For 10 days, the DCPA NewsCenter is offering not just 10 intriguing titles to watch on theatre stages throughout Colorado. This year we are expanding our preview by featuring 10 musicals AND 10 plays. Today is Day 5.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Bas Bleu’s Elephant’s Graveyard

Featured actor in the video above: Kaya Rudolph

• Sept. 9-Oct. 8
• 401 Pine St., Fort Collins
• 970-498-8949 or go to basbleu.org
•
Playwright: George Brant
• Director: Garrett Ayers
• Assistant Director: Baylor Bebo

• The story: September 1916. Carrying boundless momentum (and a 6-ton elephant), a traveling circus makes its way to a small town in Tennessee, only to stumble into catastrophe. Through memory and storytelling, Elephant’s Graveyard describes what happened before, during and after the event that still haunts that Tennessee town to this day.

• But what is it about? Elephant’s Graveyard is an important, timely story – particularly in lieu of recent events in Charlottesville, Va. The title has a double meaning, says actor Kaya Rudolph: An elephant really was hung at a circus in Tennessee. That was a century ago. But the elephant in the room remains the racial divide that continues to smolder in America. Elephant’s Graveyard employs physicality and humor, a live Piedmont Blues score and 15 cubic tons of dirt to explore issues related to race, the multiple perspectives of history and the uniquely American appetite for spectacle and violence. (Provided by Bas Bleu Theatre. Photo above by William A. Cotton.)

Cast list:
• Hungry Townsperson: Kaya Rudolph
• Muddy Townsperson: Tabitha Tyree
• Young Townsperson: Holly Wedgeworth
•
Preacher: Jim Valone
• Steam Shovel Operator: Wesley Longacre
• Marshal: Gregory Clark
• Engineer: Drew Cuthbertson
• Ringmaster: Nick Holland
• Strongman: Ken Benda
• Ballet Girl: Kate Lewis
• Clown: Liz Kirchmeier
• Trainer: Liam Kelley
•
Tour Manager: Scott McCoppin
•
Guitarist/Foley Musician: Paul Brewer

Rehearsal for Bas Bleu Theatre’s ‘Elephant’s Graveyard’ in Fort Collins. Photo by William A. Cotton.

MUSICAL OF THE DAY: Evergreen Chorale’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Featured actor in the video above: Adam Kinney.

• Sept. 15-Oct. 8
• At Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen
• Call 303-674-4002 or go to evergreenchorale.org
• Based on the novel and songs from the Disney film. Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and Book by Peter Parnell.
• Stage Director: Timothy Kennedy
• Musical Director: Christine Gaudreau

• The story: Our story, featuring a cast of 53, is based on Victor Hugo’s novel, set in 15th century Paris. Quasimodo is confined in Notre Dame by his evil guardian, Frollo. They both love the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, who prefers Phoebus, captain of the guard. Seeking vengeance, Frollo attacks the gypsies. Quasimodo, Phoebus and Esmeralda are captured and meet a tragic end. 

• But what is it about? “This show asks so many questions that are so relevant to the turbulent times that we live in,” says Adam Kinney, who plays Quasimodo. Questions like, “What makes a monster and what makes a man?” Although written in 1831, the theme of people being discriminated by society for their appearance or background resonates today. Set to Alan Menken’s gorgeous music, The Hunchback of Notre Dame challenges us to strive for a better world. (Provided by the Evergreen Chorale.)

Cast list:
• Quasimodo: Adam Kinney
• Frollo: Mike DeJonge
• Esmeralda: Hannah Marie Harmon
• Phoebus: Brian DeBaets
• Clopin: Brian Trampler

The Ensemble:
• Katrina Atkinson, Alexandra Rose Brown, Wyatt Burnham, Dave Cameron, Edie Cherubino, Tracy Denver, Sierra Dunham, Mark Fairchild, Buz Gibson, Michelle Jeffres, Lindsey Jones, Christine Kahane, Ian Kisluk, Colleen Lee, Anna MacPhee, Jeremiah Martinez, Dodge McCord, Max McCord, Drew McDowell, Anna Piper, Charlee Polivka, Alan Rubin, Becky Sides, Ethan Sides, Zane Steele, Jessica Swanson and Samantha Wood.

Choir of Notre Dame:
• Laurie Atkinson, Bob Baldwin, Greg Bond, Chris Boyd, Mayra Delgadillo, Alyssa Gerard, Sara Hashman, Charlie Hodes, Geri Ikelheimer, Anna Lacjak, Genevieve LeBlanc, Tom McAllister, Zach Miller, Sophie Orsund, Jonathan Pine, Danita Richter, Richard Scudder, Sarah Steen, Ariel Thomas, Madeleine Wilson and Trevor Wood.

More creatives:
• Choreographer: Rachael McWilliams Lessard
• Costume Designer:
Davis Sibley
• Set Designer: Biz Schaugaard
• Lighting Designer: Chelsea Asmus

Rehearsal for the Evergreen Chorale’s upcoming ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter

Our complete 2017 Colorado Fall Theatre Preview:
• Day 1: Curious Theatre’s Appropriate and BDT Stage’s Rock of Ages
• Day 2: The Catamounts’ You on the Moors Now and Rocky Mountain Rep’s Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver
• Day 3: Creede Repertory Theatre’s General Store and Town Hall Arts Center’s In the Heights
• Day 4: Avenue Theater’s My Brilliant Divorce and the Arvada Center’s A Chorus Line
• Day 5: Bas Bleu’s Elephant’s Graveyard and Evergreen Chorale’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Day 6: Firehouse Theatre’s The Mystery of Love and Sex and the Aurora Fox’s ‘Company’
• Day 7: Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s The Revolutionists and Off-Center’s The Wild Party
• Day 8: Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s Pretty Fire and the Aurora Fox’s Hi-Hat Hattie
• Day 9: Edge Theatre Company’s A Delicate Balance and Midtown Arts Center’s Once.
• Day 10:  Local Theater Company’s The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Matthias and Thin Air Theatre Company’s The Toxic Avenger Musical

This 2017 Colorado fall preview is compiled by Denver Center for the Performing Arts Senior Arts Journalist John Moore as a service to the Colorado theatre community. Moore was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the U.S by American Theatre Magazine in 2011 and is the founder of The Denver Actors Fund.