Applause Magazine, Jan. 10 - Feb. 22, 2014

ALSO PLAYING…

EVITA n BLACK ODYSSEY n HAMLET n MAMMA MIA!

THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE

Illus

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Kyle

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T H E D E N V E R C E N T E R F O R T H E P E R F O R M I N G A R T S

VOLUME XXV n NUMBER 5

JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2014 THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE

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APPLAUSE denvercenter.org 4

APPLAUSEM A G A Z I N E

VOLUME XXV n NUMBER 5 n JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2014

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Editor: Sylvie Drake Associate Editor: Suzanne YoeDesigners: Kim Conner, Brenda Elliott, Kyle Malone

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BOARD OF TRUSTEESDaniel L. Ritchie,

Chairman and CEODonald R. Seawell,

Chairman EmeritusRandy Weeks, PresidentWilliam Dean Singleton,

Secretary/TreasurerW. Leo Kiely III,

First Vice Chair Robert Slosky,

Second Vice ChairDr. Patricia Baca Joy S. BurnsIsabelle ClarkNavin DimondMargot Gilbert FrankThomas W. HonigMary Pat Link Trish Nagel Robert C. NewmanRichard M. Sapkin Martin SempleJim SteinbergPeter SwinburnKen TuchmanTina Walls

Lester L. WardDr. Reginald L. WashingtonJudi WolfSylvia Young_______________________Carolyn Foster,

Executive Assistant to Daniel L. Ritchie

Kim Schouten, Executive Assistant to Daniel L. Ritchie

HONORARY MEMBERSJeannie Fuller Glenn R. JonesM. Ann PadillaCleo Parker Robinson

HELEN G. BONFILSFOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEESLester L. Ward, PresidentMartin Semple,

Vice President Judi Wolf, Sec’y/TreasurerDonald R. Seawell,

President Emeritus

W. Leo Kiely IIIDaniel L. RitchieWilliam Dean SingletonRobert SloskyJim SteinbergDr. Reginald L. Washington

SENIOR MANAGEMENT STAFFRandy Weeks, President and

Executive Director, Denver Center Attractions

Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director, Denver Center Theatre Company

Dorothy Denny, Executive Vice President

Vicky Miles, Chief Financial Officer

Jennifer Nealson, Chief Marketing Officer

Clay Courter, Director of Facilities Management

INDE

X 10 16

2014

THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDEThis world premiere comedy by Matthew Lopez reminds us that love, laughter and heart can show up in the most unpredictable places.by Sylvie Drake

MAMMA MIA!Who knew that ABBA spelled song, dance, fun and (ever)lasting success?

BLACK ODYSSEYWith music, inventiveness and, yes, humor, playwright Marcus Gardley tracks the trials of an African American Ulysses returning from the war in Afghanistan. by Doug Langworthy

EVITAInspiration, smart choices and a chunk of luck went into the making of one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s most enduring collaborations.by Sylvie Drake

HAMLETOf all of Shakespeare’s plays, this one is the most puzzling, lauded and imperfect. So why are its tragic events so mesmerizing?by Dan Sullivan

Greetings! Winter brings to our stages a Shakespearean tragedy, two favorite musicals (Mamma Mia! and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita) and full productions of two brand new plays, along with the Colorado New Play Summit, our ninth annual festival of readings of new works. First up is the Denver Center Theatre Company production of the world premiere of The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez. A young Elvis impersonator with a pregnant wife is replaced by a drag queen show, and discovers he has a lot to learn about show busi-ness and himself. Georgia McBride is filled with music, bawdy humor and lots of heart and was the hit of last February’s New Play Summit. The next world premiere is black odyssey by Marcus Gardley—a wild, imaginative, magical adven-ture with music, hip hop, humor, epic drama and poetry all blended together to give a contemporary African-American spin to Homer’s Odyssey.

The third Theatre Company pro-duction is Hamlet, set in pre-World War I Denmark. In Shakespeare’s psychological masterpiece, Hamlet must find his way through grief, anger, ghostly spirits, treachery, revenge, murder and madness as he seeks redemption.

February 7-9 brings the Colorado New Play Summit to our stages. In addition to

the premieres of Georgia McBride and black odyssey, we’re featuring five readings by some of America’s most exciting playwrights, including Eric Schmiedl and his adaptation of Benediction by Kent Haruf. For Haruf, Benediction completes his award-winning trilogy of novels set on the Eastern Plains of Colorado. For me, it completes a remarkable journey in the theatre—from Plain-song (2008) to Eventide (2010) to Benediction (2014). Please join us in experiencing the thrill of the New Play Summit, when leading theatre professionals from across the U.S., playwrights, and theatregoers come together for a high energy weekend to watch new American plays being created. In fact, join us for everything. n

Kent ThompsonProducing Artistic Director Denver Center Theatre Company

Kent Thompson

GPH

OTO

BY T

ERRY

SHA

PIRO

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FROM

THE

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best meet your specific needs. We believe in creating

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And that’s a promise you can take to the bank.

Proud to be a presenting sponsor of Denver Center Attractions’ 2014 Season!

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3 0 3 . 8 9 3 . 4 1 0 0TTY: 303.893.9582 • denvercenter.orgAUDIO-DESCRIPTION, ASL INTERPRETATION AND OPEN CAPTIONING AVAILABLE

AT SELECT PERFORMANCES; CHECK DATES/TIMES WHEN ORDERING.

Performances at The Denver Center are made possible in part through the generous support of:

Denver Center Theatre Company 2013/14 Season Sponsors

Denver Center Attractions 2013/14 Season Sponsors

Media Sponsors

Red PMS 200 Gold PMS 123

World PremiereThe Legend of

Georgia McBrideNow – Feb 23

Ricketson Theatre

EvitaJan 15 – 26

Buell Theatre

Girls OnlyJan 16 – March 9

Garner Galleria Theatre

World Premiereblack odyssey

Jan 17 – Feb 16Space Theatre

HamletJan 24 – Feb 23Stage Theatre

Mamma Mia!Jan 28 – Feb 2Buell Theatre

Alton Brown Live!Feb 3

Ellie CaulkinsOpera House

Colorado New Play Summit

Feb 7 – 9Helen Bonfils

Theatre Complex

Million Dollar QuartetFeb 25 – March 9

Buell Theatre

ChicagoMarch 18 – 23Buell Theatre

ShadowlandsMarch 28 – April 27

Space Theatre

Animal CrackersApril 4 – May 11

Stage Theatre

Celtic WomanApril 19

Buell Theatre

Rock of AgesApril 25 – 27Buell Theatre

onceMay 6 – 18

Buell Theatre

American IdiotMay 23 – 25Buell Theatre

ALL SHOWS ON SALE NOW!

Judi Wolf’s Costume CollectionWidely regarded as one of the great-

est plays ever written, the Denver Center Theatre Company production

of Hamlet takes place just before the outbreak of World War I — and costume designer Beth Novak, brings to life the brooding atmosphere of this remarkable play through a mix of Ed-wardian and contemporary styles. Presenting a fusion of periods and styles cre-ates a playground of opportunities to develop the characters and create unexpected visuals. While most of the action of this production will take place in a vaguely czarist, military setting, the costumes also will include modern pieces from the 20s to present. At the time, the women of the Russian court were objectified. When we first see them their dress is quite lavish. Novak took contemporary sheaths and added Fortuni pleated accessories and jewels so that the pieces look ornate and impractical. Hamlet, who finds himself on an extreme emotional rollercoaster, will be every bit the young man who just left the University, look-ing a bit rumpled and wearing a traditional pea coat. Today’s style of men’s suits lends itself to a very Edwardian sensibility with clean lines and narrow pant legs that will blur the line between modern and period dress. Or is it the other way around? Is it that today’s gaunt-looking young Lotharios, sporting deliberate five o’clock shadows and a languid, melancholy mood are deliberately seeking to look every bit like, well… Hamlet? n

Hamlet

Beth Novak Hamlet costume designer

You are cordially invited to join Chairman Daniel L. Ritchie…for a VIP Tour of the Edinburgh Festivals next August 13-19, 2014. The tour includes superior accommodations at The George Hotel and tickets to the Edinburgh International and Fringe festivals. One of the highlights of the trip will be the renowned royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which features music, dance and precision movement displayed

with massed pipes and drums, the bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, cultural troupes, singers and the poignant re-frain of the Lone Piper against the stunning backdrop of the Edinburgh Castle. An optional tour of London’s West End, featuring deluxe Leicester Square hotel accommodations and tickets to four shows of your choice, may be added on August 19-24. A more detailed day-by-day itinerary and costs are available by visiting www.denvercenter.org/travel or by calling 303.446.4811.

VIP Tour: Edinburgh Festivals

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THE

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More than 30 years ago Carole and Bob Slosky were introducing friends and colleagues to a newly created Denver

Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA). Today they are still introducing theatre to friends—from a new generation. They met at Washington University in St. Louis—the first “blind date” for both of them. And the last. Bob was from Pueblo, Carole from Springfield, Illinois. After Bob graduated from law school at CU, Denver became their home. Together they raised two sons and are the proud grandparents of four children. The arts have always been a part of their journey, although Bob and Carole can’t quite put their finger on when and how that happened. From theatre at the original Elitch’s, to music, to art galleries and museums across the Southwest and the globe, they thrive on the experience and the friendships they have found along the way. Bob has served as a DCPA trustee for more than 25 years and Carole is a founding member of the Women’s Voices Fund. They were found-ing members of the Directors Society in the early 1980s and have helped this donor group grow to more than 200 people. In 2006 they had the foresight to provide start-up funds for the Marquee Club, a similar group focused on young professionals. As part of the Producing Partner group supporting the Colo-rado New Play Summit, they enjoy the challenge of seeing works go from script to stage. Most recently, Bob and Carole have turned their attention to the future of theatre and the

next generation of audiences: “With the aging of audiences the need is paramount to compete for the attention of, not only today’s young people, but also the next generation. We are competing against the enormous attraction of unbelievable technology, never-ending sporting events, and so many other opportunities for people to spend their time and resources. “We can only compete by exposing future audiences to the joy and challenge of live theatre. We have experienced the excitement of attending theatre with our grandchildren, sometimes after they have read the book from which the play was adapted. It is an amazing way to learn why theatre must be a part of the growth and development of young minds.”

