The setup: Since 2014 began, it seems we theatergoers have faced down an awful lot of family dysfunction depicted on Valley stages — especially if you count The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth, which one probably should. You ought to hang in there for one more real masterpiece, though…
Courting Disaster is Jackalope Ranch’s weekly column of dating horror stories, observations, how-tos, and more by Katie Johnson. Names of ex-boyfriends, past hookups, and bad blind dates have been changed to protect the guilty. Sorry, Beyoncé. But hardly any women just woke up like dis. And the ones who do…
Dim the lights and drink up, Phoenix. Here are our five favorite dive bars. Bikini Lounge The oldest hooch house in Phoenix is a blend of cheap drinks, long-term bartenders, and just about every personality type known to downtown…
Notorious sleep-walker, self-professed pizza lover, and New York-based funny man Mike Birbiglia is no stranger to Mesa Arts Center. The award-winning comic, best known for his embarrassment-fueled monologues, came to the venue two years ago for his show, “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend.” He returns Friday, May 2, with new jokes and…
The corpse lay crumpled on the conference table, close enough that the studio executive could tug on the red heel of her Louboutins. She’d been lying there unnoticed, or perhaps just ignored, for quite some time. Her wedding veil was tattered and someone had spilled coffee on her white satin…
“Sex films sell, and other stuff doesn’t . . . or at least not nearly as well,” says film preservationist Joe Rubin. Rubin, 24 years old, is one of the creators working Skinaflix, a VOD-style streaming video service he calls “the Netflix of porn.” At Vinegar Syndrome, a separate DVD/Blu-Ray–centric…
When we first meet the hero of Son of God, a kind of chintzy melodrama about the horrors of capital punishment, he’s approaching a fisherman with a classic boiler-room pitch: “Just give me an hour, and I will give you a whole new life,” Jesus (Diogo Morgado) promises Peter (Darwin…
Lights. Camera. Action. Founded in 2005, the Almost Famous Film Festival is an annual event that challenges writers, actors, filmmakers, and their crews to create an original short film in just 48 hours. From February 14 through February 16, 61 teams from Arizona, California, and other parts of the Southwest…
Art Detour turns 26 this year. And to pre-celebrate the citywide art walk, which takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9, some of Phoenix’s biggest players are hosting a decidedly grown-up gathering.Hosted by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Downtown Phoenix, Inc., and Artlink, the Art d’Core Gala will feature…
Art and breakfast go together like jam and toast, which is why Scottsdale Public Arts is hosting a Breakfast Walking Tour for those who appreciate arts and culture as much as they do the most important meal of the day.The tour begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 1, with coffee…
It’s no secret that Lewis Black has an anger problem. The 64-year-old comedian and Daily Show segment staple (“Back in Black”) is known for his politically charged rants, so full of frustration and biting wit that sometimes it’s difficult to tell which is louder: his yelling or the laughter.The veteran…
NASCAR has never been known for subtlety when it comes to corporate sponsors. Even by their standards, the name for this weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway — The Profit on CNBC 500 — has to be one of the most ridiculous in the history of the sport.While the race…
Now, maybe we’re just old cowpokes and we suppose we can’t tell you much that the mountains can’t tell you better. But if you fancy yourself a fan of ropin’ and wranglin’ and ridin’, you’d best be gettin’ yourself to WestWorld of Scottsdale for the 61st Annual Parada del Sol…
In La Traviata, Arizona Opera’s latest offering, it’s hard to believe that Alfredo Germont, the young nobleman in Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 opera, didn’t inspire the sad-sackery in Young MC’s “Bust-A-Move.” The dude’s heart gets dragged around like a rag doll.That’s not to say that Violetta Valéry, the central figure of…
When someone says that there’s no culture in Phoenix, they’re idiotically ignoring the popping local scene and the thousands of years that indigenous peoples have spent creating art around these parts. The 56th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, slated for Saturday, March 1, features contemporary Native American…
So, not only are you scratching your head wondering where the first two months of 2014 have gone, but now your fingers are glistening with salty, foreboding little beads of sweat, gently reminding you that the mercury is once again rising. Fortunately, you still have about a month to get…
Pain and passion; you can’t have one without the other. That sentiment, beautifully and strikingly expressed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, is at the root of Brazilian dance company Mimulus’ work, Dolores.Drawing direct inspiration from Almodóvar’s oeuvre, which includes Volver, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Tie…
Even though the people who go to see the première of Love and Air Sex at FilmBar on Friday, February 28, will get to meet the film’s writer, Steven Walters and former air sex competitor “Bill F@*king Binder,” we can’t recommend it. We would, but the film’s plot is that…
You think you’re funny? Arizona’s Funniest Comedian Contest wants to find out.The statewide competition features homegrown comics who have competed at comedy clubs in Tucson and the Valley throughout February and March. This week, four shows at Stand Up Live will pit more performers against one another as a panel…
Even before Fifty Shades of Felt put Phoenix on the Christian-and-Ana parody map, we were a tour stop for a musical called Spank! that also enjoys the legal protection afforded spoofs. Now Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Unauthorized Musical Parody struts its chafed, lightly bruised off-Broadway self into…
Lounging on your veranda in your velvet smoking jacket, choosing a diverting morsel of tuneful frivolity, it can’t hurt to check the composer. When you realize it’s Cole Porter, you might get so excited you drop your gin. Timeless songs like “Night and Day” endure better than many of the…
Sometimes big things come in small packages.That’s the idea behind “MicroDwell 2014,” the second installment of an architectural exhibition dedicated to tiny spaces. The collection features nearly a dozen designs. Each must be less than 600 square feet, tending to hover closer to 200, self-contained, and portable. Created by Patrick…
