Run to get tickets to see and hear Anna Maria High as Hattie McDaniels at Aurora Fox Arts!

Playwright Larry Parr’s script for “Hi Hat Hattie” is all about Denver native, Hattie McDaniel. Ms. McDaniel graduated from East High and went on to become the first African American woman to receive an Oscar for her performance in a movie: the role of Mammy in “Gone with the Wind.”

     Referred to as “the colored Sophie Tucker,” she did radio commercials, toured with Broadway shows and was featured in a Disney movie called “Song of the South.”

     The stunning Anna Maria High is perfect casting for Hattie McDaniel. Her expressive acting in this one-woman show delivers a strong, powerful Hattie with a sparkling personality. Her glorious vocals dazzle!

     Ms. High’s star is rising so quickly it behooves you to get over to see and hear her in person before she gets recruited by Broadway.

      Music director Jodel Charles accompanies Ms. High with breathtaking virtuosity on the grand piano.

     Director Melissa Lucero McCarl has done wonders with this script. Her talent for pacing creates punch and muscle in the production whenever  playwright Parr’s pen begins to lag.

     Brandon Case’s scenic design gives us a gilded proscenium and opera boxes that provide us with a magnificent frame for Ms. High’s outstanding performance.

     Costume designer Laurie LaMere Klapperich has created the eye-popping wardrobe for Ms. High.Marlowe's Musings

For tickets go online at www.aurorafoxartscenter.org/afac/hattie

Vintage Theatre presents 

Red

by Josh Logan

Directed by Craig A. Bond

  John Logan’s “RED” won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2010. Eddy Redmayne received the one for Best Performance by a Featured Actor.

     Logan’s play is set in abstract expressionist Mark Rothko’s New York studio in 1958. Rothko, who has just received a commission to do a frieze of abstract paintings for the exclusive Four Seasons restaurant, is confronted by his assistant, Ken, regarding the artistic integrity of making such a choice.

     Craig A. Bond directs the production with the eye of a poet and a profound reverence for the material. His casting is superb and his pacing makes us feel the vibrant pulse of the creative process. At one point in the play director Bond has Rothko sit in the audience with us…allowing us as audience to identify with his character more fully.
  

     L-R: Jason Spina and Phil Luna

Phil Luna’s portrayal of Rothko is powerful and revelatory. His monologue relating the great artist’s experience at The Four Seasons restaurant is heartbreaking.

     J.W. Spina’s performance as Ken provides us with a brilliant counterpoint that’s nuanced and poignant.

     Thanks to the artistry of sound designer Carlos Flores, exquisite music bridges the scenes.

      In the intimacy of the Bond-Trimble Theatre, Cheryl Brodzinsky’s realistic scenic design makes us feel as though we are that proverbial fly on the wall in Rothko’s world.

     The remarkable abstract creations on the side and back walls of the theatre are inspired by Rothko and done by the students at The Waldorf School in Denver.

Vintage Theatre presents

“Red”

A gripping look at artist and art through the lens of a young assistant.

Nov.24 - Jan 7

Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. at 2:30 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m; No performance on Saturday, December 2

Tickets are $25 - $30 

Online at www.vintagetheatre.org or 303-856-7830. 

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010.

90 minutes, no intermission.Marlowe's Musings

HONEYMOON IN VEGAS

VINTAGE THEATRE: NOVEMBER 3 through DECEMBER 17

James Thompson (center) and Carter Edward Smith (far right)

Honeymoon in Vegas is one of the funniest, most entertaining productions of a musical comedy this season.

       With music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Andrew Bergman, it’s based upon the 1992 film of the same title.

     Director Bernie Cardell has cast the show with a number of Denver favorites and paced it at a gallop.

     Carter Edward Smith (Marlowe Award winner for Best Actor in Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Little Shop of Horrors,”) leads the cast as Jack Singer, the young lover who loses big time in a Vegas poker game.

      As a consequence he is strong-armed into giving the big winner a weekend with his fiancé.

     Carmen Vreeman Shedd, who portrays Jack’s fiancée, Betsy Nolan, is a delightful new talent who’s both easy on the eyes and ears. One hopes to see her again soon upon the Denver stage.

     Brian Walker Smith plays Tommy Korman, the guy who beats Jack at poker. This is far and away the best of all this actor’s numerous musical theatre performances.

     Michael O’Shea is hilarious as Tommy’s gangsta toady, Johnny Sandwich.

     Suzanne Connors Nepi puts the fun meter on overdrive as the memory of Bea Singer, Jack’s dead – and disappointed - mother.

     John White (Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Albin in Ignite Theater’s production of “La Cage Aux Folles”) spices up the ensemble exponentially.

     The choreography by Jeffrey Parizotto and Stefanie Raccuglia is rambunctious good fun!

     Susan Rahmsdorff-Terry (Marlowe Award for Best Costume Design for Spotlight Theatre’s “The Big Bang”) does another bang-up job with the costumes for this show.

      Eric Weinstein created the ear-pleasing music tracks that keep this musical bonbon bouncing throughout.Marlowe's Musings

Vintage Theatre presents

“Honeymoon in Vegas” 

A new musical comedy filled with skydiving Elvises, chorus girls, gamblers, hot romance and cold feet!

Nov. 3 – Dec 17
Fri/Sat & Mon., Nov. 27 @ 7:30 p.m.; Sun. & Sat., Dec. 16 @ 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $29 - $34 

Online at www.vintagetheatre.org or 303-856-7830. 

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010.