The Barbra Seville Show opened in Scottsdale in the summer of 2009. The show was an immediate success and hailed as one of the best cabaret-style shows in the Valley of the Sun. Barbra brought national performers from the drag world like Sherry Vine, Venus DeLite, and Raven into town as well as giving other local talent a place to shine. At the end of 2010 rumors spread that the club where she had been hosting this weekly event was closing. (It didn’t really close, it just changed ownership and became a straight bar.) Every good showgirl knows the show must go on and Barbra found a new venue in the heart of the gayborhood on 7th Avenue at The Rock.

She promises all the over the top costumes, show stopping numbers, comedy, drink specials, and more.

Check out this show every Saturday night at 10 PM.

Transgender rock star Venus DeMars presents a rare intimate solo-electric live-set performance of new and classic songs from h/ir band All The Pretty Horses. This Winter Tour is a sneak preview of some of the new songs S/he’s written for inclusion in the bands forthcoming album due out in the spring of 2011.

Doors open at 9 PM on Thursday, January 6th at the Rock.

The finals are here! Who will be crowned Mr.& Miss Phoenix Gay Pride 2011?

This years show will be hosted by RuPaul Drag Race’s JuJubee & Jessica Wild! Tickets are on sale now.

$20 Main Floor Seating
$40 VIP Meet & Greet Tickets

All $40.00 tickets include a meet and greet with JujuBee and Jessica Wild after the pageant.

Purchase tickets Online or by phone at Ticketmaster

Now in it’s second year the Desperado Gay and Lesbian Film Festival showcases the best in LGBT film making.

Held annually in January at the Paradise Valley Community College, the festival is an important venue for the greater LGBT Phoenix population. The festival funds the PVCC Rainbows Scholarship, provides student leadership opportunities, and celebrates multicultural diversity.

10 films will screen over 3 days.

General Public – $10.00
Students and Seniors – $8.00
All Access Event Pass – $88.00 – Includes the reception prior to premier and entry into all films.
“Build your own” Festival Pass – choose 5+ films at $9.00 per film.

A Bunch of Crock is a reaction to the current political landscape. It is a kind of gag reflex. It is an analysis of political messages directed at the general population in an election year. It is an attempt to share what politicians truly mean when they say something. It is a collection of political posters and audio/video installations. It is a bunch of political messages. It is a bunch of crock.

Queer Coffee is here every 3rd Saturday of every month!

Tell your friends! Invite them to Radical Phoenix! Community depends on you! For those who want more than the bar scene, or for queer youth who can’t even go to bars, Queer Coffee was organized to respond to a need in our community- the need for intellectual conversation and lively personal connections.

Bring books, zines, ideas, recipes, anything and get ready to meet new folks.

Always at Giant Coffee on Central and McDowell from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Grand Canyon Performing Arts is celebrating 20 years of musical performance in the Valley of the Sun. The season opens with “Precious Gifts” performed by the Phoenix Metropolitan Men’s Chorus, Canyon Echoes, and Harmonic Vibrations.

They will be performing Jazz sounds to holiday classics as well as performing the traditional numbers.

As of this posting, the Saturday show is sold out but tickets are still available for the Friday night and Sunday afternoon show.

Tickets are $23.00

Get your PHX, the monthly community social group, has teamed up with the Phoenix Public Market and 7 other sponsors including CenPho.com, Co+Hoots, Local First AZ, Grand Avenue Merchants Association, Downtown Phoenix Partnership, Phoenix Community Alliance, and Roosevelt Row to bring the first annual Phoenix Phoestivus Market to downtown. Who doesn’t like gifts, food and chestnuts on a chilly winters eve in Phoenix?

Wednesday, December 15 the Public Market on Central and Pierce Street will host local vendors and artists to showcase local produce, local food and local art. Food trucks will be on site, as well as carolers and musicians. Rumor has it there will be the climbing of the pole, wresting, and the airing of grievances. Cost is free and open to the public. Take the light rail and get off at Van Buren and Central (or 1st Ave) because parking will be expensive and a nightmare. The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m and end at 8:30 p.m.

