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Performing Arts

Tia 1 "Tia Fuller’s sophomore release on Mack Avenue, "Decisive Steps," is a beautiful, musical journey. It has been a wonderful experience, watching Tia blossom from an eager music student in high school, to being known as one of the “up and coming” saxophonists and composers in the jazz world. Just like the Montgomery and Marsalis families, Denver’s Fuller Family is filled with talent and their musical roots run deep."
Susan Gatschet Reese
Assistant Program Director/On Air Host
jazz89 KUVO/KVJZ Vail

Telluride Inside... and Out has spent a whirlwind week in Denver. Friday evening we caught Tia Fuller's set at Denver jazz hotspot, Dazzle. Fuller was in town celebrating the recent release of her CD, "Decisive Steps" for the Mack Avenue label.

19 April, 2010 /
Mariela-in-the-Desert-main419.sflb Mariela's bummed, and Jose is in a major slump, but Telluride Inside... and Out is riding a wave that just won't quit on our whirlwind tour of Denver's rich cultural landscape.

Encouraged by Telluride Inside... and Out contributor and member of the Denver Center Company, Tracy Shaffer, on Wednesday night we attended a performance of Karen Zacarias' Award-winning play "Mariela in the Desert" at the Denver Center's Ricketson Theatre,  a tour de force of magical realism –  ghosts live and paint brushes are weapons –  that left us dumbstruck and moved to tears.
18 April, 2010 /
IMGP1119 "Opus." The word is Latin for work, but it was no work at all. The experience was, top to bottom, a pleasure.

Yesterday, Telluride Inside... and Out headed to the Curious Theatre Company for a Sunday matinee of Michael Hollinger's "Opus," a play about drugs (medicinal), sex (past and future and only insinuated), and chamber music, along with our friend and regular Denver writer, Tracy Shaffer. (Tracy, also a member of the Denver Center company and regular in the Denver theatre scene, just completed a run as Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate.")
14 April, 2010 /




STREET DANCE 10 The things these two Telluride bands share are really big ones. I am talking about amps.

The cross-dressing Ralph Dinosaur and his Fabulous Volcanoes headline Telluride KOTO radio's end-of-season FREE street dance/costume contest, tomorrow, Friday, April 2, 3 – 8 p.m.

"There is nothing in the world like a Telluride party," said KOTO's special event queen jumpin' jan (zink), quoting  Ralph from his original "Telluride Stomp."

And now for something completely different. This year, at this party, for the very first time, Telluride's favorite dragster shares the stage with a sizzling hot opening act, performers who might be coaxed into dresses for high school reunions, weddings, and funerals: the town's favorite all-women rock 'n roll band, The 525s.
02 April, 2010 /
[click "Play" for an uplifting message from Bunzy Bunworth]

IMG_2273 Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House...


On April Fool's Day, 7:30 p.m., watch sacred cows getting pounded into Whoppers, when the town's favorite actor, Jeb Berrier, along with friends – Buff Hooper, Doug Jones, Jen Julia, Leo McNamara and Bunzy Bunworth (yes, Bunzy, back in town from Down Under) – get together to perform  "Nothing is Sacred II: The Resurrection." The show is billed as a raucous blend of original sketches and live music by Sorbitol: broader than Broadway, more wild(e) than Oscar. Expect an evening that goes straight to The Dogs.
31 March, 2010 /

(editor's note: The Melodians were originally scheduled to perform at the Opera House on January 2, 2010. That concert was canceled because of weather. Lucky us: The Melodians will now play Telluride Wednesday, March 31, 8:00 pm)It's strictly ballroom at Telluride's historic Sheridan...

30 March, 2010 /
[click "Play", Sasha tells us why to support the Squids]

No joke. But lots of fun.


AprilFoolsPoster Remember Jerry Lewis? In an over-the-top, no-holds-barred attempt to win the Telluride Foundation's Text-to-Give contest by a landslide, Telluride's SquidShow Theatre troupe hosts a "Squidstravanganza,"  a variety show/telethon modeled on the meastro's kitschey fundraising marathons.

Highlights of the evening include "Best of the "Squids": song, dance, burlesque, comedy. The event, hosted by Squid founder Sasha Cuciniello and partner in crime Colin Sullivan (who moonlights as the Ah Haa School for the Arts curriculum development director), takes place April Fool's Day, 9:30 p.m., at Telluride's The Llama (corner of Colorado & Pine).
30 March, 2010 /

Mrs R 6
Tracy Shaffer as Mrs. Robinson

by Tracy Shaffer

After a prolonged "heartbreak hiatus," I really felt no need to step back onto the stage. The slow slide of a dramatic divorce, sudden shock of single motherhood, and a stairway fall that took my brother’s life were enough to send me to my room. Though life in general was good, I was not ready to step that far out on a ledge, so to speak, and act again.

Long before the sideways years, I’d fallen out of love… or so I thought: 25 years in the spotlight had left its mark. I was tired of having to be given "permission" by the casting process in order to create. I loved the times when I was "first" but exhausted by the times being "second." “Lift yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again” sounded like heavy lifting where acting was concerned. I chose instead to let this deeply defining part of me go.

28 March, 2010 /

Tom White The prodigal son returns in triumph to Telluride.

The Telluride Council for Arts and Humanities and The Chamber Music Festival are proud to present pianist Tom White, performing live at the Michael D. Palm Theater Sunday, March 28, 4:30 p.m.

Former Telluride local, Tom has spent the past two years completing a masters degree in piano performance at the University of Northern Colorado. He is excited to return to his former stomping ground to perform some of his favorite piano music. The program includes works by Brahms, Debussy, Scarlatti, and Beethoven.

27 March, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Brian J's conversation with Susan]


Jay Ryan says it all on their Facebook page: "Get your pimp on." Telluride's The Llama (corner of Colorado & Pine) presents Pimps of Joytime Friday, March 26, starting at 10:30 p.m. for two very jazzy, jammy, funky sets. (And throw in a Latin twist, some rap, reggae, and blues for good measure.)


Mixing samples and dance beats with spicy musicianship and sweet vocal harmonies, The Pimps of Joytime have evolved since 2005 into the a five-piece groove machine that gets crowds at festivals and clubs from London to San Francisco shaking their tail-feathers.
25 March, 2010 /