In 1889, the same year the Moulin Rouge opened on the edge of the red light district of Pigalle in Paris, a red light district out on the frontier of the American West in Denver, Colorado also saw a grand opening. Jennie Rogers was a tall, slender brunette, who had gone through several names and […]
This Tony Award-winning pair have worked together as a dynamic musical duo since their college days — a partnership that has taken them to Broadway, Hollywood, and beyond. At the same time that they were developing Dear Evan Hansen, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul were also writing lyrics for the award-winning film La La Land, […]
Thomas Stearns Eliot is widely regarded as one of England’s greatest writers and was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize for Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry.” While Eliot was writing about cats at a time when they served the useful purpose of keeping mice in check, he had a lifelong affection for […]
Francesco Castelluccio, better known by his stage name, Frankie Valli, was born in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey in 1934. A working-class neighborhood filled with immigrants, the world in which Frankie Valli grew up would have been a mashup of Italian and American culture. The colorful language that has become synonymous with North […]
The Smaldone family, Denver’s version of the Mafia, was low key, unlike their more high-profile brethren in New York, Chicago and New Jersey. They wore big hats and spiffy suits, but they didn’t race around town in big cars, mowing down rivals. In fact, they weren’t in the Mafia. Isolated far out in Denver, they […]
Compiled from material by Center Theatre Group How is it possible that The Four Seasons have been part of American culture for four-and-a-half decades, and who they are has remained a mystery? Why is it that we have known their songs by heart while knowing or learning little about the singers? Four Seasons lead singer […]
By: Madison Stout Think you know the kooky characters from Tootsie? How about the actors behind the names? The national tour’s cast of Tootsie shared some of their interesting audition experiences and how they relate to the characters they play on stage. See their responses here! Michael Dorsey’s egotistical, stubborn caricature is a stark contrast […]
By: Diane Snyder Forget about show-stopping finales. In Jersey Boys, the smash-hit musical about the rise and fall of The Four Seasons, the pinnacle of excitement comes about 45 minutes into the first act. That’s when back-to-back presentations of three of the group’s biggest hits — “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a […]
Music can certainly transport you to a different time and place, but if that time and place is before your time and place, you might need a bit more context. Enter the costume designer. This artist — along with the set, prop and lighting designers among others — helps to take an audience on a […]