Details:

Thursday, Dec. 9

Location: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, First Amendment Forum, 2nd floor, Downtown Phoenix

Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

QSpeak Theatre provides a safe space for queer youth and their straight allies to engage in community dialogue and affect positive change through storytelling and performance in order to bring awareness to their own lives and experiences. Vision: QSpeak Theatre strives to provide education through arts based programming that addresses the needs and concerns of queer youth. QSpeak Theatre will use the power of true stories and theatrical performance to initiate community dialogue, promote community awareness and participate in positive community change.

Details:

Sunday, Dec 5

Location: Kobalt Bar Poker Fundraiser hosted by Pete, 3110 N. Central Ave.

Time: 11 a.m.

ONE Community is an interactive web and events community for gay, lesbian and allied individuals and corporations. From their blog:

“We are for our diverse community because we offer special member discounts and pricing, ONE Community nights, business forums and an extensive gay, lesbian and allied business directory.

We are by our diverse community, with up to the minute local and national news, discussion groups and community blogs.  What better way to bring a community together than to talk about it, whatever it is!

We are committed to the Community.  Ten percent of all memberships go to our non-profit partners.”

Details:

Monday, Dec. 6

Location: Jewelry by Gauthier, Marshall Way, Old Town Scottsdale

Time: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

A community holiday event to recognize the charitable contributions of two foundations whose very existence revolves around “GIVING BACK”. Admission is $20.00. You can purchase tickets here.

Details:

Saturday, Dec. 4

Arizona Science Center, 3rd Floor, 600 East Washington Street

7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Details:

12/10/10

Old Town Scottsdale

6 p.m to 10 p.m.

$25 dollars, plus cash bar

Vital Statistics
A John Waters Christmas
8 p.m. Dec. 10
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
7380 E. Second St., Scotttsdale
Tickets: $34-$44

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25

Happy Thanksgiving! I have many things to be thankful for but right now I’m most thankful for a family who loves and supports me. I hope everyone has a safe and memorable holiday surrounded by the warmth of friends and family.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Phoenix Critical Mass -A long bike ride after the Thanksgiving holiday is a perfect way to burn off some of those turkey calories.
And it’s the first perfect time of year to bike.

According to Wikipedia, “Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. While the ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.”

ROUTE: Indian School to Central –> North on Central –> East on Camelback to Scottsdale Road South–> West on McDowell –> South on Galvin Pkway (passes by the Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden). –>South on Mill –> End at Tempe Beach Park

Make sure you have your bike light on. It will be dark.

6:30 pm-8:00 pm

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27

Tempe Fantasy of Lights-  Mill Avenue sparkles this time of year as we celebrate “Winter Wonderland!”
The Fantasy of Lights begins when the Opening Night Parade, followed by the official Tempe tree lighting and the arrival of Santa Clause. Take the train to Third St and Mill and joint 45,000 others celebrate in the most festive atmosphere in the Valley.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28

It’s 1927 and Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues, is getting ready to record the jazz songs that she sings like no one else.  As she strides into the recording studio, she squares off against a battling quartet of musicians, a tight-fisted producer and her manager who’s just trying to keep the recording session on track. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a gripping drama from Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright August Wilson, gives us a look at a time when even the most legendary singer of her day had to fight for every scrap of respect she could get. Starring renowned actor and recording artist Jevetta Steele as Ma Rainey.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29

The Second City, Chicago’s famed sketch-comedy troupe, will be making a return visit to Phoenix on March 10-20 after creating “The Second City Does Arizona, or Close, but No Saguaro” for Arizona Theatre Company’s 2008-09 season.
The new show, “Sex and the Second City, Version 2.0,” is also a world premiere, which begins a national tour at the Herberger Theater Center and then moves to Tucson later the same month.
Tickets, starting at $30, will go on sale Monday, Nov. 29.

Details:

The Rock 4129 N. 7th Ave Phoenix

$5.00 cover. 5:00 pm-8 pm.

