THE PRODUCERS

                          

                    Left to right:Bernie Cardell, Nicole Campbell and Tim Howard

Town Hall Arts’ production of Mel Brooks’ “The Producers" is the kind of production that makes one wish they (Town Hall) could cancel all the shows on their calendar and just run this show forever!

It’s a miracle that the roof is still attached after Bernie Cardell’s outrageously successful tour de force as the hilariously disreputable Broadway producer, Max Bialystock. OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!

                                 

        Bernie Cardell as Max

As directed by maestro Bob Wells the show is a non-stop laugh riot from curtain to curtain. The musical for which Mel Brooks snatched up Tonys in every musical theatre award category except for Best Supporting Actor, is deliriously funny.

Tim Howard is superb as Leo, the book-cooking accountant Max enlists to be his partner in crime. 

Nicole Campbell’s blonde bombshell of an Ulla, is a knockout!

Besides the sidesplitting work done by  Cardell, there are supporting actors who will split your sides and demolish your funny bone.

                         

                                  Left to right: Eric Mather and Bernie Cardell

 They are: Eric Mather as Franz, the pigeon raising hack of a playwright bent on rewriting History to show Adolph Hitler in a positive light;

                           

                 Left to right: Tim Howard, Christopher Willard and Bernie Cardell

Christopher Willard as Roger Devries, “the worst director in town” who winds up playing Der Fuehrer as a flaming gay twit;

Liam Speros, Roger’s adoring boyfriend, who can traverse the stage in one balletic leap to answer a doorbell chiming “I Feel Pretty.”

 Kevin Doherty is hysterically funny as a by-the-book head accountant whose entire physiology threatens to explode when an employee arrives late for work.

Kelly Katz’s choreography catapults this cast of conniving conmen into a kaleidoscope of colorful collusion. All alliteration aside, this is choreography that will astonish you! Brava!

Tina Anderson’s jaw-dropping scenic design is a wonder. 

Seth Allison’s lighting design’s outstanding. 

     Left to right: Bernie Cardell and Tim Howard

Linda Morken’s costumes are a stitch!

Donna K. Debreceni’s music direction is, as always, the stuff of dreams!

Run to get tickets!

Town Hall’s production opens May 18, 2012 and runs through June 17, 2012. Show times are Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. (& 2:00 p.m. on 6/2) & Sundays at 2 p.m. (& 6:30 p.m. on 6/10).

Ticket Information:

Reserved seat tickets are currently on sale, priced $21.00-$38.00 at the Town Hall Arts Center box office, 303- 794-2787 ext. 5 (M – F, 1 – 5 pm) 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.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

             

Left to right: Rick Yaconis, Carol Bloom, Stephen Seibert and Rebecca Morphis

Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge” is being given a superb reading at The Edge Theatre on West Colfax at Kipling.

     Angela Astle is to be praised for her fine direction of this classic. If you want to feel what Arthur Miller wants the viewer to feel in this show, you can’t go wrong taking a ride over to The Edge Theatre. It’s in your face theatre in this intimate space, which has been set up in the round this time.


     Rick Yaconis is outstanding as Eddie Carbone, the guy whose love for his immediate family gets in the way of his helping out his countrymen immigrating here to find work and rescue their starving families back in Italy. (Tell me this is not a timely production reflecting current political immigration battles.)
     Carol Bloom turns in a thoroughly watchable performance in the role of Eddie's wife, Beatrice.


     Rebecca Morphis’s portrayal of Eddie’s daughter, Catherine is most memorable. Morphis is a dark-eyed beauty who, is blessed with a real talent for the stage. There’s one scene in which Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice are having dinner at home.

     It was pretty realistic what with all the spaghetti and meatballs and such. However… in my memory of briefly having married into such a family I seem to recall that there would have been a lot more thumb biting and chin brushing at the dinner table. Oh wait… the son-in-law wasn’t there yet. I’m just sayin.’

     Stephen Siebert  plays the cute young immigrant named Rudolpho, whose masculinity comes into question because of his “sense of humor.” Siebert is visually just right for the role and does a mostly good job in the acting thereof. Unfortunately his Italian accent slides into Eastern Europe and the Ukraine from time to time.

