New Mexico Entertainment Magazine June 2016

V4 / Is6

JUNE 2016

Special Local Favorites Cover!

JIM BURLESON

The man responsible for making New Mexico a hub for comic conventions and a true fan of the acting process, New Mexico local and Line Producer of Justice, Jim Burleson, talks family, work and legacy.

Fallen Angels

A FREE Publication

Newsies at Popejoy

Surface

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PG 14

COVER STORY

The World of Jim Burleson

The man responsible for making New Mexico a hub for comic conventions and a true fan of the acting process, New Mexico local and Line Producer of Justice Jim Burleson talks family, work and legacy.

PG 6

PG 7

Newsies The Oscar® winning musical makes a stop at Popejoy Hall this month.

Surface: Emerging Artists of New Mexico

LET US ENTERTAIN YOU

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Harwood Art Space presents their 4th annual show.

PG 9

PG 16

Fallen Guardian Angel In honor of Pride month, AirDance AirSpace brings us this passionate production.

Prince Tribute A follow-up on the concert honoring the one and only Prince.

EXTRAS

PG 18 UPCOMING EVENTS

THE ART WORLD

PG 26 SIGHTSEEING

New Mexico Entertainment • May 2016

FOLLOW-UP

www.NMEntertains.com

NME STAFF Teresa Robinson-Ewers Publisher/Editor-in-Chief NMEntertains@gmail.com Ariel Bisbee Photography & Mulitmedia Director Jan Baca Copy Editor CONTRIBUTORS Winter Elise NME Board Teresa Ewers Ariel Bisbee Darlene Esquibel Winter Elise Eddie Robinson SUBSCRIPTIONS New Mexico Entertainment magazine is $24 a year within the Continental United States.

Please place your order online at www.NMEntertains.com.

Please note the first issue will take 4-6 weeks.

All events submissions can be placed at NMEntEvents@gmail.com Cover provided by Carol Skipwith Photography.

231 Sierra Dr. SE, Ste. 11 Albuquerque, NM 87108 505.450.4706

www.NMEntertains.com

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LET US ENTERTAIN YOU: NEWSIES

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hen it opened on March 29, 2012, Newsies was intended for a Broadway run of just 101 performances. The show’s fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they propelled the show to a run of 1,005 performances, with an attendance of more than one million people and a gross of over 100 million dollars. Now, the entire creative team has reunited to bring the break-out, smash musical to audiences across North America, making a stop at Popejoy Hall.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged “newsies,” who dream only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to 6I

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strike for what’s right.

While on Broadway, Newsies became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations – including eight Tony Award® nods – and won Tony®, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.

The stage version introduces seven, brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and Feldman, including a song written specifically for the tour called, “Letter from the Refuge,” while keeping many of the beloved songs from the film, including, “Carrying the Banner, “Seize the Day,” “King of New York,” and “Santa Fe.” Newsies will run from June 21st- June 26th at Popejoy Hall.

Tickets are available at select area Albertsons locations and online at popejoypresents.com or unmtickets.com. NME *Provided by Popejoy Hall

THE ART WORLD: SURFACE

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arwood Art Space is happy to present the opening reception for Harwood’s 4rd Annual SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, featuring the solo exhibition, Promised View

by Julia Lambright.

The Center’s 4th annual SURFACE is a juried exhibition, professional development event and endowed cash awards program, presented with support from Albuquerque Art Business Association (AABA)/ ARTScrawl. Participating artists are: Joshua Atlas, Katelyn Bladel, Dorielle Caimi, Joel Davis, David Disko, Letitia Hill, Christopher MacQueen, Eric Martinez, Ruben Olguin, Rachel Rivera, David Saiz, and Sophia Sanchez.

The show will also contain a solo exhibition called Promised View by Julia Lambright. Promised View investigates the haunting perspective of Lambright’s childhood, fusing personal symbols, patterns, and primitive forms into pictorial language. It is an open invitation to observe and witness these constructed images,

which interpose a new layer of being. {front gallery} In addition to support from AABA/ARTSCrawl, SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico is also presented with support from Bernalillo County, City of Albuquerque Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation, The Geissman Family, McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts. The awards were endowed by Reggie Gammon and by Marion and Kathryn Crissey. The program would not be possible without local business partners A Good Sign, The Grove Cafe & Market, Tractor Brewing Company, and Westbund West.

