Applause Magazine, January 18-February 24, 2019

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LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE

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A BRONX TALE ANNA KARENINA THE WHISTLEBLOWER ROCK OF AGES

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SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

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Welcome to a new year filled with returning favorites, exciting debuts and never-before-seen-but-soon-to-be hits.

In February, we welcome both local guests and industry peers to join us for our annual Colorado New Play Summit. This is an opportunity to hear actors read plays that are currently in development. First, we receive hundreds of script submissions.

Then, we select several to rehearse with a director, a dramaturg who serves as the literary editor and a professional cast. Finally, our actors “read” the play for a live audience.

This is the really exciting part — you experience the play without benefit of lighting, costumes, music and scenery. You simply hear the words and the stage directions while your mind fills in the blanks. The playwright takes in your reactions to help inform minor changes to a scene or major changes to the play. At no other time is the audience’s reaction quite as crucial as in the development of the script.

As part of this year’s Summit, we are delighted to offer: • In the Upper Room by Beaufield Berry (reading) • Wally World by Isaac Gomez (reading) • You Lost Me by Bonnie Metzgar (reading) • twenty50 by Tony Meneses (reading and DCPA commission) • Rattlesnake Kate with music and lyrics of Neyla Pekarek and book

by Karen Hartman (concert reading and DCPA commission) • Finalists in our High School playwriting competition (readings) • Last Night and the Night Before by Donnetta Lavinia Grays (world premiere production) • The Whistleblower by Itamar Moses (world premiere production) These works are at the beginning of their journeys while other current productions are well established in the American theatre — Anna Karenina, Rock of Ages and A Bronx Tale (read Chazz Palminteri’s determination to bring his real-life story to the stage on page 10).

Every aspiring actor, playwright, director and designer needs support and encouragement to foster their abilities. Fortunately, DCPA Education cultivates that talent through a variety of programs.

And those programs are made possible in part through proceeds from our annual Saturday Night Alive gala coming up March 2. This year, we honor former DCPA Chairman Daniel L. Ritchie, feature entertainment by Vanessa Williams and showcase students in our Education program.

Whether you enjoy established playwrights, glittering fundraisers, continuing education, or new diverse works, winter at the DCPA is filled with opportunity. We hope you’ll be part of our journey.

Warm regards,

Janice Sinden President & CEO 4

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VO LU M E X X X • N U M B E R 5 • JA N – M A R 2 0 1 9

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe ASSOCIATE EDITOR: John Moore ART DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone APPLAUSE DESIGNER: Brenda Elliott CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sylvie Drake, Brittany Gutierrez, Cheyenne Michaels, John Moore, Savannah Nichols Applause is published eight times a year by Denver Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with The Publishing House, Westminster, CO. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Call 303.893.4000 regarding editorial content.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Martin Semple, Chairman William Dean Singleton, Secretary/Treasurer Robert Slosky, Vice Chairman Dr. Patricia Baca Joy S. Burns Fred Churbuck Isabelle Clark Navin Dimond L. Roger Hutson Robert C. Newman Roberta Robinette Manny Rodriguez Alan Salazar Hassan Salem Richard M. Sapkin June Travis Ken Tuchman Tina Walls Dr. Reginald L. Washington Judi Wolf Sylvia Young

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HONORARY TRUSTEES Margot Gilbert Frank Jeannie Fuller M. Ann Padilla Daniel L. Ritchie Cleo Parker Robinson Lester L. Ward HELEN G. BONFILS FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES William Dean Singleton, President Martin Semple, Vice President

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EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT Janice Sinden, President & CEO Chris Coleman, Artistic Director, Theatre Company Clay Courter, Vice President, Facilities & Event Services John Ekeberg, Executive Director, Broadway & Cabaret Lisa Mallory, Vice President, Marketing & Sales Vicky Miles, Chief Financial Officer Yovani Pina, Vice President, Information Technology Shelley Thompson, Vice President, Development Charles Varin, Managing Director, Theatre Company Allison Watrous, Executive Director, Education

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Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ biggest stars step into the spotlight — actors, designers, students and you.

Xanadu Now – Apr 28 A Bronx Tale Now – Jan 20 Last Night and the Night Before Jan 18 – Feb 24 Rock of Ages Jan 25 – 27 Anna Karenina Jan 25 – Feb 24

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The Whistleblower Feb 8 – Mar 10

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Powered by Off-Center Mar – Apr The Play That Goes Wrong Mar 5 – 17 Hello, Dolly!

Mar 27 – Apr 7 The Illusionists Apr 12 – 14

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Cats Apr 24 – 28

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Sweat Apr 26 – May 26 Wicked May 8 – Jun 9

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Photos by Libby Neder Photography, Emily Lozow and John Moore

Fiddler on the Roof Jun 11 – 16

1. DCPA OFF-CENTER offered tiny morsels of plays at its recent show entitled Bite-Size: An Evening of Micro Theatre at BookBar. 2. DCPA BROADWAY welcomed nearly 70,000 guests to the North American tour launch of Dear Evan Hansen. 3. DCPA Trustee Bob Newman and his wife Judi honored the DCPA’s late President by naming a theatre in his honor. The Randy Weeks Conservatory Theatre will welcome Education students of all ages.

The Newmans (l) were joined by Randy’s family at the dedication. 4. DCPA EDUCATION and UCHealth welcomed families to a special performance of Corduroy. As part of an effort to encourage family time after Thanksgiving, Denver Broncos alum David Bruton Jr. read Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy to delighted children before the play. 5. DCPA CABARET kicked off its six-month run of Xanadu, that roller skating, hair feathering, sweat band wearing cult classic of the 1980s.

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Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles Jun 23 Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Jul 9 – 28 Anastasia Aug 7 – 18

FOR A COMPLETE LIST, VISIT DENVERCENTER.ORG Tickets for some shows are currently unavailable.

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BY JOHN MOORE

W

When Chazz Palminteri was in Denver back in 2009 to promote his one-man play A Bronx Tale, he finished the interview with a daring aside: “A Bronx Tale is a great movie, and it’s a great play,” he said. “And I will tell you something else: One day it’ll be a great musical, too. You watch.”

Seven years later, Palminteri was proven right. Again.

“I just knew,” Palminteri says now of the fully fleshed 1950s musical that played exactly 700 performances on Broadway before hitting the road on its Denver-bound national tour. “It had everything a musical needs. First off, it had a great story. It’s a classic. The characters I wrote are archetypes. If I could get great music, I knew it would click.

And it did. It’s poetic.”

But it took a decade, starting back in 2006, for Palminteri to pull it off. “I would say out of all the things I’ve tried — writing, directing, acting and producing — musicals are the hardest by far, because there are just so many things that could go wrong,” Palminteri said. “You could have a great book, but if the music’s not great, you’re sunk. If you don’t cast it right, you’re done. The wrong director could destroy it. It’s like a circus with a thousand moving parts that you’ve really got to put together just right. It’s hard. But when you hit it like we did, there is nothing like it. People are just going bananas over this show.”

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Palminteri did it by surrounding himself with the most talented people he could find: Four-time Tony winner Jerry Zaks and film legend Robert De Niro as co-directors. Music mogul Tommy Mottola producing. And, after some fits and starts, he landed eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and three-time Tony nominee Glenn Slater to write the music. (Palminteri wrote the book himself.)

“Look it, that doesn’t guarantee it’s going to come out great,” Palminteri said. “But we put a lot of great minds together, and a great musical came out of it.”

Palminteri has been telling his story in one form or another for 30 years. A Bronx Tale is the “semiautobiographical” story of young Calogero (Palminteri’s given name), who at age nine sees local mobster Sonny LoSpecchio commit a murder but won’t give him up to the police. When Sonny takes the boy in, it sets up a clash between his father — a hard-working bus driver — and his new gangster father figure. Ultimately, it’s a story about trying to do what’s right when what’s right isn’t always obvious.

“Look, this is not a gangster story. This is a family story,” Palminteri said. “This is about the triumph of the spirit. This is about a young boy whose father taught him the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.

“Don’t waste your life.”

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Joe Barbara (Sonny, left) and Joey Barreiro (Calogero, center), with the Touring Company of A Bronx Tale. Photo: Joan Marcus

PERSISTENCE PAID OFF FOR PALMINTERI’S

“Look, this is not a gangster story.

This is a family story. This is about the triumph of the spirit.”

