’tis the season “Cowboy Santa”: Sort of a cross between Tom Mix and Saint Nick, this version of the jolly old elf wears an honest-to-gosh ten-gallon hat instead of that little red number adorned with the cotton ball. He delivers gifts and good cheer via horseback in benefits planned for…
Sean Penn’s The Crossing Guard is an examination of how different people cope with devastating grief. Jack Nicholson is a jeweler whose young daughter was run over and killed by a drunken driver, David Morse. The story starts five years after the tragedy, with Morse being released from prison and…
In Get Shorty, John Travolta glided through his role with the confidence and smoothness of a true star, and with an infectious delight at being allowed to show it. The film was a trifle, finally, but Travolta’s effortless command of the screen was reestablished beyond doubt. It’s pleasing to see…
thursday november 30 Capitol Steps: If you consider Newt Gingrich unintentionally hilarious and stuff like the recent shutdown of the government funny as a crutch, this troupe’s for you. The Washington, D.C.-based Steps were born in 1981, when three congressional aides were drafted to provide entertainment for a Senate Foreign…
It’s the end of an era. Theater Works, arguably the best community theatre in the Valley, must be out of its Glendale facility by December 31. The troupe plans to move to a new site at 91st Avenue and Thunderbird in Peoria, but that venue won’t be ready until next…
Optimism is the chief cash crop of Las Vegas, and everything about the city–the seductive casinos, the fast marriages, the endless, artificial daytime–is carefully devised to cultivate it. What sets Ben (Nicolas Cage) apart from the millions of other people who go to Vegas is that he’s not in the…
The title of Smoke, which is set in a Brooklyn cigar store, refers to what the characters spend much of the movie blowing at each other. Its informal companion piece, set in the same store, is called Blue in the Face. This time, the title refers to the state that…
’tis the season Here Comes Santa Claus: He might be a bit pressed for time, but magic–like being in two places at once–is one of the jolly old elf’s strong suits. Saint Nick takes up residence for the season at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Christown Mall, 19th Avenue and Bethany…
thursday november 23 Turkey Trot 10K: Organizers bill the traditional Thanksgiving Day run as the oldest annual 10K in Arizona. This year’s event also includes a two-mile fun run and a one-mile fitness walk; they both step off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, with the Trot following at 9. The scene…
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “creation” as “an original product of human invention or artistic imagination.” One of the things that makes creation in art so exciting is that you never know quite where the experience will take you. The Arizona State University theatre department’s current presentation of two one-acts–Angel…
In Jim Carrey’s first star vehicle, the hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the comedian was “on” every second. He worked himself into a demented frenzy on every line, and in the pauses between the lines. A number of bright people I know assured me that it was a riot, and…
“It’s a simple battle between good and evil.” So says Lon Mabon, chairman of the Oregon Citizens Alliance, of the struggle to pass the title initiative in Heather MacDonald’s documentary Ballot Measure 9. He’s right. There are fewer shades of gray between good and evil in MacDonald’s movie than in…
thursday november 16 Salome: Arizona Opera presents Richard Strauss’ lusty drama about evil doings in the court of King Herod, climaxing with the deadly dance of the seven veils. Performances, in German with English subtitles, are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Symphony Hall, 225…
at the opry Tom Chapin’s Kids Koncert: The family-oriented singer-songwriter, brother of the late Harry Chapin, performs his third annual Koncert, sponsored by Camp Fire Boys and Girls, at 11 a.m. Saturday at Red River Opry, Mill and Washington in Tempe. Tickets are $8, available at the scene and Dillard’s;…
Remember the days before political correctness, the days when we weren’t afraid to talk topeople for fear of offending them? Well, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company is presenting a delightful, slice-of-life comedy, King of the Kosher Grocers, which serves to remind us of those bygone days. Originally produced in 1992, Joe…
The older I get, the more people I meet, the more I realize how fortunate I am with regard to family. I come from a fairly large, working-class brood, and while there is never a shortage of minor squabbles, as far as I know there are no significant grudges or…
At the beginning of Feast of July, we see a pregnant young woman, alone, stumbling through cold, desolate moors and mountains. She takes refuge in a run-down, deserted shack, where, wailing loudly, she delivers herself of a stillborn child. She then buries the body in the rocks outside and continues…
thursday november 9 Bob Dylan: The living legend, who was mumbling brilliantly while R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe was still in knickers, performs on Thursday at Symphony Hall, 225 East Adams; see Coda on page 106. Ian Moore Band shares the bill. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $26.50 and $30.50, available…
hello doll Barbie Blowout: In conjunction with the opening of the Health ‘n’ Home store at Arrowhead Towne Center, 75th Avenue and Bell Road in Peoria, Ruth Handler, inventor of the Barbie doll, makes a personal appearance and autographs her popular creations from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday. A limited…
Arizona Theatre Company opens its 1995-96 season with an intriguing, eclectic version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In an attempt to bring Shakespeare to a short-attention-span audience, director David Ira Goldstein has used scores of nontraditional approaches to Shakespeare’s work. The result is a must-see for Valley theatregoers. A…
Sporting some of the most lackluster acting this Valley has seen in a long time, the current play by Phoenix Theatre has proven that a wonderful story and a well-crafted script cannot save poor execution onstage. PT’s second production of this season, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, turns into…
Woody Allen and Mel Brooks both started out in movies by making wacky, hip slapstick farces. Allen later grew to be such a snob about comedy that, for an unfortunate period (happily over), he seemed to regard being funny as a form of Jewish self-hatred. Brooks, conversely, has kept dumbing…
