“A story doesn’t have to be real to be true.” One of the opening lines of Kyle John Schmidt’s new play The Secretary could just as easily be flipped around to say, “A true story has many realities.” A dark and darkly funny new play at the Curious Theatre dives deep into the twisted and […]

Puppets are like drugs: every culture has them, most people have tried them, and some of us have succumbed to non-salvageable addictions to their pleasures. I include myself in the ranks of that latter group. I find all kinds of live theater to be magical, but I especially love puppets. I find them enchanting; they’re […]

I don’t have a child, but I do have an obnoxious dog, which often seems equivalent to me, even though I can hear all you overstretched parents out there screaming into your computer screens that a dog is nothing at all like a child. I hold my line on this because, while I think that […]

I tried to write a different column about today’s topic and “the thing didn’t happen.” It was stiff and weird and totally contrived, which is a total contrast with the thing that I want to actually write about. That thing is Mouse Couch, a local improv team that I think is really going places. Mouse […]

I’ve written about boylesque before, the male iteration of the classic art of the striptease. It’s a lot of fun, even if the performers don’t have boobies—boobies being the currency of fun, of course. I want to talk about another specific boylesque event because it’s happening not only for the sheer joy of ogling males […]

I really just wish that they weren’t Red versus Blue, since this column will be released on what is arguably the nation’s most contentious midterm election day in history (go vote, everyone!). On the other hand, I hate that the two-party political system has radicalized emotional responses to something as benign as primary colors. What […]

Once again, the annual Denver Arts Week is upon us with a lengthy list of attractions. More than 300 events are squeezed into nine days from November 2nd-10th. This week(ish) is dedicated to all things artsy. There will be art premiers, comedy, performance art, music, free admission to Denver museums, and much more. This event […]

‘Tis the season! For ghosts and ghouls and turkey dinners and a depressing-exhilarating amount of gifts to be given and received. It’s inflatable witches and kandy korn and all sorts of treats and festivities for all of us, no matter how secular or religious we may be. Spoiler alert: I’m not actually a huge fan […]

Hollywood gets things wrong all the time. Possibly the most common error made by writers, directors, producers, and the studio executives overseeing the whole thing? It’s that audiences need the main characters to be likable. That’s not correct, because for a film to succeed, your main character doesn’t have to be someone you’d want to […]

If you’re a member of the human species, then you like looking at naked ladies. Even those of us who consider a peep to be a sin would still generally admit that it’s a damn fun sin. The art motif in my apartment consists of naked ladies. (Mostly, naked ladies on bicycles…it’s a niche genre.) […]