Lauren Shealy in XANADU Photo By Emily Lozow

Palminteri’s life changed in 1989 when he debuted his play on a Hollywood stage, portraying all 18 characters himself. And from there, he didn’t waste a minute. “My whole career just blew up,” he said. The film rights, he says, became the most sought after property since Rocky.

What happened next is now movie lore: Palminteri wanted to play Sonny. The studio wanted a star. Palminteri was down to $200 in the bank but even when the offer grew to $1 million for Palminteri to hand over his script and walk away, he said no. Until De Niro came to see the play. He told Palminteri: “Look. I’ll play your father. I’ll direct it. You play Sonny. You’ll write. We’ll be partners.”

Palminteri had to wait another three years for De Niro’s schedule to clear, but it was clearly worth the wait. Critics loved the movie. The next year, Palminteri was nominated for an Oscar for Bullets over Broadway — and never again had only $200 in the bank.

Palminteri said he keeps bringing A Bronx Tale back in new forms because there is always a new crop of nine year olds who don’t know the story.

“Some people who never saw the one-man show and never saw the movie, they see the musical for the first time and then go back and revisit the movie,” Palminteri said. “So one feeds off the other.”

But the musical could not work without great music. And the score brings another level of realism to the story, Palminteri says.

“It starts out with four guys on the corner singing doo-wop under a street light,” he said. “That’s what it was like back then. All the different kids had their own kind of music. The music was clashing just like the people were.

Alan Menken is from that time, and so am I, so we were able to really nail it in the story.”

But the musical was ultimately a hit, he said, because it passes the Alfred Hitchcock test.

“Hitchcock said, ‘There are only three things you can do to an audience: You can make them laugh, you can make them cry or you can scare them. That’s it.

And if you do two out of three, you’ve got a hit,’” Palminteri said. “In A Bronx Tale, we make you laugh, we make you cry and we scare you. We do all three.

“I guarantee you the people who come see it in Denver will come again because it’s just that powerful. People cannot get enough of it because they learn something new every time. And I encourage people to bring their families.

It’s a really great piece for young people to see. Boys, girls, from 11 years old to 90. I guarantee they will like it.”

And at the end of this latest interview, Palminteri had one more full-circle prediction to make.

“I’ll leave you with one thing,” he said. “Remember this: One day, there will be a movie of the musical. You mark my words.”

Marked.

NOW – APR 28 GARNER GALLERIA THEATRE

— CHAZZ PALMINTERI

A BRONX TALE JAN 8 – 20 • BUELL THEATRE ASL Interpreted, Audio-described, Open Captioned performance: Jan 20, 2pm

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HATTITUDE LUNCHEON

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THE WOMEN’S VOICES FUND enables our Theatre Company to commission, workshop and produce new plays by women, ensuring all stages (and roles) are shared equally. Thanks to the support of our members and Hattitude attendees, our fund continues to be one of the largest of its kind.

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APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

I

Is it possible to squeeze a roughly thousand-page novel into less than three hours on stage?

Not easily. Ask anyone who’s tried and failed.

Or do as I did: ask Chris Coleman, the DCPA Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, who recognized that the huge but complicated potential of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina might be worth the effort — and did something about it.

Early in this century, Coleman had helped Kevin McKeon, a member of Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre, with an adaptation of David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars that Coleman was mounting in a second production at Portland Center Stage, where he was the Artistic Director at the time.

“Kevin managed to take a very complex — and long — story and condense it into something that felt taut, suspenseful, muscular and poetic,” Coleman said in a recent exchange of emails. “I loved how he boiled things down.

It was impressive.” So impressive that Coleman suggested to McKeon that he might like to consider tackling an adaption of Anna Karenina.

McKeon hadn’t even read the novel. But, as he told an interviewer at the time, “it loomed as a challenge and that’s what hooked me.”

The project took roughly two years to complete, emerging as a hit with Portland audiences when Center Stage held its world premiere in 2012.

“Thinking about the flow of my first season in Denver,” Coleman wrote, “I wanted a big, classic story in The Stage Theatre. I considered Shakespeare, but felt it might be a bit obvious.

I also noted that adaptations of literature had resonated well with [Denver] audiences.

“I’ve been involved in several conversions from page to stage. I love the challenge of translating between mediums. I’ve directed several Chekhov productions, and two Dostoyevskys over the years — and love the wild world of pre-revolutionary Russia. I also knew that, besides being a multilayered love story, Anna K would offer a sweeping epic treatment that could be very dynamic.”

It was Oprah Winfrey, Coleman said, who introduced him to “the beautiful translation of Anna Karenina by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky that came out about a decade ago.

“I was surprised by what a page-turner it was.

So layered and complex. A feast. Definitely on my list of all time greats.”

Shaping the introspection and sheer volume of Anna Karenina into a functional play, however, forced adapter McKeon to seek and find a looser approach with the writing. That never meant playing around with the central story — that of Anna, a St. Petersburg socialite, married to a prominent government official and swept off her feet

by Count Vronsky, a handsome, well-to-do Cavalry Officer. Their passionate affair drastically altered their lives and ended badly. That remains unchanged.

So does a parallel plot involving Constantin Levin, a liberal landowner

and old friend of Anna’s brother. Levin’s well-meaning but lame efforts at a back-to-the-land existence include clumsy attempts at democratizing the handling of serfs on his estate. Aside from counterbalancing the love story, his tale makes room for Tolstoy to offer some of his own complex views on nothing less than faith, politics and the meaning of life.

“Levin and Anna... That is a huge one isn’t it,” Coleman volunteered. “My first impulse is that they might somehow express two different aspects of Tolstoy’s own psyche. He had a very robust and adventurous sex life when he was a young man. The tension that created with the philosopher/social change agent within him likely fueled much of his writing in some way.”

The stage adaptation of Anna that McKeon finally achieved doesn’t attempt to replicate Tolstoy’s dense, detailed and emotional language.

Too novelistic. He needed to find a way to interweave the parallel stories concisely, and he eventually settled on a technique created by Paul Sills in the 1970s called Story Theatre, wherein the characters on stage take on the speaking of the narrative as well as the dialogue.

COSTUME COLUMN With the lavish grandeur of Imperial Russian fashion as his inspiration, Anna Karenina Costume Designer Jeff Cone had his work cut out for him.

“Period costumes, while more intricate and time-intensive, are also much more fun and interesting to design,” says Cone in an interview with Portland Center Stage. Intricate and time-intensive, indeed. Late-19th century fashions in Saint Petersburg were embellished with fur, embroidery, and ornate decorations such as pearls and jewels. At least, that’s what the upper class was wearing.

A parallel story to Anna’s tragic romance is that of Konstantin Levin, a wealthy country landowner who wrestles internally with the class disparities he witnesses around him.

“The people who we spend the most time with in this production are in the top .5% of the economic ladder of that world,” says Chris Coleman, Theatre Company Artistic Director and director of Anna Karenina. “So when we see the more humble people in that world, it’s a sharp contrast.”

As for how to fit 83 costumes into a two-act play with 17 actors that moves at a cinematic clip, Cone hopes you won’t notice at all. “When the actors become their characters, their dress becomes a part of them and their performance. A great costume shouldn’t draw attention away from that performance. If the costumes aren’t noticed, we’ve done our job.”

It was revolutionary that [Tolstoy] took this very complex love story, and used it as a motor around which he could take on all the major debates and boiling points of the day.

— CHRIS COLEMAN, DIRECTOR OF ANNA KARENINA AND DCPA THEATRE COMPANY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR This greatly tightens the connective tissue, allowing scenes to flow smoothly one into the next. By using such “theatrical shorthand,” McKeon, who’s an actor and director as well as a writer, compressed long stretches of narrative into fewer lines, while retaining a bracing vitality.

“What is interesting about Tolstoy’s journey with the story,” Coleman pointed out, “is what he thought he was setting out to write, and what he ended up writing. As someone born to enormous privilege, who spent his life trying to upend the social and spiritual status quo, it seems he began thinking he would be condemning the infidelity that leads to Anna’s downfall.

“But the farther he walked on the journey, the deeper his personal involvement in the individual psyches involved, and the poet in him took over. The facets are so various, it’s hard to decide where he landed or if he landed in one place, morally. It was revolutionary that he took this very complex love story and used it as a motor around which he could take on all the major debates and boiling points of the day.”

Denver’s Karenina has a cast of 17 actors, all of them new to the play and to this entirely new production.

