Applause Magazine, April 1, 2017

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VOLUME XXVIII • NUMBER 6 • MAR - MAY 2017

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HAL HOLBROOK: MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! Also Playing: Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles Disgraced An American in Paris Kinky Boots

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APPLAUSE

SIGHTLINE

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BY JANICE SINDEN

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VO LU M E X XV I I I • N U M B E R 6 • M A R – M AY 2 0 1 7

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Rob Silk ASSOCIATE EDITOR: John Moore SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Adam Obendorf ART DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone DESIGNER: Brenda Elliott CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Hope Grandon, Cassie McHale Applause is published seven 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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Just as we transition between seasons, so too is the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in a period of change. Dan Ritchie will step down as Chairman after guiding the organization through a tremendous period of growth and success over the past 10 years.

Also, Producing Artistic Director Kent Thompson will depart the DCPA Theatre Company after leading the Colorado New Play Summit, Women’s Voices Fund, a robust commissioning program and 121 productions, of which he directed 20. As Applause goes to print, teams are in place to manage the transition and identify individuals to help write the next act in our nearly 40-year history.

An individual who will help guide our future is newly named Chief Development Officer, Deanna Haas. Deanna comes to us from University of Colorado Boulder and has been a loyal DCPA fan for many years.

One of her earliest tasks will be to work with our Development team on The Space Theatre seat campaign and the Whole Foods Challenge — both of which we invite you to participate in.

Recognize your family, business or a loved one by naming a seat in our renovated Space Theatre, or shop at Whole Foods Market on April 28. Select metro-area locations will donate 5% of that day’s proceeds to support DCPA Education.

One of our many education programs that is just around the corner is the DPS Shakespeare Festival. Working in tandem with Denver Public Schools and its Foundation, we audition all participants, provide in-school workshops and host 4,000 students throughout the Arts Complex. Join us April 28 as we celebrate the Bard.

And while not quite as classical as Shakespeare, Off-Center is poised to engage audiences with its newest off-site, immersive production. Travelers of the Lost Dimension, an adventure comedy of your imagination by Denver’s own A.C.E. improv troupe, will play in Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace March 16 – April 23.

On a final note, the DCPA and our theatre community lost a treasured friend, colleague, teacher and artist. Bob Davidson, former Head of Movement of our National Theatre Conservatory and a choreographer with the Theatre Company, passed away in December. Noted for his aerial and trapeze work, Bob was wellknown throughout the Denver area. He will be missed.

JANICE SINDEN President & CEO Denver Center for the Performing Arts

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Daniel L. Ritchie, Chairman William Dean Singleton, Sec’y/Treasurer Robert Slosky, First Vice Chair Margot Gilbert Frank, Second Vice Chair Dr. Patricia Baca Joy S. Burns Isabelle Clark Navin Dimond L. Roger Hutson Mary Pat Link Robert C. Newman Hassan Salem Richard M. Sapkin Martin Semple Tara Smith Ken Tuchman Tina Walls Lester L. Ward Dr. Reginald L. Washington Judi Wolf Sylvia Young

HELEN G. BONFILS FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES Martin Semple, President Judi Wolf, Sec’y/Treasurer Lester L. Ward, President Emeritus David Miller Robert C. Newman Daniel L. Ritchie William Dean Singleton Robert Slosky Dr. Reginald L. Washington

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RAIN

UPCOMING SHOWS

A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES

An Act of God Now – Apr 8 Two Degrees Now – Mar 12 Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles Mar 2 & 3

©RichardLovrich

An American In Paris Mar 8 – 19

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Wish you had seen The Beatles live? Wish you’d been born back then? Wish you hadn’t been in kindergarten when they set foot on American soil? Wish you’d gone to just one of their concerts? Wish, wish, wish…

Well, wish no more.

Leave it to Southern California to come up with a solution for gratifying every kind of appetite, this one included. It was not instant gratification — we’re told it took 20 years to put Rain, the concert, together — but when The Beatles hung up their guitars in 1970 and took off in four different directions, leaving thousands of fans wanting more, someone somewhere had to come up with the idea of cloning the Fab Four.

And so they have. Along with founder Mark Lewis, the guys who created (and originally impersonated) The Beatles — Joey Curatolo, Joe Bithorn, Steve Landes and Ralph Castelli — came to Rain, the band, and eventually Rain, the show, via Beatlemania.

Some of them had become smitten with The Beatles on the night of February 9, 1964, when those four famous boys from Liverpool, England, stepped on the stage of “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The Beatles’ revolutionary brand of rock’n’roll made a worldwide impression and their popularity went straight through the roof. They recorded 13 albums in a short eight years, made memorable films and gave concerts everywhere. So it’s no wonder that the suddenness of their breakup in 1970 sent shockwaves through the music world.

Rain, the band, was formed in part out of this devastation, but even more out of a desire simply to keep the music alive. The intention was not just to mimic the Liverpudlians, but also to present some of the songs they had

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Travelers of the Lost Dimension Mar 16 – Apr 23 Travis Wall's Shaping Sound: After the Curtain Mar 18 & 19 Kinky Boots Mar 21 – 26

never even performed live. It was a labor of abiding love. For 20 years, the members of Rain focused on every detail and worked tirelessly to be as faithful as possible to the original Beatles and Beatles sound. They studied the songs, the gestures, the look, the dress and gradually built an impressive repertoire.

Over the years, Lewis converted what had been a modest California bar band into a polished professional act, refining its musicianship, playing piano and organ himself, even inserting sounds necessary to re-creating The Beatles’ background instrumentation so as to ensure that The Beatles’ sound would be fully replicated during the shows.

Rain, in fact, is more a concert than a show, with a stationary bandstand prominent center stage and a dazzling array of lighting and other perpetual motion special effects swirling around the musicians. Not only do the four performers play The Beatles’ songs including iconic favorites from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” but they also meticulously match the Fab Four’s clothing, hairstyles and facial hair at changing periods of their performing lives.

In this manner the members of Rain, the show, preserve the music and the musical legacy while giving audiences the momentary illusion of “being there.” It’s the same thrill Americans felt on that February night in 1964 and at every live concert thereafter. It’s a thrill they’ll be enchanted to rediscover now.

RAIN — A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES MAR 2 – 3 • THE ELLIE

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

Disgraced Mar 31 – May 7 Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight!

Apr 1 MAMMA MIA! Apr 11 – 16 Beth Malone: So Far Apr 14 – 15 The Secret Garden Apr 21 – May 28 Cult Following Apr 28 – 29 May 12 – 13 The Illusionists — Live from Broadway May 19 – 21 The Last Five Years in Concert Starring Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe May 22 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time May 30 – Jun 18 DragOn Jun 1 – 25 Frozen August 17 – Oct 1

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017 12:00-1:15 P.M.

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Join us for a lively and engaging talk with basketball legends, Bill Walton and Bob Lanier, as they discuss their fascinating life stories on and off the court. All proceeds benefit Jewish Family Service.

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CORPORATE TRAINING WITH THE DCPA • Public Speaking • Presentation Skills • Team Building • Creative Problem Solving • Improv

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Brass & Bagpipes Returns to its Roots March 12 • Bethany Lutheran Church with Celtic Colorado Pipes & Drums, Rick Seaton – Organ

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March 17, 18, 19 • Newman Center for the Performing Arts with Celtic Colorado Pipes & Drums, Rocky Mountain Highland Dancers, Wick School of Irish Dance, Jillian Lee – Soprano, Erin Newton – Harp

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THE SHIFTING FACE OF POLITICS B Y S Y LV I E D R A K E

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Political plays have illuminated politics for millennia, but recently the growing specter of worldwide terrorism — with its companion racism — have spawned a mutant variety of the species. I don’t mean worldly political events, though that too, as in John Patrick Shanley’s 2003 Dirty Story, an uncommonly personalized take on the Israeli-Arab conflict (seen at the Denver Center in 2004). What I do mean is the interior effect of politics on the privacy of our living rooms, intimate dinner parties and family conversations — events that directly affect individuals, including, as in the case of Ayad Akhtar’s galvanizing play Disgraced, the affective politics of the American home and workplace, often more cutthroat than a battlefield.

Akhtar’s thoughtful dissection of five lives in Disgraced should give us all pause. True, the play was written well before the searing election that only deepened the cracks in our domestic landscape. But those cracks had been identified long before they had hardened into political reality.

