Chuck Morris
President, Chuck Morris Presents, a Live Nation company
Last year's ranking: 4Your rank:
Why he ranks: Live Nation's $350 million deal (due to close by year's end) to buy rival House of Blues means Morris now either controls or is the main booker for virtually every venue that matters: Fox Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Fillmore Auditorium, CityLights Pavilion, Red Rocks, Pepsi Center, Coors Amphitheatre and more. While main booker Brent Fedrizzi does the heavy lifting in booking, Morris continues to elevate his own national presence. He was instrumental in the 2005 Dave Matthews Band's Hurricane Katrina benefit at Red Rocks and uses his 30-plus years in the business to make things happen behind the scenes. Record years at Red Rocks and CityLights don't hurt.
Next challenge: If the HOB deal goes through, what next for mostly empty Coors Amphitheatre? And how about more shows at the Paramount? Long term: where's the money going to come from when all the big dinosaur acts quit touring and no one's around to take their place?
Phil Anschutz
Owner, Regal Entertainment, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Walden Media, Bristol Bay Productions
Last year's ranking: 1Your rank:
Why he ranks: The Chronicles of Narnia has earned nearly $300 million and was the year's biggest movie until Johnny Depp came along with Pirates. So now anticipation is keen to see if the magic can be repeated this holiday season with Walden's Charlotte's Web. And there have been rumors that Walden Media could be bought by a major studio. It wasn't all success: Walden co-produced, Hoot, which earned just $8 million domestically. AEG Live is the country's second-biggest music promoter, though still far behind Live Nation. The Rapids' new soccer stadium, with seating for 25,000 for a concert, opens next May in Commerce City, giving him another place to put entertainment.
Next challenge: Staying the course. Anschutz recently caught British tabloid flak for his dealings in a gambling venture there, putting him in the personal spotlight that he shuns, but so far it hasn't hurt that deal.
George Sparks
President and CEO, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Last year's ranking: 22Your rank:
Why he ranks: Sparks leaps up this year for landing a blockbuster. 'Body Worlds 2' drew more than 675,000 people during its four-month run, making it the third biggest exhibit ever at the museum. Officials are mum about how much money they get to keep from 'Body Worlds 2' ticket sales, but the increased attendance resulted in double-digit jumps in gift shop and food concession revenue, plus a 20 percent spike in memberships. Sparks also supported efforts to provide more than 25,000 scholarships to students from low-income schools to attend the exhibit.
Next challenge: Continuing momentum this fall with 'Engineer It,' a kids-oriented exhibit that lets younger patrons build and design boats, bridges, rockets and other items. Also: raise money for the renovation of the Hall of Life permanent exhibit, which is expected to be complete by 2009.
Lewis Sharp and Fred Hamilton
Executive director and President of the board of trustees, Denver Art Museum
Last year's ranking: 11Your rank:
Why they rank: Yes, the existing museum is darker than a monsoon sky. And yes, officials announced recently they are facing a $5.7 million deficit as money goes out and none comes in. But the DAM is in a unique kind of limbo, poised for the cultural event of the year: the October opening of the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, designed by Daniel Libeskind and named after the generous (as in a $20 million gift) chairman of the board of trustees. Officials project that the deficit should be erased by 2009, once the crowds pour into the exuberant structure. The museum has crafted a clever 35-hour marathon opening that should bring out the masses to celebrate the museum complex.
Next challenge: Open on time and within budget with a memorable experience despite the inevitable crush. Find the funds to retrofit the existing building for the movement of departments there. And address the possibility that Sharp may retire sometime in the future.
Jack Finlaw
Director, Denver Theatres and Arenas
Last year's ranking: 2Your rank:
Why he ranks: Finlaw shepherded the reopening of the sad old Auditorium Theater into a snazzy new Ellie Caulkins Opera House, though some of the acoustical and access aspects of the space have been called into question since last September's opening. He helped revamp the way the city deals with those who want to record CDs and make DVDs at Red Rocks, to bring in some real revenue. And he's part of three city groups looking toward the future: the Mayor's Greenprint Council to boost sustainability in city buildings, a task force examining facility needs, and a 14th Street Initiative to keep development of that once-sleepy thoroughfare on the front burner. He is poised to announce a sponsorship for the Lecture Hall at the Convention Center that will 'rebrand' it as a performance stage, and he is quick to cite a boom in business at a decidedly more earthy city facility: The Denver Coliseum.
