Popination Education
a series of unhinged personal essays disguised as pub reviews. Today: Lady Justice Brewery. But Vintage Theatre also.
A Good, if Dangerous, Vintage
I had to take a trip over to a particularly dicey corner of Denver-adjacent Aurora, on a long and wicked street that’s famous for its shadiness even beyond CO: Colfax Avenue (look it up, kids). I had a private lesson set to take place at Vintage Theatre, one of the highest quality of the smaller professional theatres in the Denver Metro area. I was hired by the actor that played Richard III in the all-women production I had composed the fights for back in the Before Times, at a different small theatre on a different crunchy corner in a differently shady Denver-adjacent city sprawl. Her kid was about to audition for the prestigious Denver School of the Arts, and wanted some acting coaching that was from a professional that was not their mom. Which, hey, at 13 years old? I get it. Totally fair. So I took a 20-minute Uber down into the scary depths, and guided a very talented young actor through what was already quite a strong audition. It was super fun, and made even my blackly jaded heart feel a glimmer of hope for the next wave of young artists. Every so often, I am reminded that The Kids Are All Right.
Last time I frequented Vintage (though not for Popinating), I was fight director for their production of Shakespeare in Love, which was a really fun project. My kind of swords, and I do always have fun composing multiple-person brawls, too. The cast was talented and well trained—a couple of the fighters actually had a little stage combat experience, which is always welcome to find. After all, we don’t get stunt doubles in live theatre—we’ve got to use the actors themselves, and so when they actually know a little bit what they’re doing, it makes my job that much smoother. So I had a great time with them, and was quite happy with the result, too, which helps in this tight little jobbing network where I’m an independent trying to make it happen.
Theatrical word of mouth is so important, in other words. And I like Vintage. The SiL gig was actually me subbing in for someone who couldn’t do it, and I’m happy to have them as a continued node of my network since then. It was one of a handful of fight choreography gigs I had received immediately after quitting [UNIVERSITY NAME REDACTED] so I had taken that as a good sign I had done the right thing by quitting. The giggy fruitfulness hasn’t really kept up to that degree since then, but that’s to be expected. This sort of thing is impossible to track, advertise, or do anything about, really—it has to do mainly with what shows are being produced that have violence in them, if the company knows me or has used me before, what sort of budget they have, etc. Quitting [REDACTED] was still the best choice, though, even if I can’t be working on literally 5 shows at once to replace that income. Things like this private lesson is great, and we’ll see what 2024 brings. One thing I can never count on, though, is consistency, which I guess is something I’ve learned how to handle in my adjuncting job. Not that it’s ever possible to really get used to constant contingency. The only consistency is precariousness, in this field, after all. Death and taxes? Pretty much.
But Theatrics is not Popination!
After coaching the kid, I ambled around the corner to a brewery I hadn’t heard of before, name of Lady Justice. A rough-painted hole in the wall from the outside, it was only a few steps away from Vintage, and yet those steps made me grip my tactical pen and put my head on a swivel. I had found it on the map before coming down for the lesson and thought it’d be fun to try a new brewery for a fresh Popination, but I had forgotten what a rough part of town this was. But it actually turned out just fine, and when I went in, the tiny little bar with the brew stuff tucked in back was so bright, colorful, queer, and laid back that I was immediately put at ease. A good vibe in a tough corner of the world.
Inside, Lady Justice looks almost more like an old diner than a pub, with its bright murals, many rainbows, and colored curtains shading the windows, which even so brought in much cheerful natural light. I sat at the bar and made myself comfortable in front of the cleverly named brews on the menu, and noticed they actually offered an Irish whiskey I’d never tried before. And a good deal on an old-fashioned that time of the afternoon. I had to start there.
Now remember, my rule for Popination pieces is: No Research. But I can report that Lady Justice is very queer friendly to a very colorful and ‘out’ extent. It is woman-owned (queer-owned? I think so) and has a very similar vibe to DV8, our good BDC friend and also queer and inclusive space, in Boulder. As such, the vibe at Lady Justice is friendly and low key, making you want to spend a good long amount of time sitting there sampling at the bar, or comfortably at one of the tiny tables in the front room.
They’re an actual brewery, not just a taphouse, even in that crowded little tough corner, so all the beers on tap are theirs, and there’s crowlers as well as 6 packs available to go. What I sampled: After the fragrant and perfectly not-too-sweet old-fashioned, I tried the following, as I sat and pondered and took notes and chatted with the server on duty: a rich black molasses-y brew that was a whiskey barrel aged rye porter; an IPA called Found Family which was mellow and bitter but too mellow for my palate; and an amazingly flavorful winter warmer ale called Beer Hug, with orange blossom, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, all that good Xmas spicy stuff. I brought a crowler of that home with me.
They don’t have food at Lady Justice (must be a code or licensing thing), but they have a ‘delivery partner’ which I think is a great idea in a location where food trucks just can’t be parked. So you can grab a menu brochure and order your food from said partner restaurant (I don’t remember the name, sorry) to be delivered right there at the bar for you. But they do have a couple snacks, too: selections from a local chip company, a soft pretzel with various seasonings available, also local. They’re big about their partnerships and sponsorships of local non profits and other queer friendly grass roots establishments, which is a very giving co-op sort of vibe that made me feel right at home as a Boulderite.
Overall, this place was so pleasant, and there were so many more tastes of things I wanted that I didn’t get to, and so many cute little bits of glassware on sale cheap, it makes me want to go back there, even though it’s so out of my way and such a shady neighborhood. This place is a rainbow diamond in the rough, and very worth the trip. I had to bring some beer home, of course. A big crowler can of Beer Hug that even my wine-loving partner enjoyed a sip of.Â
Well, I may have another fight gig coming up at Vintage, so I’ll definitely be returning to Lady Justice as soon as I’m back around, at the very least. ‘Great beer, better world,’ is Lady Justice’s motto. And they live up to it, it seems.Â
