It’s sure to be a ‘Sunny Night’ with D’Arcy Carden at SeriesFest
Arts news: Denver’s annual week as TV capital of world is upon us; RTD in disability controversy; Bobby G nominations and much more
The streaming world is just getting wise to a new comedy series called “Sunny Nights” that dropped last month on Hulu. It’s a deliciously dark comedy about two American siblings (played by D’Arcy Carden and Will Forte) who get drawn into a dangerous Australian crime syndicate while ineptly trying to launch a dubious spray-tan business.
And if you are one of the hep cats who is long wise to Denver’s annual SeriesFest, you probably just said out loud: “That’s so last year!” And you’d be right.
That’s because one of the marquee SeriesFest screenings last year was a first look at “Sunny Nights,” which came to Denver just on the brink of a life on U.S. television after eight long years in development.
Now, it has that life. “Sunny Nights” joins a list of SeriesFest success stories that includes “Cooper’s Bar” (the comedy series starring Rhea Seehorn) and more than a dozen other independent projects that have subsequently found mainstream distribution since 2016.
And if you are one of the hep cats who gets wise to SeriesFest before May 8, you can see D’Arcy Carden in person as she accepts the festival’s Excellence in Acting Award as part of its “Soiree” gala dinner at the Asterisk events center.
No one believes me when I tell them that, for one week every spring, Denver becomes the center of the television universe. SeriesFest is essentially a fun and fully public film festival for independent episodic TV. SeriesFest has become a premier launching pad for episodic creators, connecting independent pilots with networks and streaming services.
By the end of this year’s gathering, taking place May 6-10 at the Sie FilmCenter, about 16,000 people will have attended sneak-peek screenings of 60 developing drama and comedy series that have hopes of coming soon (or returning) to a streaming service near you. It mostly plays out at the Sie Film Center.
SeriesFest is the co-creation of Randi Kleiner and Kaily Smith Westbrook. And it has become a very big deal for the city and the local entertainment industry.
This year, Netflix is bringing buzzy premieres of ”Lord of the Flies,” “Little House on the Prairie” and Season 2 of “The Four Seasons.” Lionsgate has packed “Spartacus: House of Ashur” and Peacock is riding in on its “Ponies.”
There also will be panel conversations, competitions and discovery programs spotlighting the next generation of storytellers.
Others to be honored at the “Soirée” soiree are cable TV pioneer and Starz Entertainment founder John J. Sie (Visionary Award); “The Testaments” actor Amy Seimetz (Spotlight Performance Award); “Bridgerton” director Gia Rayne B. Harris (Ambassador Award); and Littleton Road Productions, the (not Colorado) company behind “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” (Impact in Television Award). That one will be presented by actor Michael Chernus, who played Gacy in the Peacock miniseries.
If you’ve never been top SeriesFest, you should toe-dip (or cannonball) your way into what has become a most unique stop on the local cultural calendar. Info at seriesfest.org.
Bus controversy at RTD
RTD found itself in the middle of an unintended controversy when it got called out for using the likeness of activist (and former mayoral candidate) Kalyn Heffernan on buses celebrating disability rights. “You’re not going to pimp my face and my name and my brand and my activism,” Heffernan (MC of the local hip-hop band Wheelchair Sports Camp) told Westword.
RTD issued a response that said (in part) that a representative from Denver’s disability-affirmative Phamaly Theatre Company was on the selection committee to pick a winner of RTD’s “Bus Wrap” contest, which invited artists to submit designs celebrating Denver’s long history of protest for disabled rights. Heffernan is a friend of Phamaly and provided original music for its adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” a few years ago.
After attending an April 2 informational meeting, Phamaly Artistic Director Ben Raanan said he concluded that the contest “seemed to be more about optics and less about celebrating the disability community.” Phamaly did not participate further.
“Phamaly strongly objects to RTD’s attempt to shift blame to various members of the disability rights community for their own misstep,” said Raanan, who called on RTD to issue a full apology.
Jeremy O. Harris in Denver
Jeremy O. Harris, the Tony-nominated playwright behind “Slave Play” and a producer for HBO’s “Euphoria,” will be in Denver on Saturday night to talk about his new movie “Erupcja” (the Polish word for “eruption”), following a 6:45 p.m. screening at the Sie FilmCenter.
The film, directed by Pete Ohs, has been described as “an anti-rom-com drama” that follows a young woman whose vacation in Warsaw goes awry when a volcanic eruption grounds all flights. Harris produced the film and stars as an American ex-pat painter who acts as a comic mediator between the main characters.
Harris, who in December was detained in Japan for 23 days on suspicion of ecstasy possession, has said he plans to write a book about that experience. He will no doubt talk about that and more with Denver Film Artistic Director Keith Garcia on Saturday.
Erupcja,” starring British pop artist Charli xcx, will play at least through the next week at the Sie. Tickets at denverfilm.org.
A-West leads Bobby G Awards
The Denver Center’s 12th Bobby G Awards, which celebrate achievements in Colorado high-school musical theater, will take place at 7 p.m. May 15 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Two productions of “Big Fish” – by Arvada West and Denver School of the Arts – are among the five nominated for outstanding musical (among 50 participating schools). Also in contention are Grandview (“Cinderella”), Vista Ridge (“The Addams Family”) and Windsor (“Bright Star”).
Arvada West leads all schools with 10 nominations, followed by Windsor with eight. In all, 29 schools received at least one nom. Tickets are $30 and are on sale now at denvercenter.org.
The two individuals honored for outstanding leading performances will move on to a national competition in New York City called the Jimmy Awards in June.
Exonerated at Denver Press Club
Portraits of the Central Park Five (now known as the Exonerated Five) are hanging in the upper hall of the Denver Press Club for the next month.
Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise were wrongly convicted for the brutal 1989 rape and assault of a White woman jogging in New York City’s Central Park. Nearly 13 years after their arrests, the New York Supreme Court vacated their conviction based on DNA evidence and a confession.
The paintings, created by renowned Denver artist Thomas “Detour” Evans, depict the five as they were in 1989 – mere teenagers – to counteract the animalistic way they were portrayed by many in the media at the time.
Back in 2020, with Detour’s five portraits spanning the stage, three members of the Exonerated Five spoke at the Colorado Convention Center about media responsibility and the impact of sensationalized reporting on their lives.
Detour is a former University of Colorado Denver student whose work is seen across Denver in large-scale murals and immersive installations.
Briefly …
Irene Sankoff, half of the award-winning writing team behind the Broadway musical phenomenon “Come From Away,” attended Thursday’s performance at the Arvada Center …
Last year, we told you about the harrowing Stage 4 cancer odyssey of beloved local music photographer Michael McGrath. Update: “The End is the Beginning,” a show featuring McGrath’s three decades of work, opens at 6 p.m. May 8 at Lane Meyer Projects, located inside the Pon Pon Bar at 2528 Walnut St. You’ll see everything from Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and Iggy Pop in concert from the 1990s, along with newer shots taken even since McGrath’s diagnosis …
If you’re into this whole “Star Wars” “May the Fourth Be With You” phenomenon, pack your light sabers and head to Denver International Airport. Not sure why the airport is always the gathering place for this sort of thing, but DIA will again be parading costumed characters showing off their iconic movie-accurate attire in the Great Hall (near domestic arrivals) and in the center of all three airport concourses. The public is welcome to join in from 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. on, yes, Monday, May 4.
And finally …
You may have read this elsewhere in the Denver Gazette, but fans are a bit upset that pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo’s “The Unraveled Tour” is skipping Denver altogether.
John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at [email protected].