Shortly before he died in late 1997, best-selling author James Michener revealed that he wanted the University of Northern Colorado — where he’d gotten his master’s degree and first started writing — to become the official repository of his works, a gift he wrapped up with a half-million-dollar donation to…
Driven by Nils Kiehn’s riveting turn as a raconteurish Satan, Don Becker’s Lucifer Tonite stimulated playgoing nerves that, for too long locally, have been deadened by the dumbed-down din of floor-show-style musicals and hapless revue sketches. Despite its in-your-face tone, this play felt refreshing and provocative rather than angry or…
Located in the old Evergreen Hotel next to the famous Little Bear on the main street that runs through town, the Ice House hosts an open-mike night every Thursday evening from 6 to 10. The “unplugged” musical fare is much better than the usual two guys playing old Eagles covers,…
Francis Scott Key could not have envisioned a time when his “Star-Spangled Banner” might be fused with the state song of, say, Namibia; in those days, it would have been impossible to foresee John Guillot’s World Anthem Project. The local producer used a computer system called Experiments in Music Intelligence…
Rocky Mountain News Books editor Patti Thorn likes mysteries and light fiction. She also respects serious literature. And she harbors a profound curiosity about the current publishing scene, from self-published e-books to monolithic houses, the travails of local writers and the struggles — and victories — of independent bookstores. For…
In an effort to come up with a millennium show last fall, Sally Perisho, director of the Metro Center for the Visual Arts, had the idea for a historic exhibit that would survey women artists working in Colorado during the twentieth century. To carry out her plan, she collaborated with…
As the Denver Center Theatre Company’s principal designer, Bill Curley has fashioned an impressive string of stage settings over the years. There was the Venice Beach storefront set, complete with a flying plane inviting patrons to renew their subscriptions, that served as the backdrop for The Comedy of Errors; the…
Expectations were high for Jeff Wenzel: Painting, but even the highest of those were exceeded by this magnificent show held at Ron Judish Fine Arts in February. Educated as a ceramics artist, Wenzel works his paper surfaces as though they were made of pliable clay. He twists and tears, paints…
DJ Chonz is the consummate hip-hop DJ. From his successful mix-tape series to his own online radio show to the packed houses he regularly rocks, Chonz has helped Denver heads appreciate one of hip-hop’s often overlooked elements: the artist behind the turntables. Respected by artists from both coasts, Chonz has…
A group of five of Colorado’s most interesting experimental photographers were brought together for Fresh Eyes, a cutting-edge exhibit organized by Kathy Andrews, head curator and exhibition director at the Arvada Center. Strong pieces included the uncharacteristic bottle shots by Mark Sink and the multiple-image travel pictures by Michael Butts…
Otis Taylor is one of Colorado’s many undiscovered treasures — but if White African, an early release by NorthernBlues Music, a new Canadian blues imprint, receives the attention it deserves, he won’t be undiscovered for long. The album isn’t just the top blues recording by a local since…well…Taylor’s last release;…
It’s sad but true: Denver’s alternative galleries have seen better days. Nevertheless, that little hole-in-the-wall ILK @ Pirate keeps chugging along. The small room is typically the site of wonderful shows, and the exhibiting artists, almost always the members of the two-venue ILK co-op that runs the place, usually give…
Thanks to the beneficence of former Boulderite Jello Biafra — the onetime leader of the Dead Kennedys who created the Alternative Tentacles label — Slim Cessna finally got the opportunity to display his eccentric take on country to a sizable audience beyond these parts. And he’s made the most of…
Intimate solo-guitar improvisation filtered through casually chaotic sleight of hand (you know — the induced vertigo from digital delays, ebos and assorted effects-laden gewgaws) is too easy a description for Mike O’Neill’s impressive Scream of Consciousness. Scratch deeper and you’ll discover methodically disarranged classical pieces, spiffy one-liners, and explorations into…
Before she moved to Colorado, Donna Gershten ran a health club in Mexico — and she put that experience to good use in Kissing the Virgin’s Mouth. Her haunting, lyrical novel won not only raves from critics, but also the first $10,000 Bellwether Prize for Fiction, established by Barbara Kingsolver…
Jim Hughes and Will Graveman’s musical, …And Now Miguel, examined an adolescent boy’s agony in wondering whether anyone else understands what it’s like to feel like an adult and be treated like a child. Thanks to Tony Garcia’s astute direction, the joint production of Denver’s El Centro Su Teatro and…
Three words: atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. Sure, you might be able to get a bigger selection of fancy java drinks at Starbucks, but can you drink your skinny caramel macchiato with sprinkles in a locale imbued with such genuine art-deco flair? Arrive early at the Mayan Theatre, buy some tickets for…
What began as a creative outlet for multi-instrumentalist Dave Willey has turned into a real band — and a unique one, at that. Carnival Detournement (Cuneiform) is a cornucopia of jazz, art rock and Eastern European folk music that’s at once endlessly intriguing and unexpectedly accessible…
Randal Myler and Brockman Seawell’s adaptation of onetime Boulder resident John Fanté’s novella 1933 Was a Bad Year entranced from start to finish. That’s mostly because Myler, who also directed 1933, staged the play with near-cinematic fluidity. He was aided by an ever-shifting backdrop of photographic montages: Vintage Boulder neighborhoods…
Bradford Lee Folk’s voice is the musical equivalent of Rogaine, a hormone-rich wonder that raises the hair on the head, neck and everywhere else. One of many highlights in his stellar acoustic group, Open Road, Folk sings pre-country music with ache, anger and appreciation for his forebears. His ghostly, coal-dusted…
An outstanding quartet of local actors drove beyond the shortcomings of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change to offer up an insightful, sometimes hilarious look at America’s love-hate relationship with dating games. Whether they were dovetailing in four-part harmony, pairing off in warring/cooing duets or going it alone during…
3Deep Presents, which started in 1992 as a mobile DJ unit on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus, consistently brings some of the best hip-hop music to town. In the past year, the crew promoted the DMC Technics Regional DJ championships at the Fox Theatre. And in conjunction with…
