DCPA NEWS CENTER
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February theatregoing is all about Anne, Annas … and Rembrandts
Margot (Annie Barbour), Anne (Darrow Klein), Edith (Emily Paton Davies) and Otto (Larry Cahn) in the Arvada Center’s ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ Matt Gale Photography
Start of Arvada Center’s new rep season and 14th Colorado New Play Summit are among this month’s biggest theatre events
February in Colorado theatregoing is the month for Annes (The Diary of Anne Frank) and Annas (Anna Karenina and Anna in the Tropics); not to mention Rembrandt (The Rembrandt and The Rembrandt Room). The Arvada Center launches its third season of repertory plays and the DCPA Theatre Company enters its busiest month of the year with two world-premiere plays, a huge Russian epic and the Colorado New Play Summit. Here are just a few of your intriguing options this month, followed by a complete list of all February openings in Colorado:
Photo by Cheyenne Michaels.
The Arvada Center’s The Diary of Anne Frank and The Moors. The Arvada Center begins its third season of repertory plays with the ever-timely historical drama The Diary of Anne Frank (February 1-May 17) and The Moors (February 22-May 18). Thirteen-year-old Anne Frank created one of the most powerful and enduring stories of the 20th century when she chronicled the horrors of being Jewish and trapped in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Starring Darrow Klein and directed by Christy Montour-Larson, The Moors is a dark comedy by playwright Jen Silverman, who turns the world of the Bronte sisters on its head in a subversive story about love and desperation. The 2019 acting company also includes Larry Cahn, Emily Paton Davies, Annie Barbour, Regina Fernandez, Daniel Crumrine, Lance Rasmussen, Emma Messenger, Abner Genece, Zachary Andrews, Emily Van Fleet and Jessica Robblee. Sin Street Social Club joins the mix March 15-May 19. And, for the kids: Ella Enchanted will be staged February 1-May 22. 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org
- DCPA Theatre Company’s Colorado New Play Summit. The Denver Center’s first Colorado New Summit under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman will bring both familiar and new names to the Rocky Mountain region’s largest new-play festival over two weekends February 16-17 and 22-24. The 14th annual gathering will feature readings of new plays by Beaufield Berry, Isaac Gomez, Bonnie Metzgar and Tony Meneses; and a new musical by Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman. Festival visitors also will attend previously announced, fully staged word-premiere productions by Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Last Night and the Night Before) and Itamar Moses (The Whistleblower). At venues around the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org
- The Catamounts’ United Flight 232. This unusual regional premiere recounts the true story of a DC-10 that left Denver’s Stapleton Airport on July 19, 1989, bound for Chicago O’Hare and crash-landed at Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering catastrophic engine failure. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 111 died. Told simply with chairs, movement and a cast of nine actors, United Flight 232 examines how ordinary people take care of one another in extraordinary times. Adapted by Vanessa Stalling from Laurence Gonzales’ book “Flight 232.” February 15-March 10: At the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or thecatamounts.org
- Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College’s Anna in the Tropics. This Pulitzer Prize-winner inspired by Anna Karenina (more on the DCPA Theatre company’s lavish production here) is set in 1929 Florida, where a tutor is hired to read to the family of a Cuban-American owner of a cigar factory. When he starts reading from the Russian classic, the scandalous lives of Tolstoy’s characters start to intertwine with the lives of his listeners. Soon the hot, humid Florida summer starts to resemble the cold Russian winter of the story. Infidelity, money problems and violence spring to the surface as the family members grapple with their newfound understanding of life and relationships. The family is met with tragedy in the end, just as in the story of Anna Karenina. February 7-24 at 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, 719-634-5581 or csfineartscenter.org
- Vintage Theatre’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love And Murder. This underdog Broadway smash, based on the 1907 novel “Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal,” is the hilarious story of Monty Navarro, an heir to a family fortune who jumps the line of succession by eliminating the eight pesky relatives who stand in his way. All this killing will surely be worth it if he can slay his way to his inheritance … and be done in time for tea. Starring Andy Sercause as Monty and Brandon Bill as the entire D’Ysquith Family. Directed by Bernie Cardell and Lee Ann Scherlong. Feb. 8-March 24 at 1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 303-839-1361 or vintagetheatre.com
- Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s The Rembrandt. We begin inside a modern-day museum, where two security guards and a painter find themselves compelled to touch a masterpiece. Soon we are skipping through time, watching Rembrandt at work and listening to Homer philosophize on art. Playwright Jessica Dickey asks us to consider the longevity of art and the brevity of life. Directed by Stephen Weitz. Featuring Erik Sandvold, Spencer Althoff, Adrian Egolf, Jihad Milhem and Jim Hunt. February 7-March 3: Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or boulderensembletheatre.org
Buntport Theater’s The Rembrandt Room and Magnets on the Fridge. Two returning favorites: The Rembrandt Room is a dark comedy featuring one woman (Erin Rollman) standing next to one museum masterpiece for who knows how long. Buntport’s first ever one-person show is a mash-up of historical fact, Greek myth and Buntport fiction. February 15-March 9. Also this month: Magnets on the Fridge. Last year, Buntport brought back its phenomenally popular recurring sitcom about five friends in a book club, which originally ended in 2006 after five years and 65 episodes. The series, which poked fun at “Friends” while also embarking on some pretty wild, book-based theatrical adventures, is back for five monthly episodes that follow the gang of now 40-something friends navigating the new normal. Whatever that is. You don’t have to have attended any previous episodes to fully enjoy this silly nonsense. February 6-June 5 every first Wednesday of the month at 717 Lipan St., 720-946-1388 or buntport.com- The Aurora Fox’s Life Sucks. In Aaron Posner’s hilariously titled variation on Chekhov Uncle Vanya, a group of old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws and lifelong enemies grapple with life’s thorniest philosophical questions and stumble their way toward the inevitable conclusion that, yeah, life pretty much sucks. “It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, and maybe one of the closest to me,” Posner told the DCPA NewsCenter, “because while [his play] Stupid F***ing Bird is a young person’s play in its core sensibilities, Life Sucks is more of a middle-aged play, which is where I sit in life right now.” 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora, 303-739-1970 or aurorafox.org
- square product theatre’s Celebration, Florida. Boulder’s intentionally lower-cased theatre company continues its innovative ongoing theatregoing experiment: Each night features two rotating performers who have never even met. And they will not have seen or read the script before they take to the stage. London-based Greg Wohead’s performance work is described as “a quietly surreal show for anyone who has ever missed anyone or anything. Veering between reality and simulation, the piece orbits around ideas of surrogacy; a stand-in to replace a person you miss; a re-creation of an experience you can’t stop thinking about; nostalgia for a place that perhaps never existed.” To make things even freakier, the playwright himself speaks to the audience through the evening’s two guinea pigs, er, actors, using pre-recorded audio and headphones. One final weekend at Denver’s Buntport Theater (February 1-2) before the fun moves north to the Carsen Theater in the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St. in Boulder, from February 6-9. Call 800-838-3006 or go to celebrationflorida.bpt.me
- Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s 25th Anniversary Cabaret. Celebrating 25 years of producing theatre in cabins, storefronts and now the posh Silverthorne Performing Arts Center, the Lake Dillon Theatre Company presents a musical retrospective of its most beloved past productions. Featuring a cast of returning actors. January 31-February 3 at 460 Blue River Pkwy, 970-513-9386 or lakedillontheatre.org
NOTE: At the start of each month, the DCPA NewsCenter offers an updated list of upcoming theatre openings, spotlighting work being presented on stages statewide. Companies are encouraged to submit listings and production photos at least two weeks in advance to the DCPA NewsCenter at jmoore@dcpa.org.
John Moore was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the U.S by American Theatre Magazine in 2011. He has since taken a groundbreaking position as the Denver Center’s Senior Arts Journalist.
Photo from the 2018 Colorado New Play Summit.
FEBRUARY THEATRE OPENINGS IN COLORADO:
January 31-February 24: Bas Bleu Theatre Company’s The Waverly Gallery
401 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-498-8949 or basbleu.org
January 31-February 3: Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s 25th Anniversary Cabaret
At the Silverthorne Performing Arts Center, 460 Blue River Pkwy, 970-513-9386 or lakedillontheatre.org
February 1-24: DCPA Theatre Company’s Anna Karenina
Stage Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org
February 1-May 17: Arvada Center’s The Diary of Anne Frank
6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org
February 1-17: StageDoor Theatre’s Sylvia
27357 Conifer Road, Conifer, 303-886-2819, 800-838-3006 or stagedoortheatre.org
February 1-18: Longmont Theatre Company’s Young Frankenstein
513 Main St., Longmont, 303-772-5200 or longmonttheatre.org
February 1-May 22: Arvada Center’s Ella Enchanted (for children)
6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org
February 4: DCPA Theatre Company’s First Mondays cold-reading series
Local playwrights bring in 10 minutes of a working script to be read. 7-10 p.m. Free.
