LEADVILLE — A turn-of-the-century burlesque show is coming to the Tabor Opera House this weekend for Boom Days.

Denver performer Reyna Von Vett wrote and stars in “Leadville or Bust,” which is playing Friday night and Saturday afternoon in Leadville.

Von Vett, a Colorado native, began to work on the burlesque operetta after a seven-month run of “The Taffetas” at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Not wanting to leave Colorado, she decided to write her own play.

The cast is rounded out by fellow “Taffetas” performers Elizabeth Welch, Michelle Sergeeff and Melinda Smart.

Living in a historic district in Denver, Von Vett was inspired by vintage sheet music her neighbor brought her. She then enlisted the help of Colorado conductor Wendell Vaughn to update the music and write parts for the backup singers.

“It’s all singing and dancing with suggestive content, with nothing dirty going on,” she said. “The approach is turn-of-the century ... Burlesque first started in 1870, a period when it was comic and suggestive.”

The women dance and sing to fun, turn-of-the-century songs like “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “Seeing Denver,” along with bawdy songs like “Sam the Hot Dog Man,” “Hot Nuts (Get ‘Em From The Peanut Man)” and “Press My Button (Ring My Bell).”

The Tabor Opera House is located at 308 Harrison Ave. in Leadville. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $15 and available by calling (719) 486-8409 or visiting www.taboroperahouse.net.

Von Vetta and the girls are also performing “Leadville or Bust” at Denver’s Crossroads Theater on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through Aug.13. Visit leadvilleorbust.com for more information.

Leadville's Boom Days Boom Days begins on Friday evening at 4 p.m. and runs through Sunday afternoon. Featuring a large parade, street races, mining events and a street fair with more than 100 food and craft booths, this event celebrates Leadville’s Victorian heritage and rough-and-tumble history. Look for the full schedule of events at www.summitdaily.com/boomdays.

Boom Days in Leadville

Friday, August 1st

4 p.m. Food and Craft fair

Where: Harrison Avenue

During Boom Days weekend Harrison Avenue and 6th Street turn into a festive fair of food and crafts, with over 100 vendors. Locals get a chance to have their fill of foods not always available in town. Kids quickly spend their allowances (and then some).

5 p.m. Opening Ceremony, Boom Days 2008

Where: Harrison Avenue

Don’t miss this very unique opening ceremony, where the Leadville Lions Club marches down Harrison Avenue carrying the frame for their Beer Garden Tent, carried by as many people that show up. The procession starts at People’s Bank and marches north up Harrison to the Pueblo Bank & Trust parking lot, where it remains for the rest of the weekend.

5 p.m. Cloud City riders Motorcycle event registration

Where: Harrison Avenue

5:30 p.m. Cloud City riders Kids’ bicycle events

Where: Harrison Avenue

7 p.m.

Cloud City riders Motorcycle Games

• Motorcycle skills games and demonstrations with awards and prizes

• $1 per bike for each event

• All profits benefit the Cloud City Riders Food Bank. Cloud City Riders offer beginner and experienced rider education courses across the state, and are a non-profit charitable organization.

After Dark: Friday Nightlife

6-9 p.m. dJ KbK

Where: Scarlet Inn, 326 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public - no cover.

7:30 p.m.

Reyna Von Vett and Hell’s Belles in “Leadville or Bust”

Where: Tabor Opera House, 308 Harrison Ave.

A comic Burlesque operetta celebrating the original girlie shows enjoyed by the miners and settlers of the Old West. An almost lost art, the origins of Burlesque were naughty and bawdy shows full of double entendre and gorgeous dancing girls in tights.

For more information, call 719-486-8409 or visit www.taboroperahouse.net.



8 p.m. Boom Days dance, with country music

Where: Elks Lodge, 123 W. 5th St.

Open to the public - no cover.



9 p.m. Buffalo Thunder (country/rock)

Where: Silver Dollar Saloon, 315 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public - $2 cover.

9 p.m. In the Pocket (rock)

Where: Pastime Saloon,120 W. 2nd St.

9 p.m. Mercury (rock)

Where: Bobbie’s, 115 W. 6th St.

Open to the public - $6 cover.

10 p.m. Melissa Sweet & the Butta Band

(rock and blues)

Where: Scarlet Tavern, 326 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public - no cover.

Saturday, August 2nd

7-9:30 a.m. Pancake breakfast

Where: Lake County Courthouse lawn,

505 Harrison Ave.

$4/children, $6/adult. This Boom Days morning tradition continues, with a menu of pancakes,scrambled eggs, sausage, juice or milk and fresh coffee or tea.

8 a.m. Mining events registration

Where: Elks parking lot, West 4th Street

5 p.m. Rules and drillers Meeting

Where: Elks parking lot, West 4th Street

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

23rd annual Leadville Rod & Gun Club Annual Gun show

Where: 6th Street Gym, 124 E. 6th St.

This annual event features guns, outdoor equipment and western memorabilia, including leather goods, paintings and handcrafts.

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sportsman’s outdoor expo

Where: National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, 10th Street entrance

This event, new this year, will showcase a wide variety of outdoor activities, including camping, fishing, biking, hunting and more.

9:30 a.m. Boom Days Mining events begin

Where: Elks parking lot, West 4th street

Events include jackleg drilling, hand-mucking, single and double-jack drilling and spike driving.

10 a.m. Boom Days Parade

Where: Harrison Avenue

Leadville’s longest-sit back and enjoy the show!

Noon Boom Days belt buckle auction

Where: front of the courthouse

Auction of this year’s #1 and #100 limited edition collector belt buckles.

Noon, book signing at the Book Mine

Where: 522 Harrison Avenue.

Author of “Palace of Ice: The True Story of Leadville’s Ice Palace”

1 p.m. The Boomin’ Auto Show

After the parade, vehicles will cruise down Harrison Avenue, where they park for the show.

1 p.m. Children’s events & sandpile Money Grab

Where: Lake County High School football field

Money grab starts at 1:30 p.m. with the youngest children as they finish other events. Other

events include: • Baby crawl • Egg carry relay • Water balloon toss • Dash • 3-legged race • Sack Race

2 p.m. Lake County rodeo

Where: Rodeo Grounds, 6th Street and McWethy Dr.

Don’t miss the Lake County Annual CPRA Rodeo, with classic events like bull riding, barrel racing, bareback, team roping and saddle bronc riding. Kids’ events are free to participate in, and include mutton bustin’, calf scramble, stick horse and goat undressing. Free parking at the Lake County Middle School. Advance tickets are available at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, 809 Harrison Ave., and the Lake County Clerk’s office, 505 Harrison Ave. Advance tickets are $9 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets at gate are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 17. Children under 5 admitted free. For more information about participating in the rodeo, visit www. coloradoprorodeo.com.

2 p.m. U.S. Forest Service log-sawing demo

Where: Harrison Avenue

3 p.m. Celebrity boardwalk competition

Where: Harrison Avenue



Saturday Daytime Entertainment

Lions beer Garden entertainment

11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Jenna Martinez (singer of rancheras, salsas, merengues, gospel, cumbias

and ballads).

2:30-5 p.m.: Gobs O’Phun (Irish and Scottish folk music and pub songs).

Courthouse bandstand

11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: El Jebel Shrine Band

2-4 p.m.: Francisco Bonafazi (internationally known jazz musician and whistler) scarlet tavern

4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 24 West

Reyna Von Vett and Hell’s Belles in “Leadville or Bust”

2 p.m. at the Tabor Opera House, 308 Harrison Avenue. A comic Burlesque operetta celebrating the original girlie shows enjoyed by the miners and settlers of the old west. For more information, call 719-486-8409 or visit www.taboroperahouse.net.

After dark: Saturday Nightlife

6 p.m. DJ KBK

Where: Where: Scarlet Tavern, 326 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public-no cover.

7 p.m.

