Last month, a balloon-bearing family group heading to a celebration of a graduate was having some trouble locating the correct venue in the vast Denver Performing Arts Complex. Fortunately, a Denver 8 crew was shooting in the Galleria. "Where's the Macaulay Culkin theater?" the family asked, referring to the young Home Alone star who'd graduated to more nefarious activities than inspiring theater names.
"It was pretty hilarious," recalls Bobby LeFebre, host of Denver 8's ArtScene. "The more I thought about it, though, I kind of felt bad laughing, because it was evident the family had never been to the DCPA before and they were kind of out of their element."
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which anchors the complex, is in the midst of a campaign to expand its audience beyond traditional arts enthusiasts. And the city itself is anticipating a major renovation of the complex, a project known as the Next Stage. It might want to start with some more helpful signage....especially if it wants to keep those dollars coming in from philanthropists.
Westword
Because at the same time one family was searching for a theater dedicated to a former child star, a sign in the Galleria was touting another space in the Ellie, one correctly spelled the Chambers Grant Salon. It was named in honor of Merle Chambers and Hugh Grant.
No, not the aw-shucks English star.
This Hugh Grant is the founding director of the Kirkland Museum; he and Chambers gave a $2 million donation toward the renovation of the space in the basement of the Ellie into a meeting/restaurant space.
