The Mexican Día de los Muertos tradition dates back a thousand years, to the time of the Aztecs. But what really popularized the Day of the Dead, says Carlos Fresquez, Metro State art professor and juror of tonight’s Day of the Dead Art Show, was artist José Guadalupe Posada. “He…
Denver Arts Week, the local cultural community’s answer to Denver Restaurant Week, is five years old and growing annually, luring the public — with special deals and events — to come out and explore the city’s art districts, museums and performing-arts facilities. The festivities kick off tonight with a ramped-up…
When playwright Karla Jennings saw a 2008 TV interview with Sarah Palin that featured a man slaughtering turkeys in the background, she cracked up at the ridiculousness of it. And then she got inspired: Within a week, the Georgia-based writer had penned the first draft of her satirical play, Whacking…
With 146 feature films and 128 shorts over twelve days, the Starz Denver Film Festival is like Christmas for film nerds. And the stars will certainly be leading the way during the three biggest nights of festival — Opening Night, Big Night and Closing Night — which will high-light films…
Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director Kent Thompson traditionally injects each season with at least one offering grown from Latino roots. This year, the niche is represented by American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, a contemporary show from Richard Montoya and the long-lived, California-based Chicano comedy group Culture Clash…
Comedian Bryan Kellen met his wife at Wits End Comedy Club in Westminster seven years ago, when he was performing and she was a cocktail waitress. And ever since, he’s had plenty of material. “I’m married to a Latina, into a big family with a lot of kids, so my…
The cat’s now out of the bag: Earlier today, PlatteForum founder and artistic director Judy Anderson, education director Meagan Terry and nineteen-year-old student representative Salvador Flores-Martinez were honored at the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama, when they were handed their 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award,…
Again this year, Starz Denver Film Festival artistic director Brit Withey is offering his must-see picks for each day of the fest — including many flicks that movie lovers might otherwise miss amid the flood of silver-screen goodies. Today, he shares his take on the fest’s opening-night feature: Like Crazy…
What is street art? Where does it belong? We’re still asking that question. But in the meantime, this moment frozen in time comes from artist Rodney Wallace, who spotted it on a counter at the DUI education center, BI Incorporated. We won’t ask what he was doing there, but he…
It’s not often we get to talk about multiplayer games in conjunction with browser games, but Roadeo provides an entirely unique and enjoyable experience that requires two players and a lot of willpower. It’s a racing game, but it’s unlike any racing game you’ve likely ever played, as it requires…
How does a burlesque emcee extraordinaire celebrate her birthday? If you’re Cora Vette — aka Reyna Von Vett — then you bring in Coco Lectric, the star of the Texas burlesque scene (and the 2010 Queen of Burlesque), a dusky beauty whose red-feather-boa routine turned the heads of the judges…
PlatteForum has some big news to share with you. Problem is, the folks behind the Central Platte Valley nonprofit that pairs artist mentors with at-risk youth in collaboration with partnering youth programs can’t talk about it. Not yet. Let’s just say it involves a major honor, some money and even…
Suspicions confirmed! At last night’s town hall meeting on the art program at Denver International Airport, consultants who’d interviewed hundreds of DIA travelers, and studied 1,600 online surveys, revealed that the most loved — and loathed — piece of art at DIA is Luis Jimenez’s “Mustang.” But they also documented…
Sometimes the exhibition calendar seems to have a mind of its own, which is periodically revealed when there is a critical mass of shows on the same or similar topics all being mounted around the same time. This season, there have been many shows featuring unconventional views of Colorado. Some…
Bayer & Chisman. From the 1940s to the 1970s, Aspen’s Herbert Bayer was one of the premier artists in Colorado, and from the ’80s to the first decade of the 21st century, Denver’s Dale Chisman played a similar role. But beyond that, their work has little in common, with Bayer…
American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose. Written by Richard Montoya, of the San Francisco performance group Culture Clash, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Josetells the story of immigrants in America through a crazed mix of skits, historical references, inspired parody and moments of pathos and insight. But the…
Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of Oxford, is the close-second candidate to be attributed authorship of the 37 plays of William Shakespeare — who, due to the troublesome existence of evidence, remains the general favorite. De Vere, played as a figure of regal isolation by Rhys Ifans, is the protagonist…
As taut and economical as its title is unwieldy, Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene — a first feature that won the Best Director award last January at Sundance — is a deft, old-school psychological thriller (or perhaps horror film) that relies mainly on the power of suggestion and memories…
Certain moments from the past decade of reviewing remain indelible. I can still conjure Mare Trevathan’s riddling phrases in The Skriker; Nick Sugar’s bravura-filled but crumbling Hedvig; Randy Moore as A Christmas Carol’s Scrooge, knocked out by the sheer joyous wonder of a household chair; William Hahn’s protracted suffering in…
Rebecca Northan, a Canadian actress, walks a highwire in her almost-one-woman show Blind Date — almost, because two zealous men periodically pop in and out to check on her, facilitate the action or plough into the audience impersonating waiters. The evening begins as Northan sits forlornly at a cafe table,…
The revolution will not be televised.” So Gil Scott-Heron asserted in 1970, and so it was not — at least not on American TV. As demonstrated by The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, however, Swedish television was another story. Black nationalism lives and breathes in this remarkably fresh documentary assembled by…
There’s no business like snow business. Aspen has been celebrating Winterskol, its “toast to winter,” since 1951, as a way to perk up the dull weeks after Christmas. But while the 2012 Winterskol is still months away (it runs from January 12-15), discussion of the upcoming event has been anything…
