In the late 1950s, Columbia Pictures packaged up 52 black-and-white monster movies made by Universal Studios and released them into television syndication. The package as a whole, consisting of both great and not-so-great movies, was called Shock Theater and it was followed by a second grouping called Son of Shock…
Last time, we listened to half a dozen great, if sometimes strange, songs with Colorado connections. Our state seems particularly to inspire mishaps involving musicians – not to mention terrifying crimes such as the 2005 shooting of Marc Cohn during a carjacking attempt in Denver. It’s a long, long list,…
Colorado’s movie industry has taken off in fits and starts over the last 120 years, but while boosters are always hoping that more films will be made here, some of the movies already made in this state deserve far more attention than they’ve received. Our survey continues (see the first…
Colorado inspires an incredible amount of songs, some of them great. Colorado-themed songs range from gentle acoustic tributes to hip-hop narratives, heavy-metal disses to poignant country ballads. The earliest non-Native American songs crafted here were cowboy tunes such as “The Colorado Trail” and instrumentals like the pioneer fiddle melody “Coming…
Colorado is photogenic, and proves it in more than a hundred films. It first posed for the camera in 1897, when James H. White and Frederick Blechynden shot short “actualities” such as Procession of Mounted Indians and Cowboys, and the kinetic Denver Fire Brigade, in which horse-drawn engines, careening and…
John Lahr wants us to see what’s behind the curtain. The eminent theater critic, who retired recently after covering the beat for the the New Yorker magazine for 21 years, produces the most probing, original and well-written work on performance, performers and the theater today. His most recent collection of profiles…
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…
The folks at Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Arts must be popping their corks with pleasure. A major new grant will help transform their physical plant — and fund arts grants to individuals as well. And the second annual Dairy Center Honors event, which will laud six local cultural movers…
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…
Labor Day weekend is almost here, and you never got to take that summer road trip. It’s not too late! Here are eight reasons to head for the hills this weekend. 8) Telluride Film Festival Friday, September 4 through Monday, August 7 The Telluride Film Fest has long been an…
Denver’s landscape changes almost weekly, almost too quickly for nostalgia to congeal around lost favorites, beloved nooks and crannies as well as monumental icons that get trashed in the blink of an eye. The longer you’re been here, the more you realize that there are multiple Denvers – slices in…
If you’ve never been to the Colorado State Fair, it’s time. And if you go every year, it’s time to start planning the annual trek to Pueblo, which still hosts the Fair despite occasional attempts to move it. (Extra points if you pronounce the city’s nam properly: Pee-EBB-low!) Why? First…
“We are so thrilled to be letting people in and experience the magic of this 135-year-old building,” says David Nehls, vice-president of the Historic Elitch Theatre Foundation and chairman of the new Classic Indoor Film Series, which opens Friday, August 28, with a screening of Spaceballs, Mel Brooks’s parody of Star…
Hank Troy is taken aback. It’s just been pointed out to him that he’s created musical accompaniment for silent films a decade longer than the Silent Era itself lasted. “Hmm, I never thought about that,” says the gentle, friendly musician. “I’m going to have to think about that one!” Tonight, Troy…
When asked if either the digital revolution in film or the demise of old-school media had affected his career, film critic Howie Movshovitz answers succinctly: “No.” For decades, the award-winning writer, broadcaster, curator, educator and filmmaker has exposed the world of film to several generations in the region. And today…
Since spring 2009, a singularly dedicated group of theater pros have regularly gathered to stage new, short works by local writers: all at the same time, all sharing a theme, for one night only. And they’ve done it six times a year. This string of bold, entertaining One Night Stands…
Edith Weiss is giggling. She’s talking about the July 23 opening of The Odd Couple (Female Version) that she’s directing at the historic Barth Hotel downtown, and the cast’s enthusiasm for slapstick acrobatics. “Leslie O’Carroll is doing things I would have never asked her to do,” says Weiss. “She is fearless. She…
Silents never actually were. According to composer Rodney Sauer, musical accompanists always played for silent film screenings, a feat that will be replicated by his Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra this week when it underscores the innovative 1930 German film People on Sunday as part of Boulder’s Chautauqua Silent Film…
If your idea of heaven is a humungous slice of pepperoni pizza in one hand and a nice, frosty-cold barley pop in the other, you won’t want to miss the inaugural Rocky Mountain Pizza & Pints Festival in Louisville on Saturday, July 18. The day-long event in Community Park features ten…
The dynamic, successful blend of tradition and innovation continues this summer at Central City Opera, which opens on Saturday, July 11, with its production of Verdi’s La Traviata. “We juggle all these different audiences,” says CCO General/Artistic Director Pelham G. Pearce. “We want to not do something for these folks…
I have a confession to make. I am a miniature-golf, um, connoisseur. The lure of the Lilliputian links is strong. Like croquet and badminton, it’s a pursuit that is both genteel and ridiculous. I have played everywhere — atop a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean and up and…
Jean-Marie Zeitouni does not stand on ceremony. He is not fond of being addressed as “maestro”; you may call him JMZ if you like. He’s not stuck up. He digs Spiderman. Only nine months after his selection as the new music director of the Colorado Music Festival, foodie Zeitouni already…