“There is no way to replicate the intimacy of the experience of actually reading a novel when you translate it to the stage,” Coleman acquiesced in parting, “but you do gain visual style, tension, action and forward momentum. The trick is making place for the narrative voice and not letting that voice deflate the forward motion.

“It’s a dance.”

ANNA KARENINA JAN 25 – FEB 24 • STAGE THEATRE

ASL Interpreted and Audio-Described performance: Feb 17, 6:30pm Spanish audio translated performance: Feb 2, 1:30pm

Costume designs by Jeff Cone

Sylvie Drake is a translator, writer, and a former theatre critic and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She is an occasional contributor to American Theatre magazine and the Los Angeles Times, and regular contributor to culturalweekly.com. She also served for several years as Director of Publications for the DCPA.

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Henry Boshart as Charlie Bucket. Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Photo by Joan Marcus

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LAST NIGHT AND THE

NIGHT BEFORE

BY

Donnetta Lavinia Grays

With Erin Cherry, Sharod Choyce, Bianca LaVerne Jones, Zaria Kelley, Keona Welch Stage Managers: Randall K. Lum, Kristen O’Connor SET DESIGN BY Matthew Smucker

COSTUME DESIGN BY Melanie Burgess

LIGHTING DESIGN BY Mary Louise Geiger

SOUND DESIGN BY Larry D. Fowler, Jr.

VOICE AND DIALECT BY Dwight Bacquie

DRAMATURGY BY Jacqueline E. Lawton

CASTING BY Harriet Bass, CSA and Grady Soapes, CSA

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Matthew Campbell

DIRECTED BY Valerie Curtis-Newton Last Night and the Night Before was developed in a professional workshop at Portland Stage Company, Portland, Maine.

Last Night and the Night Before was also developed with the National New Play Network at the National Showcase of New Plays and at the DCPA Theatre Company’s Colorado New Play Summit in February 2017.

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

THE RICKETSON THEATRE • JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 24, 2019

A DENVER CENTER WORLD PREMIERE Produced with support from DCPA’s Women’s Voices Fund.

SEASON SPONSORS

PRODUCING PARTNERS

Robert and Judi Newman

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE

CAST

(In Order of Appearance) Sam..................................................................................................................................................................................ZARIA KELLEY Monique....................................................................................................................................................................... KEONA WELCH Nadima............................................................................................................................................................................. ERIN CHERRY Rachel....................................................................................................................................................BIANCA LAVERNE JONES Reggie.....................................................................................................................................................................SHAROD CHOYCE Stage Manager.....................................................................................................................................................RANDALL K. LUM Assistant Stage Manager.........................................................................................................................KRISTEN O’CONNOR Stage Management Apprentice....................................................................................................................WAYNE BREYER Children’s Supervisor.....................................................................................................................................ILIANA L. BARRON The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

SETTING A brownstone in Brooklyn and back in time to Vixten, Georgia There will be one 15-minute intermission.

WHO’S WHO ACTING COMPANY ERIN CHERRY (Nadima). Some credits include: The Cherry Lane Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Flea Theater, Hartford Stage, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Classical Theatre of Harlem, New York Stage and Film, and The Guthrie Theatre. Cherry is the host of her own video blog show called “Sunday’s With a Cherry on Top,” which is a health and lifestyle show on Black Culture that you can find on YouTube.

She is also a private acting coach and acting teacher at Maggie Flanigan Studio in New York City. TV: Please catch her as Brenda on the hit series “After Forever” on Amazon Prime.

SHAROD CHOYCE (Reggie). Credits include The Flick, The Emperor Jones, and many other regional productions over the years. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and he has an MFA from Rutgers University.

BIANCA LAVERNE JONES (Rachel). OffBroadway credits include McReele (Roundabout), Ruby Place Nest on the Ground (Signature), Virgin of the Vieux Carre (Primary Stages). Other New York credits include but are not limited to Macbeth, Trojan Women, Iken’s Perversion and Iced Out Shackled and Chained. Regional theater credits include but are not limited to BERTA BERTA, The Wedding Gift (Contemporary American Theater Festival); Disgraced (Asolo Rep); King Lear (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Mountaintop (City Theater).

TV/Film: “Blindspot,” “The Punisher,” Oceans Eight, “The Last O.G.,” “Madame Secretary.”

ZARIA KELLEY (Sam) has been featured in multiple short films, web series, print work and has a feature in the upcoming film Bad Hair, which is in post-production.

Music video credits include a feature in Todrick Hall’s Forbidden Visual Album, “Ordinary Day.” Theatre

credits include Ruby Bridges: The Story of Ruby Bridges, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, and Buddy’s Big Day Out. Currently, you can find her as one of the kid hosts on the popular All Def Digital YouTube Series “Arts & Raps.” Special Awards: Young Georgia Authors Award for “Born to Act,” Visual & Performing Arts Award.

KEONA WELCH (Monique).

International: The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre).

New York Theatre: A Lovely Malfunction (Negro Ensemble Company), And Miles to Go (The Wild Project), Mooney’s Kid Don’t Cry (Drama League DirectorFest), Blacken the Bubble (Liberation Theatre Company), and more.

Regional: Flyin’ West (Westport Country Playhouse), A Raisin in the Sun (Huntington), Ruined (Philadelphia Theatre Company), and more. TV/Film: “Seven Seconds,” “Orange is The New Black,” Custody with Viola Davis, Didn’t I Ask For Tea, both “Law & Orders,” “The Chapelle Show,” and more. Training: Duke Ellington School of the Arts; Rutgers University.

DONNETTA LAVINIA GRAYS. Plays include Last Night and the Night Before (Colorado New Play Summit, Kilroys List, NNPN Showcase, Todd McNerney Playwright Award). The Review (O’Neill Center Finalist), and Laid to Rest (O’Neill Center Finalist, Kilroys List - Honorable Mention, Steppenwolf Theater’s The Mix). Developed work with The Labyrinth Theater, New York Theater Workshop, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Portland Stage Company, and Classical Theater of Harlem.

WP Theater Lab and Space on Ryder Farm Resident Playwright alumna. Commissions with The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit and WP Theater. Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award. Staff writer on TV’s “Manhunt.”

DIRECTOR VALERIE CURTIS-NEWTON. The Head of Directing at the University of Washington’s School of Drama, Valerie also serves as the Artistic Director for The Hansberry Project, an African American theatre. She has worked with theatres across the country including: The Guthrie Theater, Intiman Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, among others. She has been awarded the Artists’ Trust Innovation Award, the NEA/TCG Fellowship for Directors, the Stage Directors and Choreographers’ Guild Directing Fellowship, and the Seattle Stranger Genius Crosscut Courage in Culture Award.

CREATIVE TEAM DWIGHT BACQUIE (Voice and Dialect Coach) is the senior Voice and Speech instructor at California Institute of the Arts/CalArts and has led the Speech Department for the past five years. Among the productions he has coached are Hoodoo Love (Memphis dialect), Sonia Flew (Cuban accent), Picnic (Kansas dialect), Lear (Shakespeare/ Classic American), Lascivious Something (Greek accent) and Camino Real (Southern, Mexican, British, French, East LA accents).

HARRIET BASS, CSA (Casting). New York: Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean, Off-Broadway’s Radio Golf, Jitney, Public Theatre’s New Work Now,

Minetta Lane, Women’s Project, La MaMa, Epic Theatre, Drama League, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Women in Film and Television. Regional: Hartford Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, Syracuse Stage, Huntington Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theatre Co., Berkeley Rep, Playmaker’s Rep, Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Geva, CenterStage, Long Wharf Theatre, Arizona Theatre Co. TV/ Film: “Pushing Hands,” “Graves End,” “First We Take Manhattan.” Audition Coach at many of the nation’s top universities and actor training programs.

MELANIE BURGESS (Costume Designer) is based in Seattle, WA and has designed costumes for over 165 productions for theatre, opera and ballet in the Seattle area. Regionally, she has designed for: The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, Tantrum Theatre (Ohio), Idaho Theatre for Youth, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and Hawaii Opera.

Melanie is a Professor of Costume Design at Cornish College of the Arts.

MATTHEW CAMPBELL (Associate Production Manager) is in his ninth season at the DCPA, a member of the production management team since 2016 and a stage manager the seven previous seasons. Continuously grateful to support and work alongside our marvelous staff and guest artists creating unforgettable, amazing theatre. Some Theatre Company favorites while on the stage management team: Frankenstein, The 12, Animal Crackers, Lord of the Flies, and Sweet & Lucky with Off-Center.

