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Steven Cole Hughes

Live Theatre at Lunch!: “Art” by Yasmina Reza

May 13, 2022 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

Enjoy the extraordinary performance of the Tony Award-winning play, “Art” by Yasmina Reza which focuses on the meaning of art as well as the meaning of friendship. Called, “…wildly funny, naughtily provocative…” by NY Post, the lunchtime performance will star Jason Antoon, Sam Robards, and Steven Cole Hughes. Food and bar available for purchase.

Starring Jason Antoon, Sam Robards, & Steven Cole Hughes

Jason Antoon

Among his television work, Antoon starred on the short-lived TV series Kings, in addition to numerous guest roles on various programs such as Modern Family in the episode Game Changer. On the big screen, he had a featured role in Minority Report, cast when Steven Spielberg discovered him in Contact. In 2008, he had a cameo in Taking Woodstock and he was seen in two 2010 George Gallo films, Columbus Circle and Middle Men. Antoon voiced the role of Garrison “Knobs” Butler in the web series Electric City, and portrayed 35-year-old struggling actor Alowisus Hewson who is a vampire in the web series Vamped Out.

Author of The Cursed Frog: and Other Modern Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups, Antoon’s modern fables are like the classic ones except funnier and nobody ever learns anything. Ten weird and wonderful tales of pickpockets, putzes and philandering politicians. Not for kids!
“Jason Antoon is funny as hell.” — Topher Grace
“His one-of-a-kind view of human behavior makes the rest of us writers cringe with envy. Damn his eyes.” — Kevin Pollak

Sam Robards

Sam Robards began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature-film debut in director Paul Mazursky’s 1982 film Tempest. In 1985, Robards starred alongside Kevin Costner and future wife Suzy Amis in Fandango. Robards acted opposite his father in the 1988 film Bright Lights, Big City, which was their only collaboration before his death in 2000. Also in 1988, he was cast in the lead role of Kevin Keegan in the CBS drama TV 101 which was scheduled opposite Top 10 shows Roseanne and Matlock; the series was cancelled amidst a controversial abortion story line.

In 1990, he played the role of Chris Elliott’s friend, Larry, on the Fox sitcom Get a Life, but left after the first season. In 1994, Robards starred in two films: Robert Altman’s film Prêt-à-Porter, where he was a part of an ensemble that included his mother; and Alan Rudolph’s biographical film of Dorothy Parker, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, where he portrayed the first editor of The New Yorker, Harold Ross.

His film résumé also includes Casualties of War, Beautiful Girls, American Beauty, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Life as a House, The Other Side of the Tracks, and The Art of Getting By. Robards’s television credits include a recurring role on and appearances on Spin City, The West Wing, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Sex and the City, The Outer Limits, and Body of Proof. He had recurring roles on the series Gossip Girl (ended in 2012) and Treme (ended in 2013), and a regular role on Twisted (cancelled in 2014).

In the theatre, Robards was nominated for Broadway’s 2002 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role – Play) for Arthur Miller’s The Man Who Had All the Luck. In July 2008, Robards took over the role of Richard Hannay in the New York City theatrical run of The 39 Steps.

Steven Cole Hughes

Steven Cole Hughes is a playwright, actor, director and currently Associate Professor and Director of Theatre at Western Colorado University. He is also the faculty mentor for playwriting at Regis University’s Mile-High MFA. His full-length plays include: Indiana, The Presidents!, Slabtown, Billy Hell, The Bad Man, cowboyily, Behold! The Fig Leaf Apron, Dogs by Seven andPoor Devils. His plays have been produced by the Bloomington Playwrights Project, The Coterie Theatre, Creede Repertory Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. He won the 2008 Denver Post Ovation Award for Best New Work for Billy Hell, and the 2011 Denver Post Ovation Award for Special Achievement for his trilogy of plays The Billy Trilogy. He has a BA in Theatre from Indiana University and an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory.

