MINERS ALLEY PLAYHOUSE: Through June 25

Len Matheo’s astute direction of Cabaret is phenomenal. His casting and pacing along with his ability to use every inch of the stage –even allowing the action to spill out into the audience - is awe-inspiring.

     From the moment she arrives onstage Adriane Wilson commands the stage as Sally Bowles. Her first stride across the stage lets us know this is her territory. This actor shines doing sassy numbers such as “Mein Herr” and “Don’t Tell Mama.” When she sings the title song she will wreck you! BRAVA!

     Jim Walker is the tallest emcee you may ever have the pleasure of seeing. Leering and looming over the others in the cast, and sometimes even the audience, this actor makes the part his own.

One hopes to see his name in many future programs.

     Tender and endearing, Tim Fishbaugh’s performance in the role of Herr Shultz is unforgettable.

     Kristen Samu performs the part of Fraulein Schneider with poignant resolve as her character struggles to navigate the social and political turmoil of the day. Ms. Samu's singing of "What Would You Do?" will break your heart.

     Alaina Beth Reel’s Fraulein Kost is funny at first, and then becomes terrifying as she belts out “Tomorrow Belongs To Me.”

     Rory Pearce’s performance in the role of Herr Ludwig is the kind of brilliant acting in which the actor gets lost in the role. A studied portrayal!

     The polished choreography is by Angie Simmons.

     Vance McKenzie’s lighting design imbues each scene with the requisite moodiness.

     The music direction by Mitch Samu is the professional quality which the Colorado theatre audience has come to expect of him.

How does it get any better than having Steve Klein on bass,Tag Worley on drums, Jeremy Wendelin on woodwinds and maestro Mitch Samu on keyboards?

      The intimacy of Miners Alley Playhouse allows this production of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret to let us feel what happens when heinous things are happening in our world and we “don’t care very much.”

    Not to be missed. 

Marlowe's Musings

Miners Alley Playhouse

"Cabaret"

The Tony Award-winning musical about following your heart while the world loses its way.

May 19 – June 25

Fri. /Sat. at 7:30 p.m.; Sun at 1 p.m.; Sunday, May 28, June 4, 11 & 18 at 6pm 

$18-$28 

Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington Avenue, Golden, CO 80401
303-935-3044 or online at minersalley.com.

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

BDT STAGE: THROUGH  AUGUST 19

                     Jack Barton as Joseph

BDT STAGE’S “JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAM COAT” IS AN INTOXICATING DELIGHT THAT MUST BE SEEN!

     Director and co/choreographer Matt Peters has envisioned and executed an exhilarating evening of theatre that must be experienced.

     Peters has stylistically re-imagined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first musical, and breathed a fiery life into it. After you’ve seen a show a dozen times or more, it can begin to lose its luster. So it’s great when an artist has a new vision for its expression upon the stage.

     Tracy Warren’s singing of the part of the Narrator dazzles! Her soprano does more than soar.  It enchants us and lifts us right up through the BDT Stage ceiling. BRAVA!

     Jack Barton’s portrayal of the central character is thoroughly well executed. This actor’s artistic evolution since playing Peter in last season’s “Peter and the Star Catcher” is Amazing! His singing of “Close Every Door” and “Any Dream Will Do” are heart openers.

     As the leather clad pharaoh Scott Servertson delivers a “King’s Song” that’s a sensational show stopper!

     Scott Beyette is most memorable as he whines and wails his way through “Those Canaan Days” in a hysterically fun send-up of La Chanson Francaise.

     Wayne Kennedy does his usual professional magic as Jacob and Potiphar, sobbing and mourning as the former, and puffed up with arrogance as the latter. Kennedy also did the very fine audio design.

      Alejandro Roldan delivers the Benjamin Calypso with gusto!

      Brian Burron gives us a fantastic tongue in cheek lamentation of the country western variety with “One More Angel in Heaven.”

     Alicia K. Meyers, who co-choreographed the piece, performs the part of the salacious Pharaoh’s Wife with every hilariously enticing and seductive move in the book.

     Chas Lederer, Burke Walton, Bob Hoppe and Jacob Villareal light up the stage with their singing and dancing in the ensemble.

     Music Director Neal Dunfee and the BDT Stage orchestra give us musical accompaniment that is delicious to the ear.

