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Telluride's Nugget Theatre is screening four films this week, including the animated feature, "The Tale of Despereaux" and the World War II drama, "Defiance."

"Despereaux" is the story of a mouse who would be the hero who rescues the Princess. As travel writers know, you have no story unless something goes wrong. "The Tale of Despereaux" illustrates this dictum. Among the famous voices behind this animation are those of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. To see a trailer, go to apple.com/trailers.

Edward Zwick's "Defiance" is set in Eastern Europe in World War II. At a time when Jewish people were being massacred by the millions, the Bielski brothers were fighting the Nazis with a makeshift army of the people they had rescued. The movie stars Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond) and Liev Schreiber as two of the four Bielski brothers. The trailer can be found at apple.com/trailers. In the interest of full-disclosure, the editor of "Defiance" is Susan's and my brother-in-law, Steven Rosenblum, so this one is personal.

The Nugget's schedule for the coming week:

11 February, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Jeb Berrier]

Comedy Fest begins Thursday at Telluride's Sheridan Opera House

Guaranteed the barbs will hit their mark – us – when the 10th annual Telluride Comedy Fest opens for business Thursday, February 12, with Locals' Night.

The weekend produced and hosted by town clown Jeb Berrier is always a great excuse for his old friends to gather and party hardy on the mountain and on the stage of the historic Sheridan Opera House. When those friends include the Who's Who of the world of comedy, then all bets are off. Anything goes.

The usual suspects include Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Rob Huebel Jason Mantzoukas, Jamie Denbo, Scott Armstrong, Jessica Chaffin, Paul Scheer, Arj Barker, Steve Agee and DJ Eric Appel!

11 February, 2009 /

by Eileen BurnsThe San Juan Symphony, with guest conductor Philip Mann, will be performing in Telluride, Sunday, February 15th at the Michael D. Palm Theatre.  Show time is 5pm.  The evening's selections include "Shubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, Unfinished".  Shubert lived a full six years after...

09 February, 2009 /

Poster Part two of Elisabeth Gick's  three-part series on Tibet at Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library is a pause to refresh from the country's challenges: a screening of the award-winning documentary, "The Saltmen of Tibet."

According to Eilsabeth, the film offers a loving look at an ancient way of
life in one of the harshest, yet gorgeous regions of the world, the
Tibetan plateau. The story follows the daily rituals of a Tibetan nomadic community,
transporting us into a realm untainted by the tides of foreign invasion or
encroaching modernity. Step by step we experience the unforgettable, annual
three-month pilgrimage to the holy salt lakes of northern Tibet.

"Tibet is the roof of the world, a place where we feel we are in the
sky just as much as you are on the earth. The intense blueness of space
contrasts sharply with the deep green of Eastern Tibet's rolling grasslands
and the mineral colors of the west with its expanse of barren rock. For over
a thousand years Buddhist culture has been at the heart of Tibetan society,
and anyone who has travelled across these high plateaux will understand how
this contemplative civilization flourished in a landscape of such vastness," explained physical scientist/Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard.

09 February, 2009 /

Mollie Fast in free concert at Christ Church in Telluride Sunday night These song birds seem to pop up our of nowhere,  then their talent hits you like a fresh blast of gale force wind and bowls you over. Joey Lindly (the madam in "Best...

07 February, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Sally Strand]

The First Thursday Art Walk, produced by the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities, has become a highlight of the town’s high seasons of winter and summer. Galleries, studios and shops stay open late until eight to showcase the goods. Check out the scene at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, where  Sally Strand has a one-woman show. (in 2007, Strand was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Pastel Society of America.)

Stalwart green apples keep company with a green plant, perched like sentries on a windowsill, while gleaming white cups cavort with a gang of tangerines. An unmade bed welcomes the morning light. A door opens into a private world we can only imagine. We follow the light.

Elsewhere people go about their daily routines. A woman sits lost in a book while another, much younger, buffs up the floors of a café to prepare for  lunchtime traffic. A gaggle of chefs, elbow to elbow, hussle dinner.

05 February, 2009 /
 


At Lustre, 171 South Pine:

Gurhan @ Lustre At this Thursday's Art Walk, Telluride’s Lustre Gallery is hosting a trunk show of Gurhan’s bling blockbusters. The designer's claim to fame is pioneering the revival of 24-karat gold, transforming the ancient metal into fine, contemporary jewelry.

“Gurhan is unique in his use of 24-karat gold, which is often considered too soft a metal to manipulate. After spending 18 months closeted in a small workshop in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, Gurhan rediscovered ancient metalsmithing techniques, some over 7000 years old, and improved upon them: pure gold is hand-worked, aged through a heating process, and given a stable form, resulting in a beautiful work of art,” said Christine Reich, co-owner of Lustre.

04 February, 2009 /

The Sheridan Arts Foundation's Young People's Theatre presents "Grease" this weekend at Telluride's Sheridan Opera House. The show runs Feb 6-8 (Fri-Sun) at 6:00 pm.

"Grease" is a jumping, jitterbugging and leaping, rocking and rolling spoof of 1950s teen innocence chockablock with songs you can whistle, tunes that recall the Buddy Holly hiccups, the Little Richard yodels, and the Elvis bumps and grinds that made the sounds of the era such a gas.

The enduring musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey is essentially a series of lively vignettes about black leather and shiny cars, satin pink and pajama parties, drive-ins, ear-piercing, smoking, wine-chugging, and dating. Home base, Rydell High is Never Never Land with classrooms, where classes are breaks between dances and hanging around in the hall.

04 February, 2009 /

Police Inspector: “What can a slumdog possibly know?”
Jamal: [quietly] “The answers.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards – film, director, cinematography, editing, original score, sound editing, sound mixing, adapted screenplay, and two for original song – "Slum Dog Millionaire" opens at Telluride's Nugget Theatre on Friday, February 6 and 8:30 p.m. nightly through Thursday, February 12, just before the Valentine Day weekend.

"Slum Dig Millionaire" is a valentine to the underdogs of the world who have not lost heart or hope  – and that describes a lot of us who still choose to see the glass half full in challenging times.

"Slum Dog" is "Rocky," "Breaking Away," and "Cinderella" rolled up into one Dickensian fantasy about the American Dream outsourced to India.

04 February, 2009 /

 Since 1977, the San Juan Mountains have been the site of an annual cultural event produced by the Telluride Society for Jazz. The Telluride Jazz Celebration combines performances on outdoor stages in during the day with theater and club shows at night: the best of both worlds.  With its new dates in June, which coincides with the 26th annual  Telluride Balloon Rally, the weekend event becomes even more colorful.

"Jazz means a certain kind of spontaneous interaction on stage and off. Because of how small we are, any impact on our home, Telluride, is positive," said Paul Machado, impresario, the Telluride Jazz Celebration. "At its improvisational center,  jazz in town is so good it makes your ears smile.

"Featured artists typically represent a tangle of styles  and rhythms that add up to one unforgettable experience in sound.

02 February, 2009 /