Applause -- Choir Boy, April 22-May 29, 2022

APPLAUSE VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 4 MAR – MAY 2022

Illustration by Kyle Malone

CHOIR BOY

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APPLAUSE

SIGHTLINE

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BY JANICE SINDEN

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Janice Sinden, President & CEO

Choir Boy ....................................... pg 6 Tootsie .......................................... pg 10 Jersey Boys ..................................pg 19 4

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EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone DESIGNER THIS ISSUE: Brenda Elliott CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Paul Koob, Lucas Kreitler CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Linnea Covington, Sylvie Drake, David Freeland, Brittany Gutierrez, Emma Hunt, Joanne Ostrow

Welcome to the theatre! Last month we joined Arts in Action by celebrating the importance of Arts Education, which contributes to better grades, fewer dropouts and higher graduation rates. We are proud to engage nearly 150,000 students each year when our programming is in full swing.

The DCPA partners with school districts statewide to support the full arc of a student’s academic experience.

We start with Book Stars, a literacy program for pre-K through kindergarten. Equipped with props and loads of creativity, Teaching Artists invite kids to actively participate in the story.

The program is so popular that we have 15 teachers in up to four schools a day.

The mainstay of our Education programs is Dramatic Learning.

This program works with educators to develop a customized workshop that bolsters curriculum. It is dynamic, versatile and suitable for nearly any subject and grade.

We also offer Theatre for Young Audiences, which focuses on performances tailored for pre-K through 3rd grade audiences, welcoming children to their first theatre experience and sparking their wonder. As students move into middle and high school, we offer Student Matinees to both Broadway shows and Theatre Company productions, and when we host the Colorado New Play Summit, we offer workshops and a must-see playwrighting competition. When the weather is warm enough, we welcome students and our broader community to join us for abridged versions of iconic plays through Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. So many choices!

The pinnacle event of the year is the Bobby G High School Musical Theatre Awards, which includes master classes, professional evaluation of school productions, and a full-fledged awards ceremony, much like the Tony Awards in New York.

In partnership with Denver Public Schools and its Foundation, we present the DPS Shakespeare Festival, in which students rehearse scenes, sonnets and swordplay (with pool noodles). The festival is a highlight every spring when 5,000 children fill the Arts Complex.

Educational opportunities continue for lovers of lifelong learning.

Whether it’s an acting class, article, post-show discussion, study guide or video, the DCPA — led by its dedicated, artistic and passionate Education team — seeks to foster learning, spark creativity and enrich your theatre experience.

To learn more, visit denvercenter.org/education. Join us!

IN THIS ISSUE

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You may find that it takes a few minutes to adjust to the language, form and plot of Choir Boy, the Tarell Alvin McCraney play you’re about to watch. You scoop story developments by the earful, rather than following them as a straight line, so listen up, because the transitions are subtle and stitched together by, of all things, some impressive choral singing. That singing takes care of any plot synapses and, by paying attention, you will have it all pieced together by play’s end.

In short, you have to do a little work to fully absorb the range and delicacy of this enterprising play. But if its form is novel as well as alluring, the basic tale is not impenetrable. It tracks events at Drew, a prestigious prep school for African American boys famous for its choir. Pharus Jonathan Young is the supersmart and sassy current leader of that choir and happens also to be Drew’s only overtly effeminate student. He doesn’t mind flaunting it as an edgy form of self-defense, as he maneuvers the twists and turns of school protocol, with its firmly supervised old-school, all-male environment.

McCraney is one of those bright, young and challenging playwrights who surprises audiences with almost every new piece he delivers. He kick-started his playwriting career while still a student at Yale, with a trilogy (or triptych, as he prefers to call it) titled The Brother/Sister Plays. It explores the African Yoruba culture and religion while set in Louisiana housing projects, presumably similar to the ones in which McCraney grew up.

This shot out of the gate brought him attention that has never let up. In spite of being, by his own admission, quite shy and extremely private, he’s an unavoidable beacon for up-and-coming young playwrights. In a single year, he received two highly prestigious and remunerative prizes: a MacArthur “Genius” grant and the Windham-Campbell Prize, part of an enviable growing list of achievements and awards.

He’s also worked with some major national and international companies, and the theatrical heavy-hitters who run them and recognize his work and its value.

Popular recognition caught up with McCraney in 2016 when he co-wrote the film script for the Oscar-winning Moonlight with the film’s director Barry Jenkins. Based on one of McCraney’s plays (In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue), it won them a joint Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and for McCraney, the kind of broader acknowledgement that a well-regarded film can bring.

Choir Boy was originally commissioned by New York’s Manhattan Theatre Club and had its initial staging in 2012 as a co-production with English Stage Company at London’s Royal Court Theatre. Because it is such an idiosyncratically ensemble piece, in which every actor/ singer has his moment, as well as joint ones in the choral pieces, the search for the right performers narrows down to a coterie of singer/actors with the ability to do both things well.

We get to know the boys at Drew through the usual in-house sparring and rough-housing and we learn to distinguish the traits that bind or separate them. Racial and identity issues are subliminally always present, emerging now and then in Mr. Pendleton’s class. Pendleton is a white teacher enticed out of retirement and enlisted to share his knowledge and experience with the boys in an unusual “life” class. Specifically: how to

APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

navigate the complexities of the adult world these boys are soon to enter.

He approaches the task with directness and tentative care, mindful of the fact that he’s both a lot older than they are — and in the minority here. He needs to earn these boys’ respect by delivering the right healthy stimuli to their evolving minds. What he may not have expected is what he gets to learn from them in return.

The morality tale embedded in this plot, has scenes of considerable muscular frankness, touching on African American history, identity politics, sexuality and spirituality. Because leading this choir is a coveted hallmark of Drew’s reputation as an elite school, friction simmers then erupts between choir leader Pharus and the bully-prone Bobby, the headmaster’s nephew who feels that his family connection should buy him privilege when it comes to who gets to lead the choir.

This rivalry in this play is its most memorable wrinkle: the seamless beauty of the connective singing, choral and solo, that links one scene to the next. It also is the feature that provides continuity, sharpens differences, expounds emotion, brings the boys together — and moves the story along.

Given that the world we’re in is post-George Floyd and post-Ahmaud Arbery, a world that has seen black masculinity so openly attacked, what I love is that the play creates a space that doesn’t feel voyeuristic.

— JAMIL JUDE, DIRECTOR

Jamil Jude, the Artistic Director at the Kenny Leon Theatre in Atlanta, GA, and the director of this Choir Boy in Denver, had staged the play at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in 2014. He therefore had an earlier experience locating performers able to handle these roles. “It’s challenging,” he said, when we had a chance to talk, “because the show requires a lot of acting chops, so it needs strong actors who also can sing.”

Casting for this Denver production had not been completed at the time we had this conversation. Was he looking for actor-singers who might have been in some previous productions of the play?

“Kind of,” he said. “We’re casting out of Denver and since the play has been around for a while, and the roles are so rich, young black artists are aware of it and, to some degree, search out the opportunity to be cast.

“Given that the world we’re in is post-George Floyd and post-Ahmaud Arbery, a world that has seen black masculinity so openly attacked, what I love is that the play creates a space that doesn’t feel voyeuristic.”

Then as an afterthought, “I’ve been in that crucible, so I’m very much invested. My generation was not kind.

“This play shows us another way to be.”

SYLVIE DRAKE is a former theatre critic and columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

She is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, a contributor to culturaldaily.com and occasional contributor to American Theatre magazine and the Los Angeles Times. She also served as the DCPA’s Director of Media Relations & Publications.

CHOIR BOY

APR 22 – MAY 29, 2022 • KILSTROM THEATRE ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance: May 15 at 1:30pm

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

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QUIXOTE NUEVO MAY 13 – JUN 12 | WOLF THEATRE In the fictional modern-day Texas border town of La Plancha, Quixote and Sancho embark on a fantastical quest in search of long-lost love. Infused with imagination, comedy, and Tejano music, Quixote Nuevo reveals the joys and perils of facing down Death and becoming the hero of your own story.

Quixote Nuevo

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The Broadway presentation of Tootsie marks the first time that the musical has stopped in Denver, but it certainly may not be the first time that movie fans have seen it. Tony Award®-winning Book Writer Robert Horn gives us his insight into the differences, similarities and the unexpected elements in this production that separate it from the beloved 1982 movie.

APPLAUSE (APP): What are the biggest differences between the film and the Broadway musical, and would you like to explain why you made some of these choices?

ROBERT HORN (RH): A shift that needed to happen was the point of view of the female characters in the story.

It was important they reflect the impact and progress women have made in society and art since the days of the original film. There is both a strength and vulnerability to the women portrayed in the musical that I think, sadly, might not have resonated back in the early 80’s…but again, as we progress culturally, so must our art. When a future society looks back at a certain time in history, it will be able to define that moment in time by the art that was created. In our show, Julie does not grow by virtue of being around Michael; Michael changes and grows because of his experience of being with Julie – a woman who navigates her own obstacles with determination and confidence.

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The cast of the National Tour of Tootsie. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

WITH TOOTSIE BOOK WRITER ROBERT HORN

APP: What is the intended impact of Michael Dorsey disguising himself to act in a Broadway show (rather than a soap opera), and how did it feel writing that from the perspective of a member of the theater industry?

RH: Again, I like a story where the protagonist isn’t always a great character at first, but you relate to their journey, their desperation, their desires and wants, so you follow them to watch them grow and change. We are living in ever shifting times and there is a social responsibility on all of us to adapt to changes and learn to grow from what we might not have understood just a short time ago.

Also, I relate to Michael’s reasons for being desperate, and the mistakes he makes on his journey to enlightenment…though I try not to emotionally injure people along the way as he does. Thankfully, his life is probably a much better drama than mine. And most of all, I loved the idea of writing a musical that celebrates musical theater, its quirks and flaws and stunning comradery. The sacrifices we make just for the opportunity to do what we love most. The family we create along the way. Theater is a unique culture that brings people together in a way very few others do.

APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY

APP: What would you say are the greatest highlights of the show?

MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL

RH: The real commerce of this show is its comedy. Its tone. And of course, the clown car of actors that brings it to life every night.

The comedy comes at you with such love, then there are these hysterical songs by David Yazbek that at once have you laughing and moments later thinking. Add to that the way Denis Jones uses dance to forward the action with such humor and style, and David Solomon recreating Scott Ellis’ staging but adding his own comedic sensibility and timing that keeps the show moving like a bullet train, and it adds up to a glorious night of musical comedy.

Inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film Moulin Rouge, get ready to enter a world of splendor and love with Moulin Rouge! The Musical, coming to The Buell Theatre for the first national tour this summer. Get to know Moulin Rouge! The Musical before you see the show with three fun facts!

APP: Why do you think the story of Tootsie remains so beloved worldwide, decades after the film came out?

RH: I think comedies have a longer shelf life than certain other genres of film. And I think the film was masterful and so even though it becomes problematic as we shift culturally, there’s no denying its craft. I also think somewhere in us all there is desperation, and also hope – hope that we can be better, that we can change, that we can walk in someone else’s shoes and be part of a community. This is a story of community – of a group of people who love each other and just want to do what they love most, even if the world might have other plans for them!

1. Choreographer Sonya Tayeh did not stick to one dance style when creating the choreography for the show. From the historical can-can to contemporary dance, the production will have various elements that are high energy and will grab audiences’ attention.

2. Baz Luhrmann approached Director Alex Timbers to direct the musical adaptation with the guidance to not duplicate the film, but reinvent with the spirit of the film at the base.

“When I watch audiences watch the show and hear that tsunami of communal laughter... writing the show was that exact same experience.

Constant laughter, community, self-reflection, joy, friendships, and a love of this artform.”

3. Although some of the original music from the film is in the musical, the creative team looked at modern inspiration as well. Director Alex Timbers and Book Writer John Logan collaborated to create a character and lyric-driven approach to song selection. With an iconic love story at the core, the music had to fit the characters and their stories.

Do not miss this spectacular production coming to Denver June 9 – 26.

RH: When I watch audiences watch the show and hear that tsunami of communal laughter that just builds and builds throughout the night and lifts the ceiling, I wish I could let audiences know that writing the show was that exact same experience. Constant laughter, community, self-reflection, joy, friendships, and a love of this artform.

Also, supporting the arts SAFELY right now is a vital step in creating a new normal and getting back to our lives. And what better way to come out of the cave of isolation we’ve all been in, than with laughter!

TOOTSIE

MAR 29 – APR 10, 2022 BUELL THEATRE ASL Interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance: Apr 10 at 2pm

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Moulin Rouge! The Musical Broadway. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

APP: Is there anything else you would like to add about creating the show, what makes it so wonderful, or why people should go see it?

BROADWAY’S BRIGHTEST

DIRECT FROM NYC THE BROADWAY SEASON IS HEATING UP! Buy tickets for your must-see shows today to lock in the best possible seats and performance dates.

APR 15 - 17, 2022

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MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL WINNER OF 10 TONY AWARDS® INCLUDING BEST MUSICAL

Join us for an evening of spectacular entertainment at this year’s Saturday Night Alive gala, supporting the Denver Center’s theatre and education programs. A world of passion, glamour and extravagance awaits at what promises to be the biggest social event of the year!

Cocktail Hour Three-Course Dinner Luxury Online/In-Person Auction Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Buell Theatre New! COCKTAIL TICKETS On Sale April 19 • Limited Availability Our Cocktail Tickets ($350) are brand new for 2022 and include a 6:30pm arrival for heavy hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and an orchestra seat at Moulin Rouge!

The Musical, plus a charitable contribution.

Purchase tickets at DENVERCENTER.ORG/SNA Can’t make it this year? Participate in the luxury online auction, which will be open for public bidding.

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APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

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THE GIFT OF COLLABORATION

American Fast In American Fast, Khady Salama is a 21-year-old college basketball sensation, ready to compete in March Madness, which falls during Ramadan. Her religious mother expects her to fast — even on game days. As the tournament unfolds, Khady becomes a role model for young Muslim women everywhere, except she’s secretly breaking her fast. Pressures mount, her lie comes to light, and the story quickly unfolds, examining how the practice of faith and the practice of sport are intertwined.

