I arrived at Desert Stages thinking Whatever dreck I see tonight is exactly what I deserve. And How desperate for a paycheck am I? And You know it’s summer in Phoenix when you’re driving for half an hour to see a community theater production of Cabaret. I left the theater…
You’d think he raped your mother. But all journalist Don Russell did was write an editorial about what a crummy city Phoenix is. Russell, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, was merely responding to reports that Phoenix may soon usurp Philly as the fifth largest city in the nation…
The novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald asserted that “There are no second acts in American lives.” But a horse named Seabiscuit and the three disparate men who shared his success would surely disagree. Based on the best-selling nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit recounts the true story of an unprepossessing, knobby-kneed…
“Simon must propose to me now,” exclaims pretty, simpleminded Rose (Rose Byrne), “before he meets somebody else or gets to know me better!” Welcome to the none-too-subtly-named Mortmain family, wherein foundering patriarch James (Bill Nighy) — for all symbolic definitions a dead writer — has been allowing his prolonged delusions…
I purposely avoided reading anything about Capturing the Friedmans until seeing the film, which has been no easy task. Andrew Jarecki’s documentary, about a Great Neck, New York, family torn asunder in the late 1980s by allegations of kiddy-porn possession and the horrific sexual abuse of numerous children, has been…
Despite a dramatic shortage of musical theater, Gilbert somehow has managed to thrive — becoming the nation’s fastest-growing city, no less. This weekend, the void at last is filled, as the city’s first year-round live theater stages its grand opening — and puts the Gilbert in Gilbert and Sullivan. Construction…
Thurday, July 24 This time of year, when temperatures rise to unbearable extremes, some smart aleck inevitably mentions that none of us would be here in the middle of the desert if it weren’t for the invention of air conditioning. Indeed, as we’ve realized during mid-summer power outages, it’s artificial…
The world of Noh theater, Japan’s 600-year-old performance tradition, is rarefied even to the Japanese themselves. And most Americans, who’ve never experienced the refined plays, may not have even heard of Noh — though they’ve likely seen its iconic masks, carved to portray the faces of young beauties, wizened old…
7/25-7/27 Can’t make South Dakota this year? Cheer up: Motorcycle rights organization A.B.A.T.E. (American Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education) presents Plan B — “Too Broke for Sturgis,” a weekend of motorcycle fun, Friday, July 25, through Sunday, July 27, at Mormon Lake. Motor up on your own, or ride with the…
Tue 7/29 “It’s a grudge match,” asserts boxer Leslie Sonnenklar. “She’s going down in 48 seconds flat.” Sonnenklar is being facetious in predicting the outcome of her first non-kickboxing bout, but when she goes up against Chrystal Proctor on Tuesday, July 29, she won’t be in the ring to read…
Fri 7/25 This week, mud draws the masses to Scottsdale, and it has nothing to do with minimizing pores: The guck at Mighty Mud Mania is all about fun. The City of Scottsdale throws open the mud gates Friday, July 25, at Chaparral Park, 5401 North Hayden. While kids ages…
Sat 7/26 The best little Horror house in Phoenix does double duty this weekend, pairing Hedwig & the Angry Inch with The Rocky Horror Picture Show for a gender-blending double feature. Broadway Bound & Gagged, the Valley’s longest-running Rocky Horror shadow cast, screens the films this Saturday, July 26, promising…
With a star-studded roster including George Clinton, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, India.Arie, Kansas, Naughty by Nature, Billy Bob Thornton, and the Village People, it’s either a benefit concert or a Sweeps Week episode of The Simpsons. This weekend, it’s the former, as Off the Hook Productions sponsors a concert benefiting…
If more part-time thespians approached their craft with the skill and imagination of Steven J. Scally, community theater would be a more cheerful place to visit. If Scally launched Awake and Sing Productions — which took its first bows last week with a revival of Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The…
It’s pronounced “Fuck you,” but Phuhque, Eric Baron’s computer service company, is a warm, fuzzy place. Baron, who prefers to be called Gailand, the name he uses in the make-believe war games that fill up his time when he’s not programming PCs, is a friendly fellow who’s out to prove…
There’s something to be said for a movie that’s honest enough to transcribe dialogue that must have emanated from the director’s mouth, and make it part of the script. “Everybody start shooting at somebody!” yells Detective Mike Lowery (Will Smith) in the midst of a particular situation. Earlier, he gives…
The title Morvern Callar may sound like an Edward Gorey book or a job designation for telephone solicitors, but it’s actually a name — pronounced (roughly) “Mawvin Calla” (like the lily). Although some sources claim that “morvern callar” is Scots for “quieter silence,” the words don’t show up in online…
French director François Ozon doesn’t like to repeat himself. His last film, 8 Women, was a theatrical, rather campy piece of fluff starring la crème de la crème of contemporary Gallic actresses. Before that came Under the Sand, an unsettling drama about a woman (Charlotte Rampling, giving perhaps her finest…
Considering the unexpected amorous complexities of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, perhaps it was auspicious to take a couple of lesbians to see the Disney romp. After all, the last thing you expect from a movie based on a theme park ride is a gender-busting…
Have you heard the one about Vice President Dick Cheney inviting comedian Darrell Hammond to a party? “It was Cheney and his buddies and Republican congressmen,” recalls the Saturday Night Live star and eminent impersonator. “He wanted me to come there as [Bill] Clinton — made up and dressed up…
Thursday, July 17 Kiss at Mickey’s Hangover keeps up the momentum of last month’s fashion show at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art by hosting local designers for trunk shows every Thursday from 8 to 11 p.m. On July 17, the spotlight is on designers Meredith Elliott and Louis Dorman, who…
Within the acting world there is a great dichotomy, one that dictates that the finest actors often are found working within the medium most likely to keep their talents a secret: the theater. While suspect talents are consistently propped up by Hollywood’s media machine, the heavy lifting is left to…