Next challenge: Find donors to help raise $10 million to $15 million to finish the Ellie, announce the lecture hall sponsorship and address the court challenge to the Ellie's accessibility.
Stan Kroenke
Owner, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Crush, Pepsi Center, Paramount Theatre, CityLights Pavilion, Altitude Sports & Entertainment
Last year's ranking: 3Your rank:
Why he ranks: The Pepsi Center was underused during the hockey strike, but it's back with a full schedule. The CityLights venture with Live Nation is more successful than ever. The Paramount Theatre, however, could use more nights with the lights turned on - such a gorgeous building shouldn't be dark so many nights a year. Perhaps Kroenke needs to put pressure on Live Nation to get something innovative in there - or open it as a more community- friendly building, a la The Oriental Theatre in north Denver.
Next challenge: What have you done for us lately? It would be interesting to see Kroenke and his lieutenants come up with some unusual ideas for their venues.
Kent Thompson
Artistic Director, Denver Center Theatre Company
Last year's ranking: 8Your rank:
Why he ranks: Thompson can finally exhale after completing a first season that saw him come through the fire with mostly flying colors, emerging as a force on both the local and national scene. He kept promises to bring back new play development and commission new works: seven in all, including the theater's first Spanish-language script. He can also take pride in the Women's Voices Fund, a new initiative to support work by women that exceeded its goal of $500,000. Audiences often shy away from a new artistic director, but Thompson expanded the season to 12 plays and still met sales goals (Crowns in particular was a big hit).
Next challenge: The new season starts in just over a month. And while it's wonderful to produce work appealing to Hispanics, the trick will be drawing them into a theater complex from which they have historically felt excluded. Now that longtime company members have left for other work (most recently Jamie Horton), Thompson needs to balance fresh blood and familiar faces.
Randy Weeks
President, chief operating officer, Denver Center for the Performing Arts; executive director, Denver Center Attractions
Last year's ranking: 5Your rank:
Why he ranks: Life is like a split shift for Weeks, given his two jobs. Within the DCPA, Weeks can take pleasure at the success of Kent Thompson's first year and the renewed vigor of the Denver Center Theatre Company. But a lack of Broadway hits has left Denver Center Attractions audiences weary and, in some cases, staying home. Shows at the Garner Galleria also have struggled for audiences. But a move to SCFD's Tier I means more money and new partnering with DCTC means the potential for original Broadway-bound musicals emerging from Denver.
Next challenge: It's time for something to get the blood racing at the Buell Theatre. If Broadway won't provide, Weeks needs to use his new partnership with DCTC to produce musicals that will stir up not only Denver, but New York.
Cydney Payton
Director-curator, Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver
Last year's ranking: 6Your rank:
Why she ranks: Ground was broken on May Day for the museum's new building designed by architect David Adjaye, but the start of construction has lagged while working out kinks over utilities placement. And there is still money to raise, though MCA now has close to $10 million toward the $15 million price tag for the building. Yet while overseeing bricks and mortar and money, Payton managed to curate Denver's most important exhibition in years: 'Decades of Influence: Colorado 1985-Present,' which has caused a conversation about contemporary art here.
Next challenge: Get construction cranking and find a patron with a generous heart and deep pockets to bring in a final big gift.
Joyce Meskis
Owner, Tattered Cover Book Stores
Last year's ranking: 10Your rank:
Why she ranks: Unlike many peers, who treated their independent bookstores like shrines rather than bottom-line businesses and watched them fail, Meskis remains shrewd and flexible. Moving her beloved Cherry Creek store to the Lowenstein Theatre redevelopment project was risky, but it offers great financial benefits. And Meskis has handled the move with aplomb: The new store retains the flavor, if not the floor space, of Cherry Creek, and has been attracting 'holiday-size' crowds, according to one insider, since its June opening.