Previously a stage manager at several local theatres and an Assistant Professor of Theater at Brooklyn College. Training: MFA, University of Iowa.

LARRY D. FOWLER, JR. (Sound Designer). Philadelphia Theater Credits: Simpatico, New Paradise, Azuka, Theater Horizon, Lantern Theater, Theater Exile, The Wilma Theater, Interact, Eleone Dance, Danse 4 Nia, Khaleah London Dance, and Camden Rep. Nominations: 2018 Barrymore Award for Theatre Excellence. Sound Design lecturer at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

MARY LOUISE GEIGER (Lighting Designer). Recent: Annie (5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle), Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible/Minetta Lane,

NYC). Broadway: The Constant Wife (American Airlines Theatre). OffBroadway: Until the Flood, Draw the Circle (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre); X, or Betty Shabazz v.

The Nation (Acting Company tour and NYC); Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Forever, Oedipus at Palm Springs (NYTW); This Bitter Earth, Les Carillons (NYCB). Regional (selected): ACT Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Guthrie, Huntington Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, OSF. Awards: Helen Hayes, IRNE, NYSCA. Training: Yale, Factulty: NYU. mlgeiger.com JACQUELINE E. LAWTON (Dramaturg) has worked as a dramaturg and research consultant at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arden Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Discovery Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford’s Theatre, Horizons Theater, Howard University, Hub Theatre, Interact Theatre, Kennedy Center VSA Program, Morgan State University, Rorschach Theater Company, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Virginia Stage Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Currently, she is a production dramaturg at PlayMakers Repertory Company.

MATTHEW SMUCKER (Set Designer).

Previous collaborations with Valerie Curtis-Newton include All My Sons (Intiman); Wine in the Wilderness, Flight, and Fathers and Sons (A Contemporary Theatre – ACT).

Smucker’s work has appeared at Seattle Rep, Seattle Opera, 5th Avenue Theatre, New Century Theatre Company, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, The Empty Space, Village Theatre, Youth Theatre NW, Paper Mill Playhouse, Theatre Under the Stars, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, San Jose Rep, Kansas City Rep, Children’s Theatre Company, and Childsplay among others. Smucker is a professor at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, and a member of USA 829.

GRADY SOAPES, CSA (Casting) is the Director of Casting and Associate Producer with DCPA. Recent casting credits include Oklahoma!, The Constant Wife, The Who’s Tommy, The Wild Party, A Christmas Carol, This Is Modern Art and casting associate on many other Denver Center productions. Choreography credits include As You Like It, Drag Machine, Lord of the Butterflies, DragON (DCPA); Comedy of Errors

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE

PLAYWRIGHT

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE

(Colorado Shakespeare Festival); The Music Man (Perry-Mansfield). Grady is the producer of both the Colorado New Play Summit and Colorado New Play Festival and holds a BA from Colorado State University.

STAGE MANAGEMENT RANDALL K. LUM (Stage Manager) returns for a third season. Previous Denver Center productions include The Christians, FADE, and Blind Date (Colorado New Play Summit reading 2017). Some companies he has worked for include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Center Theatre Group, Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, American Conservatory Theatre, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and California Shakespeare Theatre. Some world premieres stage managed include The Prince of Egypt, The Royale, Confederates, and American Night: The Ballad of Juan José.

KRISTEN O’CONNOR (Assistant Stage Manager). At the DCPA: Corduroy, Disgraced, The Book of Will, FADE, A Christmas Carol, As You Like It, Animal Crackers, black odyssey, Jackie & Me, Death of a Salesman and First Date, Girls Only (DCPA Cabaret). Other Theatres: Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Phamaly Theatre Company, LIDA Project, Augustana Arts. Training: BFA Applied Theatre Technology & Design, Metropolitan State University of Denver.

THEATRE COMPANY LEADERSHIP TEAM CHRIS COLEMAN (Artistic Director) is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the DCPA Theatre Company as Artistic Director in November of 2017. Chris spent the prior 18 years as Artistic Director for Portland Center Stage in Oregon. Under his leadership, PCS renovated the city’s historic Armory into a new home, saw annual attendance nearly double, workshopped 52 new plays that went on to productions at over 100 theaters around the U.S. and U.K., and became a national leader in how theaters engage with their community.

In 1988, Chris founded Actor’s Express in Atlanta (in the basement of an old church), a company that continues to be a cultural force in the

Southeast today. He has directed at major theaters across the country, including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Alliance Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Center Stage Baltimore, Actors Theatre of Louisville, ACT/Seattle, the Asolo, Pittsburgh Public, 59E59, and New York Theater Workshop. He and his husband, actor/writer Rodney Hicks, live in Stapleton with their 100 lb.

English blockhead yellow lab and their 18 lb. terrier mix.

CHARLES VARIN (Managing Director) and his team are responsible for the administrative, financial and business operations for Theatre Company and OffCenter productions and other artistic initiatives. Since joining the Theatre Company in 2006, he has played a major role in executing the artistic vision of the organization and facilitating the production of shows such as Sweet & Lucky, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Sense & Sensibility The Musical, The 12, Sweeney Todd with DeVotchKa and many more. Charles is passionate about artistic innovation and firmly believes in DCPA’s long-standing commitment to new plays and new voices.

In addition to DCPA staff, the following crew worked on this production: Bailee Booser, Nathaniel Feit, Will Melendez, Joseph Price, and Camille Stillman

PLEASE BE ADVISED that once the show begins:

• LATECOMERS and those exiting the theatre are seated at predetermined breaks in designated areas.

• CHILDREN 4+ are welcome in our theatres and must be ticketed.

• DRINKS are allowed in provided containers.

• ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES, LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS & BOOSTER SEATS are available in most theatres. Ask an usher to direct you.

• BRAILLE PROGRAMS are available with 2 weeks’ notice to ckrueger@dcpa.org or 303.893.4836.

The Theatre Company is grateful for the funds provided by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Special thanks also to grants from the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation; and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. The 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 Theatre Company 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 Theatre Company 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 Theatre Company is constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for not-for-profit resident theatre companies.

The costumes, wigs, lighting, props, furniture, scenic construction, scenic painting, sound and special effects used in connection with this production were constructed and coordinated by the Theatre Company’s Production Staff.

The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE We welcome you to take photos in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. If you post photos on social media, please tag the DCPA and the design team: @denvercenter #DCPAToday #DCPALastNight Playwright: Donnetta Lavinia Grays @donnettalavinia Director: Valerie Curtis-Newton Scenic Designer: Matthew Smucker @matthew_smucker Costume Designer: Melanie Burgess Lighting Designer: Mary Louise Geiger @marylouisegeiger Sound Designer: Larry D. Fowler, Jr. @mrcisum Please note: photos are strictly prohibited during the performance. Photos of the stage are not permitted if an actor is present. Video recording is not permitted at any time in the theatre.

The actors and stage managers employed in this production 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.) The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented

by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

Introducing

THE

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T Through its community outreach program, Ameristar Cares, team members help those who need it most by volunteering time and making financial contributions.

This year, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa again joins the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as a proud sponsor. Through its world class productions, the DCPA has been entertaining audiences in the Denver community for decades. Also being in the business to entertain, it’s only natural that Ameristar would find a partner in DCPA. This mission to thrill and to create memorable moments for their guests is one that Ameristar takes seriously.

“Beyond fostering great entertainment,” said Sean Demeule, General Manager of Ameristar Casino Resort Spa, “Ameristar recognizes that all responsible organizations have an obligation to make a meaningful difference in their communities. Through our community outreach program, Ameristar Cares, team members help those who need it most by volunteering time and making financial contributions. Whether it is serving at a food bank or financially supporting one of many community health organizations, our team members have a passion to give back to Denver.”

It’s for this reason that Ameristar has continued year after year to partner with DCPA. It’s about having a passion not only to entertain, but also to change lives. To foster a vibrant community of giving and to contribute to causes which seek to create a better tomorrow. When the curtain falls, Ameristar will be standing with DCPA.

