Vera Speaks for Real

Vera Speaks...For Real is another wonderful podcast. Auntie Vera Charles is a voice actor living in Woodland Hills, CA with his partner/husband of 25+ years. Vera displays his acting skills in each podcast by including a third character, Conscience.

Each podcast consists of several segments starting with a conversation between Vera and Conscience and ending with a song selected by Vera. The intermediate segments vary between a group of segments that include him giving advice and commenting on news stories. He also will read a composition of his.

This podcast is very entertaining. It is well worth the time.

Big Fatty On Line

Big Fatty On Line is a 20 minute daily (Monday through Friday) podcast, which is a joy to listen. Big Fatty has very little regular content, but he is able to fill each day's 20 minute slot. While he has his week re-cap, weekly shopping coupon report, and his gentlemen callers report. The rest of the content is supplied by his listeners,who are an interesting group of people. When the amount of material sent to him, Big Fatty is able to fill the time with his chatting. The only thing that might be a draw back is that there are fair number of belches that are not withheld.

Fatty is about fun, and likes others to join him, both by listening and contributing. Give him a try.

Traces

Traces is an off shot of Cirque de Soleil. However, while Cirque de Soleil is smooth and elegant, Traces is rough and raw. It has a working class feel about it.

Also the performance is closer to the audience. Part of that is the DCTC Stage is a smaller venue from the tents and auditoriums in which Soleil performs, but the Traces performers also frequently interacted with the audience; they crossed the foot lights to be with them.

The skills displayed were impressive, and the presentation was warm. This was a good evening.

Superior Donuts

Superior Donuts is an old fashion family donut shop in Chicago. Arthur's parents started it when they can to the US form Poland. Now it has seen better days, and so has Arthur. Starbuck's is taking away his customers with their expensive coffee and food, and his neighbor wants the space to expand his store.

While he is trying to understanding things, he hires a young African American man, Franco Wicks, to help around the shop. He is a good addition to the store as he is enthusiastic about things; he has even written a novel that he wants to get published. However, he has a dark thing in his past: he is a gambler, and he owes a bookie a lot of money. When he is not able to pay the debt, the bookie makes an example of him.

This helps Arthur to come to some conclusions in his life, and he sells the store.

Mike Hartman does a very good job of presenting Arthur with all his conflicts. He is very believable as an ex-hippy or maybe not so ex.

Also Sheldon Best is very good as Franco. He is able to present him as young man who is just starting his life with all the hopes, and foibles.

Over all Superior Donuts was an enjoyable evening in the theatre.

Subway

Subway

1412 S. Parker Road

Aurora, CO 80231

http://subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx

Yes, I am writing about the cheap sandwich place that is all over the place. However, I am unemployed, and I sometimes need an inexpensive place to get out of the house. This is my escape. They do let you put a fair amount of vegetables on each sandwich, and did I mention they are cheap. This store, which is a nice walk from home, is very friend; they do not mind me spending 45 minutes having lunch there while I twitter, etc. They are my refuge at the moment.

El Chubbys

El Chubby's

9865 E. Hampden

Aurora, CO

Denver has four Chubby's Mexican restaurants. This is the fourth. Its food is not the best, but it is also fairly cheap. Its food is above fast food, while the prices are about the same. So, if you want great food, you might want to else where, but, if you are after good and cheap, give this El Chubby's a try.

Five Guys

Five Guy Burgers

2300 S. Parker Road

Aurora, CO 80231

303-751-7449

http://www.fiveguys.com

Five Guys is fast growing premium burger restaurant. They use fresh meat---never frozen. Also they cut their own fries, and cook them in peanut oil.

The burgers and fries are very tasty. Also the size of the small fries is easily enough for two people. Also the food is cooked after you order it, which can mean the wait is a little long after ordering, but not much.

There a couple of things that are not quit perfect. The first is buns. They easily become soggy and fall apart when you are eating. Part of this is the fact that the burger and toppings are very moist, which is good thing. However it can make the experience messy.

The other problem is the price. Five Guys are probably the highest priced fast food. It could easily be worth it, but is also a consideration.

