A lone saguaro stands near a bit of border fence surrounded by vast desert expanse in the first photograph visitors see when entering Lisa Sette Gallery. The image prompts viewers to consider the chasm between border rhetoric and reality. It’s one of many fall 2016 exhibitions and performances in metro…
If you’ve ever hitched a ride with me to or from Arizona School for the Arts (where I’m currently enrolled), you’ve probably heard the soundtrack to In the Heights blast from my speakers. The 2008 Tony-winning show was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, hip-hop’s voice in Broadway’s increasingly diversifying musical scene…
The 26th annual AriZoni Theatre Awards took place Monday, September 19, at Tempe Center for the Arts. More than 20 theaters, in addition to several youth theaters, participated in this year’s awards — which are meant to honor excellence in local theater. Awards for general (rather than youth) theaters were…
[nueBOX] recently announced that oneTON collective and AZ Dragoneers have been selected as its fall 2016 artists-in-residence. Each will create new work, and present public programming as part of its residency. They join the list of 24 other artist-in-residence programs created through [nueBOX], which was founded in 2014 by Julie…
Tempe theater company Childsplay was recently awarded a $28,125 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York. The East Coast foundation’s arts program focuses its support on contemporary dance, jazz, and theater artists. This is its fourth award to Childsplay, which David Saar founded in 1977 while he was a…
It’s been quite a year for the local performing arts scene. Arizona Theater Company barely escaped shuttering by raising $2 million to mount its 2016-17 season. Mesa Arts Center welcomed [nue]BOX as a new resident artist. Stray Cat Theatre found a new home at Tempe Center for the Arts. And…
There is plenty to like about iTheatre Collaborative’s new production of The Velocity of Autumn, now playing at the Herberger Theater Center. Carefully paced direction by iTheatre cofounder Rosemary Close lends a casual, real-time feel to Eric Coble’s melodrama, and performances from Judy Rollings and Brad Bond bring his long,…
Make haste if you’re an artist looking for new places to show your work in metro Phoenix. We’ve found 17 open calls for art, and some have rapidly approaching deadlines. Here’s a roundup of artist opportunities to keep on your radar in coming days and weeks. Arizona State Fair Exhibition…
The Bridge Initiative creates opportunities for women playwrights. For its next event, Bridge is partnering with Southwest Shakespeare Company to present the first reading of New York playwright Liz Duffy Adams’ newest work. Tracy Liz Miller, who co-founded The Bridge Initiative in Mesa with Brenda Jean Foley in 2014, invited…
The last chapter of Jen Kirkman’s newest book, I Know What I’m Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself, is an homage to Joan Rivers, a comedic hero and resident mom-in-her-head. But instead of referring to Rivers as a “female comedian,” as many do, she describes her as “a stand-up who also happened…
Performance in the Borderlands, an Arizona State University initiative addressing the intersection of arts and culture with border-related issues, recently announced its 2016-17 season. The season includes a robust lineup of artists working in visual art, theater, dance, and music. Its theme, “Voices of Power,” reflects a focus on women…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, August 30, through Thursday, September 1. For more events, see our curated online calendar. “Find Your Park in Arizona” Traveling by commercial airline will get you more than 30,000 feet in the air. But you don’t have to…
New Times picks the best events in metro Phoenix from Friday, August 26, through Sunday, August 28. For more things to do, see our curated online calendar. Pageant As society approaches a normal attitude about gay people, female impersonation, and drag (which don’t require homosexuality but definitely brunch with it) continue…
Luis Ruiz, who has 21 years of experience in venue management, has been hired by the City of Tempe as its new general manager and cultural facilities manager at Tempe Center for the Arts. He started on August 15. His responsibilities include organizing and managing daily operations and administration for…
Comedian Marc Maron began the WTF with Marc Maron podcast on September 1, 2009. A fixture in the ’90s alternative comedy scene, the shift from stand-up to interviewer was not necessarily the most predictable path. However, it’s what has made audiences so dedicated to his every-man way of digging deep into the…
Matthew Wiener is yelling. “Stop moving around so much!” he bellows at James Garcia and Marcelino Quiñonez, who are rehearsing a scene from El Che, Quiñonez’s new play about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Wiener steps between the actors, improvising a scene in which Guevara, played by Quiñonez, is reunited…
Before there was Hamilton, the latest musical to take Broadway audiences by storm, there was The Phantom of the Opera. It’s one of many shows featuring music by British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose other claims to fame include Cats and Jesus Christ Superstar. Those needing proof that The Phantom of the…
Just one month after announcing it needed $50,000 to continue operations, Scottsdale-based Don Bluth Front Row Theatre has announced that it will close effective September 17 in order to focus on fundraising. The goal is to raise $50,000 in time to reopen and present a holiday production of It’s a Wonderful…
Whether lighting up backstage or in the audience, weed and stand-up are a common combination, one that often produces hilarious results. Pot is pretty funny, and that’s the idea behind the “Cannabis Comedy Tour,” an eight-city event that comes to Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Friday, July 29. The free…
Theater Works, which performs at Peoria Center for the Arts, has promoted Chris Hamby to producing artistic director and Cate Hinkle to managing director, according to a July 25 announcement. The news comes just months after Dan Schay, who joined the company as executive director in February of 2012, passed…
If there’s one thing to know about dancers, it’s that they’re seemingly always on the move. This is no exception for Jordan Daniels, a 25-year-old dancer, instructor, and choreographer. Daniels grew up performing musical theater in church, and attended high school at Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics. “Half of…
Ralph Remington, a theater professional and former arts administrator with both Actors’ Equity Association and National Endowment for the Arts, has been hired by the City of Tempe as its Arts and Culture Deputy Director. It’s a new position created within Tempe’s Community Services Department to further implementing its 2015…