As Bob and Carole thought about their giving, the creation of a fund that would survive them became an appealing pos-

sibility. Even more appealing was the idea that they could start to put money in the fund in their lifetime, encourage family members to partici-pate, and leave a substantial sum as a bequest to ensure the future of the fund for a long time to come. “It doesn’t appear that arts education will ever escape the need for support from the private sector… it’s a need that is not going away. It is very important to us that we can identify how funds will be used, and that they will provide an opportunity for some unknown kids to have a hell of a good time!” The Robert and Carole Slosky Fund for Arts in Education will do just that. n

FRONT ROW: (L-R) BOB & CAROLE SLOSKY, ADAM SLOSKY ~ BACK ROW: (L-R) CAMRYN SLOSKY, RACHAEL SLOSKY

“We have experienced the excitement of

attending theatre with our grandchildren, sometimes

after they have read the book from which the

play was adapted. It is an amazing way to learn

why theatre must be a part of the growth and develop-

ment of young minds.”— Carole and Bob Slosky

The Encore Society consists of members who have thoughtfully

named the Denver Center as a beneficiary in their will or other

estate plans. If you would like to learn more about The Encore

Society and giving options, please visit www.denvercenter.org/encore

or contact David Zupancic at 303.446.4811 or [email protected].

&CAROLE BOB SLOSKYThe giving doesn’t

only get better, it gets stronger and

more satisfying

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When playwright Matthew Lopez was grow-ing up in Panama City, Florida—not exactly the epicenter of the modern world—he had a couple of strikes against him right out of the gate. As he put it in a recent interview, “it was not the best place to be gay and, for me, not the best place to be gay and Puerto Rican.” Got it. But for writers, every kind of writer, the wallops life dishes out have a funny way of turning into fodder—rich stuff that simply begs to be mined. “I started going to the gay bars in Panama City around the age of 16 or 17,” Lopez said, “long before I was legally allowed to go in. The downtown had started to die; there was no reason to go to downtown. But this bar stayed open—for 40 years—and was long the only gay bar in town. If you wanted to get a drink within a 15-mile radius you had to go to The Fiesta. So it became a very welcom-ing place for everybody. And therein lies the beauty of the place. This is their turf and they love it. I had never been in a place that was

so accepting of who I am. I was able to be safe and be myself, and I was taken under the wing of the drag queens there.”

That was the initial inspiration for The Legend of Georgia McBride. Yet what actually convinced Lopez to write

this comedy that takes place in a bar that’s a lot like the old Fiesta, was a second-hand account of an artist’s experiment. “I heard about a woman whose straight boyfriend was dabbling in drag as an art form,” he explained, “a performance art proj-ect. They were putting together this persona for him. There was Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton. All of these things together became Georgia McBride.” And that was the hook. Georgia McBride is about Casey, a heterosexual Elvis imperson-ator, who loses his job at a rinky-dink small town bar just as his beloved wife informs him that she’s pregnant with their first child. What’s a fella to do? Well, a set of unfore-

WHEN

LeMons BECOME

LeMonadeMatthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride

reminds us that love, laughter and heart can show up

in the most unpredictable places

B Y S Y LV I E D R A K E

THE

LEGE

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ORGI

A M

cBRI

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…Ultimately, The Legend of

Georgia McBride is not a comedy

about drag people, gay people or

straight people. It’s about everyone.

It’s about survival. It’s about love…

Matthew Lopez PlaywrightILLU

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BY

KYLE

MAL

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THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE

303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 11

Tickets: 303.893.4100 Toll-free: 800.641.1222 • TTY: 303.893.9582 Groups (10+): 303.446.4829 • denvercenter.org

Jan 10 – Feb 23 • Ricketson TheatreProducing Partners: John & Jeannie Fuller, John Strohm & Mary Pat Link

Sponsored by The Steinberg Charitable Trust

This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award

ASL interpreted & Audio Described • Feb 2, 1:30pmPerspective on the play: Jan 10, 6pm, Jones Theatre**Attend a FREE moderated discussion about the play with DCTC’s creative team. All are welcome.

seen circumstances provides the improbable answer, and a recalcitrant Casey stumbles into a way to survive, make the money he needs for his ballooning family, even help his former employer out of a jam and, as he soon discovers, he finds he can excel at something that he had never, not even in his wildest hallucinations, ever expected to be doing: become a straight drag queen.

Georgia McBride received a reading at the 2013 Colorado New Play Summit and audiences gulped it up. So deli-

cious! They were charmed and entertained by this offbeat, sassy, funny, highly eccentric comedy. But the main reason for the play’s appeal is its very big heart. This is a comedy with the rare ability to make you laugh a lot while you also gleefully empathize with just about everything that happens in it—and everyone it happens to. It had to be really easy for Producing Artistic Director Kent Thomp-son and his team to decide to give it a slot in the regular season. Mike Donahue, who directed last year’s

reading (as well as staged another uncom-mon play, Grace, or The Art of Climbing), was invited to come back and direct the full production. “Casey is a big, openhearted guy who means well and just never quite fully grew up,” he said. “He wanted to be an actor after high school football died away. He’s got a woman in his life that he’s head over heels in love with. He lives for her and lives for being an artist. “We get to be with Casey as he learns to grow up, as he finds a way to take care of his family, finds his true artistic voice, creates a persona he can fully inhabit and starts to elevate the work in the club. “There are two love stories in the play,” he emphasized. “There is the relationship between Casey and his wife, but also the relationship that develops between Casey and Tracy [his drag-queen mentor] that is so open-hearted and rich.”

Costumes, of course, can’t help but be cen-tral to this show and costume designer Dane Laffrey has pulled from a broad swath of ideas, saying “The personas of these queens are very much things we wanted to develop with the actor.” And so he did. “It’s just meant to be fun.” Not to be outdone, set designer Donyale Werle has reserved a few surprises of her own. “We’ve come up with a space that is extremely mundane & highly theatrical at the same time,” she offered enigmatically. “Everything occurs on stage and backstage. There are tricks built in, but when you walk into the theatre it’s like you’re walking into The Ricketson as it normally is…but not really. We are very interested in exploring the illusion of backstage. Most importantly, this is a space that allows the multitude of the characters’ individual personas to shine.” The music? All pre-existing, canned music from America’s rich songbook and more, out of which a score was created. “This play is basically a book musical,” said Donahue,

“even though they’re lip-synching.”

The production also benefits from some-thing entirely novel. Charlie Miller and Emily Tarquin, the curators of

Off-Center, the Theatre Company’s brashest experiment with new theatre, were charged with curating Georgia McBride. They took what was happening on stage and figured out a way to extend the experience beyond—into the lobby. The goal was to broaden the experi-ence, extend the enjoyment without, let’s say, inflicting it. The intent is to gently coax the audience into an immersive environment that is entirely safe. Since this issue of Applause went to press before our curators had the chance to fully develop their plan—and since the idea itself is so new—you’ll have to determine for yourself how well they’ve succeeded. For all of the fun that this imaginative and unlikely confluence of talent delivers, it’s important to keep in mind that, ultimately,

The Legend of Georgia McBride is not a comedy about drag people, gay people or straight people. It’s about everyone. It’s about survival. It’s about love—a love story filled with dramatic opportunity: The novelty, the music, the crazy, colorful costumes, the glitz (sometimes the shabby glitz?), the loyalties, the growth and maturation of not one but almost every character in it. It’s a chance to stretch minds, accentuate the positive, warm the heart, reach out with humor, acceptance and kindness. Especially kindness.

Lopez wrote this play, he said, in part as a reaction to the hate and violence that have become so ubiquitous and

prevalent in the society. “I wanted to emphasize that,” he said, “find the kindness we need.” Did he succeed? Did we? That, too, will be for you to decide. n

Mike Donahue Director Donyale Werle Set designer Dane Laffrey Costume designer

The Denver Center Theatre Company’s new play program is one of the top five in the nation. Plays as diverse as Love, Janis, Quilters, Inana, Plainsong, Lydia, The Whale and so many more have had their start in Denver and

gone on to be produced in theatres across the country.

The development of new plays and musicals involves risk and risk is always expensive. Our New Play Development Fund enables us to commission the most

talented playwrights and to host the Colorado New Play Summit every year.

We hope that you will consider making a donation to the New Play Development Fund. We appreciate

any contribution that you can make.

“NAME A SEAT” IN THE RICKETSON THEATRECommemorate an occasion or honor a loved one

when you name a seat for $1,000. Your gift is 100% tax deductible and it supports new plays.

Quarterly or monthly payments are available. Here are a few examples:

NEW

PLA

Y DE

VELO

PMEN

T FU

ND

Sense & Sensibility The Musical

W E A R E P R O U D T O P L AY A R O L EIn furthering American theatre, but…

We can’t do it without you!

In Celebration of L. Roger & Meredith Hutson

13-May-13

Danny Showers Entertainment

Sylvie Drake Jurras …because I love

sitting beside you

In Honor of Ty Jurras

from family & friends

THREE EASY WAYS TO DONATE: BY MAIL: 1101 13th Street, Denver, CO 80204 ~ Attention: Development

ONLINE: denvercenter.org/donate BY PHONE: 303.446.4802

Grace, or The Art of Climbing

Quilters

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“Theatre, Ty and I were a tight threesome from the time I met him, fell in love with him and married him. What better way to honor his memory and our 40 years together than by making sure we’d be sitting together at the theatre forever?” ~ Sylvie Drake Jurras, Editor, Applause

“As a musician and patron of the theatre, I am always looking for ways to support the arts. By putting my company’s name on seat plaques, I am reaching a target audience of people who hopefully love the theatre as much as I do. It’s a great marketing opportunity.” ~ Danny Showers, Danny Showers Entertainment

“Meredith and I were married last May and we were moved when we learned that a seat had been named in honor of this occasion. We love coming to the theatre, so this certainly was a unique way to celebrate our marriage.” ~ L. Roger Hutson

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JFS EXECUTIVE LUNCHEONWednesday, April 30, 2014 • Grand Hyatt Denver

Sponsorships available. Contact Dawn Richard, 720.248.4605, [email protected].

