Charles Dickens called his little Christmas book a “carol” after the songs and ballads celebrating the holiday for the birth of Christ. He carried the pretense further by calling the chapters “staves.” “Stave” is an archaic from of the word “staff,” a stanza of a poem or song. Despite the lyrical title, the good-spirited story […]
In England, caroling has always been an indispensable and joyous part of the Christmas holiday. Many of the earliest carols sung were preserved in a diary or “commonplace book” that was kept by Richard Hill, a grocer’s apprentice, between 1500 and 1536. Hill was interested in numerous subjects and carols were one of them. In […]
Modern audiences don’t have the benefit of footnotes when enjoying a Shakespeare play. When reading the text, footnotes are often necessary to comprehend the nuances of Elizabethan age humor, slang, and history. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is heralded as one of Shakespeare’s best comedies, containing copious amounts of wordplay and banter. Before attending a […]
If clothes make the man, does it stand to reason that costumes make the villain? That’s the question we posed to DCPA Costume Crafts Director Kevin Copenhaver, who has been tasked with designing 1930s-era costumes for Much Ado About Nothing. Not necessarily, was his answer. “I don’t think costumes make the hero or the villain. […]
Director Chris Coleman will set his version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in the Sicilian port town of Messina. A minor but integral character is Dogberry, the incompetent constable, who unwittingly (and comically) discovers a plot to thwart true love. When Costume Crafts Director Kevin Copenhaver took on the charge to design the show, […]
It just doesn’t sound the same in the Denver Center’s costume shop these days. “It’s very quiet now,” Director of Costumes Jan MacLeod said as her team continues to process the July 19 passing of stitcher Cathie Gagnon, an open and outgoing fixture in the DCPA Theatre Company family for the past 30 seasons. They […]
The year is 1834 and 14-year-old Afong Moy is the first Chinese woman mainland America has ever seen. Intriguing and powerful, The Chinese Lady is a play unlike anything you’ve seen before. Take a look at some of the production photos below.
There’s something very modern about Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The rapid-fire zings, the flirty aggression — If Beatrice and Benedick met today, they would badmouth and ghost each other on a dating app. Fortunately, the play is respectfully presented in its original form, only stylistically updated to the 1930s in the DCPA Theatre Company’s […]
Most Americans have had Chinese food all their lives. Chinese food arrived with the first immigrants in the 1840s, looking to strike it rich panning for treasure in “Gold Mountain” — what America was called in China. The cuisine was first cooked up by and for the immigrants themselves, but despite racism against the wave […]
Talk about a spectacular Spectacular! Saturday Night Alive 2022 transported 500 guests to the glamour and glitz of the Moulin Rouge. Held on June 25, the DCPA’s 41st annual fundraiser raised more than $830,000 for arts and education. Lynn & Kevin McDonald of the Genesee Mountain Foundation were honored with the Daniel L. Ritchie Spotlight […]