2018 TRUE WEST AWARDS, Day 30

The power of two made for some powerful theatre in Colorado this year

The practice of theatremaking lends itself to creative collaborations between artists who are also partners in life. The Colorado theatre ecology always has been filled with companies born of married or committed couples, some that have grown to full bloom like mighty sunflowers, and others that, as love sometimes does, have eventually wilted. But this year, the trend toward collaborative couples was in full flourish – working separately or together as collectives of two. The latter was especially evident when newlyweds Luke Sorge and Adrian Egolf  performed together in a challenging little drama at the Miners Alley Playhouse called Lungs. It’s a two-character play that follows a man and woman through the surprising lifespan of their relationship, and the meta experience was surely made more meaningful for both actors and audience by their own real-life experiences. And that trend became poignantly evident in August when award-winning Fort Collins actor Jonathan Farwell lost his wife and favorite scene partner Deb Note-Farwell to cancer.

A cursory review of the Colorado theatre year produced a list (posted at the bottom of this page) of several dozen Colorado creative couples who were active in 2018. We have chosen eight artistic couples to feature here as a representation of the greater whole. But one thing all of these 16 individuals share is a strong case could be made for each of their own individual 2018 True West Awards. But, kind of like love, those cases are made even stronger together:

Joshua Blanchard and Claire Kennedy ‘in Constellations.’

Christopher Alleman and Joshua Blanchard

Christopher Alleman:

• Producing Artistic Director of the Lake Dillon Theatre Company since 2002
• Grown annual budget from $140,000 to $1.8 million over 16 years
• Director, Building the Wall
• Director, Constellations
• Director, The Underpants
• Participation in Lake Dillon’s Education programs grew 60 percent in 2018

Joshua Blanchard:

• Executive Director of the Lake Dillon Theatre Company since 2010
• Costume Design, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers
• Roland in Constellations
• Director, Ugly Lies the Bone

Luke Sorge and Matt Schneck in Curious Theatre’s ‘The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide …’ Photo by Michael Ensminger.

Adrian Egolf and Luke Sorge

Adrian Egolf:

• Alex in Benchmark Theatre’s A Kid like Jake
• W in Miners Alley Playhouse’s Lungs
• Assistant Director, Miners Alley Playhouse’s District Merchants
• Producer, ScreenPLAY’s benefit staged reading of Empire Records
• Director, Home for Benchmark Theatre’s “Fever Dream Festival”

Luke Sorge:

• Eli in Curious Theatre’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism & Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
• Playwright, Rations for Benchmark Theatre’s “Fever Dream Festival”
• M in Miners Alley Playhouse’s Lungs
• David in BETC and Off-Center’s The SantaLand Diaries

Susannah McLeod in Miners Alley Playhouse’s ‘Fun Home.’ Photo by Sarah Roshan.

Chloe McLeod and Susannah McLeod

Chloe McLeod:

• Selena in Off-Center’s This is Modern Art
• Actor in DCPA Education’s “Shakespeare in the Parking Lot” productions of Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Joan in Miners Alley Playhouse’s Fun Home
• Essie Carmichael in Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s You Can’t Take It with You
• Swing in DCPA Theatre Company’s A Christmas Carol
• Teaching Artist, DCPA Education

Susannah McLeod:

• Alison in Miners Alley Playhouse’s Fun Home
• Ensemble in Arvada Center’s Sunday in the Park with George
• Wickersham and others in Arvada Center children’s theatre’s Suessical
• Aimee in Curious Theatre’s The Humans
• Company photographer for Benchmark Theatre and others

2018 True West Award: Fun Home across Colorado stages

Scott RC Levy in ‘Matilda.’ Photo by Jeff Kearney

Scott RC Levy and Joye Cook-Levy

Scott RC Levy:

• Producing Artistic Director and Director of Performing Arts, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
• Has grown theatre attendance from 19,000 to 37,000 and budget from $1.2 million to $2 million in eight years
• Director, Intimate Apparel, FAC Theatre Company
• Director, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, FAC Theatre Company (Henry Award nominee)
• Director, Shakespeare in Love, FAC Theatre Company
• Wormwood in Matilda The Musical, FAC Theatre Company
• Director, Shear Madness, Penobscot Theatre Company (Bangor, Maine)
• Host, Colorado Springs Philharmonic’s kids’ concerts
• Professor, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Joye Cook-Levy:

• Director, Heisenberg, Colorado Springs TheatreWorks
• Director, Soccer Mamas, Women’s Theatre Festival for Millibo Art Theatre
• Director, Lysistrata, Colorado Springs TheatreWorks
• Director of Education and Outreach, UCCS Presents
• Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
• Director of Arts14, arts enrichment program for Manitou Springs School District
• Intergenerational Writing Workshop facilitator, UCCS and Cheyenne Mountain High School

Megan Van De Hey and Andy Sievers in ‘The Bridges of Madison County.’ RDG Photography.

