Lincoln Center Theater, in association with Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations, presents a new production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s prize-winning musical SOUTH PACIFIC, directed by Bartlett Sher. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC makes its Denver debut at the Buell Theater, playing July 20-August 1 as part of Denver Center Attractions 2010 Season. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, June 6 at www.denvercenter.org or by phone and walk-up Monday, June 7 at 10am.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2008 Tony Awards®, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. This breathtaking new production has created a sold-out sensation on Broadway, lauded by the critics as “Simply Wonderful! Beguiling theatrical magic!” (New York Post), “Ravishing and overwhelming” (Variety) and “Rapturous and revelatory!” (The New York Times).
Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.
Denver Center Attractions (DCA) has announced four additional engagements to its 2010 season. These added attractions include returns of MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!, TAP DOGS, GREASE and MAMMA MIA!.
Emmy and Tony Award-winner Hal Holbrook will appear in the one-man show MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! at the Buell Theatre for one night only, Saturday June 5, 2010. As Denver audiences know well, no one can embody Mark Twain like Hal Holbrook. He is one of the preeminent stage, television and film actors working today, and MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! is regarded as one of the most acclaimed and enduring performances in the history of theatre.
TAP DOGS, the international dance sensation, plays the Buell Theatre September 21-26. Created by Olivier Award-winning choreographer Dein Perry, with a construction site set by designer/director Nigel Triffitt and a driving score by composer Andrew Wilkie, TAP DOGS is a rough, tough, rocking theatrical entertainment. Winner of eleven international awards, TAP DOGS premiered at the Sydney Theatre Festival, moved on to London and New York, and has been a howling success all across North America, Europe, Asia, America and Australia.
Take a trip to a simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-ins and T-birds when audience favorite GREASE returns to the Buell October 12-17. Time Magazine’s 2007 pick for “#1 musical of the year,” this new version of GREASE is direct from Broadway and features—for the first time ever in a Broadway production—songs from the smash hit 1978 film, including “Sandy,” the Academy Award-nominated song “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Grease” and “You’re the One That I Want.” These songs are heard in addition to the Jacobs/Casey songs made famous by the original stage production including “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’” and “We Go Together.”
The global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! will play the Buell November 2-7. MAMMA MIA! is the ultimate feel-good show, combining ABBA’s greatest hits, including “Dancing Queen,” “S.O.S.,” “Super Trouper,” “Take A Chance on Me” and “The Winner Takes It All,” with an enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship. MAMMA MIA!, seen by over 40 million people around the world, is celebrating seven sold-out years at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. Additionally, the original West End production has played more than 4,000 performances, an international tour has played more than 40 cities, and the blockbuster feature film adaptation is the most successful movie musical of all time, grossing $600 million worldwide.
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) announced on Saturday that it will phase out its National Theatre Conservatory (NTC) over the next two years. The Conservatory is a three-year, accredited Master of Fine Arts program in acting. Founded in 1984 and chartered by US Congress, it currently has 28 students.
Considered one of the leading MFA programs in the country, its graduates have been successful in the professional world. To name a few recent examples, January LaVoy (Class of 2002) has been cast in the London West End transfer of Enron to Broadway, set to open April 8. John Behlmann (Class of 2006) will star in the off-Broadway transfer of the Tony Award-winning The 39 Steps, opening
March 25. Mat Hostetler (Class of 2009) recently began filming in Martin Scorsese's new HBO series, "Boardwalk Empire."
"Our mandate at The Denver Center first and foremost is to produce world class theatre on our professional stages," said Daniel L. Ritchie, Chairman and CEO. "With the prevailing economic conditions and their impact on our operations, we have decided to concentrate our resources on that principal endeavor."
The Denver Center will expand the highly successful educational programs of the Denver Center Theatre Academy which serve more than 50,000 students each year.
Songs as warm as a Christmas pudding just pulled from the oven fill the cold, gloomy streets of Victorian London with joy as the Denver Center Theatre Company presents 'A Christmas Carol' - the time honored telling of the transformation of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come.
Comedy takes over at the Denver Center Theatre Company for this pre-holiday season with Lisa Kron’s funny autobiographical comedy 'Well' opening the 2009/10 season in The Ricketson Theatre and 'Absurd Person Singular', Alan Ayckbourn’s uproarious adult comedy set on three consecutive Christmas Eves warms up The Space Theatre.