Next challenge: Luring Cherry Creek customers to the new location, while continuing the success at her LoDo and Highlands Ranch locations, and fighting the ever-growing challenge of online book sales.
The Fray
Rock band
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why they rank: Denver's music scene has gone from ignored a decade ago to 'boiling under' now. The Fray's amazing breakthrough - going from the Fox Theatre to Red Rocks in 14 months, a near-platinum album, a sold-out nationwide headlining tour - brings heat, excitement and credibility to the local scene. It could set the stage for the likes of Angie Stevens, Devotchka, Hot IQs, Dressy Bessy and more to get the breaks they deserve.
Next challenge: Surviving short attention spans. The second album is always harder, but the crash-course in the music biz that great success has given the band could rev them up to meet the challenge.
Jeffrey Kahane and Doug Adams
Music director, Colorado Symphony and President-CEO, Colorado Symphony
Last year's ranking: 12 (Adams alone)Your rank:
Why they rank: Few local performing arts organizations can match this committed and talented leadership tandem. Adams continues to manage operations with a calm and steady hand, leading a seamless transition in musical leadership while boosting the marketing and sales departments, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in attendance and subscribers. Audiences almost immediately responded to Kahane's musical directorship (which started last fall), his immense ability as pianist and conductor, and his unconcealed love of music.
Next challenge: Kahane must keep filling the hall with interesting programming and exciting performances, while Adams needs to capitalize on the CSO's popularity by inspiring more corporate and private donations.
Kent and Vicki Logan
Vail-based collectors of contemporary art, major philanthropists to arts institutions
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why they rank: The Logans have set a benchmark for supporting area arts institutions. First they gave more than 200 works to the Denver Art Museum. Then, they opened up their collection and private museum to students and the University of Denver to curate shows. But the couple really raised eyebrows this spring when they gave a whopping gift to the DAM: a bequest that includes a $10 million endowment for the modern and contemporary department; their home and private gallery (valued at $15 million), with another $5 million to maintain the properties, and more than 300 pieces of art, worth more than $30 million - plus a gift now of $50,000 for programming for the museum's modern and contemporary department.
Next challenge: Find new ways to continue supporting contemporary art, like the recent event they hosted in Vail enclave for the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver to introduce Vail Valley residents to the project.
Peter Russell and Jim Robinson
President-general director, Opera Colorado and Artistic director, Opera Colorado
Last year's ranking: 9Your rank:
Why they rank: The company's move into the Ellie Caulkins Opera House generated a sales success for its most recent season. Russell and Robinson managed to bring Denyce Graves, the world's leading Carmen, to sing that role along with a boatload of other stars (headed by Renee Fleming and Ben Heppner) to appear at a gala curtain-raiser. While Carmen and Norma contained their share of artistic disappointments, the season ended brightly with a charming Abduction from the Seraglio.
Next challenge: A flood of audience complaints followed the Ellie's opening, with many patrons vowing they'd never return to a place they deemed uncomfortable and off-putting. The company needs to lure them back with inviting repertory and build interest in preparation for '07-'08, when a fourth production is added.
Chip Walton
Artistic director, Curious Theatre Company
Last year's ranking: 14Your rank:
Why he ranks: Not everything Walton touches is gold - in seeking audiences or staying loyal to playwrights, Curious has presented a good deal of mediocre work. But the production values remain exquisite and Walton continues to put the company on the national map. This season he brought in three Pulitzer Prize winners among the collaborators on the well-intentioned but unsatisfying War Anthology. Next season the company has three world premieres and is spearheading the local effort in a national theater initiative, Suzan-Lori Parks's 365 Days/365 Plays.
Next challenge: Walton's attempts to break new ground with premieres is laudable, but the results have been mediocre. It's time to find a project where the artistic achievement matches the bar he sets for the company.
