Phoenix & the Valley of the Sun - American Southwest - page 456

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events and performances. Get Out, published by the East Valley Tribune, is another tab-
loid-format arts-and-entertainment publication that is available free around Scottsdale,
Phoenix, and Tempe. Other publications to check for abbreviated listings are Arizona Key
and Where Phoenix/Scottsdale, both of which are free and can usually be found at hotels
and resorts.
Tickets to many concerts, theater performances, and sporting events are available
through Ticketmaster ( & 866/448-7849; www.ticketmaster.com), which has outlets at
Macy's department stores and Fry's Marketplace grocery stores.

THE PERFORMING ARTS
Downtown Phoenix claims the Valley's greatest concentration of performance halls, but
there are major performing-arts venues scattered across the Valley. Calling these many
valley venues home are such major companies as the Phoenix Symphony, Scottsdale
Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera Company, Ballet Arizona, Center Dance Ensem-
ble, Actors Theatre of Phoenix, and Arizona Theatre Company. A wide variety of touring
companies also stop in the Valley.

Outdoor Venues & Series
The Cricket Pavilion, 2121 N. 83rd Ave., Phoenix ( & 602/254-7200; www.cricket-
pavilion.com), west of downtown and a half-mile north of I-10, between 75th and 83rd
avenues, is the city's top outdoor venue. This 20,000-seat amphitheater is open year-
round and hosts everything from Broadway musicals to rock concerts.
The Mesa Amphitheater, at University Drive and Center Street, Mesa ( & 480/644-
2560; www.mesaamp.com), is a much smaller amphitheater that holds a wide variety of
concerts in spring and summer, and occasionally other times of year as well.
Throughout the year, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 E. Second St., Scotts-
dale ( & 480/994-2787; www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org), stages outdoor perfor-
mances in the adjacent Scottsdale Amphitheater on the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall.
The Sunday A'fair series runs from January to April, with free concerts from noon to
4:30pm on selected Sundays of each month. Performances range from acoustic blues to
zydeco.
Two perennial favorites of Valley residents take place in particularly attractive sur-
roundings. The Music in the Garden concerts at the Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N.
Galvin Pkwy., in Papago Park ( & 480/941-1225 or 480/481-8188; www.dbg.org), are
held on Sundays between January and March. The season always includes an eclectic
array of musical styles. Tickets are $20 for adults and $8 for children 3 to 12; garden
admission is included. Between late March and late June, there are also Friday-night jazz
concerts.

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Classical Music, Opera & Dance
The Phoenix Symphony ( & 800/776-9080 or 602/495-1999; www.phoenixsymphony.
org), the Southwest's leading symphony orchestra, performs at Symphony Hall (tickets
mostly run $22-$72).
Opera buffs will want to see what the Arizona Opera ( & 602/266-7464; www.
azopera.org) has scheduled. Each season, this company stages up to five operas, both
familiar and more obscure, and splits its time between Phoenix and Tucson. Tickets cost
$25 to $144. Performances are held at Symphony Hall.
Ballet Arizona ( & 602/381-1096; www.balletaz.org) performs at both the Orpheum
Theatre and Symphony Hall and stages both classical and contemporary ballets; tickets