The purpose of the demonstration is to make gay Mormons aware of The Trevor Project Suicide Prevention National Hotline (866-4-u-trevor or 866-488-7386) and the local Gay and Lesbian organization for gay Mormons, Phoenix Affirmation (480-586-5040). The outreach will also continue the national message, “It Gets Better” and that there is help available.

Volunteers will gather at 5:00 p.m. on the public sidewalks around the temple to offer outreach cards with the Trevor Hotline and Affirmation information on them to those attending the Christmas Lights ceremony. At 6:30 local activists will speak. After the speeches everyone will light a candle and line the public sidewalks around the temple and sing Silent Night. At the conclusion of the song candles will be snuffed out simultaneously around the temple to symbolically represent the snuffing out of so many lives by suicide.

Are you as excited about the release of Burlesque as we are? It’s just a few days away now! Lucky for Phoenix Barbra Seville will be hitting the stage at Forbidden with Cher (editors note: not really Cher) this Saturday night to bring us a special engagement show that you won’t want to miss. Plus a fundraiser at Charlie’s and BS West and more!

Friday, November 19

BS West is turning the bar pink, to raise money for those surviving and living through breast cancer. Drag queens from around the Valley will perform and donate their tips to the cause. There is also a raffle, silent auction, DJ and drink specials. Partial proceeds from the event benefit Scottsdale Health Care and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center and this year’s “Pink Lady,” a woman facing the challenges of breast cancer who is in need. Entertainment begins at 7 p.m.

Saturday, November 20

Hundreds of people dress as fantastical creatures at the Phoenix Faerie Festival, a two-day festival featuring fantasy storytelling, mythical themed artwork and performances, and a Goblin Market where “fairy items” such as bells, buttons and crystals replace money as accepted tender. The festival is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at the Estrella Mountain Regional Park, 14805 W. Vineyard Ave, Goodyear. $10 entry fee plus $6 for parking. Cash only.

Join your friends and neighbors for the annual Grandview Neighborhood fund-raising party at Charlies. Invite your family and friends too! The party starts at 7 p.m. with great fun, raffle prizes, and of course the infamous Grandview Jello Shots will sold! All to help the Grandview Neighborhood Association raise money to keep the neighborhood connected! And don’t be late for the show starring Pussy LeHoot and friends beginning around 9 p.m. with all proceeds going back to the neighborhood, home to Charlies! Special thanks to Charlies for hosting the annual fundraiser.

“The Barbra Seville Show” at Forbidden in Old Town Scottsdale is bringing Chad Michaels, one of the worlds premier Cher impersonators, to a specially themed show called “Burlesque.” Barbra Seville is one of the best entertainers in Phoenix and this is a show people will be talking about for a long time. (And let’s be real, this is about as close to Cher as most of us are ever going to get.)

Sunday, November 21

If you can’t go to India, bring India to Phoenix. The Discover India Festival in downtown Phoenix at Heritage Square from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. India is home to a billion people, recognizes over a dozen official languages and is home to an extraordinary range of traditions, food and clothing. There is sure to be some fantastic naan bread and tikka masala, plus a parade that begins at 2 p.m.

Happy Halloween from Phoenix! There is so much to do and see this weekend and while it is true that there is much fun to be had, don’t forget that there is a very important election right around the corner as well. Remember to also VOTE on Tuesday, November 2!


FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29
The Second Annual Zombie Walk at Heritage Square at 6 p.m. on Friday night. Come dressed as a zombie! This event is our favorite price: free! The walk circles back to Heritage Square for the All Hallows Eve Festival and features candle-lit tours of the Rosson House, pumpkin carving, palm readers, cake walk, silent horror films, raffles, carnival games, and free brains (editors note: not really).

But the fun doesn’t end there. The Rose & Crown is hosting A Nightmare on Adams Street. There will be live music from Claybirds and DJ LaRue and the beer garden opens at 7:30 and closes at midnight.

Did I mention admission to this is also free? Because it is.