“Westward ho” with Duke Davis and the Buckshot Band

Where: Tabor Opera House, 308 Harrison Ave.

“Westward Ho!” is a theatrical musical performance that chronicles the history of Western Music. The program takes the audience from the end of the Civil War when the great cattle drives started in Texas up to today’s modern times in a 27 song presentation. 719-486-8409, www.taboroperahouse.net.

8 p.m. Boom Days dance with country music

Where: Elks Lodge, W. 5th St.

Open to the public-no cover.

9 p.m. Buffalo Thunder (country/rock)

Where: Silver Dollar Saloon, 315 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public - $2 cover.

9 p.m. In the Pocket (rock)

Where: Pastime Saloon, 120 W. 2nd St.

Open to the public

9 p.m.

Mercury (rock)

Where: Bobbie’s, 115 West 6th St

Open to the public - $6 cover

10 p.m. Black Dog Band(bluegrass and rock)

Where: Scarlet Inn, 326 Harrison Ave.

Open to the public - no cover.

Sunday, August 3

7-9:30 a.m. Pancake breakfast

Where: Lake County Courthouse lawn, 505 Harrison Ave.

$4/children, $6/adult. This Boom Days morning tradition continues, with a menu of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, juice or milk and fresh coffee or tea.

8:30 a.m. Mining events continued

Where: Elks parking lot, West 4th Street

9 a.m. Food and Craft fair continues

Where: Harrison Avenue

9 a.m. Weigh-in for burros

Where: Harrison Ave.

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sportsman’s Outdoor Expo

Where: National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, 10th Street entrance

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 23rd Annual Leadville Rod & Gun Club Annual Gun show

Where: 6th Street Gym, 124 E. 6th St.

Leadville international Pack Burro Race

Where: front of the courthouse

Watch an exciting 21-mile race of men, women and burros. Participants lead, and sometimes push their trusty and often stubborn burros to the summit of Mosquito Pass, elevation 13,183 feet. The burro races are a tribute to the frontier miners, whose livelihood depended on their burros to haul equipment and grub up to the mines. Burros in this race carry packs weighing 35 pounds each and are led – not ridden – by a 15-foot rope to the summit of Mosquito Pass and back to Leadville over a 21-mile course. Make a guess on the time it takes the winning Men’s Burro Racer to finish the race on Sunday: you could win $1,000. Get your race guess tickets at the Boom Days tent on the courthouse lawn. Good luck, racers!

11:00 a.m.: Mens burro race starts

11:15 a.m.: Womens burro race starts

11:30 a.m. Celebrity burro race

Where: Harrison Avenue.

Sunday games start

1880s Costume events

• Mosey: Most authentic 1880s dressy couple strolling the course.

• Most authentic 1880s saloon girl

• Most authentic or 1880s elegant female costume

• Most authentic 1880s gunman

• Most authentic 1880s prospector

• Most authentic 1880s child board walk, following costume events

Pie eating contests

For children (12 and under), and those above 12

• Chocolate

• Apple

• Cherry

• Winners’ round for children (12 and under) and for those over 12 egg and balloon events

For children (12 and under), and those above 12

• Egg toss

• Egg on a spoon

• Balloon Toss

Kids’ Mining events following adult mining events, Elks parking lot, West 4th Street.

Children 5 and older can participate for $1 apiece.

The event is a timed mucking event, using shovels to haul muck into buckets.

1:30 p.m. Burro racers begin to return

Where: Harrison Avenue

Lake County rodeo at the rodeo Grounds

Where: 6th Street and McWethy Drive (see map).

See Saturday’s listing for more information.

Sunday Daytime Entertainment

Book signing at the book Mine

Where: 522 Harrison Avenue.

9 a.m. Lyn Bezek will be signing copies of the children’s book, “Daisy, the Cripple Creek Donkey,” just in time for the burro race!

Lions beer Garden entertainment

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The songs of Marlene Behm, accordion player.

1:30-4 p.m.: Gobs O’Phun scarlet travern

4-6 p.m.: 24West

6-close p.m.: DJ KBK