When Del Webb Corporation brought plans for its huge New River development to Maricopa County for approval early last year, the ensuing donnybrook was about as lively and entertaining as land planning gets. On one side was Del Webb, assuring the county that its 5,661-acre community–the Villages at Desert Hills–would…
One-act plays aren’t produced often, and that’s ironic given that the half-hour television sitcom has become America’s most popular dramatic form. That may be why the latest Black Theatre Troupe offering is so refreshing. Its current evening of oneacts provides comic and emotional extremes that would give Friends and Martin…
Although his film career prior to Richard III has consisted largely of forgettable supporting roles in films such as The Shadow, The Keep and Last Action Hero, Sir Ian McKellen has been one of the leading lights of the British classical stage since the early 1960s. Acclaimed in most of…
Jackie Chan is the Richard Clayderman of movie stars–he’s popular all over the world, and a cult favorite even in this country, but for the mainstream American audience he needs a letter of introduction. For Clayderman, that letter was the TV ads for his albums; for Chan, star of dozens…
thursday february 22 Don Pasquale: Arizona Opera continues its silver-anniversary season with Donizetti’s comic opera about the mutually exclusive properties of love and marriage. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Symphony Hall, 225 East Adams. Shows are sung in Italian, with English surtitles…
bone to run Wiener Dog Nationals 1996: The second annual running of the amateur hounds–specifically, dachshunds and bassets–is slated for Saturday at Phoenix Greyhound Park, 3801 East Washington. Various hot-dog heats take place between the regular greyhound competitions, which begin at 7:30 p.m.; the gates open at 6. General admission…
If you are desperate for some postmodern deconstruction or hankering for angst-ridden art, don’t bother to stop in at Lisa Sette Gallery to see “In the Garden,” the current exhibition of sculptural and two-dimensional mixed-media work by Valley artist Mayme Kratz. You won’t find much of either in the quiet,…
The City of Lost Children begins with one of the more creepy dream sequences I’ve ever seen in a movie. A child sits in a crib in a glowingly lighted room that’s decorated for Christmas in warm Victoriana. Sure enough, Santa emerges from the fireplace; and then, seconds later, another…
Jimmy the Saint is a suave, gentlemanly reformed gangster trying to make it as a legit Denver businessman. His firm records on video–in something like the manner of a dating service–the final advice and messages of its aged or ailing clients, so that they can continue being of use to…
among the animals “Africa! Alive”: Phoenix Zoo, 455 North Galvin Parkway, in Papago Park, hosts the latest installment in its festival “The Celebration ofthe Natural World,” which continues through September. In “Africa! Alive,” continuing through February 29, kids learn about the animals of the African continent via music, mask-making sessions,…
thursday february 15 Stomp: To twist an old phrase, this London-born, Big Apple-based dance/performance-art troupe could milk the percussive possibilities of a telephone book–and undoubtedly has. The appropriately named, Doc Martens-wearing, joyful-noise-making octet brings the metaphorical kitchen sink and literally boots it around the stage at Scottsdale Center for the…
In August of 1991, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a car carrying Lubavitcher Jewish leader Menachem Schneerson ran into two children, killing a Guyanese-American boy. Brooklyn erupted into a race riot accompanied by an explosive public dialogue that rapidly escalated into a national debate on racism that showed a despairingly large…
Except for Arizona as a setting, the current film Broken Arrow has little in common with the like-titled movie of 1950, that wonderful James Stewart-Jeff Chandler Western directed by Delmer Daves. The only other point of agreement might be their inversion of the reactionary values of their respective genres–Daves’ film…
It doesn’t take long for Actors Theatre of Phoenix to offend women, the religious, conspiracy theorists and believers in extraterrestrials during its current production of Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening With the Illuminati). Coming across like a bad version of The Hunchback…
Georgia has been racking up the raves, and I wish I could more wholeheartedly join in. There’s no disputing that it has some forceful, occasionally even harrowing, passages, or that the performances of its lead actresses are very fine at times. But there’s something too self-assured about the film–the central…
young at heart Daddy and Daughter Sweetheart Dances: Pops and their little princesses trip the light fantastic from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, 6111 South All-America Way in Tempe. Friday’s ball is for girls ages 4 to 7, Saturday’s…
thursday february 8 Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities: Arizona Theatre Company presents playwright Anna Deavere Smith’s controversial take on racism and class conflict in America, based on the incident that led to the 1991 riots in New York City’s Crown Heights district. This week’s performances…
Anyone who believes that ancient Greek theatre must be stuffy and boring should take in Planet Earth Multi-Cultural Theatre’s production of Antigone. He or she will find a rare and rewarding confluence of classic and experimental theatre. Antigone is the work of Sophocles, the fifth century B.C.’s answer to Stephen…
As with Philadelphia and Salvador, the title of director Michael Hoffman’s film Restoration is meant to have a double meaning. The setting of the film is England during the 1660s–the Restoration period. But the film is also about the restoration of the hero’s soul. Said hero is Robert Merivel (Robert…
Chances are you’ve never heard of John Pierson, but if you make a point of reading the Film section, chances are you’d enjoy his book. Pierson has spent the last decade working in the independent-film industry, under the job title “producer’s representative.” This roughly translates as “the guy who gets…
thursday february 1 Parada del Sol Rodeo: Scottsdale’s annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned roundup is one of the world’s best, attracting many of the top ropers and riders in the field. Performances are at 1 p.m. Thursday, 1 and 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m…
the ice is right Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Walt Disney’s World on Ice presents this special-effects-laden rendition of the Grimm fairy tale. Two-time Canadian figure-skating champ Karen Preston plays Snow White, and Russian blader Serguei Tartykov portrays the handsome prince. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and…
