In a workshop on playwriting some years ago, Michael Shayan was instructed by the leader, noted dramatist Luis Alfaro, to put a hand over his heart, to feel the heartbeat of a character – and to “just listen.” The voice he heard was one Shayan had known all his life. It was that of his […]
Kimberly Akimbo is one of those magical musicals that makes you wonder, “how did they pull that off?” An intimate, smart, deeply human musical that arrived on Broadway without a big star or a recognizable title, it nevertheless became the talk of the town by winning over audiences and critics alike and by making them […]
In addition to the well-known cast of principle characters featured in Hamilton there are dozens of references to other historical figures. Here is a closer look at these individuals in order of reference: Sam Adams Referenced in: “Aaron Burr, Sir” Line: “I’m John Laurens in the place to be! Two pints o’ Sam Adams, but […]
Chris Coleman never aspired to direct Hamlet. The artistic director of the DCPA never saw himself in that role. He had played the title character onstage twice — senior year in college at Baylor University and again at Actor’s Express, a theater company he founded in Atlanta — and “literally never wanted to direct it […]
A Conversation Between Friends: The Making of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter with Playwright Isaac Gómez and Director Laura Acalá Baker What’s going to happen at the Denver Center Theatre Company September 27 –November 3 has been years in the making. Longtime friends and collaborators Isaac Gómez, playwright, and director Laura Alcalá Baker […]
In 1900, author L. Frank Baum, wrote a charming book called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that became a children’s classic. The book was turned into a stage musical a year later and begat another great classic: the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland played a girl who, after a close encounter of […]