Playwright Fahmy said the story is somewhat autobiographical “in the sense that I was inspired by my experience. I’ve been intrigued by how that generational shift occurs between first-generation immigrants, like myself, and my parents’ generation, who grew up in Egypt, a Muslim-majority country.”

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APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Jamie Ann Romero – Cebollas.

Photo by Michael Martin Photography.

Someday there will be costumes, props, scenery and lighting. But first, the messy process of shaping and fine tuning a play, hearing what works and what doesn’t, requires a series of bare-bones public readings like those at the recently completed Colorado New Play Summit.

It’s an exciting and, for some, excruciating process.

Denver has a reputation for nurturing new play development, and some of the plays incubated here have gone on to national acclaim. Because the highly competitive process draws both established and emerging playwrights, a number of respected directors, actors and dramaturges traveled from across the country to attend.

Industry onlookers, serious theater geeks and the merely curious enjoyed readings of four scripts in development plus two fully produced Summit graduates — the world premieres of Rattlesnake Kate (music and lyrics by Neyla Pekarek, book by Karen Hartman) and Beaufield Berry’s In the Upper Room.

This year’s Summit featured a diverse crop of playwrights and varied types of storytelling — from absurdist dark humor to heroic biography, from a rumination on religious identity to a meditative abstraction. The four 2022 Summit plays were:

Geoff rey Kent and Dana Green – Rubicon.

Photo by Michael Martin Photography.

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The cast of American Fast.

Photo by Michael Martin Photography.

BY J OA N N E OST R OW

Cebollas Cebollas by Leonard Madrid (which he subtitled “The Onion Play” for the benefit of non-Spanish speakers) is an absurdist comedy that includes a dead body in every scene. When odd circumstances force three sisters to take an unexpected road trip from Albuquerque to Denver, they bicker, sing and share secrets while illuminating Latina culture.

“Humor is a major part of my life,” New Mexican playwright Leonard Madrid said. “It’s intentionally about sisterhood,” he said, “about the lengths we will go to to protect the ones we love.”

Rubicon In Rubicon, based on a true story, a woman overlooked by history finally gets her due. Elizabeth “Betty” Pack, a society wife and mother, makes the transition to seductive spy as a continent-hopping agent for British and American intelligence operations in the years before World War II. Though left out of the historical record, she played a role in helping to crack the Enigma code, smuggling secret plans in her underwear. Betty is clever and beautiful, but she’s also a complicated woman who was both celebrated and denigrated for abandoning family and weaponizing her sexuality.

Playwright Kirsten Potter said she was angry when she first read an article about Betty and wondered why we hadn’t heard about her exploits. “I got all self-righteous about it.” She started researching in 2017. “I worked hard at times to suspend my own judgment about her,” Potter said.

Matt McGrath as Miss Tracy Mills in The Legend of Georgia McBride.

Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen.

Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman said the Summit, the DCPA Theatre Company’s signature festival, not only allows the company to nurture new playwrights, but also keeps it alert to the future through some of the country’s most exciting writers.

“When selecting a play for the Summit,” Coleman said, “we don’t stick to a theme but find selections that are different and engaging. saturday feels contemplative and meditative, Cebollas feels wacky and at warp speed, Rubicon is sexy and suspenseful, and American Fast feels amped and spiky.”

For Lee, “my goal for these two weeks is that the actors, director, dramaturg, the team enjoy working, enjoy doing this thing we haven’t been able to do for so long. I love that we get to be here, that’s the gift.”

BE A CHAMPION OF

NEW PLAYS As the late Director of New Play Development, Doug Langworthy was “our hand on the pulse of the American playwriting scene.” For 15 years, he curated the Colorado New Play Summit, commissioned playwrights and developed plays for full production.

Continue his legacy and commission a playwright with a gift to The Doug Langworthy Fund.

The company of The Book of Will.

Photo by Adams VisCom.

saturday (DCPA Theatre Company commission) saturday by Kimber Lee imagines two women in a boat on a mountain lake, adrift in time and place, laughing and arguing through currents of memory. It’s at once theatrical and self-aware: “Like a bad play about a mother and daughter in a boat on a lake, pretending to fish. What are we even doing?” the daughter asks.

“I have an interest in poking at the artifice,” Lee said.

Hers is the most dream-like of the four plays, addressing the artifice of the theater while prodding the audience to think about the underlying emotional structures. “The surface is deceptively simple,” Lee said. But themes of physics and quantum theory, plus issues of transracial adoption, are “the tracks that those things kind of run on,” Lee said.

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CHOIR BOY BY

TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY With Josh A. Dawson, Josh Fulton, Darron Hayes, Alex Michell, Brandon G. Stalling, Peter Van Wagner, Kyle Ward Stage Managers: Corin Davidson, Kristen Mun

SCENIC DESIGN BY Tony Cisek

COSTUME DESIGN BY Trevor Bowen

SOUND DESIGN BY Cricket S. Myers

CHOREOGRAPHY BY Juel D. Lane

DRAMATURGY BY Reginald Edmund

FIGHT DIRECTION / INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHY BY Kaja Dunn

LIGHTING DESIGN BY Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew

MUSIC DIRECTION BY Mark G. Meadows

CASTING BY Bass/Valle Casting and Grady Soapes, CSA

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Matthew Campbell

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

THE KILSTROM THEATRE • APRIL 22 – MAY 29, 2022 CHOIR BOY received a world premiere co-production by The English Stage Company and Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) at Royal Court Theatre in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on September 4, 2012.

CHOIR BOY was originally commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer; Daniel Sullivan, Acting Artistic Director) 2007/08 Season with support from Time Warner Inc. CHOIR BOY is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

SPOTLIGHT SPONSOR

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CHOIR BOY

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director

CHOIR BOY

CAST

In Order of Appearance

Headmaster Marrow................................................................................................................................................ Josh A. Dawson Pharus Jonathan Young..............................................................................................................................................Darron Hayes Mr. Pendleton..........................................................................................................................................................Peter Van Wagner Robert “Bobby” Marrow III...........................................................................................................................................Alex Michell Junior Davis...........................................................................................................................................................................Josh Fulton Anthony Justin “AJ” James..............................................................................................................................................Kyle Ward David Heard......................................................................................................................................................... Brandon G. Stalling Assistant Director......................................................................................................................................................Carlton V. Bell II Associate Music Director...................................................................................................................................................Jada Cato Associate Costume Designer...........................................................................................................Meghan Anderson Doyle Associate Lighting Designer.............................................................................................................................. Christina F. Tang Stage Manager............................................................................................................................................................Corin Davidson Assistant Stage Manager............................................................................................................................................... Kristen Mun Stage Management Apprentice.............................................................................................................................. Sage Hughes The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers of the United States.

SETTING Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys CHOIR BOY will be performed without an intermission.

WHO’S WHO DARRON HAYES (Pharus Jonathan JOSH A. DAWSON Young). (He/Him/His) is (Headmaster Marrow). ecstatic to take on this (He/Him/His). Broadway: role! Off-Broadway: Beautiful: The Carole Notes From Now. King Musical. OffRegional: Asolo Broadway: Cyrano, My Repertory Theatre, Music Name’s Not Indian Joe. Theatre Wichita, Two National Tour: Beautiful: River Theatre, and JAG The Carole King Musical.

