The Denver Center Attractions 2014-15 season features Tony Award-winning hits and family favorites straight from Broadway including the national tour launch of “Pippin”; “Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!”; “Kinky Boots”; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”; “Motown the Musical” and “Annie.”

“Pippin” is back on Broadway for the first time since it thrilled audiences 40 years ago, and has now won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival! With a beloved score by Tony nominee Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell”, “Wicked”), “Pippin” tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Direct from an acclaimed run at Boston’s American Repertory Theater, this new production is directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus (“Hair,” The Gershwins’ “Porgy and Bess”).

Winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, “Kinky Boots” follows a struggling shoe factory owner who works to turn his business around with help from Lola, a fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos.

Together, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible proving that when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world. Inspired by a true story, “Kinky Boots” features a Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, direction and Tony-winning choreography by Jerry Mitchell and a hilarious, uplifting book by four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein.

“Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!” returns with an all-new, fresh view of the highs and lows of recent Broadway shows, including “Porgy and Bess,” “Anything Goes,” “Spiderman,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Follies,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “Death of a Salesman.”

“Motown the Musical” is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and many more.

Leapin’ Lizards! Annie returns in time-honored form.  Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin, this production of Annie will be a brand new incarnation of the iconic original.

Denver Center Attractions 2014-15 subscription packages start at eight payments of $21.38. Restrictions apply. To purchase a subscription, please call Denver Center Ticket Services: 303-893-4100 or 800-641-1222, or visit the ticket office located in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex at Speer & Arapahoe.  Subscription packages may be purchased online at www.denvercenter.org/bwaysubs.

From top, ‘Jersey Boys'; ‘Kinky Boots'; ‘Motown: The Musical’ and ‘Wicked’ (below). (Photos by Joan Marcus and Denver Center Attractions)

Kenny Sonoda, founding father of the Sonodas chain of sushi restaurants, has opted to call it quits on his LoDo eatery at 1620 Market St. after nearly 19 years.

Sonoda, 65, is trying to retire, but his original spot at 3108 S. Parker Road in Aurora, a place he opened in 1995, will remain open.

Here’s what Sonoda posted on www.sonodassushi.com:

“With over 26 years in the business now behind me the time has come for me to hand up the knives and announce my retirement. And yet it is with more than a bit of sadness that I announce the closure of my Downtown Restaurant on Market Street on Feb. 15.

“In 1973 I first came to Denver, Colorado,to help build and open the Gasho of Japan, a Japanese Hibachi style steak house in downtown Denver (1627 Curtis St.). In 1976, I returned to Denver to build a free standing building of Gasho of Japan Restaurant. This time I build a replica of a 400-year-old Gasho farm house, found in Takayama City of Japan, the sister city to Denver, Colorado. This Gasho of Japan restaurant was located in DTC on Belleview and I-25 where Shanahan’s Steak House is currently standing.

“In 1988, I opened my first Sonodas Sushi Restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. I was one of the first to introduce the cuisine to Denver hen the concept of sushi and sashimi was still unknown. I worked hard to teach Denver about a tradition and a delicacy that I love so very much. I cannot say that I ever imagined that sushi would become the trend it has, but I am happy that my adopted country has grown to love it in the way that I have my entire life.

“I have been fortunate to met and get to know entire families. I have watched their children grow and have children of their own but it is no time for me to retire and enjoy the next chapter of my life. I will miss all of you. That task now falls on the shoulders of the man who started Sonodas with me so many years ago — my friend and master sushi chef Makoto Kawafne.

“Makoto will continue to serve you and your families at his Aurora location. Your Welcome Club points can be used there as always and he will greet you with the same family spirit that I have.

“And one more time, Domo Arigato.”

As a proud Auroran for more than 15 years, On the Town Junior and I, along with my On the Town sister when she visited from Chicago, made it our tradition to dine at the original Sonoda’s. We had the time of our lives! Thanks, Kenny, for the memories!

