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 6.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Firehouse Theatre’s The Mystery of Love and Sex

Featured actor in the video above: Suzanne Connors-Nepi

• Sept. 9-Oct. 7
• John Hand Theatre, 7653 E. 1st Place (former Lowry Air Force Base)
• 303-562-3232 or go to firehousetheatercompany.com
•
Playwright: Bathsheba Doran
• Director: Lorraine Scott

• The story: Now students at a southern college, Charlotte and Jonny have been friends since childhood. She’s Jewish, he’s Christian; he’s black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything. Their relationship takes unexpected turns while Charlotte’s parents, who hold secrets and resentments of their own, keep watch.

• But what is it about? The Mystery of Love and Sex is a modern comic drama that explores the impact of racial and religious differences; sexuality, friendship and love; and the fluidity of identity. It is a story of discovery, alienation and ultimately, forgiveness. Audiences will reflect on how relationships affect the ways in which we come to terms with who we are. (Provided by Firehouse Theater Company.)

Cast list:
• Charlotte: Kristen Poole
• Jonny: Johnathan Underwood
• Howard: Joel Silverman
• Lucinda: Suzanne Connors Nepi

Clockwise from left: Joel Silverman, Johnathan Underwood and Kristen Poole and Suzanne Connors Nepi in rehearsal for Firehouse Theatre’s ‘The Mystery of Love and Sex.’ Photo by Christine Fisk.

MUSICAL OF THE DAY: Aurora Fox’s Company

Featured actor in the video above: Jeremy Rill.

• Sept. 22-Oct. 22
• 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora
• Call 303-739-1970 or go to aurorafoxartscenter.org
• Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
• Book by George Furth
• Director and Choreographer: Kelly Van Oosbree
• Andrew Fischer: Music Director

• The story: On his 35th birthday, a perpetual bachelor named Bobby contemplates his unmarried state. Through a series of comical outings with pals and an especially anxious wedding, his friends explain the pros and cons of marriage and relationships. Bobby is forced to examine his adamant retention of bachelorhood during these hilarious arrays of social interactions.

• But what is it about? Company is about relationships in all their oddball, loving and teeth-clenching glory. No person can escape a viewing of Company without seeing themselves portrayed on stage. Regardless of who you love, you are guaranteed to encounter your caricature head-on. The humor is sharp and the music is legendary, written by musical theatre’s greatest composer, Stephen Sondheim. (Provided by the Aurora Fox.)

Cast list:
• Jeremy Rill: Bobby
• Lauren Shealy: Sarah
• Kyle Steffan: Harry
• Michelle Merz-Hutchinson: Susan
• Patrick McAleer: Peter
• Carolyn Lohr: Jenny
• Andy Sievers: David
• Rebekah Ortiz: Amy
• Timmie Antoine: Paul
• Heather Lacy: Joanne
• Frank Oden: Larry
• Lindsey Falduto: Marta
• Leiney Rigg: Kathy
• Heather Doris: April

More creatives:
• Jen Orf: Production Stage Manager
• Brandon Case: Technical Director and Scenic Designer
• Curt Behm: Sound Designer
• Brett Maughan: Lighting Designer

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.