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30

This time of year is not all fun and games and zombies, we still have to be politically active. A satellite rally has been organized to coincide with Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity. Be on Hayden Lawn at ASU from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. (There is also one at Bragg’s Pie Factory on Grand Avenue in downtown Phoenix.) Information here and here.

Saturday night it’s time to do the time warp again! It’s hard to believe that Rocky Horror has been playing for 35 years, but it has. Madcap Theaters screens Rocky Horror each month, but Halloween is the best time to see it. This year the party will be huge with the usual full stage cast, audience participation, costume contests, virgin sacrifices and more. I’ll be there Saturday night to debut my Halloween costume, a little something I’m calling “Sexy Darth Vader.”

The annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale is up in the Steele Gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum. These guys are talented and every piece captures the majesty of the West with such realistic skill and spirit.


SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31

Happy Halloween! The best way to spend Halloween is by walking around a 100 year old graveyard! This year the city of Tempe is hosting the inaugural narrated walking tour of Tempe Double Butte Cemetery. 12,000 people are buried in Double Butte and former Arizona Governor Howard Pyle called the cemetery “Tempe’s Arlington” because so many prominent and influential Arizonans are buried here.
Tickets are $15.

If you can’t make the cemetery tour, check out “In the Next Room (Or The Vibrator Play)” at the Herberger Theater. (Yes, THAT kind of vibrator.) It’s a comedy about marriage, intimacy, and electricity. Tickets range from $28.00-$48.00 and is presented by the talented Actors Theatre. If you can’t catch it this weekend, that’s ok, the show runs until the 14th.

Have you got your tickets to the VooDoo Revue yet? These queens are going to bring down the house! The show begins at 7 p.m. at The Rock and they will be singing songs from Wicked, Rocky Horror, Hocus Pocus and many other Halloween favorites. Admission is only 5 bucks! There will be prizes for the Best Costume and Best Blood Curdling Scream.
Tickets can be purchased in advance here.

When people roll their eyes and say things about Phoenix like, “It’s so hot!” I just laugh and shrug. For nearly 9 months out of the year, Phoenix rarely gets hotter than 85 degrees. Phoenicians enjoy Sunny, blue never ending skies, chilly evenings and so many outdoor events that it’s impossible to attend even a fraction of them.

The Herberger Theater downtown re-opened this month after extensive renovations, this Friday Ignite Phoenix will showcase some awesome ideas, and the Arirang Korean Festival in Heritage Square are just a few of the events this weekend.


FRIDAY

The Arizona State Fair opens today and runs until Nov. 7 (It’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays.)
The history of the Arizona State Fair spans three centuries. Yup, in November 1884 a group of citizens in the territory of Arizona organized an event with family in mind. Now in its 125th year the Arizona State Fair perseveres the best of the Fair’s traditions. (Although, this is only the 64th consecutive year of the Fair. Depressions, crop failures, and war put the Fair on pause a few times.)

Ignite Phoenix, “Lighting a fire under the Valley’s creative community!”
At the Virginia G Piper Theater in Oldtown Scottsdale form 6:30-9:30 PM.
Ignite Phoenix is an evening of short presentations scheduled several times a year. You’ll hear 18 passionate speakers talking about their favorite topics or projects for just 5 minutes. Unfortunately, tickets to this event are sold out. But Ignite Phoenix happens a few times a year so keep your eyes and ears open for information about the next one.


SATURDAY

Kimichi anyone? The Arirang Korean Festival is Saturday at Heritage Square Park from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Noche De Gourmet, one of Phoenix’s premier fundraising events, will be held at the Tempe Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. Come dressed to impress!
The finest restaurants in the Valley will showcase their signature dishes with a large selection of beers, wines and top shelf liquors. This event features live music, a silent auction, art exhibit and raffle prizes. All proceeds raised will go to benefit the Children in Need Foundation, a non-profit organization providing funds and services to children’s charities in the Greater Phoenix area. Tickets are $75.00


ALL THIS WEEKEND

Arizona Theater Company presents, Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical.
The story of a small-town girl from Texas who became a Hollywood legend. Show stopping dance numbers, great songs. The newly renovated Herberger Theater is stunning! Tickets $35-69, October 7-24.

