Playwriting Lab

Colorado Companies Foster New Voices in Theatre

Theater, by its very nature, is a collaborative enterprise. But creating the raw material – the scripts themselves – can be a lonely one. Without hearing the words spoken by actors, the playwrights are left with the voices in their heads. That access to a full company of theater specialists makes the DCPA’s Colorado New […]

Two actors seated at music stands laugh together during rehearsal

Q&A with Student Playwriting Competition Winners, Finalists

Six winners have been selected for the Middle School & High School Playwriting Competition, three in each age group. This year, the DCPA received 142 middle school and 107 high school submissions – nearly 100 more than last year. The top three plays by each age group will be included in the 2024 Playwriting Anthology […]

Female Astronauts Shoot for the Moon in THE INFINITE

In 2019, two individuals made history. Jessica Meir and Christina Koch took the first all-female spacewalk. One small step for women, one monumental achievement for womenkind. When Space Explorers: THE INFINITE arrives in Denver, guests in this interactive, virtual-reality experience will step outside the International Space Station on a walk of their own and then […]

DCPA Community Engagement Uplifts Cebollas and Local Organizations

Denver Center Theatre Company’s upcoming world premiere production, Cebollas, tells the story of three Latina sisters taking an unexpected road trip (with no ulterior motives at all). New Mexican culture is at the forefront of this new play as the sisters bicker and reminisce, driving past familiar locales between Albuquerque and Denver. Theatre Company management […]

Cracking the Enigma Code

They called her Elizabeth Thorpe. And Betty Pack. And Cynthia. She was an American, working for the British, and sometimes the Spanish, although the French and Polish thought she was theirs for a while. She came from an upstanding family, a proper girl who was thoroughly improper. The biggest enigma, though, was the Nazi coding […]

Roxie sits on Billy Flynn's knee as dancers surround them, leaning in and reaching.

First Look: CHICAGO

CHICAGO is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one showstopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. Take a look at some of the production photos below.

Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse in the foreground during a Damn Yankees rehearsal

Who Was Bob Fosse?

Can you remember the first time you saw CHICAGO onstage? Near the beginning of Act One, when Roxie is introduced to the other female inmates, the musical number Cell Block Tango begins. An absolutely iconic sequence, it stands out among the greatest dance numbers in musical theatre history. Think Mein Herr from Cabaret. Who’s Got […]

A row of actors standing at music stands wearing all black

Finalists for High School Playwriting Competition Announced

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is happy to announce the finalists of the eleventh annual High School Playwriting Competition. The Playwriting Competition is grounded in workshops hosted by DCPA Education Teaching Artists. These in-school workshops introduce students to the fundamentals of playwriting, bolster creative writing skills and encourage them to discover their […]

Virginia Hall awarded a medal for her services. A man stands pinning it to her dress.

A Spy Among Us

From the archives: this article was originally published on March 22, 2023 If you Google “international intelligence agencies,” Wikipedia gives you a list that’s almost too long to count. While the fictitious 007 — Bond, James Bond — works for the non-fictitious MI6, the United Kingdom is far from the only country to have intelligence […]

A line of soldiers snowshoe down a mountain in Camp Hale

Skis, Slopes and Spies: Colorado’s Camp Hale

From the archives: this article was originally published on April 13, 2023 America’s newest national monument has an intriguing history. On August 22, 2022, President Joe Biden designated 53,804 acres of National Forest Service lands in Eagle County as the  Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument. Much is written about the site’s history as […]