On Saturday, October 31, the Denver Center will present Irresistibly Wicked - a 'Wicked'-themed Halloween event with captivating music, cash prizes, incredible decor, dancing, and delicious food all set in a spectacular nightclub environment at the transformed Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Check out some sexy shots below from a recent photoshoot to promote the event. The sexy flying monkey is pretty cool but I'm not sure who or what the half-naked guy is supposed to be.
The Denver Center Theatre Academy wraps up Fall Break and the Halloween weekend with a FREE Family Fun Forum on Sunday, November 1 from 12-2pm in the Newman Center for Theatre Education at 1101 13th St.
The afternoon engages families and groups in Halloween-themed activities designed for the smallest goblin to the oldest warlock. Participants will walk the tightrope of terror, fly from a trapeze and hone their witches cackle - all the while earning tokens redeemable for prizes and treats. Costumes are encouraged - this is the theatre after all!
Supported by Target, Family Fun Forums are free but reservations are appreciated at 303.446.4892.
Tune in each month to the Denver Center Theatre Company's online video series, where creator and host Charlie Miller explores never-before-seen aspects of the production process. Hear from the Theatre Company’s artists and designers, get unrestricted backstage access and learn fun facts about the Company with each episode. Don’t miss this engaging and insightful look at a play’s journey from the page to the stage.
Watch previous episodes on The Denver Center's YouTube Channel.
Denver Center Attractions has announced two shows that will visit Denver next year as added attractions. The legendary Broadway musical CATS will prowl The Buell Theatre stage January 13-17, and the family classic FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will play The Ellie Caulkins Opera House May 18-23. Single tickets are not available at this time; on-sale information will be announced at a later date. However, DCA 2010 subscribers will receive priority access to purchase tickets to these shows prior to the general public.
More information after the jump. CATS, the show that revolutionized musical theatre, will play The Buell Theatre January 13-17. With original direction by Trevor Nunn and choreography by Gillian Lynne this is the CATS credited with the British invasion of Broadway, and the only production in North America sanctioned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Now in its 27th year, the national tour of CATS is the longest continuously touring Broadway musical in history.
Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS won seven 1983 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Lighting and Best Costumes. The production played 21 years in London’s West End and 18 years on Broadway.
The Tony Award-winning production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will play The Ellie Caulkins Opera House May 18-23, offering the once in a lifetime opportunity to see Chaim Topol, the man who made the role of Tevye famous in the 1972 Oscar-nominated film. Topol was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for his performance in that film. In 1983, he reprised the role of Tevye in a London stage revival and in 1990 he again played the part in a Broadway revival, and was nominated for a Tony Award for that performance.
In 1965 Jerome Robbins won matching Tony Awards for his direction and choreography of Broadway’s FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. In this national tour, both are faithfully recreated by director Sammy Dallas Bayes, choreographer of the Broadway revival.
Based on the timeless stories of Sholom Aleichem, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has been heralded as one of the great masterpieces in American musical theatre, weaving music, dance, poignancy and laughter into an electrifying and unforgettable experience. Tevye’s wrestling with the new customs of a younger generation is punctuated by an unforgettable score that weaves the haunting strains of “Sunrise, Sunset” and the rousing “If I Were A Rich Man” with the exuberant “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and triumphant “Tradition.” For more information about FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, visit www.fiddlerontour.com.
Denver Center Attractions announces a “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” season of Broadway hits headed for Denver in 2010. With shows hot off the Great White Way, new takes on classic favorites, and fresh new musicals, the 2010 season is not to be missed.
Denver will go blonde when LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL plays The Buell Theatre February 2–14. When sorority star Elle Woods gets dumped for someone more “serious,” she puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. In its first year on Broadway, LEGALLY BLONDE earned seven 2007 Tony® Award nominations, ten Drama Desk Award nominations and an Outer Critics Circle Award. As on Broadway, Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell is the director and choreographer, and the award-winning book of the musical was written by Colorado’s own Heather Hach.
Check out the rest of the season's lineup after the jump. Beginning March 4, the world’s most famous nanny will arrive at The Buell Theatre for a five week run. Combining the best of the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film, the Tony Award-winning MARY POPPINS is everything you’d hope for in a Broadway musical—and more. Produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, the show includes classic songs “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and of course, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The NY Daily News hails MARY POPPINS as “a roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!”
Subscribers will next see MAMA HATED DIESELS, a world premiere musical produced by Denver Center Theatre Company, in The Stage Theatre March 19–May 9. Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman, co-authors of the Denver Center hits Fire on the Mountain and It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, create a rambunctious musical portrait of America’s long-distance truckers. Drawn from interviews with the men and women who criss-cross the country in their 18-wheelers, the musical marries Myler’s gift for real-life grit and high-rolling entertainment with Wheetman’s ear for the midnight jukebox sounds of a truck stop café.
Next up, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards and the 2008 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album, IN THE HEIGHTS dances into The Buell April 28–May 9. IN THE HEIGHTS tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood—a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures—where the biggest struggle can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. The Washington Post said IN THE HEIGHTS is “pure Broadway…an evening of old-style, innocent pleasure,” and Ben Brantley of The New York Times enthused, IN THE HEIGHTS is “an exuberant, animated shrine to the importance of family ties and being faithful to where you come from.”
Mel Brooks is at it again, following up his smash hit The Producers with the stage adaptation of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, playing The Buell Theatre June 15–27. The classic movie is ALIVE in a spectacular new production, winner of the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and the Broadway.com Audience Award for Best Musical. A sensational cast delivers all the classic moments from the film, plus brand-new show-stopping numbers for the stage, including "Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and “Puttin' on the Ritz." This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to create a monster—but not without scary and hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three- time Tony-winner Mel Brooks himself—who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book—along with his record-breaking team from The Producers, five-time Tony-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman and three-time Tony-winning writer Thomas Meehan.
Lincoln Center Theater’s triumphant reinvigoration of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC comes to The Buell Theatre stage July 20–August 1. SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2008 Tony Awards, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. This breathtaking new production has created a sold-out sensation on Broadway, lauded by the critics as “Simply wonderful…Beguiling theatrical magic” (New York Post), “ravishing and overwhelming” (Variety) and “rapturous and revelatory” (The New York Times). Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples – US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque, and Navy Airman Joe Cable and young local native girl Liat – and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score’s songs include such classics as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Bali Ha’i,” “There is Nothin’ Like A Dame,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and “A Wonderful Guy.”
THE 101 DALMATIANS MUSICAL hits The Buell August 31–September 12, when one of the world’s most beloved stories comes to life on the national stage for the first time. Based on the book by Dodie Smith, THE 101 DALMATIANS MUSICAL is a one-of-a-kind adventure for the entire family, all about what it means to be a family, canine and courageous. The musical is led by an award-winning creative team including four-time Tony Award-winning director Jerry Zaks (A Bronx Tale, Smokey Joe’s Café, Guys and Dolls), acclaimed bookwriter and co-lyricist BT McNicholl (Billy Elliot, Spamalot, The IT Girl), and Dennis DeYoung, founding member of the legendary rock band STYX, as composer and co-lyricist. In keeping with the spirit of the original story, THE 101 DALMATIANS MUSICAL promises a quirky, upside-down view of the world, where the audience sees life from a dog’s point of view. In addition to the bevy of talented human actors, the musical will showcase fifteen talented Dalmatians, many of which were rescued from animal shelters across the country and given a new lease on life with this starring role.
Rounding out the season will be SHREK The Musical, coming to The Buell Theatre in November 2010. Based on the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks film that started it all, SHREK tells the story of a swamp-dwelling ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure to reclaim the deed to his land. Joined by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess and learns that real friendship and true love aren’t only found in fairy tales. SHREK features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change) and is directed by Tony Award-nominee Jason Moore (Avenue Q). Full of big laughs, great dancing and breathtaking scenery, SHREK is part romance, part twisted fairy tale and all irreverent fun for everyone.
2010 season ticket packages start at just $219.25 for new subscribers. 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 can also be purchased online at www.denvercenter.org/bwaysubs. Single tickets are not available at this time.
Academy Award-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri will visit Denver’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House June 9-21 to perform his critically-lauded one-man show 'A Bronx Tale.' Single tickets go on sale Sunday, May 3 at www.denvercenter.org, or by phone and walk-up Monday, May 4 at 10am.
