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124 Thanks to the generous support of part-time locals Linda and Peter Bynoe, the world renowned Harlem Gospel Choir appears in concert at Telluride's Palm Theatre on Tuesday, March 2, 6:30 p.m.

The Choir, one of the most famous in America today, was founded in 1986 by Allen Bailey, who had his epiphany while attending a celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Cotton Club in Harlem. The Choir, which features some of the finest musicians and singers from Harlem, New York's black churches and the New York tri-state area, raises funds for childrens' charities.

01 March, 2010 /



It all worked out a whole lot better than "The BIg Chill," when this group of three friends, all Bennington College alums, got together for a reunion of sorts.

 Sasha Cuciniello is the tireless, resourceful founder/director/principal actor of Telluride's popular grassroots theatre troupe, SquidShow, a woman who throws herself into her work body and soul, and expects – and gets – the same from her fellow thespians. Sasha's friend, Kristina Smith, is now a New York-based director who appears to give her actors a lot of rope and an affectionate pat on the butt before sending them out on a tightrope without a safety net, a good thing in a community that thrives on risk-taking. The third musketeer is Alexei Kaleina, a videographer, with a sharp eye and wit to match. His special effects added a whole other dimension to the group project – with a wink to "Miss Saigon."  Sasha, Krissy, and Alexei conspired to adapt Charles L. Mee's "Big Love," and the result was a theatrical free-for-all and tour de force of physical theatre that felt at once spontaneous, urgent, and unmistakably hip. Monday night was about as much fun as anyone could have with clothes on – and what clothes. Costumes, including fabulous deconstructed wedding gowns, were created by the extravagantly talented Sue Hobby.
28 February, 2010 /

Editor's note: Tracy Shaffer continues her insider's look at our sister city, Denver. This post is an obituary, sorta, but a hopeful one.

Denver theatre closes a door…

by Tracy Shaffer

I have a feeling except for my inner circle, most of the people who know me will learn of my death on Facebook. That's how I hear of demise these days.

This week the Denver Center Theatre rang the death knell for the National Theatre Conservatory, announcing its closing after the class of 2012 graduates. The Denver community is stunned and angry, begs for answers, yet the optimist in me believes a rebirth is at hand. Perhaps, I tell myself, this "death" is like the death of the legendary Phoenix: a new and improved NTC will rise from the ashes.

Created in 1984, the NTC was the baby of former Denver Center artistic Director Donovan Marley, whose vision for sustaining the future of the theatre involved impeccable training of its actors. The three-year, tuition-free MFA program brought much to the nascent theatre company, raising its national profile and prestige. The bright young students got to work within the Acting Company during their third year to accrue union credits toward equity cards. Mentored by senior company members, they kept us all young and connected to the reasons we began our own journeys in to the acting profession. The impact of the talented alumni on the Denver theatre community and far beyond is quite impressive: NTC students grace the Broadway stages and national touring productions and star in TV shows. More than a few have started thriving theatre companies of their own.

28 February, 2010 /
Frozen_smallposter Wheninrome_smallposter2 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing three movies the week of Friday, February 26 through Thursday, March 4. For showtimes see below; the Nugget website has trailers and reviews.

"When in Rome" gets higher marks from viewers than from the critics. "War and Peace" it ain't, but the principals are attractive, and if you can accept enchanted coins from the fountain, you'll probably have a good time.

"Frozen" is an indie film (rated R) which has its three boarder protagonists stranded on a chair lift after everyone else has gone home. Again, viewer response has been largely positive. Be glad you're warm in the Nugget and not up over Awesome Rock when darkness sets in.
25 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Kelley Hunt's conversation with Susan]


Telluride Blues & Brews Fest favorite, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kelley Hunt returns to town for a much anticipated return performance at the Sheridan Opera House. Show time is Tuesday, February 23, 8 p.m.