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On Saturday April 6, 1974, in the English coastal town of Brighton, a group known only in their native Sweden won the

Eurovision Song Contest with a song entitled “Waterloo.” For Napoleon, Waterloo was trouble. For this upstart singing group it was the start of some-thing bigger than they could have anticipated. So begins the improbable saga of ABBA. The phenomenal success of the decade-long association of Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Anders-son, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (the initials of their first names were to form the name ABBA) is of mythical proportions. Over the next eight years, they would achieve countless hit singles, platinum albums, sell-out concert tours and even a movie. The group’s domination of the European charts was uncon-tested. Only the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles achieved longer runs of Top 10 singles. Across the Atlantic, the hits continued: ten ABBA songs made it to the Top 20 in the U.S., with “Waterloo,” “Take a Chance On Me” and “The Winner Takes It All” making it to the Top 10. “Dancing Queen,” the superhit at the heart of the musical Mamma Mia!, placed ABBA center stage at Number One. At last count, ABBA had sold more than 350 million records worldwide. Europe and North America were not alone in experiencing ABBAmania. There were consecutive Number One singles and/or albums in Australia, more records set—and broken—in New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe?) where the group scored 13 Top 10 singles and no fewer than eight consecutive Number One albums. And by 1982… It was all over. Plans for another new album were abandoned and the album The Singles—The First Ten Years, released in its place.

Yet despite the fact that ABBA ceased to record or tour, the music refused to die. ABBA’s innumerable hits are as popular

today as they were when first released. The movies Muriel’s Wedding (1995) and Priscilla, Queen of The Desert (1994), as well as the deli-cious musical based on that movie, all feature ABBA music, amassing whole new generations of fans. It was on March 23, 1999 that Mamma Mia!—a show constructed from 22 of ABBA’s most memorable songs—was put in front of a paying audience in London’s West End. Let’s be clear: musicals are not supposed to be created

this way. Usually, someone has a story to tell and someone else (or the same person) creates the songs to punctuate and illustrate that story. Taking a bunch of songs previously conceived as singles, and finding a unifying thread that cobbles them together into a musical, was as heretical as it sounds. Assuming it could be done at all, who could have imagined that it would turn into this huge, everlasting hit, with a proliferation of ongoing productions around the world over many, many years? It’s enough to give Waterloo a good name. Mamma Mia! received the sort of welcome on that first night in London that it has sustained ever since. Theatregoers appear to be ecstatic—reliving memories or discovering ABBA for the first time. But on that spring evening in London, Mamma Mia! was an unknown quantity. “We really had no idea how it was going to be received,” reflected producer Judy Craymer, whose initial concept it had been to use existing ABBA songs to construct an original musical. “The audience went wild,” she told a reporter. People “were literally out of their seats and singing and dancing in the aisles—and they still are. Every night.”

Soon they were doing so all over the globe. The reason is simple: Mamma Mia! is an entertainment phenomenon that hits you at

gut level. More than 30 million people in the known world have fallen in love with the char-acters, the story, the music. Book writer Cath-erine Johnson’s tale unfolds on a Greek island. (How many people will visit a Greek island any other way?) On the eve of her wedding, a clever daughter, eager to know the identity of the father her mother has refused (or been unable) to di-vulge, manipulates three men from her mother’s past into returning to the island where they last saw her 20 years before. Phyllida Lloyd, Mamma Mia!’s original director, says she was offered the job only after “some wonderful person” (who must be very, very, very sorry now) dropped out. More than a year of workshops followed with book writer Johnson, ABBA’s Ulvaeus and Andersson, choreographer Anthony van Laast and designer Mark Thompson. A life-changing anecdote Lloyd likes to tell is that, if the show is such a hit today, it is thanks to the relative of a company member who sent an unsolicited letter telling her how to fix a problem she had been struggling to identify. This gentle-man explained that the show’s first two scenes were, in his words, “the wrong way around.”

“I handed the letter to Anthony van Laast,” Lloyd said. “We looked at each other and knew we had to change it. The new opening was immediately right. It makes it clear that this is a domestic, intimate show. The moral of the story for me was ‘Don’t ever be too proud to take advice.’ ”

Ultimately, however, the success of Mamma Mia! rests in equal measure with all of its creators, whose tenacity and imagination

persevered. In the process of personalizing a fa-miliar repertoire of ABBA songs, they focused on a fresh approach that held on to the music’s pop integrity while advancing an affectionate and appealing story. And the show just keeps touring along. To quote Lloyd, as she coyly assured the ac-tors in that original London cast: “Mamma Mia! is the musical Benny and Bjorn wrote years ago. They just decided to release the songs first.” n

Part of the information contained in this article is courtesy of the Mamma Mia! web site and related materials.


MAM

MA

MIA

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TM

Jan 28 – Feb 2 • Buell TheatreSponsored by AARP

ASL interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance • Feb 1, 2pm

Mamma Mia! Who knew that success was spelled ABBA?

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What attracted you to Homer’s The Odyssey?

I grew up reading a lot of books and had a particular fascination with the Greeks because I like adventure stories, history and myths. I like stories that wrestle with the notion of why we are here and why nature can be both terrifying and utterly beautiful. What drew me to The Odyssey in particu-lar is the idea of the endless journey and being lost. I could not get rid of the image of soldiers returning home after war and embracing their children for the first time. I think the story of The Odyssey is universal. People can experience an internal odyssey as well, and I wanted to explore that.

You’ve described your writing process as creating a dish from a recipe. Can you describe what ingredients went into this play?

The ingredients for this play are: the original text, spirituals, hymns and melodies from West Africa, the culture and language of contemporary Harlem, African Ameri-can history and African American folk-lore. When you mix the ingredients together my hope is that you feel the full tapestry of who we are as Americans and also taste the rich essence of history in both its tragic and celebratory moments. I also hope that the end result will give people hope for the future.

What are the different styles of music you use in the story?

Every major style of American music. The play is also a journey through American music history. I want audiences to feel the full musical breadth of our country.

Does music play a central role in your other plays?

Music plays a pivotal role in all of my plays. I find music to be a great soundscape for the worlds I write about. It sets mood, it is great for transitions and sometimes can be the most profound way to get to the heart of expressing something that dialogue just cannot.

With his play black odyssey, Marcus Gardley has chosen an abiding Greek myth to enlighten us on the modern

tribulations of an African American Ulysses

B Y D O U G L A S L A N G W O R T H Y

Every element of Marcus Gardley’s plays are infused with his poetic voice. Be it his titles (the road weeps, the well runs dry), his heightened language or his stage directions (He guides the cane to a star. It burns like a comet), there is no mistaking the poet in the playwright. Gardley started his career writing poetry and has expanded his poetic style through his dramatic writing. In fact, all of his favorite playwrights are also poets. So what is a director supposed to do with a stage direction like the example given above? Marcus says he doesn’t mean these stage direc-tions to be taken literally (phew), but are meant to express the emotional weight of a moment. The creative team is encouraged to interpret them with creativity and originality. “Theatre is collabora-tive,” Gardley states. “I want my stage directions to speak to the nature of making something together.” In black odyssey, the playwright focuses his imaginative powers on a mash-up of Greek myth and African American history. Applause recently caught up with Gardley to talk recipes, mythology and journeys of self-discovery.

what’s past is presentBL

ACK

ODYS

SEY

Does African American culture have its own mythology?

For me, myths are sacred stories. So yes, African Americans have many sacred stories. African American history is shaped by stories that are passed down from generation to generation. These stories record the life of one time—and change to embrace another. I think sacred stories and the adaptation of these stories remind us that the great lessons of life are still being learned, that even though we are evolving, improving, moving bodily into the future, we still have so much to gain from the past.

In your play, Ulysses confronts his own lineage as an African American man. Is this something we all must do— discover where we came from—in order to discover who we are?

I think that the journey into our past is vital for understanding who we are. It’s not just about learning one’s genealogy, although that is important. It is also neces-sary to learn about one’s cultural past. I find that a lot of African American history is still not taught in our schools. I wanted to give audiences a more thorough journey into that history. I wanted to celebrate and honor my culture with this play. What is Ulysses trying to find besides his home? Is there a larger significance to his journey?

Ulysses is trying to find himself. That is his real journey. His pre-war existence was very hard and his life on active duty is equally hard. He has become lost—and given up on humanity. He must find his history and, to this end, himself. No man can know himself if he doesn’t know his history. This could be familial history, cultural history, even national history. All of these histories are a part of who we are. When we accept, learn from and celebrate who we are then we can move forward.

Why is water such an important motif in the play?

Water is a silent character in the play. It is nature that moves the characters forward and allows them to crash into one another. Water is a symbol of fate.

The gods in the play comport them-selves at times like grown-ups and at times like children. Was this playful quality something you found in your reading of Greek mythology?

Yes, indeed! The best thing about the gods in Greek mythology is their human characteristics. If they truly were infal-lible, the stories would not be half as interesting. Moreover, it is their struggle to be godly that inspires us. What I find most prominent in Greek mythology is that the gods are easily offended. I wanted the gods in this play to be more driven by principle and the need to protect their chil-dren. In this way, the gods are ancestors. They are a part of us. Perhaps, the better parts of us. Yet and still, they err, and they are most fascinated by our humanity.

What happens when a god descends into the human world?

Then godly laws are broken. For this to happen, there must be a great need among the mortals. When a god descends, a wrong must be made right and a god will risk her/his immortality to dwell among us. This is because gods sympathize more viscerally when they are among us—they lose their godliness. They relate and gain a deeper sense of compassion—they can-not help it. Gods are meant to judge, not sympathize—this is how they lose their power. It’s their ability to manipulate us that makes them powerful. When they are among us, our humanity is so strong that they become the manipulated. Only the bravest of gods come down to dwell among us.

The play is often so funny. Why was it so important for you to inject humor into the play?

Humor helps audiences feel the full weight of tragedy. I don’t necessarily think that humor is required in a tragedy, but I think it can be useful to set up tragic elements. We laugh and cry with the same muscle. Most of my plays exercise this muscle. I am interested in using humor so that the muscle is already stretched. Then when tragedy arises, we are allowed to feel, to compare how delighted and how sorrowful life can be.

Are you excited to be presenting your play in the round?

Yes. It will give audiences a sense of the earth’s globe, the world. It will also allow them the freedom to see others while watching the play, which I always find intriguing. It makes the action feel Greek—it is in an arena. There are specta-tors who are a part of the live action. It feels Olympic. n

Douglas Langworthy is the Literary Manager of the Denver Center Theatre Company

BLACK ODYSSEY

303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 17

“No man can know himself if he doesn’t know his history. This could be familial history, cultural history, even national history. All of these histories are a part of who we are.”

