Performing Arts

To anyone who grew up watching too much basic cable in the ’80s and ’90s, the sight of Paul Reiser cracking wise is comfortingly familiar. Whether on contemporary classics like Aliens and Diner or the long-running and widely syndicated sitcom Mad About You, chances are good that Reiser’s face is on a television somewhere at this exact moment. Not one to rest on his considerable laurels, however, Reiser is currently in the midst of a mid-career renaissance, appearing in several upcoming movies and honing his standup act in clubs across the country. In town this weekend to headline Comedy Works’ South club, Westword caught up with Reiser to discuss his role in the Sundance film festival smash Whiplash, the lasting influence of Aliens, as well as his experience returning to the stage after a 20 year hiatus from comedy.

Forty years ago, bombs exploded in Boulder, killing six Chicano activists. Their deaths are still shrouded in mystery: Who killed them and why? Were they plotting a bombing? Did the police and FBI entrap them? Were they murdered? Su Teatro’s Tony Garcia has written Cuarenta y Ocho, a play that…

The more you think about it, the more you realize what a weak play The Graduate really is. Adapted for the stage by Terry Johnson from a 1960s novel by Charles Webb — which in turn became an iconic film starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft — it tells the…

Shrek: the Musical.T here are a lot of things to like about Shrek: The Musical at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre. They include the Dragon, created by Cory Gilstrap and manipulated by a handful of actors. Blessed with the rich, seductive voice of the inimitable Amanda Earls, she’s a riveting, literally huge…

The curtains never really go down on Denver’s stages, even in the summer, when some companies take a break — but others launch special festivals. Here are a few ways to be transported by music, dance, comedy and drama this week. See also: Ch-Ch-Changes: (the world we’ve created) at the…

Splinters, the first musical conceived and written by Sara Century, is a surrealistic combination of music and performance art in twelve acts with set and costume changes throughout. Working with Denver friends Katie Taylor and Heidi Kleder, Century has created a three-woman vehicle about the sometimes convoluted nature of friendships…

Bobby Lee is a comedian and actor who gained notoriety in San Diego comedy clubs before moving on to a featured role on Mad TV for eight seasons. Recently, he’s known for his numerous Chelsea Lately appearances and landing parts in films like The Dictator and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle series. In town to headline Denver’s esteemed Comedy Works Larimer Square all weekend, Westword caught up with Lee to discuss Hollywood’s lack of roles for Asian actors, getting sober with comedians’ support, and an ambush from a naked fan in his dressing room.

For the updated version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which will kick off the new Denver Center Theatre Company season this fall, the DCTC has cast Beth Malone, an unsinkable Colorado native, in the starring role. Malone began her career as a teenager playing roles at the Country Dinner Playhouse…

Shrek: The Musical.There are a lot of things to like about Shrek: The Musical at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre. They include the Dragon, created by Cory Gilstrap and manipulated by a handful of actors. Blessed with the rich, seductive voice of the inimitable Amanda Earls, she’s a riveting, literally huge presence…

Peggy Jo Tallas was an outwardly conventional, quiet-spoken Texas woman who, after a mildly adventurous youth, lived with her mother for many years. Starting at the age of forty, she also robbed banks — perhaps because she was bored, perhaps because she was seeking a fuller and more interesting life,…

Why is the dance company whose “Welcome to the Madhouse” plays in Longmont this weekend called Point Your Damn Toes? Founder-director Julia Kay laughs. “We first started dancing together two or three years ago, and when we decided to become a company, I was bouncing back and forth among names,”…

“You don’t have to tell me about masochism, I’m in the theater,” says Vanda von Dunayev, one of the characters in Curious Theater’s current production, Venus in Fur, by David Ives, which tells the story of a playwright-director attempting to adapt Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s novel Venus in Fur into a…

As midsummer approaches at its leisurely flip-flopped gait, comedy fans have a full calendar of laugh appointments ahead. While almost nothing can compete with the natural splendor of a languid June evening spent outdoors in Denver, only a jejune goon would miss out on these fine shows. Besides, at a comedy club, you’re significantly less likely to accidentally drink the moth that flew into your beer. From stars of stage and screen gracing local venues to a showcase that actually encourages comments from the audience, comedy nerds will be drawn to these events like an eclipse of moths to an outdoor light bulb.