As the threat of terror in daily life kept spreading since that fateful 9/11, it was joined by its pernicious companion, fear. The subject only grew in the eyes and hands of playwrights, as well as in the sophistication of these writers’ approach. Lisa Loomer’s 2012 Two Things You Don’t Talk About At Dinner, which premiered here, may have started

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APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

the ball rolling with its quasi-comic Judeo-Islamic conflict at a Passover Seder that devolves into serious indigestion.

But Akhtar’s Disgraced goes a step further: it thrusts us from the frying pan into the fire.

Disgraced is a big deal. A 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winner, it was assessed the most produced play of the most recent American theatre season. Akhtar warns that, in performance, the play should not sound like Big Ideas mouthed by actors — a common pitfall — and director Carl Cofield, who staged the DCPA Theatre Company’s production was reassuring: “It’s [no] accident that the characters are drinking a lot,” he wrote back. “Sitting on festering frustration and mixing in booze is a sure way to get at the truth.”

Things start out quietly enough. Amir Kapoor, a confident New York attorney, is posing in his upscale high-rise apartment for his wife Emily, a rising star in New York’s art world. She is painting his portrait. What could be more the picture of upper middle class success, comfort and bliss?

The session is interrupted by Amir’s nephew, an ardent young man who recently changed his name from Hussein Malik to Abe Jensen. Yet in a spurt of identification with a jailed Imam that Abe/Hussein believes is innocent and deserves to be released, he’s here to solicit his uncle’s help.

Amir

Illustration by Kyle Malone

Like Akhtar, Amir is American-born of Pakistani/Indian descent and while he was raised a Muslim, he is neither religious nor political, and has outspoken disdain for the more stringent dictates of the Quran. He also has no desire to get involved in the Imam’s defense, since he knows the attorneys who are managing it and deems them very capable.

Out of affection for his nephew, however, and thanks to his wife’s entreaties, Amir makes a small concession to Abe’s request. It alters the course of his life. One unintended thing leads to another, compounding damage at every turn. The end results are damning.

More than its topicality, what makes Disgraced absorbing is that, consciously or not, it adheres rigorously to the Ancient Greek definition of tragedy — when, entirely without malice, events take over and there is no deviating from the path of destiny.

No one in Disgraced does or has done anything consciously malevolent — no more than Oedipus did when he killed his father and married his mother.

Some human frailty exists (doesn’t it always?), but there are no villains and no frauds here. Seemingly independent actions follow one another in an inexorable collision of fate and circumstance, multiplying and magnifying problems and ultimately rendering them fatal.

“I don’t agree with or condone [Amir’s] actions,” says Cofield, “but over the course of the play, we glean a little insight into his world.... He’s trying to win at the American game of life, but has been handicapped by prejudice.

That resonates loudly with me. One of the greatest things about the theatre,” he adds, “is that [it allows us to] feel empathy for other people.”

The cast of characters includes Isaac, a curator who handles Emily’s artwork, and Isaac’s wife Jory, another upwardly mobile lawyer at Amir’s firm who happens to be African American. If the racial lineup is a little calculated, it serves a plot in which events take on a life of their own and overtake individual action. The grinding interaction of these five people hits and hits hard. It has been known to leave an audience gasping.

“[Amir is] trying to win at the American game of life, but has been handicapped by prejudice.

That resonates loudly with me.”

— CARL COFIELD, DIRECTOR Disgraced is a potent theatrical event that raises the most persistently difficult questions; that is what theatre does best. It also offers no reliable answers. But it does show us, painfully, that rancor and division kill.

“As a black man and theatre-maker, my hope always is how can we begin the conversation,” offers Cofield. “I hope the audience learns something about the characters and more importantly, about themselves.

“The word ‘theatre,’” he adds, “comes from the Greeks and means ‘the seeing place.’ Hopefully, we can see something of one another, learn from it and…begin talking to [instead of] at each other.”

No roads will lead back home, but some may move us forward an inch or two. There are, as always, choices to be made.

SYLVIE DRAKE is a translator and contributing writer to culturalweekly.com, American Theatre magazine and is a former theatre critic and columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

DISGRACED

MAR 31 – MAY 7 • RICKETSON THEATRE ASL & AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: APR 30, 1:30PM

Isaac

COSTUME COLUMN In Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer-winning play, Disgraced, Isaac and Amir both work in professions that require a clean, pressed suit. Amir is a highprofile lawyer, Isaac a curator at The Whitney Museum of American Art. Costume designer Lex Liang mines the script for clues as to how they would present themselves.

“Amir is an individual of Pakistani Muslim descent, who is constantly trying to prove himself in a rich, white boys’ club,” said Liang. “In a whitecollar world, there are certain rules and boundaries you don’t really cross — and you never take risks with your clothing. Statements are made by expense, not style.”

On the other hand, Isaac’s creativity bleeds into his wardrobe. “There’s color, playful tailoring, and risk-taking.

The art world demands that their curators take risks.”

So how does a non-profit theatre afford multiple high-end suits? Liang points out: “The funny thing is, most suits aren’t worth the ticket price in the first place…. What makes a beautiful suit look good is its simplicity.” It must be made of good fabric, be impeccably tailored and accessorized perfectly. “You can easily make an expensive suit look cheap by mucking it up with a loud shirt or too many accessories.”

Liang’s advice to pull off the perfect power suit? “If you’re going to wear a suit that’s supposed to have cost $6,000, you better walk the walk.

No slouching.”

A CAUSE YOU CAN HANG YOUR HAT ON

BE THE LIFE OF OUR PARTIES Help us create sensational fundraising events to support the DCPA by joining the

DENVER CENTER ALLIANCE You’ll come together with other theatre lovers to help support DCPA Education’s outreach in our community through events that are just as theatrical as our performances. Get social and add your special flair to execute fundraisers like Saturday Night Alive, Women with Hattitude and members-only nights at the theatre.

MAY 4, 2017 • 11AM – 1:30PM Women with Hattitude, our signature fundraiser benefiting the Women’s Voices Fund, starts with wine and networking for up to 600 ladies and gentlemen, followed by an elegant Epicurean-catered lunch. After lunch, guests will enjoy a surprise performance and the exciting Parade of Hats, featuring 50 of the best hats at the event, complete with prizes.

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY DENVERCENTER.ORG/HATTITUDE 303.446.4812 12

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Annual dues are $50 to $100 and include invitations to exclusive Denver Center Alliance events through the year.

For more information, visit denvercenter.org/alliance or call Valerie Taron at 303.446.4812.

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Thank you for supporting performing arts in Colorado.

Together with the DCPA, we hope that you will leave feeling better than when you arrived.

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The Westin Denver Downtown is an ideal setting for social events, conferences, meetings and business travel, as well as weekend theatre, arts and sports staycations. Many guests seek out the AAA Four-Diamond Westin Denver Downtown for urban adventure, cultural experiences and stunning mountain views in addition to the chance to sleep in the signature Westin Heavenly® Bed. The Westin Denver Downtown strives to help guests maintain their active and healthy lifestyles, even when they are on vacation.

From sleeping well in the Westin Heavenly® Bed to eating well with the new SuperFoodsRX™ in-room menu, Westin is committed to ensuring that guests leave feeling better than when they arrived. Guests move well with the Westin Run Concierge, in the renovated WestinWORKOUT® fitness studio, and through the Gear Lending with New Balance™ program, all to enhance and maximize guests’ well-being.

Located in LoDo, The Westin Denver Downtown is an easy walk to the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall, Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), Colorado Convention Center, museums, restaurants, entertainment and multiple professional sports venues. Being only five blocks from Union Station, the downtown arrival for commuter rail passengers from the Denver International Airport, makes The Westin Denver Downtown the perfect home base for business travelers or wonder-filled family escapes.

Thirty years ago, The Westin Denver Downtown opened with a gala that raised funds for the DCPA. After three decades, the support of the arts and the DCPA remains a priority for the Westin and its guests and employees.

The Westin Denver Downtown offers special room rates for performing arts organizations that appear on stage in the Performing Arts Complex, including the DCPA and Colorado Ballet. The hotel also is a longtime supporter of Saturday Night Alive, the DCPA’s largest fundraiser that annually raises more than $900,000 to benefit youth education and outreach for nearly 84,000 Colorado youth.

