Best Theater Production 2008 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Paragon Theatre Company | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Theater Production

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Paragon Theatre Company

The play was an old chestnut, but thanks to impeccable casting and insightful direction, Paragon Theatre Company breathed new life into Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? You couldn't help admiring Martha Harmon Pardee's vitality and sheer, pull-out-the-stops courage as Martha; she came across as funny, smart, wrenchingly vulnerable and, in her own way, honest. Sam Gregory's George at first seemed the weaker of the two antagonists — but it didn't take long for the audience to figure out that George was a deadly opponent. These two had been fighting forever; it's what they did instead of sex. Add Ed Cord as Nick, blankly pleasant at first but slowly revealing his soulless ambition, and Barbra Andrews's secretly spiteful Honey, and you had a mind-bending combination of slow simmer and all-out combustion.

Best Theater Season

Curious Theatre Company

Although there were some disappointments at Curious Theatre early in the season, How I Learned to Drive — a reprise of the first-ever Curious production ten years ago — was a hit, and the company continued to roar forward with two of the most exciting productions on a Denver stage this year. 9 Parts of Desire, a play by Heather Raffo, revealed the depth and complexity of Iraqi culture through the voices of several women, and in a gutsy, beautiful performance, Karen Slack played them all. Equally riveting was The Lieutenant of Inishmore, a rollicking, blood-soaked farce by Martin McDonagh, brilliantly acted and directed, that had you simultaneously wincing down in your seat and laughing aloud.

Best Theater Trend

Beverages!

You're allowed to bring tea, coffee, beer or wine into the new Black Box Theater at the Arvada Center, and such venues as Miners Alley, the Bug and Curious Theatre also allow sipping during performances. This is a trend we applaud — although inebriated audiences can be a nuisance, and no one should be crunching popcorn or rustling candy wrappers during performances. Now, if only local theaters would tackle the problem of dishwater coffee and uninspired intermission treats...

Best Undiscovered Film Festival

Independence Film Festival

It's not hard to "Get High on Film," as the Independence Film Festival motto suggests, when the whole thing takes place up in the clouds at various venues in Buena Vista, Leadville and Salida. Last year's inaugural cinema bash kicked off with a ceremony featuring filmmaker John Landis on the 12,000-foot summit of Independence Pass, and the rest was purely off the wall, with guests including Grease director Randy Kleiser (feted with a '50s sock hop and screening at the Comanche Drive-In in Buena Vista) and the daughter of late comic actor Don Knotts. This year, fest promoters Lawrence Foldes and Victoria Meyerink will hit the heights again in the same slightly kitschy/sweet vein, with a tribute to Elvis movies, a critic's forum with Rex Reed, a new juried film competition and guest Franklin J. Schaffner, who directed Patton, Planet of the Apes and Papillon.

Best Unexpected Swan Song

Bright Channel Red Rocks August 6, 2007

When the Fray prepared for a sold-out three-night run at Red Rocks in August, its members asked their favorite bands, including Bright Channel, to play for them. The gig ended up being Bright Channel's final public performance, and while much of the crowd didn't seem to understand why this darkly atmospheric band was playing before Isaac Slade and company, everyone seemed intrigued. Although Jeff Suthers made a few well-deserved, lighthearted digs at the whole experience, how many underground bands can say they played Red Rocks as their last hurrah?

Best Unorthodox DJ Night/Jam Session

JINXED!Rockbar

There's no shortage of half-assed DJ nights or unlistenable open jams in the area, but by combining the two and being somewhat selective about who participates, JINXED! manages to create a truly exceptional experience. Hosted by Eric Halborg — frontman for the Swayback and multi-talented renaissance man — the Wednesday-night session has drawn members of Vaux, the Lawrence Arms, Hemi Cuda and, of course, the Swayback. Styles range from solitary sad bastard to full-blown avant-skronk rock — and if you're lucky, you might even catch an unplugged version of your favorite Swayback tune. Around 10:30 p.m., the jam gives way to Halborg's computer-aided deejaying. Though it's not designed to fill the dance floor, it never fails to tickle the ears and the brain, providing the ideal end to a unique weeknight happening.

Best Unwitting Double Bills

3 Kings Tavern and hi-dive

Thanks to consistently engaging bookings at both of these clubs, we've found ourselves on countless weekends bouncing back and forth between the two joints. If Denver has a quintessential rock block, this section of Broadway is it. While the individual programming can be vastly different and the vibe is unique at each place, somehow the acts booked into these clubs complement each other — either that, or we just love local music so much we aren't put off by the notion of consuming gutter punk and indie pop in the same evening. And we're not alone: It's not uncommon to see a proprietor of one club sneaking off to the other for a few minutes.

Best Video

"Electroshock"
3OH!3

If any group was made for video, it's 3OH!3. And on "Electroshock," the so-normal-they're-bizarre tandem of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte prove it again with a gag-and-gore-filled trip to an operating room, set to a track funky enough to break hips. The results are as danceable as they are uproarious — an all-too-rare combination that explains the boys' growing national rep. They're slated to appear on more than forty dates of this year's Warped Tour — but then, their Denver appearance last year outdrew all but a few national acts. They could deliver just the sort of "Electroshock" America desperately needs.

Best Way for Drummers to Get Their Groove On

Po' Boy Drums

Driven by a desire to offer top-notch drum kits at an affordable price, Tony Chadwick founded Po' Boy Drums, a Littleton company that offers drums manufactured in the same plants as the better-known and more established brands. The prices may be lower, but Chadwick doesn't take shorcuts; the drums are made from the finest woods and undergo a special lamination process to keep the shells from warping or cracking. And Chadwick backs his product with a thirty-day satisfaction guarantee. No wonder we keep seeing more and more local drummers playing these kits.

Best Way to Watch a Bad Movie

Mile High Sci Fi
Starz FilmCenter

There's no better way to enjoy a cheesy, cliched sci-fi "classic" than getting drunk with a few smart-ass friends and piling on the snarky comments and vulgar innuendo as it plays. That's why we're lucky to have Mile High Sci Fi, a group of hilarious local comedians who've picked up the torch of movie-riffing pioneers Mystery Science Theater 3000 and run with it. Free of the constraints of television, they can be as nasty as they want to be, and they make the most of the opportunity. Every month they transform another cornball classic into a platform for biting sarcasm and boob jokes — and they send girls around to sell beer while they do it. Once you've watched Barbarella with a frosty brew in hand while the MHSF crew cracks wise, you'll never want to watch it in the privacy of your home again.

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