     Eddie thinks Rudolpho is gay because he likes to sing around the apartment house and down by the docks. He’s afraid that Rudolpho only wants to marry Catherine so he can become a citizen.

     At first I didn’t think that Ryan Goold was going to be able to fulfill the requirements for the role of the immigrant, Marco. He started slowly and built this character beat by beat. By the time he thrust himself into the final melee with Eddie, the steam building up under his pressure cooker lid blows off and the spit flies.


     Verl Hite is the lawyer, Mr. Alfieri. As narrator and the voice of reason in Miller’s play, Hite does well.

     After the outstanding work done at The Edge Theatre this season it is to be noted that this venue has made a great leap.  One recalls the lines Marlon Brando got to slur in “On the Waterfront.” Before Yaconis, Ionoff and Astle came on the scene this little venue may have been looked upon as if it were “a bug.” Now with these three artists at the helm The Edge Theatre has become “a contender.”

     This evening of theatre comes with high recommendations from this reviewer’s desk.

     Hurry to get tickets.

The Edge Theatre

“A View From the Bridge”

What happens when you love your family too much?

May 4- June 3

Fri./ Sat. and Monday, Apr. 9 at 8:00 p.m.; Sun. at 6 p.m. (No performance on May 20)

Tickets are $20.00 adult; $15.00 Students & Seniors; $12 on Mon., May 14

303-232-0363 or online at www.theedgetheater.com

The Edge Theater, 9797 W Colfax Ave - Lakewood, CO 80215

                                                   


                        “RED” 

Imagine that there was a portal through which you could experience the anguish and the bliss of the creative process in a great artist’s consciousness. Then imagine that you've been given the key to that portal and are able to enter in and share the heartbreak and triumph of the creative work. Now imagine that that portal was a stage production in which you were guided by superb direction, brilliant acting and stunning technical work. Next imagine that that production is the pinnacle of the theatre season. It is. It’s Curious Theatre’s production of John Logan’s “Red.”  Logan’s script is a stunner. It’s rich, dense and utterly engrossing. If you happen to be a student of Art History and love it as much as you do the Theatre, you will be transfixed, transported and ecstatic.

    Christy Montour-Larson’s direction is OUTSTANDING.  It’s the very best direction of the season. She somehow makes it possible for the viewer to see Art from multiple perspectives as if he/she were seeing it through a multi-faceted crystal while feeling it through the artist’s heart and mind. Outstanding!

Lawrence Hecht (courtesy of Curious Theatre)

Lawrence Hecht turns in an enthralling performance as Mark Rothko, the renowned abstract expressionist from the 1950s. This superb actor gives us an absorbing look at Rothko’s ego, frustration and passion. Hecht has performed in everything from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to Martin McDonough’s “ A Skull in Connemara.” This performance is a magnificent tour de force. 

Benjamin Bonenfant (photo credit: Michael Ensminger)

   Benjamin Bonenfant is unforgettable in his brilliant portrayal of Ken, the young assistant who moves from artistic ignorance and being emotionally stuck in a traumatic moment of his own past, to the artistic confidence and self-awareness gained by his close proximity to the master at work. (Mr. Bonenfant’s performance as Claudio in Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Much Ado About Nothing” was the most brilliant to have been experienced by this reviewer in memory.)      

Lawrence Hecht and Benjamin Bonenfant    (photo credit: Michael Ensminger)

The lighting design by Shannon McKinney is her best work since she gave us  those edible colors for “Inventing Van Gogh.” Susan Crabtree’s scenic design is a wonder. Will Burns’ sound design provides a powerful sonic underscoring. Thanks to Christy Montour Larson’s clear-eyed and sensitive direction there is a balance of all the theatrical elements such as to create the most congruent and satisfying evening of theatre this season. You owe it to yourself to get tickets.

Not to be missed.

Performance Schedule and Times:
Thursday - Saturday; 8 p.m.
Sunday; 2 p.m Curious Theatre Company
1080 Acoma Street
Denver, CO 80204

For tickets call 303.623.0524 or go online at curioustheatre.org

THE MISANTHROPE
Germinal Stage Denver 

The script of Germinal Stage Denver’s “The Misanthrope” is Moliere by way of Richard Wilbur. Mr. Wilbur translates the text with its essence in mind and keeps the rhyme intact. To this reviewer that means: Heaven on Earth! Moliere without the rhyme is like eating French toast that’s been dipped in the batter of egg and milk but not been fried. Ecch!!!!!!!!

