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ILLUSTRATION BY HUNTER THOMPSON
Hint: All of them are a-maze-ing
By Emily Kribs The Rocky Mountain Collegian
It’s October, and everyone knows what that means. Leaves are falling, we’re more than halfway through the semester and it’s time to get our spook on. The problem with that is we’re all too old to be scared of witches and ghosts anymore, so we have to pay people to terrify us… with chainsaws. I’m talking corn mazes here, and while they can be fun, they can also just be trite. With prices ranging up to $25 a person, it’s not like you can afford to screw this up. To help you out, here’s a quick guide to sort the cher from the cheap and the corny from the creepy. Total bad corn puns in this article: 7 Harvest Farm’s Fall Festival Most of these farms are, in fact, farms. So while Harvest Farm is hands-down the most typical of these three as a corn maze, it remains the most unconventional as a farm. “The whole aspect of the farm itself differentiates it. We’re part of the Denver Rescue Mission, which is a non-profit organization,” said Amy Ostrowski, Fall Festival Director. Specifically, that’s drug and alcohol rehabilita-
tion. Sounds like fun, right? A total of 70 participants live, learn and work on the farm, taking classes and working out their issues by working on the land. Part of the corny aspect comes in when you realize that this maze isn’t scary in the slightest. It’s cut to celebrate the Fall Festival’s 10th anniversary and the town of Wellington. It’s also mainly geared toward kids and families, and surrounded by other events like a barrel train, a campfire, a playground and a pumpkin patch. I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a theme there, and it’s fear-free family fun. It also has some corn cannons and a pumpkin smash attraction, if that’s what drives you, but if you must know, you can take a baseball bat to a gourd at home. While not really the wild time you might have had in mind, it’s definitely a good cause; all money goes toward running the farm and aiding rehabilitation. Cost: $15-$23 Website: HarvestFarm.net Fritzler Corn Maize Despite the name, this place isn’t one you could call “corny.” That’s not the word for a place with something called the “Alcorntraz/Zombie Slayer Paintball” adventure.
MAZE TIPS Check the weather, and dress warmly. Did you go to Homecoming? It’ll be like that, except more fun. “We have four customized school buses, loaded with paintball guns, and a corn field full of targets, zombies and escaped prisoners,” said Glen Fritzler, owner and obvious namesake for Fritzler Corn Maize. “The first year we worried it’d be hard to get people [to play the zombies and escaped prisoners and get shot at], but they had a lot of fun and got a bunch of their friends to come do it, too. They’re well-protected,” he explained. “They do feel it, but there’s no pain.” Other features include a petting zoo, pony rides, a slide mountain, a freaking helicopter ride, pumpkin patches, a playground, a corn box (which is like a sandbox but… yeah, you get it) and something called a Verti-Scope that’s basically a lifesized optical illusion. “We’ve been at this for 13 years,” Fritzler said, “and we made a commitment that very first year to add something new every year so it’s a different experience.” The mazes themselves are cool enough to see
why you’d want to put in for a helicopter ride. Finally, there’s the scary maze, which is where things start getting… corny. There’s two parts: the first one, which is kid-appropriate and never haunted, and the part where people jump out at you. With chainsaws. There’s not much new to be offered here, but if you’re down for zombie hunting you might as well enjoy the full experience. Cost: $13-$35 Website: FritzlerMaze.com
Something from the Corn All haunted mazes are supposed to be on the eccentric side, but the owners of Something from the Corn take intensity to another level. “We’re both engineers,” explained Eric Clarke, referring to himself and his co-owner, John Dory, “so I think we’re pretty creative.” And they’d have to be, to come up with new innovations every year — or as Clarke called them, scarevations (He let me make an executive decision on how that was spelled). “Rather than just have speakers lying around, which is expensive and not that scary, we have you slide into a tunnel, we have you swing on a rope to an island, we have a snake crawl, we have a meat See Maze on Page 3
‘Spring Awakening’ breaks all the rules By Lianna Salva The Rocky Mountain Collegian
Take away the set and the props of a theatrical performance and what do you have? An opportunity to get up close and personal with the struggles and confusions of 19th century 14-year-olds in CSU’s newest production, “Spring Awakening.” This play breaks the conventional rules of theater. A forest is made of green light, a courtroom bathed in blue and a dive into the confused minds of teenage boys turns bright, almost blinding, pink. There is no set, no furniture and no props. Challenging at first, the lack of concrete set gave actors the freedom to imagine the space. “Working really simplistically forces you to focus on what you’re doing as an actor in the scene with your body,” said Mary Kate Tracey, sophomore chemical engineering major. Tracey plays Wendla, an innocent and KEVIN JOHANSEN | COLLEGIAN naïve girl who begs for understanding Sophomore Mary Kate Tracey plays the role of Wendla for the of the adult world in the play. UCA’s performance of “Spring Awakening.” The UCA will be The play is advertised as “In-yourholding performances through to October 21st. face” theater, a style that provides close
contact with the controversial themes of rape, suicide and sexual awareness. “There are rules in social situations. The great thing about theater is we don’t have to have those rules,” said Garrett Ayers, guest director. “Spring Awakening” was a risky move for the CSU Theater department because of the controversial content, however, Ayers brings an important lesson to the CSU stage. “It’s a children’s tragedy because they’re the innocent ones, and not innocent in the sense that they don’t bear responsibility for their actions, but that they’re depending on all the adults to be role models for them,” Ayers said. “If it’s a warning for anything is a very simple one: you have no control over what will happen to your child but you know that they will grow up. It’s a reminder that says regardless of your point of view, make informed choices out of love,” he said. Junior theater major John Erickson plays Moritz, a stumbling, misunderstood boy who feels pressured by his parents and teachers. Erickson compared the world of the play to today’s society.
“People still aren’t comfortable talking about those themes, and thus a lot of those same accidents happen. (The play) is like the “It Gets Better” campaign; it’s about finally telling people information that they should know, but no one’s ever told them,” Erickson said. Some members of the cast are roommates; others had never met until auditions. For a guest director and a cast of friends and strangers, trust had to be the ultimate goal for a good performance. “Everybody has just jumped in; the enthusiasm is something that I’ve loved,” Ayers said. “It’s been a real treat for me and it’s made me a better director.” The energy has been challenged within the past week. On Oct. 7, junior environmental health major Jason Laub was hit by a car while biking to the UCA to get ready for performance that night. Laub is in the male ensemble of the cast, playing both a student and a professor. The accident occurred on Elizabeth and Taft —hours before curtain. Laub had minor injuries to his knees and wrists after jumping off his bike to avoid the car coming out
SHOW DETAILS What: “Spring Awakening” by Frank Wedekind When: Oct. 11 - 21, 7:30 pm Where: Studio Theater, University Center for the Arts Cost: $9 Students, $18 General Public
of a parking lot, but instead rolled over the hood of the car. “The girl who was driving the car was nice enough to give me a ride to the UCA,” Laub said. “I was still in shock; after about half an hour the pain started to settle in. Our stage manager got a first aid kit, I took a few ibuprofen and went on stage.” This is the third time in the past year that CSU theater students have gotten into car accidents on the day of a show, Laub said. “I’m always so impressed of doing shows here because of the professionalism and the dedication,” Laub said. UCA Beat Reporter Lianna Salva can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.