Cirque du Soleil's Dralion show opened last night at the 1STBANK Center, but before the show opened, photographer Javid Rezvani spent the afternoon with the performers and crew of the show. More photos below.
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Once upon a time, lots of movies were filmed in Colorado. The first was an 1897 flick called Festival of Mountain and Plain. One of the last was a 2009 Eddie Murphy movie, Imagine That. In between, there were scores of hits and classics that showcased the state's scenic beauty. Now, with the help of lawmakers and Governor John Hickenlooper, film boosters are trying to recapture that previous glory. Read more in this week's cover story, "The Reel West."
"Badlands," Otero County
Click for a slideshow of stills from movies at least partly filmed in Colorado.
And flip the page to watch "A History of Film in Colorado," an inspiring collection of clips put together by David Emrich at Postmodern Company, a production studio in Denver.
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Adam Gildar, Westword MasterMind (Class of 2011), is having a hard time getting used to saying "I" rather than "we" when speaking about happenings at his South Broadway gallery: Formerly known as Illiterate and managed by three partners including Gildar, it's now re-entering the art-scene fray as Gildar Gallery, run by Gildar alone.
Amanda Marie Ploegsma
A relative newcomer to the drag scene, Luke List has been performing as alter-ego Zoe O. for a little more than a year -- but that was long enough for him to win Charlie's Mr. July and Man of the Year 2011. And he's ready for Saturday night's Queen of Aces pageant and fundraiser for the Colorado Gay Volleyball Association at Hamburger Mary's, where he'll compete in such categories as talent, beauty and creative volleyball wear. The Indiana native -- he moved to Colorado five years ago to attend Naropa University and get his masters of fine arts in contemporary theater performance -- recently took time out from his preparations for this weekend's contest to chat with Westword , offering some insight into being a bastard daughter in a world of drag royal families and established queen dynasties. 
Christina Kissel Drag man Luke List.
Project Safeguard, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to victims of domestic violence, has partnered with former Bronco Reggie Rivers on its Valentine's fling. 
Project Safeguard valentine Reggie Rivers
"We're so excited to have Reggie Rivers joining our event," says Shelly Schreiner. "With incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault so highly publicized when athletes are involved, we feel strongly that it's important to engage the sports community and collaborate with the good guys rather than marginalize them because of the actions of a few. Athletes are critical allies in our efforts to adequately respond to and reduce incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault."
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Where there's smoke, there's ire!
Cover of the 2011 calendar.
People were feeling burned last fall, when news broke that Fired Up for Kids, the outfit that had produced the Colorado firefighters calender -- with proceeds supportedly going to the Children's Hospital Burn Unit -- was in trouble with the law.
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Every building has a history, and the sordid past of Niwot's Manifest Gallery influenced the theme of its new show that opens tonight: Red Light: Tragic beauties and other objects of desire. 
"Girl Talk," Barbara Abel
Turns out that in the 1970s, the building that now holds the gallery was a brothel -- and not the respectable kind of brothel, either.
"It was incredibly disgusting," says co-owner Dia Kline. "Like a guy with his wife and her daughter, or something like that. We've had some neighbors tell us first-hand accounts of seeing police raid the place, and people run out the back."
On Monday, Westword posted its own version of "Shit people say" in Denver....and the shit quickly hit the fan. 
Life's a beach if you live in California, not Colorado.
People from Texas and California, in particular, didn't appreciate the joke. Here's the response from Surfnskidude:
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It all began with a handful of cameras. "The exhibit came about because we have a collection of cameras at the museum we were interested in learning more about," says Jennifer Kuehner, director of the Aurora History Museum. "We realized that our collection starts in the '20s and '30s, and we wanted to tell a greater story about the cameras." 
Fat people are an entertainment staple these days, from The Biggest Loser to the Food Network's new offering, Fat Chef. Still, you wouldn't really expect a play about a 600-pound man slowly dying in his own living room to garner a whole lot of attention, especially when it's textured and literate and has nothing to do with sweaty workouts, blubbery self-pity and yelling coaches. 
Terry Shapiro Tom Alan Robbins in The Whale.
But Samuel D. Hunter's The Whale has received such enthusiastic audience responses -- and such terrific reviews (here's ours) -- that the Denver Center Theatre Company has added four extra performances.
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