5 Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

Up in Smoke
At great personal risk of donning a sort-of seasonal hipster guide, a lot of non-hipster guys are at present stashing their razors for Movember. And in honor of the charitably unshorn, FlimBar is hosting the November Film Series, which celebrates the silver screen’s most memorable cookie dusters. On the bewhiskered bill for Monday, Movember 9, is the Cheech and Chong classic, Up in Smoke. God knows a razor is the last thing anyone associates with those guys’ lips. The film starts at 6:40 p.m., at 815 North Second Street, and admission is $7. Those under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Visit www.thefilmbarphx.com or call 602-595-9187. Rob Kroehler

"Shakespeare Under the Swastika and the Union Jack: Shakespeare and Propaganda in World War II"
Those party animals at the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies have done it again.

If there is a more intriguing discussion title than “Shakespeare Under The Swastika And The Union Jack: Shakespeare And Propaganda In World War II,” we double-dog-dare you to find it.

Dr. Barbara Acker, ASU professor emerita and former actress, shares what she knows about The Bard and Bavaria, discussing why Shakespeare may have flourished in 1930s Germany, even while Brits dropped bombs on German theaters. Were there Aryan ideals in Shakespeare’s plays that kept his works alive in World War II-era Germany? And just what was the relationship between the Third Reich and Bill Shakespeare?

It’s complicated.

The lecture begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 9, at Changing Hands Tempe, 6428 South McClintock Drive. Visit www.changinghands.com/event for more information. Melissa Campana

"Magical Realism: A Conversation with Alberto Ríos"
Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez infused his novels such as 1967’s One Hundred Years of Solitude with fantastical flourishes that spoke to the untold truths of the world within and beyond the pages. No stranger to the conjuring of the unspoken, Alberto Rios, first Poet Laureate of Arizona, discusses García Márquez, magical realism, Latino-American art, and Southwestern literature on Tuesday, November 9. In particular, Rios will use examples from 1985’s Love in the Time of Cholera, which is the inspiration of the Arizona Opera’s upcoming production of Florencia en el Amazonas.

“Magical Realism: A Conversation with Alberto Rios” is at the Arizona Opera Center, 1636 North Central Avenue, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9. Admission is $25. Visit www.azopera.org for more info. Jose Gonzalez

Evil Dead: The Musical 
Sadly, Milla Jovovich is not part of the traveling cast of Evil Dead: The Musical. (Maybe she can’t carry a tune?) Still, this singing horror/comedy has plenty of camp and picks up where she left off: killing zombies, hurling dismembered limbs, and spraying blood with reckless abandon. Be warned: Those in the “splatter zone” will experience plenty of blood, guts, and gore emanating from the stage. Cleverly based on the film franchise, things begin innocently enough when five college chums set off for a weekend in the woods. Need we explain what happens next?

Catch some bloody fun at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, at the Mesa Arts Center, One East Main Street. Tickets are $38 and $50. Visit www.mesaartscenter.com or call 480-644-6500. Glenn BurnSilver

West Side Story
When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way. When you’re Maria, you feel pretty. When you’re Romeo and Juliet, you give rise to the ground-breaking 1957 musical, West Side Story, with libretto by Stephen Sondheim and music by not-Stephen-Sondheim Leonard Bernstein — still a solid choice, and much more than just an R.E.M. lyric.

Arizona Broadway Theatre’s production continues through Sunday, November 15, at 7701 West Paradise Lane in Peoria. On Wednesday, November 11, dinner is at 5:30 p.m. with a 7:30 showtime. Tickets are $65 to $110; non-dining options are also available. Call 623-776-8400 or visit www.azbroadway.org. Julie Peterson