— Marcus Gardley, playwright


Jan 17 – Feb 16 • Space TheatreProducing Partners: Allison & Jim Shetter, Tina Walls, Jim Steinberg & Lori Watson

ASL interpreted & Audio Described • Feb 16, 1:30pm

Perspective on the play: Jan 17, 6pm, Jones Theatre**Attend a FREE moderated discussion about the play with DCTC’s creative team. All are welcome.

ART

PART

NER

olson Coors is proud to play its part in bringing us all together for this performance. For more than 350 years, Molson Coors Brewing Company has de-lighted the world’s beer drinkers while investing in local communities. Molson Coors’ Rocky Mountain heritage began in 1873 just up Clear Creek in Golden, Colorado. Today, we rank as a top-five global brewer, with business units in the US, Canada, the UK, Central Europe and Asia. From our founding families and executive leaders, to our brewers and sales teams, Molson Coors people share a deep passion for our brands and for the communities where we live and work. From the beginning, brewing and building brands the right way has gone well beyond the high quality of our products. At Molson Coors, we’re committed to environmental sustainability, alcohol responsibility and treating each other with dignity and respect. Not only do we hold ourselves up to aggressive targets for growth and profitability, but also for our environmental and social performance. Our people consistently rate us above high performing company norms, and we are recognized as a great place to work. In 2012 and 2013, Molson Coors was recog-nized as Global Beverage Sector Leader on the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), based on an independent evaluation of our business practices and results. While our heritage companies in the US, Canada, UK and Central Europe have now grown into one enterprise with an expanding global reach, our roots and character remain local. Molson Coors is made up of dozens of local breweries and offices where employees and iconic brands are woven into the fabric of the community. That is why in our headquarters city of Denver, we support leadership development in our educational and business institutions, assist those in need through United Way and its agencies, as well as work with water users to pre-serve and protect our Clear Creek Watershed. And that’s why we support The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, this world class venue that connects us through the magic of music and theatre. As we come together to share in the thrill of today’s performance, let’s celebrate the strength of this Denver community and our diverse and vibrant culture. Cheers! n

Invested in the Denver Community

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M


Originally commissioned by The Old Globe, San Diego, California, Louis Spisto, Executive Producer.

This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.

Developed in the Colorado New Play Summit by the Denver Center Theatre Company, Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director.

On The Legend of Georgia McBride the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Production Staff is responsible for costumes, wigs, lighting, props, furniture, scenic construction, scenic painting, sound and special effects.

The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.

2013/14Season

Partners

by Matthew Lopez

DIRECTED by

Mike Donahue

PRODUCING PARTNERS

THE RICKETSON THEATRE • JANUARY 10 – FEBRUARY 23, 2014

John & Jeannie Fuller

Denver Center Theatre CompanyResident Professional Theatre • Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director

John Strohm & Mary Pat Link

WIThBen Huber*, Matt McGrath*, Nick Mills*, Jamie Ann Romero*

SET DESIGN by Donyale Werle

COSTUME DESIGN byDane Laffrey

LIGhTING DESIGN by Don Darnutzer

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND ARRANGEMENTS by

Jill BC Du Boff

VOICE AND DIALECT COAChING by

Kathryn G. Maes Ph.D

MUSICAL STAGING byWill Taylor

DRAMATURGy by Alex Barron

CASTING byElissa Myers Casting/

Paul Fouquet, CSA

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTIONJeff Gifford

STAGE MANAGER A. Phoebe Sacks*

SPONSORED by

CAST

Casey/Miss Georgia Mcbride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bEN hUbER*

Jo/Eddie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .JAMIE ANN ROMERO*

Miss Tracy Mills/beau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MATT MCGRATh*

Miss Rexy/Jason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NICK MILLS*

Place & Time: Panama City, FL, Present.

The Legend Of Georgia McBride will be performed without an intermission.

Production Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChRISTOPhER C. EWING*

Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. PhOEbE SACKS*

Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOShUA ChASE GOLD

Production Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. LyNN REILAND

Production Intern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PEARL KERbER

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage

Managers in the United States.

executive staff

KENT THOMPSON (Producing Artistic Director) is in his ninth season as Producing Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company. In Denver he directed productions of Just Like Us, Other Desert Cities, Irving berlin’s White Christmas, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Plainsong, Eventide, Amadeus, The Liar and Measure for Measure, among others. Two of Kent’s major accomplishments since moving to Denver have been the Colorado New Play Summit, a premier national festival for new American plays, and the establishment of the Women’s Voices Fund, an endowment that supports the development of new plays by women. Prior to moving to Denver he was Producing Artistic Director of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival for 16 years. In 1991 Kent created the Southern Writers’ Project (SWP), designed to commission and develop new plays that presented 16 world premieres during his tenure. he served for eight years on the board of Directors for Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and as its president for three years. he has served on peer review panels for the NEA (also chair), TCG, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Fulbright Scholars Program, The Wallace Funds, The Doris Duke Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others.

BRUCE K. SEVY (Associate Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development) has directed such memorable Denver Center productions as When We Are Married, Heartbreak House, Mariela in the Desert, The Voysey Inheritance, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Doubt, All My Sons, Master Class, Mrs.

Warren’s Profession, A Christmas Carol, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, The Little Foxes, Molly Sweeney, Amy’s View, Valley Song, Pierre, Dinner With Friends, and The Cripple of Inishmaan. As Director of New Play Development, he oversees both the artistic and practical components of DCTC’s successful Colorado New Play Summit, including commissions from outstanding American playwrights. he has directed for Arizona Theatre Company, Cleveland Play house, Lark Play Development Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Northlight Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Pioneer Theatre Company, A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Empty Space and Intiman Theatre in Seattle, the Kimo Theatre in Albuquerque, and Utah Shakespearean Festival. his popular production of 2 Pianos, 4 Hands has been seen at more than 20 theatres nationally, including DCTC’s successful 2003 production.

CHARLES VARIN (Managing Director) and his team are responsible for administrative, financial and business operations related to producing DCTC’s season of productions and other artistic and educational initiatives. Prior to DCTC Charles was General Manager for Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, Ny and also has worked at Glimmerglass Opera, Asolo Repertory Theatre and Florida Studio Theatre. Charles serves on the board of the Mile high Freedom band and plays tuba with the organization.

JEFF GIFFORD (Director of Production) oversees everything you see on stage except the actors and is thrilled to be joining the Denver

Center Theatre Company, leading such a fine group of artisans. Prior to DCTC, Jeff was the Production Manager at the Dallas Theater Center and South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA. Guiding world premieres to their first opening night is especially gratifying and Jeff has worked on more than 35 of them. Among his favorites are Dinner with Friends, The Violet Hour, The Beard of Avon, Mr. Marmalade, and the new musical FLY. Jeff holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts.

artistic staff

ALEX BARRON (Dramaturg). At the Denver Center: The Legend of Georgia McBride (Colorado New Play Summit 2013). Other Theatres: New plays at Ny Stage and Film, The O’Neill, Lark Play Development Center, Williamstown, Public Theater. Literary Manager, The Playwrights Realm; Associate Director, SPACE on Ryder Farm; Program Associate, Sundance Institute Theater Program; Producer, Naked Radio, Naked Angels. Training: bA, Drew University.

JILL BC DU BOFF (Original Music and Arranger). At the Denver Center: Debut. broadway: Picnic, Wit, Other Desert Cities, Good People, The Constant Wife, The Good Body, Bill Maher: Victory... Off-broadway: Lincoln Center, MTC, Atlantic, Vineyard, MCC, Playwrights horizons, The Public, Second Stage, NyTW, WP, New Georges, Flea, Cherry Lane, Signature, Clubbed Thumb (Affiliate Artist), Penguin Rep. Regional: bay Street, ATL, La Jolla, Cincinnati Playhouse, Westport Playhouse, berkeley Rep, Portland Stage, Long Wharf, The Alley, NyS&F, humana, Williamstown, ATF. Radio: Studio 360, Naked Radio, RadioLab. Nominations: Drama Desk, henry hewes. Awards:

Ruth Morley Design Award, Obie for Sustained Excellence, Lilly Award. Adjunct Professor at Sarah Lawrence College. Love to Adam.

MIKE DONAHUE (Director). At the Denver Center: Grace, or The Art of Climbing. Other Theatres: Upcoming: Jen Silverman’s The Hunters (Cherry Lane Mentors Project, Lynn Nottage, mentor); Assassins (PlayMakers); Uncle Vanya (Weston). Recent Productions: Jen Silverman’s Phoebe in Winter (Clubbed Thumb), Ethan Lipton’s Red-Handed Otter (Playwrights Realm), Moscow, Cheryomushki (Chicago Opera Theatre), Henry IV & V, A Number (PlayMakers Rep). Readings/workshops: Soho Rep, NyTW, MCC, Williamstown, O’Neill, Clubbed Thumb, The Lark, Ars Nova, Chautauqua, TheatreWorks, Studio 42. Fellowships/Awards: Fulbright to berlin, Drama League Fall Fellowship, Sagal Fellowship (Williamstown); alum, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab; Artistic Director, yale Summer Cabaret (2007 & 2008). Training: Graduate, harvard and yale School of Drama. www.mikemdonahue.com

JOSHUA CHASE GOLD (Assistant Director). At the Denver Center: The Three Musketeers. Other Theatres: Orlando Repertory Theatre, Aurora Fox Arts Center, 13th Street Repertory Company, horse Trade Theatre Company, UCF Conservatory Theatre, Counting Squares Theatre (Founder, Artistic Director), Fordham University, St. John’s University, Stevens College. Special/Awards: 2008 New york Independent Theatre Person of the year Award, SDC Fellow, Phil Killian Directing Fellow Finalist, Sir John Gielgud Directing Fellow Finalist, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Dramatist Guild’s Director/ Dramatist Exchange. Joshua is currently developing

The Unthinkable Pinks with playwright Ayla harrison.

