COMEDY
They can come in, but they better not heckle
A longstanding comedy-club curtain has fallen at Comedy Works South. The venue, which opened at the Landmark development in Greenwood Village last year, has officially begun allowing 18-and-older patrons into its upper mezzanine area for select shows — a longtime no-no at most comedy clubs.
It’s a format the club had been testing even before the economic downturn, owner Wende Curtis said.
“I’d love to do it at our downtown club too, because of the economy,” she said. “I just haven’t been able to figure out how I can do it in such a way that meets liquor laws.” Last month, Comedy Works began advertising for 18-and- older patrons at its 9:30 p.m. shows on Friday nights.
The Denver Improv has no plans to follow suit, according to general manager Stacey Wilhelm, but she said other locations of the Improv around the country have been trying it. John Wenzel
DANCE
Update: Ballet still on the move
Despite the day-to-day economic challenges it faces, the Colorado Ballet has not abandoned its long-running search for a new permanent home.
The company long ago outgrew its current quarters in a faded historic building, on the southeast corner of East 13th Avenue and Lincoln Street, that has erratic heating and cooling.
“Clearly, we need another building. This thing is functionally obsolete,” said Jack Lemmon, the company’s executive director.
He said a new building rather than a renovated structure seems to make the most sense. The company would like to find a way to secure a parcel of land now, so it could be ready to build when the economy turns around. Kyle MacMillan
PERFORMANCE
Student is poetry in motion
Say it “Loud”: Sixteen-year-old Kaleena Kovach of Colorado Springs is the state champion of the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.
Kovach, of Palmer High School, recited Richard Blanco’s “Somewhere to Paris,” Margaret Atwood’s “They Are Hostile Nations” and Walt Whitman’s “Come Up From the Fields.”
Kovach won $200 and a trip to Washington for the national finals on April 28. Her school library gets $500 for the purchase of poetry books.
“I love poetry with all of my heart,” Kovach said. “I read and write it every chance I get and hope to major in writing in college.”
Kristina Sherman from Sand Creek High School, also in Colorado Springs, was runner-up. John Moore
VISUAL ART
She’s in charge — for now
Jane Hansberry has no plans just to keep the seat warm as the newly named interim director of the Museo de las Americás.
“I’m working to keep the momentum going and keep the new ideas coming because the staff has had a lot of neat things teed-up to go,” Hansberry said. “This place is hopping.”
Hansberry, who led the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District from 1990-2000, is also assisting the board in finding a replacement for former executive director Patty Ortiz, who left in March and has been appointed head of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio.
Upcoming programs at the museum, which promotes Latin American art and culture, include a one-week teacher-training program and a summer camp. Kyle MacMillan
POP MUSIC
Rumors and Panic
When The Denver Post reported that Widespread Panic would play just two Colorado dates in 2009 — at the Mile High Music Festival on July 18-19 — the jam band’s loyal following revolted. Some went so far as to call AEG Live Rocky Mountains president Chuck Morris a liar. Insiders insisted band members said they “would absolutely play Red Rocks this summer and the Pepsi Center on New Year’s Eve.”
Sure enough, Panic will have only two Colorado dates in ’09, a Panic representative from the Progressive Global Agency told The Post. The band’s rep also quashed the rumor that the band had signed a five-year contract to play the Pepsi Center for five consecutive New Year’s Eves. Ricardo Baca