 

Tagged With: "Art" by Yasmina Reza, jason antoon, live theatre at lunch, Mountain Words literary festiavl, Sam Robards, steddy theatre, Steven Cole Hughes

Announcing the 2022 Mountain Words Literary Festival

May 18, 2022 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Announcing the 2022 Mountain Words Literary Festival

May 25 – 29

Crested Butte Center for the Arts

 

The Crested Butte Center for the Arts is thrilled to present the third-annual Mountain Words Literary Festival! Held over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-29, the festival kicks off Wednesday, May 25, with Cheryl Strayed, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild and the New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough.

The festival welcomes over thirty-five nationally and internationally acclaimed authors and presenters for a five-day celebration at nine thousand feet with offerings for all ages and interests. Organizers are excited for attendees to safely gather in the stunning Gunnison Valley for workshops, readings, panel discussions, live theater, trivia, kids’ events and programming, parties, film screenings, gallery receptions, and other delights. The multi-genre festival includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism/long-form, nature writing, climate reporting, publishing, and more.

“We are enormously excited to present some of the most stimulating and thought-provoking writers and thinkers from across the state and nation and offer a rare opportunity to experience multiple genres through a deeply diverse array of topics,” said Festival Director Brooke MacMillan.“Access is paramount to the festival mission, and we offer student discounts and scholarships as needed. Our priority is to get people here for what we promise will be a life-affirming sojourn in one of the most beautiful mountainous enclaves in the world.”

Along with Strayed, other presenters include Iranian American scholar and Pushcart award-winning writer Kaveh Akbar; investigative reporter for the New Yorker, and author of the meta-true crime non-fiction best-seller Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe; author of Billionaire Wilderness and professor at Yale University, Justin Farrell; writer and 2021 Whiting Award winner, Steven Dunn (who will offer a workshop on learning world-building from rappers); writer, director, and filmmaker, Manuel Aragon; award-winning artist and educator, Suzi Q. Smith; 2022 Whiting Award fiction winner, and climate literary fiction author, Claire Boyles; investigative reporter, climate change essayist, and This American Life contributor, Mario Alejandro Ariza; S Kirk Walsh, author of the national bestselling novel, The Elephant of Belfast; award-winning and New York Times best-selling biographer, James McGrath Morris, and local writers Shelley Read, Molly Murfee, Nick Bowlin, Anna Fenerty, Leath Tonino, and many others.

The festival includes readings from the 2022 Mountain Words Writers in Residence cohort which alongside Kaveh Akbar includes prison reform activist and author Dominque Conway, poet and artist Bernardo Wade, India-based fiction writer Megha Nayar, and writer and audio journalist Stephanie Maltarich.

Writers and readers can immerse in workshops in fiction, research, investigative reporting, playwriting, poetry, flash fiction, memoir, close reading, and others. Festival panel discussions include writing about climate; displacement; wealth and remaking the American West; publishing and others.

“The panels are really interesting for everyone. Incredible thinkers engaging in thoughtful discourse on topics that matter so much right now. If writing isn’t your thing, the panels will be,” said Festival Host and local Townie Bookstore owner Arvin Ram.

New this year and all the way from Australia, the festival’s Saturday lineup will feature the internationally renowned Literary Death Match. Called the “greatest reading series ever” by the LA Times, LDM features a mix of four established and emerging authors (Steven Dunn, Suzi Q Smith, Kaveh Akbar, and Claire Boyles), who perform their most brilliant work before a live audience and a panel of three all-star judges (Rachel Monroe, Jason Antoon, Sam Robards). After a pair of readings, the judges take turns spouting hilarious, off-the-wall commentary, focusing on Literary Merit, Performance, and Intangibles before they select two authors to advance to the finals. During the finals, we trade in the show’s literary sensibility for an absurdly comical climax to decide who takes home the Literary Death Match crown — this is not to be missed!

Along with the bread & butter of any literary/book festival (readings, workshops, panel discussions) the festival offers other high-level fun for every age and interest.

