Get TIO in your Inbox!

Culture

by Tracy Shaffer

If you are interested in an evening of brilliant satire in the hot Latin mode, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose is just your ticket. Written by playwright Richard Montoya and developed by L.A.’s famed Latino/Chicano comedy group, Culture Clash, this ain’t your high school civics class!

The ballad begins with David DeSantos as Juan Jose, walking through the rugged Sonoran Desert with a song in his heart, a back-up band of mariachis, and a head full of American dreams. Fast forward to our hero the night before he takes his citizenship test, cramming the truths, the lies and the absurd realities that make up our American history in a hallucinogenic, satirical, spinning nightmare. A cast of nine actors play eighty roles that range from wildly comedic to high-octane outrageous. To call it irreverent would be reducing its heat to pico de gallo; this is hotter than a habanero. Nothing is sacred, no one is spared in this delicious, fast-paced, insightful and yes, heartwarming tale of two cultures, one country.

24 October, 2011 /
by Art Goodtimes

The Norwood Writers Guild has teamed up with ACE of Norwood and the Wilkinson Library to host Long Beach poets RD “Raindog” Armstrong and G. Murray Thomas for readings in Norwood, Monday, Oct. 24th at the Livery beginning at 7 p.m. and in Telluride, Tuesday, Oct. 25th at the Wilkinson Library beginning at 6 p.m.

These two events will be the start of a three state tour of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona for the two writers, who are promoting their new books: Armstrong’s E/OR – Living Amongst the Mangled (Lummox Press, 2010) and Thomas’s My Kidney Just Arrived (Tebot Bach, 2011). Armstrong, publisher of Lummox Press, will also be showcasing Working the Wreckage of the American Poem (Lummox Press, 2011).

24 October, 2011 /
 

Ben Stookesberry is a 33-years-old gonzo kayaker, who makes his home in Chico, CA. Ben was baptized into Mountainfilm in Telluride's extended family of adventurers when the film he directed, "Kadoma," premiered at the festival in May. Festival director David Holbrooke chose to feature "Kadoma" when Mountainfilm on Tour headlines at the Walter Reade Theatre, Lincoln Center, this weekend, Friday, October 21 – Sunday, October 23.

21 October, 2011 /

Coming up at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts: Mixed Media Mosaics with instructor Flair Robinson.

Flair is a self-taught mosaic and assemblage artist, who works primarily with hand-cut ceramic tile, glass, and recycled junk. She is first and foremost a colorist, fascinated by the kaleidoscopic combinations of color made possible by her medium. Flair constantly seeks new and different variations on the theme of color mixing and finds inspiration in vintage advertising, old road-side signs and attractions, carnival games and fabric. Her all-time high is taking bits and pieces of nothing and turning them into something.
19 October, 2011 /
 

"The Apple Pushers," kicks off the weekend, when Mountainfilm in Telluride returns to the Big Apple, October 21 – October 23, for an encore program at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theatre.

"Apple Pushers" is not about the friendly folks who sell bites out of the technological magic "The magician" (The Economist, October 8 – 14), Steven Jobs conjured. The documentary features a whole other category of vendors.

"The Apple Pushers," written and directed by Mary Mazzio, narrated by Edward Norton, and underwritten by the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, follows immigrant street vendors who roll fresh fruits and vegetables into the inner cities of New York, where finding a fresh red ripe apple can be a serious challenge. These pushcart vendors, who have immigrated here from all parts of the world are now part of a new experiment in New York to help solve the food crisis and skyrocketing obesity rates, particularly in the inner city.

19 October, 2011 /
 

Anders Osborne must like performing in Telluride big time. The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist was in town in mid-September for his third appearance at Telluride Blues & Brews, where, according to KOTO's Janice Zink, he  – once again – "Killed it."

