Brain-eating Troma film freaks, unite
You can thankor blame — Troma Entertainment for some of the goriest, most over-the-top movies of the past three decades, from cult classics like “The Toxic Avenger” to the lesser- known gems “Cannibal! the Musical” (starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park”) and “Blood Sucking Freaks.”
Now’s your chance to thank them: Troma co-creator Lloyd Kaufman will visit Denver this week for a concert and a pair of film premieres followed by a Q&A session.
Capitol Hill’s Esquire Theatre will host the premiere of Troma’s latest film, “Poultreygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead,” at midnight Friday and Saturday, and Kaufman will be on hand both nights for a meet-and-greet and questions after the movie.
Before the Saturday screening, the Gothic Theatre will host the “Tromapalooza” concert, featuring music from Zombie Hate Brigade, Parasite Hilton, Kill City Bombers, Valet Park This, Audioflux, Insomniaxe and Velvet Elvis. Visit for more details — if you dare. John Wenzel
THEATER
Meeting of minds for Crossroads, Denver Tuesday’s amiable public meeting between the city of Denver and potential tenants of the Crossroads Theatre in Five Points answered every question but one: How much is it going to cost to use it?
The city has entered into an unusual three-year agreement to administer the 100-seat theater at 2590 Washington St., and Theatres and Arenas director Jack Finlaw, above right, assured a nearly packed house he is committed to keeping the theater affordable and available to a wide variety of small community arts groups.
But the rate schedule has not been set. Still, the city pledged full marketing support of Crossroads shows, including display on the seven city marquees that line the Denver Performing Arts Complex and ads in Denver Center programs.
The theater will not be bound by existing contracts with professional stagehand unions that cover city venues like the Buell Theatre, which would have made the cost of renting the facility unrealistic for most small companies.
Finlaw said it will cost the city about $6,000 a month to rent and run the theater, which is owned by the Hope Communities service organization. But even operating at an initial loss would be manageable, thanks to other flourishing city programs like Film on the Rocks.
The key to success, said chief marketing officer Erik Dyce, is to offer consistent programming at Crossroads, “night after night, year after year.”
Several groups are already on board, including Cactus Productions, which opens the play “The Long Goodbye” on Thursday; local artist and filmmaker donnie l. betts will broadcast his “Destination Freedom” radio series from there, and Slam Nuba is expected to have poetry nights twice a month.
“We’ve got a lot of ambition for Crossroads Theatre,” said Finlaw.
To read our expanded blog item on the public meeting, go to denverpost lines. The meeting was taped for airing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday on Channel 8 (with subsequent rebroadcasts). To contact the city with questions, call 720-865-4220. John Moore
FILM ON TV
Sundance Film Festival, on demand
For the first time, selections from the Sundance Film Festival will be available in living rooms, on demand, starting Friday. Three films screening at the Utah festival will simultaneously be available on TV in 40 million homes nationwide through the “Sundance Selects” VOD label.
Check out “The Shock Doctrine,” based on Naomi Klein’s book, “Daddy Longlegs,” Josh and Benny Safdie’s autobiographical tale of parenthood; and “7 Days,” based on the thriller by Patrick Senecal. Joanne Ostrow
MUSIC
A music pioneer dies
Dannie Flesher, who opened Wax Trax Records on Denver’s Capitol Hill in the mid-’70s, died last week at 58.
Best known for the Chicago-based Wax Trax label he created with his life/business partner Jim Nash — home to Ministry, Front 242, KMFDM and other industrial rock acts — Flesher got his start in music in Denver.
But when he and Nash realized that their niche required a larger population base, they sold the familiar Denver location to Dave Stidman and Duane Davis, who still own the spot at 638 E. 13th Ave. They then moved to Chicago, where they opened up another store under the same name and began work on the label.
“They’re locked into the Wax Trax label industrial/disco image,” Davis said last week, “but what I remember about those guys is them knowing everything about all kinds of music.
“Jim was originally from Kansas City, Mo., and Danny was from Hope, Ark., but they both came from old rock ‘n’ roll/blues/R&B backgrounds.”
The Wax Trax label was purchased by TVT Records in 1992 after Nash and Flesher filed for bankruptcy. Nash died in 1995. Flesher died of pneumonia on Jan. 10 in Hope. For a full version of this obituary, see . Ricardo Baca
