Maysoon Zayid is becoming a master a getting the last laugh. As a woman of Palestinian descent with cerebral palsy who lives in New Jersey and works in show business, Zayid has managed to spin day-to-day challenges into comedic material on her own terms. Since earning a BFA in acting…
Elizabeth, a youngish suburban mother, is determined to have a normal day. But there’s a tree growing, upside down, in her kitchen. Her three-headed talking dog is acting churlishly. The announcer on her radio, which keeps turning itself on, is speaking directly to her. And someone keeps trying to climb…
Steve Rannazzisi is not Kevin MacArthur from FX’s The League. He’s certainly not the complete opposite, but he’s definitely not the character he portrays on television’s top fantasy football-themed comedy series. “I’m not that different from Kevin, but some of the fans of The League have trouble differentiating,” Rannazzisi says…
Angela Ellsworth is nothing short of an art celebrity here in Phoenix. She’s represented by Lisa Sette Gallery and is associate professor of Intermedia at Arizona State University, where The Museum of Walking (MoW), one of her current projects with Steve Yazzie, is based. Along with the launching of MoW…
It would seem Eddie Izzard has taken a page from the Miley Cyrus playbook. The stand-up comedian can’t stop and won’t stop touring. The comedian, actor, and writer, known for his free-association delivery and roles on The Riches and Hannibal, announced this week that he’ll follow up his 32-city 2014…
We love plenty of things that hail from Denmark: Carlsberg beer, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Bang & Olufsen sound systems, Hans Christian Andersen tales, sleek modern furnishings, Kierkegaard’s existentialism, and LEGO bricks. But we’re not sold on Napoli, a ballet first performed in Denmark in 1842. It imagines the road from wooing…
Cool couple and true arbiters of whether love is dead Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally are hitting the road this spring. The hilarious pair announced this week that their live show Summer of 69: No Apostrophe is coming to Phoenix’s Comerica Theatre on Thursday, April 23, during a 23-city tour…
Phoenix’s premier performance and installation art platform, [nueBOX], hosted its launch party on Thursday, February 5, at First Draft Book Bar.The event served as an introduction to the organization, and featured both live and recorded performance and installation art by current and future [nueBOX] artists-in-residence…
Hey Phoenix, we know you are super busy. But we’d super appreciate it if you took a few minutes to answer our 10-question survey about the state of the arts in and around Phoenix. We want your take on all aspects of art — from theater, performance art, and dance…
It’s an especially exciting season for dance lovers in metro Phoenix as local, national, and international companies present diverse offerings that incorporate everything from architecture to spoken word performance. With all these choices, even folks who rarely hit the dance scene will find a little something that strikes their fancy…
After retiring from New York City Ballet last October, Wendy Whelan had no intention of curtailing the physical and intellectual movement that’s been the hallmark of her esteemed career. Instead, the ballerina with a gift for contemporary dance turned her considerable energy and insatiable curiosity towards developing new collaborative projects…
If you’re easily offended, you might want to stay away from the Tempe Improv on Friday and Saturday evenings. If you’re not, then you’ll be able to see comedian Jim Norton do some new, topical material this weekend. “If you’re offended by Bill Cosby rape jokes or strap-on stories, or…
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing two-time Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist Gina Gionfriddo. Her most recent work, Rapture, Blister, Burn has been hailed as a great feminist play. Much of our conversation revolved around where the idea for the show came from and what message…
Heard any good jokes lately about New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his (allegedly) soft balls? We’re guessing that you have, since many a comedian (not to mention sports wags nationwide) have gotten a lot of mileage out of the whole hullabaloo surrounding Deflategate. And such cracks and quips…
Take a deep breath, Phoenix. Between shakeups at major institutions, changes coming to arts hubs, and a slew of closings and openings, there’s a lot going on — and even more to take in. What better time to take the pulse of the state’s arts scene? Jackalope Ranch wants your…
Comedian and author Jim Gaffigan has a lot on his plate (that’s only sort of a food joke). Somehow between guest-hosting The Late Late Show, publishing his latest book, Food: a Love Story,, and raising five children, he managed to squeeze in a few minutes to speak with Jackalope Ranch…
We see very little from local playwrights, a rare breed whose work is usually relegated to workshop productions before being tucked away forever. Richard Warren is one among a very few exceptions, at least lately. Last season, a staged reading of Warren’s Revocable Trust received a lot of attention. His…
When the top 10 finalists from Season 11 of So You Think You Can Dance hit the stage at Comerica Theatre on Sunday, January 25, Tempe-born Bridget Whitman will be among them — performing not only for fans of Fox’s hit TV show, but also friends, family, and fellow dancers…
How do performance and installation artists make the transition from the structure of school to the chaos and uncertainty of the real world? [nueBox], a nonprofit arts organization, has some ideas. Their year-long residency programs provide creatives with studio space (through a partnership with Phoenix Center for the Arts) as…
Change is in the air for Scandalesque co-founders Julianna Curtis and Christy Zandlo. The two women who founded the nightlife entertainment company back in 2004 have parted ways to pursue their own projects. Zandlo, whose stage name is Pyrrha Sutra, says the split between her and Curtis ended amicably. “It…
Gina Gionfriddo is something of a playwriting dynamo. Her last two full-length plays, Becky Shaw and Rapture, Blister, Burn, were both finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Her work goes far beyond the stage though; Gionfriddo wrote for Law and Order for several years, and more recently wrote an…
Six local theater companies have announced that they’ll honor tickets purchased for canceled Actors Theatre productions. The professional company announced in December 2014 that it would close after nearly 30 years. Originally, Actors Theatre representatives had said that refunds would not be granted for purchased tickets to shows in the…
