Due to popular demand, Denver Center Attractions announces an additional extension of I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE to feature a new summer schedule and prices. For
performances July 3 – September 1 all tickets to the Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday matinee performances are $24.
The summer performance schedule begins July 17. Tickets are now on sale through October 14 at www.denvercenter.org or by calling 303.893.4100.
Click here to check out the MileHighGayGuy review of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change by Philip Doyle.
Showing posts with label Theater Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theater Review. Show all posts
Friday, June 29, 2012
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change extended through October 14
Labels: gay Denver, MileHighGayGuy, LGBT Denver
Philip Doyle,
Theater,
Theater Review
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Theater Review: Tickled Pink by Legally Blonde, The Musical
By Susan Hennessy
The case at hand:
Do you want a blonde Delta Nu Fashion Merchandising major who performed
her way into Harvard Law dressed as a majorette backed by the UCLA marching
band representing you in a murder trial?
You do if her name is Woods, comma Elle. She has the stuff! Complete with a Greek Chorus, this girl who gets kicked to the curb by her corporate ladder climbing boyfriend, Warner, digs in, and after someone commits an indiscretion she ends up flying solo for their client. Elle is a tender and true friend who challenges those around her to embrace their own individuality, just like she did for her sorority sisters. And all the while, dressed in pink! OMG!
If you want to be stuck with a smile on your face and a giggle in your throat for over two hours, then hurry to the Arvada Center to see Legally Blonde, The Musical directed by Gavin Mayer. This ensemble cast fills the stage with high energy dance numbers and splendid singing. The book, written by Colorado’s own Tony nominated writer, Heather Hach, is humorous with the right touch of pithy repartee that is highly entertaining with a touch of naughty. Costumes by Project Runway’s Mondo Guerra (fun lyrics added to this point) cleverly pump up the volume for each character rather than their disappearing within the group. Pink is subtlety introduced in costuming for the non believers of Elle’s gift for law, ultimately reflecting pink as a color of power rather than cutesy. This helps this seemingly “pink” story on the outside carry some sweet meaning, especially for the teenagers in the audience.
You do if her name is Woods, comma Elle. She has the stuff! Complete with a Greek Chorus, this girl who gets kicked to the curb by her corporate ladder climbing boyfriend, Warner, digs in, and after someone commits an indiscretion she ends up flying solo for their client. Elle is a tender and true friend who challenges those around her to embrace their own individuality, just like she did for her sorority sisters. And all the while, dressed in pink! OMG!
If you want to be stuck with a smile on your face and a giggle in your throat for over two hours, then hurry to the Arvada Center to see Legally Blonde, The Musical directed by Gavin Mayer. This ensemble cast fills the stage with high energy dance numbers and splendid singing. The book, written by Colorado’s own Tony nominated writer, Heather Hach, is humorous with the right touch of pithy repartee that is highly entertaining with a touch of naughty. Costumes by Project Runway’s Mondo Guerra (fun lyrics added to this point) cleverly pump up the volume for each character rather than their disappearing within the group. Pink is subtlety introduced in costuming for the non believers of Elle’s gift for law, ultimately reflecting pink as a color of power rather than cutesy. This helps this seemingly “pink” story on the outside carry some sweet meaning, especially for the teenagers in the audience.
During its first year on Broadway in 2007, Legally Blonde the Musical earned seven Tony Award nominations, 10 Drama Desk Award nominations and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Not to mention the Best Musical of 2011 Olivier Award. Don’t be a blonde about not taking this show seriously – the joke might be on you!
Legally Blonde, The Musical plays through July 1 at The Arvada Center. Click here for tickets or more information.
Labels: gay Denver, MileHighGayGuy, LGBT Denver
Legally Blonde,
Susan Hennessy,
Theater Review
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Theater Review: In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play
By Philip Doyle
The
following review contains adult subject matter. This is not a warning, but rather a seductive
tease. I’m going to talk about
vibrators. While I have never been one
to embrace the harmonic pleasures of such a device … I have been acquainted with people (you know who
you are), who unabashedly relish the joys of achieving resonant frequency with
electronic gadgetry. So before I delve
deeper into the subject I suggest that you just relax. Breathe.
Don’t be so tense. Trust me. The more you let go, the more you will enjoy
yourself.
In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, is Sarah Ruhl’s Tony Award nominated play about the
innovation of the electric vibrator. It is set in the 1880’s, when human toil was
meeting head on with high voltage electricity that powered an industrial revolution. An exciting time when Thomas Edison began to
introduce the light bulb into every home, dogs and elephants were being
electrocuted for curiosity, and innovative sex toys became therapeutic medical
instruments.
Calling this show a play
about vibrators does not do it justice.
I guess for marketing purposes it can get tickets sold, but let’s not
lessen it’s integrity. Sure watching
prim and proper women (and a man) discovering orgasm via a clunky hand-held
appliance is funny. I mean the zee-zee-ing
of the noise alone is funny. It’s damn
funny.