Thank you for supporting performing arts in Colorado. Together with the DCPA, we hope that you will leave feeling better than when you arrived.

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

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“People always talk about the importance of the opening number, so I wanted to signal to the audience that there is going to be a lot of dancing, and a lot of storytelling through dance.”

— CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON, DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER

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It’s deceptively challenging to adapt a beloved film for the stage.

After all, the original object of people’s affection is not some distant memory, but readily available for viewing and inevitable comparisons.

The stage version has to find a way to shine on its own terms. And the Broadway production of An American in Paris, the recipient of rave reviews and 12 Tony Award nominations, has done just that.

This new An American in Paris has flourished for many reasons. Like the movie, the show is a valentine to the timeless music of George Gershwin, drawing on more of his concert music and more of the songs that he wrote with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. The piece is propelled by the beautiful, vibrant, Tony-winning choreography of Christopher Wheeldon, who also directed. The book, by the gifted playwright Craig Lucas, acknowledges the film’s plot, but uses it as a starting point for a more nuanced, compelling story. An American in Paris works so well because Wheeldon and Lucas did not put the film on stage. Instead, they created a brand new piece of musical theater inspired by, but not beholden to, the movie.

“We set about making our version of the story, but we didn’t want to completely turn our backs on the movie,” says Wheeldon. “We were eager to make a show that would appeal to people who love the movie, but at the same time take those who hadn’t seen it on a different kind of journey.”

In a departure from the film, the show is set just after World War II ends, and Bob Crowley’s Tony-winning scenic design brings post-war Paris to life, taking the ravaged city out of the darkness and into the light. The bare bones of the story are the same as in the movie, but the characters have been rethought and fleshed out, and the narrative reconsidered and deepened for a contemporary audience.

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

(Below) Garen Scribner and Sara Esty in An American in Paris Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

MAR 8 – 19 BUELL THEATRE ASL, AUDIO-DESCRIBED AND OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: MAR 19, 2PM

Adam Langdon as Christopher Boone in the touring production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Photo by Joan Marcus.

(Below) Garen Scribner and Sara Esty in An American in Paris Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

“The show is about the characters’ struggle to find life, to find love, to find happiness again after this dark period,” says Wheeldon. “The movie was made in the early ’50s and the war was still very fresh, so Paris was treated in a kind of hyper-unrealistic way. With the distance of time, there was so much more we could do. We had the freedom to place Paris in a more realistic, historical context, and talk about what the city was like after the Nazis left, and how romance and art and music were balm to the wounds.

Paris behaves as a character in the show, and we see the city open up and breathe again, and take on all the beautiful qualities that we associate with it.”

Wheeldon, one of the most sought-after choreographers in the world, had never directed on Broadway before. But lead producer Stuart Oken wanted a singular vision for the show. “He felt that I would be able to bring a unique quality of movement to it,” say Wheeldon, “not only to the dancing, but to the transitions and the flow of the piece as a whole.”

Wheeldon was very much involved with the shaping of the show and the selection of the music. “Craig wrote a brilliant treatment that acted as a framework, and then we all jumped in – Craig, Rob Fisher [who adapted and arranged the score] and I,” he says. “Then it was really about which pieces of music best told our story. We wanted it to feel like the Gershwins had written this music specifically for our show.”

The show features such classic songs as “I Got Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “Stairway to Paradise,” “But Not For Me” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” as well as numerous orchestral gems, including the lesser-known Second Rhapsody and Cuban Overture.

The musical dances from beginning to end, and Wheeldon employs a variety of styles, including tap, jazz, old-fashioned Broadway and, most uniquely, ballet. He sets the tone at the very beginning, with a wordless opening sequence performed to the Concerto in F. “People always talk about the importance of the opening number,” he says. “So I wanted to signal to the audience that there is going to be a lot of dancing, and a lot of storytelling through dance. The opening tells the story of Paris and introduces characters through movement.”

Wheeldon uses dance in An American in Paris much in the way that one of his mentors, Jerome Robbins, did in West Side Story. That is, it forwards the plot and helps tell the story with great clarity. “Because I’m a ballet choreographer, and the leads are ballet dancers, many people who haven’t seen the show think we’re doing a ballet,” says Wheeldon. “But it’s not a ballet. It’s a classic Broadway musical with a story told through its book, music, singing, acting and movement. And it features incredibly beautiful, talented performers doing extraordinary things.”

As in the film, the culmination of the show is the American in Paris ballet.

Wheeldon created a largely abstract work that includes a stunning and moving fantasy duet. “It contains the first truly romantic moment for Jerry and Lise. Earlier in the show, they have a flirtatious dance by the Seine, which marks the beginning of their romance. The pas de deux is the emotional, romantic climax of the whole show.”

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY:

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME See through the eyes of 15-year-old Christopher Boone on his journey to solve a neighborhood mystery — the murder of the dog next door. Based on the bestselling novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a coming-of-age story that challenges the way we see the world around us.

Christopher is an exceptionally intelligent boy, living in England, who has difficulty coping with life’s sounds and stresses. World-class visuals and creative choreography allow you to adopt Christopher’s mathematical perspective on the world throughout his adventure.

The impressive projections, set design and sound effects transport you inside Christopher’s extraordinary mind as he taps into his inner power. Prepare to have your emotional buttons pushed as you watch Christopher face obstacles on his life-changing journey.

The Curious Incident is a Tony Awardwinning production that delivers an impactful message with a playful touch.

Follow Christopher (and Toby, his pet rat) on his quest to solve the local murder mystery (playing May 30 – June 18 in The Ellie). After spending an evening immersed in Christopher’s world you are sure to gain a new perspective.

FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.

NAME A SEAT IN OUR NEW SPACE THEATRE 18

You can be a part of our brand new Space Theatre opening in the fall of 2017. Name a seat after your loved ones, your company or yourself with a simple $1,500 donation payable over time. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans who wish they never had to leave.

For more information, contact Marc Ravenhill at mravenhill@dcpa.org or 303.572.4594.

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

Jason Bowen • Photo by Adams VisCom

STICK AROUND AFTER THE SHOW.

present

in

INTERMISSION: Two? Or One MUSIC: A trombone player was engaged, but is unreliable and should not be expected.

NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THE DRESS CIRCLE ********** Production Supervisor...................................................................................................... Richard Costabile Assistant to Mr. Holbrook.......................................................................................................... Joyce Cohen Exclusive Tour Direction...................................... The Booking Group: Meredith Blair, Mollie Mann,

Brian Brooks, Rich Rundle and Klaus Komar

The TV Special of HAL HOLBROOK in MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! is available on DVD. Call 1-888-329-2580.

The entirety of Mr. Holbrook’s material is protected by copyright law and may not be transcribed or performed in any venue or context without the express permission of Mr. Holbrook. No audio or video transmitting or recording device of any kind shall be used in any manner to reproduce the artist’s performance. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The Mark Twain Project at Berkeley, which houses Mark Twain’s papers, is perhaps the most ambitious publishing enterprise in the annals of American literature, issuing scholarly editions of Mark Twain’s work which include a wealth of newly discovered material. If you would like to help the Mark Twain Project continue its exciting research and publication, please send a tax-deductible contribution made payable to The Mark Twain Project, c/o Mark Twain Papers & Project, University of California, The Bancroft Library – Room 475, Berkeley, California 94720-6000.

Thank you.

— Hal Holbrook

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

AND SEASON SPONSORS

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

NOTE: While Mr. Twain’s selections will come from the complete list below, we have been unable to pin him down as to which of them he will do. He claims it would cripple his inspiration. However, he has generously conceded to a printed program for the benefit of those who are in distress and wish to fan themselves.

SELECTION SOURCE

Advice to Youth............................................................................... Speeches

Compliments Collection......................................................Miscellaneous

Taming the Bicycle................................................................................Essays

Chaucer, Sailor, Tennessee Girl.........................................Miscellaneous

The Evolution of Man...................................................................Biography

Slow Train, Long Dog..........................................Following the Equator

Insanity: Elections, War and Petrified Opinions......Miscellaneous

Charity, Reform, Cats............................................................Miscellaneous

Huck and Jim.....................................................................Huckleberry Finn

My Cigar Habit?.......................................................................Miscellaneous

Shooting of Boggs..........................................................Huckleberry Finn

The Marienbad Cure.............................................................................Essays

Huck, Jim and ‘Lizbeth..................................................Huckleberry Finn

A Cyclopedia of Sin...............................................................Miscellaneous

Huck’s Conscience..........................................................Huckleberry Finn

Smoke Rings.............................................................................Miscellaneous

Lost in the Fog..................................................................Huckleberry Finn

A Moral Pauper......................................................Following the Equator

Lynching and China..............................................................................Essays

Hunting the Water Closet.............................. Mark Twain’s Notebook

A Helluva Heaven.................................................Letters from the Earth

Virginia City...................................................................................Roughing It

Slavery: A Holy Thing.......................................................Autobiography

Shoveling Sand............................................................................Roughing It

Man, That Poor Thing..................................................................Biography

The Ant................................................................................. A Tramp Abroad

Noah’s Ark...............................................................Letters from the Earth

The Great Landslide Case.......................................................Roughing It

Chief Love.............................................................. Mark Twain in Eruption

The Lord Will Provide........................................................Autobiography

The Creator’s Pet..................................................Letters from the Earth

The German Opera......................................................... A Tramp Abroad

The War Prayer..................................................... Europe and Elsewhere

A Genuine Mexican Plug.........................................................Roughing It

The Christian Bible.................................................................Miscellaneous

San Francisco...........................................................................Miscellaneous

Circumstances......................................................Mark Twain In Eruption

Crippling the Accordion................................................................Sketches

Our Civilization.....................................................................Autobiography

The Anarchist Story....................................................................... Speeches

A Ghost Story............................................................................ Short Stories

Baker’s Bluejay.................................................................. A Tramp Abroad

Sunrise on the River............................................Life On the Mississippi

The Sweet Bye and Bye................................Essays: The Invalid Story

The Get Rich Quick Disease..............................................Miscellaneous

His Grandfather’s Old Ram........................... Mark Twain’s Notebook

The Thin Skin....................................................... Mark Twain’s Notebook

Congress: The Grand Old Asylum.................................Miscellaneous

The Virgin Mary.......................................................Ladies Home Journal

The Press............................................................................................ Speeches

Praying for Gingerbread...................................................Autobiography

Down There in Washington...............................................Miscellaneous

Boyhood on the Farm.......................................................Autobiography

Running For President.........................................................Miscellaneous

Taking Along the Window Sash..............................Innocents Abroad

The Sandwich Islands...............................................................Roughing It

My Trained Presbyterian Conscience.........................Autobiography

The Italian GuideInnocents..............................................................Abroad

How I Stole My Name..........................................Life on the Mississippi

My Encounter With an Interviewer...........................................Sketches

Livy.............................................................................................Autobiography

Accident Insurance........................................................................ Speeches

How to Be Seventy........................................................................ Speeches

The Supreme Art..................................................Letters from the Earth

My Ancestor Satan.................................................................. Short Stories

White Suit.......................................................................................... Speeches

The Hartford Home..............................................................................Letters

Requesting a Hymn Book............................... Mark Twain in Eruption

Susy’s Prayer..........................................................................Autobiography

Money is God................................................................................. Notebooks

Halley’s Comet................................................................................Biography

Decay in the Art of Lying................................Essays & Miscellaneous

Mary Ann............................................................................................ Speeches

These selections are quotations directly from Mark Twain’s writings, edited together by Mr. Holbrook to create his performance.

When the calendar turned to 2014 it laid down a milestone for the longest running show in American Theatre history – the 60th year for Mark Twain Tonight! Clive Barnes of the New York Times reviewed Hal Holbrook’s third New York engagement in 1977: “Hilariously funny. We see him not as the precursor of Will Rogers or even H. L. Mencken, but clearly as a prototypal Lenny Bruce, so anti-establishment you wonder why they allowed him into his century.” Holbrook has shown us Mark Twain the social critic, whom George Bernard Shaw called “America’s Voltaire.”

The show doesn’t stop evolving. Three new numbers have added another hour to its revolving repertoire of material: one on the Christian Bible, another from the feuding clans in Huckleberry Finn killing each other off, and another on the fate of the laboring class in America.

“Mark Twain never stops surprising me,” says Holbrook.

“He keeps firing me up and asking questions.”

It was a fateful decision for Holbrook when he sat at his desk in a small $79 a month New York apartment in 1954 and began searching Twain’s writings for material that might work on the stage and feed his family. One key decision he made: Don’t update him. Portray Mark Twain as the aging character the world recognizes – a wild white head of hair, beetle brows and moustache, the white suit, and never break the illusion that it is Twain himself speaking in his own time. Let the audience update him. That has made the show more powerful because human behavior doesn’t change. Neither does its foolishness. That’s the joke.

This total disguise of himself, which took as much as four hours when he was younger, has given Holbrook the benefit of another career as himself in motion pictures like Magnum Force, Wall Street, Creepshow, Water for Elephants, Lincoln and Into the Wild for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Television films and series earned him five Emmy Awards, a total of twelve nominations. With ninety-eight stage plays in New York and regional theatres around the country, he has said “I’ve been on the road most of my life.”

He is not a Hollywood actor or a New York actor.

He’s as much an American actor as any in our theatre’s history because he has never stopped touring America coast to coast in 66 years since graduating college in Ohio and setting out for Texas on the school assembly circuit with Ruby Holbrook, his first wife. The solo Twain was originally created in a Greenwich Village nightclub, where Ed Sullivan saw him and first gave him national television exposure. Three years later an unheralded 34-year old actor debuted Mark Twain Tonight! just off Broadway to critics who had no idea what to expect. The New York Times: “There should have been posters up all over town to herald his arrival. Mr. Holbrook’s material is uproarious, his ability to hold an audience by acting is brilliant.” It was called “one of the treasures of the American Theatre” by Life Magazine. Seven years later he played New York again, won the Tony Award and Mark Twain Tonight! was seen on CBS Television before 30 million people.

Hal Holbrook was born in Cleveland in 1925. When he was two his mother disappeared, his father followed suit, and young Holbrook and his two sisters were raised by their grandfather in South Weymouth, Massachusetts where his people had settled in 1635. He was sent away at the age of seven to one of the finer New England schools, beaten regularly by a Dickensian headmaster, and at twelve was sent to Culver Military Academy where he learned self-discipline and discovered acting as an escape from rigid authority. He believes Culver saved his life.

After three years in World War II, Holbrook completed his college education at Denison University in Ohio, where the Mark Twain characterization grew out of an honors project which gave him and his young wife an immediate job after graduation, playing scenes from Shakespeare to Twain on the school assembly circuit in the Southwest.

His first solo appearance as Twain was at the Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1954, a desperate alternative to selling hats or running elevators in New York to keep his young family alive. When a radio and television soap opera, The Brighter Day, rescued them, Holbrook still pursued the Twain character in a Greenwich Village nightclub. While doing the soap opera in the daytime, he developed his original two hours of material in the curve of a baby grand piano at night and Ed Sullivan caught his act.

The New York stage debut three years later was such a stunning success, he quit the soap; the State Department sent him on a tour of Europe where he was the first American dramatic attraction after World War II to appear behind the Iron Curtain.

Then he pursued a new career as himself, playing Shakespeare, Abe Lincoln in Illinois Off-Broadway, and booking Twain in between. He joined the original Lincoln Center Repertory Company in New York and built a career as an actor in a variety of roles with no connection to Mark Twain – Man of LaMancha, King Lear, Shylock, Willy Loman onstage, and in 50-odd feature films. He has no set program in Mark Twain Tonight! It changes and evolves and he sometimes chooses the material he will do as the show goes along.

Hal Holbrook sailed the 1980 singlehanded race to Hawaii and extensively in the South Pacific to New Zealand on his 40-foot sailboat, Yankee Tar. He has five children, lives in Los Angeles and sometimes in Tennessee at the home where his dear wife, Dixie Carter, grew up. She passed away in 2010.

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

HAL HOLBROOK

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

MARK TWAIN: BIOGRAPHY (SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS)

1835 Born in Florida, Missouri (November 30).

1878 Family lived in Europe.

1839 Moved to Hannibal, Missouri.

1880 Jean Clemens born. A Tramp Abroad published.

1853 Left home to become itinerant printer.

1882 The Prince and the Pauper published.

1857 Became apprentice pilot on the Mississippi River.

1883 Life on the Mississippi published.

1861 A fter two weeks in the Confederate Army, resigned commission and went to the Nevada territory with brother Orion.

1884 P ublished U.S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs. Began investment in Paige Typesetter.

1862 P rospected unsuccessfully, then joined Virginia City Enterprise as a reporter — first used pen name “Mark Twain”.

1889 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court published.

1864 Joined the San Francisco Morning Call.

1866 Visited Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), became lecturer, wrote travel letters to the Sacramento Union and the San Francisco Alta California.

1867 T he Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County published. Joined excursion to Mediterranean.

1870 Married Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York (February 2). Settled in Buffalo as editor of The Buffalo Express.

1871 Moved to Hartford, Connecticut.

1885 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published.

1891 Family moved to Europe.

1894 The Tragedy of Pudd’n Head Wilson published.

1896 Lecture tour around the world. Susy Clemens died in Hartford (August 18). Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc published.

1897 Following the Equator published.

1900 Lived in New York.

1904 Olivia Langdon Clemens died in Florence, Italy (June 5).

1907 Received LLD from Oxford University.

1872 Susy Clemens born. Roughing It published.

1908 Moved to “Stormfield”, the house he built in Redding, Connecticut.

1873 C ollaborated with Charles Dudley Warner on The Gilded Age.

1909 Jean Clemens died (December 24).

1874 Clara Clemens born.

1910 Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut (April 21).

1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published.

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THE BUELL THEATRE is part of the Denver Performing Arts Complex, owned and operated by the City and County of Denver, Arts and Venues.

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DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOLLOWING SUPPORT IN ITS 2016/17 BROADWAY SEASON

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For information call: 720.865.4220

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Kinky Boots National Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy

KINKY BOOTS CINDI LAUPER’S HIGH-HEELED HIT

BY JOHN MOORE

Y

You don’t need big, technicolor hair, fishnets and fingerless gloves to know that, even at age 63, Cyndi Lauper just wants to have fun. Now the woman who puts the “sex” in “sexagenarian” wants audiences to have fun…in the live theatre.

Lauper wrote the music for the 2013 Tony Award-winning best musical Kinky Boots. This feel-good musical that broke all box office records at New York’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre is based on the true story of Steve Pateman, an Englishman who was struggling to save his family-run shoe factory from closure. Under pressure from changes in fashion, increasing competition and shortness of time, Pateman received an interesting, unexpected and altogether unconventional call. The outcome? A new line of women’s shoes in men’s sizes for an entirely new clientele — drag queens.

Pateman’s heartwarming story served as the inspiration for a 2005 independent film. It caught the imagination of Broadway, and a first-class creative team was called in to perform a high-heeled, glitter-filled makeover.

And who could remake this fun-filled story better than ’80s pop music icon Cyndi Lauper?

In this era of safe Broadway musicals largely based on popular existing titles, Lauper has a pretty good idea why this exhilarating underdog story written by Harvey Fierstein broke through.

“It’s because the show has a huge heart,” said Lauper.

Like small independent films The Full Monty and Priscilla Queen of the Desert before it, Broadway has welcomed

20

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

Kinky Boots with big, accepting arms lined with spikes, sparkles and gummy bracelets.

Why? “It’s a story about love and acceptance and friendship and overcoming obstacles,” Lauper said, “and everyone can relate to that.”

Lauper has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, charted 16 hit singles and conquered the disparate worlds of pop, blues and Broadway. As the queen of Queens herself might say…“Oh my gwwaaaaaaaad!”

But live theatre historically struggles to attract young audiences. Lauper is proud that Kinky Boots has bucked that trend.

“I tried really hard to write songs that could also live outside of the theater,” Lauper said. “Before radio, Broadway music was Top 40 popular music. People bought sheet music and played the music at home with their families. I really tried hard to honor that tradition with Kinky Boots by writing songs that people would want to listen to at home after leaving the theater, or without even seeing the show.”

Lauper thinks it is essential for new musicals to capture the hearts of young adult theatregoers.

“If young people don’t discover Broadway, then Broadway will die with this generation, and that would be a tragedy,” Lauper said. “So it’s important that Broadway musicals and plays are written to live in the modern world.”

Crossover artists like Lauper might be the key to making that happen. Not only is she working on a new musical for

Kinky Boots National Touring Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy

“If we all could just accept each other for who we are the world would be a beautiful place. [That’s] the message of Kinky Boots!”

— CYNDI LAUPER, COMPOSER “And you know what? That’s also the message of Kinky Boots!”

Lauper became the first woman in Broadway history to win the Tony Award for Best Score without a writing partner. One of the more endearing moments in recent Tony Awards history was seeing Lauper as she sat stunned in her seat as her name was called. Finally she stood and hugged Wheat Ridge, Colorado native Annaleigh Ashford, who won a Tony Award herself for playing sassy Lauren in the original Broadway cast.

“I remember telling her, ‘Cyndi, you have to go to the stage now,’” Ashford said. “She was just like, ‘Oh my gwwaaaaaaaad!’ And she was crying. It was amazing.”

Lauper remembers that moment as “simply incredible.”

“The Broadway community is an amazing one, and to be welcomed the way they welcomed me to this very special family is something that still warms my spirit,” she said.

When asked what Kinky Boots audiences are in for in Denver, she said simply: “An amazing show with a great heart that will lift you up.”

Read John Moore’s entire interview with Cyndi Lauper on the DCPA’s News Center at denvercenter.org/news-center

KINKY BOOTS

MAR 21 – 26 • BUELL THEATRE ASL, AUDIO-DESCRIBED & OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES: MAR 25, 2PM

The Company of Mamma Mia! • by Kevin Thomas Garcia

the live theatre, “I am thrilled to see two of my favorites — David Byrne and Carole King — with [recent] shows on Broadway,” she said.

In 2013, Lauper celebrated the 30th anniversary of her breakout album, She’s So Unusual. While that album charted top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop” and “All Through the Night”), it was her next record that produced perhaps her lasting legacy: True Colors.

“When I recorded that song, a very good friend of mine was dying from AIDS,” Lauper said. “He had a horrific childhood. He had been abused.

And the main reason he was abused was because he was gay. He became homeless really young. When he was dying he asked me to record a song so that he would not be forgotten.”

She wrote “True Colors,” which has become an anthem of hope for disaffected communities.

“I sang the song for Gregory and for everyone who has been rejected for being who they are or for anyone who feels unloved,” Lauper said. “I think that it still resonates today because unfortunately we still have bias and we still have bullying. Maybe we have even more bullying because people can be cruel behind a computer instead of having the [courage] to say something ugly to someone’s face.

“If we all could just accept each other for who we are the world would be a beautiful place.

COMING UP ON BROADWAY:

MAMMA MIA!

When the divas of disco return to Denver, know your bellbottoms and psychedelic polyester inside and out with these fun trivia facts from MAMMA MIA! • There are approximately 3,120 items of clothing for MAMMA MIA! in the theatre at any given time.

• There are 72 principal costumes in the show — each of the principals has three understudies, making a total of 288 principal and understudy costumes.

• There are 390 ensemble and swing costumes.

• The principal actresses, understudies, female ensemble and swings have 121 bras between them.

• There are 45 Super Troupers (principal ladies and men including understudies) in the show. Their costumes have approximately 33,000 rhinestones, all sewn on by hand. Plus these costumes require 400M of Lycra. Based solely on orders for all international productions of MAMMA MIA!, the Italian mill that supplies the material was saved from closing.

• Donna’s Super Trouper costume is comprised of 24 different elements: 1. main fabric 2. sleeve & leg frills (after being cut are sent to a pleating specialist) 3. silver piping trim 4. rhinestone strip 5. eyelets 6. heavy weight zip 7. belt beads (from Australia) 8. belt backing and lining 9. perspex buckle (cut specially for the show) 10. shoulder pads 11. lining 12. Interlining to support fronts 13. sheer flesh soufflé for front panel 14. silver cord elastic for facing 15. thin Lycra to edge sleeve and leg frills 16. small star shaped rhinestones 17. large star shaped rhinestones 18. triangular iridescent stones 19. round iridescent stones 20. lozenge shaped glass stones 21. star shaped earrings 22. silver boots 23. bra 24. rhinestone hair clips See if you can count the 33,000 rhinestones as they flash by on stage when MAMMA MIA! brings its farewell tour to The Buell Theatre April 11-16.

