Tempe This Week – Tempe Improv Presents Just for Laughs

04/09/2012 By Leave a Comment

This Thursday, The Tempe Improv will host Just for Laughs, which will give area comics an opportunity to audition for the prestigious Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in July.  Winners of this event may go on to the next round in New York or Los Angeles and compete to be in the New Faces Showcase. As of today three of the dozen or so area comedians slated to perform are from Tempe. The Montreal festival is attended by scouts and promoters who are looking for new talent. So, plan on heading to the Tempe Improv for some great laughs while supporting our local comics in their efforts to make it to the big-time.

In addition to some great comedy, there’s a lot more going on in Tempe this week, including live music, theatre, dance, comedy, poetry readings and art exhibits.  View a complete listing of Tempe events, or call 480-894-8158 for more information.

 

 

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What’s Happening in Tempe this Week – Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Dance Company

03/05/2012 By Leave a Comment

Tempe will be hopping this week with the start of another exciting Cactus League Spring Training season. There’s also plenty of post-game music, theater and comedy to enjoy in Tempe. The amazing Bill T. Jones-Arnie Dance Company will perform Body against Body at the ASU Galvin Playhouse. The performance revives and reconsiders the duets and solos that launched Jones and Zane on the international dance scene of the early 80s. Bill T. Jones won the Tony Awards for Best Choreography for Spring Awakening in 2009 and for Fella! in 2010. This is the last week to see WICKED at ASU Gammage and Childsplay’s Rock the Presidents at the Tempe Center for the Arts. View a complete listing of Tempe events, or call 480-894-8158 for more information.

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What’s Happening in Tempe This Week – The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

02/28/2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s the final week to see Stray Cat Theatre’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Those of you who love the edgier side of theater won’t want to miss this hypothetical story of the court case and fate of Judas Escariot. The setting is a courtroom in Purgatory where lawyers take testimonies from a host of famous witnesses through the ages, including Mother Teresa, Caiaphas, Saint Monica, and Sigmund Freud. The devil also makes an apperance, played to satanic perfection by Damon Dering, better known as the Artistic Director of Nearly Naked Theatre. For more about the play, read this excellent review by theatre critic Kerry Lengel.

View a complete listing of Tempe events, or call 480-894-8158 for more information.

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What’s Happening in Tempe – WICKED

02/22/2012 By Leave a Comment

Tempe showcases theatre this week with three big productions. WICKED continues at ASU Gammage, but don’t wait to purchase your tickets; a little birdy told me that WICKED  is  close to selling out. For an edgier theatrical experience, there’s Stray Cat Theatre’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, set in a time-bending, darkly comic world between heaven and hell. Childsplay takes a timely look at 223 years of the American presidency in Rock the Presidents. It’s a rollicking, multi-media-filled musical revue covering the American presidency from Washington to Obama, brought to life through all-new rock, pop and folk music.

Here’s a sample of Tempe’s packed arts, culture and entertainment calendar this week. From music to theatre to arts exhibitions and events, there’s plenty to do.

 

 

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What’s Happening in Tempe this Week – WICKED Returns to ASU

02/15/2012 By Leave a Comment

WICKED is back by popular demand at ASU Gammage, February 15-March 11. The musical takes place before Dorothy from Kansas arrives in Oz.  It’s told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz: Elphaba, the misunderstood girl with emerald-green skin, and Glinda, the beautiful, ambitious and popular blonde. The story follows the friendship that evolves between the two as they grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

Since opening in 2003, WICKED has won 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony® Awards. The New York Times named WICKED the defining musical of the decade and Entertainment Weekly called it “the best musical of the decade.”   I saw WICKED when it was at ASU Gammage in 2009 and it exceeded my expectations 100 fold. I loved everything about it from the lush production to the beautiful music to its moving, but never maudlin message. In 2009 it broke box office records at ASU Gammage and sold out in record time. So, don’t wait to get your tickets or you might miss out.

The arts and entertainment scene in Tempe is wicked good in every way in the week ahead. Check out this line-up, get off your couch and enjoy some of what’s happening in Tempe this week.

 

 

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What’s Happening in Tempe This Week – The Tempe Improv

02/07/2012 By Leave a Comment

If laughter is the best medicine, then Tempe has a medicine chest full of cures this week at the Improv. On Wednesday, the Class Clowns Comedy Showcase will highlight the best in local talent. This popular event is a mix of seasoned comics who are well on their way and newbies to the stand-up scene. On Thursday, Shang will bring his political and explosive humor to the Improv’s stage. The week ends with Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame teaming up with his wife Shelby to perform the type of humor that made them famous during their Cheech & Chong days. View a complete listing of Tempe events, or call 480-894-8158 for more information.

 

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