Productions where he premiered in the firstRegional: Signature ever all-Black Production of Next to Normal.

Theatre, STAGES St. Louis, Paramount He is from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center. TV/Film: “The and graduated high school from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime University of North Carolina School of the (Harry Belafonte). Education: CCM and the Arts. He is also a recent alum of Penn StateUniversity of Michigan. KMR and Robyn BFA Musical Theatre ’21. Gratitude to HCKR Bluestone Management. thejoshdawson.com and Casting, and he is extremely thankful for @mrjoshdawsonmusic his teachers, family, and friends for the JOSH FULTON (Junior endless sacrifices and love. IG: darronhayes_.

Davis). (He/Him/His). darronhayes.com Off-Broadway: On ALEX MICHELL (Robert Sugarland (New York “Bobby” Marrow III).

Theatre Workshop); (He/Him/His). At the Everybody Black, A DCPA: American Fast Christmas Carol, Pipeline (2022 Colorado New (Actors Theatre of Play Summit). Regional: Louisville). Other Nell Gwynn (East Coast Theatres: Scarfoot Lives Premiere) and 1 Henry IV (Playwrights Center), reading of Death of (The Folger Theatre). the Republic by Craig Lucas. Hillman Grad Training: British Writing Mentee 2021.

American Drama Academy, University of Miami (BFA Musical Theatre). Instagram: @_alexmichell_ ACTING COMPANY

BRANDON G. STALLING (David Heard) (He/They) hails from Chicago, IL. As a proud alum of Oklahoma City University’s Acting Program, he is stoked to join his first equity production with DCPA. Notable credits include Hairspray (National Tour - Seaweed J. Stubbs); The Little Mermaid (Pollard Theatre Company). Film: All We Have Is Now in a Downing/Wittmann Feature Film. He is excited to continue his journey telling stories to the many theatregoers who have missed it so! IG: @live_eleutheromania PETER VAN WAGNER (Mr. Pendleton). At the DCPA: Elliott Ness In Cleveland. Broadway: Grand Horizons (Second Stage Theatre) and A Thousand Clowns (Roundabout Theatre).

Off-Broadway: Othello (Shakespeare in the Park), The Chimes (The Public Theatre), Letters from Cuba (Signature Theatre), The Notebook (Second Stage Theatre), and So Help Me God! (Lucille Lortel Theatre).

Regional: Asolo Rep., Maltz Jupiter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory, Huntington Theatre Company, and the Alliance. Film: The Post, Annie, Arthur, and Tower Heist. TV: “Boardwalk Empire” (SAG Award for Ensemble), “The Good Wife,” “Rescue Me” and “Law & Order.”

PLAYWRIGHT TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY is best known for his acclaimed trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays: The Brothers Size, In The Red And Brown Water, and Marcus; Or The Secret Of Sweet. They have been performed at McCarter Theater in Princeton, The Public Theater in New York, Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, at a trio of theaters in the Bay Area (Marin Theatre Company, A.C.T., Magic Theatre), Young Vic in London (Olivier Award nomination) and around the world.

Other plays include The Breach (Southern Rep), Wig Out! (Sundance Theatre Institute, Royal Court, and Vineyard Theatre - GLAAD Award for Outstanding Play), and American Trade (Royal Shakespeare Company and Hampstead Theatre). Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he is an ensemble member, will produce the world premiere of his commissioned play, Head Of Passes. Tarell was the Royal Shakespeare Company’s International Playwright in Residence in 2008-2010, where he co-edited and directed the Young People’s Shakespeare production of Hamlet, which toured throughout the UK and was presented at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. He is the recipient of the prestigious Whiting Award and Steinberg Playwright Award, as well as London’s Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the inaugural New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and the inaugural Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. He is a graduate from the New World School of the Arts High School, the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, and the Yale School of Drama. He is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects in Miami.

DIRECTOR JAMIL JUDE is a director, producer, playwright, and dramaturg. Self-identifying as an “Artist Plus,” Jamil feels most at home bringing socially relevant art to the community. Jamil is the Artistic Director at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre in Atlanta, as well as the Co-Founder of The New Griots Festival. Jamil is a former participant in the Leadership U: One-on-One program (The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/TCG). The program provided him a residency at Park Square Theatre, in St. Paul, where he worked as the Artistic Programming Associate. Prior to that, he served as the National New Play Network Producer in Residence at Mixed Blood Theatre Company for three seasons.

Before joining the staff at Mixed Blood, Jamil served as a New Play Producing Fellow at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. His interest in social justice and theatre continues to

drive his work, including co-founding a culturally relevant theatre company, Colored People’s Theatre, in Washington, DC. Jamil has helmed productions for D.C. area companies such as Olney Theatre and Forum Theatre, Curious Theatre in Denver, Colorado, as well as various Twin Cities’ theatre companies, including Park Square Theatre, History Theatre, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre in the Round, Stages Theatre Company, Daleko Arts and Lakeshore Players. Jamil has also taught and directed at Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. CREATIVE TEAM BASS/VALLE CASTING (Casting). New York: Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean.

Off-Broadway: Radio Golf, Jitney, Public Theater’s: New Works 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. Film: Pushing Hands, Gravesend, First We Take Manhattan. Audition Coach at many of the nation’s top universities and actor training programs.

TREVOR BOWEN (Costume Designer).

Credits include: Ride the Cyclone, Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill (The Jungle Theater); Black Beauty, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Seattle Children’s Theatre); The Fix, Fellow Travelers (MN Opera); Corduroy, Spamtown, U.S.A., Something Happened in Our Town (Children’s Theater Company); BLKS, True West (Steppenwolf); The Knock (Glimmerglass Festival); The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 (Kennedy Center); The Highway Men (The History Theatre); Bloodknot (Pillsbury House Theater); Sweat (Asolo Rep); Ragtime (5th Ave); Public Love (Walker Art Center). Trevor is a member of USA 829.

Trevor Bowen is a 2021-22 McKnight Theater Artist Fellow at The Playwrights’ Center. www.trevorbowendesign.com MATTHEW CAMPBELL (Production Manager). (He/Him/His). Matthew is incredibly grateful to be back at work supporting our outstanding production team and guest artists creating extraordinary theatre after so many difficult months away.

He started at the DCPA in 2010 as a stage manager and in 2016 joined the production management team. Previously a stage manager at several local theatres and an Assistant Professor of Theater at Brooklyn College. Training: MFA, University of Iowa.

TONY CISEK (Scenic Designer) DCPA credits include Sweat and Anna Karenina.

Recent and upcoming productions include Toni Stone (Milwaukee Rep and Alliance), the premiere of Show Way (Kennedy Center), The Great Leap (Round House Theatre), The Color Purple (Signature Theatre); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre at the National Building Museum). Other regional credits include: Roundabout, Arena Stage, Guthrie, Goodman, South Coast Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Ford’s, Actors Theatre

of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Indiana Rep, Syracuse Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Play House, Peoples Light, Woolly Mammoth. www.tonycisek.com KAJA DUNN (Fight Director/Intimacy Choreographer) (She/Her/Hers) is also an actor, director, and activist with over 40 performances in five countries. She is head of acting at the University of North CarolinaCharlotte and affiliate faculty for Theatrical Intimacy Education. Select intimacy work includes TV: “Harlem” on Amazon, “The Best Man: The Final Chapter” on Peacock.