KATHRYN G. MAES Ph.D (Voice and Dialect Coach). At the Denver Center: Jackie & Me, The Most Deserving, Just Like Us, Death of a Salesman, When We Are Married, Fences, The Three Musketeers, Heartbreak House, Great Wall Story. Other Theatres: Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre (Arthur Miller’s American Clock). Special/Training: Voice and Dialect Coach for numerous professional theatre companies in the United States, head of Voice at the Denver Center Theatre Company and the National Theatre Conservatory 1989 to 1992. Ph.D. in Theatre Arts, University of Pittsburgh; Advanced Diploma in Voice Studies, Central School of Speech and Drama, London, England.

WILL TAYLOR (Musical Staging). At the Denver Center: Debut. Other Theatres: Choreography credits: Restoration Comedy (The Flea Theater, NyC); Dani Girl (Exit Pursued by A bear, NyC); Chicago area: A Chorus Line (also directed), Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls. Developed and directed Hopeless Romantic Comedy (The PIT), Heathcliff’s Back (Martha’s Vineyard), and Heathcliff & Wanda’s LIVE Holiday Telethon Spectacular (Don’t Tell Mama). As a performer, broadway: A Chorus Line, La Cage Aux Folles, The Producers, 42nd Street. Tour: Kristin Chenoweth World Concert Tour. Regional: Harmony (The Alliance Theater and The Ahmanson Theater - upcoming). Film: Sex and the City 2. TV: “The Good Wife,” “Dancing With The Stars,” “Wallflowers.” Training: Carnegie Mellon. www.willtaylorsite.com

ELISSA MYERS CASTING, Paul Fouquet, CSA just completed casting for PbS movie Souls on Fire to air in 2013. Previously cast seven broadway shows, including Tony-nominated Having Our Say and 25 Off-broadway shows. Additionally, three “Movies of the Week” (with Tyne Daly, Claire Danes, Christopher Reeve, Ed Asner and Daniel J. Travanti), five pilots and two PbS specials by Wendy Wasserstein and Terrance McNally (with bernadette Peters, Nathan Lane, blythe Danner, Spike Lee and Paul Sorvino), the Peabody Award-winning mini-series “Liberty” as well as the Emmy Award-winning mini-series “benjamin Franklin,” and “John & Abigail Adams.” Also cast mini-series “God In America,” “The People v. Leo Frank,” “Dolley Madison” and “Louisa May Alcott.” Some regional casting includes Denver Center, Geva Theatre, Cleveland Play house, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre. The office has received 13 nominations and has won three Artios Awards for “Outstanding Achievement in Casting.”

DesiGNers

DON DARNUTZER (Lighting Designer). At the Denver Center: Just Like Us, When We Are Married, Heartbreak House, Mariela in the Desert, Fences, Mama Hated Diesels, Eventide, Quilters, Richard III, The Trip to Bountiful, Plainsong, Dracula, You Can’t Take It With You, A Funny Thing…Forum, A Christmas Carol, and 40 others. broadway: It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues. Off-broadway: Hank Williams: Lost Highway, The Immigrant, Almost Heaven: John Denver’s America. Lighting designs for: Portland Opera, Guthrie Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American

Conservatory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alley Theater, Geva Theatre, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

DANE LAFFREY (Costume Designer). At the Denver Center: Grace, or The Art of Climbing. Other Theatres: Off-broadway / NyC: set and/or costume design for Lincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, The Vineyard, Soho Rep., Transport Group, MCC Theatre, Red bull Theatre, The Joyce Theatre, Rattlestick, Primary Stages, The Play Company, Clubbed Thumb, and others. Regional: huntington Theatre Company, Dallas Theatre Center, The Old Globe, New york Stage & Film, Asolo Rep., yale Opera, Two River Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, The Ringling International Festival, Theatreworks Palo Alto and others. International: Oslo, Osaka, Tokyo and Sydney. Awards: Nominations for three American Theatre Wing henry hewes Design Awards, the Drama Desk Award and a Sydney Theatre Award. Mr. Laffrey is a founder and the lead design editor of Chance magazine.

DONYALE WERLE (Set Designer). At the Denver Center: Debut. Other Theatres: broadway: Peter & the Starcatcher (2012 Tony Award), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2011 Tony nomination). Off-broadway and Regional: Somewhere (hartford Stage-upcoming), The Explorer’s Club (Manhattan Theater Club), Broke-ology (Lincoln Center), The North Pool (Vineyard), BARE (New World Stages), Allegiance and Rocky Horror (Old Globe), Taming of the Shrew (Theater for a New Audience), Once on this Island (Papermill Playhouse), Jollyship the Whizbang (Ars Nova), Public Theater, New

york Theater Workshop. Awards: Tony, Obie, Lucille Lortel and hewes Design Award. Co-chair of the Pre/Post Production Committee for the broadway Green Alliance. Donyale speaks internationally on sustainable design practices for theater.

PLaYWriGHt

MATTHEW LOPEZ (Playwright). Plays: The Whipping Man (Luna Stage, world premiere; Manhattan Theatre Club, Ny premiere; over 30 productions nationwide), Somewhere (Old Globe, world premiere; TheatreWorks Palo Alto; hartford Stage, spring 2014), The Sentinels (headlong Theatre, London), Reverberation, Zoey’s Perfect Wedding. Affiliations: New york Theatre Workshop usual suspect, hartford Stage AETNA New Voices Fellow, Old Globe artist in residence, Ars Nova Play Group. Awards: John Gassner New Play Award for The Whipping Man. Commissions: Roundabout Theatre Company, hartford Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep. TV/Film: “The Newsroom” (staff writer); currently adapting Javier Marias’ Your Face Tomorrow trilogy for brad Pitt’s Plan b Entertainment.

staGe maNaGemeNt

A. PHOEBE SACKS* (Stage Manager). At the Denver Center: (11 seasons) World Premieres: Sense & Sensibility The Musical; Ed, Downloaded; Great Wall Story; The Whale; Map of Heaven; Eventide; Sunsets and Margaritas; Inana; Almost Heaven; The Immigrant; Pierre; 1933. Other productions include: Death of a Salesman, Fences, American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, Ruined, The 39 Steps, Mariela in the Desert, Well, Glengarry Glen Ross, Gee’s Bend, Lobby Hero, Visiting Mr. Green, Copenhagen,

King Hedley II, The Lonesome West, Dinner With Friends. Training: bA in Technical Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado.

actiNG cOmPaNY

BEN HUBER* (Casey/Miss Georgia Mcbride). At the Denver Center: Debut. Other Theatres: Midsummer Night’s Dream (New

york Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater), Perfect Harmony (Clurman Theater, NyC), Sextet (New york Theater Workshop), Zoe Kazan’s Absalom (Actor’s Theater of Louisville/humana Festival), Between Us Chickens (South Coast Rep), The Importance of Being Earnest (baltimore Centerstage), Eurydice (The Wilma, Philadelphia), Or (The Magic Theater, SF), Glass Menagerie (Seattle Rep), Peer Gynt (San Francisco Symphony, with Michael Tilson Thomas). Original Work: Ben and David (www.benanddavid.com). Training: MFA, Graduate Acting Program, NyU/Tisch.

MATT MCGRATH* (Miss Tracy Mills/beau). At the Denver Center: Colorado New Play Summit. broadway: Cabaret, A Streetcar Named

Desire. Off broadway: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Fair Country. Regional: His Girl Friday, The Normal Heart, The Black Rider, Distant Fires. TV/Film: “L&O: CI,” “It’s Only Rock & Roll,” “Frasier,” “Member of the Wedding,” “Cruel Doubt,” Film: Ex-Girlfriends, Full Grown Men, Boys Don’t Cry, The Notorious Bettie Page, The Anniversary Party, The Broken Hearts Club. Awards: helpmann

Award, Drama Desk and Emmy nominations, LA Weekly Award; Recipient of the bienecke Fellowship from the yale School of Drama; honorary Masters from The American Conservatory Theatre.

NICK MILLS* (Miss Rexy/Jason). At the Denver Center: Debut. Off-broadway: The Unavoidable Disappearance of

Tom Durnin (Roundabout, u/s), The Steadfast (Slant Theatre Project). Other Theatres: Lombardi (Cleveland Playhouse/Arizona Theatre Co.), Back Back Back (The Old Globe), Baby Talk (Ars Nova). TV/Film: “Law and Order: SVU,” “Person of Interest.” Training: MFA, NyU Graduate Acting. bFA, University of Evansville. www.nickmosesmills.com

JAMIE ANN ROMERO* (Jo/Eddie). At the Denver Center: Romeo & Juliet, Sunsets and Margaritas, The Three

Musketeers. Other Theatres: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Noises Off, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Sylvia, Lost Highway (Lone Tree Arts Center); The Seagull, Boeing Boeing, You Can’t Take It With You (Theatreworks Colorado Springs); The Clean House (boulder Ensemble Theatre Company); Twelfth Night (Arvada Center). Awards/Training: Denver Post Ovation Award (Ophelia, Hamlet, Colorado Shakespeare Festival), best of Westword Award (Juliet, Romeo & Juliet, Colorado Shakespeare Festival). Training: bA in Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado.