PREPARE TO BE AMAZED

BY MUSICALS, MAGICIANS AND MORE

STARRING STEVEN J. BURGE

NOW – APR 8 • GARNER GALLERIA

MAR 18 – 19 • THE ELLIE

MAR 8 – 19 • THE BUELL

MAR 21 – 26 • THE BUELL

APR 1 • THE BUELL BROADWAY’S BIGGEST SELLING MAGIC SPECTACULAR “MAGICʼS CIRQUE DU SOLEIL” –THE TIMES OF LONDON

BETH MALONE SO FAR APR 11 – 16 • THE BUELL

APR 14 – 15 • GARNER GALLERIA

MAY 19 – 21 • THE ELLIE

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Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe

THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN CONCERT Music, Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

MAY 22 • SEAWELL BALLROOM

MAY 30 – JUN 18 • THE ELLIE

A “MASSIVE HIT… ONE OF THE BEST

MUSICALS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.”

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The Secret Garden Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman Music by Lucy Simon Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett PRODUCING PARTNERS:

ISABELLE CLARK and DIANA & MIKE KINSEY

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ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

NOBLE ENERGY AND DCPA PARTNER TO CREATE AN INNOVATIVE S-T-E-A-M INITIATIVE

O “When you positively impact the life of a child – through the arts, or otherwise – it trickles down for generations.”

— CHIP RIMER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, US ONSHORE, NOBLE ENERGY

24

Over the past year, Noble Energy and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) have led an innovative curriculum that supports STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education for more than 500 students in schools across Colorado.

Working hand in hand, DCPA Dramatic LearningTM teachers and Noble Energy employees bring the subject of energy to life for students.

Challenging students to get out of their seats and act as rocks, plants, and animals allows them to immerse themselves in the material and internalize the lesson. As one Noble Energy employee said, “you can’t be daydreaming when you’re pretending you’re a tree!”

And a 5th grade Denver Public School teacher said her students continued to speak about the program for days after the lesson. “They were engaged the entire time and really enjoyed the ability to express themselves throughout the session. This very hands-on workshop not only helped my students learn and solidify new concepts but also gave me ideas for other ways to teach various concepts.”

Noble Energy believes that incorporating a comprehensive and innovative arts initiative in education provides the critical thinking, communications and creativity skills essential to student and professional success. Taking the traditional STEM program and adding the “A” for arts sparks students’ imaginations and helps them innovate through hands-on projects.

For Noble Energy the partnership with DCPA is a natural fit. Noble Energy feels strongly that operating in Colorado is a privilege and works daily to better the lives of Coloradans today and for generations to come.

In fact, this is part of the company’s purpose – Energizing the World and Bettering People’s Lives.

Noble Energy’s support for Colorado’s public schools is part of the company’s commitment to Colorado and the company intends to grow the STEAM partnership with DCPA, reaching more students across the state. With energy playing such a vital role in Colorado’s past, present and future, it is critical that the workforce of tomorrow understands what powers our energy economy.

“For us, it’s a passion to help the next generation be more successful than we are,” said Noble Energy Senior Vice President Chip Rimer. “When you positively impact the life of a child – through the arts, or otherwise – it trickles down for generations.”

Noble Energy has been a long-standing supporter of both STEM curricula and DPS. Through a partnership with the Denver Broncos, Noble Energy has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the DPS Foundation and has helped recognize students who excel in STEM courses. The company also supports DPS’s 8th grade career fair and employee volunteers are actively involved with the school district’s reading programs and other projects.

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Photos by John Moore

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DENVER’S VARIETY NIGHTCLUB UNDERGROUND AT THE CLOCKTOWER 16 STREET MALL AT ARAPAHOE TH

A NIGHT IN ARGENTINA WITH HOSTED BY SHIRLEY DELTA BLOW

BOHEMIA VIVA! FOOD, WINE AND MUSIC

Christmas Glitter A JOURNEY THROUGH BACKGROUND

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R “Creativity doesn’t just drive the arts, it drives entrepreneurial ideas. Business owners need inspiration, innovation and momentum.”

Remember that anticipation when the lights dim and the show is about to start? Colorado State Bank and Trust (CSBT) wants every young person to have the opportunity to experience this feeling and carry that creativity back to the classroom.

That’s why CSBT is an annual sponsor of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Saturday Night Alive fundraising event. Proceeds benefit DCPA Education, which connects inspired learning with the creative process for 84,000 youth statewide.

“CSBT seeks to actively advance the communities we serve, especially through education,” said Bill Sullivan, CSBT President and CEO. “Our goal is to help grow Colorado’s economy through our banking and financial services, but also by investing in students to prepare for their future.”

And it’s not only the organization that is committed to youth and education. A CSBT employee group organizes volunteer projects throughout the year – including volunteering in the classroom, mentoring and drives for supplies, clothing and holiday gifts.

“A thriving, creative Colorado community is important to us,” said Bill.

“Creativity doesn’t just drive the arts, it drives entrepreneurial ideas.

Business owners need inspiration, innovation and momentum. Every day, employees come up with creative solutions to help support their businesses. And CSBT is here to help these businesses grow. We have the sophisticated products, services and lending capacity of a large bank combined with the ability to deliver those solutions in a one-on-one, high touch, community-focused manner.”

Colorado State Bank and Trust is proud to support the DCPA and its efforts to bring creativity and education to our community. So as the curtain rises, offer some of your applause for the DCPA and its gift of sharing the stage with all of us.

Long Live Our Community. To learn how Colorado State Bank and Trust has served Colorado for more than a hundred years, visit www.csbt.com.

— BILL SULLIVAN, CSBT PRESIDENT AND CEO

26

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

At PAA, it’s not just about putting on a great show – although we do that too! It’s about taking it beyond the stage to help our students grow in every way possible.

Summer registration is now open!

We offer 2 week intenstives for grades K-12 and 1 week summer camps for ages 3-K Visit stlukesPAA.org to learn more

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WILL THE REAL GREAT AMERICAN NOVELIST PLEASE STEP FORWARD? MARK TWAIN, SAMUEL CLEMENS OR HAL HOLBROOK? B Y S Y LV I E D R A K E

“It’s become my sword. We all need to think a little bit about what we are doing to ourselves, to our children and especially to our country.”

— HAL HOLBROOK

28

I

In a career that spans more than 70 years and ranges from regional theatre to TV and film, the world inevitably thinks of Hal Holbrook primarily as Mark Twain. This recognition is all thanks to his irrepressible solo performance in Mark Twain Tonight!.

To hear Holbrook tell it, this was all an accident. Born in Cleveland in 1925 where his first role in the theatre was in The Man Who Came to Dinner at Cleveland’s Cain Park Theatre, he grew up in Massachusetts and later graduated from Ohio’s Denison University.

By the time Holbrook left Denison, he was married and he and his first wife, Ruby Johnson, had developed a two-person show consisting of characters from Shakespeare to (yes) Mark Twain. They took it on the road, touring the 8am school assembly circuit in a freezing Southwest, doing 307 shows in 30 weeks and racking up 30,000 miles on their station wagon, with costumes that often had to be defrosted before they could be worn.

The Twain characterization might have perished right there, but Holbrook was cast in a soap opera in New York and became sufficiently bored with it that he began to expand his repertoire of Twain material in sheer self-defense. When TV’s Ed Sullivan saw the polished one-man piece in a small New York theatre and offered Holbrook national exposure on his hugely popular variety show, there was no turning back.

The down side of that success was that young Hal was being offered mostly old-man roles. The up side, though he didn’t know it at the time, was that Mark Twain Tonight! would become the singular, solo creation that he’s played all over the country (including Broadway, where it earned him a 1966 Tony® Award).

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

HAL HOLBROOK: MARK TWAIN TONIGHT! APR 1 • BUELL THEATRE

Kevin James-The Inventor-Confetti ©JoanMarcus

This turn of events threatened, but was not allowed to impede, a much richer and fuller career. On stage he tackled everything — from comedy to drama, musicals to Chekhov, Miller to Shakespeare, careening from Hotspur and Shylock to the vaulting King Lear, without flinching at the sheer magnitude and range of his undertakings.