Kelley Hunt performs everything from hot bar blues to cool R&B in a big, rich, sexy, soulful voice reminiscent of pop/blues diva Bonnie Raitt. The singer naturally combines the influences of R&B, roots rock, blues gospel, folk and soul into her own style and sound, all wrapped up in a Midwestern identity: The sounds of the place she grew up, the grasslands of Kansas’ Flint Hills, are unmistakably there in her rhythmic piano phrasing and the earthy honesty of her vocal delivery. What’s more, Hunt turns a piano into a boogie woogie blaster, and now for something completely different, she adds electric and acoustic guitar to the show.
21 February, 2010 /
[click "Play to listen to director Krissy Smith talk about "Big Love"]

Image001 Telluride's SquidShow Theatre Company turns up the heat with its winter production of Charles L. Mee's "Big Love." (No, not that one. It's not HBO.) Performances are February 21, 22, 28, and March 1 at The Ah Haa School for the Arts (300 South Townsend Avenue). Show time is 8 p.m. Admission is FREE.


Mee is a playwright after Telluride's heart, the ultimate recycler. The writer/historian is known for radical reconstructions of found texts which he uses to create what amount to staged collages: "Big Love," based on "The Suppliant Women" by Aeschylus is a vaudevillian tragic-comedy that infuses the ancient text with pop songs, helicopters, dancing, singing, acrobatics and Mee's words.
20 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with Joe Pug]

Reflect2
Joe Pug

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Justin Townes Earle
photo:Joshua Black Wilkins

The program at the Sheridan Opera House on February 20, (doors and box office 8:30 p.m. for 9 p.m. show) features two clear-voiced populist troubadours. Top billing goes to Justin Townes Earle, the son of Steve Earle, who in turn learned his craft from two Lone Star legends, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.


Since the release of his The Good Life two years ago, which charted on Billboard Country as soon as it debuted, Earle has been hitting the boards all over the world: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest, Chicago Country Music Festival, Americana Music Awards, Down Home in Norway and his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. The chip off the old block has also performed in the UK, Australia, and Scandinavia.


18 February, 2010 /

Edgeofdarkness_smallposter Avatar Telluride's Nugget Theatre has "Avatar" as a return engagement and opens "Edge of Darkness" for the week of February 19-25.

James Cameron's "Avatar" creates its own world and philosophy and will undoubtedly take home a basket of Oscars. It is worth seeing for a number of reasons: compelling story, great special effects, just to see what all the fuss is about. Rated PG-13.

Mel Gibson has to take on the corporate world and the US government single-handedly in "Edge of Darkness" to learn why his daughter has been murdered. Not surprisingly, the movie is rated R, for violence.

See below for showtimes, and the Nugget website for reviews and trailers.

18 February, 2010 /

Mrs Robinson Fox
Tracy Shaffer as Mrs. Robinson

Editor's note: Telluride Inside...and Out now has a regular Denver contributor, Tracy Shaffer, for readers who may want a big city fix. Tracy is an abundantly talented playwright and well-known actress around the Mile High City, currently starring as the original coyote, Mrs. Robinson, in "The Graduate," which we got to see last Saturday (February 13). White hot always cool Tracy, not Benjamin, was the show's center of gravity, its heft and its raison d'etre. In a sleek production with minimal sets, the other rest of the cast became props to set off Mrs. Robinson's aria. The director, John Ashton, seemed to have pushed everyone else over the top to create cultural stereotypes of the 1960s  – The Successful, Golf-Playing Dutiful Dad; the Well-Intentioned, Hysterical Mom; the Rebellious Son. These contemporary riffs on Chaucer's archetypes allow the story of a complex woman's complex relationship with her daughter to emerge with greater understanding. Denver Post critic John Moore saw it differently: he saw underwear. We see his perspective as the emperor's new clothes, which Tracy describes in her  "Naked Truth."

My Naked Truth: Sex, power and ticket sales

by Tracy Shaffer

Much ado about wearing nothing in the Aurora Fox Theatre’s production of "The Graduate." In his Sunday column, Denver Post theatre critic John Moore took the Fox to task for "copping out" and clothing the star (though scantily) to suit its subscribers. The conversation was off and running.

17 February, 2010 /

(editor's note: Around the Viebrock house, Valentine's Day is a high holy day. So to celebrate, we are publishing works from Telluride regional poets, Enjoy!) And Love Said, You’ve Still Got a Thing to Learn, Dear, about Solitudeby Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer“When we...

14 February, 2010 /