Entries by Suzanne Yoe

Food for Thought: Local Immigrants Dish Up More than Food

“Those people.” You’ve heard that phrase uttered by individuals and you instantly know what is implied. Well, let’s chat about “those people.” Apart from indigenous peoples who were the original stewards of the soil beneath our feet, the remaining individuals who embody America are immigrants or ancestors of immigrants or ancestors of ancestors of immigrants. […]

A Trip to El Salvador

Playwright Brian Quijada’s parents immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in the 1970s during a tumultuous period that eventually led to the country’s 13-year civil war (1979-1992). When I first visited the country in 1995, you could still see the aftereffects of war. Large buildings with blown out windows. Police officers and military […]

Beyond Cookies: Girl Scouts of Colorado Builds Courage, Confidence & Character through Theatre

Every winter, beaming girls bedecked with green sashes dutifully set up tables stacked with brightly colored boxes. Those boxes are instantly identifiable — purple for Samoas, red for Tagalongs, blue for Trefoils and, last but absolutely not least, green for Thin Mints. “The way the public sees Girl Scouts is through cookie sales,” said Katy Herstein, […]

Emma Discussion Questions

Published in 1815, Jane Austen’s Emma is a delightful novel about the happily single and privileged Emma Woodhouse. While she sees no value in marriage for herself, she can’t help but be a matchmaker for those around her. For those individuals who are only familiar with the book, there are at least eight book-to-screen adaptations […]

Local Organizations Expand: Dream big or go home!

“Dream BIG or go home” seems to be the mantra of three of the area’s leading cultural organizations. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Miners Alley Playhouse (now Performing Arts Center) have ambitious plans for expansion. While all three organizations benefit from the citizen approved SCFD — a 0.1% sales […]

From Politics to Play: How 1960s TV Influenced Hairspray

From the 1940s to 1970, American television was comprised of three major networks — ABC, NBC and CBS. It was there that Americans turned for their news and entertainment. In every household across the country, families tuned into their one television set to watch programs together. Then, the next morning, people literally gathered around the […]

A Spy Among Us

From the archives: this article was originally published on March 22, 2023 If you Google “international intelligence agencies,” Wikipedia gives you a list that’s almost too long to count. While the fictitious 007 — Bond, James Bond — works for the non-fictitious MI6, the United Kingdom is far from the only country to have intelligence […]

A Fairy Tale for a New Generation

If you were born before 1990, your bedtime stories were likely straight out of the Grimm Fairy Tales. First published in 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm put forth 200 tales over their literary career including Snow White, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. But Shrek was nowhere among them. Fast forward 180 years and along comes […]