The end of the year brings a new beginning for the Stick Horses Improv company in Colorado Springs as the group opens a 100-seat performance facility, Peak Improv Theater.
Ethan Goldman, program director for the new venue, said this is something the company has waited for ever since they started in 2004.
“There hasn’t been a dedicated space for improv in Colorado Springs this whole time. People have been performing at yoga studios and stand up comedy clubs and the library. So finally there’s a place for the art form to have a home,” said Goldman
The Peak Improv Theater will offer free improv jams, open mics, community art evenings, and paid lessons and performances for kids, teens, adults, and seniors. The space’s inaugural show is December 29, with classes and other programs starting on January 1, 2024.
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Heidi Carann Snider -
Susannah Mcleod, Heidi Carann Snider, and Archer Rosenkrantz
Friday, Dec. 29
You can still catch the last few performances of the world premiere of “Holly, Alaska!” by ensemble members Matt Zambrano and Frank Oden of the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC).
The story takes place in the little town of Holly, Alaska, where the local community theater has performed Holly Daze! for 119 years running. If the actors can keep it up this year, they can enter the Guinness Book of World Records, and show up their rival hamlet of Ivy. But staging a show in the frigid north-west comes with a host of humorous challenges…
Holly, Alaska! Plays at the Dairy Arts Center through Dec. 31.
(Ben Eng)Saturday, Dec. 30
Aspen Art Museum’s winter benefit event, the Slopeside Soirée, supports the museum’s curatorial and educational programs. This year’s theme is ‘Western Chic and Frosted Peaks.’ With a dress code of winter Western chic the evening will feature live music atop the AAM roof, with Aspen Mountain in the distance.
Slopeside Soiree, Dec. 30, 2023, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the museum’s Rooftop Café.
The Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek closes out the year with special performances by magician Michael Carbonaro. The actor and executive producer of truTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect” has been practicing magic since childhood. He studied experimental theater at New York University and performed hidden-camera tricks on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Michael Carbonaro: Lies on Stage – Two shows on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 5 and 8 p.m. at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek.
Looking ahead to next week, VPAC presents an evening of Telluride MountainFilm Festival picks. The program, in partnership with Vail Symposium, will be moderated by Jim Butterworth. The festival promises an evening of “culturally rich, adventure-packed, and entertaining documentary short films.”
MountainFilm On Tour, Thursday, Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek.