You'll want to visit Cherry Creek Shopping Center this weekend (October 4-7th) for a the Home & Lifestyle Show--a big celebration of food and design.

The fun weekend starts with a The Launch Party (Thursday night in a cool private residence) with drinks and hors d'oeuvres created by Kevin Taylor (he's the owner of Palettes at the Denver Art Museum, Kevin Taylor's at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and others). Tickets are $125/person and are available online. 100% of the ticket sales benefit The Denver Hospice.

Starting on Friday October 5th, the fun moves to Cherry Creek Shopping Center where a full-sized kitchen has been constructed by William Ohs who's been designing kitchens in Colorado for 40 years. Chefs Kevin Taylor, Jenna Johansen (Around the World in 80 Plates), Olav Peterson (Bittersweet) Daniel Asher (Root Down and Linger restaurants) will be cooking in the kitchen and passing around the goodies.

Other presenters include: Eliza Cross, (author of 101 Things To Do With Bacon), Marni Jameson (author of The House Always Wins), landscape designer Annie Huston, art consultant Ann Benson Reidy, art gallery owner Katherine Saks (Saks Galleries) and interior designers and taste-makers Eddie Ross and Katie Wolfe Agron.

I spoke with Mary Abel, editor-in-chief of Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine. You can listen to our conversation here.

The events at Cherry Creek Shopping Center are free and open to the public.

For more a schedule of free events and to purchase tickets to The Launch Party, visit homeandlifestyle-show.com.

I don't know why it took me this long to see an August Wilson play. But I do know that now I've seen FENCES, I'm going to make a point of seeing all of them in Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle"--ten plays (nine are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, an African-American neighborhood). The plays are each set in a different decade and show the Black experience in the 20th century. They have all played at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts at one time or another. And, you might initially think that they are about being Black in America in the pre-civil rights decades. And you'd be right. But if you remember your Italian or Irish or Hispanic or Polish or Russian grandparents, you'll see your grandfather in Troy and your grandmother in Rose. Believe me, this play is about your family. It is not a Broadway blockbuster--never was--but it is a truly great play.

See it at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through October 14th.

For more information: denvercenter.org or 303-893-4100 or 800-641-1222

Click here to see images from August Wilson's FENCES at DCPA.

On a recent trip to Wales, I visited the poet Dylan Thomas' hometown of Swansea and stayed in his childhood home at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive (now an authentically restored B&B that also serves great dinners). I expressed an interest in the Welsh choral tradition and was invited to a rehearsal of the Swansea Male Choir, founded in 1946 to "further the art of music and support local charities."

I was moved by the joy that the Swansea male-voice choir members took in their singing but I was not surprised. There is a rich musical tradition in Wales—especially the male-voice choirs—whose songs provide the vibrant soundtrack to everything from chapel to the rugby field to the boisterous late-night sing-alongs in the local pubs.

Who are these men? They are miners, steelworkers, quarrymen, farmers and shopkeepers. Many of the current members were brought to the choir by their male relatives back in a simpler time when choirs were a big part of village life. Yes, there were a lot of gray heads and even a wheelchair or two, but there were also plenty of young men in leather jackets and slicked back undercuts (think Boardwalk Empire) which makes me think that the Welsh male-voice tradition has a strong future. As I sat at the Swansea rehearsal and heard everything from hymns to show tunes, I thought of the Central City Opera House back home in Colorado, built by Welsh and Cornish miners in 1878. How they must have missed the camaraderie of the choral tradition in their home country. And what a lovely opera house they built for us to enjoy still today. I took out my cell phone and recorded one of the songs to share with you. It is not the quality that I would have liked but I'm thinking it will give you a good idea. And they were sitting down. Think of the power they unleash when they stand up and raise their voices in a concert hall. And, yes, that is me yelling Yay! and Bravo! at the end.

Central City Hard-Rock Miners in 1889 (photo courtesy Central City Opera)