— SEAN DEMEULE, GENERAL MANAGER OF AMERISTAR CASINO RESORT SPA

22

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

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CASA VALENTINA

January 11 – February 3, 2019

February 15 – March 17, 2019 presented by Vita Littleton

2450 West Main Street Littleton Tickets: TownHallArtsCenter.org 303.794.2787

SATURDAYS • 8PM JANUARY 5 - F EBRUARY 9

ITAMAR MOSES ON SPEAKING YOUR TRUTH IN

BY JOHN MOORE

Illustration by Kyle Malone

A

24

Acclaimed playwright Itamar Moses was working on a new play when he had a wild thought: How funny would it be if he wrote a character who walked into every single scene and just dropped a verbal grenade?

Think about it: “What if someone approached the most important people in his life and told them the one unspoken thing that no one is ever supposed to say, and no one ever wants to hear?” said Moses.

You know…the truth?

“That struck me as very funny and also very dramatic, like a high-wire moment,” said Moses, winner of the most recent Tony Award for writing the book to the Broadway musical The Band’s Visit. “It felt to me like firing a character out of a cannon and watching as the wind resistance from everything he encounters gradually pushes that cannonball back to earth.”

The idea wasn’t right for the play Moses was working on. It worked instead as the tantalizing premise for his new dark comedy, The Whistleblower, the DCPA Theatre Company’s 134th world premiere in its 40-year history.

The play follows a screenwriter named Eli who has been able to carve out a reasonably stable career writing for television in Hollywood. In the opening scene, he realizes his dream when a studio exec gives him the green light to create his own TV drama called, yes, “The Whistleblower.”

It would be about a vagabond journalist who travels the globe infiltrating places of power to ferret out corruption.

But before Eli even gets out of the pitch meeting, he starts to question why making this or any other TV show was ever his dream in the first place.

“Eli is coming into his late 30s, which is the age when you start to think, ‘Well, I guess this is it. This is who I am

and this is the life I have,’” said Moses, 41. “Now of course that’s an illusion. It’s never too late to make a change. But I think that physiologically and psychologically, all of the complacency and the tiredness and the responsibilities that you accumulate over your lifetime start to make it feel like it would be very hard to change. So Eli has this moment where he decides to change everything in his life as quickly as possible.”

Armed with a new sense of spiritual clarity, Eli sets out on a quest to serve up some hard truths to co-workers, family, exes and friends. Not to tell them what’s wrong with their lives, Moses said — although that’s how some of the other characters interpret it. “I think what he sets out to do is something closer to just speaking his own truth,” Moses said. “Essentially what he is saying is: ‘I can’t continue to participate in this relationship in the way I have been because there’s some lie or compromise lurking inside of it. So I’m going to say what I have to say, and maybe that blows this relationship up completely. Or maybe it just means we have to change. But either way, I’m not going to continue allowing this unspoken lie to undergird this relationship.’”

When told the premise sounds a bit like a mashup of Jim Carrey’s character in the film Liar Liar and Siddhartha, Moses said with a laugh: “That’s not actually a terrible comparison.”

The irony of Eli’s quest is that he unconsciously sets out to do exactly in his life what he pitched for his proposed TV protagonist in the world: To expose the dishonesty that lurks just below the surface. And if that all sounds so very serious, DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman said, the play is also gut-bustingly funny.

“Itamar is an absolutely brilliant playwright and an exciting voice to have on the season,” said Coleman, who first staged a Moses world premiere back in 2003, when Moses was an unknown playwright and Coleman

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Essentially what [Eli, the main character] is saying is:… “I’m going to say what I have to say, and maybe that blows this relationship up completely.”

— ITAMAR MOSES, PLAYWRIGHT

was running Portland Center Stage. “This new play is a hilarious and thought-provoking spiritual journey. When Eli begins telling the truth about the relationships in his life, the people around him think he’s lost his mind. But he comes to a place that I think is very hopeful at the end. When I first read it, I was absolutely knocked out.”

Moses says what often makes a serious subject funny on a stage is simply speed.

“People say if you do tragedy fast enough it becomes comedy,” he said with a laugh. “I could slow this play way down and make an entire play out of just about any of these encounters Eli has. But there’s something about the speed and the matter-of-factness with which he goes about all of it that plays, I think, as comedy. As the play goes on, there are darker and sharper edges, and an underlying kind of despair. But I think, especially for a while, the play is wanting to be very, very funny.”

Moses, who was also an Executive Story Editor on the landmark HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” is confident Denver audiences will one day soon see his breakout Broadway musical The Band’s Visit, which recently announced its first national touring production. Based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name, it’s the story of a stranded Egyptian police orchestra that arrives by mistake in a small village in Israel’s Negev Desert and are taken in by the locals.

In the meantime, The Whistleblower will be a featured presentation at this year’s Colorado New Play Summit in February. While Moses has not yet seen the play fully staged before a live audience, he hopes they find The Whistleblower to be “fast, fun and, by the end, a moving and thought-provoking ride.”

Asked what he hopes audiences walk away with after seeing the play, Moses couldn’t resist blowing the comedy whistle: “I want them to walk away with tickets to see it again,” he said with a laugh.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER FEB 8 – MAR 10 • SPACE THEATRE ASL Interpreted and Audio-described performance: Mar 3, 1:30pm

ll people A are equal Moments are shared Differences are valued Discussion is encouraged We respect that everyone experiences our stories differently.

PROUD CORPORATE MEMBER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

At AT&T, we remain dedicated to uplifting creative initiatives that bring people together…

— ROBERTA ROBINETTE, PRESIDENT, AT&T COLORADO

26

A

At AT&T, we’re all about connections. We believe art and cultural programs are powerful bridges between diverse communities and across different generations.

In that spirit, we are committed to supporting initiatives that help create and preserve opportunities that introduce people to new perspectives and spark thought-provoking conversations. We believe in these values. That is why AT&T is proud to collaborate with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Throughout its 142-year history of innovation, AT&T has collaborated with leaders and institutions to meet their unique academic, cultural and community needs.

In Colorado, our employees mentored nearly 4,000 students through the Aspire Mentoring Academy from 2012 to 2017. And we are eager to do more.

Diverse programming presents a unique opportunity to help foster inclusive artistic landscapes and create new connections Through our entertainment division, WarnerMedia, we plan to tell stories about issues that matter and create content that reflects the reality of our vibrant, global societies.

“Having served Colorado over the last 114 years,” said AT&T Colorado President and DCPA Trustee Roberta Robinette, “AT&T is honored to support the DCPA. At AT&T, we remain dedicated to uplifting creative initiatives that bring people together and — like us — value connections.”

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

JANUARY

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ in Concert HalfNotes JAN 4-6 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 ■

MPAA RATING: PG13 HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. J.K. ROWLING`S WIZARDING WORLD™ J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s18)

Itzhak Perlman with the Colorado Symphony JAN 10 THU 7:30 A Tribute to Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops JAN 12 SAT 7:30 Dvořák Symphony No. 9 JAN 18-20 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 Movie at the Symphony: Amadeus Live JAN 25-26 FRI-SAT 7:30

FEBRUARY

MARCH

Mendelssohn Double Concerto featuring Yumi Hwang-Williams FEB 1-3 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con — V HalfNotes FEB 8 FRI 7:30 Sondheim & Lloyd Webber Showcase FEB 9 SAT 7:30 A Classical Romance FEB 14, 16-17 THU, SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 Nat King Cole & Me — An Evening with Gregory Porter FEB 23 SAT 7:30

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 MAR 1-3 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 Face Vocal Band with the Colorado Symphony MAR 9 SAT 7:30 Peter and the Wolf Featuring Magic Circle Mime Co. HalfNotes MAR 10 SUN 2:30

■

■

■

■

HalfNotes Please join us for family-friendly activities 1

hour before the concert.

These performances include FULL SCREENING OF THE FEATURE FILM!

MPAA RATING: R Amadeus Live is a production of Avex Classics International

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THE EVERYDAYNESS IN

Illustration by Kyle Malone

BY JOHN MOORE

28

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100

F

For Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Last Night and the Night Before is a play you probably think you know going in — but you don’t.

“And that’s the whole point,” the breakthrough playwright and actor said on the eve of the play’s highly anticipated world premiere this month by the DCPA Theatre Company.

“It looks like a simple family drama, and it looks like you might already know all of the players in that drama,” said Grays, who was born in Panama and raised in South Carolina. “But what I tried to do is play on the expectations of what people think they might know and turn that a little bit in order to complicate the storytelling.”

Truth is, most theatregoers have never seen a story, or its players, quite like what Grays is now putting on The Ricketson Theatre stage.

