Time was that Dad stuffed the Mercury full of eager children (including, perhaps, one or two secreted in the trunk) and motored off to the drive-in for a double feature and a double order of corn dogs. Alas, the drive-in movie, with a few exceptions, is as dead as James…
Hundreds of trends have materialized and vanished since the birth of the gothic subculture. So why does goth remain in the black well over two decades after its birth? William Tompkins, spokesman for Sunday’s Colorado Dark Arts Festival, which celebrates the scene, has some ideas. “Subcultures usually begin as youth…
Thursday, May 22 Here’s your chance to take a gander at DU’s highly touted, newfangled Gates Concert Hall: The Lamont School of Music’s Opera Theater Department will break the place in with a four-day production of Franz Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow, beginning tonight at 7:30 and concluding with a…
I remember my first Blue Man Group encounter vividly: the trek from my East Village walk-up on a snowy evening, the electric darkness as I waited nervously, not knowing what to expect — and then BAM! Sensory overload as three men covered in brilliant blue paint took me on a…
FRI, 5/23 Take down that ratty-edged Ansel Adams print you’ve had since college and banish your Scarface poster to the basement. The organizers of the Colorado Arts Festival want to encourage everyone — from first-timers to high-end collectors — to purchase works by local artists. “People should appreciate the value…
MON, 5/26 For many Coloradans, Memorial Day means three things: honoring those who died for our freedom, starting up barbecue season, and renewing the right to wear white pants without scorn. But for a large number of fitness-oriented residents, today marks an opportunity to run the Bolder Boulder. This ten-kilometer…
SAT 5/24 I should have seen it coming: When I was a kid, I watched Japanese cartoons such as Astro Boy, Marine Boy and Gigantor with the utmost fascination. They were weirdly beautiful to look at and never made a lick of sense, and I seriously couldn’t take my eyes…
SAT, 5/24 Interstate 25 is more than just a road in these parts: It’s also a vehicle for moving urban culture in and out of the state. As it bisects Colorado, it transports the ideas of myriad fine artists along a path extending from Cheyenne to Albuquerque. Gallery curator Jina…
FRI, 5/23 Partnership, the life and core of the Argentine tango, is a means of exploration for the artists of TangoMujer, an all-female dance ensemble performing in Denver as part of the 3rd Annual Memorial Day Tango Fest. “The girls alternate between leading and following,” says Scarlet Antonia, manager of…
It’s hard to believe, especially considering the budget shortfalls the city is facing, that the Webb administration just committed $3 million to demolish Skyline Park and replace it with…another park! What makes this situation so incredible is it’s happening at the same time that city-employee furloughs and layoffs are being…
In the front room at Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058), Shovels, Brooms, Ladders And Rakes… features found-object installations created — or would that be assembled? — by Phil Bender. The literal personification of Denver’s alternative scene, Bender was one of Pirate’s founders, way back in the…
Ruthless! The Musical utilizes themes, quotes and various bits and pieces from All About Eve, The Bad Seed, Gypsy and doubtless a zillion other plays and movies I didn’t recognize. “Sing out, Louise,” a teacher calls to a child performer; a devilish child offers her mother “a bucket of kisses”;…
I can’t tell you how uncomfortable I was watching Brooklyn: The Musical, and how embarrassed. Embarrassed at having to witness this inane, dishonest, derivative piece of work, embarrassed for the actors performing it, and embarrassed for the rest of the audience — most of which, however, was whooping and cheering…
A startling new film from Iran, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s Under the Skin of the City, gives American viewers a rare and vivid glimpse of day-to-day life in contemporary Tehran — altering some of the politically based preconceptions we may have about the place and opening our eyes to a society that…
In March 2002, days before President Bush was scheduled to visit Peru, a car bomb exploded near the U.S. embassy in Lima, killing nine and injuring dozens. Government officials here and in Peru blamed the attack on Shining Path — a Marxist terrorist organization with roots dating to the 1960s,…
Talk about tough acts to follow: The original 1999 Matrix, a critical and commercial smash, came almost as a revelation out of nowhere — if the combination of Joel Silver, Warner Bros. and roughly 60 million bucks qualifies as “nowhere.” After more than four years, The Matrix Reloaded — the…
One of the enduring curiosities of twentieth-century pop culture — and now 21st-century pop culture — is the tenacious hold The Rocky Horror Picture Show has exerted on audiences everywhere in America — and in some foreign countries, too — since its none-too-encouraging initial release in 1975. An outrageous spoof…
You don’t have to be homosexual to be hilarious. It helps, though. Michele Balan, Susan Jeremy and Eddie Sarfaty are three New York-based comics set to headline the Ninth Annual Comedy Gay-la, a standup comedy blowout to benefit KBDI Channel 12. While being a card-carrying member of the sexual minority…
Thursday, May 15 If you’re looking for something artsy and independent, The 30th of Baydak opens today at the Buntport Theater. It’s an original tale of a quiet, unassuming worker in modern-day Turkmenistan who is trying to create something meaningful in his life. Tickets for this dark comedy, which runs…
At first glance, there are few similarities between Fast Food Nation, the enlightening book that made author Eric Schlosser’s reputation, and his passionate new followup, Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. After all, the former peeks beneath the average hamburger’s bun to reveal plenty…
SUN, 5/18 As part of the third annual City Park Festival of the Arts today, Denver mayoral hopefuls John Hickenlooper and Don Mares will be the main attraction at a mayoral runoff forum. But their lovefest, at 11 a.m. in the City Park pavilion, could be overshadowed by a stealth…
SUN, 5/18 Nina is my darling. I want to take her home, but 800 square feet and four felines tell me that’s not a good idea. Instead, I visit her each weekend at the Maxfund Animal Adoption Center. She’s been there since October, and all she really wants is a…