At the Phoenix Art Museum:
Extending the Runway: Tatiana Sorokko Style, now until Jan, 2 2011
Tatiana Sorokko, the Russian-born model achieved international success in the 90s. She graced the covers of Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan. She later left modeling but still works in the fashion world and now until Jan 2, you can see over 60 dresses and accessories from her own collection. She talks about the collection in a video on the Phoenix Art Museum’s website.

The Living Room opened their second location in Coronado (2333 N 7th St). It is open daily from 11 a.m.- 11 p.m. The owners opened The Living Room first in Chandler and then have established other groovy hangouts like Humble Pie, 5th and Wine, and Rancho Pinot. They have now opened a second location of The Living Room. Check out this brand new wine bar in Central Phoenix.

Canteen Modern Tequila Bar opened on 6th St and Mill Ave. in downtown Tempe. It took over the former location of Regions Bistro. If you like tequila and Mexican food, this is the place. The owners are the same people behind La Bocca on Mill Ave and Canteen has the same upscale/classy vibe. It is a welcome addition to Mill Ave. The grilled shrimp tacos were phenomenal!


PHOTO CREDIT by MPR529 on Flickr, http://flic.kr/p/pRyge

Is the Hotel San Carlos really haunted? Take the Ghost Tour and judge for yourself. The Ghosts of Phoenix Tour takes place in the historic Hotel San Carlos. The one hour guided walking tour will take you to areas not open to the general public. The guides will take you through this Phoenix landmark and tell stories about the ghosts that are said to haunt it. (One stop on the tour will probably be the basement of the San Carlos.) Tickets are $13 and reservations are required. Friday and Saturday nights only throughout the rest of the year.


SATURDAY

Tucson Pride kicks off this Friday night with the Pride Parade at 6 pm. Pride in the Desert continues on Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm at Reid Park. They have a great lineup of performers including Tom Goss, Eric Himan, Sophie B. Hawkins and Tucson’s own Namoli Brennet.

Beer! Music! Bicycle contraptions! Costumes! What more do you need? The Tempe Tour de Fat is this Saturday at Tempe Town Lake. Bike registration begins at 9 am with the Bike Parade Launch at 10 am. Besides the hometown show, Tempe Tour de Fat is the largest Tour de Fat there is!

Saturday night from 5-9 pm over 140 artists will be showing and selling their work at the Sunnyslope Artwalk. There will be live music from local bands like Chuck Hall and Rocket 88’s plus restaurants in the area will be open late. Parking is free.


SUNDAY

OUTDay Phx at the Phoenix Zoo is sold out. You’ll have to meet Heather Matarazzo and ANT another day. Bummer. But go to the zoo anyways. The new Koalas are there and the Komodo Dragons are pretty cool too.


MONDAY

Check out Calle 16 at the Barrio Cafe. Calle 16 began in August out of frustration over SB1070 and Arizona tarnished image. Calle 16 is a grass roots community effort to fund and promote a community mural project on 16th Street. The group is hosting a community meeting and artist auction at 7 pm. The event is free, but space is limited. Check out the website to RSVP and learn how we can build community one wall at a time.

It’s here! The 9th Annual Rainbows Festival, billed as “Arizona’s Greatest Street Fair” is back at Heritage Square Park in downtown Phoenix October 2nd and 3rd. The Rainbows Festival is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community and draws over 25,000 people each year. After Pride, Rainbows is one of the largest LGBT events in the state.

Admission is free! You pay nothing to enjoy a social weekend of fun, entertainment, food and frolic! Parking is a nightmare so take the light rail to every event you can. It’s cheaper and easier. Plus, the official kick off party at Kobalt, the Scottsdale International Film Festival, and the 2010 AIDS Walk.


Friday:

Glitter 2010, the official Rainbows Festival Kick-Off Party begins at 4 pm at Kobalt on 3110 N Central Avenue with DJs, drink specials, samplings and giveaways!