Newman Center for Theatre Education, 1101 13th St. Info: 303-446-4892
February 4: And Toto Too’s Polished Pieces (reading) by Laurie Scalf Scoggins
At Black Buzzard, 1624 Market St., 720-583-3975 or andtototoo.org
February 6-June 5: Buntport Theater’s Magnets on the Fridge (Wednesdays)
717 Lipan St., 720-946-1388 or buntport.com
Stephen Turner, Lindsay Weidig and Brekken Baker in the Arvada Center’s ‘Ella Enchanted.’ Matt Gale Photography
February 6-9: square product theatre’s Celebration, Florida
At the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 800-838-3006 or celebrationflorida.bpt.me
February 7-24: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College’s Anna in the Tropics
30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, 719-634-5581 or csfineartscenter.org
February 7-March 3: Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s The Rembrandt
Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or boulderensembletheatre.org
February 7-23: Millibo Art Theatre’s Murder of the Heart
1626 S. Tejon St. Colorado Springs, 719-465-6321 or themat.org
February 8-March 10: DCPA Theatre Company’s The Whistleblower
Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org
Feb. 8-March 24: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love And Murder
1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 303-839-1361 or vintagetheatre.com
February 8-9: Aurora Fox’s Robert Michael Sanders: Time Stood Still (cabaret)
9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora, 303-739-1970 or aurorafox.org
February 8-16: Dog Star Theatre’s Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche
1376 Miner’s Drive, Lafayette, dogstartheatre.org
February 8-9: Evergreen Players’ Epic Comedy (improv)
At Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, 303-674-4934 or evergreenplayers.org
February 10: Su Teatro’s Intro to Ethics 101
1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Su Teatro Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive, or 303-494-0523 or stories on stage’s home page
Photo by Emory John Collinson
February 14-March 3: Springs Ensemble Theatre’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1903 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, 80909, 719-357-3080 or springsensembletheatre.org
February 14-August 1: Iron Springs Chateau’s One Bad Apple…or…As the Worm Turns
444 Ruxton Ave., Manitou Springs, 719-685-5104 or ironspringschateau.com
February 15-March 2: Buntport Theater’s The Rembrandt Room
717 Lipan St., 720-946-1388 orbuntport.com
February 15-March 10: The Catamounts’ United Flight 232
At the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826, 720-468-0487 or thecatamounts.org
February 16-24: DCPA Theatre Company’s Colorado New Play Summit
Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org
February 16-March 16: Firehouse Theatre Company’s Rock of Aging Revival
John Hand Theatre, 7653 E. 1st Place, 303-562-3232 or firehousetheatercompany.com
February 17: Lakewood Cultural Center’s Amber Brown Is Not A Crayon
470 S. Allison Parkway, 303-987-7845 or Lakewood.org
February 21-March 16: 5th Wall Productions’ Inherit the Wind
At the The Bakery Arts Warehouse, 2132 Market St., 720-771-8826 or ticketleap.com
February 21-March 9: Thunder River Theatre Company’s Of Mice and Men
67 Promenade, Carbondale, 970-963-8200 or thunderrivertheatre.com
Feb. 22-March 17: Aurora Fox’s Life Sucks
9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora, 303-739-1970 or aurorafox.org
February 22-May 18: Arvada Center’s The Moors
6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org
February 22 through March 10: Ovation West Musical Theatre’s Nunsense
At Center/Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, 303-674-4002 or www.ovationwest.org
Photo by Lynn Fleming
February 22-March 9: Coal Creek Theater of Louisville’s Blessed Assurance
Louisville Center for the Arts, 801 Grant St., 303-665-0955 or www.cctlouisville.org
February 28-March 2: Circo de Nada’s Idiopathic (A new work of abstract clown and movement by Nick Trotter)
At the People’s Building, 9995 E. Colfax Ave, Aurora; info: artful.ly
February 28-March 9: The Lulubird Project’s The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant (by Lisa Wagner Erickson)
At Theater 29, 5138 W. 29th Ave., theater29denver.com
More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter
Where is our full monthly list of all currently running productions?
We at the DCPA NewsCenter are joining forces with Alex Miller’s new website called OnStage Colorado, which offers Colorado theatre news, reviews and a comprehensive, functional and searchable Colorado theatre calendar. Rather than doubling up on the work, we are happily sending you to his fancy and easy-to-use digital calendar, where you can look for shows by title, date or company. Continue to send your show listings to jmoore@dcpa.org, but be sure to also add info@onstagecolorado.com to your email lists. Submit your own listings for free here.