Doug Kauffman
Co-owner, Nobody in Particular Presents
Last year's ranking: 19Your rank:
Why he ranks: After coming close to ruin with some over-expansion problems a few years ago, Kauffman continues to nurture his core business: the Botanic Garden and Chautauqua series, as well as the 500 up-and-coming bands he books annually into the Ogden and Bluebird theaters. The approach has put NIPP (turning 20 in February) back in black with enough change left to improve the Ogden with a million-dollar renovation, including a new wrap-around balcony, bars, bathrooms and floors. The state smoking ban, Kauffman predicts, will bring out older crowds who long ago abandoned his clubs.
Next challenge: Same as always - stayin' alive. The loss of sometimes-booking partner House of Blues leaves NIPP as the last challenge to Live Nation's local domination.
Wende Curtis
President-CEO of Comedy Works Inc.
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why she ranks: The downtown club, now 25 years old, continues to be a popular haven for beginners and veterans, including Dave Chappelle, who made the club one of his first stops after a self-imposed hiatus last year. Comics looking for a bigger venue can count on Curtis to find them a stage through her Comedy Works Entertainment division, which booked Dane Cook into the Colorado Convention Center Lecture Hall last fall and a tour of stars from ABC's Whose Line Is It Anyway into the Buell Theatre. Next spring she'll open the Comedy Works South Showroom, a larger, upscale comedy club near the Denver Tech Center. Curtis' influence extends to New York, where she's serving as a consultant to an upcoming club in the city's trendy Meatpacking District.
Next challenge: Establish a comedy oasis in the suburbs that's as successful as its urban sibling but doesn't poach its business.
Dean Sobel
Museum director, Clyfford Still Museum
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why he ranks: In 2004 the city of Denver acquired the estate of respected Abstract Expressionist painter Clyfford Still and announced plans to build a museum just for his work. Sobel, the former director of the Aspen Art Museum and a top curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum, in the past year has planned programming, raised money and recently oversaw the purchase of land for the museum near the Denver Art Museum. And just this week the news arrived that five semi-finalists have been selected to vie for the role of architect for the facility, with a goal of opening in 2009.
Next challenge: Fundraising is in the 'quiet phase,' but the pressure is on to pay for a facility that will cost at least $10.5 million, plus endowment and programming support. And Sobel needs to steer the architectural selection to a conclusion that honors the exacting acquisition agreement as well as does justice to the city and the prominent site.
Donald Rossa
Owner, Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why he ranks: Karen Storck and two partners launched Dazzle as a restaurant in 1997, then added jazz through the input of Storck's husband, Miles Snyder. Current owner Donald Rossa has refined that mix into a winning formula that runs seven days a week and has made Dazzle the premier jazz club in town. Music booker Tyler Gilmore presents local artists in creative settings, guest artists (most recently saxophonists Richie Cole and Plas Johnson, clarinetist Eddie Daniels and drummer Ralph Peterson) and visiting groups such as the bands led by drummer Winard Harper and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. That's put Dazzle on DownBeat magazine's list of the world's top 100 jazz clubs. Rossa recently gave the club a face-lift and signed a new five-year lease, so there's more to come.
Next challenge: Continue to creatively book local and national acts, while not losing sight of the fact that superb service and food need to remain in the mix.
Charles Woolley
Developer, St. Charles Town Co.
Last year's ranking: 17Your rank:
Why he ranks: It wasn't easy and it didn't happen exactly according to plan, but Woolley has managed a neat doubleplay: the renovation of the Lowenstein Theatre and the creation of a cultural destination on East Colfax Avenue. The June opening of the Tattered Cover revealed a repurposed Lowenstein that paid homage to its architectural history. And the coming addition of Twist & Shout, Udi's Handcrafted Foods and the Denver Folklore Center will add to the cultural mix. It's too bad that the Denver Film Society couldn't join the mix, but the Neighborhood Flix Cinema and Cafe ensures a movie component.
