The Hole Truth

As the drummer for the controversial Courtney Love-fronted band Hole, Patty Schemel barely made it out of the ’90s alive. Now, more than fifteen years after the group’s dangerous, drug-fueled peak, Schemel is releasing Hit So Hard, a documentary about her life in and out of the band. The film…

Feel the Force

From Buddy Holly to Robert Crumb, the chic elites have always appreciated the geeks. And this Friday, City, O’ City — arguably the Xanadu of Denver’s hipster scene — will give its nod to the nerds with May the Fourth Be With You, a sci-fi costume party. “It’s the kind…

Mother’s Daze

May is the month for celebrating mothers, and at this weekend’s production of My Mama Monologues, you can join in the celebration with local writers and actors as they tell true stories about their own moms. The idea for the show originated in Maui four years ago with playwright Pat…

Open-and-Shut Case

“When you’re only renting a theater for one night and only need one good-sized audience to pay for rent, you can be more creative in your choices,” says Jim O’Leary, artistic director of One Night Stand Theater, explaining why he chose to mount the one-night-only Death by Radio, made up…

Back on the Chain Gang

If a winter without cycling has made you stir-crazy, the end is in sight: Boulder County’s BoCo Loco Bike Bash is the perfect tune-up for the busy calendar of race events ahead. “The Bike Bash has turned into a crazy, fun annual spring event,” says spokeswoman Kathy Borgais. “We’re one…

Dance Fever

The time is ripe for bizarre adaptations. The Book of Mormon is now a musical, music from The Legend of Zelda has been adapted for the symphony, and now the Damsels Dance Company is turning the reality television show you love to hate/watch into a dance performance. An American Love…

Spenser Lives

Besides having a kick-ass name, Ace Atkins has a lot going for him as the guy bequeathed with the late Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. A former crime reporter (and Pulitzer nominee) and established true-crime author and novelist, Atkins was anointed Parker’s successor by Mrs. Parker herself, not only because…

Dancing in the Aisles

Veteran choreographer Danelle Helander of Helander Dance Theater knows how hard producing a show can be. “I was getting frustrated. Every time I’d go to produce a concert, it was so expensive,” she says.”But I also love the idea of doing art in places where people least expect it.” From…

Unpopularity Contest

The concept behind the business book The Power of Unpopular came from, of all things, a debate over Oprah versus Ellen between the book’s author, Erika Napoletano, and a publisher. “I’m more of an Ellen girl,” Napoletano says. “She’s witty, she’s super-smart and she’s fun. And she was like, ‘I…

Punk Then and Now

The local art scene has been obsessed with the counterculture lately as our longstanding fascination with beatniks has been joined by a nascent interest in hippies and now punks. Several punk-themed shows are going on, including an impressive twofer at the reinvigorated Colorado Photographic Arts Center. The first part, Punk…

The Cat’s Meow

Last year’s Cat Care Society fundraiser, Tails of the Painted Cats, was so popular, says society director Suellen Scott, that they’re bringing it back. After all, it’s hard to hate the cheerful fiberglass felines that are the focal point, especially after they’ve been decorated by an imaginative circle of cat-loving…

Artist Rik Sargent on his “One World, One Water” sculpture at Metro State

Metropolitan State College of Denver is hosting a dedication ceremony this afternoon that will showcase its newest monument: a 12-foot-high, 8-foot-deep, 10-foot-wide,1.5 ton water sculpture designed by artist Rik Sargent, and dedicated to Metro’s One World, One Water Center for Urban Water and Education. With Sargent’s support, the OWOW Center…

Five Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Denver this weekend

Cinco de Mayo may not be a huge holiday in Mexico (contrary to popular belief, May 5 is not Independence Day in that country), but it’s definitely a major party here in Denver. Here are five Cinco de Mayo celebrations guaranteed to turn your weekend into a major fiesta…

Reader: My top five sci-fi films

Dan Landes loves sci-fi. And he’ll prove it on Friday, when he hosts May the Fourth Be With You — a sci-fi extravaganza complete with costume contest, live music and movies — at his restaurant, City, O’ City. Landes wouldn’t reveal what costume he’ll be wearing, but in anticipation of…