The Scottsdale International Film Festival opens Friday until October 5. Now in it’s 10th season, this year brings 5 Oscar contenders with a total of 27 films from 20 countries including Hollywood Premieres and Indie Arthouse flicks. Films will be screed at the Virginia G. Piper Theater in Old Town at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and at Harkins Camelview 5.Ticket information can be found on their website.

Oktoberfest at Tempe Town Lake begins today at 5 pm and ends on October 3rd. Admission is free! Live music, lots of beer, lots of people. Tempe Town Lake is still empty since the dam burst a few months ago, but don’t let that stop you! Best way to get here is to take the light rail to the 3rd and Mill Station.

Saturday:

Rainbows Festival opens at 10 am and closes at 6 pm. There are also nearly 175 exhibitors and partners of the Rainbows Festival with a variety of artists, art sellers, non-profits and business that market their services to the metro Phoenix LGBT community. Among the featured performers this year will be dancers performing jazz, hip hop, contemporary, punk and break dancing. The winning dance troupe will perform the next day at the the AIDS Walk.


Sunday:

AIDS Walk registration begins at 7:00 am with opening ceremonies an hour later. The 5k run begins at 9 am and the AIDS Walk will begin shortly after the last runner departs. Funds raised by the AIDS Walk Phoenix support 19 agencies providing HIV Prevention as well as health care and social services to people infected with and affected by HIV. Funds raised by the Walk are distributed equally to each agency.

9th Annual Rainbows Festival continues on Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Barbra Seville hits the stage at 3 pm.

It’s going to be a great weekend! Hope to see you there.

This time of year is usually cooler in Phoenix, but this week the heat of summer came back with a slight vengeance. However, the idea that Phoenix is a blasting inferno year round is a common (and incorrect) misconception. The average year round temperature in Phoenix is 87 degrees with low humidity, quite pleasant by any standard. Besides, you have to be tough to live in the desert, you must have a fiery temperament that cold climates will extinguish.

There has never been a more exciting time to be a Phoenician. Come check out some of this weekends events and you’ll be surprised by the talented, passionate, dedicated people who call Phoenix home.

Thursday, September 23

Get your PHX (pronounced “Fix”) with local real estate agent and former state legislator Ken Clark at Bliss/reBAR on 4th St and Garfield at 5:30 p.m. Get your PHX is a monthly social group that meets in new downtown restaurants and sometimes in Phoenix landmarks. (One month they met at the top of the iconic Luhrs Building next to the art deco Luhrs Tower. Free drinks and appetizers are often donated by the restaurant.

The Hula’s Modern Tiki Anniversary Party is from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. but there is no reason to leave at 8, stay till closing if you want. (Check Hula’s out on Mondays as well. Hula’s sponsors “Mahalo Mondays” and 10% of the daily revenue is donated to local charities. This month the proceeds go to The First Tee Phoenix, in October proceeds with go to the Phoenix Children’t Hospital.)


Friday, September 24

Do you want to rock and roll all night and party everyday? You can on Friday night because Kiss will be performing at Cricket Wireless Pavilion.

Howie Mandel is at the Chandler Center for the Arts. I love it when he speaks like a foul-mouthed sailor as the voice of Bobby from Bobby’s World! It’s inappropriate and hilarious.

The Back Up Plan will be showing at Civic Space Park as part of the Movies in the Park event. Bring a blanket and a lawn chair for this free event that begins at 8 p.m.


Saturday, September 25

The Urban Wine Walk is back. Explore Camelback Corridor, Downtown Phoenix, and Downtown Tempe restaurants. Hop on the light rail between 11 a.m and 6 p.m and stop by participating restaurants for wine samples and snacks at a special price. Print out a map here.

The Second Annual Grand Avenue Festival beings at 8 a.m. with tours of historic buildings such as La Lux Del Mundo Church, the Oasis Motel, and Rodriguez Boxing Gym. The festival continues all day with live music, fashion shows, and art exhibits. Check out the Trashy Sculpture show at Braggs Pie Factory too.