Next challenge: Get the rest of the businesses open and make sure that the growing number of customers to the stores have a great experience.
Paul Epstein
Owner, Twist & Shout
Last year's ranking: 25Your rank:
Why he ranks: Along with his wife, Jill, he continues to run Denver's best music/lifestyle store, with ongoing in-store performances by a variety of local and national performers. While continuing to reinvent the concept of what a music store should be, Epstein has taken a risk by expanding into a second location at the Lowenstein Theatre redevelopment. Epstein also supports the local music scene by making plenty of space for those bands to sell their music in his store.
Next challenge: While the music industry struggles to deal with the digital revolution, Twist & Shout must continue to innovate. The new location also has to be distinct enough to draw its own new customers.
Donna Dewey
Partner, Dewey-Obenchain Films Inc.
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why she ranks: Dewey produced two feature films locally. Looking For Sunday, a coming of age story, was shot last fall; the quirky comedy Skills Like This wrapped filming earlier this month. The $2 million Sunday is now looking for a distributor, while the lower-budget Skills is in post-production. Dewey-Obenchain Films Inc., her long-running production house, remains busy with documentaries and memorable commercials, including last year's ads for Referendum C and D that featured a skydiving Mayor Hickenlooper. She aided efforts to get lawmakers to pass tax incentives for filmmakers, and as chairwoman of the Denver Commission of Cultural Affairs, Dewey offers input on a wide range of arts-related issues, including the city's plan to install $2.2 million of public art at the new Justice Center.
Next challenge: Guiding Looking for Sunday and Skills Like This into theaters.
Nick Forster
Co-founder, etown radio show
Last year's ranking: not rankedYour rank:
Why he ranks: The weekly radio show Forster and his wife Helen co-created is the environmental equivalent of Prairie Home Companion. The pair weaves music, interviews, awards, commentary and more into an hour of entertaining and socially conscious theater, carried on 230 stations in the U.S., Guam, Canada and more. For its 15th anniversary, Forster (a musician with Hot Rize) used his many connections to book bigger shows outside of the usual Boulder Theater location. Old friend James Taylor was at the Paramount Theatre in March and David Gray is at Red Rocks in August. And there's a mystery show set for later this year.
Next challenge: A show this good, this established and this respected should be even more widely heard and influential than etown currently is.
Craig Ferguson
President, Planet Bluegrass
Last year's ranking: 21Your rank:
Why he ranks: Championing new bands alongside big names at his four Colorado festivals, Ferguson raises the state's national live music profile. June's Telluride Music Festival introduced genre-bending The Decemberists and fast-rising Abigail Washburn sings at this weekend's Rockygrass in Lyons. Planet Bluegrass gigs (including the Folks Festival and Festival of the Mabon in Lyons) gather ovations for high quality extras: free workshops, competitions, and week-long Rockygrass Academy and Song School programs. Relix just named the 1990 Telluride Festival, the first Ferguson produced, as one of the Top 10 Concerts That Rocked the World - alongside Woodstock.
Next challenge: Expand his reach next summer with a handful of concerts at the 3,000-capacity theater in Lyons, additional ticketed Nightgrass shows at Telluride venues, late-night Moongrass sets in Rockygrass' workshop tent, and sponsored Boulder club shows through the year.
Ron Henderson and Scott Rowitz
Artistic director and executive director, Denver Film Society
Last year's ranking: 15Your rank:
Why they rank: A year ago the Denver Film Society was basking in optimism. The Society, which runs the city's premiere film event (the Starz Denver International Film Festival) was planning to build a state-of-the art home at the redeveloped Lowenstein Theatre. When the deadline for money materialized, the Film Society's part of the deal collapsed. Rowitz blames time constraints. But one year later there's still silence about a move from its current home at the Starz FilmCenter on the Auraria campus. There was, however, a nice highpoint at the society's most recent festival: Ang Lee, who went on to win the Oscar for best director, attended with Brokeback Mountain.
Next challenge: Find a great new location and raise the money to build a new film center.