'A Bronx Tale,' the funny and touching memoir written by and starring Chazz Palminteri, launched its national tour in September 2008 to rave reviews. Paul Hodgins of the Orange County Register said it is "Masterful!...It occupies 100 minutes but it feels like five...it's been almost 20 years since Palminteri's one-man show, in which he plays 18 characters, first catapulted him to fame, but after two decades with this wonderful material, Palminteri's story still seems as fresh and insightful as ever."
The Denver Center Theatre Company concludes the season by opening a new production of the inspiring pioneer musical 'Quilters' by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, music and lyrics by Barbara Damashek – one of the most honored and best loved world premieres in the company’s 30 season history.
In celebration of the 'Quilters' homecoming, a special exhibit of quilts will be on display in the main lobby of the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. The exhibit, collected through a nationwide search for “quilts with a story” by The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, will include the original quilt from the world premiere production of Quilters and more than 30 others.
Among the quilts on display will be panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt – the largest ongoing community arts project in the world – commemorating the lives of more than 40,000 individuals.
Brenda Ohlschwager, Executive Director of the museum said, "It is an honor to celebrate the legacy of quilters and to be a part of the 'Quilters' homecoming."
Hours of the exhibit are 5pm to 8pm Monday – Saturday (May 22 – June 20) and Tuesday – Sunday (June 23 – July 12).
Denver Center Attractions today announced fall engagements of two immensely popular touring shows to play the Buell Theatre. RAIN – A Tribute to The Beatles will play September 22-27, and RIVERDANCE will play eight farewell performances November 24-29. Ticket on-sale information will be announced at a later date.
About RAIN: In a show the Denver Post calls “the next best thing to seeing The Beatles,” RAIN boasts a repertoire of nearly 200 Beatlemaniac favorites, ranging from such beloved songs as “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude” to classic hits including “Revolution” and “Come Together.” RAIN covers The Beatles from their very first Ed Sullivan Show appearance through the Abbey Road album, through the psychedelic late 60s and their long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. RAIN is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience which includes a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from the 1960s.
For the four longtime band members – Joey Curatolo (Paul McCartney), Joe Bithorn (George Harrison), Ralph Castelli (Ringo Starr) and Steve Landes (John Lennon), with a little help from their friend Mark Lewis (keyboards, percussion) – the music is first and foremost. For more than two decades, RAIN has distinguished itself by focusing on details, always being faithful to The Beatles with the ultimate goal of delivering a perfect note-for-note performance. All the music is performed live, with no pre-recorded tapes or sequences.
About RIVERDANCE: This thunderous celebration of Irish music, song and dance that has tapped its way onto the world stage thrilling millions of people around the globe will play eight farewell performances in Denver. Composed by Bill Whelan, produced by Moya Doherty and directed by John McColgan, to date, RIVERDANCE has played over 10,000 performances, been seen live by more than 21 million people in over 300 venues throughout 32 countries across 4 continents. They have traveled well over 563,000 miles (or to the moon and back!), played to a worldwide television audience of nearly 2 billion; sold over 3 million copies of the Grammy Award-winning CD (certified Platinum in the US) and over 10 million videos making it one of the best-selling entertainment videos in the world! RIVERDANCE had its world premiere at the Point Theatre, Dublin, in February 1995, where it opened to unanimous critical acclaim.
Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, and Gwen Stewart will reprise the roles they originated on Broadway in RENT: The Broadway Tour when it visits Denver’s Buell Theatre June 9-14. Tickets are now on sale.
Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Gwen Stewart originated the roles of Roger Davis, Mark Cohen and “Seasons of Love” soloist, respectively, at New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway.
'Rent' is the seventh longest running show in Broadway history and grossed over $280 million during its Broadway run.
Single tickets for RENT start at just $20. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303-893-4100. Tickets may also be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex Lobby, or at TicketsWest outlets, located in all King Soopers stores. Buy and print online at www.denvercenter.org.
After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in both 2005 and 2007, the smash-hit musical WICKED will return to Denver’s Buell Theatre October 7 – November 15. Tickets for the return engagement go on sale Sunday, April 19 at 10am.
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”), WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is directed by 2003 and 2004 Tony® Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Assassins, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues, Glengarry Glen Ross) and features musical staging by Tony® Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…).
Read more after the jump. Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED, winner of 20 major awards, including a Grammy® and three Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz. It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
“We are extremely happy to be the first market to host a third engagement of this most remarkable show,” said Denver Center for the Performing Arts President and Chief Operating Officer, Randy Weeks. “Denver has enthusiastically welcomed WICKED in the past and we are eager to bring it back - both for new audiences to discover the magic for the first time and for fans of the show to relive the experience again.”
Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One – born with emerald-green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.
WICKED has “cast quite a spell” (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.
Called “one of the most successful shows in Broadway history” by The New York Times and “a phenomenon that keeps growing” by the Los Angeles Times, WICKED continues to thrill audiences around the world. There are currently eight productions of WICKED worldwide, including two North American tours, a Broadway production, San Francisco production, London production, a Japanese-language production, a German-language production and Australian production. A Dutch-language production of WICKED will open in 2011.
WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winner Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty (Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony® nominee Kenneth Posner (Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King and the recent Man of La Mancha). Stephen Oremus is the show’s musical director. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.
Single tickets for WICKED start at just $35. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303.893.4100. Buy and print online at www.denvercenter.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex Lobby, or at TicketsWest outlets, located in all King Soopers stores. TTY (for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons):303.893.9582. Groups of 15 or more, please call 303.446.4829.
This spring, the Denver Center Theatre Company will complete an extraordinary journey through the decades of the Twentieth Century with director Israel Hicks and August Wilson’s Radio Golf, remember the story of faith in a stage adaptation of John Irving’s sweeping novel in A Prayer for Owen Meany, and laugh with the Serrano family in the world premiere of Sunsets and Margaritas.
Read more after the jump. August Wilson’s Radio Golf Directed by Israel Hicks Through April 25, 2009 The Space Theatre
An unprecedented theatrical event – one director, one theatre company and all ten plays. With this production of Radio Golf director Israel Hicks will complete his singular vision of the cycle of August Wilson’s ten-play chronicle of the 20th Century African-American experience.
Again the setting is the Hill District of Pittsburgh and Radio Golf begins as redevelopment threatens the preservation of a landmark house with important spiritual meaning to the neighborhood. With the history of a people at stake, an entrepreneur, who hopes to become the city’s first Black mayor, is trailed by his past and secrets that could become his undoing.
Many in Hicks’ design team and cast have accompanied him through his DCTC journey. Designing the set is Michael Ganio, set designer for the previous productions of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars and Two Trains Running. Costume designer David Kay Mickelsen has designed DCTC productions of Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney, Two Trains Running and Seven Guitars. Charles R. MacLeod has been Hicks’ lighting designer on Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Piano Lesson. Sound Designer Jason Ducat (Dusty and the Big Bad World, Glengarry Glen Ross) joins the team for Radio Golf.
The cast includes Harvy Blanks (Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Fences) as Sterling Johnson, Terrence Riggins (Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II) as Harmond Wilks, Kim Staunton (Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II) as Mame Wilks, Charles Weldon (Gem of the Ocean, King Hedley II, Jitney, Two Trains Running, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as Elder Joseph Barlow, and making his Denver Center debut is Darryl Alan Reed (St. Louis Black Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse) as Roosevelt Hicks.
A Prayer for Owen Meany a novel by John Irving Adapted by Simon Bent Directed by Bruce K. Sevy Through April 25, 2009 The Stage Theatre Mature Audiences
Simon Bent adapted John Irving’s sweeping novel A Prayer for Owen Meany for London’s National Theatre. Artistic Director Kent Thompson was drawn to the play for Denver audiences because it is so extraordinary to find a contemporary play about religious faith. Director Bruce Sevy “cherished the ‘ride’ of reading the play” and found surprise and mystery in this adaptation.
Narrated by John Wheelwright recounting his childhood memories, the play selects specific memorable images and characters from the epic novel. Owen Meany, a curiously small child with a high-pitched voice, was John’s best friend. When Owen accidentally kills John’s mother in 1950s New Hampshire, the two boys are forever linked as they search for truth in this provocative dark comedy of friendship, faith and destiny.
Scenic Designer William Bloodgood (Dusty and the Big Bad World, You Can’t Take It With You) has set the play in a neutral space with the stepped walls of a granite quarry in the colors of a perfectly remembered New England autumn. The costume designer is Bill Black (Dusty and the Big Bad World, Doubt, Mrs. Warren’s Profession), lighting design is by Tony-nominated Ann G. Wrightson (Inana), and the sound designer is Craig Breitenbach (Richard III, Noises Off, The Merry Wives of Windsor). Music was composed or arranged by Gregg Coffin (A Christmas Carol, The Merry Wives of Windsor), fight direction is by Geoffrey Kent (The Miracle Worker, Noises Off) and the vocal coach is Hilary Blair.
