- Thursday, Jan. 19
- 5:30-8 p.m.
- Oasis on Grand: 1501 NW Grand Ave.
- Getting there: Bike—15th Avenue and Grand
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: networking, exploring new businesses, getting to know your community
For three years, downtown realtor and activist Ken Boe and his crew have been bringing together all manner of concerned citizens to welcome new businesses and projects into the city. Through their monthly, informal mixers, Get Your PHX has brought the attention of the Downtown community to the newest restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and now, residences. For the anniversary edition of the series, the event is being held at the newly-opened Oasis on Grand studios and residences. Several years in the making, the Oasis is an adaptive reuse project utilizing a former “den of sin,” taking the space’s strong mid-century bones and updating it as a fashionable studio and live/work complex featuring 60 units in three different configurations. And, as special bonuses, Get Your PHX is bringing the authors of the new Downtown Phoenix local history tome for a special book signing and presenting the newest plans for the proposed Grand Avenue trolley.
- Sunday, Jan. 22
- 7:00 p.m.
- Stand Up Live: 50 W. Jefferson St.
- Getting there: Walk—Central Avenue and Jefferson Street
- Price: FREE with RSVP to mary.cook@asu.edu (Two soda minimum)
Recommended if you like: Punk’d, fresh comedy, The League
ASU’s Discover Phoenix series is back and better than ever, with a full semester’s worth of programming, all beginning with a FREE event at Downtown’s acclaimed Stand Up Live comedy theatre. With a quick email, up to 200 ASU students can gain free entrance to see a rising stand-up talent perform just blocks away from Taylor Place. Comedian Steve Rannazzisi began his career as a cast member of Ashton Kutcher’s hit MTV show Punk’d, after years of small-time stand-up work in the Los Angleles scene, working alongside such veterans as Joe Rogan and Andrew Dice Clay. After a series of smaller sitcom roles, Steve began to move into the big time, being cast as alongside Kevin James in Sony Pictures’ Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and finally starring in FX’s hit comedy The League. In his stand-up, Rannazzisi mixes snark with commentary on his daily life, creating a unique yet approachable mix of material.
Daniel Funkhouser, James B. Hunt and Travis Vallance
- Friday, Jan. 20
- 7:00 p.m.
- The Firehouse: 1015 N. First St.
- Getting there: Walk—First and Roosevelt streets
- Price: FREE
Recommended if you like: performance art, boundary-pushing visuals
Always-interesting downtown art space The Firehouse opens its doors this Friday to a new group show featuring three prominent, rising stars in the Phoenix visual art scene. Conspire resident artist Travis Vallance is the newcomer of the bunch, having largely gained exposure through his live painting during First and Third Friday artwalks. His bright, impressionistic works fill the visual field, seamlessly moving from more realistic portraits to abstract scenes. James B. Hunt, more widely known as NXOEED, takes the next spot on the roster. Over the past year, Hunt has honed his work through dozens of solo and group shows all over the country and world, creating a huge array of surreal, often grotesque portraits, all filled with a mélange of colors blending together to create a cohesive piece. Headlining the show is Daniel Funkhouser, the eye-popping mixed-media artist and Treasure Mammal member, fresh off his groundbreaking solo show at nearby gallery eye lounge. Funkhouser’s works blend photography, painting, and found-objects to create an entirely original body of work, portraying his own struggle with identity, and the societal gender divide. For the opening, expect performance art from both Funkhouser and Hunt, ensuring that all senses are indulged with the new group show.
- Thursday, Jan. 19
- 7:30 p.m.
- The Trunk Space: 1506 NW Grand Ave.
- Getting there: Bike—15th and Grand avenues
- Price: $6 at the door
Recommended if you like: lo-fi, experimental pop, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Mysterious name, mysterious music. Emperor X is the solo project of one C.R. Matheny, a sometimes-middle-school math teacher, who abandoned his pursuit of a master’s in physics to go after his other passion: music. Matheny’s compositions bend tape manipulation, acoustic guitars, and analog electronics to build sound collages which sound more like pop songs than you might expect. After two of his self-released albums reached the top ten of the College Music Journal charts, Matheny began touring relentlessly, garnering the attention of such music-industry tastemakers as NPR, Tiny Mix Tapes, and Pitchfork, all while maintaining his militantly lo-fi aesthetic. For his latest project, Matheny has traveled the world, bringing with him master tapes, b-sides, and one-off recordings, and burying them in the ground, tagging each tape’s coordinates on his website in hopes that fans will go out, literally digging for his work. Through his many quirky projects and eclectic recordings, C.R. Matheny and Emperor X has built a unique following, one perfect for the Trunk Space’s underground leanings. Local favorites Stephen Steinbrink (French Quarter), Empire of the Bear and Hiccups open the bill.
- Thursday-Sunday, Jan. 19-22
- Various times: www.blacktheatretroupe.org
- Playhouse on the Park: 1850 N. Central Ave.
- Getting there: Rail—Central Avenue and McDowell stop
- Price: $33.50 in advance at www.blacktheatretroupe.org
Recommended if you like: civil rights, historical fiction, character studies
Arizona’s Black Theatre Troupe’s latest production embraces historical context yet again, proving that relevant truths can be combed from the past when mixed with new ideas. A Song For Coretta, by Atlanta playwright Pearl Cleage, tells the story of five unlike women who meet at the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the late wife of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. Though she may have lived in the shadow of her famed husband, Mrs. King was a leader in her own right, leading the fight against AIDS and protesting gun violence. In the play, each of the five women arrives at the funeral looking only to pay their last respects to the larger-than-life woman, ending up deep in conversation as they present their individual demons for the others to hear. Each has different reasons for visiting the coffin of Mrs. King, but each sees the role played by Mrs. King in the Civil Rights Movement, and in their own lives.
- Fridays-Sundays through Jan. 28
- Fridays and Saturdays 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
- Soul Invictus: 1022 NW Grand Ave.
- Getting there: Bike—Grand Avenue between 10th and 11th avenues
- Price: $15 in advance with student ID at azmacbeth.org
Recommended if you like: classical Shakespeare, small-scale theater
A familiar tale, MacBeth takes on an entirely new character when presented in the confines of the micro-sized Soul Invictus theatre. The streamlined, 90-minute production features all original language, stripping the show to its core ambitions, minus superfluous special effects and sets. Presented by the Arizona Curriculum Theater, the troupe seeks to educate the public on the power of educational classics, such as MacBeth. The rapid pacing of this version brings new energy to the centuries-old play, making it palatable to an entirely new audience of viewers. Featuring original soundscapes by local period musicians Bartholomew Faire, the show is sure to provide ample atmosphere for engaging the audience inside the tiny performance space.
Events compiled by Connor Descheemaker.
Back to top 