Four of Denver’s top tourism leaders have been named to the new class of inductees into the 15th Annual Denver & Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame.

They are: Denver catering king and philanthropist Larry DiPasquale, Denver March Powwow executive director Grace Gillette, Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort and director of the Greenway Foundation Jeff Shoemaker with a posthumous award to his father, Joe Shoemaker, founder of the Greenway Foundation.

These city and state supporters will be honored during the Tourism Industry Hall of Fame dinner March 20 at the Seawell Ballroom.

The Tourism Hall of Fame serves as the highest award for Denver’s travel industry, which logged its best year ever in 2012 with 13.6 million overnight visitors generating more than $3.6 billion in spending. The industry supports 50,000 jobs in the metro area.

The gala is a fund-raising event for the Visit Denver Foundation, which has given out more than $545,000 in scholarships to 214 Colorado students pursuing higher education in the fields of tourism and hospitality.

For ticket information, contact Joni Watkins at jwatkins@visitdenver.com or call 303-571-9481.

Denver and Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame honorees, Dick Monfort (above); Grace Gillette (below); Jeff Shoemaker and Larry DiPsiquale (bottom).

Because of construction delays, Guard and Grace (1801 California), the much anticipated steakhouse from super chef Troy Guard (TAG, TAG Raw Bar, TAG Burger Bar, Los Chingones, Sugarmill) will not open on Feb. 13 as was the plan.

The restaurant’s opening has been pushed back to early March. Valentine’s Day diners who had reservations at Guard and Grace will be welcomed at TAG restaurant.

Eater Denver reports that Robert Thompson, the restaurateur who owns Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar and Punch Bowl Social, will open the Griffin, a modern German beer hall in a complex at 3001 Brighton Blvd., in RiNo, the ever-increasing popular restaurant destination in Denver.

“Brighton (boulevard) is the new Bohemia,” Thompson told Eater. “There’s a lot of artistic integrity in RiNo and a lot of commercial activism. Several people have pioneered this neighborhood for years and it doesn’t take a lot of vision to see what the neighborhood will become in the next year or two years.”

The building that will house the Griffin will open to office tenants, some 500 projected workers, in late March/early April. Thompson plans to start serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, plus weekend brunch in September.

The 5,500-square-foot space includes six floor-to-ceiling glass garage doors and a 2,500-square-foot outdoor beer garden. Thompson told Eater he plans to create a restaurant and beer hall serving food rooted in the cuisines of Germany, Denmark and Turkey.

“Our cuisine will have a German, Alsacian, and Danish basis with Middle-Eastern influences. We are not trying to do a German sausage house, but rather to create a food board reflective of how Germany eats today. That, of course, includes Germany’s zestier, spicier younger brother, Turkish food,” Thompson said. The menu is developed by chef John Broening,  co-owner of Spuntino and culinary director for Thompson’s other restaurants, Le Grand Bistro and soon-to-open Argyll Whisky Beer.

The space is being designed in collaboration with Becky Stone of OZ Architecture.

Forty beers will be sold on tap.

Griffin will open in September and will reflect a German beer garden in its food and beers.

The bandwagon has landed.

CBS “This Morning” correspondent Mo Rocca goes head to head with John Blackstone over which city is cooler: Seattle or Denver.

Blackstone opines on Seattle’s origin of Starbuck’s (who cares?) and fresh fish from Pike Street Market, but Rocca one ups him with our lack of need for umbrellas due to our 300 days of dry weather and sun.

I lived in the Seattle-area twice and I remember breaking down in tears in June because it was pouring rain and way cold and I was wearing a raincoat. Just gross!

Rocca even goes so far as to try Rocky Mountain oysters at The Buckhorn Exchange, which many visitors shun. Right now, everyone whether on local or national TV is jumping on the bandwagon, but it’s beyond fun to see our Mile High City getting so much positive publicity!

You know that our Visit Denver folks are salivating!

See the whole bit at http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/seattle-vs-denver-which-super-bowl-city-is-best/. Freaking hilarious!

Denver Zoo and Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle have agreed to a friendly wager between the two Super Bowl teams.

If the Broncos win the Vince Lombardi Trophy Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., a curator from Woodland Park Zoo will hand deliver a case of Washington apples to Denver Zoo’s Przewalski’s horses and spend a day working with the horses and elephants while wearing a Broncos jersey.

Should the Seahawks win, Denver Zoo Curator of Birds John Azua will take a case of trout to Woodland Park Zoo for its sea eagles and spend a day working with the zoo’s animals while sporting a Seahawks jersey.

“Game on! Really, this bet is a win either way for us. Accredited zoos and aquariums work closely together and the exchange would also give us a chance to talk shop and compare best practices. Still, I expect the Broncos to win and for us to welcome and host our fallen colleague here in Denver!” Azua said.

Denver Zoo has extended its half-off admission discount to Broncos fans wearing orange or their favorite Bronco wear through Saturday.

Denver Zoo also launched an online campaign. “Fanimals,” where guests can pick which animal fan they most closely relate to on Facebook. As ancient relatives of domestic horses Przewalski’s horses are the original broncos. The horses’ name in their native country Mongolia is “takhi,” meaning spirit.

No, that’s not John Elway (just kidding!). That’s one of the Przewalski’s horses at Denver Zoo. Below, an orangutan shows off his Denver Broncos spirit. (Denver Zoo Facebook photos)

Beleaguered Toronto Mayor Rob Ford showed off his Super Bowl favorite by wearing the No. 74 Denver Broncos jersey during a press conference on Monday.

Ford, whose term as mayor has been riddled with scandals of drinking and crack-smoking, wore the jersey in support of Broncos offensive tackle Orlando Franklin, who lived in Toronto until his high school days. Franklin and his family moved to Florida when he drew interest as a football player. Franklin attended the University of Miami before being drafted by the Denver Broncos.

Orlando Franklin, above (the real No. 74 for the Denver Broncos) and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, below, who showed his support for the AFC champions and Franklin, a former Toronto resident, during a press conference this week. (Denver Broncos photo/Twitter photo)

As the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos prepare to face off in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday, community foundations in their home cities are calling on their communities to face off in a contest of charitable giving, called First and Give.

In Denver, the message is to be United in Orange to Fight Childhood Hunger, raising money to help feed hungry kids through the Food Bank of the Rockies, a flagship community partner of the Denver Broncos. Both The Denver Foundation and Food Bank of the Rockies are waiving all administrative charges so that every dollar raised will go directly to buy food for children in need.

In Seattle, they’re flexing their charitable muscles through the 12thManGives, raising money for Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington, which grants wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. The team will be sending kids to the Super Bowl through Make-A-Wish.

The great thing about First and Give is that everyone wins – the contributors, the youth, and the communities.

Beginning today, the foundations will be competing to see which organization can raise the most money and garner the highest number of individual donors through 10:59 p.m. MST on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2.

 With two measures of success, the “competition” could easily result in two winners!

“We are united in orange, and we’re united in big giving,” said Denver Foundation President and CEO David Miller. “The Metro Denver community can turn our Broncos team spirit into generosity. It’s time to ride!”

The Seattle Foundation’s president, former Seattle Mayor Norman B. Rice, was born and raised in Denver but has been a Seahawks fan since the team launched in 1976 and is a Seahawks season ticket holder.

“This is a victory for both our cities,” Rice said. “Of course, I have no doubt that the generosity of Seattle’s 12th Man fans will put us on top!”

To give go to www.denverfoundation.org, click on “donate now” and designate to United in Orange to Fight Childhood Hunger. The Denver Foundation will forward all proceeds directly to Food Bank of the Rockies to help feed hungry children in Metro Denver.

All gifts to the fund are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law, and will be distributed quickly to help fight childhood hunger in our community.