Tracy Shaffer

The morning was awash in a sea of purple and gold. "Pomp & Circumstance" played while the fresh-faced flock processed in to take their places in their seats and the world, my eldest son among them. The speeches commenced, led by the witty and eloquent student body president, a Boettcher...

It's Friday morning and cable news is flaring with the latest incarnation of the working vs. stay-at-home mommy rants. It is crisp and sunny here in Denver, as working mother extraordinaire, Madeline Albright leads on a tour of the Read My Pins: The Madeline Albright Collection, exhibit at...

Wandering wide-eyed through the Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective at the Denver Art Museum I wondered, what did we wear before YSL? This was a 3-D stroll through the fashion pages...

With the global uproar, the political circus, and our ever-shrinking humanity, there's not a day goes by when I don't ask "How do they live with themselves?" Playwright Jan Buttram brings the same question to the stage in the Abingdon Theatre's world premiere, Lost on the Natchez Trace.

Before the turkeys were basted and the wreaths were rolled out, another big bird landed in Denver. It's been more than a month since the welcoming hype and hoopla of the week the earth stood Still. Now the renowned abstract expressionist painter's inaugural exhibition...

The trouble with inspiration is that it is so ... inspiring. It's what I set out in search of when I set the wheels in motion for an autumn trip to Manhattan. I coordinated my outfits, my schedule, and sussed out what was happening in Midtown in mid-September for a...

Think Big. Be Bold. Make Change. This is the mission of The Women's Foundation of Colorado, so when they need a keynote speaker for their annual fundraising luncheon, they need a woman...

Enough of the protest and politics, this weekend I want to occupy some frothy fun! What better place to let one's hair down than the 2nd Annual Denver Fashion Weekend and 5th Annual Hair Show? 303 Magazine and Schomp Automotive are the presenting sponsors for this three-night extravaganza benefitting Dress...

I've been told to pack my bags before but never quite like this. The Denver Suitcase Party is loaded with jet fuel; enough to sweep you away to a luxurious Napa Valley weekend. Saddle-Up Foundation's annual fundraiser takes place...

Denver Film Society has a lot to scream about. Film On The Rocks wraps up with Friday the 13th, but it is the Summer Scream at Lakeside that really caught my ear. Thursday night brings two Denver favs together...

Okay, so the line means, "Why are you called Romeo," but work with me here. In a spirit of collaboration unknown to the Montagues and Capulets, Denver theatre companies are learning to play well with others. The latest in the one-show-two-venues vein...

It's gonna be hot, hot, hot when the cool threads hit the catwalk at the eighth annual Riverfront Park Fashion Show. This summer's theme is "Classic" but don't expect anything in the Jill St. John mode. Where last year provided...

Amy Winehouse had a problem. So does the rest of America. Watching the Facebook updates roll in, at first I was unsure of how I felt. The shock, the snark, the '27 club' and the sadness had a place on my wall but not within my heart. Within those walls...

The Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas will seek to answer this and many other questions as they take stage this weekend at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts....

The best thing about living in Denver in the summertime is the plethora of outdoor activities. My personal favorite is not the hiking (that'd be too strenuous) but the concerts. Whether they're at Red Rocks, Elway's patio or in the local park, music fills the air like Miller moths. One...

Ballet Nouveau Colorado plays well with others. Very well. BNC Artistic Director, Garrett Ammon, is a great collaborator, often pairing up with other artists to give his dance creations the breath of life. Last year's creative coupling of Ballet Nouveau and Paper Bird...

This weekend, the Denver Center Theatre flings open the doors to the sixth annual Colorado New Play Summit, welcoming playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturges, producers, agents and theatre buffs from around the nation. The lovefest brings theatrical innovation center stage with readings of new works by commissioned...

It was a Sweetrocket ride, a cool morning and a bright day as I sit down for tea with the artist
Riva Sweetrocket in her gorgeous Ballpark Neighborhood loft. She meets me at the door and sweeps me into her studio, a clean and...

I don't know what it is about those Palin babes. From the painful moment I became aware of their existence they have confused me with their shallow sentiments and deep contradictions. Especially when it comes to the matter of motherhood. I wondered quietly, well, almost quietly, during the presidential campaign...

There is something magical about being at the SaddleUp! Foundation and Riding Academy. Maybe it's how the sunlight hits the back of a roan, the late-summer breeze in the high meadow grass or the gleaming floor of the stables. (Yes, you read that right). Everything feels harmonic, every...