Monique is a lost soul on the run from deep trouble in the Deep South, and when she shows up with her 10-year-old daughter, Sam, on the doorstep of her sister’s Brooklyn brownstone, it shakes up Rachel and her partner Nadima’s orderly New York lifestyle. When we meet Sam’s father, he is loving to a fault. These are characters, Grays says, who defy all expectations and stereotypes. But all of them, it seems, have a secret, which makes Last Night and the Night Before, more than anything, a mystery.

“And it is important to me to have that mystery unfold the way it does because the play moves with memory and surprise and poetry,” said Grays, whose title was inspired by a children’s hand game.

The central mystery revolves around young Sam, who has been through some unknown traumatic event, “and that puts her in the unfortunate position of being at the mercy of the adults who are trying to safeguard her,” Grays said.

“Trauma manifests itself in different ways,” she continued. “And in all black bodies in America right now, I think there is this quiet trauma happening. I know there is for me. When you are confronted with violence or abuse or mistreatment on an ongoing slow roll, the question becomes: How do you deal with that? I think we see in Sam a kid who knows more than she should. And she has to somehow manage that. But eventually that also presents her with a roadmap to healing and joy.”

There has long been an institutional disparity in the American theatre in terms of the gender and race of our storytellers. For decades, as long as a company was presenting at least one story by an African-American playwright, the “black experience” box was checked for the year.

“But that’s such a tricky thing, because how does one fully express ‘the black experience’?” Grays said. “My argument is that there are many, many black experiences. And if you only present, say, the plays of August Wilson, then that becomes the only perspective you get. And the only style of language you get. Over time, you are going to start thinking that is the only experience black people have. So you have to diversify within a culture.

“The audience is going to come into my play with whatever preconceived notions they have and what they are going to discover is, ‘Oh, this is actually a story about a black family that is very different from other black families. This is just this one family’s story.’”

COMING UP FROM THEATRE COMPANY

Many performing arts centers are now proactively trying to offer a wider variety of playwriting voices. This season, for example, the DCPA Theatre Company’s Vietgone, an African-American Oklahoma! and Last Night and the Night Before all have one thing in common: They are, as Grays puts it, “devoid of the white gaze.” That doesn’t mean those stories aren’t for white audiences. The point is rather the opposite: Every story is for all audiences.

“I think a lot of these ‘slot’ plays do manage to teach white audiences about blackness and how to get along with black people. But I’m not interested in that,” she said. “I feel like the burden of talking about race in the American theatre has always been on minorities, and from my perspective, it’s exhausting. For me, it’s more compelling to tell a story that is uniquely and unapologetically black, as opposed to saying this is blackness in relief of whiteness. I think that opens up a completely different way of diversity storytelling.”

SWEAT COSTUME COLUMN

Written by playwright Lynn Nottage, Sweat won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is a moving portrayal of today’s working-class America in decline, set in 2000 and 2008 in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania.

The workers in Reading’s central factory form a community where lifelong friendships are made, love blossoms and family members work side-by-side. However with the struggles of layoffs and the threat of a cheaper workforce, the threads of that community begin to fray.

Nottage began working on the play in 2011 by interviewing the residents of Reading, which, at the time, had a poverty rate of 40%. Nottage exposes how deindustrialization and the shifting ethnic composition of a community impacts identity, race relations and the economy.

“I very much wanted the play to be a conversation starter,” said Nottage. “I feel my role as an artist isn’t to come up with solutions, but to ask the right questions at the right moment.”

Experience this Tony-nominated play on the stage of The Space Theatre this spring (April 26 May 26).

The audience is going to come into my play with whatever preconceived notions they have and what they are going to discover is, “Oh, this is actually a story about a black family that is very different from other black families. This is just this one family’s story.”

— DONNETTA LAVINIA GRAYS, PLAYWRIGHT

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE JAN 18 – FEB 24 • RICKETSON THEATRE ASL Interpreted and Audio-Described performance: Feb 10, 1:30pm

Illustration by Kyle Malone

In Last Night and the Night Before, Grays presents the loving same-sex relationship between Rachel and Nadima not as the point of the story but simply as part of the fabric of the story.

“Simply put, they’re there because we’re here. We exist,” Grays said.

“Rachel and Nadima are not in the play as a lesson for straight people. As a storyteller, I’m most interested in exploring how does family operate?

How do love relations operate? Who takes out the trash? I think it’s a really radical thing to simply show the everydayness of who we are.”

Last Night and the Night Before was a featured reading at the DCPA Theatre Company’s 2017 Colorado New Play Summit, making it the first play ever to be selected for the Summit by one Artistic Director (Kent Thompson) and put on the mainstage season by another (Chris Coleman).

In announcing the pick, Coleman called the play “a beautiful and a deeply human story.”

“What I feel about Denver is overwhelming,” Grays said deliberately. “It’s a really humbling thing when you have this whole community telling you: ‘This play works. This play is worthy not only of the financial investment but of the artistic and institutional investment. That’s no small thing.

The Denver Center has been buoying the stories of women playwrights [through the Women’s Voices Fund] for years, and for me to be added to that legacy is really pretty cool.”

And the reason Grays believes her legacy play is for all audiences, she said, “is that it is has love at its center.”

Her advice to theatregoers: “Just sit back and allow these people into your heart.”

PROUD RESTAURANT PARTNER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

LARIMER SQUARE: WHERE DENVER SHINES

L Larimer Square has found the perfect partner in the DCPA. The combination of world-class theater, music, nightlife, dining and shopping, located just two blocks from one another, provides an amazing and immersive cultural experience.

Larimer Square, downtown Denver’s most beautiful block and beloved shopping district, has a strong commitment to the arts. So it’s no surprise that block owner and award-winning place-maker and entrepreneur, Jeff Hermanson, has made a long-term commitment to partner with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA).

Home to more than 20 independently owned boutiques and beauty/wellness service providers, as well as a collection of Denver’s top, chef-owned restaurants, Larimer Square is where the city of Denver truly shines. The historic block’s signature canopy of lights, historic architecture, charming storefronts and beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains combine to make Larimer Square one of the most treasured places in Colorado.

Larimer Square provides a unique experience that compliments the DCPA’s unmatched cultural offerings. “The combination of Larimer Square’s world-class dining and unrivaled shopping is a perfect match for the theater, music, and immersive performances offered through the DCPA,” said Hermanson, who’s owned and overseen development of Larimer Square for the last 25 years. “Located just two blocks from one another, culture-loving residents and visitors know that the two destinations provide an amazing, only-in-Denver experience.”

The block hosts some of the top festivals and events each year including the annual Denver Chalk Art Festival, a free, two-day street-painting festival where hundreds of artists from around the world spend hours turning the streets of Larimer Square into a walkable gallery exhibit of chalk art over the first weekend in June.

Larimer Square also hosts signature Dining Al Fresco evening events under the lights on select summer dates and will once again host the international food festival, Slow Food Nations, in July.

For more information on Larimer Square, please visit www.larimersquare.com

— JEFF HERMANSON, CEO OF LARIMER ASSOCIATES

30

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Open Space 2018-19 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS • MAR 23—Pixar in • JAN 19, Macky & JAN 20, Pinnacle PAC— Concert Pianist Garrick Ohlsson • APR 27—Dvořák’s plays Rachmaninoff New World Symphony and Ellis Island: The • FEB 9—Mahler Dream of America Symphony No. 4 with with actors & soprano Mary Wilson projected images • MAR 2—Elgar Cello • MAY 4—The Music Concerto with Astrid of David Bowie Schween

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B Y G E N E V I E V E M I L L E R H O LT

For me it was important to make sure that the songs transitioned seamlessly with the book so that they really acted as dialogue instead of, “Hey, let’s take a time out to sing an ’80s pop song.”

– CHRIS D’ARIENZO, WRITER

32

W

When writer Chris D’Arienzo’s agent let him know that a musical based on ’80s heavy-metal hits was being produced in Los Angeles he knew he was the man to write the book. You might say he couldn’t “fight this feeling any longer,” but D’Arienzo knew he could do justice to some of the biggest hits of his youth by weaving them into a Broadway musical with real heart.

To win the gig, however, he had to impress the producing team.

“It was probably the ballsiest pitch of my life,” he says. When he arrived for the pitch meeting, he saw the writer who had just finished pitching shuffle out of the room with deflated energy, and it lit a spark of inspiration.

