COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY April 2022 Writer Joseph J. Airdo

Scottsdale Arts will host its annual fundraiser benefitting dynamic and diverse performances, exhibitions and arts education and outreach programs. The gala will feature a Hollywood-style, livestreamed red carpet event; culinary and beverage stations; a silent auction, performance artists; a specially designed, three-course dinner; a dynamic live auction; and an energizing and enigmatic grand finale performance by Quixotic. See website for prices and time. Scottsdale Stadium, 7408 E. Osborn Road, Scottsdale. scottsdalearts.org

The Phoenix Theatre Company presents its production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” a stage adaptation of one of the most popular movie musicals of all time. See website for price and times. The Phoenix Theatre Company, 1825 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 602-254-2151; phoenixtheatre.com

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Black Theatre Troupe presents its production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” which aims to delight and energize audiences and give them a glimpse into a vibrant time in American history and music. See website for price and times. Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center, 1333 E. Washington St., Phoenix. blacktheatretroupe.org

Phoenix Film Festival The Phoenix Film Foundation hosts its annual event. See website for prices and schedule. Harkins Scottsdale 101, 7000 E. Mayo Blvd., Scottsdale. phoenixfilmfestival.com

Flashdance: The Musical Arizona Broadway Theatre presents its production of “Flashdance: The Musical,” based on the popular 1983 feature film about a welder who dreams of going to a prestigious dance academy and becoming a professional dancer. See website for price and times. Arizona Broadway Theatre, 7701 W. Paradise Lane, Peoria. 623-776-8400; azbroadway.org

Don Bluth Front Row Theatre presents its production of “Camelot.” $28+; youth, senior, student and military discounts available. Don Bluth Front Row Theatre, 8989 E. Via Linda, Suite 118, Scottsdale. 480-314-0841; donbluthfrontrowtheatre.com

The Phoenix Theatre Company presents its production of “The Color Purple” — a story of hope, a testament to the healing power of love and a celebration of life, based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. See website for price and times. The Phoenix Theatre Company, 1825 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 602-254-2151; phoenixtheatre.com

The Texas Tenors will take the stage as part of Arizona Musicfest for a concert of repertoire ranging from country to pop and Broadway to classical. $49+. 7:30 p.m. Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale. azmusicfest.org

Starlight Community Theater will present its production of “Godspell,” a timeless and joyful tale of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and love based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew. See website for price and times. Starlight Community Theater, 1611 W. Whispering Wind Dr., Suite 9, Phoenix. starlightcommunitytheater.com

Celebrate America’s love of automobiles and aircraft. Enthusiasts and owners can mingle and take in some of the finest examples of domestic and foreign automobiles and aircraft from around the Valley. The event will feature a mix of classic automobiles and vintage aircraft manufactured prior to 1980. Free. 10 a.m.– 2 p.m. SkyRanch at Carefree, 8302 E. Cave Creek Road, Carefree. carefreewheels-wings.com

Hawk Salvage will host an artists showcase featuring a variety of offerings, including a moving repetition performance by internationally recognized artist Diana Calderon. A Mexican immigrant raised in the borderlands of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Calderon draws inspiration from her ancestral roots. The showcase will also feature works from visual artists as well as live music, food, drinks and more. $50. 6–10 p.m. Hawk Salvage, 1109 Grand Ave., Phoenix. hawksalvage.com

ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Orchestra, joined by the Carolyn Eynon Singers, will perform a concert piece for orchestra, choir, soloists and authentic Aztec percussion instruments. $25; youth, student, senior and military discounts available. Saturday 7 p.m. at Barry Goldwater High School Performing Arts Center, 2820 W. Rose Garden Lane, Phoenix. Sunday, 3:30 p.m. at American Lutheran Church, 17200 N. Del Webb Blvd., Sun City. 623-326-5172; pmaz.org

Arizona Musicfest will present a technically stunning, authentic and explosive concert showcasing two decades of Paul McCartney’s music from The Beatles to Wings. $35+. 7:30 p.m. Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale. azmusicfest.org

PHX Fest will host its second annual festival in which the world’s favorite side dish takes center stage. $12. 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Margaret T. Hance Park, 1202 N. Third St., Phoenix. friedfestival.com

