The Book of Mormon

Buell Theatre: 10/23 – 11:24

I BELIEVE!!!!!!

     Dear reader, please be aware that this review is a rave that’s going to be one long list of kudos for a show that is outstanding in every way.

     Denver Center Attractions is to be lauded for bringing us this superb production of a show which has won: nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone), Best Book (Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone) as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical; five Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album; four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Musical, and the Drama League Award for Best Musical.
                                                   
                                                                    Nic Rouleau

      From the moment one enters the auditorium of the Buell Theatre and sets eyes upon the magnificent frontispiece for “The Book of Mormon” he is aware that something on the order of a grand celestial event will occur when the curtain rises.  The crashing waves of what must by the Great Salt Lake seem to rise and blend with the luminous clouds of heaven as the golden image of the angel Moroni heralds good news from above the proscenium.

     Everything about this production is high, wide and handsome. Directors Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker have cast this show with triple threats. 

     The performance by Nic Rouleau in the role of Elder Price is outstanding both vocally and in the acting. A.J. Holmes as Elder Cunningham stuns

.

     The choreography and the dancing thereof is exhilarating!

        The humanity inherent in this seemingly blasphemous piece is so richly evident. Sometimes people forget to look below the surface of Great Art. Issues which are not topics of household discussion that are exposed include the circumcision of women and the annihilation of people in third world countries by the spread of AIDS.

       The lyrics of the musical number “Turn it Off” which skewer the idea that all one has to do to eliminate his sexual orientation is to “turn it off like a light switch,” are hilarious. The book and lyrics for “The Book of Mormon” continue in the vein of the “South Park" authors’ reputation for being geniuses at showing us society’s foibles and fallacies. This is superbly done laser-sharp Swiftian satire!

     Some of the musical numbers lampoon familiar songs from the canon of Broadway’s classics. “The Lion King” provides a zinger early in the show and the number near final curtain, in which the Africans perform their own personal misinterpretation of the history of Mormonism may remind those in attendance  of the “Small House of Uncle Thomas” in “The King and I.”

      I missed “The Book of Mormon” the first time around.

     This production truly is the second coming!

Single tickets for THE BOOK OF MORMON start at $35. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303.893.4100. TTY (for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons): 303.893.9582. Additionally, tickets may be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex lobby. Buy

tickets online at tickets.denvercenter.org.Marlowe's Musings

Shadowlands

Vintage Theatre: 10/11 – 11/10

     Heartfelt and moving, Vintage Theatre’s production of “Shadowlands” deserves your patronage.

 Lorraine Scott and Craig A Bond have co-directed the show with a tender eye focused on that great inner debate we all have over when to let the head lead and when the heart.

     Here it centers on C.S. Lewis, the philosopher, theologian and author of the Narnia tales as he thinks through the great question of why God allows suffering. As he does he misses or nearly completely misses the gift that keeps knocking at the door to his own heart.

     Verl Hite lends a certain nobility to the role of the reserved writer and provides a strength that is shored up by the understated humor of the writing.

                         

                                      Left to Right: Stephanie Schmidt and Verl Hite

     Stephanie Schmidt provides dynamic contrast to the over-thinking propriety of her English friend. Her ability to be out-spoken without ever appearing sharp or attacking – even when attacked by the philosopher’s friend – draws us in and makes the final scenes more touching than they might otherwise have been.

    Wade Livingston shines as “Warnie,” C.S. Lewis’ brother. The naturalness of his performance is quiet and assured. One only wishes there could have been a puff of smoke or two from his omnipresent pipe.

                       

                                     Left to Right: Verl Hite and Wade Livingston

                                           Photo credits: DenverMind Media

     Frank Haas’ exquisite lighting design allows for the mundane and the sublime to intermingle.

     Tobias Harding’s scenic design is striking and innovative with its tilt of soaring bookcases flanking the playing space.

      Scott and Bond have provided us as audience with a supporting cast that is a good one and looks so authentic it could be used for any number of Dickens productions. This show touches us deeply.

Oct. 11 - Nov 10
Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun at 2:30 p.m.

$25 ($20 advance)
303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.com

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010 Marlowe's Musings

The Full Monty

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre: 9/6 – 11/9

A musical with a lot of great thongs!

     “The Full Monty” is a big-hearted musical about a bunch of average Joe blue-collar steelworkers who are depressed because they’re out of work and because their wives are high on ogling a group of touring male strippers. You gotta know that this is real Honest To God great acting because there is nothing about the cast and crew at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre that’s “average” anything. What you get when you go to BDT is high wide and handsome in every way imaginable!

      The play centers on Jerry, a lovable guy who’s just found out he’s about to lose custody of his son. His response is to round up the guys in the neighborhood and talk them all into starring in a strip show to make some bucks and shore up their reputations for being gutsy guys who just happen to be down on their luck.

     Seth Caikowski turns in a stellar performance in the central role of Jerry Lukowski. The song: Breeze off the River” Jerry sings to his son Keno is truly heartfelt and moving.

     Joel Adam Chavez is touching and funny as David Bukatinski, Jerry’s pudgy buddy.     

