As another holiday season approaches, all is merry and trite -- and a cranky crew of local performers has had its fill of the fa la la la blah. Suffer the winter of their discontent this Saturday, December 6, at the 18th annual Bad X-Mas Pageant. The yearly "trashing and...
Thursday, December 25 In the hunt for a holiday miracle? Look no further than Chandler's Madstone Theaters, which salutes Santa on his big day by screening Miracle on 34th Street. Starring Edmund Gwenn as Kriss Kringle, a Macy's Santa Claus who claims to be the man himself, the 1947 St...
Thursday, December 18 It's hard to say "humbug" to Actors Theatre's popular presentation of A Christmas Carol, a beloved Valley tradition that makes Charles Dickens' haunting holiday story come alive, year after year. Directed by Michael Wiener, the production features many returning cast and crew members, including Kim Bennett in...
Thursday, September 25 The Phoenix Symphony toasts its new season on Thursday, September 25, with champagne, a gala atmosphere and a rare appearance by the legendary pianist Van Cliburn, who hasn't visited the Valley in nearly 30 years. Among other works, he performs Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, the piece...
Downtown Deluge Artistic statement: Thank you very much for the in-depth articles on downtown Phoenix. ("Exploding Downtown," October 2 and "Jerry's World," October 16) Your special project deserves kudos for bringing to light the many opportunities that the Phoenix metropolitan area has to create a vibrant, creative, and "live-able" downtown...
The owners of Bandersnatch Brew Pub in Tempe have sold the downtown institution to the owners of Martini Ranch, Scottsdale's upscale version of a white trash bar. It's a done deal, which, naturally, for the musicians and patrons who make up the Tempe scene, is an outrage. The local enthusiasts...
Jennifer Morse puts the ingredients for pizza dough into the KitchenAid and turns it on, then she gets out the "Getting Better Book." "We call it the Getting Better Book' because we're getting better," she says, standing at the kitchen counter and flipping the cover of the scrapbook to the...
Thursday, November 27 Like clockwork, our Thanksgiving always plays out like this: Spend the morning ravenous, tortured by the incredible smells of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie wafting from the kitchen. Inhale the whole meal, extra helpings and all, too quickly for a feeling of fullness to kick in. Then...
Sundays It's been "trial by fire," but so far Mad Props Variety Show, the latest addition to the Valley comedy scene, is a success, says organizer Ryan McKee. "There really wasn't a place for comedians to go and perform for free," explains McKee, who says some venues charge people to...
Journalists take it for granted that they can reach professors on the phone for expert opinions. Universities even publish directories to make faculty members accessible to the media. But you can't just call up Richard Florida, Heinz Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Ever since...
Thursday, November 13 Osha Gray Davidson's most recent book, Fire in the Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean, tells "a compelling story about turtles and their future that ought to change our view of the world," says Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late ocean...
Wet Paint Art Supply & Gallery could be one of the best things to happen to Tempe's underground culture since Mill Avenue went corporate. Located in downtown Tempe, right across the street from Arizona State University, Wet Paint is the brainchild of artist Jess Jordan. It didn't take Jordan long...
Six days a week, a large group of teenagers quietly leave their homes before first light for a predetermined location in Tempe. By 4:30, they have gathered directly under the Loop 202, near Mill and Curry avenues. The teens -- almost all of them girls -- chat for a few...
The middle of a scorching summer seems like the worst possible time to open a coffee shop and art space. Especially since, restricted by anal Tempe business ordinances about announcing your "grand opening," you don't dare advertise the place until students come back to Arizona State University. But Three Roots...
New Times is bringing pop-culture luminary Richard Florida to the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix at 6:30 p.m. on October 21. We expect him to save us from ourselves. You're invited; tickets are free. Florida was last year's -- "Check out the big brain on Brad" -- author of The Rise...
My people smoke cigarettes, but they're the brand of people I want to be around. More often than not, they're not at all self-serious. They're passionate about their lives, their environment, their friends, their recreation. In other words, smokers make great bar patrons. Now, I don't smoke. I never have...
Thursday, October 16 While the gallery scene in Scottsdale covers all the bases of contemporary art, Western subject matter still has a mighty stronghold in "The West's Most Western Town." See the latest creative take on cowboy art from supporters of this all-American genre when The Scottsdale Gallery Association presents...
Mon 7/21 "I hadn't really thought about doing thrillers for adults," says best-selling children's author R.L. Stine. He's speaking of his new book, The Sitter, a creepy summer read aimed at the twentysomething set that grew up reading Stine's Goosebumps series. "I thought maybe I'd try to grow with my...
They emerge from the darkness like a scene out of Night of the Living Dead, boys in tee shirts and girls in skintight halter tops. You can see the girls from the far end of the parking lot, with their sparkly earrings and glitter-smeared skin already glistening in the hot...
In the early 1990s, it was hard to find a Valley band that didn't know, and somehow benefit from knowing, Julie Hurm-Tessitore. A local music "it" girl, she was connected to the local scene to a ridiculous degree. Hurm-Tessitore worked for Evening Star Productions, promoter Danny Zelisko's baby in pre-Clear...
In the recent past, Mill Avenue in Tempe has been reserved for the aging jangle-pop bands of '90s yore, but things have started to turn. The relatively young noise-rock outfit Hotfoughtcold has joined the storied avenue's ranks -- and they're hauling their friends with them. The year before HFC started...
Sat 6/14 If June in the Valley doesn't feel like optimum walking weather to you, you're either (a) perfectly sane or (b) simply hanging out with the wrong people. For the sake of argument, let's say it's the latter -- and rejoice in the fact that if your urge to...
