruder, city views through walls of windows, works by local artists exhibited in the gallery and other library spaces, dedicated spaces for youth, a rare book room, and even a gift shop where book nerds can support a good cause while finding book-themed gear or old magazines for all those collage projects. We feel more alive every time we step inside, as if we're actually skipping through the pages of one of our best-loved books.

Best Literary Hub

Nurture House

A literary hub might have sounded like a luxury just a few years ago, but now it's an absolute necessity as politicians at the local, state, and national level are working so hard to limit access to books with material they find offensive. The small presses, bilingual bookstore, and zine shop that share this literary home are working tirelessly to assure that community members have a place to find a diverse array of titles written by local and international authors with authentic voices. You can relax and read zines inside the Wasted Ink Zine Distro, shop for great gifts at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, or enjoy works by local artists in the on-site gallery. Great conversations happen here, in a welcoming, unhurried environment that always has something challenging and new to offer.

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