Culture

Wild Animal Sanctuary
Browns Shoe Fit

Ricardo Peña: Life from music to mountaineering

For most of the calendar year, the sounds in Ricardo Peña’s ears are musical: Cuban son, rock ’n’ roll, blues, bolero. The consonance of rhyming instrumentation, Spanish paeans to love and loss from a bygone era, familiar anthems and party songs from Norteamérica. When he’s leading the Ricardo Peña Band, some of the music is

High-intensity indoor cycling options abound

Bike When You Like On a recent Tuesday at the BreakAway Cycle & Strength Studio in Longmont, a nearly full class of riders worked strategically to push their legs at the right speed and resistance to exert the exact number of watts of power needed at that moment to reach their peak performance. In a different

Boulder’s ‘Bugtown’ Brothels

By Charmaine Ortega Getz “Drive the brothels out of town,” the Boulder County Herald editorialized in June 1886. “The first thing a person sees upon alighting from the cars in Boulder and the last seen on getting on the train are these institutions of infamy.” Indeed, despite an 1873 ordinance that outlawed any “bawdy house,

Theater Review: The Odd Couple

By Beki Pineda THE ODD COUPLE (The Female Version). Written by Neil Simon; directed by Edith Weiss. Produced by Senior Housing Options, Inc (Barth Hotel , 1514 17th St., Denver) through Aug. 22. Tickets available at 303-595-4646 X 10 or www.seniorhousingoptions.org. To develop a successful show into a franchise, some playwrights write sequels—as in the cases

Theater Review: Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits

By Beki Pineda; Images: Evergreen Players FORBIDDEN BROADWAY’S GREATEST HITS. Written by Gerard Alessandrini; directed by Kelly Van Oosbree; musical direction by Eric Weinstein.  Produced by Evergreen Players (Center Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen) through Aug. 2. Tickets available at 303-674-4934 or www.evergreenplayers.org. The FORBIDDEN BROADWAY franchise began in 1982, sprung from the fertile imagination

Theater Review: The Spitfire Grill

By Beki Pineda; Image: Vintage Theatre Productions THE SPITFIRE GRILL. Written by James Valcq and Fred Alley; directed by Bev Newcomb-Madden; musical direction by Trent Hines. Produced by Vintage Theatre Productions (1468 Dayton St., Aurora) through Aug. 16. Tickets available at 303-856-7830 or vintagetheatre.org. THE SPITFIRE GRILL is based loosely on a film by Lee

Theater Review: Othello at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

By Beki Pineda; Image: Colorado Shakespeare Festival, 2015 Othello Rehearsal OTHELLO. Written by William Shakespeare; directed by Lisa Wolpe. Produced by the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the University of Colorado campus) through Aug. 8. Tickets available at 303-492-8008 or www.coloradoshakes.org. Shakespeare’s tale of jealousy and deception is given a fine telling

Theater Review: Much Ado About Nothing

By Beki Pineda, Image credit: Colorado Shakespeare Festival, J. Koskinen MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Written by William Shakespeare; directed by Jim Helsinger. Produced by the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the University of Colorado campus) through Aug. 9. Tickets available at 303-492-8008 or www.coloradoshakes.org. Between film and live performances, I’ve probably seen 20 or

Theater Review: Guys and Dolls

By Beki Pineda; Image: Performance Now Theatre Company GUYS AND DOLLS. Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser; book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows; directed by Kelly Van Oosbree. Produced by Performance Now Theatre Company (presented at Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 South Allison Parkway, Lakewood) through June 28. Tickets available at 303/987-7845 or www.performancenow.org. There

Browns Shoe Fit
Wild Animal Sanctuary

Theater Review: Wittenberg

By Beki Pineda; Image: Colorado Shakespeare Festival WITTENBERG. Written by David Davalos; directed by Timothy Orr. Produced by Colorado Shakespeare Festival (at the indoor University Theatre on campus) through Aug. 8. Tickets available at 303-492-8008 or coloradoshakes.org. We find Prince Hamlet back at college after a visit to his parents in the family castle. Two of his