What makes In the Next Room a great show is that
it is way more than a Vibrator Play. It is about transduction, the transference of
energy from one system to the next. On
one hand you have electricity replacing effort, like the on and off switching of
a light. On the other hand, there is the
intangible spiritual energy of intimacy, like the loving bond of a mother
breast-feeding a newborn baby.
Dr. Givings (Charlie Wingerter)
has developed an electronic vibrator that remedies the build up of certain body
fluids that cause hysteria. Under the
doctor’s supervision the rapid vibrations of his device cause a paroxysm, and a
release of the congested fluids inside the womb. Dr. Givings is devoted to the scientific
method and any connection of his medical treatment relating to sexual pleasure
is completely lost to him. Wingerter
portrays the good doctor with a scientific obsession and objectifying bedside
manner.
Mrs. Givings (Kaity
Talmage-Bowers) is brimming with energetic curiosity. Her attention shifts wildly in an attempt to
discover her place in the world. Kaity
Talmage-Bowers gives her character an amusing sense of longing, a joy to
watch.
The first patient we witness
surrendering to the pleasures of the vibrator is Mrs. Daldry (Aimee Janelle
Nelson). Mrs. Daldry is clearly damaged
and lonely, and Nelson’s portrayal is ecstatically funny while remaining
delicately sensitive. Mr. Daldry (Arthur
Pierce) finds his wife’s condition curious, but recognizes the need for her
daily dose of vibration.
Annie (Linda Swanson Brown)
is the dutiful doctor’s assistant. She
becomes an important emotional connection that the vibrator lacks. Elizabeth (Lisa Young) also fulfills an
important role as a wet nurse for Mrs. Givings.
Lisa Young has a magnetic emotional capability that becomes the
beautiful human cornerstone of this play.
Leo (Adam Perkes) is the
doctor’s male patient. It seems that
hysteria in men, while rare is quite common in “artists”. Leo gives it up to the humming intrusion of
the vibrator, and hoists this play’s second act up with foppish charm and
wit. Perkes is whirlwind of exquisite
energy, an actor driven with confident intent.
For me, Perkes gives a performance that is well worth the price of a
ticket.
There is a moment in the
second act when In the Next Room shifts
in energy. The comic tone becomes
something more meaningful and intimate. Like the alluring vibrato of a single
sustained violin note, it brings you in closer.
If I owned a bowler hat,
I would definitely tip it to Elliot Clough for providing the layers upon layers
of period style costumes. I also must
acknowledge the rest of the crew for their outstanding effort.
My highest commendation goes
to director Deb Flomberg, for embodying this production with moments of joyful
hysteria while respecting the intent of the play’s message. The result of her efforts transcend the
shameless appeal of In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play,
proving it is so much more than the sum of its mechanical parts.
Equinox TheatreCompany presents the
Denver Premier of “In the
Next Room, or the Vibrator Play” by Sarah Ruhl through June 16, Friday and Saturday at 7:30
PM at the Bug Theatre.Tickets are $15.
Labels: gay Denver, MileHighGayGuy, LGBT Denver
Philip Doyle,
Theater Review
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Theater Review: Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare
By Susan Hennessey
A partnered production between Arvada Center and Colorado
Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night
opens with an ominous thunderstorm which masters the currents of the sea and
results in a shipwrecked vessel separating twin siblings, each believing the
other has drowned. The thunderous
waves of the sea may have stricken a ship, but the havoc that is wreaked on the
shore is greatly entertaining with mistaken identities, genders and plot. Brilliant acting keeps a patient pace
during the telling of this tale keeping the audience grinning throughout.
It is always a challenge to stage Shakespeare’s different
locales due to the inevitable spying that occurs to move the plot along. Act II warrants great praise for Philip
Sneed’s direction and clever Scenic Design by Brian Mallgrave volleying mirth
amongst Sir Tobey, Aguecheek and Fabian as they watch their device of deceit
unfold in Malvolio’s dress and manner believing he is reciprocating the desires
of his Countess Olivia for whom he stewards. This Shakespearean banter is hilariously handled with
excellence by Jamie Ann Romero’s Fabian, Logan Ernstthal’s Sir Toby and Ian
Andersen as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
The prize fool is played with honest vulnerability by Timothy McCracken
who commits soundly to his idiocy, making his fateful fall tragically sad. He is so deeply wounded, you feel a
little injured yourself.
This comedy ends as it must with the twins uniting,
identities exposed and lovers wooed.
Twelfth Night is a crowd favorite, balancing three plots woven together
with pluck and musicianship from Jake Walker’s Feste. His impish nature should not be mistaken as silly, for his
wisdom could have saved several identity mix-ups, and love could have been
discovered much earlier, but then you would have missed out on great acting,
directing and a delightful evening!
Performances are at the Arvada Center during the month of
May and then the production moves to Boulder during the Colorado Shakespeare
Festival through July. For tickets go to www.ArvadaCenter.org or
www.ColoradoShakes.org.
Labels: gay Denver, MileHighGayGuy, LGBT Denver
Susan Hennessey,
Theater Review
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