Denver Arts & Venues Announces Summer 2019 Next Stage NOW Programs And More

Denver Arts & Venues is pleased to announce 2019 Next Stage NOW summer programming at Denver Performing Arts Complex, including the return of Sunset Cinema, Sterling Vineyards Galleria Bar, Buell Balcony Concert Series, a new immersive show that takes patrons throughout the Arts Complex and a new exhibition at the Next Stage Gallery.

"We are focused on activating the Arts Complex in new and creative ways to elevate the cultural experience not only inside our venues, but in every corner of the complex," said Ginger White, executive director of Denver Arts and Venues. "We hope to see many Denver residents and visitors here this summer, enjoying our great lineup of free entertainment and ticketed events to our resident companies' performances."

Sunset Cinema returns June 11 to the Galleria with a four-film season dedicated to movies based on classic novels:

• June 11 - "Cruel Intentions" based on "Les liaisons dangereuses" by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
• July 9 - "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" based on "The Odyssey" by Homer
• July 16 - "Clueless" based on "Emma" by Jane Austen
• August 13 - "10 Things I Hate About You" based on "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare

Each evening begins at 7 p.m. with costume contests, games and literary fun brought to you by Denver Public Library and BookBar, followed by an outdoor screening of the movie presented by Denver Film Society at 8 p.m. Sunset Cinema is free and open to the public and features curated film-based photo environments, craft movie-themed cocktails and cinema snacks from Centerplate available for purchase, interactive crossword puzzles and much more. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair.

The Sterling Vineyards Galleria Bar offers the downtown Denver workforce, as well as residents and visitors, a way to unwind after the business day, and theatre-goers a place to grab a cocktail and a bite before the show. This pop-up bar will be open on select Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings June 5 through September 21 from 5-7 p.m. in the Galleria at 14th and Curtis streets. In addition to cocktails and light bites available for purchase, each evening will showcase rotating musical entertainment from local musicians, students from DIME Denver and featured artists from Denver's new radio station for R&B and Hip Hop, "The Drop."

Nirvamlet is an immersive show that mixes 90s grunge and Shakespeare's "Hamlet," in a rocktail of icons and heart-shaped depression, with a splash of conspiracy and murder. Produced by Band of Toughs, the 2018 Boulder International Fringe Festival hit, will transform sections of the Arts Complex into a present-day Elsinore castle. The audience is part of the action, traveling with the fated rockstars through corridors and vinyl graveyards--all with tasty beer and live music. Tickets are available at AXS.com for shows on June 14, 21 and 28, July 11, 18 and 25, and August 1, 2 and 3, all at 8 p.m.

Midcentury Musings: Design for a New Way of Living highlights how post-WWII designers were exploring and creating new ways of living. Inspired by the excitement of a booming economy and population, and scientific innovations, designers stretched the imagination of how we interact with and define our living spaces. In collaboration with Denver Art Museum's summer beacon exhibition, "Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America," students and professors from CU Denver's College of Arts & Media created educational interpretations on view in the Next Stage Gallery, an ongoing partnership with CU Denver and Denver Arts & Venues, and at the Denver Art Museum. The Next Stage Gallery is free and open to the public Tuesdays - Fridays, 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, 12:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Buell Balcony Concert Series kicks off this summer at the opening reception for Collin Parson's solo exhibition "Interference," on Monday, July 1, 5-7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Alex Anderson (Nasty Nachos) will perform a live electronic music concert with modular synthesizers, on the open-air Buell Theatre balcony. Nasty Nachos' performance is a musical reflection of Parson's use of light, pattern and color to create perceptual light and space works. "Interference" will be on display in the Buell Theatre lobby July 1 - October 1.

All of the Next Stage NOW events are rain or shine. For events in the outdoor Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria, attendees are encouraged to be prepared for Colorado's surprising summer weather.

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