In the debate over gun safety, regulation and ownership, people keep firing off their partisan politics without giving the conversation a whole lot of thought. The LIDA Project wants to change that, says Tommy Sheridan, director of the troupe’s latest production, Happiness in Warm Gun, a six-part series of abstract…
The first thing you see is the Manhattan skyline — but it’s viewed from across the river, in Hoboken, New Jersey: a symbol, perhaps, of thwarted aspirations. An elderly man, Ralph Bellini, is sitting on a bench in a dog park. Carol Reynolds, an elderly woman, enters; she’s giving her…
“Once upon a time,” “heroes,” “villains” and “happily ever after” aren’t good enough for Shana Cordon, the Boulder-based solo performer and writer of Dancing With Demons: A Fractured Fairytale, a play about a writer held hostage, a demon gone wild and a narrative structure that vanishes. Cordon, who has been…
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an anguished meditation on the nature of evil. Golding, who fought in the Royal Navy during World War II, was acutely aware of the horrors of which humankind was capable when he wrote this novel, first published in 1954 — a time when…
A family on the move, another troubled clan scrutinized by television cameras and an uprising of the undead will all take local audiences for a wild ride this weekend. Keep reading to learn more. See also: Taking Aim: Happiness is a Warm Gun…
An opera star for the ages, funny family dynamics and Shakespeare — as well as stage innovations, from unusual venues to free admission — are all part of this weekend’s theater openings. Keep reading to learn more. See also: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play…
A Steady Rain. A Steady Raintells the striking story of a rogue cop. Denny is not above petty infractions; he has his scams; he’s on the take from prostitutes. Yet in his own sick way, he’s committed to logic and the motto to “protect and serve.” At the play’s beginning,…
October is a month for costumed ghouls and seasonal melancholy. As the autumnal leaves drift wanly into the dampened streets and crumble under the indifferent feet of passersby, many listless Denverites may find themselves in dire need of a laugh. Fortunately, this October promises a bountiful giggle harvest from Denver’s comedy crops, with the return of some of our most creative local showcases, laudable fundraising efforts, and visits from comic luminaries drifting into town on the tide of several decades’ worth of nostalgia. Though the confluence of sporting seasons means firecer competition for the wandering attention of local entertainment-seekers, comedy is bringing its A-Game this month. Whatever your fancy, Denver comedy is poised to knock the touchdown right out of the park for a ha-ha-hatrick this October.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown is one of the Denver Center Theatre Company’s most ambitious productions in its thirty-year history: The company has spared neither pains nor expense in having Meredith Willson’s 1960 musical reworked and remounted — and the results are impressive. See also: The Unsinkable Margaret Brown Was a…
Ryan Hamilton has been around the block a time or two; the resident of New York City (who grew up in Idaho) was named one of Rolling Stone’s Five Comics to Watch in 2012 and appeared on two seasons of Last Comic Standing, where he gave a good showing. He’ll…
A Steady Rain. A Steady Rain tells the striking story of a rogue cop. Denny is not above petty infractions; he has his scams; he’s on the take from prostitutes. Yet in his own sick way, he’s committed to logic and the motto to “protect and serve.” At the play’s…
When the members of Buntport Theater Company are at the top of their form, wonderful things happen. And with Naughty Bits, they’re at their peak both in terms of performance and — since this company creates all its plays collaboratively — in terms of the humor, flow and inventiveness of…
Winnie Wenglewick loves showing her audience how to get kinky. The owner, producer and artistic director of Denver’s Dangerous Theatre, Wenglewick is currently producing BITE, a “choose-your-own-adventure sex farce” that offers audiences numerous opportunities to vote for what happens next, whether it’s a “blowjob fest” or some other kinky escapade…
With a newly revised script and lyrics by Dick Scanlan, it’s been smooth sailing for The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which continues Denver Center Theatre Company run until October 26 Westword spoke with Scanlan just before the show premiered last week, and he talked about how The Unsinkable Molly Brown revival…
In a week marked by openings both splashy and diverse, from the heartbreakingly beautiful equestrian cirque Odysseo to the marathon Boulder International Fringe Festival, which brings indie performances from around the world, you can also catch an evening of colorful East Indian dance, a naughty night with a choose-your-own-adventure sex…
Screenwriter, actor, podcaster and comedian Brock Wilbur’s outsized ambition matches his mountainous physique. He records at least an hour of standup every year and then starts fresh with new material and he’s coming to Denver for his autumnal joke harvest this year. In addition to touring across the country as a standup as well as writing and producing films, Wilbur co-hosts the podcast with Rob Ondarza and Joe Starr (who will also be recording his set for a standup album of his own). This is the third live album for the industrious Wilbur, this saturday at the Voodoo Comedy Playhouse. He’s also featured on friday night’s Sex Pot Comedy Aerial Menagerie showcase with locals Jay Gillespie and Haley Driscoll along with co-headliners David Hunstberger and Dan St. Germain. Westword caught up with Wilbur before his trip to town to discuss his slash and burn work ethic, balancing screenwriting with comedy, and the motherly guest of honor at his taping.
Animal Farm. Germinal Stage’s new theater — only a few miles from the one the company left last year, and even smaller — is cozy, welcoming and workable. Walking in feels a bit like entering a time warp. The Germinal faithful, along with a few young initiates, throng the lobby,…
The Moth is coming to Denver! The internationally beloved, true-stories-told-live-on-stage-without-notes series will host a Moth Mainstage event (the theme is “When Worlds Collide”) on Tuesday, September 30, at the Paramount Theatre. And it needs one more storyteller — a local one — to join the four others who’ll be standing…
All the Rage is a sequel to Martin Moran’s first one-man play, The Tricky Part, which told the story of his molestation by a counselor at Colorado’s Camp St. Malo when he was twelve — a relationship that continued over three conflicted years. Moran, who’d grown up in Denver and…
“I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” So said J. Robert Oppenheimer of his work on the atomic bomb, quoting the Bhagavad Gita. There’s grief and guilt in the statement, as well a daunting realization of just what he’s unleashed on the world. But as you think about it,…
Margaret Tobin Brown was not the perky, Debbie Reynolds-like character from The Unsinkable Molly Brown. In fact, she was not even known as Molly when she lived in Denver. The “Indomitable Mrs. James J. Brown” might have been a better nickname, since despite being snubbed by this city’s society mavens…
The fall theater season is in full swing. This weekend you can send off a local production as it takes to the road, re-view an old stage classic or catch the world premiere of a new play from a local playwright — and there’s an old-fashioned musical, too. Here’s a…