Saturday will feature a “Live Theater at Lunch” performance of the Tony Award winning play, “Art” by Yasmina Reza, called, “…wildly funny, naughtily provocative…” by NY Post. The lunchtime performance will star Tony Award Nominated actor Sam Robards whose credits include Casualties of War, Beautiful Girls, American Beauty, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and other films; internationally acclaimed actor, Jason Antoon, whose work includes Fresh Off the Boat, Shameless, iZombie, Modern Family, Sex and the City, among many commercial films; and acclaimed actors and Western Colorado University theatre director, Steven Cole Hughes.

Take a break from all of the festival intellectualism and try your hand at crafting some of the most (in)famous literary cocktails at the Literary Spirits workshop where you can perfect and twist classic cocktails in a delightful introduction to mixology — and you get to drink them!

Directly following the mixology workshop, pop upstairs to the Center’s Kinder Padon Gallery where book and art lovers can exalt over drinks and discussion of “Flourish” an exhibition of fine book art curated especially for the festival by Alicia Bailey, Director of Abecedarian Artists’ Books, Thursday evening, 5 – 6 pm. The installation features ten artists from Colorado, Texas, and Arizona.

And back by popular demand, festival-goers and trivia lovers alike can come together for a very special bookish Trivia with Quiz Quiz Bang Bang. From the dynamic duo behind the hugely popular Quiz Quiz Bang Bang podcast, test your smarts from everything from geography to art to television to history — plus a special literary round! Winners will bag some killer festival prizes.

The festival also has plenty for kids to enjoy, including Farcical Fairytales, an engaging, silly, interactive performance happening Saturday, May 28 in the Center’s Jones Performance Hall and starring CB’s talented improv troupe, Kirsten Hausman, Tricia Seeberg, Eliot Paulsen, Jimmy Utley, Gregory Jackson Haley, and Annie Flora. The show is suitable for kids ages three and up and costumes are encouraged. Parents are welcome to join in the fun or drop off the kids and head into the Steddy Theater for Adult Storytime where they can sip coffee and/or mimosas while being read to by renowned authors.

Trailhead Children’s Museum will also present “Stories, Art, and Play” sessions that bring various books to life through art and play. Kids will have the chance to create their own scenes for “The Book With No Pictures” by B.J. Novak, and dive into the detailed pages of the graphic novel “Extincts: Quest for the Unicorn’s Horns” by Scott Magoon, and express their interpretation of these literary works through art, and explore books through play!

Fun for the whole family, Ben Goldfarb, author of the award-winning book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, will lead an informal all-about-beavers conversation by the beaver ponds at Gunsight Bridge, Sunday, May 29 at 10 a.m. Learn how beavers engineer landscapes, and help to fight drought, pollution, and climate change in Colorado and beyond.

“Anyone who visits the Valley becomes resolute to either come again every year or find a way to live here. Crested Butte is full of charm and a little wildness, and presenting a festival in such an extraordinary place is a very special thing to be able to give people,” said Ram. “You need to experience it to believe it.”

The 2022 Mountain Words Literary Festival will take place on May 25-29 at the state-of-the-art Center for the Arts, located in downtown Crested Butte. For a full schedule, passes, scholarship and student pricing, lodging info, and more, please visit www.gvlf.org

 

Filed Under: In the News, Press Room Tagged With: 2022 Mountain Words Literary Festival, aaron abeyta, Adrian Todd Zuniga, Alison Peterman, Alissa Johnson, all ages, Annie Rijks Flora, Art Goodtimes, arvin ram, Ben Goldfarb, Bernardo Wade, candace nadon, Chelsey Johnson, Cheryl Strayed, claire boyles, david flora, dk hawk, Dominque Conway, film, Gretchen King, Hana Pascal Keegan, Heather Hughes, Helen Santoro, James McGrath Morris, jason antoon, Jessica Kahkoska, justin farrell, kaveh akbar, kids events, leath tonino, live theatre, Manuel Aragon, Mario Alejandro Ariza, megha nayar, Molly Murfee, Nick Bowlin, nuha fariha, parties, paul edwards, Rachel Monroe, S KIrk Walsh, Sam Robards, Shelley Read, stephanie maltarich, Steve Coughlin, Steven Cole Hughes, Steven Dunn, suzi q smith, teow lim goh