The Community Celebration is on Friday, June 3, from 6pm - 8pm, with the exhibitions running from June 3 - July 22. For more information, visit www.harwoodartcenter.org. NME *Provided via press release from Harwood Art Center

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EXTRAS: FALLEN ANGEL

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ritten and first produced in 1985, Fallen Guardian Angels,

by Edward D. Padilla, has been produced worldwide and is now part of World AIDS Day events in several countries. The Albuquerque production will open this year on June 17 for two weekends, and ticket sales will benefit a local HIV/AIDS organization. Each production of the play is required to donate its profits with a program geared toward education, outreach, research, and/ or quality of life programs.

The play is a time capsule capturing the spirit of the early epidemic through the backstage bantering of six actors and their stage manager before the opening of an unseen production. Like the 1975 production of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Padilla personalizes his characters by clothing them in individual colors. And, similar to A Chorus Line, the hit Broadway Musical that also opened in 1975, Padilla has each of his actors step out from their anonymity to tell powerful stories of how AIDS has affected their lives.

One can almost hear the musicality

of their monologues as harmonious songs intertwining various views of this new and heartbreaking disease.

Padilla says, “The characters do not speak of AIDS in flashback. The play was written three years into this new epidemic, but the words have become, as I’m told, timeless.”

He says, “In 1984, my best friend told me he had ARC, which was the predecessor to the term HIV. After he told me about his diagnosis, I avoided him. I didn’t want to catch it. At the time, rumors flew around that AIDS was airborne, that you could catch it from spit, and that only gay men caught it.”

When Padilla ran into his friend again, he realized, “I was a total ass in my ignorance. The only way to avoid being an ass? Learn, educate myself with the truth.” Padilla wrote Robert’s monologue in the play as a eulogy for his friend, and the rest branched off from that initial speech.

Critics have

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said that the play captures the mindset of an era. “Instead of becoming dated, the play built itself into a history of the ideology at the time,” stated Los Angeles Times critic, Jerome V., in 2002.

The audience brings with them to the play their own subsequent knowledge and history of the disease: The ACT UP demonstrations of the 80s and 90s, the bareback rebellion of the early 2000s, and the current globalization of the disease. Now a chronic, lifelong condition rather than an immediate death sentence, the poignancy of the early epidemic remains vivid in Padilla’s script.

Fallen Guardian Angels has a tagline that “Everyone Has a Story.” Staying true to this unique idea, Padilla introduces us to the straight man (Omar Vigil), the straight woman (Jenelle Baptiste), the gay man without the disease (Tony Reo), a lesbian in deep denial (Maria Teresa Herrera), a religious

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zealot with a not-so-wholesome past (Madyson Turner), and a man (Kyle King) with secrets that must be revealed for him to embrace the enormity of the world crisis. The Stage Manager (Carma Harvey) leads us through their stories with a command and demand holding everyone accountable.

Padilla says, “The play is loaded with symbolism, metaphors, and poetry, but the real story is how AIDS has changed the normalcy of everyday life into a new way of thinking, a new acceptance, and new hope.” Fallen Guardian Angels is a play that will make you think and examine how we handle the disease.

Performances will run July 22 July 31, Fri/Sat 8pm, Sun 2:30pm, at the AirDance AirSpace, 3030 Isleta Blvd SW Albuquerque, 87105.

Tickets are $20 each and available at click4tix.com/angels or reservations can be made at 505-926-4546. NME - Lorenzo Chavez

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Photo by ® Carol Skipwith Photography

COVER STORY: JIM BURLESON

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JIM BURLESON

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here’s always that actor you see consistently getting his screen time in movies and commercials. New Mexico native Jim Burleson is truly becoming one of those actors. Catching the acting bug at a young age, Burleson explains where his love of acting came from. “I love being the center of attention, ever since I was young. Playing a role and being someone else is exciting.”

The experience of filmmaking, on so many levels, has been one of pure enjoyment for Burleson.

With over 40 credits to his name, Burleson has taken to acting like a duck to water.

Taking advantage of being on set, Burleson has learned the business, from being an actor to working behind the scenes as a producer, production manager, and even stuntman. But when it comes to sharing his favorite project, the family man goes straight to what truly moves him.

“My favorite project has been my family. I just had my seventh baby on the 26th and loving him is as easy as each of the six before.

I love that my career has allowed me to prioritize my kids’ needs. I also love that I played Pat Garrett on a TV show [Gunslingers]. It’s exciting to have been so lucky to have been able to connect with others,” shared Burleson. “From

acting to promoting, to politics, I find the ability to express myself my greatest talent.”

