For Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is pretty weak tea. While the play is relatively funny and does have some outrageously inventive moments, the black humor, zany surprise, sheer unfettered impudence and break-the-dishes iconoclasm of Durang’s other works is missing. Which may explain why this is…
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School — a life-drawing class combined with a cabaret show — is back. Burlesque artist Vivienne VaVoom (aka Michelle Baldwin) launched Dr. Sketchy’s five years ago, but she put it on unintentional hiatus a few years ago. “I decided it was time to take a break because…
To get in the mood for Halloween, you can head up to Colorado Springs for a campy combination of ’60s slasher and beach movies, or hear spooky stories come alive onstage in Denver; meanwhile, dance aficionados can get their fix at an intergenerational mashup in Boulder. Keep reading for details…
Halloween is a holiday celebrated by all ages, but being a kid this time of year is something special. And from costume contests to magical worlds that only appear during the spooky season, the city is packed with places where hardcore candy seekers can get their sugar fix, little ones…
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I like reality television — up to a point, at least. Wife Swap fascinated me with the rich stew of dissonance it routinely created: the prissy perfectionist wife trying to adjust to a home where teenagers spent all day playing video games and eating…
I love how this house, not yet a house but a structure, activates the neighborhood. I have lived in Five Points for many, many years, and had my studio in its current location, a former chop-shop, for seven of them. In that time I’ve witnessed drive-bys, escapees from the juvie…
When you were a teenager, a journal was your best friend and confidante. You told it all your secrets, as well as plenty of banal details about your day. You shared your dreams — and sometimes even imagined that your words would one day be immortalized, read around the world…
What do we do when we need to grieve for others when they experience loss? It feels like a never-ending process, sitting outside of a person you love and watching them walk through their bereavement, trying to comfort them but knowing there isn’t much you can say or do to…
It isn’t often that Michael Brohman’s work could be described as somber (“outrageous” is more often what comes to mind), but that’s the case with Horizons, now in the main space at Pirate. See also: A Lively Mix of Sculptures, Paintings and Photos Fill Spark Gallery…
For years motorcycle culture has been a male-dominated arena; the roads have long been ruled by men on their “hogs.” But Shelby Rossi was getting sick and tired of riding on the back of her boyfriend’s bike — so she decided to form the Scarlet Headers, a women’s motorcycle group…
#50: Mara Wiles Mara Wiles broke into comedy doing improv with Denver’s Impulse Theater, but soon made the shift to standup, becoming an integral member of the comedy scene and a regular attraction at local clubs and comedy nights. As a testament to her collaborative spark and likability, you’d be…
Scares and style collided on October 18, when the annual Zombie Crawl filled the 16th Street Mall with zombies, blood and surprisingly good fashion. During the event, we spotted two local make-up artists who went all out with their looks for the day; keep reading to find out more on…
It was that time of year again on Saturday, when thousands of zombies crawled out of their tombs for Denver’s annual Zombie Crawl on the 16th Street Mall. Photographer Aaron Thackeray braved a downtown stroll among the walking dead to bring back these images. Keep reading for a peek at…
Though the main gallery at Spark is usually cut into two spaces when there are two solos on display, Andy Libertone: Seldom Seen has been installed together with Katharine McGuinness: New. See also: Review: Plus Strikes Gold With Its Final Show, Jenny Morgan: The Golden Hour…
If, as Fred Allen once suggested, a celebrity is someone who works hard at not being recognized, then the folks featured in the soon-to-be-released 2015 calendar put together by The Arc Pikes Peak Region are true superstars. The models — all people with developmental disabilities and Arc clients — have…
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. Thomas Weeks’s original plan after graduating from Metropolitan State University of Denver…
Don’t let Halloween sneak up on you before catching one of the most influential horror movies of all time. And talk about scary — you can also read aloud from your teenage diary, or try to swallow a hot dog while laughing at Wisconsin comics. For a complete list of…
Men gathered for a manly good time this weekend, when the inaugural Bro Show strode confidently into the Denver Mart, bringing with it a melange of beer kits, big-screen TVs, guns, MMA tournaments, gigantic trucks and more. Ken Hamblin snapped these images of the action; keep reading for a taste…
Scouring flea markets, thrift stores and film archives, filmmaker Kelly Sears rescues bits and pieces of forgotten movies and reanimates old footage to explore new ideas. But unlike many found-footage filmmakers whose works are an exercise in nostalgia, Sears reinvents histories to reflect on the current crises facing our society…
Happy skiers and snowboarders flocked to Arapahoe Basin over the weekend for the official kickoff to the 2014-’15 Colorado ski season, amid sunny conditions and a party atmosphere. While balmy weather is keeping the snow guns at bay elsewhere, it’s only a matter of time before Loveland, Winter Park and…
In today’s world, the art of storytelling has been diminished by quick texts and 140-character tweets. So Nina Rolle and Johanna Walker are crusading to keep storytelling alive with the Truth Be Told story slam. “I think that people really crave stories,” Walker says. “They help us build community and…
Update: Online voting has begun in the “I Heart My RTD” student art contest. The website features sixteen designs created by middle school students in the Aurora and Cherry Creek school districts and asks users to vote for their favorite. Two designs will ultimately be chosen to be adapted for…