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COMMUNITY April 2022 Writer Joseph J. Airdo

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art will present an exhibition of seven large-scale hanging works by Los Angeles-based Mandan/Hidatsa artist Teresa Baker. Combining Native American craft traditions using buffalo hide, willow and other natural materials with artificial materials like AstroTurf and synthetic yarns, the exhibition will contain new works made in response to the landscape of northeastern Wyoming on the high plains — beneath the Bighorn Mountains — and inspired by the vastness of that area, the unique geological formations of giant rocks, petrified logs and the sky. $10; student, senior and veteran discounts available. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale. 480874-4666; smoca.org

Anthem Community Council will host its semi-annual event during which Anthem residents can recycle electronics, bulk materials, cardboard, personal documents, paint, prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs and more. Participants must provide one form of Anthem residency identification. Free. 8–11 a.m. Anthem Community Park’s lower parking lot, 41703 N. Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem. onlineatanthem.com/go-green

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will welcome iconic music artist Keb’ Mo’ for a concert of songs addressing topics such as immigration, depression, female empowerment and more. See website for prices. 7:30 p.m. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale. 480-499-8587, scottsdaleperformingarts.org

One of the world’s pre-eminent pianists Emanuel Ax will take the stage as part of Arizona Musicfest for a concert of classical music. $41+. 7:30 p.m. La Casa de Cristo Church, 6300 E. Bell Road, Scottsdale. azmusicfest.org

Photo by Michele Celentano Musical Theatre of Anthem will present its production of “Seussical,” a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza. $25. See website for times. Musical Theatre of Anthem, 42201 N. 41st Drive, Anthem. 623-336-6001; musicaltheatreofanthem.org

Musical Instrument Museum will celebrate the music and culture of Arizona. See website for schedule of events. $20; youth discounts available. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix. 480-478-6000; mim.org

Ballet Etudes will perform a two-act ballet following the kind-hearted Cinderella, her wicked step-mother, her two clumsy step-sisters and her loving fairy godmother. $21+. Saturday 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday 3 p.m. Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler.

Talent from the Phoenix musical theater community will perform an evening of Broadway cabaret. All funds raised will go to support Convergence Ballet and its PLIES program, which provides ballet training for Title 1 students — including full tuition, transportation, dancewear and costumes. $50. 6 p.m. Ballet Theatre of Phoenix, 6201 N. Seventh St., Phoenix. ballettheatreofphx.org

Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix will perform a concert of waterthemed choral music — including sea shanties, rivers, weeping and baptism. See website for prices. April 24 3 p.m. at The Church at Litchfield Park, 300 N. Old Litchfield Road, Litchfield Park; April 26 7:30 p.m. at Velda Rose United Methodist Church, 5540 E. Main St., Mesa; May 1 3 p.m. at Camelback Bible Church, 3900 E. Stanford Drive, Paradise Valley. orpheus.org

Wayne Catania and Kieron Lafferty will take the stage as part of Arizona Musicfest for a night of laughter, dancing and footstompin' fun as they capture the infectious humor and unbridled spirit of The Blues Brothers. $35+. 7:30 p.m. Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale. azmusicfest.org

The Verde Valley Wine Festival will host a special event that will include premium wine and culinary options, a live auction and live music. See website for price and time. Old Town Cottonwood Clubhouse, 805 N. Main St., Cottonwood. verdevalleywinefestival.com

Phoenix Chorale will perform Thomas Tallis’ 40-part Renaissance masterpiece “Spem in Alium.” Through bespoke staging concepts in each venue, the audience will experience total immersion in the sound of 40 solo voices, each singing a different line of music and all joining together to create a phenomenal sound. $42+; discounts available for students, seniors and active military. Friday 7:30 p.m. at Camelback Bible Church, 3900 E. Stanford Drive, Paradise Valley; Saturday 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt St., Phoenix; Sunday 3 p.m. at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, 25150 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale. phoenixchorale.org