Theater Review: Driving Miss Daisy

By Beki Pineda; Image: Cherry Creek Theater Company DRIVING MISS DAISY. Written by Alfred Uhry; directed by Pat Payne. Produced by Cherry Creek Theatre Company (at the Shaver-Ramsey Rug Gallery, Third and Josephine, Denver) through June 28. Tickets available at 303-800-6578 or cherrycreektheatre.org. Sometimes you look forward to seeing a play because you’ve never seen

Advancing female leadership in outdoor industry

By Eli Wallace If the outdoor industry wants to be sustainable, it needs to include more women as top-level leaders. That’s one of the core beliefs of Boulder’s Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC), a group that works to make the outdoor industry a top choice for female employees. “Women are a solution to one of

A Wet Dog Is a Happy Dog

As the summer heats up, many of our furry friends can’t seem to get cool. Luckily, there are a few places around the county where they can take a dip. For a quick cool-down, dogs love the East Boulder Off-Leash Dog Park, which has reopened its swimming area since the flood. The Louisville Community Park

Mtnbabes empowers women to go natural in nature

Pure Freedom By Adeline Bash During the warm climbing months, the summit of Longs Peak—one of Colorado’s most popular fourteeners—typically buzzes with dozens of hikers celebrating their completion of the rigorous hike. But on a warm August day in 2011, Maddie Crowell and her childhood friend Lindsey Cannon hiked the peak and found the summit

Music for all at Boulder Library

The woman behind the amazing concerts at Boulder Public Library By Mary Jarrett When Juliette León Bartsch was growing up in State College, Pa., she recognized herself as a “library junkie”—she was used to being kicked out at closing time. Yet she discovered the Boulder Public Library quite by accident. Brand new in town in

A Summer of Music in Boulder

Sure, U2 gets all the attention this year for kicking off the Big Name concert season in Denver (at least they’re not sending you free concert tickets you didn’t ask for), but it doesn’t take much digging to find plenty of gems in and around Boulder for the discriminating music lover this summer. So turn

Pianist Peter Kater Always Comes Back to Boulder

He’s been at the forefront of contemporary instrumental music for 30 years, from smooth jazz to healing music. Just don’t call it ‘New Age.’ By Dave Kirby Pianist Peter Kater’s music is remarkable for its accessibility. Deeply melodic, evocative in whispering tones, emotional in subtle and nuanced cadences—Kater has mastered the tricky balance between the literal and the interpretive, making his primary musical

Tiny Trailers

Today’s mini trailers are perfect for camping, say Longmont residents Matt Erickson (seen peering through the window) and Debbie Adams. In May, they exhibited their “modern-day covered wagon,” a Cricket, at Old Town Outfitters during Longmont’s ArtWalk; other brands on display were R-Pod, Teardrop and Go. With room for two adults and two kids, the

Boulder County Welcomes Jean-Marie Zeitouni

Jean-Marie Zeitouni takes up his baton July 1 as music director of the Colorado Music Festival. Trained as a percussionist, the Montréal-based conductor was chosen from among last summer’s candidates as Michael Christie’s successor at the festival. His opening-night program presents four of his favorite works by Rossini, Respighi, Debussy and Ravel, with contralto Marie-Nicole

Unlock the Enigma

A mad professor whose research could save the world—or destroy it—vanishes. His research remains untouched in his quarters, but university officials are coming to steal his work. It’s up to you, locked in his quarters with a team of seven others, to decode the clues around the room, find the schematics and escape within one hour.

Mennonites help rebuild Jamestown

Since last summer, more than 400 volunteers from the Mennonite Disaster Service (www.mds.mennonite.net) have completed 32 repair or rebuilding projects in the severely flood-damaged town of Jamestown, which requested their help. They come from congregations all over the U.S. and Canada, following their church’s mission to serve needy “neighbors” in times of disaster. Some conservative

Wild Animal Sanctuary
Browns Shoe Fit