“I walked to the conference room where all the producers were sitting and kicked in the door, threw my bag in, took my shirt off (revealing an authentic sleeveless Journey concert T-shirt) and sauntered in like I was some kind of David Lee Roth character.”

In a move that very easily could have gotten D’Arienzo kicked out of the building, he managed to impress the team of neophyte Broadway producers with his guts. They hired him immediately.

D’Arienzo got to work. His gargantuan task was to identify pop and rock songs of the ’80s that he wanted to use, secure the rights, then interlace them to tell a story. “For me it was important to make sure that the songs transitioned seamlessly with the book so that they really acted as dialogue instead of, ‘Hey, let’s take a time out to sing an ’80s pop song’,” he says.

Some bands were understandably resistant to having their most famous rock anthems turned into a Broadway musical.

“I get it,” says D’Arienzo. “If I was a hard rocker and someone told me they wanted to make a Broadway show out of my heavy-metal tunes, I would be very leery. But luckily a lot of them saw what we were trying to do.”

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Rock of Ages National Tour - Jeremy Daniel, 2018

ROCK OF AGES IS

ROCK OF AGES JAN 25 – 27 • BUELL THEATRE ASL Interpreted, Audio-Described & Open Captioned performance: Jan 26, 2pm

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY

THE PLAY COSTUME COLUMN THAT GOES WRONG

The Mischief Theatre Company’s show The Play That Goes Wrong has certainly come a long way from its humble beginning in 2012. It premiered in a pub theatre as a one-act play with only four paying members of the public in the audience. No one in the cast or crew ever imagined the show would experience the great success that it has since then.

With an excellent, growing reputation, an extended version of The Play That Goes Wrong opened in London’s West End in 2014. J.J. Abrams saw the show on a whim while in London filming The Force Awakens and was impressed with the company’s Monty-Pythonmeets-Buster-Keaton sense of humor. He decided to bring the show to New York and made his Broadway debut by co-producing the play in 2016.

The Play That Goes Wrong (Mar 5 - 17) is about the opening night of an amateur theatre troupe’s 1920s murder mystery.

With falling set pieces, sticking doors, missed cues and an unconscious leading lady, nothing seems to be going right for them!

This play’s self-deprecating, slapstick humor is enough to make people of all ages roar with laughter.

The Play That Goes Wrong National Tour. Photo by Jeremy Daniel

When asked if there was one song that got away, D’Arienzo says, “I always dreamt of starting the show with [Guns N’ Roses’] ‘Welcome to the Jungle’. I was really bummed when they wouldn’t give it to us, but then I started playing with the opening and re-listened to David Lee Roth’s ‘Livin’ In Paradise’ and I realized that Roth’s song worked so much better…. Although I think ‘Jungle’ is one of the greatest rock songs ever written, I do believe it was a happy accident and a real gift from Diamond Dave!”

With a portfolio of awesome ’80s tunes in hand, D’Arienzo created a plotline that spoke to the spirit of the era. Sherrie (as in ‘Oh Sherrie’) is an aspiring actress just off the bus seeking fame in LA. She lands a job at a bar on the Sunset Strip and meets aspiring rocker Drew, who’s bussing tables waiting to make the big time. Along with other kooky denizens of the Strip, the two set out to save the bar (and the rock’n’roll lifestyle it represents) from greedy developers plotting to tear it down.

D’Arienzo knew two of the songs he had in hand would inform the plot — Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Starship’s “We Built This City.”

“The other songs really informed character more….I always tried to avoid songs that were really literal,” D’Arienzo says of his process. So as our hero and heroine fall in love, we rock out to Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” and as the characters set out to follow their hearts we hear, “Here I Go Again on My Own” by White Snake, and as the crew protests against the developers, we chant, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” In 2006, once the script was crafted, the creative team took the show to a bar in LA, where the reception was enormously positive. “[The bar] was packed every night,” says D’Arienzo. “Then we went to Vegas for ten days; that was soul-sucking and horrible….There is nothing worse than trying to do theatre for a room full of really drunk gamblers coming in on Rascal scooters with Margaritas-by-the-Yard hanging around their necks.”

The production moved to off-Broadway in 2008, where it enjoyed a hugely successful run, and in 2009 transferred to Broadway. D’Arienzo spent five months working with the cast and crew to make the transition. “I can say without question [those were] the best five months of my professional life.”

On the other hand, the team was not sure how audiences in New York, that mecca of high art, would receive such a cheeky, low-brow kind of show.

“But people really dug it,” D’Arienzo recalls. “I was relieved, only because we were told from the beginning that New York would absolutely hate us. But we always believed in our show and the majority of people in the Broadway community really embraced [it].”

Note to theatregoers over the age of 35: while the music will leave you dancing nostalgic for a bygone era, the costumes may hit a bit close to home. “There were some really bad looks back then,” acknowledges D’Arienzo, “and I think I tried them all.” Pegged pants, layered tops, polo shirt upon polo shirt (collar up of course), with a button-up on top and a t-shirt underneath, the styles, in retrospect, were not kind.

D’Arienzo has stayed actively involved in the life of the show. In Manhattan he watched over the setting up of the re-opening of Rock of Ages on Broadway. He also adapted the screen play for the feature film based on the musical starring Tom Cruise, Paul Giamatti, Mary J. Blige and Alec Baldwin. In addition to the Broadway and New York runs, the film and the ongoing national tour, the show has enjoyed hit productions in Australia, Asia and England.

The world over, Rock of Ages has proved to be a light-hearted, joyful rock musical and a nostalgic trip down memory lane for audiences.

Never underestimate the power of rock anthems, garish outfits — and a good bit of hairspray.

PROUD PRINTING SPONSOR OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Art enables us to find ourselves & lose ourselves at the same time

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Sprint Press Denver, Inc. is a privately-held company and the Rocky Mountain region’s premier printer for offset, large format, digital and single piece mailing. We proudly support the Broadway, Theatre Company and Off-Center performances that the Denver Center for the Performing Arts presents and produces each year.

We also support Saturday Night Alive and the Bobby G Awards High School Musical Theatre Awards, which recognizes our area’s talented students. Both of these programs benefit DCPA’s Education programs.

We encourage our employees to attend DCPA performances to enrich their cultural experiences and gain insight into thoughtprovoking and entertaining subjects that can be targeted to an adult audience or appropriate for an entire family. Many of our employees have come to work after attending a performance and shared what a wonderful experience they had going to the theatre.

Since printing is also a custom manufacturing business, we are encouraged every day to use our creativity to produce beautiful printed pieces that range from being digitally produced to large offset direct mail acquisitions. Since 1984, we have partnered to produce many non-profit and corporate printed projects to showcase the state’s diverse and thriving cultural and corporate organizations.

It is an honor to be a part of printing their opportunities that arrive in the mail to your homes each and every day.

(Photos - above) Collateral printed for DCPA by Sprint Press, (right) 8-color Komori Perfector Press.