Ruined

Ruined is the story of Mama Nadi and attempts to maintain her business in the middle of the civil war that has been raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She tries to also provide a safe place where she and her employees can live and work, while various groups are brutal campaigns outside of her place.

Mama employees have all experienced the brutality of the soldiers in the various militias. Rape is a common tool of the soldiers, and the women are then rejected by their family and friends; they are ruined. They are forced to turn to prostitution for a living and become employees of Mama. She does prove to have a heart for her employees, and gives the best place to live as she can. In the end though she is not able to straddle the fence between the sides. The only thing that saves her is the fact the war moves on.

Ruined is an intense piece, because you care about the characters, and their ability to survive. It is an piece that lets the audience get a glimpse to what is happening in other parts of the world

The Catch

The Catch, which had its World Premiere at the DCTC, looks at several issues in modern sports. The story revolves around Darryl Love, a baseball star, who is on his way to breaking the record for home runs in a season.

Gary Zipnik is a young man, who has had his share of failure in his life. He lost his .com company, when the bubble burst at t he end of the 90's. In this he also lost his wife and house. He now has come up with a plan, where he will be the one to catch Love's record breaking ball. With a lot of research he his figured out the location where the ball will probably fall.

On the final game of the season, Love hit the record breaking home run. Gary catches the ball, but loses it when jumped by the crowd. Michael Normura came up with the ball. Both men lay claim to the ball; a law suite decision forces the sale of the ball, and the splitting of the income.

On the day of the auction it is revealed that Love may have been involved in a steroid scandal. This causes the ball to sell for a lot less than was hoped. Also at home, Gary reveals that he was the winning bidder; in hopes of driving the price up, he had obtained a loan and made a bid for the ball.

The play was an enjoyable evening. It had a nice combination of humor and drama.

Corner Bakery

The Corner Bakery

1147-16th St.

Denver, CO 80202

303-825-0525

http://www.cornerbakerycafe.com

The Corner Bakery is a fairly good place to get a quick meal. Its panini sandwiches are good, particularly the Club and Ham and Swiss sandwiches. The Carbonara is also good. They have a variety of sweet baked goods too.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorite plays by the Bard. It is an easy play to follow and enjoy. This performance of it was an enjoyable evening.

There are two stories that are presented in the play. The first is the story of two pairs of young lovers. Hermia is in love with Lysander. However, her father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. To add to this, another woman, Hellena, is in love with Demetrius.

Lysander and Hermia flee into the forest, and are followed by Demetrius, and Hellena. This brings them into contact with a group of fairies. Oberon, King of the Fairies, decides to play a trick on Demetrius to have him fall in love with Hellena. However, his minion, Puke, mixes up the instructions, and puts the spell on Lysander, who falls in love with Hellena. To fix it, Puke cast a spell on Demetrius, who, also, fells in love with Hellena. This leads to a sever bout of confusion. Oberon, after he is amused, has all the spells reversed.

The second stories involve of a group of craftsmen, who want to entertain the Duke of the city at his wedding. Lead by Quince, Bottom, Flute, Snout, Snug, and Starveling develop a play they present to Duke, his bride, and the two pairs of young lovers. The play they produce is a hilarious mix of mistakes, and over acting.

The actors were all up on their parts. Michael Wartella was a wonder Puke; he presented an athletic, and sometimes over the top performance. Lawrence Hecht is wonderful as Bottom, one of the craftsmen.

Over all a nice performance.

Maps of Heaven

Map of Heaven by Michele Lowe is being premiered by The Denver Center Theatre Company. Lena Gates is a painter, who is preparing for her first showing; she is working with Rebecca Marks on the project. Her husband, Ian, who is a medical doctor, is going through a period of burn-out in his profession. It appears that he has missed placed a woman's mammogram, which delayed her diagnosis and possibly lead to her death.

The woman is Rebecca's sister. The show is canceled, and Lena is forced to rethink her relationship to her husband and the direction of her painting is moving.

The actors' performances were all good. They were able to develop the tension between the characters as it was need need in the plot of the story. It was a very good performance.