Jim has taken another love - the love of comics - and has created two events that are easily making Albuquerque a hub for comic cons and him, the King.

Burleson shares his desire of creating those events. “When I bought Tall Tales Comics back in 2009, I did it to give myself the flexibility to be with my family more and in an environment that was positive for my kids,” says Burleson. “The problem is I’m never satisfied and needed more. Comic Con in 2011 was the next step. After eight years of cage fight promoting, I had the right skills. The timing was right. Other shops have since opened and I think those shops are better suited to be called the King of Comics. Astro Zombies, Lobo Anime, Twin Sons, Age of Comics, and even Jim Brazell, who owned the first comic shop in Albuquerque back in the 70s, who is still in business as Pak Rat Collectables. Any of those guys are at least co-owners of the title ‘King of Comics.’ I’m just grateful to be able to bring them all together at Comic Con twice a year.”

His position in the comic convention world led to him

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ruffling some feathers a few weeks ago with a post on his Santa Fe Comic Con Facebook page about outside entities capitalizing on Comic Con crowds. Jim shared his reason to acknowledge this topic. “Social justice warriors are coming out of the woodwork on every topic on the internet, trying to bully people on what they are and are not allowed to say,” states Burleson. “Back in the 60s and 70s, when communities tried to ban comics for the ‘message,’ there was a unification of shops and creators who banded together for the comics legal fund to help prevent censorship of the industry. The access to people’s thoughts thanks to social media has given people some feeling of responsibility to tell people how their thoughts are wrong. I think that the access to people is positive, but the need to tell people to think one way, because they themselves do, is counterproductive.”

“I posted about a conversation 14 I

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that was coming up frequently where people from outside the industry were trying to capitalize on the crowds we get at Comic Con to make money and how it was frustrating and something to be worried about since the exposure of a hobby arm of our industry was profiting on the intellectual properties of major studios…publishers could hurt the hobby of cosplay by forcing lawsuits for illegally selling prints of said characters. People assumed I was referring to a woman. Then assumed I had some moral problem with how women dressed. Then decided to invite hundreds of thousands of social justice warriors to punish me for my assumed misogyny. I refused to back down and refused to apologize for the mistake they made, (which) prolonged the assault of our event. Before long we use 100,000 people participating in the discussion and support for us came at a rate of 10 to 1 of the negative statements. I think

people’s desire to be offended shouldn’t scare us into behaving differently than we responsibly should behave. We do too much good in our community to let a perceived slight ruin our community of tolerance and support. I’ll fight that fight every time no matter the outcome.”

When Jim isn’t fighting the good fight, he continues to work.

His latest film project, Justice, brought a roster of celebrities to participate in the production.

He shared a little more about the film. “Justice is an amazing Western I was lucky enough to work on, written by a great writer, John Lewis, and brought to me by a producer I worked with once before on a film called Checkpoint. We got to show off New Mexico to a new group of producers in a film that I am totally proud of. Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Stephen Lang, Quinton

Aaron, Robert Carradine, Nathan Parsons, and so many other A-list actors and dozens of local actors.

Directed by Richard Gabai, who is about to be a household name.

I plan on using him every chance I get. Brilliant director.”

Burleson has made a name for himself in the Comic Convention world and in the film world.

When asked about his legacy, he went back to his family. “My legacy?” laughs Burleson. “I have seven kids! I want them to work hard and be able to say, ‘My dad always fought the good fight and worked hard to help others.’

I hope they will take the good from my example and forget the bad habits I have. Be bold, be honest, be kind.” Burleson is always giving us lessons. We could all take a thing or two from that last piece of advice. NME - Teresa Ewers

(Jim in his element: From left to right: Burleson as Pat Garrett in Gunslingers, with Jamie Lynn Sigler, on the set of The Night Shift and with Nathan Parsons. )

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FOLLOW-UP: PRINCE TRIBUTE

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ew Mexico Entertainment had a terrific turnout for our tribute concert honoring the one and only Prince. Musicians, poets, and dancers came out to give their respect to a man who made a tremendous impact on the music scene and in the lives of his large and dedicated fan base. The line-up included local musicians Quietly Kept, Kyle Martin, Julie Custer; poets Hakim Bellamy, Eboni Booth, Jules Nyquist, and Gigi Bella G; and dancers Maria Chavez and Aaron Hicks.

The tribute brought together Prince fans and gave them a moment to remember why he’ll be missed. Aaron Hicks gave an amazing dance tribute to Prince’s hit, “I Will Die 4 U.” One attendee, Penny Benavidez, thoroughly enjoyed her time at the event: “Kyle Martin rocked our world tonight while playing tribute to Prince. The poets were amazing and made me cry, such a great show.”

Performer Maria Chavez received a heartfelt compliment for her performance. “I got a teary-eyed, 16 I

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smiling compliment from a very nice lady tonight at the Prince Tribute show. I answered her compliment with a thank you and a huge hug. It is a wonderful feeling to touch your audience emotionally through your performance. Prince did that to me through his music and dancing.

He was such an influence on me growing up. I will miss his music and his presence for the rest of my days. I think the lady I met tonight will miss him too. I am glad I got to connect with another human being who can feel that emotion. Pour love into what you do, and people will feel it. I am humbled and so blessed. This is why I still dance and perform. Connection through the arts and music is an amazing thing.”

The show ended with a tearful rendition of Prince’s, “Purple Rain,” leaving people waving arms and lighters. All and all, the event was a powerful evocation of Prince’s legacy, and an evening to remember.

NME

- Susan McAfee-White

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS ® Johnny Louis, FilmMagic

June 26, 2016

JASON ALDEAN Isleta Ampitheater

http://www.livenation.com/ events/550704-jun-26-2016-jason-aldeansix-string-circus-tour-2016

UNTIL June 12, 2016 EL RETRATO NUEVOMEXICANO AHORA/ NEW MEXICAN PORTRAITURE NOW - ART EXHIBIT National Hispanic Cultural Center 1701 4th St SW Albuquerque, NM 87102 By popular demand, the National Hispanic Cultural Center extended the community gallery exhibit El Retrato Nuevomexicano Ahora/ New Mexican Portraiture Now, and adding programming featuring the amazing artists whose work is included in the exhibition. The exhibit will run through June 12, 2016 UNTIL December 30, 2016 NOB HILL’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Nob Hill Main Street 4310 Central Ave. S.E. Albuquerque, NM 87108 Celebrate 100 years of this historic Albuquerque neighborhood with various events throughout 2016 http://www. NobHillis100.com Until August 5, 2016 SCIENCE IS EVERYWHERE - SUMMER CAMP 2016 National Hispanic Cultural Center 1701 4th St SW Albuquerque, NM 87102 http://www.nuclearmuseum.org June 3 - July 22, 2016 SURFACE: EMERGING ARTISTS OF NEW MEXICO Harwood Art Center 1114 7th St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 http://www.harwoodartcenter.org

June 6 - August 5, 2016 EXPLORA! SPRING AND SUMMER CAMPS Explora 1701 Mountain Rd NW Albuquerque, NM 87104 Members enjoy a summer of playful learning with free admission and discounts on camps and parties. http://www.explora.us (505) 224-8323 June 6 - July 24, 2016 BOSQUE SUMMER CAMPS 4000 Learning Rd NW Albuquerque, NM 87120 Open to students in grades 1-12 Music, art, science, athletics, drama, ACT prep, entrepreneurship, cooking, leadership and much more! http://www.bosqueschool.org/Summer_ Camps.aspx (505) 898-6388 June 9-12, 2016 ALBUQUERQUE PRIDE 2016 http://www.abqpride.com/ (505) 873-8084 June 18 & 25, 2016 MORNING TOONS - CARTOONS WITH NEW MEXICO ENTERTAINMENT Guild Cinema 3405 Central Ave NE Albuquerque, NM 87106 Grab your pajamas, your blanket and take part in this Saturday morning event all through the month of June with your family and friends. New Mexico Entertainment brings you cartoons from your childhood on the big screen at The Guild Cinema. Kick back, have some breakfast, and enjoy the toons! This is a LIMITED seat event. www.nmentertains.com/#!nme-events/j4a7f (505) 450-4706

Submit events to NMEntEvents@gmail.com • View full calendar at NMEntertains.com 18 I

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SIGHTSEEING

Hakim Bellamy, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Miguel Martinez, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Aaron Hicks, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Quietly Kept, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Jules Nyquist, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Julie Custer, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

Kyle Martin Band, Prince Tribute Concert at Rio Bravo Brewing Company. ® Boulder Rouge Digital

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