     Scott Beyette, who also directs the show, is Harold Nichols, a former boss of this crew and who’s gonna teach the guys how to hoof it while they “Let it Go” onstage.

     The always-outstanding Joanie Brosseau portrays Nichols’ wife Vicki with a sparkle and flair that astounds.

     Shelly Cox-Robie plays Jeanette Burmeister, the tough and lovable showbiz accompanist with her own indelibly endearing musical theatre stamp.

      Brett Ambler’s Malcolm McGregor is introduced in ”Big-Ass Rock,” a darkly comic number about a botched suicide from which he’s saved by Jerry and Dave. Malcolm is saved again by Burke Walton’s Ethan (the Donald O’Connor wannabe) in another moment of grief later in the show.

     Robert Johnson’s Noah “Horse” T. Simmons gets to let it more or less all hang out figuratively speaking in his showstopper, “Big Black Man.”

     Even the supporting cast is full of stars: Jessica Hindsley, Alicia Dunfee, Amanda Earls, Bob Hoppe, Matthew Peters, Tracy Warren, Scott Severtson…The list goes on and on!

     Neal Dunfee’s conducting of the just offstage BDT stage orchestra is phenomenal.

     Although what goes on is less important in many scenes than what comes off Linda Morken’s costume design is spot on. Oh and don’t be surprised if you see a lot of ‘ladies night out’ ladies with their eyeballs pasted to the…er stage.

     It's awesome fare onstage and on your table! 

     Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!Marlowe's Musings

Tickets for The Full Monty are on sale now. Prices start at just $37, and include both the performance and dinner served by the stars of the show. All tickets for opening weekend (Friday, September 6 - Sunday, September 8, 2013) are just $37. Group rate tickets and season subscriptions are available for all performances throughout the year. Call (303) 449-6000 or log on to www.bouldersdinnertheatre.com for reservations and/or additional details about the show.

Seminar

Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company: 9/27 – 10/20

     Theresa Rebeck’s “Seminar” is a play about four wannabe writers who have paid a well-known literary figure to take a look at their work and tell them what they need to know to succeed as well. The instructor they’ve chosen is honest beyond words and eviscerates their work with pleasure after reading a few pages of the opening of each of their texts.

     The work is provocative and features one superior performance by one of Colorado’s best.  John Ashton turns in a studied portrayal of the embittered instructor. To this reviewer’s not so humble eye and ear Ashton’s delivery of the  role of the scruffy Leonard may well be the best performance by this artist to date. The co-author of one of Denver’s longest running plays “Murder Most Fowl,” Ashton shines in the role.
                                 
                                Devon James, John C. Ashton and Matthew Blood-Smyth

     The four actors cast in the roles of his students are artists to watch for in every program. They are: Sean Scrutchins(Martin), Devon James(Kate), Matthew Blood Smyth(Douglas) and Mary Kay Riley(Izzy).

     Rebeck’s play is full of wit, wisdom and vitriol. However … although it’s true that some critics may be able to get the flavor of a work in just a few pages one wonders if it might not be helpful to read the entire work in order to critique structure, theme and character. I’m just sayin.’

     The publicity for this show describes the production as having “mature language and brief nudity.” Perhaps it is right about the language being somewhat “mature.” The “brief nudity” was however, quite simply out of place and just plain wrong given the time and place.

     That said, the production is a worthy one coming with high recommendations from this reviewer’s desk. Ron Mueller’s set design speaks volumes presenting as it does the exaggerated contrast of the habitat of the neophyte writer and that of the seasoned professional. Stephen Weitz directs.

Venue: The Dairy Center for the Arts - Carsen Theatre

2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302

For tickets call 303-444-7328 or go online at www.thedairy.org

Marlowe's Musings

Veronica’s Room

Vintage Theatre: 9/13 – 10/13

     “Veronica’s Room” will creep you out for days!

Dan Nolan, Rachel Bouchard and Anne Smith Myers

     Shrouded in white, Tanner Johnson Heck’s claustrophobic set design ushers us into this unsettling world accompanied by the ominous viola in Luke Allen Terry’s awesome sound design.

     At the top of the show a fussy old Irish woman and her oh so jolly husband are talking a lovely young woman into taking a room in their home. A somewhat enigmatic lady named Veronica once lived there.

     Sorry, but that’s all I’ll tell you regarding Ira Levin’s (Remember “Rosemary’s Baby?”) spine tingling thriller. Any more and I’d be giving you spoilers along with some goose bumps and you need to experience this one first hand.

Rachel Bouchard and Drew Hirschboeck

     Director Bernie Cardell has done superb work in the casting. Man, Woman, Girl and Boy are played by: Dan Nolan, Anne Smith Myers, Rachel Bouchard and Drew Hirschboeck respectively.

      Cardell directs this taut thriller with a meticulous eye. Everything has a Hitchcockian feel to it and the suspense had this reviewer on the edge of his seat throughout.

     The set-up in Act One is one of the most intriguing to have been seen in many a season. It allows for a second act of harrowing contrast in which all four of these actors get to unleash a torrent of powerful emotion.