The large cast of A Prayer for Owen Meany is led by Denver Center newcomer Michael Wartella (Off-Broadway’s Seusical, Oliver Twist) as Owen and company member David Ivers (Noises Off, Pride and Prejudice) as John Wheelwright. They are joined by Jeanne Paulsen (Richard III, Doubt) as Harriet Wheelwright, Kathleen McCall (Richard III, Plainsong) as Tabitha Wheelwright, Kathleen M. Brady (Richard III, The Trip to Bountiful) as Lydia, James Michael Reilly (Glengarry Glen Ross, You Can’t Take It With You) as Dan Needham, John Hutton (The Miracle Worker, Plainsong) as Reverend Merrill, Mike Hartman (Glengarry Glen Ross, Plainsong) as Mr. Meany, Gordana Rashovich (Master Class, Cripple of Inishmaan) as Mrs. Meany/Mrs. Lish, newcomer Cheryl Lynn Bowers (Off-Broadway’s Essential Self-Defense, The Underpants) as Barb Wiggins, Sam Gregory (Noises Off, Doubt) as Rector Wiggins/Jarvit Dad, Philip Pleasants (Noises Off, Plainsong) as Mr. Fish and Dr. Dolder, Randy Moore (The Merry Wives of Windsor, You Can’t Take It With You) as Randy White, and Douglas Bynum, Megan Byrne, Kelli Crump, Sean Lyons, Rebeca Martin, Chris Mazza, M. Scott McLean, Shauna Miles, Larry Paulsen, Jenna Panther, Dawn Scott and Joseph Yeargain.
A Denver Center World Premiere Sunsets and Margaritas by José Cruz González Directed by Nicholas C. Avila Through May 16, 2009 The Ricketson Theatre
Denver Center commissioned playwright José Cruz González traveled to Denver and Pueblo in September 2006 to talk with Colorado Latino groups. He found four topics that came up repeatedly in his conversations – family, food, music and ritual – along with the themes of middle age crisis and aging parents. The result is his funny and touching world premiere Sunsets and Margaritas.
Three generations of a Mexican-American family are plunged into one hilarious crisis after another when patriarch Candelario Serrano begins to lose control of his restaurant and his family. Candelario’s traditional conservative values have been abandoned by the family’s younger generation and the appearance of a mysterious vision sends everyone spinning comically out of control. At the heart of Sunsets and Margaritas is “family” – the Serrano family’s reexamining of their beliefs while emerging stronger.
Director Nicholas C. Avila has put together a team to design the interior of Serenata Colorado Restaurant and Cantina. They include Scenic and Costume Designer Sara Ryung Clement (making her Denver Center debut), Lighting Designer Jane Spencer (Doubt, The Pillowman, Jesus Hates Me) and Sound Designer Morgan A. McCauley (Inana, The Miracle Worker, The Trip to Bountiful). The dramaturg is Douglas Langworthy (The Miracle Worker, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Trip to Bountiful).
The cast includes Romi Dias (Living Out, The Clean House) as Virgin de Guadalupe/La Soldadera/La Llorona/Olivia Serrano, Ricardo Gutierrez (Lydia) as Candelario Serrano, April Ortiz (Barrio Babies) as Luz Serrano, and making their Denver center debuts are Sol Castillo (South Coast Repertory, national tour of Veteranos: A Legacy of Valor) as Jojo Serrano, Sarah Nina Hayon (LAByrinth Theater Company, The Public Theater) as Gabby Serrano, Philip Hernandez (Broadway’s Les Miserables, Kiss of the Spider Woman) as Gregorio Serrano, Bryant Mason (New York Classical Theatre, Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre) as Sheriff Hubert Montoya, and Jamie Ann Romero (Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Listen Productions) as Bianca Carrillo.
Season 30 Performance Schedule Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday performances are at 6:30pm. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm. Saturday matinees are at 1:30pm
Tickets and Subscriptions Single tickets start at $34 ($25 for the world premiere) and are on sale now. The Denver Center Box Office located in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex is open from 10am to 6pm Monday through Saturday. To purchase tickets by phone call (303) 893-4100 – for those outside the Denver calling area, 1 (800) 641-1222, TTY (303) 893-9582. Buy and print tickets on-line by visiting www.denvercenter.org.