Theatre: Strange Loop (Broadway). She is a recipient of the Kennedy Center’s National Medallion for her work on theatre and race, has co-authored a chapter in Arden Research Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance. She is a DEI consultant for universities and cultural institutions. kajadunn.com REGINALD EDMUND (Dramaturg) is the Recipient of the 2021 Robert E Gard Foundation Award for Community Leadership. As well as being the new Literary Manager for DCPA, he is the Co-Founder and Managing Curating Producer for Black Lives, Black Words International Project, this project gives voice to some of the most contemporary political black writers from both the US, Canada and the UK. In addition, he was a Resident Playwright at Tamasha Theatre in London, England and an Alumni Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists.

He received his BFA in Theatre-Performance from Texas Southern and his MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University.

JUEL D. LANE (Choreographer) Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch. Commissions: Ailey II, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Atlanta Ballet, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. Company member of Camille A. Brown & Dancers & Executive Artistic Associate with the Black Acting Methods Studio. Theatre Credits: Spunk (True Colors Theatre), I DREAM (Alliance Theatre), Once (PCLO-Associate Choreographer). Recently seen as a dancer in the Amazon series, “Harlem.” @jueldlane MARK G. MEADOWS (Music Director). (He/ Him/His). Signature Theatre, DC: Director of Cabarets. Music Direction: RENT, After Midnight, Spunk, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Jelly’s Last Jam (lead role: Jelly Roll Morton).

Oregon Shakespeare Theatre: Once on this Island. DCPA: Wildfire. Concerts: Jazz at the Lincoln Center, DC Jazz Festival, Blues Alley, The Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Smalls Jazz Club. International: Haiti, Russia, The Congo, Qatar, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, The Caribbean.

Appeared With: Cynthia Erivo, Usher, Bobby McFerrin, Kendrick Lamar, Ledisi.

Awards: 2020 DC Wammies Jazz Artist of the Year, Washington City Paper’s Artist/ Composer of the Year. MarkGMeadows.com @MarkGMeadows CRICKET S. MYERS (Sound Designer).

(She/Her/Hers). On Broadway, Cricket earned a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for her design of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Regional designs include La Jolla Playhouse, The Ahmanson, The Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company of DC, The Kirk Douglas Theater, Pasadena Playhouse,

CHOIR BOY

KYLE WARD (Anthony Justin “AJ” James) Regional credits include: Hairspray (Royal Caribbean Cruises and Dallas Theater Center); A Motown Christmas (The Ensemble Theatre); Macbeth and The Mountaintop (Sam Houston State University). Film: Kyle has been seen on Amazon Prime Video in Sheep In the Outhouse, which he also wrote and directed. Other film projects include Red River, The Drone, and Black Is Eternal.

CHOIR BOY

and the Geffen Theater. She has earned 24 Ovation nominations, as well as winning The Ruth Morley Award from the League of Professional Theater Women, The Kinetic Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Design, an LADCC and a Garland Award in Los Angeles. www.cricketsmyers.com

Theatre Company. When Kristen is not stage managing, she is a fight choreographer and a racial justice facilitator.

CHRIS COLEMAN (Artistic Director) is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the DCPA GRADY SOAPES (Casting) (he/him/ Theatre Company as Artistic Director his) is the Director of Casting and Artistic in November of 2017 and has directed Producer with the Denver Center for the Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House, Performing Arts. Selected casting credits Anna Karenina, and Oklahoma!. Previously, include Rattlesnake Kate, Goodnight Chris served as Artistic Director for Portland Moon, Indecent, A Doll’s House and A Doll’s Center Stage in Oregon for 18 years. Under House, Part 2 in repertory, Oklahoma!, Last his leadership, PCS renovated the city’s Night and the Night Before, The Who’s historic Armory into a new home, saw annual Tommy, The Wild Party, A Christmas Carol, attendance nearly double, workshopped This Is Modern Art. Grady also works as a 52 new plays that went on to productions Casting Director for Sylvia Gregory Casting at over 100 theaters around the US and where he has cast commercials for Subaru, UK, and became a national leader in how Fruit of the Loom and has been an associate theaters engage with their community. on several tv, film and video games projects.

In 1988, Chris founded Actor’s Express in Choreography credits include Goodnight Atlanta (in the basement of an old church), Moon, Anna Karenina, As You Like It, a company that continues to be a cultural Drag Machine, Lord of the Butterflies, force in the Southeast today. He has directed DragON (Denver Center); Comedy of at major theaters across the country, Errors (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); The including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Liar (Arvada Center); The Music Man (Perrythe Alliance Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Mansfield) as well as Artist in Residence at Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Colorado State University in 2010. Grady Louisville, ACT/Seattle, the Asolo, Pittsburgh is the producer of the Colorado New Play Public, 59E59, and New York Theater Summit and former producer of the Colorado Workshop. He and his husband, actor/writer New Play Festival.

Rodney Hicks, live in Reunion with their 100 JEANETTE OI-SUK YEW (Lighting Designer) lb. English blockhead yellow lab and their 18 designs for theatre, dance, opera, musicals, lb. terrier mix. Since moving to Colorado, he music performances and large-scale has hiked Dominguez Canyon, wandered at immersive installation. The New York Times the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, explored described them as “clever” and “inventive.” a working mine in Creede, and rafted down At the DCPA: Vietgone (Best Lighting Design the Arkansas River.

Henry Award nomination), Smart People and CHARLES VARIN (Managing Director) upcoming with Off-Center’s Theater of the and his team are responsible for the Mind. Off-Broadway/Regional: KPOP (Hewes administrative, financial, and business Design Award, LIT Design Award; Lortel and operations for Theatre Company and Drama Desk nominations); Emily Mann’s Off-Center productions and other artistic Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth); Aziza Barnes’ initiatives. Since joining the Theatre BLKS (Woolly Mammoth); Lauren Yee’s The Company in 2006, he has played a major Song of Summer (Trinity Rep); Whitney role in executing the artistic vision of the White’s Macbeth in Stride and WILD: A organization and facilitating the production Musical Becoming by V (formerly Eve Ensler) of shows such as Sweet & Lucky, The (A.R.T.). jeanetteyew.com Unsinkable Molly Brown, Sense & Sensibility STAGE MANAGEMENT the Musical, The 12, Sweeney Todd with DeVotchKa and many more. Charles is CORIN DAVIDSON (Stage Manager) (She/ passionate about artistic innovation and Her/Hers). Over 15 productions at the DCPA firmly believes in DCPA’s long-standing including: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, commitment to new plays and new voices.