COMMUNITY April 2022 Writer Joseph J. Airdo

The Verde Valley Wine Festival will return for its fifth year, featuring more than 20 Arizona wineries and a variety of Arizona brewers and distillers as well as dozens of culinary options and local crafters/exhibitors. Attendees will also enjoy live music throughout the day from three local bands. See website for price. Noon–5 p.m. Old Town Activity Park, 187 E. Pima St., Cottonwood. verdevalleywinefestival.com

Starlight Community Theater will present its production of “Done to Death.” See website for price and times. Starlight Community Theater, 1611 W. Whispering Wind Dr., Suite 9, Phoenix. starlightcommunitytheater.com

Bell Bank Park will host an event that will feature the area’s best food trucks, live music, vendors, games and more. $5+. 3–10 p.m. Bell Bank Park, 1 Legacy Drive, Mesa. bellbankpark.com

Anthem Community Council last month unveiled its new Sk8 and Ride park. The nearly 40,000-square-foot park incorporates various skill level areas for an all-wheel complex for skateboards, scooters, bikes, in-line skates and more. Anthem Community Park, 41703 N. Gavilan Peak Parkway, Anthem. onlineatanthem.com

The Anthem Area Chamber of Commerce recently announced the selection of Anthem native and Boulder Creek High School alum Tamara Clark as its new executive director. After graduating from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and business, Clark moved to Huntington Beach, California to pursue a master’s degree in sports management from Long Beach State University. While there, she had the opportunity to work for UCLA Athletics, USC Athletics, The Angels, Microsoft and the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce — where she served as the director of community and events. Clark and her husband moved back to Anthem in 2017 after welcoming their first of three daughters. anthemareachamber.org

In celebration of its upcoming 20th anniversary season, ProMusica Arizona is inviting community members to share their ideas to help award-winning lyricist Marion Adler craft a text for a commissioned piece about Arizona. The work, which will be composed by Craig Bohmler and will focus on some of the many magnificent features of our state, will be performed as a finale to the chorale and orchestra’s anniversary season. pmaz.org

Writer Joseph J. Airdo Photography by Carl Schultz

AAnthem residents Abby Maxwell-Todd and Norah Lindsay have been global thinkers since the day they started kindergarten. Now, as Boulder Creek High School seniors, the 18-year-olds are formally transforming thoughts into actions, raising funds to drill a deepwater borehole to give children and their families in the Ugandan village of Nainala A. access to clean, life-saving water.

In February, the pair organized a Walk 4 Water fundraising event in which they invited their friends, neighbors and other supporters to walk with them around Anthem Community Park, symbolizing the walk that women and children in Uganda complete each day to collect water for their families. The two-mile walk was roughly only a quarter of the 7.4-mile roundtrip distance that those in Nainala A. must travel to their primary water source — which, by the way, is a dirty, contaminated swamp.

Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay’s own walk began 13 years ago.

“We started in the Mandarin Immersion Program while in kindergarten at Gavilan Peak School,” says Lindsay, noting that she and Maxwell-Todd are part of the program’s first graduating class.

The program, which the school introduced in 2008, sees students in kindergarten through sixth-grade learn 50% of their school work — typically math, science and foreign language — in Mandarin. Seventh- and

eighth-grade students can then take Mandarin language classes for high school credit.

Upon entering high school, MaxwellTodd and Lindsay not only took college-level Mandarin language classes, passed advanced placement exams and completed capstone projects, but were also encouraged to continue their culturally enriched educational journey by pursuing the Global Studies Certificate.

Boulder Creek High School’s Global Studies Certificate Program provides students with the essential knowledge, skills and disposition to understand, participate in and contribute to an increasingly globalized society.

Because Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay had, as Mandarin Immersion Program participants, already accumulated a fair number of the 200 points needed to graduate with the Global Studies Certificate, the decision to take advantage of the opportunity was easy. A portion of the points must be earned through the completion of a project that has an impact on a different country.

Inspired by her mother Carrie’s best friend Julie Schoppaul — who, as an ambassador for Hope 4 Kids International, has helped to raise funds to drill three clean-water wells in Uganda — Maxwell-Todd immediately knew how she wanted to tackle the project.

“It is obviously a really big project, though,” says Maxwell-Todd, noting that $11,800 in funds were required to drill a deepwater borehole in Nainala A. “I was definitely a little nervous, so I asked Nora to be my partner on the project.”