Imagine if you could win the lottery, travel to your perfect place in the blink of an eye, own your dream car, or turn back the hands of time. It all becomes a reality, every night in David Copperfield: AN INTIMATE EVENING OF GRAND ILLUSION, coming to the Buell Theatre May 8-10. Tickets go on sale Sunday, April 5.
True to its title, GRAND ILLUSION is the logical and incredible evolution of this conjurer’s art. Copperfield’s goal in GRAND ILLUSION is to take one’s dreams (and maybe a few nightmares) and make them become reality using his state of the art wizardry.
“For magic to be relevant,” explains Copperfield, “it has to evolve so it keeps up with, or even surpasses, the best film and theater. I want to base my work on what people really dream about. Most of us don’t dream of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But what affects people is realizing personal dreams, dreams almost everyone shares, that they thought were impossible. In the cinema the audience watches the characters’ dreams come true.”
Read more after the jump. Copperfield adds, “‘Grand Illusion’ was partly inspired by an unfulfilled wish of my grandfather’s that a lot of people share: winning the lottery and finally owning that one special thing you always dreamed of. We call it an ‘intimate’ evening of grand illusion partly because it’s interactive. In one of the pieces, for example, the audience discovers how to predict lottery numbers that will come up that night. They get to participate in illusions that blur the line between magic and reality.”
Copperfield delights audiences when he magically brings an ordinary necktie to life, only to find out the tie has a mind of its own. The show will also feature the spectacular and death defying feat of David attempting to walk through the rotating blades of a giant industrial fan – and live to tell the tale. The show is truly “Grand Illusion” on a massive scale. For more information, please visit www.dcopperfield.com.
Single tickets for AN EVENING OF GRAND ILLUSION start at just $20. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303.893.4100. TTY (for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons): 303.893.9582. Groups of 15 or more, please call 303.446.4829. Tickets may also be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex Lobby, or at TicketsWest outlets, located in all King Soopers stores. Buy and print online at www.denvercenter.org.
Seven MFA-degree candidates of the Denver-based National Theatre Conservatory (NTC) will present Macbeth and Cloud 9 — two diametrically different plays — in the annual NTC Rep, which runs April 8-25 in The Conservatory Theatre at 1101 13th Street. Familiar to local audiences from their work with alongside the veteran members of the Denver Center Theatre Company, these students are completing this three-year Master of Fine Arts degree program with two fully-produced plays.
Christian Haines, Rob Hille, Mat Hostetler, Kate Hurster, Leigh Miller, Melissa Ortiz and Kathleen Wallace have been seen this season in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s productions of The Miracle Worker, The Trip to Bountiful, Noises Off, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Christmas Carol, Dusty and the Big Bad World and Richard III. Additionally, several of these students have worked at area theatre companies including Curious Theatre Company and Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Joining the students will be local favorite Geoffrey Kent, actor and fight director with many leading companies throughout the area.
Read more after the jump. NTC Chair of Acting Larry Hecht — known to audiences for his roles in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s productions of Glengarry Glen Ross, The Pillowman and A Skull in Connemara — will direct Cloud 9, a wickedly funny, take-no-prisoners, romp that challenges standard notions of gender. It is a whirlwind tour from 1880s Africa to 1979 London that lampoons colonial and sexual repression with a gender-bent cast of characters who traverse 100 years while aging only 25 years. Part farce, part musical, all comedy, this groundbreaking play jumps time, space and conventions.
Rick Barbour, new to the National Theatre Conservatory but a faculty member at University of Denver’s Department of Theatre, will direct Macbeth, Shakespeare’s dark, supernatural tale of ambition, murder, guilt and revenge. Three mysterious witches fan the flames of Macbeth and his wife’s ambition with promises of power. They kill the King of Scotland and win the throne only to find themselves falling deeper into a web of treachery and deceit that ultimately spells their doom. Producing Partners: Isabelle Clark and Mike & Diana Kinsey
Both plays will be performed in The Conservatory Theatre at 1101 13th Street in the Robert & Judi Newman Center for Theatre Education. Tickets are $18 and may be purchased at 303.893.4100 or denvercenter.org. Performance dates and times are:
The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2005, Monty Python's SPAMALOT, will return to Denver’s Buell Theater for a limited one-week engagement May 13-17 starring John O’Hurley as King Arthur. Tickets go on sale Sunday, March 29 at 10am.
One of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive,” John O'Hurley has catapulted into television’s busiest and most versatile actor, show host, advertising hero and feature film star. The award-winning actor is best known as "J. Peterman" on "Seinfeld," which is now the #1 syndicated series in the world in 85 countries. He danced his way into the hearts of America as the ultimate champion of the highly rated ABC show “Dancing with the Stars,” and then starred on Broadway in Chicago, as “Billy Flynn.” John’s television career initially began as a twelve-year veteran of daytime television. His daytime shows include "The Young and The Restless," "All My Children," "Loving," "Santa Barbara" and "The Edge of Night," and more than 50 guests starring roles include appearances on "Murder She Wrote," "Frasier," "The X Files" and "Melrose Place." O'Hurley has appeared in several television movies including "Life of the Party" opposite Ann-Margret, "Inner Sanctum" opposite Victoria Principal, "Murder of Thelma Todd" with Loni Anderson and "Blood on Her Hands" with Susan Lucci.
In film, O'Hurley starred in Race to Space opposite James Woods and Billy the Kid with Val Kilmer. Currently, he is producing The Richard Petty Story, along with Dan Halsted (Any Given Sunday), about the legendary race car driver. Dennis Quaid is also attached to the project. In production development, John is also working on the film version of the New York Times' bestseller Ahab's Wife.
John lends his voice to several of America's most popular cartoons. He is currently playing "King Neptune" in "SpongeBob SquarePants", "Captain Star Johnson" in "Duck Dodgers," "King Wallace II" in "Kim Possible" and will soon begin work as the narrator on Nickelodeon's new cartoon "Captain Itch." Previously John has worked on "What's New, Scooby Doo?", "Lloyd in Space" and "Family Guy."
Outside of television and feature films, O'Hurley is also an accomplished stage actor. His love of the theater has led him in starring roles on the national tours of Pirates of Penzance, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Brigadoon. Most recently, John starred with Loretta Swit in the comedy Same Time Next Year, where his performance received rave reviews. O'Hurley has also shown his musical talent on stage in several performances of Broadway songs accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra.
Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's SPAMALOT is the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director (Mike Nichols), as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical.
The original cast recording of Monty Python's SPAMALOT recently won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
Directed by Mike Nichols, Monty Python's SPAMALOT features a book by Eric Idle, based on the screenplay of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Monty Python creators Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, with music and lyrics by the Grammy Award-winning team of Mr. Idle and John Du Prez. Casey Nicholaw is the choreographer.
Monty Python's SPAMALOT is produced by Boyett Ostar Productions.
Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python's SPAMALOT features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight.
Premier French Canadian circus Cirque Éloize has teamed with the Swiss acrobatic theatre troupe Teatro Sunil to create NEBBIA, a vibrant production featuring contemporary circus arts, music, dance and theatre. The show, helmed by the acclaimed director Daniele Finzi Pasca (Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo), plunges audiences into a fantastical world of dreams, imagination and the unexpected. NEBBIA – Italian for “fog” – will play Denver’s Buell Theatre April 28 and 29 for two shows only. Tickets are on sale now.
NEBBIA features an international cast of acrobats, clowns, jugglers, trapeze artists and musicians, led by director and choreographer Daniele Finzi Pasca, whose unique style has been seen in Cirque Eloize’s Rain on Broadway, in Cirque du Soleil’s hit show Corteo, and in the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.
Le Telejournal Montreal declares NEBBIA “a true masterpiece,” and Le Journal de Montreal raves, "At times sidesplitting, at other times heart-wrenching, the quality of this performance by Cirque Éloize and Teatro Sunil is extraordinary…this is circus that you can feel, where emotion is conveyed as if by magic."
NEBBIA is the third part of the Sky Trilogy, an eight-year collaboration between Cirque Éloize and Daniele Finzi Pasca. The three shows – Nomade, Rain and Nebbia – explore the world of acrobatics and the poetry of circus arts through profoundly human characters
Single tickets for NEBBIA start at just $20. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303.893.4100. TTY (for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons): 303.893.9582. Groups of 15 or more, please call 303.446.4829. Tickets may also be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex Lobby, or at TicketsWest outlets, located in all King Soopers stores. Buy and print online at www.denvercenter.org.