Wildfire, twenty50, Indecent, Corduroy, The Who’s Tommy, The Secret Garden, Sweeney Todd, Lookingglass Alice. At DCPA In addition to DCPA staff, the following crew worked Cabaret: An Act of God. Other Theatres: on this production: Lisa Ehrle, Katarina Kosmopoulos, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Seven Devils Destin Woods Playwrights Conference, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Renaissance The Director is a member of the STAGE Theatre Works, Milwaukee Repertory DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS Theatre. Training: BFA Stage Management, SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

KRISTEN MUN (Assistant Stage Manager) was born and raised on the island of Oahu and is a proud AEA stage manager who has been working in Portland, OR for the past 10 years. She started her stage management journey in Ashland, Oregon at Southern Oregon University where she received a BFA in Theatre Arts and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was the stage management intern on Don Quixote (2009) and Throne of Blood (2010). This is Kristen’s first production with the DCPA

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE

THEATRE COMPANY LEADERSHIP TEAM

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.

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 credit and tag the DCPA and the design team: @denvercenter #ChoirBoy #TheatreCompany Playwright: Tarell Alvin McCraney Director: Jamil Jude @mrjdjude Scenic Designer: Tony Cisek Costume Designer: Trevor Bowen @trvr_bowen Lighting Designer: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew @jeanette_yew Sound Designer: Cricket S. Myers @cricketmyers Music Director: Mark G. Meadows @MarkGMeadows Photos and the video and/or audio recording during any part of the performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.

PLEASE BE ADVISED •

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.

•

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 kpetersen@dcpa.org or 303.893.4585.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is one of the largest non-profit theatre organizations in the nation, presenting Broadway tours and producing theatre, cabaret, musicals, and innovative immersive plays. In its 2019/20 season, the DCPA engaged with more than 672,000 visitors, generating a $131 million economic impact in ticket sales alone.

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 non-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.

(l to r) Eric Chambliss, Jon Hacker, Devon Goffman, Matt Faucher and the Company of Jersey Boys. Photo: Joan Marcus.

JERSEY BOYS:

A SHOW FOR EVERYBODY

J

B Y D AV I D F R E E L A N D

Kara Tremel, who has performed several roles in the Jersey Boys has been seen by over 24 million people, all national tour of Jersey Boys, credits multiple Tonyof them captivated by the recreations of classic 1960s hits Award winning director Des McAnuff (Big River, The such as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Can’t Take My Who’s Tommy, The Farnsworth Invention) with creating Eyes Off You.” But for many, the show’s most unforgettable a fast-paced, visually engaging production that attracts moment comes when Frankie Valli, as lead singer, decides theatergoers who were not born when The Four Seasons’ to enter into a business partnership with the group’s hits dominated the airwaves. keyboardist and songwriter, Bob Gaudio.

“For young people it’s an exciting “So should we have somebody draw type of show to see,” Tremel observes. up a contract?” Gaudio asks. Frankie “The way Des directed it is so quick: responds by offering his hand. the set moves with the actors, lighting “You want a contract? Here – a Jersey shoots over to another side of the contract.” Their handshake becomes a stage, and we’re in a totally different pact, cementing a relationship that has scene in a matter of seconds. It’s good endured for close to 50 years. for a younger generation that needs “The story of the friendship between that kind of quick pace. And whatever Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio is your age, you can’t not like this music.” something that just makes my heart “There’s so much going on that you melt every time I think about it,” says need to see it at least two or three Pat Prescott, popular radio host on Los times, just so you don’t miss anything,” Angeles’ 94.7 The Wave and a longtime — KARA TREMEL, ACTRESS Prescott believes. “I wish everybody Jersey Boys fan. could see it. This show is really, really “When I think about that handshake special.” and what it has meant,” Prescott observes, “how we as a society have so much gotten away from those values of real friendship, of loyalty, of consistency in relationships – it stands out to me READ THE tremendously.”

JERSEY BOYS FULL ARTICLE In Jersey Boys, four young men persevere against APRIL 15 – 17 incredible odds to fight their way to the peak of stardom.

BUELL THEATRE Later, they stand together through high times and ASL Interpreted, Audio Described devastating lows. The show’s universal themes of courage, and Open Captioned performance: April 16 at 2pm friendship and survival have inspired a diverse legion of new Broadway fans.

“…whatever your age, you can’t not like this music.”

APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

19

DCPA DCPATEAM TEAM

DCPA Janice Sinden..........................President & CEO Gretchen Hollrah..............................................COO Lydia Garcia .........................Executive Director, Equity & Organization Culture Donna Hendricks..................President & CEO Executive Assistant Julie Schumaker...................... Manager, Board Relations & COO Executive Assistant BROADWAY & CABARET John Ekeberg...................... Executive Director

Merry Davis ..........................Financial Manager Jane Deegan ..................................Administrator Michael Kimbrough....Manager, Engineering Brian McClain .....................Manager, Custodial Casey Meschievitz ...................................Manager, Environmental Health & Safety Steven Bilbao, Lindsey Cervantes, Ken Long, Carmen Molina, Judith Primero Molina, Juan Loya Molina, Jermaine Parker .................................Custodians EVENT SERVICES

Savanna Campbell, Administration Samantha Egle........................Event Managers Ashley Brown.......................Business Manager Colin Dieck, Anne Fitzgerald, Alicia Bruce ............................. General Manager Hunter Premschak, Seth Miller..............................................Technicians Garner Galleria Theatre Thomas Duffin .........................................Manager, Abel Becerra......................... Technical Director Event Technology Anna Hookana+ ...................Core Stagehands Cody Gocio .......................... Event Coordinator Stori Heleen-O’Foley ....Lighting, Team Lead DEVELOPMENT John Hess.............Manager, Sales & Business Jamie Clements...........................Vice President Shane Hotle.................................Audio Engineer Megan Fevurly..........................................Manager, Tara Miller........... Manager, Event Operations Grants & Reports Brook Nichols ...................... Technical Director Amanda Gomez.......Manager, Annual Fund Will Stowe ....................Audio/Video Engineer Kaylie Groff..........................................Coordinator Ian Wells ........................................Video Engineer Marc Ravenhill ....................Associate Director, Brooke Wyatt........Manager, Event Logistics Donor Relations Whitney Staloch................Associate Director, MARKETING, SALES & Major Gifts PATRON SERVICES Megan Stewart........................Manager, Events Lisa Mallory.....................................Vice President Erin Walker ...................................Senior Director Marketing EDUCATION & Heidi Bosk ...........Associate Director, Press & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Promotions, Broadway & Cabaret Allison Watrous ................. Executive Director Sofia Contreras .................... Graphic Designer Stuart Barr ............................. Technical Director Emmy Cook.......................................Coordinator, Broadway & Cabaret Claudia Carson.......................Teaching Artist & Brenda Elliott, Manager, Playwriting & Bobby G Paul Koob..............Senior Graphic Designers Leslie Channell .......................................... Director, TJ Forlenza ............................................Copywriter Business Operations Claire Graves............................................... Director, Emily Doherty.... Teaching Artist & Manager, Produced Programs Theatre for Young Audiences Programming Brittany Gutierrez...................................Manager, Communications Rya Dyes ................................Assistant Registrar Jeff Hovorka .... Director, Sales & Marketing, Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski........................ Director, Broadway & Cabaret Education & Curriculum Management Emma Hunt........................................Coordinator, Linda Eller.....................................................Librarian Communications & PR Jesús Quintana Martínez ....................... Director, Emily Kent........Director, Insights & Strategy Community Engagement Lucas Kreitler .........Junior Graphic Designer Timothy McCracken................Head of Acting Linda Lang.................................Project Manager David Saphier .... Teaching Artist & Manager, In-School Programming Michael Ryan Leuthner ........................ Director, Digital Marketing Elizabeth Schmit.........Executive Assistant & Community Engagement Manager Emily Lozow ..............................................Manager, Broadway & Cabaret Melissa Sumner...................................Registrar & On Site Class Manager Kyle Malone................................Director, Design Charlotte Talbert ......................................Librarian Katie Mount..........Manager, Email Marketing Rachel Taylor.... Teaching Artist & Manager, Whitney Testa..................Executive Assistant, Marketing & Broadway Literary Engagement & Resiliency Justin Walvoord ....................Teaching Artist & Janelle Vargas...........Manager, Web Content Manager, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot Austin Walker............................................Manager, Growth & Acquisition Samuel Wood.........................Teaching Artist & District Liaison Juliana Whelan.................................Coordinator, Produced Programs Suzanne Yoe.......................Director, Content & FACILITIES Communications Glen Lucero..................................................Director Ticketing & Audience Services Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, Jennifer Lopez ...........................................Director Colton Ebersole, John Howard.......................................... Engineers Christina Adamoli*, Jon Collins*, D.J. Dennis*, Edmund Gurule*, Abeywickrema, Jodi Benavides, Elias Lopez*, David Bright, Calum, Benjamin Koenig, Hayley Solano* .............Counter/Show Leads Gabe McNally-Nakamura, Anthony Saavedra, Kirsten Anderson*, Scott Lix*, Madalaine Welch ............Security Specialists Brad Steinmeyer*, Judy Briggs...........................................Front Desk Greg Swan* ..................... Subscription Agents Quentin Crump........................................Manager, Luis Bordoy*, Eli Davis*, Shay Goddard*, Security & Guest Relations Jen Gray*, Chántel Healy,