     With the contemporary slant on costuming given us by creative genius Linda Morken, the show is visually magnificent.

     Enhancing Amy Campion’s superb set design, Brett Maughan’s lighting design is turning every summer night this season into the Fourth of July.

And please remember that a variety of spectacular choices await on their menu as well.

The haddock with hollandaise was scrum diddly!
Marlowe's Musings

BDT Stage is located at   5501 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, Colorado.

For tickets go online at bdtstage.com or call 303-449-6000

42^nd Street

Candlelight Dinner Playhouse: Through June 4

Parker Redford (center) and the cast of 42nd Street sing "We're in the Money!"

     I just returned from an enjoyable and entertaining production of “42^nd Street” at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse.

     Sometimes reviewers are just plain jaded. When you’ve seen every version of a movie musical on screens big and little and then seen it onstage almost as many times, you get jaded.

    However… in the case of “42^nd Street” it’s almost impossible to tire of this grand old warhorse and her song and dance.

     This tale of an aging star getting put out to pasture just as the new actress is becoming “a Star” is nothing new in the story-telling department. However…there are a number of actors in this cast who will deliver the goods as though it were.     Heather McClain plays Dorothy Brock, the fading star and David L. Wygant portrays the director, Julian Marsh.

     Lisa Kay Carter sparkles as Peggy Sawyer, the new girl in town.

      In the supporting cast you will have the great pleasure of seeing Denver favorite, Mary McGroary in the role of Annie. Ms. McGroary lights up the stage any time she’s on it, and you may find your eye following her throughout all the ensemble numbers. Why? Because she IS a Star!

     Parker Redford’s exuberant portrayal of Billy Lawlor is a total delight.

      Directed by Pat Payne, the show is full of such vintage favorites as: “We’re in the Money,” “Broadway Lullabye” and “You’re Getting to be a Habit With Me.”

     The sparkly show-biz costumes are by Debbie Faber.

     Choreographer Kate Vallee delivers a cast-full of dancers who tap their way into your heart from curtain to curtain. So go “and meet those dancing feet” and enjoy this truly exquisite venue. (The original choreography was of course, created by Broadway legend, Gower Champion.)

     That said one might have wished for a splashier lighting design with regard to the usual neon Broadway marquees.

     So if you’re a “42^nd Street” virgin – or even if you’re not - get on up to Candlelight Dinner Playhouse and enjoy dinner and a show.

      I can’t comment on the food this time since we were only able to arrive just in time to see the show due to scheduling difficulties. (One must add that when this reviewer saw Donald Berlin’s outstanding production of “Into the Woods,” the food and wine were both scrum diddly.)Marlowe's Musings

Candlelight Dinner Playhouse is located at 4747 Marketplace Drive in Johnstown, CO, 80534

For tickets call the box office at 970-744-3747

Scotland Road

The John Hand Theatre on Lowry : May 6 –June 3

             Set design by Bernie Cardell

Spotlight Theatre’s production of Jeffrey Hatcher’s “Scotland Road” is a thrilling evening of theatre.

     Directed with style and grace by Luke Rahmsdorff-Terry, this intriguing story, will provide the theatregoer with plenty of questions about which to ruminate.

     Imagine that a beautiful young woman (Kelly Alayne Dwyer) has been discovered adrift on an iceberg in the North Atalantic in clothing that was fashionable several decades ago.

     Now imagine her being interrogated by an erudite doctor (Todd Black) in an unadorned room that’s furnished with only one chair. Her enigmatic silence in the face of his arrogance, heightens the suspense right up to an unexpectedly explosive moment.

Once the steam has been released, it builds again to a finale that, while 'somewhat satisfying,' remains solidly fixed in a cache of questions involving secrets, control issues and our insatiable obsession with tragedy.

The very fine cast includes: Todd Black, Mari Geasair, Kelly Alayne Dwyer and Katie Mangett.

    Ms. Mangett stuns!

     Few sound designers in town can provide us with as compelling an auditory enhancement as Director Rahmsdorff-Terry does with his sound design. Susan Rahmsdorff-Terry created the spot-on costumes.

     It is important that much of this production remain a secret. It's tempting to say more but the entire review would be peppered with spoiler alerts.

     Just go and experience the suspenseful intrigue for yourself.

For tickets go online to ThisIsSpotlight.com or call 720-530-4596.Marlowe's Musings