Kayvan Khalatbari is a serial entrepreneur. He first landed on our radar with Sexy Pizza, a venture that helped found more ventures, including Sexpot Comedy, which in turn fed Denver’s growing comedy scene, and Denver Relief, one of Denver’s first dispensaries. This month he sold Denver Relief to Willie Nelson…
#66: Meagen Svendsen Ceramic artist, musician, mother, collaborator and traveler Meagen Svendsen swims creative seas like a natural. As an installationist, she builds worlds inspired by inquiries into natural science, and as the lead singer/songwriter of Avifauna, a band of local artists making moody and atmospheric music, she brings listeners…
Erik Storey, the Colorado author who scored a six-figure advance for his first thriller, Nothing Short of Dying, along with a sequel starring adventurer Clyde Barr, has been compared to mega-best-selling thriller writer Lee Child, creator of the Jack Reacher series. In fact, Child’s agent negotiated the deal for the book,…
The Edge Theater Company has never staged a musical during its six years, nor has Edge artistic director Rick Yaconis ever directed one — until now, when Edge is roaring into the new season with a scintillating pop-rock work called Murder Ballad. This isn’t a standard musical. The small-scale, sung-through…
The Ultimate Queen All-Stars competition kicked off with a bang last Thursday., when a hefty crowd filled Tracks nightclub for the premier episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars Season Two – which upped the ante on its drag drama with a show full of more twists and turns than a…
We’re all looking forward to the long weekend, which means you’ll want to save some cash. Fortunately, there are some great free events this week, including a chance to get extreme, get creative and relax with the Soggy Bottom Boys. Check out the Westword calendar for even more things to…
Women — and a few men — from across the metro area flocked to City Hall on Saturday, August 27, to get a glimpse of Colorado’s hottest firefighters. Proceeds from the release of the Colorado Firefighter Calendar went to Children’s Hospital, but the entertainment was anything but PG. Photographer Scott…
The National Park Service marked its 100th anniversary on August 25, and admission to all 413 national parks is free through Sunday, August 28. Colorado is home to four national parks — Rocky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Great Sand Dunes — as…
Opening your film on the image of a child plummeting off a cliff, presumably to his death, is a fairly foolproof way of getting the audience’s attention. And Alexandre Aja’s hyper-stylized coming-of-age-movie-slash-fantasy-slash-psychological-thriller The 9th Life of Louis Drax excels at grabbing you with a steady stream of provocative and ornate…
Along the Front Range this weekend, you can travel to alternative places and spaces to participate in art that asks questions while leaving the answers up to you. Begin your journey at these three spots. bell & banowetzArt Gym Denver Through September 10 Terri Bell and Nicole Banowetz might seem…
When September rolls around, it’s Colorado Crush month in RiNo. The graffiti and street-art centered event, called Crush for short, will bring local and international artists, live painting, food and drink, b-boys and plenty more to the neighborhood on September 17 and 18. From the 2700 block of Larimer Street, Crush…
You can be forgiven for thinking that the new show from Dan Harmon, creator of Community and Rick and Morty, might come off as niche. Available on the new comedy streaming service Seeso, Harmonquest features comedians playing Pathfinder — a tabletop role-playing game similar to Dungeons and Dragons — in…
September is upon us, so there’s no time to waste. We’ve rounded up the ten best events for $10 or less around town this weekend, so that you can celebrate summer without going broke before fall. For more entertainment opportunities, check out the Westword calendar. Untitled: Center Stage Denver Art Museum…
Colorado celebrated its 140th birthday on August 1. Because it was admitted to the Union on the hundredth anniversary of this country’s declaration of independence, it was quickly nicknamed the Centennial State. But to us, it’s always been Coolorado, the coolest state around, and the thousands of people moving here…
#67: Alex Weimer Alex Weimer is the Bug Theatre, overseeing the indie venue’s day-to-day from backstage to the front of the house, as it continues to prove that small is good, supporting such time-tested entertainments as the variety show Freak Train, the Emerging Filmmakers Project, Equinox Theatre Company and various…
Denver artist Michael Brohman is juggling dualities in his solo at Pirate, In a World of Circles and Squares, which closes this Sunday. Not only does each piece express some kind of double meaning, but the show itself comprises two distinct bodies of work. It’s almost as though Brohman is…
Barbara Kopple’s Miss Sharon Jones! tells the kind of true story that makes you want to kick creation itself square in the crotch. Here’s that firecracker soul singer, nearing her 60s, her boogie still majestic, her band still a tight retro marvel, her wail still the southern end of a northbound…
Natalie Portman proves herself a filmmaker of intelligence, ambition and inventiveness in her debut as a director and writer — just not one who is always certain as a storyteller. A Tale of Love and Darkness adapts, with a passionate somberness, several threads from Amos Oz’s autobiographical novel of the…
In contemporary film, it’s typical for an African-American character to be the sole person of color in the story, only existing to reveal hidden racism or make white people uncomfortable with themselves. Black characters rarely get to talk to other black characters. Last year, Manohla Dargis suggested a new Bechdel-type…
The sarcastic wag who first drawled the phrase “as exciting as watching grass grow” never intended it as a compliment. But have you ever actually watched grass grow? I mean, I haven’t either, but there must be a pretty cool hidden world of fresh-smelling earth and tickly dew and bugs…
Don’t let the uptick in big-cast movies fool you: Ensemble films are difficult to make. When a script gets a projected budget in creative development, “ensemble” adds dollar signs and story challenges. Each actor needs to get a moment in the star circle, and each is competing for top billing…
Critics often dismiss blockbuster entertainments with the vague, half-assed complaint that they resemble “video games.” Movies like Fede Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe reveal games’ actual influence — for the better. The breakthrough with studio horror films in recent years, since the found-footage boom, is a welcome environmental immersiveness. It’s a testament…