“I was introduced to acting that way, playing everything,” he told this writer in 1996, when he came through Denver in the title role of Death of a Salesman.

“I dove into the theatre to get behind disguises,” he confessed. “As a kid, I’d scare the neighborhood as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. If I’d learned just to play myself I might have become some kind of movie star, but I thwarted that by taking on roles that allowed me to get at the heart of a character.”

Yet the most amazing of those characters remains his portrayal of the pugnacious, cigar-chomping Mark Twain, a wit and writer Holbrook deeply admires and with whom he is on very intimate terms after 60 years of being him on stage. Not only does he find Twain’s perceptions brilliant, but also extremely modern.

When we met on a wintry Los Angeles afternoon in his home library, Holbrook was fired up. On cue, eyes, energy and indignation blazing, he expounded not only on the astonishing career he has made out of playing one of America’s greatest citizen-philosophers (a journey chronicled in his 2011 autobiography, Harold, the Boy Who Became Mark Twain), but also on his boundless admiration for what he sees as Twain’s prophetic vision of this country’s often rogue and difficult trajectory and uncertain future.

“He was the first tremendously successful author in this country,” he said.

“In the 1870s, after the Civil War, his career took off, he came east, and the country took off. The Industrial Revolution began, fed by Mr. Lincoln saying go ahead, put down the transcontinental railroad. Mark Twain, still in his thirties, became the confidant of Andrew Carnegie, of Mr. Vanderbilt — he sailed on his yacht — of young John Rockefeller: [Jay] Gould, J.P. Morgan.

“In those days they all belonged to clubs — the Players Club, the Lotus Club. They all knew each other, had lunches, made fun of each other, had fun with each other. Twain watched them, looked at them, went home and wrote about them. He saw the great turn that had happened in this country, from an agrarian to an industrialized nation, which became, in a period of 30 or 40 years, an industrial giant.”

Yet Twain saw an America that lost its way. To quote from the show, “It’s a civilization that has destroyed the simplicity and repose of life, its poetry, its soft romantic dreams and visions, and replaced them with a money fever, shorted ideals, vulgar ambitions and a sleep that does not refresh.”

No wonder Holbrook stands in awe. “You could start the American Dream with Abraham Lincoln as the epitome of the Great American Story,” he said.

“You go from Lincoln to Twain and the disintegration that he began to write about in The Gilded Age and other late works, and you know he was beginning to see the erosion of the purity of our values.

“If you think that Mark Twain was just becoming a road exercise for me, think again,” he added. “I can get out there and say something that means something to me and, I believe, to the American public that may not even understand the magnitude of what is going on. It’s become my sword. We all need to think a little bit about what we are doing to ourselves, to our children and especially to our country.”

The words will be Twain’s.

The passion? All Holbrook.

COMING UP ON BROADWAY:

THE ILLUSIONISTS — LIVE FROM BROADWAY The Illusionists – Live from Broadway (playing The Ellie May 19-21) isn’t your typical Broadway experience. This dazzling spectacle is packed with thrilling magic from levitation to mindreading. Meet the seven world-class illusionists who will leave you in disbelief with their mystifying specialties.

• Yu Ho-Jin, “The Manipulator,” named the 2014 “Magician of the Year” combines art with magic in his astonishing act.

• Dan Sperry, “The Anti-Conjuror,” is a veteran of “America’s Got Talent” whose macabre magic is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

• Jeff Hobson, “The Trickster,” hosts the magical evening with his excellent showmanship and comedic magic.

• Andrew Basso, “The Escapologist,” is known as “the only person in the world to perform Houdini’s famous Water Torture Cell with absolutely no covers.”

• Kevin James, “The Inventor,” is an impressive visual artist who has created some of the most innovative illusions of the last century.

• Ben Blaque, “The Weapon Master,” performs dangerous acts with his crossbow.

• Colin Cloud, “The Deductionist,” has been described as the real-life Sherlock for his thought reading abilities.

A jaw-dropping extravaganza for audiences of all ages, The Illusionists – Live From Broadway provides an unusual night. Blink and you might miss it.

29

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“Music Forward” Saturdays at 7 p.m. on CPR Classical Explore music of the past century through musician interviews and discussion of Colorado’s contemporary performances.

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T

32

Photo by Adams VisCom

Adam Langdon, Maria Elena Ramirez in the touring production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Photo by Joan Marcus.

To everyone at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, thanks for reminding us what it means to make a difference.

To everyone at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, thanks for reminding us what it means to make a difference.

For nearly 20 years, we have proudly partnered with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), the largest non-profit theatre organization in the nation right here in our community.

At HealthONE, we’ve seen first-hand the positive impacts the arts have on our health and well-being: The soothing effect of music on people in pain; the regaining of muscle strength through drawing or painting; the stress-relieving enjoyment of live performances after a hard or emotional day.

Without the programs and resources the DCPA provides, we would not be able to enjoy incredible performances. We are proud to sponsor this and many other productions, and we hope you take time to appreciate the benefits these great shows bring to your own life.

APPLAUSE • Mar – May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org

DCPA TEAM DCPA Janice Sinden......................................................President & CEO Maggie Lamb.......................Executive Assistant to the CEO

BROADWAY & CABARET John Ekeberg........................... Executive Director Broadway Alicia Bruce......................................................... General Manager Alyssa Chacon............. Operations Business Administrator Abel Becerra.................................. Technical Director, Cabaret

DEVELOPMENT Deanna Haas................................. Chief Development Officer Shawn Bayer.................................................... Associate Director Chelley Canales...................................Development Associate Megan Fevurly.....................................Development Associate Melissa Olson........................................Development Assistant Marc Ravenhill................................................. Associate Director Valerie Taron.................................................... Associate Director David Zupancic.................................Director of Development

EDUCATION Allison Watrous........................................Director of Education Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski.........................Associate Director of Education and Curriculum Manager Jessica Austgen................................................ Teaching Artist & Shakespeare Coordinator Stuart Barr.................................. Education Technical Director Claudia Carson...... Bobby G and Playwriting Coordinator Leslie Channell................................................. Business Manager Melissa Doherty...........................Office Manager & Registrar Linda Eller..............................................................................Librarian Tim McCracken..................................................... Head of Acting Michelle Patrick...................Corporate Training Coordinator David Saphier.......... Teaching Artist & School Coordinator Rachel Taylor...........Teaching Artist & At-Risk Coordinator Chloe McCleod, Heather Hughes, Justin Walvoord, Robyn Yamada.................................................... Teaching Artists

FACILITIES & EVENT SERVICES Clay Courter.....Vice President, Facilities & Event Services James Babcock, Dwight Barela, Clint Flinchpaugh, Michael Kimbrough................ Engineers Quentin Crump...............................................Security Specialist Tom Duffin.....................................Manager, Event Technology Caitlin Glasgo................................................ Events Coordinator Stori Heleen.................................Event Technology Specialist Jaymes Kimbrough..................Event Technology Specialist Clint King.........................................................Security Supervisor John Lower.............................................................. Chief Engineer Brian McClain............................................. Custodial Supervisor Tara Miller, Danielle Porter, Brittany Schoede............................................. Events Managers Brook Nichols................................Director, Event Technology Will Stowe.....................................Event Technology Specialist Tara Wenger....Facilities/Event Services Business Manager Dawn Williams.....................................Director, Event Services Juan Loya, Carmen Molina, Blanca Primero, Judith Primero, Angeles Reyes Soto, Francisco Trujillo............................................................Custodians

MARKETING, SALES & PATRON SERVICES Jennifer Nealson..................................Chief Marketing Officer Eric Boone...................................................Front End Developer Heidi Bosk......................... Senior PR & Promotions Manager Nathan Brunetti...................................................Digital Manager Flora Jane DiRienzo...............Director of Strategic Projects Brenda Elliott......................................Senior Graphic Designer Brianna Firestone............Director of Customer Experience & Marketing Simone Gordon...................................................Project Manager Hope Grandon..........................................PR & Events Manager Jeff Hovorka............................. Director of Sales & Marketing Jennifer Kemps........................................Group Sales Manager Emily Kent............................Associate Director of Marketing David Lenk............................................................. Video Producer Emily Lozow........................................... Marketing Coordinator

