Events

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.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Paul Stamets]

 

Editor's note: Don't miss mushroom cook-off at the Wilkinson Public Library. Starts noon today and feaures Blakely Stein, executive chef, J.B.& Me; Jesse Mirman, executive chef, Honga's; Lewis Williams & Lucas Price, chef/owner La Cocina De Luz; and Benjamin Steendlik, reigning Champion Mushroom Chef. Which of them will be Grand Master of the Mushroom Parade on Saturday?

Paul 10 Looking for a glimmer of hope in the world? Look down. We are talking about mycelium and their fruit, mushrooms. Fungi are the stars of the Telluride Shroomfest, Thursday, August 18 – Sunday, August 21– and maybe the planet. Just ask guest speaker Paul Stamets.

[click "Play", Steve Gumble talks to Susan about the Taos Mountain Music Festival]

 

Taos Music poster 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.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Art Goodtimes]

 

 

Mushroomposter "The mushrooms have two strange properties: the one that they yield so delicious a meat; the other that they come up so hastily, as in a night, and yet they are unsown," Francis Bacon, "Naturall Histories, 1624.

In Telluridespeak, the event is known as "Shroomfest." The 31st annual Shroomfest, aka Telluride Mushroom Festival  – billed as  "nation's oldest mycological conference exploring all things fungal & enthogenic" – happens next weekend, Thursday, August 18– Sunday, August 21.

Gary Lincoff of the New York Botanical Garden is the keynote speaker for the 2011 Telluride Shroomfest and one of the leading mycologists in the world. Specifically he plans to explore subjects such as Mushroom Identification: How to Do It and Live to Tell About It and The Philosopher’s Stone, or How Mushrooms Can Save You Thousands of Dollars in Therapy and Free You from the Prison of Time and Space  as well as lead forays, identification slide shows and ID workshops.

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  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. ...

[click "Play", Susan speaks with Roy Malan]

 

Chamber Music poster 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.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Terry Adams]

 

TFA2011_eBlast It is the ultimate pairing. The Telluride Festival of the Arts is an annual weekend-long celebration of both the visual and culinary arts. The unique event, produced by the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and sponsored by The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, welcomes over 5,000 locals visitors to Mountain Village Friday, August 12 (starts a noon) –  Sunday, August 14, 2011 (ends at 3 p.m)

The signature event of The Telluride Festival of the Arts is the Grand Tasting, a wine and food event offering a unique opportunity to taste regional and national culinary delights from 15 different culinary partners and wineries and several breweries. The events, which takes place Saturday, August 13, 5:30 – 8 p.m., fills the plazas of Telluride's Mountain Village.

[click "Play", Susan talks with Eric Brace]

 

Thoughtfull 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: