Almost everyone likes a dirty joke.
But as Reyna Von Vett points out, "Sober dirty jokes aren't as funny as drunken dirty jokes." And that's why Von Vett, who runs the BurlyCute burlesque troupe, made sure the opening-night crowd at her show at Crossroads Theatre, 2590 Washington Street, was able to find something to chug — even if it meant they had to walk across the street to get it.
Crossroads, a failing venture that the Denver Division of Theatres and Arenas took over in January from Kurt Lewis, doesn't have its liquor license yet; even Denver facilities have to deal with the city's red tape when it comes to selling booze. "The city can't sell alcohol, which is why we require our concession partners — Aramark, in the case of Crossroads, Red Rocks and the Coliseum — to hold the liquor licenses for our venues," says division spokeswoman Jenny Schiavone. The city is still working out a Crossroads agreement with Aramark, which "should be a done deal very soon."
But waiting wasn't easy for a naughty hottie like Von Vett, who twice pushed back the opening of her new show, A Naughty Vaudeville, because she wanted to make sure there were bubbles to go with the boobs. The solution: BurlyCute opened the Crossroads box office early on May 12, the night the show premiered, and gave out wristbands that allowed audience members to head across the street to the bar of Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom before the show, during intermission and afterward. "It's not ideal, but it's creative," Von Vett says. "And it's better than a dry burlesque show."
She'll arrange for the same deal every Wednesday, when her troupe performs, until the venue gets its license.
Booze isn't the primary vice in BurlyCute's Reefer Mania! Denver's Gone to Pot, a full-scale "pot opera" opening June 3. The show, a fully staged musical, will include dancing pot leaves and cockroaches. "I want it to generate a buzz and help people find the Crossroads," Von Vett says. "But I'm worried that people will think the city is promoting drug use."
To make sure the entire package isn't too risqué, she's considered toning down the skin. "Will the tap-dancing cockroaches and pot leaves have pasties, or will they have bras?" she asks. "I'm not sure yet."
Ride like the wind: Sure, you've got a bucket list: visiting all thirty MLB ballparks; wine-tasting on five continents; surfing at sunset in Hawaii. But how about something a little more Denver-centric? Two weekends ago, Brent Tongco of Denver Bike Sharing rounded up a crew of cyclists and set out to hit every B-Cycle station in the city, switching bikes at each one.
Roughly six hours and 31 miles later, they ended up back where they'd started, at 16th and Platte streets.
"The keys are starting at one station and looping back around to the same one," Tongco notes, "and making sure you can get to each one in less than thirty minutes from the last one — because the first thirty minutes of each ride is free if you have a membership."
Next month, B-Cycle, which kicked off in April, plans to challenge — nay, dare — Denver residents to do the same thing. Although the details haven't been worked out, Tongco says those riders who make it to all 42 stations will be recognized, either on the website, http://denver.bcycle.com, or a Facebook page, or with a T-shirt.
One tip: "The hardest point was from the station behind the Cherry Creek Mall, along the trail to the DU campus," he says. "We hit that in like 25 minutes."
