Fresh City Life invites you to Go West with Oscar Wilde in Leadville Saturday, June 27, 6 - 8p, Leadville Opera House, 308 Harrison Ave., Leadville CO 80461

(Denver) -- Denver Public Library's Fresh City Life is headed to the mountain town of Leadville to celebrate Oscar Wilde's 1882 lecture at the Tabor Opera House on Saturday, June 27.

Special Event: Oscar Wilde in Leadville
Celebrating Leadville's First Annual LERCH (Leadville Enrichment, Relaxation, Crafts and History), Fresh City Life presents it's favorite Denver actor, Ed Cord, in a role he originated last year -- Oscar Wilde.

Wilde came to Denver in 1882 on a lecture tour to promote the latest operetta from Gilbert and Sullivan. And the man who would become one of the finest playwrights in Europe took a side trip to Leadville to lecture the hard-bitten miners, soiled doves and straight-laced women who populated Colorado's most exciting and dangerous city. As a guest of Horace Tabor, Wilde even took a detour to the bottom of the Matchless Mine where he shared what he described as a "five course meal" with the miners, that consisted of first course: whiskey, second course: whiskey, third course: whiskey...

A century later, Wilde's journey into the Colorado mountains remains the stuff of legends. And with Fresh City Life as a guide, Denver citizens have the chance to enjoy the lecture that Wilde gave in Leadville; couched pretentiously as a presentation on the decorative arts, even with the passage of 127 years, it remains a modern and funny epistle on the importance of being an earnest consumer. Actor Ed Cord brings Oscar Wilde's wit and gregarious personality to life as he treads the very boards that Wilde did on his tour of Colorado.

This engaging and historic event will be held at the Tabor Opera House, the venue where Wilde held court for his lecture in 1882. Wilde was particularly keen to perform in the Leadville Opera House when he was told that, because of inclement weather, a public hanging had been held on the stage only days before his arrival. See and hear Wilde in all his Wilde West glory at this special one-night-only event. Tickets for this event can be purchased through Denver Bookbinding Company at www.denverbook.com or 303.455.5521; general admission -- $15, chartered transportation and general admission -- $30. For additional information on this event or transportation to Leadville, please contact cloffel@denverlibrary.org or call 720.865.1205.

Media Contact:
Chris Loffelmacher
Denver Public Library
Ph.: 720.865.1205 (office) 720.939.6340 (cell)
E-mail: cloffel@denverlibrary.org
Website: www.denverlibrary.org/fresh www.twitter.com/denverlibrarypr