Murder in the Mtns: Live Theater @ Lunch: The Dumb Waiter

September 7, 2021 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

Enjoy lunch on the edge of your seat with British playwright Harold Pinter’s classic comedy-drama, The Dumb Waiter. Starring Sam Robards and Steven Cole Hughes as hitmen awaiting their next target. “Small but perfectly formed, The Dumb Waiter might be considered the best of Harold Pinter’s early plays.” Live reading in the Steddy Theater. Food + drink available for purchase. $15, or included in festival pass.

 

Tagged With: Murder in the Mountains, Sam Robards, Steven Cole Hughes, The Dumb Waiter

Announcing the 2021 Murder in the Mountains Festival

September 26, 2021 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

For Immediate Release

Announcing the 2021 Murder in the Mountains Festival

The Crested Butte Center for the Arts is thrilled to present the third-annual Murder in the Mountains Thriller Festival held over Halloween weekend, October 29-31. At its core, Murder in the Mountains is a genre fiction festival but also a celebration of mystery, noir, and horror in books, film, live theater, dance, games, and food. Held in the brand new, state-of-the-art Center for the Arts, organizers are excited to welcome a host of award-winning presenters for a weekend of thrills that include readings, workshops, live theater, film screenings, panel discussions, murder mystery dinner, live podcast events, trivia, dance workshops, special effects makeup masterclass, junior forensics workshops, tastings, and more.

“We are so excited to announce Murder in the Mountain’s most dynamic lineup yet! Leaning into the Halloween weekend, we decided to break open the festival to include events and programming for everyone — from book talks and readings, to live theatre and dance, we hope all of your Halloween desires will be sated,” said Festival Director, Brooke MacMillan.

Books & writing

Festival authors include David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and author of the novel Winter Counts, an IndieBound bestseller, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and named one of the Best Books of 2020. Weiden will give a reading and take part in a panel discussion over the weekend.

Also joining the festival, New York Times bestselling author and a two-time Edgar Award Nominee for her contemporary crime novels, The Dime and The Burn, Kathleen Kent, will host a workshop on crime writing, give a reading and sit on a panel discussing criminal and natural law in writing. Novelist and 25-year L.A. trial lawyer turned writer of the Jack MacTaggart series of legal mysteries, Chuck Greaves. Festival-goers will also be treated to a special screening of Greaves recent television project, “Badwater,”

Novelist and lawyer best known for the Lucky O’Toole Las Vegas Adventures series of romantic, humorous mystery novels, Deborah Coonts will lend her voice and considerable expertise to the festival. Author of the forthcoming Unweildy Creatures, a queer gender reversal retelling of Frankenstein, Addie Tsai will give a workshop on retellings of classic and contemporary texts. All authors will get into the goods on lawlessness, villainy, misdeeds, and justice at Saturday’s panel discussion, Bending, breaking and defying law.

Live theater

New this year and not to miss, enjoy lunch on the edge of your seat with famed British playwright Harold Pinter’s classic, one-act comedy-drama, The Dumb Waiter. Starring Tony Award nominee for Best Actor Sam Robards, and acclaimed actor and WCU Theatre Director, Steven Cole Hughes as hitmen awaiting their next target.

Film

Screened in the stunning Steddy Theatre, enjoy a curated flight of Buckel Family wines and a very special screening of the film noir classic The Big Sleep. Also, Sunday, check out award-winning mystery writer Chuck Greaves and veteran director Felix Alcala (ER, Breaking Bad, The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, etc.) roughcut TV pilot “Badwater.”  Cult classic, Young Frankenstein, will round out the weekend’s film offerings.

Trivia

The weekend also includes a thrilling trivia night with the mind behind the hugely popular Quiz Quiz Bang Bang podcast, testing your smarts on all things mystery, noir, horror, and monsters in literature, pop culture, movies, television, and more.