Adam Lundeen....................................Marketing Technologist Kyle Malone.................................................................... Art Director Cassie McHale......................... Communications Coordinator Carolyn Michaels...........................................................Copywriter Cheyenne Michaels............................. Marketing Coordinator John Moore................................................Senior Arts Journalist Adam Obendorf........................................... Senior Art Director Allison Barber Pasternak..... Executive Assistant to the CMO Joseph Schurwonn......................................... Financial Analyst Jill Schwager...............Education Group Sales Coordinator Rob Silk.........................................Director of Creative Services Suzanne Yoe............................... Director of Communications & Cultural Affairs THEATRE SERVICES Carol Krueger.................................. Theatre Services Manager Adam Alberti, Ethan Aumann, Nora Caley, Samantha Egle, Hadley Kamminga-Peck, LeiLani Lynch, Aaron McMullen, Gregory Melton, Douglas Murphey, Joyce Murphey, Margaret Ohlander, Valerie Schaefer, Mica Ward..................... Theatre Company House Managers TICKETING SERVICES Jennifer Lopez.........................Director of Ticketing Services Kirk Petersen...........................................Assoc. Dir. of Ticketing Services – Patron Relations David Smith.............................................Assoc. Dir. of Ticketing Services – Subscription Services Micah White..............................................Subscription Manager Jessica Bergin, Vincent Bridgers, Katie Clow-Pollard, Tristan Jungferman ................................Box Office Managers Billy Dutton..............................................VIP Ticketing Manager Malcolm Brown, DJ Dennis, Kevin Dykstra, Molly Dougherty, Amanda Gomez, Edmund Gurule............................................................Show Leads Kirsten Anderson, Rebecca Hibbert, Scott Lix, Gregory Swan........................Subscription Agents Román Anaya, Rena Bugg, Jennifer Gray, Roger Haak, Shari Hansen, Noah Jungferman, Alia Kempton, Daniel Lindsey, Gustavo Márquez, Cora Marsh, Lisa McClellan, Noah McDermott, Gunnar Reining, Taylor Schulze, Jason Scoggins, Liz Sieroslawski, Hayley Solano, Jon Squire, Brad Steinmeyer, Tomas Waples, Cindy Yeast............................... Ticket Agents

SHARED SERVICES Vicky Miles................................................ Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Jeffrey.......................................... Director of Financial

Planning & Analysis Julie Schumaker.................Executive Assistant to the CFO ACCOUNTING Jennifer Siemers...................................Director of Accounting Michaele Davidson.......................................Senior Accountant Juliette Hidahl....................................................Accounting Clerk Kim Stewart........................................................ Staff Accountant HUMAN RESOURCES Regina Matthews......................... Director Human Resources Aubrey Antonsen.....................................................HR Generalist Brian Carter...................................Human Resources Manager Jamie Hawkins...................................................... HR Coordinator Sandy Hertz.........................................................Payroll Specialist Monica Robles............................................Mailroom Supervisor INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Yovani Pina.................................... Associate Vice President of Information Technology Rick Bennett............................................................... Director of IT Jim Hipp................................................. Associate Director of IT Christopher Hoge.......................VoIP/System Administrator Bobby Jiminez.........................Senior AudienceView Analyst David Tschan.............................................................. Director of IT John H. Voorheis............................ Manager of Infrastructure

THEATRE COMPANY ADMINISTRATION Charles Varin...................................................Managing Director Ryan Meisheid...........................Associate Managing Director Allison Taylor..................................................Company Manager Kerri Mirtsching.................................... Business Administrator Alie Quistberg...........................Assistant Company Manager

ARTISTIC Nataki Garrett.................................Associate Artistic Director Charlie I. Miller................................Associate Artistic Director

Strategy & Innovation Douglas Langworthy..................................... Literary Director/

Director of New Play Development Chad Henry....................................................... Literary Associate Grady Soapes.............................................. Artistic Coordinator PRODUCTION Jeff Gifford...............................................Director of Production Melissa Cashion....................Associate Production Manager Matthew Campbell.............. Assistant Production Manager Julie Brou...................Production & Artistic Office Manager Scenic Design Lisa M. Orzolek................................ Director of Scenic Design Matthew Plamp, Nicholas Renaud..............................Scenic Design Assistants Lighting Design Charles R. MacLeod...................................Director of Lighting Lily Bradford.....................................Lighting Design Assistant Reid Tennis............................................... Production Electrician Multimedia Topher Blair................................................ Multimedia Specialist Sound Design Craig Breitenbach...........................................Director of Sound Tyler Nelson.......................................................... Sound Designer Alex Billman, Frank Haas..............................Sound Operators Stage Management Christopher C. Ewing................ Production Stage Manager Rachel Ducat, Corin Ferris, Kristen O’Connor, D. Lynn Reiland, Kurt Van Raden...............Stage Managers Scene Shop Robert L. Orzolek, Josh Prues.................................Associate Technical Directors Albert “Stub” Allison, Louis Fernandez III.......................................... Lead Technicians Justin Hicks, Brian “Marco” Markiewicz, Wynn Pastor, Kyle Simpson Mike VanAartsen...........................................Scenic Technicians Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne.............................................Properties Director Eileen S. Garcia......................... Assistant Properties Director Jamie Stewart Curl, David Hoth, Georgina Kayes, 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, Louise Powers, Jackie Scott............................................................................Drapers Cathie Gagnon.................................................................First Hand Sheila P. Morris........................................................................... Tailor Kelly Jones.................................................................................Stitcher 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*, Kyle Moore, Miles Stasica*, Tyler Stauffer*, Matt Wagner* (*IATSE Local 7 Stagehands)................................ Stagehands Wardrobe Brenda Lawson........................................Director of Wardrobe Maria Y. Davis, Taylor Malott............................Wig Assistants Robin Appleton, Amber Donner, Anthony Mattivi, Tim Nelson, Lisa Parsons Wagner, Alan Richards....................................................................... Dressers

STEP OUTSIDE THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY

Photos by Studio JK

SEAWELL BALLROOM

RESERVE YOUR SPECIAL DAY TODAY! denvercenterevents.org • 303.572.4466 HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW OUR CURRENT It'sAnaAmerican puzzle in Paris, LINEUP OF SHOWS: Hal Mark Twain Tonight!, Kinky BootsAn HowHolbrook: well do you know our current lineup of shows: and Disgraced?

American in Paris, Hal Holbrook Tonight, Kinky Boots and Disgraced?

1

4 The female lead in the beloved 1950 film was 19-year-old Leslie _______ 8 Last name of the pop icon who wrote the Kinky Boots score

11 The Kinky Boots song believes that “Sex is in the _______”

2

12 Embraceable _______ 17 Jim J. Bullock of Kinky Boots last visited Denver playing Edna in this musical 19 Huckleberry Finn recounted the family feud between the _______ and the Shepherdsons

4 5

6

7

8

20 A long, thin, high heel found on some boots and shoes

DOWN

9

2 Twain said: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my _______”

10

11

12

13

3 Twain said: “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the _______” 5 Holbrook’s 2007 Oscar nomination was for this film (three words)

15 16 17

6 Mark Twain was born Samuel _______ 7 Gene _______ was star and choreographer of the 1950 MGM film 10 Disgraced won the 2013 _______ Prize for Drama

18 19

1 Disgraced director Carl _______also helmed One Night in Miami... in Denver

9 The Gershwins wrote “Let ‘Em Eat Cake,” but Marie_______ said it first

3

14

ACROSS

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13 “I’ll Build a Stairway to _______” 14 Mark Twain when?

15 Kinky Boots earned a Tony Award for Colorado’s Annaleigh _______ 16 A President, and a Holbrook wife 18 The Gershwins were synonymous with the sounds of the _______ Age

ACROSS

DOWN

Mar –- May 2017 • 303.893.4100 • denvercenter.org 1 34 DisgracedAPPLAUSE director Carl•___ also helmed 2 Twain said: 'I have never let my schooling One Night in Miami in Denver interfere with my ______ ' 4 The female lead in the beloved 1950 film 3 Twain said: "Go to Heaven for the was 19-year-old Leslie _____ climate, Hell for the _____'

For answers please visit denvercenter.org/news-center

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