Body Art Expo

If you’re one of the few surviving members of the human race who has yet to be voluntarily tattooed or pierced, then pat yourself on the back. You are, quite ironically, the real contrarian. Still, if you’ve been hoping to dip your pen in the inkwell, so to speak, your…

Artisanal Spirit and Cocktail Market

All of the cocktail knowledge in the world isn’t going to be very useful if you don’t pair it with the right supplies. Luckily, Arizona Cocktail Week at Hotel Valley Ho, 6850 East Main Street in Scottsdale, includes an Artisanal Spirit and Cocktail Market. The market will feature boutique spirits,…

Fat Tuesday

Cancel your Wednesday morning meeting, because Fat Tuesday will be taking you past your weekday bedtime. The evening begins with a colorful communal bike ride around town hosted by Heavy Pedal and The Phoenix Cruise. Riders will then follow up with a New Orleans-style party featuring cajun food, drink specials,…

March

Each year, Black History Month celebrates many of the same civil rights leaders. Playwright Larissa Brewington’s out to change that, introducing “the stuff we don’t hear about.” Through Thursday, February 19, Herberger Lunch Time Theater presents Brewington’s March, highlighting women’s contributions to the sit-ins, protests, boycotts, and marches of the…

Varekai

Watching a Cirque du Soliel show is a bit like lucid dreaming — you’re in control, sure, but it’s still surreal and exciting and half the time you have no idea what the hell’s going on. Varekai, a new production from the Cirque squad, carries on with this tradition by…

Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage

You’re getting old. You can’t figure out why the title of Gammage’s next big touring is Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage. Classic story? It only hit the screen in 1987. And this stage version was a white-hot comet of Catskills-coming-of-age in Australia, Canada, and London’s West End, but…

This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing

One of the more aptly named and certainly descriptive titles, This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, comes to Arizona State University on Friday. Written by noted playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer and directed by associate professor Erika Hughes, who specializes in youth theater, the comedic interpretation of the…

Conviction

Billy Strayhorn may be gone, but his music lives on. And to celebrate the centennial of the late jazz composer, Phoenix’s Black Theatre Troupe is paying tribute with Ben Tyler’s new one-man play, Conviction. Set in prison and starring David Hemphill, Conviction tells the story of an inmate who performs…

Podcast: Fifty Shades of Grey, Starring Sex Batman

Fifty Shades of Grey is opening is nationwide, and in New York, Village Voice film editor Alan Scherstuhl connects via the magic of the Internet with LA Weekly film critic Amy Nicholson discuss the hotly anticipated movie starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, adapted from the E. L. James novel…

Valentine’s Day Weekend in Metro Phoenix: 10 Artsy Things to Do

Whether you’re more into opera or erotic/exotic art, we’ve got a fun selection of ways to spend that special day — plus the night before and day after. Think theater, circus arts, museum play date, ballet, and more. Exotic Art Show February 13 Alwun House Fetish attire is welcome, but…

11 Coolest Carts From Phoenix Idiotarod 2015

If you happened to be cruising through either central or midtown on Saturday, February 7, there’s a good chance you caught a glimpse of this year’s Idiotarod in progress. After all, its participants certainly made it easy enough to spot them. As with any of the previous versions of the…

3 Free Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

If you started from the bottom and you’re still not on top, don’t sweat it. Whether you’re well to do or hard up, there’s plenty of opportunities for on-the-house events in the Valley. From outdoor movie screenings and poetry readings to cycling seminars, here are our top three picks for…

10 Alternative Valentine’s Day Weekend Events in Metro Phoenix

Love stinks. Yeah, yeah. Whether your status is single, complicated, or in a relationship, there are plenty of ways to get your kicks this Valentine’s Day weekend without the candy hearts and the candle-lit dinners. From comedy shows and cultural celebrations to half-naked men and half-priced books, here are our…

Beautiful Timbuktu Finds Hope and Pain in a City Taken Over

To the idle viewer, the small acts of resistance on display in Timbuktu might seem ready-made for Upworthy, little liberal lessons just waiting to be parceled out to anyone who “won’t believe what happens next.” Yet that type of self-righteous sentimentality — and its opposing strawman, knee-jerk cynicism — is…

I Just Watched Friends for the First Time on Netflix

In 2004, I worked at a bar in Kansas City’s River Market district. One night, a woman handed me her credit card to pay her tab; I looked at it and said, “HAHA. Your name is Monica Ross!” She made a big, exasperated noise and dropped her forehead to the…

5 Cool Things We Saw at Phoenix’s First Friday in February

Artwork, street performers, food trucks, and super-size boom boxes made this month’s First Friday an especially lively affair. Folks visiting Roosevelt Row had fun with way-finding, thanks to towers of arrows pointing the way to local art venues and local businesses, and signs signaling nearby sources of artwork, coffee, beer,…

10 Valentine’s Day Gift-Giving Dos and Don’ts

Sometimes, being in a relationship is about being able to guess what the other person is thinking. A prime example of that is when you have to give gifts to your significant other, particularly when those gifts have a romantic connotation, like they do on Valentine’s Day. There’ll be years…