This rhymed Moliere is the kind of French toast one gets as dessert!!!!!!! Scrumptious!

No powdered wigs, bustles or beauty spots! This contemporization of “The Misanthrope” by Richard Wilbur is a wonder. It not only holds to the true spirit of Moliere’s original, it rhymes like a dream. It’s reality therapy by way of eighteenth century France in which honesty and plain dealing once trumped the etiquette and the flattery of the Sun King’s court.

Directed by Ed Baierlein, Germinal Stage Denver’s current production of Moliere’s “The Misanthrope” is, in zee wordz of zee Franch, (remember “Indiscretions?”) “Ann Kruh Dee Bluh!”

Leroy Leonard(above) and Terry Burnsed ( below)


Terry Burnsed passionately puts forth an intense delivery of Alceste’s outrage at the hypocrisy of Society.  His performance is one of the finest on stage this season. Burnsed’s rage explodes both physiologically and verbally in the reading of this renowned character. His performance puts one in mind of that of Peter Finch who won the Oscar for Best Actor in the 1976 Sidney Lumet film “Network” wherein the big time anchorman Howard Beale raged, ”I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it any more.” One might wish to gently say, “Temper, temper,” to the actor who seems to be raging from his soul and not just reading lines. It is to be remembered that the veins stood out in Peter Finch’s forehead just like they do in Mr. Burnsed’s. The ears got just as red. The blood pressure spiked as seemingly high! Finch, who won all the awards for Best Actor in a dramatic film, didn’t live to receive his Oscar. We appreciate the passionate reading … however … we shall have no health crisis onstage!!!!!!!  (“Moderation in all things!”) But I digress.  Mr. Burnsed’s portrayal astounds!

 Leroy Leonard is a fine Philinte. His delivery of the lines that reflect Alceste’s Rochfoucauldian 

cynicism back to him are clearly read and hilariously delivered.

 Julie Michalak’s scantily clad Celimene is just a hair north of a squeaky gangstah’s moll in her delivery. Always in control of Alceste’s uh … heart, she is the only one who can maneuver him out of his over-the-top reactions to the human frailties – mainly flattery – which enrage him in Aspen and in “Hickenlooper Land.”Ms. Michalak has an exceptional command of the role. 

                                                                    Terry Burnsed and Julie Michalak

Eric Victor’s Oronte is magnificent! This actor has the task of being eviscerated by Alceste when the poor man gushes a poetic ode to the contrary misanthrope. Very funny work indeed!

      Left to right:  Eric Victor, Leroy Leonard and Terry Burnsed

 As DuBois, Alceste’s butler, Mark Moran continues his career of outrageous underling, walking the fine line between fawning servant and madhouse loony. His wall-eyed, spluttering fool of a servant, who doesn’t know if he’s doing a goose step or a turkey trot, is the very picture of someone who has to live constantly under the gun of a boss so incessantly honest about everyone  - warts and all!

Randy Diamon and Sam Gilstrap

A very good show but not “LAY MEE ZAY RAW BLUH!”

Go for Mr. Burnsed’s outstanding portrayal!

Germinal Stage Denver, located at West 44th Avenue and Alcott Street in Northwest Denver, presents

THE MISANTHROPE

This is the third production of the theatre’s 38th season.

   Performances Friday (8:00, $21.75), Saturday (8:00, $23.75) and Sunday (7:00, $19.75) through June 10th.