Uganda complete each day to collect water for their families. around Anthem Community Park, symbolizing the walk that women and children in which they invited their friends, neighbors and other supporters to walk with them Norah Lindsay (second from right) organized a Walk 4 Water fundraising event in In February, Boulder Creek High School seniors Abby Maxwell-Todd (far right) and

Like Schoppaul before them, Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay decided to organize their project through Hope 4 Kids International, a nonprofit organization committed to serving children living in impoverished environments around the world by establishing economic, spiritual, water, educational and feeding programs.

Of course, none of Hope 4 Kids International’s work would be even remotely possible without funding. Therefore, the entire process begins with caring, globally-minded individuals like Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay, whose values were cultivated and nurtured by Boulder Creek High School’s Global Studies Certificate Program and Gavilan Peak School’s Mandarin Immersion Program before it.

“In order to accept culture, you have to understand it,” says Maxwell-Todd, emphasizing the significance of the two programs. However, Hope 4 Kids International vice president of international development Angie Simon says that the impact of the girls’ efforts reaches far beyond just a senior project.

“The impact that these girls have had on a well that serves thousands of people for 30–50 years with little to no maintenance is tremendous,” Simon explains. “These girls are literally saving lives. The World Health Organization says that there is no better investment than to bring clean water to a developing country. These girls are heroes.”

Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay prefer to remain humble, though, and instead share the credit with the entire Anthem community.

“The amount of support from the Anthem community has been outstanding,” says Maxwell-Todd, noting

Boulder Creek High School seniors Abby Maxwell-Todd (right) and Norah Lindsay (left) are raising funds to drill a deepwater borehole to give children and their families in the Ugandan village of Nainala A. access to clean, life-saving water.

Program and Gavilan Peak School’s Mandarin Immersion Program before it. cultivated and nurtured by Boulder Creek High School’s Global Studies Certificate Anthem residents Abby Maxwell-Todd (left) and Norah Lindsay’s (right) values were

that local businesses The Tennessee Grill, Sam’s Frozen Yogurt, Legends Bar and Grill and The Carroll Law Firm are among their sponsors. “The Rotary Club of Anthem was our biggest sponsor because they [committed to matching corporate sponsors up to $2,500]. We have had so much help from the community. Everyone was so willing to help. It just shows how amazing Anthem is.”

In fact, at Images Arizona’s press time, Maxwell-Todd and Lindsay had raised $13,000 — surpassing their initial $11,800 goal. Nonetheless, they will continue to collect donations, with all excess funds benefitting well projects in other villages registered into Hope 4 Kids International’s program.

In addition to making a difference in the lives of thousands of people in Uganda, the girls’ project and all of their efforts that preceded it will make a difference in their own lives, as well, not only gifting them with a global perspective that will last a lifetime but also giving them a leg up on the competition as they continue their respective educational journeys.

Lindsay, who has applied to schools like Boston University and Northeastern Boston College as a biochemistry major with aspirations of becoming an anesthesiologist, says that the project has encouraged her to become more

VISIT IMAGESARIZONA.COM TO READ AN EXTENDED VERSION OF THIS STORY, DETAILING THE WORK THAT HOPE 4 KIDS INTERNATIONAL DOES IN IMPOVERISHED ENVIRONMENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

aware of and grateful for her own blessings.

“Not that I ever took water for granted but it was just something that I have always had and was, therefore, something that I never had to think about,” explains Lindsay, who says that she is also considering a minor in Mandarin. “Learning how much other countries are struggling just to get clean water really put into perspective just how blessed we are to live in the United States.”

Maxwell-Todd, who will attend the University of Oklahoma this fall, has yet to pinpoint her exact career aspirations. What she does know, though, is that she wants to do something that will allow her to continue to help others.

“Right now. I am kind of into dentistry but I might major in biology or biological engineering just to see where that takes me because I know that, in one of the medical fields, I will be able to help people,” says Maxwell-Todd, noting that her senior project enhanced her appreciation of community. “Everybody has a place in a community. Everybody has their own part. The aspect of community is so important to understand, to be a part of and to be proud of.”

w4ki.org/w4wanthem