It’s important to note that a lot can happen in a month, and national headliners often have to reschedule long after press time, so dates are subject to change (which happened last month with Bobcat Goldthwait). Regardless, go see live comedy shows this June and be free from melancholy, as well as the unmistakable taste of foamy moth.

It’s important to know that a lot can happen in a month, and national headliners often have to reschedule long after press time, so dates are subject to change. Regardless, go see live comedy shows this June and be free from melancholy, as well as the unmistakable taste of foamy moth.

As Hustle Man on fellow standup comedian Martin Lawrence’s show Martin in 1994, Tracy Morgan gave TV audiences their first taste of his bullish humor. But it wasn’t until the eccentric comedian landed a spot on Saturday Night Live that his bizarre view of the world was given a proper…

When the FBI tried to track down Cowboy Bob, a repeat bank robber in Texas, they had no idea that they were looking for a single, middle-aged woman who used her heists to fund her ailing mother’s health-care costs. Tallas was a modern-day outlaw, making her tale irresistible to both…

There are a lot of things to like about Shrek: The Musical at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre. Here are some of them: The Dragon. Manipulated by a handful of actors and with all her segments skillfully constructed and articulated, this Dragon is a major star, a riveting, literally huge presence. She’s…

A Lie of the Mind. Thundery weather and a voice in the darkness: At the very beginning of A Lie of the Mind, Jake is on the phone telling his brother Frankie that he’s killed his wife. Over his brother’s protests, Frankie insists on visiting his sister-in-law to discover her…

Andy Kindler is widely known for his recurring roles on Bob’s Burgers and Everybody Loves Raymond, but he’s revered among comedy nerds for his scathing “State of the Industry” addresses at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, which in the past has included gems such as “Adam Carolla is like Hitler if Hitler weren’t funny.” In town this week to headline Sex Pot comedy’s six month anniversary showcase, the aptly titled Sex Pot American Summer, which also features Chuck Roy, Mara Wiles, Christie Buchele, Bobby Crane and host Jordan Doll, Westword recently spoke to Kindler about how hackery has changed, his upcoming album release, and criticizing comedy from within.

Dave Ross has accomplished a great deal in his comparatively short career. A member of Women, an all-male sketch comedy group comprised of Ross and fellow comedians Jake Weisman, Allen Strickland-Williams and Pat Bishop. On his Nerdist network podcast Terrified, Ross and his guests delve into their fears and insecurities. His monthlong cross-country tour rolls through Denver next wednesday, where Ross will be headline the Fine Gentleman’s Too Much Fun showcase at the Deer Pile as well as Phil’s Radiator Service in Pueblo. Westword caught up with Ross to discuss booking his own tour, storytelling, and appearing on the next season of Comedy Central’s Drunk History.

The Great Gatsby. The Arvada Center does costume drama very well, and The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, is no exception. The costumes, by Clare Henkel, are lovely, and the production is filled with beautiful, stylized people, posing and languidly interacting. Central is charming Daisy, who…

Thundery weather and a voice in the darkness: This is how A Lie of the Mind begins. Jake is on the phone telling his brother Frankie that he’s killed his wife. Previously, he’d only hurt Beth, but this time it’s different. Over his brother’s protests, Frankie insists on visiting his…

On Sunday, May 18, the Boulder County AIDS Project will join with the Interfaith AIDS Coalition of Boulder for the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. This is the 31st annual commemoration, and people will gather at 6:45 p.m. at the BCAP office — located at 2118 14th Street in Boulder –…