Visa, Mastercard, and Discover accepted

For reservations for both productions or further information

             call the Germinal Stage Denver box-office at  303.455.7108

TWELFTH NIGHT

Arvada Center for the Arts (Produced in collaboration with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival)

                                            Timothy McCracken as Malvolio

                       Rachel Fowler, Josh Robinson, Geoff Kent and Kate Berry

Philip C. Sneed has cast Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” impeccably and peppered it with delicious landmines of laughter. Rachel Fowler delivers a sublime Olivia. Geoff Kent is a dashing Orsino. Kate Berry is a superb Viola/Caesario. Jake Walker is a feisty Feste in fine voice strumming away at his balalaika. Logan Ernstthal is a floridly flatulent Sir Toby Belch. Josh Robinson turns in a very fine performance as Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian. Leslie O’Carroll provides sterling character work as Maria, Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman. The opening scene, which is in many productions a complete wash was read passionately by Ms. Berry and Timothy Orr, who stepped in for Stephen Weitz as Antonio on the evening this reviewer was in attendance. Timothy McCracken - the son(s) in Curious Theatre’s “A Number” - is a despicably sanctimonious Malvolio. Splendid work! It helps to remember that the sanctimonious Puritans who, in Shakespeare’s day – as well as in our own! - All needed to be cross-gartered were constantly causing the theatres to be closed. Director Phillip Sneed’s directorial touches lean into the Dionysian pleasures with a bit of a naughty and sometimes raunchy enhancement. These Bacchanalian touches provide bright contrast to Malvolio’s contained and gagging self-righteousness. One might wish, however, that this old warhorse of a play had a bit of a friskier pacing. Perhaps it was the long workweek speaking, but once Malvolio gets his comeuppance, the rest of Shakespeare’s play always seems to drag. One also can’t help but wonder if Olivia’s eyesight is failing mistaking Mr. Robinson for Ms. Berry. Nevertheless … Mr. Sneed’s fine directorial work here is aided in no small part by the technical staff at Arvada Center. Brian Mallgrave’s excellent set design, Shannon McKinney’s lighting and the incomparable Steve Stevens’ sound design all figure in prominently. The sound of the creaking ship mast, crashing waves and thunder created the shipwreck at the top of the show brilliantly. Clare Henkel’s costumes put us smack dab in the middle of Albania, which the program tells us was called Illyria back in the early 1800s. This collaboration between the Colorado Shakespeare Festival Company and The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities is a huge success.

Go for the laughs!

Arvada CO – The Arvada Center in collaboration with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) will open William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will, a Comedy on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s Producing Artistic Director, Philip C. Sneed, is directing the show. Twelfth Night will run in the intimate 220 seat Black Box Theater May 1 – 27. Previews are April 27 – 29 at 7:30pm nightly. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm, Wednesday at 1:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm. Talkbacks will be offered Friday, May 11 after the 7:30pm show and Wednesday, May 16 after the 1:00pm show. Ticket prices range from $25 (previews) - $47 for prime seating. To order tickets call 720-898-7200 or go online to www.arvadacenter.org. 

                              

“Il Trovatore”


Bel Canto non pareil!

 Giuseppe Verdi composed this opera in 1853.  A few of his other operas are: “Aida,” “La Traviata,” “Rigoletto” and “Nabucco.” “Il Trovatore” (The Troubadour) includes some of the most beloved and well-known music in the repertory. The famous Anvil Chorus is just one of the many exhilarating moments. The libretto is quite complex in its storytelling. However… if you pay close attention to Ferrando’s narration at the top of the show the mystery unravels with ease. This is aided in no small measure by the superb work done by Jeremy Sortore, who translated the libretto to the subtitles illuminated on the back of the seat directly in front of you. This opera was a huge success when it opened in 1853 and remains one of the most popular. The central character is Avucena, the gypsy whose mother was burned at the stake by the present Count di Luna’s father. The Count is in love with Leonora, who is also loved by Manrico, who is believed to be Avucena’ son. Duels, executions and suicides are all part of the story. Greg Carpenter, the General Director of Opera Colorado, has said, “If one were to reduce the story to one word it would be REVENGE.” Mr. Carpenter announced just before curtain on opening night that this production cost eight hundred thousand dollars to produce and it shows every penny. The production, directed by Tara Faircloth and conducted by Alexander Polichianko, is aesthetically delicious. The production values are magnificent. Alan Moyer’s scenery is astounding. The scenic architecture is all done on the slant to give those in attendance an enhanced visualization of the twisted nature of Count di Luna and the vengeful events in the story. Diva Michele Capalbo, who plays Leonora, has an incredible instrument, and exploits it to the full here. Her soprano is powerful and yet is able to deliver some of the most exquisite pianissimo moments one may ever expect to hear upon the opera stage.