Panels

Saturday, join former and practicing lawyers turned crime writers, and writers with deep understanding of criminal and natural law, as they discuss their research and process for writing believable, compelling crime. Sunday, Colorado County Coroner, Michael Barnes; local historian, Duane Vandenbusche and special surprise guests will discuss murder, mystery, and intrigue in Colorado.

Murder Mystery Dinner

Join other festival-goers for a costumed and ghoulishly immersive Murder Mystery Dinner Saturday night when all the underworld is invited to Dracula’s birthday party and a hunt quickly ensues for a ghoulish killer. Dinner by local favorite the Divvy Ghost Kitchen.

Podcast

Over coffee Saturday morning, David Flora of the Blurry Photos podcast will give a live podcast recording with audio and visual storytelling and facts, exploring the unexplained by seeking the facts behind the fiction of the world’s most fascinating, unbelievable, and chilling mysteries and legends.

Special effects makeup

An introduction to gore and special effects makeup will be led by local artist and theater designer William Spencer Musser on Saturday and Sunday, including discussion, demonstration, and hands-on activities focused on creating wounds, scars, and other bloody trauma for those getting ready for Halloween, or fans of the horror genre.

Youth

Entertainment for the little ones can be found at the Junior Forensic Workshop with the Crested Butte Marshalls Office where young detectives will dust for fingerprints, case footprints and solve a crime scene mystery in this wonderful introduction to forensic science. Look also for a super spooky craft and storytelling sessions for little ones.

Dance

Sunday, learn modern monster dance moves with master dance instruction Sasha Chudacoff — just in time for hip-shaking Halloween.

The 2021 Murder in the Mountains Festival will take place October 29-31 in Crested Butte, Colorado. For a full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit https://crestedbuttearts.org/event/murder-in-the-mountains-a-thriller-festival/

COVID 19 Info: To attend Murder in the Mountains, proof of full vaccination (via vaccination card) OR proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to the event start time. Thank you for doing your bit to keep our festival community safe and healthy!

Filed Under: In the News, Press Room Tagged With: Addie Tsai, Badwater, blurry photos, chuck greaves, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, deborah coonts, Felix Alcala, kathleen kent, murder in the mountains festival, murder mystery dinner, Quiz Quiz Bang Bang, Sam Robards, special effects makeup, Steven Cole Hughes, The Big Sleep, trivia, Young Frankenstein

  A Play in a Day; playwriting workshop with Steven Cole Hughes

July 26, 2021 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

Learn to write your own, complete, short play in one day! Actor, director, playwright, and WCU Theatre Director Steven Cole Hughes leads you in learning the basics of playwriting, dialogue, and more before diving into guided writing in this four-hour playwriting blitzkrieg. Lunch break included. All level writers welcome. Scholarships and student pricing available. At the Center.

Tagged With: intro to playwriting, Steven Cole Hughes, write a play in a day, writing workshop

Much Ado About Nothing

May 18, 2021 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

The Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival’s production of: Much Ado About Nothing

by William Shakespeare and directed by Steven Cole Hughes

In Shakespeare’s rom-com about love and misunderstanding, Beatrice and Benedick get tricked into thinking each is in love with the other, Hero and Claudio get tricked into thinking each is not in love with the other, and hilarity ensues! It’s also Shakespeare’s most musical play, and the production features live music by Gunnison Valley’s own Jenny Hill.

Tagged With: Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival, Much Ado About Nothing, Steven Cole Hughes, William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing; a Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival production

May 18, 2021 by Brooke Harless MacMillan Leave a Comment

The Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival’s production of: Much Ado About Nothing

by William Shakespeare

directed by Steven Cole Hughes

In Shakespeare’s rom-com about love and misunderstanding, Beatrice and Benedick get tricked into thinking each is in love with the other, Hero and Claudio get tricked into thinking each is not in love with the other, and hilarity ensues! It’s also Shakespeare’s most musical play, and the production features live music by Gunnison Valley’s own Jenny Hill.

Tagged With: Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival, Much Ado About Nothing, Steven Cole Hughes, William Shakespeare

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