Denise Freestone, who co-founded OpenStage Theatre & Company nearly 50 years ago, was officially inducted into the inaugural class of “Living Her Legacy: Women of Fort Collins” on Sunday.

It’s essentially a Hall of Fame for change-makers whose stories will be forever told to inspire future generations of girls and women. But “Living Her Legacy” is also a public art and education exhibit – the only one of its kind in Colorado, said Executive Director Patti Smith.

Over the next two years, the portraits of 48 women will be unveiled seasonally in groups of four on panels lining the exterior windows of the CooperSmith pub in historic Old Town.

“This recognition is really validating because there have been a lot of struggles, and a lot of battles, and a lot of heartbreak over the years,” Freestone said. “It has been a joyful, fulfilling journey – but it has been a hard journey, and it has taken both perseverance and stubbornness to make it this far.”

Two dozen OpenStage supporters came out to support Freestone at her portrait unveiling. She was honored alongside three posthumous inductees: Oscar-winning “Gone with the Wind” actor Hattie McDaniel, who lived in Fort Collins until the age of 8; Elizabeth Stone, believed to be the first White woman to settle in Fort Collins; and educator Gladys Eddy. “Three women who all overcame challenges that would daunt and defeat most of us,” said Freestone. And the same could be said of her.

“Through perseverance and determination, Denise created a space where ethnic, social and religious boundaries dissolve in the joy of performing and in the satisfaction of having touched people’s lives,” Smith said.

Freestone started OpenStage with her husband, Bruce, in 1973, when the only other performing-arts groups in Fort Collins were a symphony and a children’s theater, Smith said. Shows were performed on the grass in local parks before the renegade troupe went legit as the primary producing tenant of the Lincoln Center.

Freestone said she gave her group the unusual name “OpenStage Theatre & Company” for a reason. “We are an ensemble family of artists,” she said.

The best part about making it nearly 50 years is threefold: “The community of artists, the community of Fort Collins and our audience,” Freestone said. “We know from our hearts and experience that this communion between artists and audience, this sharing in the power of theatrical story, alters the very fabric of our community. Our audience and our artists take the tears and the laughter, the revelations and the inspiration of this theatrical magic into the larger community. And by doing so, they broaden the depth and understanding of the entity that is Fort Collins. And nurture and strengthen our city’s civility, compassion and conscience.”

Freestone turned over the operation of OpenStage to Sydney Smith during the pandemic, just shy of the company’s 50th anniversary season. Next up is “The Christians,” opening May 20.

Town Hall COVID cancellations

“Sometimes the show must not go on.”

That’s how the Town Hall Arts Center aptly announced that the ongoing and underreported COVID surge has now wiped out this weekend’s five scheduled performances of the musical “Once on This Island” in Littleton.

In a statement, the company called the cancellation “a hiatus for the health and safety … of our cast, staff, volunteers and patrons.”

Town Hall expects to stage the musical’s final four scheduled performances May 5-8. In the meantime, disappointed audiences can stream an earlier recorded performance over the next two weekends.

Sunday’s scheduled concert with vocalist Traci J. Kern is also canceled.

Fossil skull ‘heading’ out of Boulder

On May 9, the fossil skull of a Triceratops dinosaur that has been on display at the CU Museum of Natural History since 1981 is going home (sort of): The Smithsonian Institution legally owns the prized bones that connect Colorado to its past 66 million years ago. But c’mon: They were dug up in Wyoming in 1891. The museum, at 1030 Broadway in Boulder, is allowing visitors to say goodbye for free until May 8.

Art you ready for this?

It’s a thing, I swear: Virtual NFT art that people pay lots of money to own, even if they can’t hang it on a wall and you can only see with a special headset. “VERSE: Art of the Future” is a pop-up art exhibit occupying the former Victoria’s Secret space on the second floor of the Denver Pavilions through July 31. Art, technology and techno beats all merge in this acquired-taste metaverse where you buy a ticket, put on a headset and roam around for about 30 minutes taking in giant-sized ballerina holograms alongside socially conscious electronic art ranging from suicide awareness to Ukraine. If you have toe-dipped into the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), this might be for you. And if you have no clue …  you will have no clue. Tickets $39-$49. Tickets

National Endowment aids History Colorado

History Colorado has scored two huge grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: $360,938 to renew its podcast “Lost Highways: Dispatches from the Shadows of the Rocky Mountains,” hosted by Noel Black. Also: A $40,000 grant to expand the primarily military offerings at the Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center in the San Luis Valley to include more stories of the Indigenous and Hispano communities of southern Colorado.

Briefly …

Tyler Jacobson’s 14-year-old monthly dance party known as Mile High Soul Club is moving to HQ (formerly known as 3 Kings) at 60 S. Broadway and changing to the second Saturday of each month starting May 14. For the past eight years, the soul and funk party co-founded by DJ DogBoy has been held a few blocks south at the Roxy. $7 at the door …

The DCPA Theatre Company has named Reginald Edmund its Literary Manager, succeeding Lynde Rosario. The Literary Manager is primarily responsible for developing new plays and fostering relationships with local and national playwrights. “I’ve been a fan of this theater company for a very long time and its essential role as a champion of both the classics and groundbreaking exciting new works,” said Edmund, most recently Resident Playwright at the Tamasha Theatre in London …

Denver International Airport’s newest art exhibit, called “Colorado Clay,” explores the history of ubiquitous clay in Colorado, from archaeological discoveries at Mesa Verde to adobe structures dating back hundreds of years. It’s located in Ansbacher Hall in the Jeppesen Terminal on Level 6 North. View the exhibit online …

Judges of this year’s Colorado Book Awards have chosen Julian Rubinstein’s book “The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood,” as a finalist for general nonfiction. Winners will be announced June 25 at a location to be determined ….

Denver Arts & Venues is considering applicants for the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, which oversees the city’s public-art program, advises the city on arts and cultural issues, and acts as arts ambassadors within the community. Applications will be accepted through June 4.

Festival watch

Cinco de Mayo, which is expected to draw 400,000 to Civic Center Park from May 7-8, commemorates the victory of the outnumbered Mexican army over France in 1862 and today celebrates the traditions and beauty of Latino culture … Women’s Theatre Festival, through May 1 at Millibo Art Theatre in Colorado Springs. … Taste of Iceland, celebrating Icelandic traditions and culture, from May 12-15 at Coohills,Globe Hall, Mercantile, Tattered Cover, the Chez Artiste Theatre and Ironworks …

This August, Meow Wolf will be opening an outdoor, immersive, multi-genre festival experience called VORTEX featuring music, adventure and interactive art “somewhere” in Denver. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday (April 29) at vortex.meowwolf.com.

Coming up …

In the coming days: We’ll have interviews with Garrison Keillor, who returns to Red Rocks on Monday (May 2); Amber Ruffin, who is headlining SeriesFest at Red Rocks on May 8; and Oscar winner Rita Moreno, who will speak with Aisha Ahmad-Post at the University of Denver on May 12, and the next day will accept the Inspiration Award at Denver Film’s “Women + Film” luncheon at the Denver Art Museum.

And finally …

Colorado Springs is mourning the March 8 death of Fred Tessler, a nationally recognized music director who has taught theater and directed many productions at the Colorado Springs Conservatory since 2015. He was 60.