                                                
                                                        Michele Capalbo as Leonora

These are breathtaking musical moments that you will never ever forget!  Wayne Tigges (basso) is superb in the role of Ferrando. Mezzo Nancy Maultsy gives us a gutsy Avucena. Baritone Robert Hyman’s Count di Luna is exceptional. Tenor August Amonov portrays Manrico with passion. The scrumptious Opera Colorado Orchestra and Chorus stun! The reason this opera has been absent from the last several seasons is due to the fact that it is difficult to find opera singers who are capable of singing this daunting work. Opera Colorado has succeeded on every count in giving us a balanced production that is a feast for the ear as well as the eye. The show is auditory champagne.

Run to see it!

Ellie Caulkins Opera House Tickets

14th & Curtis Streets,  Denver,  CO  80204

Box Office Numbers

For Opera performances, please contact the Opera Colorado Box Office: (303) 468-2030

TTY numbers for Ticketmaster: 800-755-6244, 877-474-4833, or 877-475-4833

 http://www.operacolorado.org/

AMATEUR NIGHT AT THE BIG HEART

Jack Wefso and Karen Erickson

If you like memory plays that are strong on character and that have a dynamic sense of place you will love “Amateur Night at the Big Heart.” The play, penned by Terry Dodd, is currently on view on the main stage at Aurora Fox Arts. Dodd is at his best with this play filled with what he does best: Homespun Americana. Playwright Dodd spent a lot of time as a young man going along with his father who was a cop in Pueblo assigned to a beat that involved “all things alcohol.” The characters and their activities and the bar itself, feel like a composite of a lot of mostly happy memories from that time. Dodd has said that the play was inspired by his viewing of a production of William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life” that he saw at The Denver Center a number of years and then spiked with a nod to “Cheers.” Shaun Albrechtson has designed a gorgeous replica of a bar right onstage. It’s the genuine article and it’s the first thing you’ll fall in love with upon entering the auditorium. Lighting designer Shannon McKinney provides the professional work Denver audiences have come to expect from her. Likewise El Armstrong gives us his usual ear-pleasing sound design. What you will fall in love with most though is the cast. Jack Wefso’s portrayal of Stacker, the birthday boy who is just turning 35 and thinks he’s hit middle age is thoroughly engaging. Jack Casperson plays the world’s oldest busboy, whose intentionally unfortunate ventriloquist act is charming.  It’s a treat to get to see Karen Erickson back onstage again. Her portrayal of cook and accountant Jo (hopefully she’s not cooking the books!) lights the place up. Erickson's slow dance with Mr. Casperson at final curtain is the perfect emotional night-cap after this rowdy night of drinkin’ and reminiscin’ at The Big Heart. Rhonda Brown is most memorable as bar owner Marge. Her character is as close as it gets to the voice of reason in this play and she gets to nail some of the funniest lines. Nils Swanson is fine as an early evening drunk who crawls in already soused before the party has even begun. Brian Brooks turns in his best work to date as an honorable guy whose identity is mistaken to be that of a shady character on the lamm by these rustic characters. Lisa Rosenhagen sparkles as Shirley, a woman who has just lost her boy friend to a woman “who collects lighters.” Rosenhagen’s acting duet with Kurt Brighton, who plays Shirley’s ex boyfriend, Ron is one of the best moments of the evening. Another is a tete a tete involving Jack Wefso as Stacker being stricken by Diana Dresser’s mysterious Marie. Seein’ this play is kind of like going into a bar you’ve never been to before. It’s a little uncomfortable at first, not knowin' anybody there. Then you sit back and start getting to know these characters. In very short order everyone’s kind of like family. You laugh at their cornball jokes and cry with em over their heartbreaks. Dodd’s heartfelt country western memories could just get to you with a big heartbreak. As you take this journey with playwright Dodd and his characters you could just find that leaving them behind is kind of sad.  To paraphrase a song once sung by Burl Ives, “A little bitty tear might let you down.”

Not to be missed.

April 20 – May 13, 2012

TICKETS: 303-739-1970 or www.AuroraFox.org