Robert Michael Sanders and Megan Van De Hey

Robert Michael Sanders:

• Boatman and Charles Redmond in Arvada Center’s Sunday in the Park with George
• Director, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s Kiss Me, Kate
• Director, Performance Now’s The Producers
• Director, Backstage Breckenridge Theatre’s Spamalot
• Co-host, 2018 Henry Awards
• Director and Producer, Miscast 2018 for The Denver Actors Fund
• Performer, Project Careaoke for the Denver Actors Fund
• Multiple characters in BDT Stage’s The Laramie Project: A 20th anniversary reading
• Director, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s Scrooge The Musical

Megan Van de Hey:

• Francesca in Vintage Theatre’s Bridges of Madison County
• Helen in Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College’s Fun Home
• Multiple characters in BDT Stage’s The Laramie Project: A 20th anniversary reading

Chip Walton and Dee Covington

Chip Walton:

• Producing Artistic Director, Curious Theatre Company
• In 20 years, he has presented only one title that had been previously produced in Denver
• Director, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism & Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
• Director, The Cake

Dee Covington:

• Education Director, Curious Theatre Company
• Empty Marcantonio in The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism & Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
• Director, Your Best One
• Program Director, Curious New Voices, nationally recognized youth playwriting program

Trenton J. Schindele and Anastasia Davidson in ‘Going to a Place Where You Already Are.’ Photo by Michael Ensminger.

Stephen Weitz and Rebecca Remaly Weitz

Rebecca Remaly Weitz:

• Managing Director, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company
• Director, Going to a Place Where You Already Are
• Director, Pride and Prejudice
• Director, The Wolves

Stephen Weitz:

• Producing Artistic Director, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company
• Director, Guards at the Taj
• Director, Benchmark Theatre’s The Arsonists
• Director, The SantaLand Diaries (with Off-Center)
• Director, a reading of Generations new-pay festival winner Danny by Jennifer Barclay

Geoff Kent and Emma Messenger in .All My Sons.’ Matt Gale Photography

Jessica Austgen and Geoffrey Kent 

Jessica Austgen:

• Lucy Steele and Fanny Dashwood in Arvada Center’s Sense & Sensibility (Henry Award nomination)
• Lydia Lubey in Arvada Center’s All My Sons
• Frank Goodman in The Catamounts’ Men on Boats
• Ensemble in Aurora Fox’s Twist Your Dickens
• Night Watchman in DCPA Education’s Corduroy
• Playwright, A Boys Guide to Brutal Honesty for And Toto Too’s annual Play Crawl
• Executive Director, Denver Improv Festival
• Teaching Artist, DCPA Education

Geoffrey Kent:

• George Deever in Arvada Center’s All My Sons (Henry Award nomination)
  
• Colonel Brandon in Arvada Center’s Sense & Sensibility
• Fight director, Arvada Center’s Sense & Sensibility 
• Fight director, Off-Center’s This is Modern Art 
• Actor, Utah Shakespeare Festival
• Fight director, DCPA Theatre Company’s Vietgone
• Fight director, DCPA Theatre Company’s Oklahoma!

Coming tomorrow: Colorado’s 2018 Theatre Person of the Year

Other Colorado Creative Couples both active in 2018 (an incomplete list)*:

Abby Apple Boes and John Ashton. BLF Photography.