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DeNver ceNter tHeatre cOmPaNY staff

EXECUTIVE

Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director bruce K. Sevy, Associate Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director Jeff Gifford, Director of Production

ARTISTIC

New Play Development: bruce K. Sevy, Director of New Play Development Douglas Langworthy, Literary Manager/Dramaturg Chad henry, Literary Associate Emily Tarquin, Artistic Associate/ New Play Coordinator Sylvie Drake, Advisor Kevin Fulton, Intern

Commissioned Playwrights: Marcus Gardley, Idris Goodwin, Kirsten Greenidge, Theresa Rebeck, Tanya Saracho, Robert Schenkkan, Eric Schmiedl, James Still, Catherine Trieschmann, Karen Zacarías

Directors: Shelley butler, Mike Donahue, Anthony Powell, bruce K. Sevy, Kent Thompson, Stephen Weitz, Chay yew

Assistant Directors: bryce Russell Alexander, Joshua Chase Gold, Jose Mercado, Alan Osburn, Dan Schultz, Emily Tarquin

Dramaturgs: Alex barron, Abigail Gonda, Allison horsley, Douglas Langworthy, Tanya Palmer, David Saphier

Music Director: Gregg Coffin

Composers: Gary Grundei, Jill bC Du boff, Deborah Wicks La Puma, Jaret Landon

Casting: bruce K. Sevy, Emily Tarquin

New York Casting: Elyssa Myers Casting/Paul Fouquet, CSA

Acting Company: Kristen Adele, Colin Alexander, Leslie Alexander, Noah Anderson, Richard Azurdia, Mary bacon, Leonard E. barrett Jr., Cynthia bastidas, Anthony bianco, Craig bockhorn, benjamin bonenfant, Michael bouchard, Jason bowen, Kathleen M. brady, Nadja-Monet brown, Courtney Capek, Gabriella Cavallero, Shamika Cotton, Stephanie Cozart, Jeff Cribbs, Jenn Miller Cribbs, Laurence Curry, Aaron M. Davidson, Aubrey Deeker, Cleavant Derricks, Diana Dresser, Adrian Egolf, Connor Nguyen Erickson, Shawn Fagan, Liza Fernandez, Michael Fitzpatrick, Eugene Fleming, Michael Gaessler, Tanner Gardner, Adriana Gaviria, Kate Gleason, Fidel Gomez, Sam Gregory, Douglas harmsen, Edwin harris, Mike hartman, Judith hawking, John Patrick hayden, Peter Simon hilton, Sequoiah hippolyte, Rebecca hirota, ben huber, Steven Cole hughes, John hutton, Isaiah Johnson, John M. Jurcheck, Michael Keyloun, Lauren Klein, Jacob h Knoll, Charlie Korman, Gabriel Koskinen-Sansone, Kyra Lindsay, Cajardo Rameer Lindsey, Ruth Livier, Rodney Lizcano, Eric Lockley, Kevin Lowry, Amy Luna, Miguel Martiman, Alma Martinez, Kathleen McCall, Timothy McCracken, Matt McGrath, M. Scott McLean, Leigh Nichols Miller, Nick Mills, Amelia Modesitt, Sam Modesitt, Gabriel Morales-Gonzalez, Tricia Moreland, Leslie O’Carroll, James O’hagan-Murphy, Jeremy Palmer, yunuen Pardo, Mackenzie Paulsen, Jeanne Paulsen, Jonathan Earl Peck, Amelia Pedlow, Mercedes Perez, Philip Pleasants, Casey Predovic, brenda Pressley, Max Raabe, Jeffrey Roark, Jada Roberts, Jamie Ann Romero, Christine Rowan, Thomas Russo, Erik Sandvold, Michael Santo, Meredith Sczekan,

brian Shea, Lauren Shealy, Felix Solis, Kim Staunton, SuCh, Tony Todd, Jake Walker, Justin Walvoord, William Oliver Watkins, Allison Watrous, Christopher Wells, Ryan Wuestewald, Gabra Zackman

Designers Scenic Designers: David M. barber, Myung hee Cho, Lisa Orzolek, Kevin Rigdon, Robert N. Schmidt, Vicki Smith, Donyale Werle

Costume Designers: Kevin Copenhaver, Meghan Anderson Doyle, Dane Laffrey, David Kay Mickelsen, Elizabeth Novak, Leah Piehl

Lighting Designers: Don Darnutzer, york Kennedy, Charles R. MacLeod, Jane Spencer

Sound Designers: Craig breitenbach, Jason Ducat, Tyler Nelson

Projection Designer: Charlie I. Miller

Coaches: Laurence Curry (Movement), Gabriella Cavallero (Dialect), Robert Davidson (Movement), Kathryn G. Maes Ph.D. (Vocal), Geoffrey Kent (Fight), Christine Rowan (Movement), Will Taylor (Movement)

PRODUCTION

Jeff Gifford, Director of Production Rick Noble, Assistant Production Manager Robert L. Orzolek, Interim Technical Director Christopher C. Ewing, Production Stage Manager Julie brou, Production and Artistic Office Manager

Scenic Design Lisa M. Orzolek, Director of Scenic Design Scenic Design Assistants: Lindsey Mayer, Nicholas Renaud

KENT THOMPSONPRODUCING

ARTIST IC D IRECTOR

DeNver ceNter tHeatre cOmPaNY staff

The Directors and Choreographers are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.

The actors and stage managers employed in these productions are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Backstage and Ticket Services Employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. (or I.A.T.S.E.)

Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE

Member of the Colorado Theatre Guild

PLease Be aDviseD

LATECOMERS are seated at designated breaks.

PHOTOS & VIDEO RECORDING are prohibited.

TURN OFF cell phones and alarm watches.

CHILDREN UNDER 4 are not admitted.

COUGH DROPS are available at Patrons Services.

Lighting Design Charles R. MacLeod, Director of Lighting Lighting Design Assistant: Lily bradford

Multimedia: Charlie I. Miller, Resident Multimedia Specialist Topher blair, Multimedia Assistant/Operator

Sound Design John E. Pryor, Director of Sound Sound Designers: Craig breitenbach, Jason Ducat, Tyler Nelson

Stage Management Christopher C. Ewing, Production Stage Manager Stage Managers: Rachel Ducat, Kurt Van Raden, Lyle Raper, A. Phoebe Sacks Assistant Stage Managers: Paul behrhorst, Matthew Campbell Production Assistant: D. Lynn Reiland Stage Management Interns: becky Fryberger, Davis henshaw, Pearl Kerber, Kristen Littlepage, Sara E. Sachs

Scene Shop Josh Prues, Assistant Technical Director Lead Technicians: Albert “Stub” Allison, Louis Fernandez III Scenic Technicians: Mike hamer, Justin hicks, brian “Marco” Markiewicz, Keli Sequoia, Ross Wick

Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne, Properties Director Eileen Garcia, Assistant Properties Director Roo huigen, Lead Props Artisan Props Artisans: Jamie Stewart Curl, Charles Dallas, David hoth, Katie Webster

Paint Shop Jana L. Mitchell, Charge Scenic Artist Melanie Rentschler, Lead Scenic Artist brian Proud, Scenic Artist Paint Intern: Darcey James

Costume Shop Janet S. MacLeod, Costume Director Costume Design Associate: Meghan Anderson Doyle Costume Design Assistant: Katherine Nowacki

Drapers: Stephanie Cooper, Carolyn Plemitscher, Louise Powers, Jackie Scott, Jane Nelson-Rudd First hand: Cathie Gagnon, belinda haaland Tailor: Sheila P. Morris Stitchers: Kelly Jones, Teresia Larsen, Zoe Pielsticker, Wanda Price, Jenny Milne, barb Shively

Costume Crafts Kevin Copenhaver, Costume Crafts Director Costume Crafts Artisans: Judy Craigo, Karen King

Wigs Diana ben-Kiki, Wig Master

House Crew Doug Taylor*, Supervising Stagehand Stagehands: Mariah becerra*, Jennifer Guethlein*, Andrew hamer, Stephen D. Mazzeno*, Miles Stasica*, Matt Wagner*, Jim berman* (*IATSE Local 7 Stagehands)

Wardrobe brenda Lawson, Director Wig Assistants: Jocelen barnett, Maria y. Davis, Lisa Rokicki Dressers: Robin Appleton, Amber Donner, Amoreena Kissel, Kelly Jones, Tim Nelson, Alan Richards, brooke Vlasich, Lisa Parsons

ADMINISTRATION

Charles Varin, Managing Director Ryan Meisheid, Associate Managing Director Alyssa Stock, Company Manager Allison Taylor, Assistant Company Manager Cassie brown, business Administrator Diana buirski, TCG Management Fellow

MARKETING

brianna Firestone, Director of Marketing Alexandra Griesmer, PR & Promotions Manager Jane McDonald, Marketing Coordinator

The Denver Center Theatre Company is grateful for the funds provided by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Special thanks also to grants from Arts & Venues Denver; the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation; and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals.

The Denver Center Theatre Company is a division of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organization serving the public through the performing arts.

The DCTC operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States; and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. The DCTC also operates under an agreement with Denver Theatrical Stage Employees Union, Local No. 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada.

The Denver Center Theatre Company is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.

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Of the musicals that they created together, the collaboration of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice has fashioned some highly enduring, money-making shows. Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Evita shine undiminished among them. Almost everyone thinks of Evita, now in The Buell, as chiefly Lloyd Webber’s creation, but in fact it was Rice who brought the kernel of the idea to his colleague—and Lloyd Webber who rejected it. Rice developed the original fascination with Eva Perón after allegedly hearing a portion of a radio show about her that sparked his interest. He couldn’t let go of it; he remembered the image of Eva Perón from his boyhood stamp collection. He decided to do the research, even traveled to Buenos Aires in pursuit of more information and knowledge. He found it, with some welcome assistance from Argentine film director Carlos Pasini Hansen who had produced a film about Perón titled Queen of Hearts that Rice eventually saw—as many as 20 times by his own count. He even named his first daughter after the Argentine first lady. “I was hooked,” he concedes. But Lloyd Webber wasn’t—yet. He was busy pursuing a collaboration with playwright Alan Ayck-bourn on a musical version of Jeeves, based on the legendary P.G. Wodehouse butler. It was only after that project was completed and met with disappointing public reception that he began to think of Rice’s proposal. Favorably this time. In 1976, score and script in hand, Rice and Lloyd Webber approached director Harold Prince to stage their new musical Evita. Prince (who later went on to direct Lloyd Webber’s most popular and profitable musical, The Phantom of the Opera) famously stated that a musical that started with a funeral had to be interesting. But he also told the composer and book-writer that, while he’d like to stage it, he could take on no new commitments for two years. Undeterred, the guys agreed to wait and used the time to refine the show. Following a pattern set with Jesus Christ Superstar, they proceeded to record Evita as a concept album with actress/singer Julie Covington in the title role.

The album sold very well. Altogether, sales even exceeded those of Jesus Christ Superstar. That heightened interest in the promised musical. Thanks to its captivating music (even if the lyrics never

made much sense), its signature song, “Don’t Cry for me Argentina” hit Number One on the British singles chart. While it didn’t quite set the U.S. on fire, such names as Karen Carpenter, Olivia Newton-John and Petula Clark all recorded their own versions of it. Rehearsals finally got underway in 1978 and the show opened at London’s Prince Edward Theatre on June 21 to mixed but mostly good reviews. The music was haunting, the mystique of Eva Perón was still very much alive (she had died of cancer in 1952, at the young age of 33), there was an aura of sexy romance and adventure around the Guevara character as well. By the time it closed in London 3,176 performances later, the show had blossomed into a major hit. It made a star of Elaine Page, who played Evita after Covington had turned down the role—and it did the same across the pond for Patti

LuPone who snagged the part on Broadway. (She later complained bitterly and publicly that her experience with Evita was one of the most painful and difficult of her career; true or not, it made no difference to the show’s success and it enhanced Lupone’s own developing career.)

