I spend the first thirty minutes of 1001 in a state of irritated disaffection. This is the world premiere of an original play, and disaffection may be a legitimate response: Playwright Jason Grote has tried to do something original, something that I can’t slot tidily into any of the pre-existing…
I first visited the Country Dinner Playhouse with my parents-in-law — good, small-town, middle-American folk, who took my husband and me to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as a special treat. I remember that the food was the usual steam-table fare and that I was a little surprised by…
Aphrodisiac. Playwright Rob Handel’s inspiration is the affair between Congressman Gary Condit and intern Chandra Levy, which erupted into the media when Levy disappeared in 2001. Her body was discovered a year later; although suspicion clouded his career, Condit was never officially accused of murder. Aphrodisiac approaches this story obliquely…
Ironton Studios & Gallery is the flagship facility of the one-year-old RiNo Art District. “RiNo” is a contraction of the words “river” and “north” and refers to the relatively vast area along the South Platte River, northwest of downtown, where some art-related operations — notably a lot of studios –…
Denver collecting couple Jill Wiltse and Kirk Brown have really raised their art profile this season. At the same time the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building was being unveiled last October, Wiltse and Brown put on an important historical show at the Emmanuel Gallery called Treasures Revealed: The Art of…
Breaking the Mold. In 2003, Connecticut collector Virginia Vogel Mattern donated some 300 pieces of contemporary American Indian art to the Denver Art Museum. For one of the special shows inaugurating the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Native Arts curator Nancy Blomberg has selected over a hundred works for the…
Catch a Fire (Focus) In his commentary for the underrated, undervalued Catch a Fire, director Phillip Noyce discusses the inspiration: witnessing the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. He wanted to comprehend “the terrorist’s mind,” so he found a story that accomplishes such a difficult thing: the…
Academy Awards Collection (MGM) The Comedians of Comedy (Anchor Bay) Dallas: The Complete Sixth Season (Warner Bros.) The Doctor, the Tornado & the Kentucky Kid: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (New Video Group) Dora the Explorer: Cowgirl Dora (Paramount) The Fabulous Baker Boys (MGM) Facing the Giants (Sony) The Festival: The Complete…
Anyone who played games back in the olden days (i.e., the late ’80s) knows they used to be a lot tougher. Cartridges back then subscribed to the “Oh, you want some of this?” school of game design. They made you gnash your teeth, throw your controller, and bellow four-letter words…
Getting Groovy in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Cat’s Pajamas had a great time last Friday night at Design After Dark, the benefit for the Denver Art Museum. The food was tasty, the booze was boozy and the music was dancy. All of the architects did an amazing job creating…
Whodunit? Was it Laura, the victim’s wife, found at the scene covered in blood? A deranged bibliophile with a penchant for murder? Mystery lovers who join the new Whodunnit Book Club at Miss Prothero’s Books won’t find out who killed Robert Marshall in John Dunning’s The Sign of the Book…
“The-e-e-e-re she is — Ms. Leather Colorado!” Bert Parks would be spinning in his grave at the thought of emceeing this contest. The Ms. Leather Colorado 2007 competition is a far cry from — and far more interesting than — the Miss America pageant. Let’s see: Predictable tedious questions about…
Jim Walsh of the Romero Troupe — whose latest production, 9/12, hits the stage tonight — didn’t set out to become a theatrical impresario. A history teacher at the University of Colorado at Denver, Walsh came up with the idea of helping his students learn about past events by having…
I like to think of this year’s installment of the Design After Dark party as Burning Man meets black tie. It’ll be all fancy-shmancy — it is a fundraiser for the Denver Art Museum’s Department of Architecture, Design & Graphics, after all — but with real party people keeping it…
Filmmaker Byron Hurt was watching Black Entertainment Television one day and noticed that all of the hip-hop music videos had the same formula — nice cars, cash money and plenty of hos backup-dancing in bikinis. That moment led to Hurt’s exploration and criticism of hip-hop culture: He examined the violence,…
It’s a tough world out there for a woman with a career. What with the working hours, obligations at home, family and significant others, sometimes it’s damn near impossible to set aside a chunk of time to sit back, relax, get pampered and gossip with the girls. Fortunately, the Alliance…
Despite what you see in the media, drinking is fun for a variety of people. Geeks enjoy the warm, pleasant buzz of beer just as much as any jock, frat boy, bombshell or sorostitute. And many of them enjoy being geeks. That’s why the Geeks Who Drink pub-quiz sessions have…
After Katrina, some of the hardest-hit public buildings were libraries. Entire collections were ruined by flooding and mold. When the American Library Association initiated a program encouraging libraries to help their colleagues in the Gulf Coast region, the Denver Public Library “adopted” the NOLA Public Library system and donated $15,000…
“Where Art Is Made.” That slogan really sets the River North Art District, aka RiNo, apart from the rest of Denver’s arts communities. A true working-artist conclave, the once-quiet warehouse district northeast of downtown Denver is home to a burgeoning populace of artists who live, work and exhibit within the…
Pining for that special Valentine? Try praying to Saint Dwynwen, Wales’s patron saint of lovers. As the legend goes, a fifth-century princess fell in love with a prince whom her father forbade her from marrying. Then, in a dream, an angel gave Dwynwen a potion to ease her heartache —…
Maurice Russell, a septuagenarian actor facing the end of his career and life, gazes raptly at the present that fate has given him: the company of a sullen but strangely desirable teenage girl. At first his appraising looks give her the creeps, but something about his courtliness piques her curiosity…
New-school genre junk food: Take a Tarantino wannabe with Sundance credentials, add a large, famous-enough cast and a show-biz backdrop, season the violence with references to Sergio Leone and Takeshi Kitano, serve cool, and garnish with a cynicism beyond irony. Smokin’ Aces is writer-director Joe Carnahan’s third and most elaborate…
