Place Bridge Academy named an NBC “Smash: Make a Musical” school

On January 5, 3,000 excited students at the Junior Theater Festival were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a few actors and executive producers from the new NBC drama Smash. They weren’t waiting to bombard the stars with autograph requests or to blind them with flashing cameras; nor were they waiting…

Art of Winter proves there’s no business like snow business

Chill! The Snow Show has filled the Colorado Convention Center with a blizzard of activity, and the white stuff is spilling outside the facility into the 2012 Art of Winter, a snow-inspired exhibition featuring Colorado artists and innovators. At noon today and again next Thursday, the Denver Theatre District will…

Winter Wonderland Goggles and Bikini Fashion Show tonight

When it comes to fashion, winter gets a bad rap — often because of bad wraps. After all, even the cutest outfit gets covered up with a coat. But the third annual Winter Wonderland Goggles and Bikini Fashion Show is proof that even in the coldest months, fashion can be…

Wash Day

Brian Smith, the guiding light behind Denver’s Space Creators, a company that, well, creates space, started big when his first redevelopment project, Wazee Union, opened in 2010. Since then, he’s just kept thinking bigger and bigger, with projects including Wazee Union’s sister facility, Walnut Workshop, right across the railroad tracks…

Fight Night

At tonight’s Paramount Prize Fighting throwdown, the cage match will get taken to a whole new level — literally. “This is a high-class, mixed martial arts show, unique in that it’s on a stage,” says Fight to Win promotor Seth Bregman. The audience usually watches such fights from the floor…

Fright Night

When a young woman impulsively sneaks into a theater in the dark of night, it usually doesn’t end well. But throw in some popcorn, six short horror movies — including an appearance by Lindsay Goranson, who stars in Sweets — and a comfy seat in the Esquire Theatre for The…

Epicurious Maximus

Snow isn’t the only reason to head for the hills — especially this year. The Beaver Creek Food & Wine Weekend kicks off from 6 to 8 p.m. this evening with a cocktail reception meet-and-greet at the Mountainside Bar & Grill at the Park Hyatt, and continues through Saturday with…

Automatic Shifting

You don’t need a Ouija board or a psychic to connect with the spirit world; sometimes all it takes is a piece of paper and a writing instrument. “Automatic writing is a psychic activity,” explains professional psychic and spirit guide Sean Michael Morris. “You allow another spirit to sort of…

Om the Slopes

Last year’s inaugural Snow Salutes yoga retreat for skiers and snowboarders went so well that the organizers have brought it back for a second round. “People seemed to really enjoy it,” notes Erin Bakersmith of the Yoga Mat, who coordinates the retreat. “We have quite a few repeat guests.” The…

X Rated

Aspen is X-rated this weekend. “If you’ve only seen the Winter X Games on TV, you’re missing an incredible opportunity to see some of the most amazing athletes in the world, get behind the scenes and take advantage of everything Aspen and our four mountains have to offer,” says Aspen/Snowmass…

DIY Unto Others

Diana Rupp leaped through a few hoops before she found exactly what it was she wanted out of life. After stints as a stylist and as a fashion writer and editor, the born do-it-yourselfer opened Make Workshop, a DIY crafters’ paradise in New York City: As her website notes, “She…

Tales from the Front

Loosely shaped by Dante’s Inferno, 9 Circles — the tale of a soldier on trial for war crimes, now in production at Curious Theatre Company — “is clear-eyed, tightly written and tough-minded,” says Westword theater critic Juliet Wittman. “It is also filled with grace.” As part of its audience-enrichment program,…

Calling all student designers! Rakun wants your submissions

Meghan Throckmorton, who opened Rakun at 1147 Santa Fe Drive last June, has designs on Denver: She’s holding a fashion competition for students, asking them to create a woman’s look. “As long as you’re in school and sew your own clothes,” she says, “we want your submissions!” But you’ll need…

Heidi Hafenstine talks about art as therapy and her Goddess Project

Most people stopped practicing art in grade school, and according to Heidi Hafenstine, that’s why art therapy works so well for adults. Art, according to Hafenstine, offers a form of communication that taps into the subconscious. Because unlike language, most adults have lost their mastery and ability to “manipulate” the…

Reader: If I wear slacks instead of jeans, am I a slacker?

There’s an art to putting people in the right jeans, which Bree Davies revealed yesterday in her Fitting Room Confidential post. People who want flare jeans, for example, have no flare. And then there are those deadly Dad denims… What do your jeans say about you? Not much, in Cory’s…