     They’ve extended the show a week already. If fans of this kind of amped up nerve jangling thriller get a whiff of the excitement in “Veronica’s Room” the management could be required to extend again.

 Fotos by Denver Mind Media

Vintage Theatre presents

"Veronica's Room"

There is only a thin line between fantasy and reality, madness and murder.

Sept. 13 - Oct. 13 * Note added weekend!
Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun at 2:30 p.m.

$25 ($20 advance)
303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.com

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010

Marlowe's Musings

 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Town Hall Arts: 9/13 – 10/13

Tim Howard and Rachelle Wood

     “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is a thoroughly enjoyable musical about a couple of con men named Lawrence and Freddy. Keegan Flaugh plays Lawrence, the older of the two with style and grace. Tim Howard plays Freddy with dynamite comic timing and a command of physical comedy that stuns.  

     It is pure pleasure getting to hear the incomparably talented Margie Lamb in the role of Muriel. This artist’s singing of Muriel’s romantic ‘lament,’ “What Was a Woman to Do?” is musical theatre ice cream. Her duets with Brian Murray(Andre) sparkle! It’s a joy to see Murray landing parts, which showcase his talents as a musical theatre artist. 

     Rachelle Wood’s performance of the role of Christine is a vocal and acting treat!

     Having seen three productions of this musical, this is the first time this reviewer has enjoyed a performance by an actor in the role of Jolene, the rich cowgirl from Oklahoma. Kelsey Rich nails the part! Brava!

      The scene including the song “All About Ruprecht,” in which Jolene receives her much-deserved comeuppance, is delicious. Posing as Lawrence’s extremely challenged little brother Tim Howard treats us as audience to some of the funniest character work in memory.

     The ensemble is filled with some very fine dancers. Led by the stunning Rae Klapperich, it includes such artists as :Tyrell D. Rae, Kia Chapman, Gabe Morales, Rob Riney and Carter Edward Smith. 

     The movement of the puzzle pieces of Tina Anderson’s innovative set design are choreographed (yes, choreographed!) by ingenious director/choreographer Nick Sugar.

     Jonathan Scott-McKean’s lighting is of the professional quality, which Denver audiences have come to expect.

     Music Director Donna Kolpan Debreceni and her onstage band provide us with sensational treatment of this ear-pleasing score.

     The costumes are by the talented Henry Award winner Linda Morken. 

Town Hall’s production opens September 13, 2013 and runs through October 13, 2013. Show times are Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. (& 2:00 p.m. on 9/28) & Sundays at 2 p.m. (& 6:30 p.m. on 10/6).

Ticket Information:

Reserved seat tickets are currently on sale, priced $20.00-$40.00 at the Town Hall Arts Center box office, 303-794- 2787 ext. 5 (Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. to Noon/ 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday Noon to 4 p.m. and 1 Hour prior to Shows) or on-line at www.TownHallArtsCenter.com . In a continuing effort to make plays at Town Hall Arts Center accessible to all, ten value seats at $10 each will be made available on a first-come-first-served basis one-hour prior to each published curtain time.Marlowe's Musings

The Arvada Center for the Arts: 9/10 - 10/6

     Director Rod Lansberry has cast this production of the Arthurian legend with an eye to the youthful Wart growing into Arthur and it is perhaps a youthful audience that will embrace it with the greatest enthusiasm.

Those of us who remember the original cast album may miss the elocution of a Richard Burton, the brio of a Robert Goulet and the soaring soprano of Julie Andrews.

However … for those who are familiar with the Netflix offering “Merlin” may find the cast especially appealing. All three leads are talented young artists. One does wish, however,  that they were able to live backwards as Merlin is said to have done with the wisdom that one might find with a more ‘seasoned’ cast. 

     There are two moments in this production of “Camelot” that proved to be of greatest interest to this reviewer. The first is the transcendent beauty of the scene in which Jennifer de Dominici enchants Merlin with her ethereal dance. The second is the one in which Megan Van de Hey as the mischievous Morgan Le Fe bewitches Arthur in the forest. This scene is one that this reviewer has not ever seen included in any production of this musical. It is mythic gold! As directed by Mr. Lansberry it is as charming as his direction of  DeDominici’s seductive “Follow Me” was breathtaking.
                 

      The costumes by Clare Henkel are superb. Among all the fine gowns the ethereal gossamer white for Nimue wins hands down.Marlowe's Musings

Due to high ticket demand, the Arvada Center has announced a one-week extension for the Tony Award® winning musical Camelot. The show will now close on Sunday, October 6. Camelot is directed by Rod A. Lansberry, book and lyrics are written by Alan Jay Lerner, with music by Frederick Loewe. Camelot will run in the Main Stage Theater September 10- October 6, 2013. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Talkbacks will be offered Friday, September 20 after the 7:30 p.m. show and Wednesday, September 25 after the 1:00 p.m. show. To purchase tickets and for additional information go to https://arvadacenter.org/on-stage/camelot-2013 or call 720-898-7200.