Ear to the ground

“I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii and kept getting all these text messages asking if I was the ‘Ear to the ground’ in the Telegraph.”

-A recently wedded woman on whether she was the bride-to-be quoted in the Sept. 21 issue, saying, “Only three more weeks and I can start getting fat again.”

Durango on Broadway

Durango has landed on the big stage. An off-Broadway play, “Durango,” recently premiered in New Haven, Conn., and is scheduled to make its next stop at New York’s Public Theater.

Written by playwright Julia Cho and directed by Chay Yew, “Durango” is the story of a road trip. After being laid off from his job, Korean-American Boo Seng takes his two sons on a road-trip through the American Southwest with Durango the final destination. As the three make their way across the Arizona desert, they confront family secrets and define what it means to be Asians in America. There’s no word on what happens to the Sengs when they finally roll into local city limits.

The play is apparently hard hitting, dealing with issues of identity and alienation. Nonetheless, in an unusual marketing twist, the Durango Area Tourism Office took advantage of the local name going in lights and sponsored the opening night on Sept. 13. 

“We normally don’t partner with theatre companies, but this was an incredible opportunity to tie our tourism message to a hot new play that will expand our customer base on the east coast and showcase Durango as a great place to visit,” said John Cohen, executive director of the Durango Area Tourism Office.  

As part of the partnership, welcome gift bags were given to each of the 250 opening night attendees. The bags contained unique Durango-specific gifts including Rocky Mountain Chocolate, Zuke’s Dog Treats, Honeyville honey, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad DVD, 125th Anniversary mugs and a CD from Music in the Mountains.

Rugged and upscale

Move over Durango. It’s all about Aspen these days. The Dodge Durango, the company’s trademark SUV, could soon be a thing of the past. The motor company, now paired with Chrysler, has announced that its latest offering will be the Dodge Aspen, an eight-passenger SUV.

The Detroit News Autos Insider reported last year that the company chose the name Aspen “to position the vehicle – like the Colorado ski town – as both rugged and upscale.”