Although dance is considered a feminine pursuit by many people, it’s surprising to see how much of a boy’s club dance can be. Even hip-hop, one of the freest and expressive channels of the art form, seems to have a disproportionate number of men at the helm. But the Janes,…
Peg is a sketch artist for the police, and her apartment is filled with charcoal portraits of criminals, both petty and murderous. As Good on Paper opens, she’s celebrating a birthday with her sister Sandy, a romance writer, and explaining the end of her latest affair: She broke up with…
As You Like It is an extended examination of love set in the Forest of Arden — a place that the Elizabethans, steeped in a pastoral tradition that idealized country life, would have seen as far more pure and innocent than life at court. “Come hither, come hither, come hither,”…
Although the blockbuster comedy lineup of September 2015 may be difficult to beat in terms of star-wattage, October’s offerings deliver just as many laughs per minute. Halloween giggle treats abound this month, and everyone from cinephiles to political wonks to ’90s nostalgists can find a show fancy enough to tickle. Among our to…
Interesting surroundings link new plays and performances in Denver this weekend, from Cherry Creek Theater Company’s stage in a carpet store and Theatre Or’s run in a concert venue to Lemon Sponge Cake’s public-art dance commission in a park. Where there’s a will, there’s a way: Here are the specifics…
After decades of productions of West Side Story, both professional and amateur, it’s hard to grasp how daring and original the notion of a contemporary musical based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was in the 1950s. The idea originated with director-choreographer Jerome Robbins, composer Leonard Bernstein and script writer Arthur…
Puff, Pass, and Paint often welcomes colorful guests at the private, cannabis-meets-cocktails-and-canvas class offered every weekend. This Saturday, comedians Margaret Cho and Kevin Pereira joined in the fun while filming an episode of the new TruTV show I’m So Into that highlights — you guessed it— marijuana. Comic Cho has done…
Dance takes center stage — and even the silver screen — this week in Denver, with a performing-arts calendar that includes a stopover by Twyla Tharp’s golden-anniversary tour, a celebration of dance on film, and a fall premiere from Denver’s own Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Twyla Tharp Dance: 50th Anniversary…
John Patrick Shanley first visited his father’s birthplace in Ireland in 1993, and Outside Mullingar, which opened last year in New York, is a clear response to what he found there. We know this Ireland he depicts — rural, muddy and barren; we know of its isolated farms and the…
Boulder resident Arrow Zoe Amelia, a 29-year-old Florida native and Naropa University graduate, was a key member of the now-defunct Language of Fish Collective Arts in Boulder from 2011-2014. LOFCA, as it was affectionately known, was a “performance company” that utilized the diverse talents of numerous young local women to…
How do you Fringe? Do you pick names out of a hat, or consult a Ouija board? Part of the fun at any fringe festival is deciding what you’re going to see, and at the Boulder International Fringe Festival, that means picking and choosing from theatrical fare on display everywhere…
American Girls might be the antidote to Girls Only, a giggly, anodyne and essentially contentless production based on the teenage diaries of its two creators: never mean, never disconcerting, never surprising — the kind of show you take in when you crave drinks with your girlfriends and don’t have the…
At the dramatic end of the first act of Matilda the Musical, the much-wronged little heroine shouts out her rage, pain and defiance in one charged sentence — and a murmur arises from the audience: “What did she say?” That’s right: It’s impossible to understand half the dialogue. Or the…
The Boulder International Fringe Festival has no permanent venue and presents twelve days of events featuring nearly three dozen productions and many more performers, staged all over Boulder. So how do viewers prepare for the Fringe binge that starts this week? “It really is kind of like geocaching,” says Alex…
For the twelve years John Moore was a theater critic for the Denver Post, the journalist kept finding himself wanting to do more within the creative community he was covering. Moore had become well-acquainted with the players in the scene and, as a result, he’d learned just how many of…
This season Denver stages offer theatrical fare from our own back yard and across the nation on levels both intimate and brashly big-budget. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the best local openings this weekend. Colorado Theatre Festival Robert and Judi Newman Center for Theatre Education 1101 13th Street…
Marty DeRosa is a comedian, podcaster and wrestling super fan who lives in Los Angeles. DeRosa, who got started in Chicago, created the insightful podcast, Wrestling with Depression, where he interviews comedians, wrestlers and other artists about their struggles with mental illness. He also runs several shows with fan favorite wrestler Colt…
Theater is back on track, with many fall season offerings debuting on Labor Day Weekend. From Aurora’s Vintage Theatre to Lakewood’s acclaimed Edge Theater and the Bug in Denver, the pickings are suddenly looking good. Any Given Monday Vintage Theatre Friday, September 4 through October 25 7:30 p.m. Fridays and…
Summer doesn’t officially end for another few weeks, but this is the last big weekend of summer fun for most folks. Fortunately, there’s plenty of fun to be had, right outside your front door and all along the Front Range. Here are ten ways to have fun this weekend without…
Brian Regan is one of the very few comedians who’s achieved an arena-headlining level of success on the appeal of his jokes alone. Regan’s observations on everyday peccadilloes and his emphatic delivery have won him generations of fans, from Mormon elders to precocious young comedy nerds in training. Unlike many other…
The Avenue Theater, long known for comedy, has been undergoing a prolonged transition since the departure of artistic director Bob Wells. The Avenue is a shabby, comfortable and unpretentious theater that you could always visit in your grubbies for a drink or two and a relaxing evening, though every now…
September is dedicated to getting back to business. For everyone from returning students to migratory birds, the long days of sun-dappled leisure are over and work begins anew. While comedy never takes time off, it’s in particularly fine form this month. From living legends to cutting-edge talents, from classy theaters…
