Geoff Hanson

Jan 18, 2025 | aspendailynews.com | Geoff Hanson

The Arts Campus at Willits tonight will present its inaugural Teen Night, a series of arts and culture events designed exclusively for ages 13 to 18.  This evening’s first edition features live music as a collection of bands featuring teens from  the Roaring Fork Valley take center stage. The show is for teens only, ages 13-18. “TACAW is excited to start our Teen Night Series,” said Kendall Smith, director of programming.

Jan 16, 2025 | aspendailynews.com | Geoff Hanson

The Aspen Ideas Festival has partnered with Aspen Gay Ski Week to present a panel called “LGBTQ+ Rights: What’s Next?” tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Belly Up Aspen. According to its website, Aspen Ideas set up the panel in the following way: “Over the past decade, the LGBTQ+ community has been at the forefront of cultural and social transformation. But has this progress been uniformly positive?

Jan 16, 2025 | aspendailynews.com | Geoff Hanson

Thomas Johnson, Carter King and Daniel Womack of Futurebirds play a private party at Belly Up Aspen on Tuesday evening. The Athens, Georgia-based rock band with indie and country influences played in the Roaring Fork Valley twice in 2024. They will return to the Belly Up stage on Jan. 29.

Jan 15, 2025 | aspendailynews.com | Geoff Hanson

Cheyenne Jackson was 19 years old when he did a summer stock theatre in Spokane, Washington. Up until that point, he had a good sense that he was gay but he was not 100% sure. “We did the play ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ and I slept with six of the brothers,” Jackson said in an interview. “That pretty much answered the question. Yep, I’m gay.”Jackson will be performing his cabaret show “Signs of Life” at Hotel Jerome tonight and Friday in conjunction with Aspen Gay Ski Week and Theatre Aspen.

Jan 14, 2025 | aspendailynews.com | Geoff Hanson

Mike Harrington became executive director of the Wheeler Opera House in September. This week, after a monthlong renovation improving the theater’s rigging system, the curtain is ready to go up on the fabled stage that has provided world-class entertainment for 135 years. Harrington said the renovation has been a blessing and a curse. “It’s been a blessing because it’s given me a little bit of space to to get acclimated to the new job,” he said.