• John Ashton (actor and director) Abby Apple Boes (actor)
• Kate Austin-Groen (director and actor) and David Austin-Groen (Comedy Brewers)
• Ed Baierlein and Sallie Diamond (Germinal Stage-Denver co-founders)
• Jenna Bainbridge (actor) and Paul Behrhorst (Production Manager), Phamaly Theatre Company
• Mickey Burdick (technical director) and Rebecca Burdick (actor), Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
• donnie l. betts (director, lower-case intentional) and Linda Morken (costume designer)
• Erica Sarzin-Borrillo and Paul Borrillo (actors)
• Christy Brandt (actor) and John Gary Brown (photographer), Creede Repertory Theatre
• Matthew Campbell (stage manager) and Chris Campbell (costume designer)
• Lisa Carter and Joseph Callahan (actors)
• Allison Caw (performer) and Jihad Milhem (actor, playwright)
• Joel Adam Chavez (actor and scenic painter) and Jalyn Courtenay Webb (actor, children’s theatre owner)
• Chris Coleman (DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Director) and Rodney Hicks (playwright and actor)
• Lisa DeCaro (actor) and Len Matheo (Managing Director, Miners Alley Playhouse)
• John DiAntonio (Creede Rep Executive Director) and Caitlin Wise DiAntonio (actor)
• Rachel Ducat (stage manager) and Jason Ducat (sound designer)
• Steve Emily (actor and playwright) and Jodi Papproth (director and educator)
• Heather Marie Doris and Casey Andree (actors)
• William Missouri Downs (playwright) and Lou Anne Wright (actor, director and educator)
• Meghan Anderson Doyle (costume designer) and Brenda Lawson (DCPA Wardrobe Director)
• Sam Gregory (actor) and Sylvia Gregory (casting agent)
• Denise and Bruce Freestone (OpenStage and Company co-founders)
• Roger Hannah (scenic designer) and Zhanna Gurvich (production manager)
• David Hastings (actor) and Lynn Hastings (artistic producer), Colorado Springs TheatreWorks
• Markas Henry (costume and scenic designer) and Kevin Brainerd (costume designer)
• Melanie Horton and T.J. Hogle (actors)
• Peter J. Hughes (director) and Shane Devalan (actor)
  

  Philip Sneed with daughter Emily Van Fleet and wife Clare Henkel. Photo by John Moore.

• Jim Jackson and Birgitta De Pree (Manitou Art Theatre co-founders)
• Julie Kennedy (stage manager) and Wayne Kennedy (actor, sound designer)
• Lindsey and Adam Kinney (actors)
• Susan Lyles (founder, And Toto Too Theatre) and Darren Smith (Technical Director, Scenic Designer)
• Charles MacLeod (Director of Lighting) and Jan MacLeod (Director of Costumes), DCPA Theatre Company
• Jonathan Scott-McKean (Managing Director) and Elizabeth Scott-McKean (Associate Managing Director), Miners Alley Playhouse
• Vance McKenzie (lighting designer) and Crystal McKenzie (costume designer)
• Bruce and Gail Montgomery (actors), Evergreen Players
• Bob Moore (actor) and Wendy Moore (director)
• Dylan Mosley and Beth Clements Mosley (actors)
• Bob Orzolek (Associate Technical Director) and Lisa Orzolek (Director of Scenic Design), DCPA Theatre Company
• Lyndsay and Jeremy Palmer (actors)
• Luke Rahmsdorff-Terry (actor) and Susan Rahmsdorff-Terry (costume design)
• Christopher Sheley (scenic design) and Holly Rawls (lighting design)
• Jess Robblee (actor, writer) and Drew Horwitz (actor)
• Marco A. Robinson and Adriane Leigh Robinson (actors)
• Maxine and Mark Rossman, Cherry Creek Theatre co-founders
• Mark Rubald and Joanie Brosseau-Rubald (actors)
• Sean Scrutchins and Devon James (actors)
• John Seaberry (musician) and Sky Seaberry (actor and choreographer)
• Philip Sneed (President and CEO, Arvada Center) Clare Henkel (Costume Design)
• Becky Delio Trampler and Brian Trampler (actors)
• Kelly Uhlenhopp (actor) and Andrew Uhlenhopp (actor and director)
• Harriet Vaugeois (Executive Director) and Fred Vaugeois (Board President), Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre
• Sean Verdu (actor) and Marie Verdu (scenic designer)
• Eric Weinstein (Music Director) and Gina Weinstein (Stage Manager)
• Steve Wilson (Executive Artistic Director, Mizel Arts and Culture Center) and Leslie O’Carroll (actor)
• Roger Winn (director) and Christie Brenner Winn (playwright)

(*This non-comprehensive list includes married couples and committed life partners (with their permission). It includes only couples who were both active in 2018. If you see a couple who are missing, they may have asked not to be included. Send suggested additions or corrections to jmoore@dcpa.org.)

Find all of the announced 2018 True West Awards to date

About The True West Awards: ’30 Days, 30 Bouquets’

The True West Awards, now in their 18th year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. DCPA Senior Arts Journalist John Moore — along with additional voices from around the state — celebrate the entire local theatre community by recognizing 30 achievements from 2018 over 30 days, without categories or nominations. Moore was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the U.S. by American Theatre magazine in 2011. His daily coverage of the DCPA and the Colorado theatre community can be found at MyDenverCenter.Org

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter