[click "Play" to hear Lauren Metzger's interview with John Sir Jesse] The fun and exciting 31st annual Telluride Shroomfest just ended, but when the subject is mycelium and their fabulous fruit, mushrooms, if you, like me, are one of the...
by Emily Brendler Shoff
It’s easy to come up with reasons not to go to Shakespeare in the Telluride Town Park. You’re broke. You’re afraid of Town Park after dark. You’re afraid of Shakespeare.
But here are a few reasons why you should dig more deeply into your wallet and soul and go see this year’s Repertory production of As You Like It.
For starters…. Hockey talent in the summer. It’s not often that you see many killer hockey players that can also act. It’s rarer still to see killer hockey players perform Shakespeare. This year, the Rep has two such stars, and they’re as successful on the stage as they are on the ice. Buff Hooper is a surly and charming Jacques, one whose melancholy energizes the stage. Emily Koren is a playful and puckish Touchstone, a fool who reminds us at once to reflect and to laugh.
Steve Gumble (and his SBG productions) is the force behind the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, now in its 18th year and a sold-out success annually. So what's a nice guy like that doing in a place like Taos? The short answer: Making a good thing better.
Friends and producers of the Taos event were not in the Festival producing business like Steve. Their day job was running the mountain. So, they approached their friend Steve to grow a musical event with loads of promise.
The third annual Taos Mountain Music Festival takes place this year on Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21. Northern New Mexico's music event of the summer features headliners Matisyahu, Railroad Earth, Ozomatli, and Leftover Salmon. Additional festival performances include Donna the Buffalo, Jackie Greene Duo, Afroman, Orgone, Dangermuffin, Langhorne Slim, Shannon McNally and Hot Sauce, Ryan McGarvey and Mariachi Luz de Luna.
Once upon a lifetime ago, Telluride Inside…and Out visited the Ryoan-Ji Zen Garden in Kyoto, Japan. The mystical place consists of raked gravel and 15 moss-covered boulders, arranged so that when viewed from any angle other than above, just 14 of the boulders are visible at one time. The big idea: only when we achieve enlightenment can we see all 15 at once.
Now let's take that idea home to Telluride, where Reverend Pat Bailey and Christ Church have created a variation on the theme of Ryoan-Ji. In the church's brand new contemplation garden, grass replaces gravel and stones are for sitting as we look up at our "boulders," the giant peaks that surround our box canyon. A Celtic cross, a Buddha and a cairn are set among the flowers, inviting everyone into the spiritual world of his choice.
By Jane Minarovic
If you have been fortunate enough to have attended a Mudd Butts Mystery Theatre Troupe production in the past 21 years, you have seen how the imagery of prop master Mike Stasiuk makes the narrative come alive. When he is not backstage creating fantastical masks and props out of cardboard boxes, newspaper, and paint, Mike creates whimsical sculptures from a variety found objects from his studio in Portsmouth, NH. He has had sculpture in private and corporate collections and is also published in books such as Found Object Art 1 and 2. He is represented by the Clark Gallery in Lincoln, MA and the George Marshall Store Gallery in York, ME.
Many of the Mike's magical props will be auctioned off after Sundays production.
See below for the Mudd Butts' cast list:
by Jim Bedford
The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride shows movies all year long and screens two new films this coming week.
Friday through Thursday, Aug 12-18, in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (PG13), during World War II, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.
Also all week, in HORRIBLE BOSSES (R), three friends (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) conspire to murder their awful bosses (including Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston), something we've all wanted to do sometime. Yes, it's a comedy.
See the Nugget website for trailers and reviews, and below for movie times.
by Jane Minarovic Over the years, the Mudd Butts Mystery Theatre Troupe has grown from a small, all-girl cast at the Nugget Theatre, to a cast of 28 boys and girls who perform at the state-of-the-art Michael D. Palm Theatre for the Performing Arts. ...
The Telluride Chamber Music Festival opens this week for the 38th year in a row, joining Telluride Bluegrass and the Telluride Film Festival on the list of oldies but goodies on our town's summer cultural calendar.
The fun begins Thursday night, August 11, 5 p.m. with a FREE concert n Town Park. (Bring your own picnic.) Regular Telluride Chamber Music programming starts Friday, August 12. The two Sunday concerts, August 14 and August 21 are 2:30 matinees. Friday, August 19, is a double bill, including an 11 a.m. FREE concert for kiddos. All evening concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. The series takes place at the historic Sheridan Opera House. Tickets are $25.
Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House welcomes singer/songwriters Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, with Phil Lee and Tom Mason. The concert, billed as Americana/folk sounds, takes place Saturday, August 13, 8 p.m.
What's Americana? A hybrid of country, folk, bluegrass and swing. Who are Eric and Peter? Two of Nashville's hottest musicians, but Telluride virgins. (We promise to be gentle.)
For his band, Last Train Home, and for his duo with Peter Cooper, singer/songwriter Eric Brace is one of the most acclaimed artists in the Americana world. One critic described Eric's warm tenor voice this way:
By Jane Minarovic As the Mom of a first year Mudd Butt, I was surprised to discover that the kids were not given a full script until two weeks into the session. Instead, they used props and improvisation to work on different aspects of the...