Natalie Jaramillo*, Noah Jungferman*, Michael Mathey*, Lane Randall*, Liz Sieroslawski*, Sam Stump*, Andrew Sullivan*, Emmalaine Wright*....................Ticket Agents Billy Dutton...........................Associate Director, Operations Roger Haak .................VIP Ticketing Manager Danielle Freeman, Kassandra Lopez, Ella Mann..........................Box Office Managers Kirk Petersen .......................Associate Director, Patron Relations Katie Spanos .......................Associate Director, Subscriber Services

Production Jeff Gifford ...................................................Director Julie Brou................Administrative Assistant/ Office Manager Matthew Campbell......Production Manager Peggy Carey................. Associate Production Manager Scenic Design Lisa Orzolek .................................................Director Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud..................................Assistants

Lighting Design Charles MacLeod......................................Director Group Sales Lily Bradford..............................................Assistant Jessica Bergin..................... Associate Director Reid Tennis+.................Production Electrician Maddie Young ...................................Coordinator Sound Design Theatre Services Alexander Billman..............................Supervisor Aaron McMullen ........................Interim Theatre Wesley Halloran+, Meagan Holdeman+, Services Manager Timothy Schoeberl..........................Technicians Bryan Faciane.........................Interim Assistant Theatre Services Manager Stage Management Michael Morales ..................................Production Nora Caley, Jacob Foster, Stage Manager Teresa Gould, Kaylyn Kriaski, Corin Davidson, Heidi Echtenkamp, Robin Lander, Myrisa Martin, Anne Jude, Maggie Kayes, Rick Mireles, Margaret Ohlander ..............House Managers Kristen Mun, Malia Stoner, Aaron McMullen, Kristen Sutter ...........................Stage Managers Leilani Lynch, Stacy Norwood, Katy Gentry, Harper Hadley, Valerie Schaefer, Elliott Shields, Mathew Strika...................Assistant Managers Sage Hughes....................Stage Management Apprentices ACCOUNTING & FINANCE Jane Williams......................................................CFO Sara Brandenburg................................... Director, Accounting Services Michaele Davidson .....Treasury Accountant Jennifer Jeffrey....................Director, Financial Planning & Analysis Valerie Lingbloom...................General Ledger Accountant Jennifer Siemers ...........Director, Accounting

Scene Shop Eric Moore.............................. Technical Director Albert “Stub” Allison, Robert L. Orzolek, Josh Prues ....Associate Technical Directors Tyler Clark, Amy Wynn Pastor, Kyle Scoggins .....................Scenic Technicians Louis Fernandez III ... Lead Scenic Technician Brian “Marco” Markiewicz ....Lead Carpenter

Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne .........................................Director Jamie Curl, Tory Fink, HUMAN RESOURCES Georgina Kayes, Ashley Lawler.......Artisans Elvira Morales................................Vice President Meghan Markiewicz ..Associate Supervisor Brian Carter, Lizette Collazos..........Directors Kaitlyn Faust...................................Administrator Paint Shop Paul Johnson...........................Payroll Specialist Jana Mitchell....................Charge Scenic Artist Monica Robles...............Supervisor, Mailroom Kristin Hamer MacFarlane, Melanie Rentschler .....................Scenic Artists INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Lisa Roebuck.................................Vice President Vincent Bridgers .....................Senior Ticketing System Analyst Adam Bush................Junior Systems Analyst Jacquelyne Glover ........Software Developer Simone Gordon ..................Program Manager Brandon LeMarr ....................... Senior Systems Administrator Sarah Martinez, Allyssa Welker ..................Help Desk Analysts Jacob Parker ............................Manager, Data & Applications Joseph Reecher ........................Junior Systems Administrator THEATRE COMPANY

Costume Shop Janet Macleod... Director/Design Associate Meghan Anderson Doyle ....Design Associate Catherine Gagnon ..............................First Hand Carolyn Plemitscher ..................................Draper Costume Crafts Kevin Copenhaver....................................Director Chris Campbell.........................................Assistant Wigs Diana Ben-Kiki......................................Supervisor House Crew Douglas Taylor+...................................Supervisor James Berman+, William Loving+, Stephen Mazzeno+, Kyle Moore+, Viktoria Padilla+, Matt Wagner+ ...................................Stagehands Joseph Price+ ...........................................Assistant

Administration Charles Varin .......................Managing Director Ann Marshall........................... General Manager Wardrobe Sabina Rivera .................... Company Manager Anthony Mattivi^.................................Supervisor Robin Appleton^, Andy Bruening, Artistic Amber Donner^, David La Beaux^, Christopher Coleman........... Artistic Director Lauren LaCasse, Melissa Cashion .....................Artistic Producer Lisa Parsons Wagner^ ..........................Dressers Charlie Miller .......Associate Artistic Director Jerome Horng, Grady Soapes ....................Artistic Producer & Marisa Sorce ................................Wig Assistants Director of Casting * Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local B-7 + Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 7 ^ Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 719

Staff list current through Mar 7, 2022

A NEW IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

THEATER OF THE MIND Created by Talking Heads frontman DAVID BYRNE and writer MALA GAONKAR AUG 31 - DEC 18 | YORK STREET YARDS TICKETS ON SALE MAY 20 | DCPA SUBSCRIBER PRE-SALE MAY 6 It’s all in your head. But is any of it real?