Take a day trip to Sedona to check out the 2nd Annual Sedona Pride on the Rocks at the Los Abrigados Resort. The recent queen of Jan Brewer parodies on YouTube, the one and only Barbra Seville, is the MC. A day pass is only $10 and a full access pass is only $15. What a great excuse to go up to Sedona!

The Diamondbacks are playing at Chase Field downtown against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

One of the most underrated bands (in my never humble opinion), Train, will be performing with Gavin DeGraw at US Airways Center downtown.

Have you ever been to a dinner theater? Me neither. But the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater in Mesa has a $39 Saturday night special for dinner and a show. Church Basement Ladies is now playing and is “a hilarious musical comedy that celebrates church basement kitchens everywhere and the women who work there.”


Sunday, September 26

Arizona Restaurant Week is still in full swing. Kincaid’s Fish, Chop, & Steak House, the District American Kitchen and Wine Bar, and the Compass Arizona Grill are offering one three-course dinner menu of signature dishes from $19-$39 per person (excluding drinks).

Jakie Cooper stars as the young Jim Hawkins who discovers a treasure map of the pirate Billy Bones then sets sail with cutthroat pirates. Treasure Island is playing at the Phoenix Art Museum at 1 p.m.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are in town at US Airways at 7:30 p.m. All 2010 tour tickets purchased online will include an MP3 download of every track on the Heartbreakers new album, Mojo.

The coming months are the busiest and there is no shortage of community events, volunteer work, new restaurants, live music, and festivals. To kick off this busy season we have a cult movie star and a drag queen filmmaker in town. You don’t want to miss this!


Tonight

Brahms Violin Concerto at Symphony Hall. The Phoenix Symphony launches its 2010-11 season with Brahms “dazzling violin concert” featuring sensational young violinist Augustin Hadelich. 7:30 pm $18-$88.

Friday

Meet and Greet with Peaches Christ and Mink Stole, the cult film movie star who is one of only two people to say she has appeared in every John Waters’ movie ever made. Mink has a part in the new film All About Evil, directed by the legendary San Francisco drag queen, Peaches Christ. The meet and greet will be at Ice Pics Video Bar on 32nd Street and McDowell from 5-7 p.m.

Then head over to MADCAP Theater in downtown Tempe to see the Arizona Premier of All About Evil. VIP ticket holders can enter at 9 pm. Everyone else will be allowed in at 9:30. Be prepared for a wild pre-show with Peaches and our very own Pandora and the crazy cast of the Follies. Gore-couture is encouraged.

Saturday

Meet Doreen Fang, the next Food Network Star finalist at Hula’s Modern Tiki on Central from 2 to 4 p.m. Doreen will talk about her adventures and what’s next for this popular chef. The event is free but a $5 donation will get you an autographed photo and/or a photo with Doreen. (All the money will be given to Waste Not, a charitable organization that delivers perishable items donated from Valley restaurants to the homeless and underprivileged.)

Saturday night at 8 p.m Margaret Cho is performing at Dodge Theater. Tickets on sale at Ticketmaster. We hear she will be singing songs from her new CD as well.

At 10 p.m Peaches and the Follies perform at Ice Pics Video Bar. Peaches will be premiering her new short film, Children of The Popcorn as an extra bonus.

Sunday

Volunteer at the community garden on 6th Street and Garfield from 8-10 am.

The Phoenix Art Museum has more than just art. They screen thought-provoking movies with themes that relate to the current exhibitions or collections with an in depth discussion that follows the film. This week they are showing The Cotton Club starring Richard Gere in Francis Ford Coppola’s “look at the famed Depression-era nightclub that gave rise to some of the era’s hottest jazz and most notorious criminals.” Showtime is at 1 pm.

Lucky Strike, the new addition to CityScape is a hit and has had lines out the door and waits up to two hours since the grand opening. We hear their happy hour from 4-7 p.m. is pretty good.