Bubble Wrap, Little Geniuses & More | Arts Update with Carrie Saldo

Join the First Take crew each Thursday at 8:35 a.m. as they talk about Colorado’s cultural scene with Arts District host Carrie Saldo. Below is the summary from September 10, 2015. 

Carrie's commentary, music from La Pompe Jazz, and a clip from Matilda the Musical

A Flea Market Reboot

A pickers’ paradise, traditional flea markets host a smorgasbord of new and used items. For three self-described “Denver dudes” the thought of a flea market made them a tad, well, itchy. That’s why they decided to give the idea a 21^st century upgrade.

The result was Denver Flea. With live, local musicians and craft brews, it is part festival and it is also part Etsy-in-the-real-world thanks to more than 150 vendors.

Instead of grandmas’ antiques think Colorado-made items. Baby duds, boozy preserves, and furniture crafted by a former banker who thought it was time to go against the grain, among them.  

As for the tunes, numerous local bands take center stage. Catch the gypsy jazz stylings of La Pompe, Rapidgrass, winner of the 2015 Rockygrass Band Competition, and The Raven and the Writing Desk which has made a name for itself in the dark pop genre.  

The roving event, the sixth in two years, is this time set for Sculpture Park. It’s free and the first beer is on them if you RSVP in advance.

Ready the Bubble Wrap

The Golden Triangle Museum District is slated to get a new neighbor. It may be tough to decide on a welcome gift though. They already have some of the best fine and decorative art in the country.

A Thursday afternoon groundbreaking will be the latest step for the Kirkland Museum. In 2014 plans for a new 38,500 square feet space on West 12^th avenue and Bannock Street were announced. The current, crowded, Kirkland in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood includes the studio of abstract expressionist painter, and the museum’s namesake, Vance Kirkland. (The historic studio building will be relocated, in its entirety, to the new site.)

Home to 15,000 pieces the mix of fine art, furniture and other decorative objects in its collection create a homier vibe than most museums. While it has about 1,000 of Kirkland’s own works, the museum also holds an extensive collection of other Colorado artists. Museum officials have said the move is meant to showcase that Rocky Mountain talent.

The Kirkland is set to remain in Capitol Hill through spring 2016. But the Denver Art Museum, Clyfford Still, and other nearby institutions get more time than that to decide on the best welcome gift. The new Kirkland is expected to open in 2017.

Lots of Little Geniuses

Forget sugar and spice, Matilda traffics in moxie and (a bit of) mischief. But it’s not just one girl, that’s what all of the children in Matilda the Musical are made of.

They need to be to survive the trials of their parents and the rigors they face at Crunchem Hall Elementary.

With its national tour in Denver, the production drew a nearly packed house to the Buell Theatre for Wednesday night’s opening. If there’s any fault to be found in this production it’s that the children’s high pitched voices are occasionally lost in the shows rapid-fire, vocabulary-rich dialogue.

Still, it brims with clever humor and energetic and inventive dance numbers. Those uplifting elements are grounded by the cruelties the young children face. Led by the precocious Matilda, the schoolmates must choose whether to resign themselves to that fate, or revolt.

Based on the children’s novel by Roald Dahl this lively musical adaptation had its Broadway debut in 2013 after delighting audiences and critics in London’s West End for two years.

The genius of this work plays to both children and adults without insulting the intelligence or sensibilities of either.