Adult Beginners Crams Kroll Into a Played-Out Arc

I dread explaining man-child dramedies to the ghosts of the dead. “You see, Grandpa, after your time, a generation paralyzed by the economy and indecision stopped growing up, and started churning out indie movies justifying why.” In the ’40s, men fought wars at eighteen. In 1967, Benjamin Braddock faced accusations…

Paula Poundstone on Writing, Public Broadcasting and Denver Audiences

No one deserves success more than Paula Poundstone, who’ll be in town for a special solo benefit for Colorado Public Television on Saturday. A genuinely sweet person with more than thirty years of touring as a comedian under her belt, she has diversified into writing, acting, interviewing and commentating —…

The Ten Best 21st-Century Buildings in Downtown Denver

From its beginnings in the mid-1800s, Denver has been a city of booms and busts, but there’s no doubt that the Mile High City is on one hell of a tear right now. The current economic explosion actually began in the late twentieth century, making the recession of a few…

Playbill: Three New Plays on Denver Stages for April 23-26

This week a pair of respected regional ensembles will present strong work on stages in Boulder and Lakewood, while the Avenue brings back a crowd-pleasing favorite. Hysteria Dairy Center for the Arts April 23 through May 17 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 4 p.m. Sundays 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April…

Review: The Cherry Orchard Harvests Humor but Isn’t Deeply Rooted

The ghost of Anton Chekhov has been haunting area stages lately, what with last fall’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, an absurdist Christopher Durang comedy-parody at the Denver Center, and the Boulder Ensemble’s recent Stupid Fucking Bird, in which playwright Aaron Posner closely follows the plot of The…

What’s Developing in Denver Isn’t Pretty

As I was driving through Jefferson Park yesterday on a short detour to get to the 20th Street Gym downtown, I finally saw the horror with my own eyes. It’s one thing to see photographs of it, but to actually witness that kind of destruction is overwhelming. I’m talking about…

The Mayday Experiment: Water Finds Its Way

Water always finds a way. In planning the tiny house, there have been so many conversations about water. Not only rainwater as a force of good – providing showers and drinking water – but rainwater as a destructive force, winnowing through every narrow channel and path. This is why there…

Photos: Cosplayers Geek Out at StarFest

StarFest might be the geekiest of all Denver’s pop-culture cons, even just for its sheer variety, which includes Quidditch matches, Ferengi family reunions, a dedicated Dr. Who Fest, tribble hockey and dozens of other sci-fi and fantasy pastimes. And when this year’s model went down over the weekend, the cosplayers…

Another 100 Colorado Creatives: Leah Brenner

#27: Leah Brenner Leah Brenner calls herself a “collector, adventurer and quiet curator with a taste for the witty and rebellious.” She came by her passion for culture and what makes humans tick while studying anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder; she’s put that interest to work helping…

Beards and Beatniks: Eric D. Lough on Why Beards Are Here to Stay

Which way does your beard point tonight?  In 1956 Alan Ginsberg made reference to Walt Whitman’s beard in “A Supermarket in California.” Now, almost sixty years later, beards are still a part of popular culture and the Beat Generation is being revived through Famous Beard Oil Company, founded by Eric D…

Five More Fashion Events in Denver in April

Spring fashion events keep popping up, everything from fashion shows to flea markets. Here are five more events to put on your calendar for the end of April.    5. Wine Wednesday at Whorl Shop  5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 Whorl Shop  3326 Tejon Street Wine Wednesday at…

In Little Boy, Faith Trumps Everything — Even Rationality

Did you know that there’s a new family-audience feature film that implies that God nuked Japan because one plucky American moppet dared to dream? That’s no exaggeration. In the summer of 1945, the kid stands on a California dock, points his fingers magician-style out at the Pacific horizon and screams…

Ex Machina: Alex Garland’s Debut Is Clever and Fun

Ex Machina is an egghead thriller with a scary selling point: Unlike Liam Neeson shooting up half of Boston, this actually could be taking place right now. It’s a smart film about the shrinking divide between man and robot. It’s also a hoot, an anti-comedy in which all of the…

Growing Gardens After-School Clubs Gears Up for Spring

Growing Gardens has been managing eleven acres of land in north Boulder since 1998, and the organization offers a variety of gardening programs for all ages — all designed to enrich the lives of community members through sustainable urban agriculture. The organization’s Children’s Peace Garden, located on the Growing Gardens…

Literary Calendar: Spoken Word and Book Events in Denver for April 20-26

Literary events aren’t always book-signings and they don’t always happen in book stores. This week you can get your fill of Chicano poetry and theater at two concurrent festivals in Denver or be inspired by an Iranian immigrant’s transformational words. Wordfest Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center April 20…

Five Best Movie Theaters for Food and Drink in Denver

Dinner and a movie? Why not make your next night out dinner at a movie! Not only does metro Denver have a wide array of movie theaters offering everything from French films to the latest blockbuster, those theaters have increasingly interesting gastro delights to supplement your cinematic sampling. You can…