Mentoring Student Playwrights: Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ (DCPA) Student Playwriting Competition held its staged readings during the 2022 Colorado New Play Summit. But these plays have a slightly different journey to the stage than those of the professional playwrights. The main difference? The young playwrights receive guidance from the DCPA Education team to hone their […]

Taking the First Step Toward Sustainable Theatre

Recurring climate catastrophes have made all the more plain the urgent need to reduce our carbon footprint in every way, from how we drive our cars to how we power our businesses to, yes, how we make and present live theatre. But as is the case with anything that requires a fundamental change in how […]

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance receives $4M Community Revitalization Grant

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD), Denver’s own venerable and internationally renown dance company and school, is the proud recipient of a $4 million Community Revitalization grant from Colorado Creative Industries, a division of The State of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade. CPRD is one of eight recipients in this funding cycle, which […]

High School Playwriting: The promising future ahead

The future of creative writing in Colorado would appear to be bright: The winners of the DCPA’s high school playwriting competition have diverse styles and interests, resulting in three very different one-act plays: from madcap comedy to politically tinged fantastical drama to a somber meditation on the teen mental health crisis. Now in its ninth […]

The Other Josh Cohen’s Valerie Igoe Shares Her Passion for Musical Theatre

Do you remember your favorite childhood cartoon? Or the smell of freshly baked bread in your grandma’s kitchen? Maybe you still know all the lyrics to a classic song or keep scrapbooks filled with memories. We all find nostalgia in different things. For Valerie Igoe, it’s musical theatre.   As a local actor, Igoe has been […]

Renaissance Man Seth Dhonau of The Other Josh Cohen

Local theatre fans have likely seen Seth Dhonau before. Not only has he appeared on DCPA stages, he’s a regular at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and other local theatre companies. When asked about his repertoire, Dhonau says he loves to experience all art forms. “I’m always amazed that there are more similarities than differences between […]

“No one here is boring:” Actor Profiles from Tootsie

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 […]

Fostering Your Child’s Love for Music

By: Katilyn Erikson Around 31% of people in the US who play musical instruments are aged between five and 17, as found in a NAMM/Gallup Survey. Approximately half of all American households, meanwhile, have a musical instrument, with instruments such as the piano and guitar being the most popular. Various studies have shown that playing […]

Colorado New Play Summit: The Gift of Collaboration

By: Joanne Ostrow Someday there will be costumes, props, scenery and lighting. For now, the messy process of shaping and fine tuning a play, hearing what works and what doesn’t, takes place in bare-bones, all-day marathons over two weekends of readings. With actors stationed at music stands, scripts before them, the words (with luck and […]

Arts Exposure = Academic Excellence

Students involved in the arts are 4x more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 more likely to win an award for attendance. Children need a solid foundation to thrive, but not every child has the same building blocks. Whether it’s poverty or access or cost or simply a parent who is stretched […]