Rice had established the character of Che as the narrator and navi-gator of the story, but in a stroke of pure dramatic license, Prince insisted on modeling the character after Che Guevara. The real

Guevara, an Argentine by birth, had no historical connection to Eva Perón, and that emphasis was later minimized. In a 1978 interview with this writer, Prince had loftily described Evita as “about the smallness of individuals against this enormous political canvas. Che Guevara and Eva Perón are mythic characters. She was

sleazy, yet emerges much larger than life. It’s myth vs. reality. The arena dwarfs the people, but put them in front of a micro-phone and they become just as large, just as unreal.” The Los Angeles Times review of the pre-Broadway try-out in that city, described Evita as “not flawless, but possessed of three vital ingredients: tremendous scope, a remarkable score and the directorial genius of [Harold] Prince. There is a dark flash and vulgarity to its tone, protagonists who reflect essence rather than externals and the pres-ence of Che Guevara as a sardonic goad… Evita’s only bit of absolute fiction, but that is all it takes to free the work from the strait-jacket of reality.” This permission to take liberties, explore and experiment, is what makes theatre thrive

as art. Allowed to roam the infinite reaches of the imagination, theatre can zero in on truths that are more startling and accurate than strict reality can provide. It is what myths are all about, including the myths born—as in the case of Evita—from political fact and a fair amount of fiction. As a musical Evita is, indeed, “Brechtian, uncomfortable and subtly tainted by the garnishes of hypocrisy,” but it is on the mark when it comes to delivering the essence of theatrical invention and releasing it as a tool for illuminating human nature. n

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Jan 15 – 26 • Buell Theatre Sponsored by The Westin Denver Downtown and HealthONE

ASL interpreted, Audio Described & Open Captioned • Jan 26, 2pm

“She was sleazy, yet emerges much larger than life. It’s myth vs. reality. The arena dwarfs the

people, but put them in front of a microphone and they become

just as large, just as unreal.”

— Harold Prince, original director

improbableARTthe of the

The road to Evita was paved with patience, politics, perseverance and, when it came to making choices, a good deal of luck B

Y S

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303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 21303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 21

The Westin Denver Downtown Hotel is well known for its contribution to Denver’s per-forming and visual arts community. The

hotel is a multi-year sponsor of Saturday Night Alive, the signature fundraiser for The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA). It pro-vides gift certificates from sister properties in such locations as Venice, Vienna and Vietnam for the mega-auction event that raises well over $600,000 for youth arts education and outreach. The Westin also is the hotel sponsor for Evita at the DCPA and partners with the Denver Art Mu-seum on packaging with blockbuster exhibits such as Passport to Paris, as well as partnering with Colorado Ballet, Central City Opera and Opera Colorado on weekend packages and promotions. The hotel also is becoming a popular destina-tion in the meetings industry for its commitment to sustainability. The Westin Denver Downtown was the first in the city to implement on-site composting in partnership with the Tabor Center Office Tower and restaurant complex. It contrib-utes unused banquet food to We Don’t Waste, a local organization that collects leftover food from events, caterers, restaurants and other major food providers and distributes it to charitable agencies serving Denver’s disadvantaged populations.

“Donating leftovers shows a respect for food,” states The Westin’s Executive Chef Jean-Luc Voegele. “As a chef and as a gardener, I know that a bruised tomato or apple may not be usable in the hotel kitchen, but it still has nutritional value.” The Westin’s gift to We Don’t Waste provides unused food to agencies such as Allied Jewish Apartments, Denver Inner City Parish, Denver Rescue Mission, Denver’s Road Home, Father Woody’s Haven of Hope, Holy Ghost Church, Jewish Family Service of Colorado, the Samaritan House and The Gathering Place, to list just a few. Last but certainly not least, did you ever wonder what happens to that scrap of soap or half used shampoo you left in the hotel shower? The Westin Denver Downtown was the first Denver area Starwood hotel to commit to Clean the World, a program that collects partially used toiletries for donation to third world countries. Since the begin-ning of the partnership, The Westin has contrib-uted more than 28,000 bars of soap to the needy. When planning your next event, remember The Westin Denver Downtown, located on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall at 1672 Lawrence Street, and see www.westindenverdowntown.com for the guaranteed best rates. n

—Submitted by Susan Stiff

“Donating leftovers shows a respect for food. As a chef and as a gardener, I know that a bruised tomato or apple may not be usable in the hotel kitchen, but it still has nutritional value.” — Jean-Luc Voegele, Executive, The Westin Downtown Denver

Proud sponsor of Evita and

Saturday Night Alive

Denise and Ray Bellucci at The Westin Denver Downtown’s sponsored Saturday Night Alive Patron Party

Westin Denver Downtown’s Director of Housekeeping Kyle Spencer, Director of Human Resources Cammie Ellis with housekeepers Norma Chavez, Betty Ventura and Jocelyn DuPuis collecting soap for Clean the World.

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THE WESTIN DENVER DOWNTOWN HOTEL

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AARPStaying Young As We Get Older

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“We are looking to make a difference in communities across the state, to re-spond to Coloradans’ journey as they

age, and to create easy access to fun and meaningful opportunities,” said Morie Smile, AARP Colorado’s State Director. At 50, Smile is leading AARP’s staff of eight in ensuring that AARP becomes a part of the fabric of the community. Recently, Angela Cortez, AARP’s Communica-tion Associate State Director, had the opportunity to sit down with Smile and talk about today’s AARP.

Isn’t AARP for retirees? While AARP’s membership starts at 50, much of our work impacts people of all ages. For example, if you look on our website, www.aarp.org, you’ll see a great deal of resources for employees and job seek-ers. Colorado is a young state, and approximately half of our membership is under 65, which in this day and age means they are still working. The R and P stand for Real Possibilities, and that is what we hope to give all of our members: the chance to pursue their dreams.

Your comments are aspirational, what impact can AARP have on my life? The 50+ population is very diverse and incorporates different wants, needs and desires. For people looking at their “what’s next,” we have introduced Life Reimagined, which is a web-based program that helps participants realize their strongest skill sets and gives some tangible next steps in realizing their goals. Many of us are caregivers, often for a parent and a child. We are focusing heavily on providing resources to assist these caregiving providers. AARP also has an extremely effective and knowledgeable advocacy cadre. We have been able to save consumers millions of dollars over the years just in utility costs.

Doesn’t AARP provide discounts? Absolutely! In addition to a huge menu of national offerings, Colorado has reached out to cultural part-ners such as The Denver Center for the Performing Arts to offer discounts to our members. Members who purchased tickets for Mamma Mia! received a substantial discount thanks to their membership. We also are providing deep discounts for black odyssey, Hamlet, Animal Crackers, Shadowlands and two other blockbuster shows yet to be announced. And we are encouraging our members and their friends to participate in Second Act at the Denver Center Theatre Academy. The Second Act Sample is a se-ries of one-time educational events designed to spur theatrical curiosity in older theatregoers. In addition, we have relationships with the Denver Art Museum, Foothills Art Center, the Denver and Grand Junction Botanic Gardens just to name a few. We know that entertainment and promoting cultural offerings are important to the well-being of our members. n

“We know that entertainment and promoting

cultural offerings are important to

the well-being of our members.”

— Morie Smile, Colorado State Director, AARP

Proud sponsor of Mamma Mia! and select Kids’ Nights

on BroadwayAARP staff and family participate annually in the Denver Pride Parade.

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ONEOf all of Shakespeare’s plays, none is more lauded or lends itself to more

interpretations than Hamlet, an imperfect play. So why does this magic work?

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HauntingHaunting

FForget “To be or not to be.” As Producing Artistic Director Kent Thompson’s cast started rehearsing Hamlet for the Denver Center Theatre Company, they faced a more pressing question: “What’s going on here?” For American and British theatre folk, Hamlet is the Big One, the Everest that’s got to be scaled “because it’s there.” And scaling it once doesn’t mean you’ve conquered it—only that you survived the climb. Having staged Shakespeare’s übertragedy at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival some years back, Thompson has a working knowl-edge of the terrain, but he’s still scouting for handholds. (It’s a maiden climb for his Hamlet, Aubrey Deeker.)

There’s something strange about this play. If Macbeth has a curse on it, as theatre people like to believe, Hamlet

seems to carry the stamp of heaven, even in its imperfections, which are many. A well-made play it is not. The plot is pinned together like a muslin costume; the time sequences don’t jibe, the characterizations are inconsistent. Is Horatio a regular at Elsinore (Act I, Scene One) or did he just show up (Act I, Scene Two)? Why didn’t the person who provides Gertrude a close-up account of Ophelia’s drowning jump in and rescue the poor girl? As for Ophelia’s sad little funeral, it’s all very well for her hotheaded brother Laertes to leap into her grave to show his grief, but would Prince Hamlet really follow suit? It may be in the text, but in which version of the play? (There are at least three.) Again, does Hamlet lament his “too, too solid flesh” or his “too, too sullied flesh?” Thompson and his company will work out such issues by themselves. But his basic question (“What’s going on here?”) goes deeper and has been debated almost since Hamlet opened at the Globe Theatre—a date we don’t have (1603 maybe?). What draws us to this story? Why is it constantly being revived, adapted, parodied, misquoted? What in Hamlet’s uncertain journey reminds us of our own episodic lives? To begin with, what’s the theme? Macbeth is about ambition. Othello is about jealousy. Hamlet’s problem is—what? Depression? Not being able to make up his mind? Want-ing to go to bed with his mother? Maybe he’s secretly glad that Claudius killed his father. Maybe he’s in love with Horatio. Maybe he doesn’t want to take the controls of a fascist state. (Taking a cue from “Denmark’s a prison,” two recent revivals were set in high-tech penitentiaries with digital alarm systems and HD screens. Great design, but it didn’t deepen the story.)