Witness the wonders of your mind for yourself as you follow The Guide through a spectacular 15,000-square-foot installation with 16 fellow audience members.

As you explore intriguing environments, participate in a narrative, and try a series of sensory experiments, your Guide will question how beliefs, memories, and even our identities are less fixed than we think.

Caution: the brain may wander. Side effects may include a distrust of your own senses, a disorientation of self, and a mild to severely good time. You may not be who you think you are. But we’re all in it together.

Theater of the Mind is supported in part by Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation

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YOUR GUESTS The DCPA is proud to be the home of downtown Denver’s most exciting event spaces. Our two venues, the Seawell Ballroom and the Directors Room, combine the best in theatrical production capabilities with dramatic views and unforgettable cuisine. Since 1998, our team of theatrically trained production experts have been wowing guests with unforgettable experiences — and we can’t wait to collaborate with you!

SIX CATERING PARTNERS. UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES. Make food and drinks a highlight of your next event and amaze your guests with five-star presentation — all without lifting a finger or breaking your budget. Select one (or more) of our exclusive catering partners to team up with our in-house production staff so we can help make your wedding, corporate event or fundraiser a smash hit!

Biscuits + Berries | Catering by Design | Epicurean Group | Occasions Catering Serendipity Catering | Sodexo Live! - Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group - Olive & Finch BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT TODAY: denvercenter.org/venue-rentals or 303.572.4471

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The core concepts of well-being really come down to consistently nailing the basics — eat well, sleep well, move your body, get fresh air, foster meaningful connections and laugh, a lot.

L

Laughing isn’t just a sign of feeling good; laughing is actually good for you too.

“We’ve all heard some version of the expression, ‘Laughter is the best medicine,’ and intuitively we know this makes sense,” says Dr. Justin Ross, a clinical psychologist at UCHealth. “Laughing really is one of the best mindbody-social connectors we have. It is a physical expression of connection and shared experience.”

The Science Behind Laughter Laughter, says Dr. Ross, has been demonstrated to help manage anxiety, pain, stress, and sadness. There are a number of studies helping us understand what’s happening physiologically and neurologically when we laugh. This includes hormonal, neurochemical and psychological components.

“Laughing helps stimulate endorphin release, promotes oxygenation throughout the body’s organs, relieves muscular tension, strengthens the immune system and lowers blood pressure,” he says. “The core concepts of well-being really come down to consistently nailing the basics—eat well, sleep well, move your body, get fresh air, foster meaningful connections and laugh, a lot.”

Learn to Laugh While laughing is a natural action, sometimes we need to find ways to learn to laugh better.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts offers improv classes each season for a wide range of ages starting a kindergarten through adult.

The impact of improv is never ending. “Improvisation is basically recreating life under theatrical circumstances,” said actress and DCPA Teaching Artist Jessica Austgen. “Everything we look at in class illuminates a vital life-skill: listening, agreement, communication, specificity.”

Photo by McLeod9 Creative.

— DR. JUSTIN ROSS, UCHEALTH

Where to Laugh Lucky for us, ways to laugh occur all over. Start by taking in a comedy.

Upcoming shows at the DCPA include The Other Josh Cohen and the classic Tootsie. Plus, Denver hosts a handful of local comedy clubs including Comedy Works in downtown Denver, Rise Comedy in LoDo featuring improvised Broadway musicals, or The Denver Comedy Lounge, which does Saturday night stand up.

Overall, Dr. Ross prescribes laughing as many times a day as you can.

“Too often we are plagued by the stresses, anxieties and difficulties in our lives to the point that our concerns take up the majority of our thoughts,” he says. “When we adopt a mindset to ‘hunt the good stuff,’ we actively work to see the positive unfold in front of us. This includes actively seeking humor, joy, moments to laugh and moments to savor.”

With that, laugh long and hard and as often as possible. It’s good for your own self and the people around you.

The company of The Other Josh Cohen.

24

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PROUD SPONSOR OF DCPA EDUCATION’S MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

“Live theater is a powerful experience — one that can inspire, transform, and bring people together.

Transamerica is proud to support DCPA and the next generation of gifted young playwrights. We believe Denver’s diverse artistic community is a big part of what makes our city so special.”

— RON WOOD, HEAD OF PEOPLE SOLUTIONS AT TRANSAMERICA

T

Transamerica offers solutions that help people achieve financial security throughout their lives, whether it’s saving and investing for the future or protecting themselves and their loved ones.

The people of Transamerica bring expertise, creativity and heart to everything they do — and to the communities where they live and work.

The company’s charitable giving and volunteerism in Denver includes a wide range of causes, with particular focus on youth and families. This reflects a belief that supporting and educating young people helps set them on the path for the kind of future they want.

Contributing to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is consistent with Transamerica’s desire to underwrite programs that foster creativity in the areas of music and performing arts for youth and the underserved.

Transamerica looks forward to continuing to support programs such as the DCPA’s Middle and High School Playwriting Competition. The company is pleased to play a role in advancing literacy, creativity, writing and communication for these talented young individuals.

(L-R): A snow leopard sculpture dedicated to Transamerica is featured at the Denver Zoo. | Transamerica employees volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. | Students participate in Young AmeriTowne, sponsored by Transamerica.

32

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“SOMETHING [FANTASTIC] THIS WAY COMES”

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT RETURNS WITH MACBETH AND MORE!

D

BY EMMA HUNT

DCPA Education’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot program has returned for its seventh season. This spring, three Shakespeare productions will go on tour throughout the community and visit area schools. And these aren’t your typical performances. Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is exactly what it sounds like — stripped-down, abridged versions of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth centered around a pickup truck “set” in the middle of a parking lot. The cast members are local actors and DCPA teaching artists, including Shannon Altner, Grant Bowman, Iliana Lucero Barron, Chloe McLeod, Camryn Nailah Torres, Christian Ray Robinson, Ryan Omar Stack and Justin Walvoord.

Shakespeare can be confusing for students half-heartedly reading a script in English class. “Thee” and “thou” can often sound like a foreign language. To make theatre not only accessible, but also exciting, the productions travel to area schools and facilitate interactive workshops with students. These workshops break down elements of the plays and transform them into modern day situations, relating to issues students face every day such as peer pressure and loyalty. By bringing these plays to life and engaging the students in discussion, debate, and games, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is an invaluable resource for area educators.

From April 4 through May 15, the program will go on tour throughout the community. This season, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot will be visiting six community partners. Attend a performance near you this spring! The tour will stop at several Denver Public Library locations as well as cultural centers in the metro area. These performances are free and open to the public. Visit denvercenter.org for more details.

You can also download an audio version of Romeo and Juliet and watch a behind-the-scenes video of the recording studio on the DCPA website. Dive into this immersive audio recording and get hooked on Shakespeare!

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Morgridge Family Foundation, Isabelle Clark, Oxy Occidental, and the Riverfront Park Community Foundation. It is also part of Shakespeare in American Communities, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

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APPLAUSE • MAR – MAY 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

SUMME R THEATRE CLASSES Weeklong theatre day-camps for children and teens Adult classes on weeknights All skill levels welcome

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