34

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

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DCPA TEAM

DCPA

Madison Stout .....................Reception/Security Dawn Williams................................Director, Event Janice Sinden.............................President & CEO Sales & Marketing Maggie Lamb.......................Executive Assistant Cesar Carillo, Juan Loya, Carmen Molina, to the CEO Blanca Primero, Judith Primero, Angeles Reyes Soto............................Custodians BROADWAY & CABARET MARKETING, SALES & John Ekeberg......................... Executive Director PATRON SERVICES Alicia Bruce ................................ General Manager Ashley Brown..........................Business Manager Lisa Mallory........................................Vice President Abel Becerra........Technical Director, Cabaret Patrick Berger............Audience Development Manager Heidi Bosk ................................Associate Director, DEVELOPMENT PR & Integrated Marketing Casey Eickhoff, Shelley Thompson ........................Vice President Brenda Elliott .........Senior Graphic Designers Shawn Bayer .........................Director, Corporate Brianna Firestone .........Director of Marketing, Partnerships Insights & Strategy Rebecca Clark ......................................Coordinator Rachel Garn .................................Email Developer Megan Fevurly.......................Associate Director, Brittany Gutierrez................... Communications Individual Philanthropy Coordinator Alicia Higginbotham..............Manager, Special Donna Hendricks...............Executive Assistant Events Jeff Hovorka ........ Director, Sales & Marketing Ariel Keener ........Coordinator, Special Events Emily Kent...............................Director, Marketing Marc Ravenhill ...................Director, Individual & Institutional Philanthropy David Lenk......................................Video Producer Emily Lozow .....Marketing & Digital Manager Adam Lundeen..........Marketing Technologist EDUCATION Kyle Malone............................................Art Director Allison Watrous .................... Executive Director Helen Masvikeni.........................Project Manager Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski....Associate Director, Carolyn Michaels...................................Copywriter Education & Curriculum Management Cheyenne Michaels ...Marketing Coordinator Stuart Barr .................................Technical Director John Moore ...................... Senior Arts Journalist Claudia Carson....Teaching Artist & Program Joseph Schurwonn ................Financial Analyst Manager – Playwriting & Bobby G Austin Walker...................... Marketing Assistant Leslie Channell ..Senior Business Operations Suzanne Yoe..........Director, Communications Manager & Cultural Affairs Linda Eller........................................................Librarian TICKETING & AUDIENCE SERVICES Tim McCracken .............................Head of Acting Andre Rodriguez .....................Teaching Artist & Jennifer Lopez ...................Director, Ticketing & Audience Services Program Manager – Shakespeare David Saphier ......Teaching Artist & Program Ticketing Services Manager – In School Programming Kirk Petersen ..........................Associate Director, Patron Relations Elizabeth Schmit.........................Office Manager Melissa Sumner...........................................Registrar Micah White............................Associate Director, Subscription Services Rachel Taylor..............................Teaching Artist & Program Manager – Literacy Engagement Billy Dutton...Associate Director, Operations and Resiliency Programming Katie Clow........................Subscription Manager Meagan Traver.........................Evening Registrar Amanda Gomez..........VIP Ticketing Manager Justin Walvoord .......................Teaching Artist & Román Anaya, Malcolm Brown, Program Manager – Teacher Christina Gesford, Professional Development Tristan Jungferman ......Box Office Managers Chloe McLeod, Maggy Stacy, D.J. Dennis, Edmund Gurule, Roger Haak, Robyn Yamada ...........................Teaching Artists Rebecca Hibbert, Hayley Solano, Mariah Thompson.............................Show Leads Kirsten Anderson, Keenan Coke, FACILITIES & EVENT SERVICES Scott Lix, Brad Steinmeyer, Clay Courter......................................Vice President Gregory Swan....................Subscription Agents Rena Bugg, Adam Busch, Dwight Barela, John Buxton, Kelcee Covert, Jennifer Gray, Clint Flinchpaugh, Michael Kimbrough............................... Engineers Kristina Guarriello, Noah Jungferman, Timothy Courson....................Director, Facilities Cecillia Kim, Gustavo Márquez, Management Frank Millington III, Clayton Nickell, Hayley Obremski, Gunnar Reinig, Quentin Crump......................Security Specialist Becca Saunders, Liz Sieroslawski, Jane Deegan ............................... Office Manager Andrew Sullivan, Tomáš Waples, Tom Duffin..........Manager, Event Technology Emmalaine Wright.........................Ticket Agents Colin Dieck, Stori Heleen, Theatre Services Jaymes Kimbrough, Will Stowe, Carol Krueger............................................... Manager Ian Wells ............Event Technology Specialists Ethan Aumann, Nora Caley, Dan Havens ...............................Security Manager Samantha Egle, Jahnice Jones, Clint King ................................Security Supervisor LeiLani Lynch, Aaron McMullen, Stacey Renee Norwood, Margaret Danielle Bell, Savanna Campbell, Matt Leaver ................................Events Managers Ohlander, Dylan Phibbs, Brian McClain ....................Custodial Supervisor Valerie Schaefer, Elizabeth Schreffler, Tara Miller..................................................Sr Manager Elliot Shields, Lauren Veselak, Mica Ward.................................Theatre Company Brook Nichols .....Director, Event Technology House Managers Maggi Quinn .............Director, Capital Projects Volunteer Ushers ...............................................305+ Peter Sifter......Facilities Operations Manager

38

Group Sales Jessica Bergin...............Groups Sales Manager Jonalyn Bradshaw ............................Coordinator, Education Sales Patrick Naughton ..Group Sales Coordinator SHARED SERVICES Vicky Miles .......................Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Jeffrey.......................Director, Financial Planning & Analysis Julie Schumaker.................Executive Assistant to the CFO & Board Liaison ACCOUNTING Jennifer Siemers ..........................................Director Sara Brandenburg......... Accounting Manager Michaele Davidson, Linda Erickson....................Senior Accountants Valerie Lingbloom..................Staff Accountant HUMAN RESOURCES Brian Carter............................................Director, HR Jamie Hawkins .............................HR Coordinator Karen Jewell...........................................Director, HR Paul Johnson..............................Payroll Specialist Monica Robles..................Mailroom Supervisor INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Yovani Pina ........................................Vice President Rick Bennett...................................................Director Eric Boone ............................Software Developer Vincent Bridgers ...Ticketing System Analyst Simone Gordon .....................Program Manager Christopher Hoge.................................IT Manager Phillip Johnson ................IT Analyst; Help Desk David Tschan..................................................Director THEATRE COMPANY ADMINISTRATION Charles Varin ..........................Managing Director Allison Taylor Brinkhoff......Company Manager Katie Grayson.... Assistant Company Manager Ann Marshall.............................. General Manager ARTISTIC Chris Coleman ............................. Artistic Director Charlie Miller ........Associate Artistic Director/ Off-Center Curator Douglas Langworthy ...........Literary Director/ Director of New Play Development Melissa Cashion ........................Artistic Producer Grady Soapes ....................Associate Producer/ Director of Casting Lynde Rosario............................Literary Manager PRODUCTION Jeff Gifford .....................Director of Production Kate Coltun .........................Production Manager Matthew Campbell...... Associate Production Manager Julie Brou.............................Production & Artistic Office Manager Scenic Design Lisa M. Orzolek...... Director of Scenic Design Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud....Scenic Design Assistants Lighting Design Charles R. MacLeod .........Director of Lighting Lily Bradford...........Lighting Design Assistant Reid Tennis+.....................Production Electrician

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Multimedia Gregory W. Towle.........Projection Supervisor Sound Design Craig Breitenbach .................Director of Sound Alex Billman+, Frank Haas+, Tyler Nelson+...........................Sound Technicians Stage Management Kurt Van Raden ....Production Stage Manager Christoper C. Ewing...Senior Stage Manager Heidi Echtenkamp, Corin Ferris, Rick Mireles, Michael Morales, Kristen O’Connor, D. Lynn Reiland ..........................Stage Managers Scene Shop Eric J. Moore.............................Technical Director Josh Prues, Robert L. Orzolek.........Associate Technical Directors Albert “Stub” Allison ...............................Assistant Technical Director Louis Fernandez III ................Master Carpenter Brian “Marco” Markiewicz ... Lead Technician Tyler Clark, Amy “Wynn” Pastor, Kyle Scoggins, Mara Zimmerman................Scenic Technicians Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne ...................Properties Director Eileen S. Garcia ..................Assistant Properties Director Jamie Stewart Curl, Tobias Harding, Georgina Kayes, Tony Nguyen, Katie Webster.................................Props Artisans Paint Shop Jana L. Mitchell..................Charge Scenic Artist Melanie Rentschler ..............Lead Scenic Artist Kristin Hamer MacFarlane ...........Scenic Artist Costume Shop Janet S. MacLeod................Costume Director/ Costume Design Associate Meghan Anderson Doyle .....................Costume Design Associate Carolyn Plemitscher, Jackie Scott..... Drapers Cathie Gagnon.........................................First Hand Sheila P. Morris .................................................... Tailor Costume Crafts Kevin Copenhaver....Costume Crafts Director Chris Campbell.......Costume Crafts Assistant Wigs Diana Ben-Kiki.......................................Wig Master House Crew Doug Taylor+ ................Supervising Stagehand Jim Berman+, Jennifer Guethlein+, Stephen D. Mazzeno+, Miles Stasica+, Tyler Stauffer+, Matt Wagner+.....Stagehands Kyle Moore+ ........................Assistant Stagehand Wardrobe Brenda Lawson.............. Director of Wardrobe Taylor Malott^, Jessica A. Rayburn^...................Wig Assistants Robin Appleton^, Amber Donner^, Anthony Mattivi^, Tim Nelson^, Lisa Parsons Wagner^, Alan Richards^ .............................................Dressers + Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 7 ^Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 719

As of 12/17/18