It took attending Learn to Be Latina with a very smart date (who often consumes journalism the day it appears) for Curtains to hear that not everyone thinks the latest from Stray Cat Theatre is about identity politics in any serious, up-to-the-minute way. In fact, this script, Stray Cat’s production,…
Our hipster friends may be the hardest to shop for, mostly because we’ve never heard of anything they like (and they’d like to keep it that way). But there are a few things every hipster secretly wants and will be impressed that you found. Here are our local finds that…
Downtown Phoenix is developing quite a little vintage scene. On December 1st, a new line of clothing, Hailey’s Hand Me Downs joined the growing list of indie cool finds (First Butter Toast, recently GROWop) as the newest purveyor of vintage goods.Hailey Andresen, a recent FIDM grad, is the Hailey behind…
Pajama City, an online pajama store based in Maryland, specializes in one thing: Adult footed pajamas. The store’s website says the company actually ships the pajamas daily from its warehouse, which means two things: a) People order adult footed pajamas on a daily basis and b) In the northeastern United…
Some people are crafty, some aren’t (i.e. me). It’s the way of the world. But taking a cue from Mantastic Crafter Patrick Murillo, I’m training in the art, and hoping to work my way up to something truly mantastic, all while trying to avoid what Murillo calls a “craftastrophe.” My…
Artist: Eric Galindo. “Whenever I’m on the phone at work I pick up the nearest pen and start drawing on the nearest piece of paper lying on the desk,” says Galindo. “The longer the phone call, the weirder they get!”Check out more of Galindo’s video work here. …
Jeff Bridges is God and, as image-captured from the original 1982 Tron, he’s also the devil in Disney’s mega-million-dollar reboot, Tron: Legacy. The notion of a tragically split persona might have been scripted to give the new movie a measure of emotional gravitas, but why bother with writing when Tron:…
A picnic for Anglophiles, The King’s Speech is a well-wrought, enjoyably amusing inspirational drama that successfully humanizes, even as it pokes fun at, the House of Windsor. The story — shy young prince is helped by irascible wizard to break an evil spell and lead his nation to glorious victory…
The Fighter is based on the true story of Lowell, Massachusetts light welterweight champ “Irish” Micky Ward, but, starring Boston working-class hero Mark Wahlberg, it plays as a Rocky-fied fairy tale for our time: Consigned to Palookaville, a sweet, unassuming boxer with more heart than brains steps up — all…
An odd duck of a romantic comedy from James L. Brooks, How Do You Know strays as far from a barrel of laughs as a writer-director formed by network television can get without losing his grip altogether. The movie’s rhythms are loose, disjointed, and peppered with strategic silences or half-finished…
I long to take the month of December off from writing, so that I can focus on tree-trimming and card-making and other seasonal events. December deadlines are usually a nightmare, largely because printers keep such odd holiday schedules, and writing January copy the week before Christmas usually means I’m missing…
In 18th- and 19th-century Europe, during the alleged Age of Enlightenment, telling someone that he needed to have his head examined in no way carried the contemporary connotation of “be a good boy and take your Thorazine.” Back in pre-photography times, having your head examined was the height of scientific…
Last winter, I attended a holiday dance show — one of those Christmas-themed musical pageants where the stage is overtaken by crowds from one dance class after another, mostly prepubescents determined to slog through “Jingle Bell Rock” without forgetting a ball-change or bursting into tears. I really enjoyed this production,…
What better way to say “Sayonara” to 2010 than with the proper alternative head nod it deserves? Here to give us a reason to smile at the good, and laugh at the bad and ugly of the year in Phoenix culture is none other than our locally famed pals at…
The immigration debate in Arizona has been a seemingly endless inferno this year. For all the real-life drama that the crooked powers that be brought upon us, we’ll be glad to see the drama become stage comedy at New Carpa Theater Company’s American Pastorela: Show Us Your Papers. State senator…
Feeling fat? Yes, we all are. It’s cold so we don’t like hitting the great outdoors. It’s the holidays so we’re eating fatso foods. And we’re also being a bunch of lazy turds. Get off your squishy tush and hit the pavement at the Arizona Road Racers Desert Classic 30K,…
Barbie shoes. Kittens. Pinky toes. Cute stuff, right? Wanna know why? Because they’re little. And humans love little things. Wanna know why? We have no freakin’ idea, but we’re definitely heading to Cave Creek to find more little things at the Small Works Show and Sale. See some tiny artworks…
Was it Shakespeare who quipped that every tale benefits from the admixture of zombies and dragons? Perhaps, but judging from the quantity of such offerings crowding shelves and theater kiosks, it was more likely someone from marketing. Whatever its source, the axiom is bound to hold true for the French…
Holiday traditions? Whatever. Instead, get a little bizzaro at Cruisin’ 7th’s Festivus Celebration, a drag show and party honoring the holiday “for the rest of us” — you know, people who don’t really care about religion or picking up gifts for folks they aren’t really friends with. In true Festivus…
It’s December, which means it’s time for a straight month of observing tradition, spending time with family, and maybe suffering from seasonal affective disorder. More importantly, it’s time to drop a bunch of money buying presents for anyone who might be offended if you don’t buy him or her a…
Okay, so Phoenix doesn’t get snow. Boo-hoo. Who wants it anyway? Having to trudge through frozen water is not glamorous, pretty, or convenient. So get over it already. Instead, we make our own traditions like luminarias. A desert path lined with the flickering glow from humble paper bags is just…
Okay, so Phoenix doesn’t get snow. Boo-hoo. Who wants it anyway? Having to trudge through frozen water is not glamorous, pretty, or convenient. So get over it already. Instead, we make our own traditions like luminarias. A desert path lined with the flickering glow from humble paper bags is just…