Anders returns for his encore at KOTOfm's 36th annual Halloween Bash, where he joins another Telluride regular, Karl Denson (of Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, KDTU). At this very special concert, Karl and Anders on lead vocals and their guests perform the Rolling Stones' landmark album, "Sticky Fingers," from start to finish, including chestnuts such as "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar." The must-see event takes place in the Hanley Pavilion in Town Park, Saturday, October 29. Doors are at 8 p.m. Showtime is  9 p.m.
17 October, 2011 /

Thumbs upOn our recent visit to New York, Telluride Inside… and Out was privileged to attend a performance by Bill Bowers. Poignant self-observation, biting social satire and screwball comedy meet in his latest one-man show, "Beyond Words." The sound of silence is symphonic when this uniquely gifted mime is charged with playing all the instruments. The big small production continues through October 31 at Frances Hill Barlow's Urban Stages, 259 West 30 (between 7th and 8th Avenues).

Bowers is not your typical mime in the tradition of Marcel Marceau, Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton to whom he is often favorably and justifiably compared. For one thing, he talks. Like a chatter box on uppers. However, as was the case with his illustrious antecedents, Bowers is capable of delivering universal themes like candy, not cod's liver oil. "Beyond Words", a collection of mime, music and monologues, may be one of the funniest plays you've ever seen and a pleasure to watch for its spare elegance. (Here I am talking about Bowers' performance as well as the production values – sets, lighting,costumes, sound – orchestrated by the talented young director Scott Illingworth, a faculty member at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program.)

16 October, 2011 /

by Peter Kenworthy, Executive Director

Editor's note: Mountainfilm in Telluride is the festival that keeps on giving. Earlier this month, on October 5, Mountainfilm in Telluride awarded $25,000 in grants. This coming weekend, Mountainfilm on Tour hits the Big Apple with a weekend program, October 21 – October 23, at New York's prestigious Lincoln Center. Look for Telluride Inside… and Out's coverage of that event in a series of posts this week. Below is the skinny on the grants.

Representing a highly diverse scope of projects – from a biographical film about a living legend of Himalayan mountaineering to a photographic exploration of art and activism in the aftermath of Japan’s recent tsunami, Mountainfilm Commitment grantees will receive $5,000, each, as well as a new MacBook Pro. The winning applicants were chosen from a field of over 100 contenders. Mountainfilm introduced its granting initiative last year as a means to help ensure that important stories are told – and heard.

16 October, 2011 /

 

 

I guess I recognized I was different at my first Halloween party in college. There I stood, white-chalked face and spiked black hair, with eight pairs of scissors taped to my fingers, a ghoulish version of Edward Scissorhands; I was surrounded by a bunch of sexy kittens, lingerie-clad angels and Playboy bunnies. Needless to say, I didn’t reel in any dates that night.

It was then that I realized there are two types of people in the world: People who like horror movies and people who don’t. Not everyone likes to be scared, so if you find yourself in the latter camp, you might want to skip to the next article or go shop online for a cute Halloween costume, something with ears or a thong. If you belong to the cloister of us who revere ghost stories, scary movies and spooky urban myths, read on. We’ve got a festival for you: the second annual Telluride Horror Show, October 14-16.

13 October, 2011 /
Tio_bravoby Lauren Metzger Marketing & Exhbition Director Ah Haa School for the Arts

Art of Being a Woman Month continues at the Ah Haa School for the Arts. And we hope to see you here at the school this Thursday the 13th for LUNAFEST, the national traveling film festival of award-winning films by, for and about women. Join us for a night of inspiring films and company while supporting two great causes, the national Breast Cancer Fund and our very own San Miguel Resouce Center.

And the fun continues next week with our 2nd Annual BRAvo! This was a hugely successful event last year where the community got their creative juices flowing and helped raise money for the San Miguel Resource Center. Over 30 bras were decorated and auctioned off in a live and silent auction. The live auction bras were sported by some of Telluride's finest service men on the bar at the Sheridan. These brave men strutted the bras proudly, reminding us all that breast cancer effects both men and woman and is a disease that almost everyone has been personally effectd by.

12 October, 2011 /