Season by season the theories keep coming and none of them proves out. Yet the experts continue to insist that it’s Shakespeare’s greatest play—everyone but T.S. Eliot who called it “an artistic failure.” Having reviewed a hundred or so Hamlets, I’m with the majority. I’ve never seen one that I didn’t get something out of, something that reminded me, for better or worse, of me. That includes the boring productions, of which there have been several, and one di-saster: a San Francisco staging featuring, at the very end of her career, Dame Judith An-derson. Not as Gertrude, but as Hamlet. This sounds like a hallucination and it played like one, but I could show you the program. I also have been blown away by the play. About five years ago the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain brought it to Tuc-son. The performance brought the audience, including me, to its feet, but not right away.

For nearly a minute—A long time in the the-atre—we just sat there in silence, absorbing the awful logic of that last scene. All those stupid deaths (“casual slaughters,” as Horatio calls them), because one thing suddenly led to another. Yes, we thought. That’s how badly things work out sometimes, even with good intentions. It can come down to that… Then we stood up. But the mountain had already been scaled. The silence was the prize.

In preparing his Denver production, Thompson has tried to curb the tempta-tion of every Shakespearean director

to make this the absolute, ultimate, game-changing last word on the play. Rather than “The” Hamlet, he’s aiming for “A” Hamlet: alive, human, comprehensive, not an assault on anybody else’s interpretation. Not that he doesn’t have his own ideas about the play. He described it at a produc-tion meeting as “a haunting.” Can you elaborate on that?

“Well, obviously there’s a ghost in the play. And there’s some-thing troubling in the air. Bad

omens, as when Caesar was murdered. But in prying open my reaction to the story, I’d say that for two-thirds of it Hamlet seems preoccupied with memories of his child-hood. “There’s an element of hero-worship for his father. Not that he was being raised to be that kind of soldier king. They—prob-ably Gertrude—sent him to Wittenberg to become the philosopher king. But now some part of him is bent on punishment, on revenge.” What about his disappearance in the middle of the story, that strange business about his being captured by pirates? “It’s the pirates who save him! At a certain point in Shakespeare, psychology goes out the window and a fairy-tale device comes in. I think that when Hamlet is delivered back to Elsinore he’s accepted his fate, whatever it is, and knows what he’s got to do.” Which is why Thompson struggles with that graveyard scene. It’s very late in the play, Hamlet has shed his juvenile angst, he can even see himself as a kind of divine agent. Why does he start scuffling like a teenage hood in a 50s movie? “Maybe he’s surprised at his own behav-ior,” I said. “Or maybe he’s just realized how much he really did love Ophelia,” Thompson replied. And the debate goes on… n

Dan Sullivan reviewed theatre for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and the Minneapolis Tribune. He now teaches at the University of Minnesota Journalism School.

HAMLET

303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 25


Jan 24 – Feb 23 • Stage TheatreProducing Partners: Sheri & Lee Archer, Katy Atkinson, Isabelle Clark, Alan & Katie Fox, Diana & Mike Kinsey

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts/ Arts Midwest

ASL interpreted & Audio Described • Feb 23, 1:30pm

Perspective on the play: Jan 24, 6pm, Jones Theatre**Attend a FREE moderated discussion about the play with DCTC’s creative team. All are welcome.

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What draws us to this story?

Why is it constantly being

revived, adapted, parodied,

misquoted? What in Hamlet’s

uncertain journey reminds us

of our own episodic lives?

“Hamlet is caught between suspicion of his mother and of his uncle and grief over his father’s death. Many students will understand the pain, grief, confusion of losing a parent or the sudden collapse of a marriage.”

– Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director, Denver Center Theatre Company

Producing Partners: Joy S. Burns, Leo & Susan Kiely, Daniel L. Ritchie, Bob & Carole Slosky, Steinberg Charitable Trust

denvercenter.org/summit • 303.893.6030

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IMPACTCRE TIVITY

A

CURRENT CONTRIBUTORS List Complete August 2013

Impact Creativity is an urgent call to action to save theatre educa-tion programs in 19 of our largest cities. Impact Creativity brings together theatres, arts education experts and individuals to help over 500,000 children and youth, most of them disadvantaged, succeed through the arts by sus-taining the theatre arts education programs threatened by today’s fiscal climate. For more informa-tion on how “theatre education changes lives,” please visit: www.impactcreativity.org

($250,000 or more)The James S. and Lynne P. Turley Ernst & Young Fund for Impact CreativityClear Channel Outdoor*CMT/ABC*

($100,000 or more)The Hearst Foundations

($50,000 or more)AOL*

($10,000 or more)Christopher Campbell/ Palace Production Center*Lisa OrbergFrank and Bonnie OrlowskiThe Ralph and Luci Schey FoundationThe Schloss Family FoundationSouthwest Airlines*James S. TurleyJohn ThomopoulosWells Fargo

($5,000 or more)Steven and Joy BunsonPaula DominickChrist EconomosMariska Hargitay*Ogilvy & Mather*The Maurer Family Foundation

($1,000 or more)Nick AdamoMitchell J. AuslanderRyan DudleyBruce R. EwingJessica FarrSteve & Donna GartnerGlen GillenPeter HermannJanet and Howard KaganJohn MajorJonathan Maurer and Gretchen ShugartGeorge S. Smith, Jr.Florence Miller Memorial FundTheodore NixonCarol OstrowRBC Wealth ManagementIsabelle Winkles

*Includes In-kind support

The Anschutz FoundationThe Belay FundColorado Creative IndustriesThe Denver FoundationAlan and Katie FoxAllan and Margot FrankIMA Financial GroupImpact Creativity/National

Corporate Theatre Fund

Walter and Gene Koelbel Rev. TrustRobert and Judi NewmanWalter S. Rosenberry, III

Charitable TrustRuth S. SilverTarget June TravisU.S. BankXcel Energy Foundation

Thank You, NEA!Building the next generation of theatre audiences

is an important part of The Denver Center’s mission. We are pleased to report that the

Denver Center Theatre Company received its fifth Na-tional Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare for a New Generation grant to support a significant educational component with this season’s Hamlet. A dollar-for-dollar matching grant, NEA funding is combined with a mix of donations from the corporate, foundation and private sectors to make this program possible. Eight high schools in the metro area have been selected to participate: Alameda, Hinkley, Emily Griffith, John F. Kennedy, Justice High School, Rangeview, South and Thomas Jefferson.

In addition, two rural community high schools will participate as well: Prairie View and Brighton. Just over 800 students and teachers are involved in this project which includes teacher training, a series of pre- and post-play activities for students (to help them connect more significantly with the play), in-depth online study guides and, of course, tickets for all participants to attend a special Student Matinee of Hamlet in The Stage Theatre. n

Special thanks to the following donors who helped us achieve our NEA match and who made additional gifts to make this project possible:

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The NEA has supported Shakespeare for a New Generation for the past four years, most recently featuring DCTC’s Romeo &

Juliet (above) and The Taming of the Shrew (right) during the 2010/11 Season.

Animal CrackersBook by George S. Kaufman & Morrie Ryskind

Music & Lyrics by Bert Kalmar & Harry RubyAdapted by Henry Wishcamper

Original Orchestrations by Doug Peck

Zinging one-liners and slapstick brilliance fill this interactive and boisterous musical comedy from the

genius Marx Brothers.

APRIL 4 – MAY 11 • STAGE THEATRE

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DENVERCENTER.ORG • 303.893.4100 TTY: 303.893.9582 • GROUPS (10+): 303.446.4829

Season Partners:

2014coloradonew play summit

2014

Denver Center Theatre Company presents the 9th Annual

K E N T T H O M P S O N,A RT I S T I C D I R E C T O R

Producing Partners: Joy S. Burns, Leo & Susan Kiely, Daniel L. Ritchie, Bob & Carole Slosky, Steinberg Charitable Trust

APPOGGIATURABy James Still

BENEDICTIONBy Eric Schmiedl

Based upon the novel by Kent Haruf

THE COMPARABLESBy Laura Schellhardt

VICTORY JONES AND THE INCREDIBLE ONE WOMAN BAND

the second break beat playBy Idris Goodwin

ZENITHBy Kirsten Greenidge

denvercenter.org/summit • 303.893.6030

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F E B R U A R Y 7 – 9

READINGS INCLUDE:

IMPACTCRE TIVITY

DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY

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303.893.4100 APPLAUSE 27


Million Dollar QuartetFeb 25 – March 9Buell Theatre

Great balls of fire! This elec-trifying musical is inspired by the true story of the one and only time rock’n’roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together for one of the greatest jam sessions of all time. This Tony® award-winning Broadway show features your favorite time-less hits. Rock’n’roll’s best kept secret... revealed!

ASL interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance March 9 @ 2pm.

ShadowlandsMarch 28 – April 27Space Theatre

Professor/author C.S. Lewis was a bachelor into middle age, when friendship with an American fan, Joy Davidman, ignited a deep and unexpected romance. But a diagnosis of cancer for Joy brings on a crisis of faith for Lewis, straining his lifelong dedication to Christian theology. This true story reminds us that great loss does not exist without great love.

ASL interpreted and Audio Described performance April 27 @ 1:30pm

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The

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This is the stunning musical that will not die—not after a hobbled start in 1975, not after a 20-year waiting period, and certainly not after the resound-ing success of its 1996 revival and 2002 Oscar-winning film. It joyfully returns to Denver for the fifth time.

ASL interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance March 22 @ 2pm.

Spark a dialogue today by participating in our free CONNECT program. Designed to enhance your theatre experience, the CONNECT program offers a variety of opportunities, including moderated discussions with the cast and creative staff, educational resources, tours, and other special events. For more information visit www.denvercenter.org/CONNECT

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“We are honored to partner with organizations that give so generously to enable communities to flourish,” he continues. “We are privileged to be part of DCPA whose caliber is undeniable, from the performances it showcases to the experiences it delivers, to its educational outreach.” As part of Zions Bancorporation, Vectra, with 41 locations throughout the state, has the personal feel of community banks, and the reach and resources of larger institu-tions. Its bankers focus on all stages of life and cycles of a business, with a proactive approach to help advance clients’ financial goals. Whether the customer is the manager of a growing Colorado company, an indi-vidual consumer or someone looking for support in wealth management planning, all will find at Vectra Bank an innovative banking organization eager to surpass their expectations. n

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ART

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THINKING CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY

A proud sponsor of the Denver Center Attractions season

“Not only do arts provide those critical experiences that can

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Documents

Applause Magazine, Jan. 10 - Feb. 22, 2014