ROMEO AND JULIET 

CENTRAL CITY OPERA: JUNE 24 – AUGUST 5

            L-R: Ricardo Garcia and Madison Leonard

Central City Opera’s production of Romeo and Juliet is a banquet for the ear and the eye. 

 

 

     "Romeo et Juliette" is an opera by Charles Gounod, with French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre. Following the success of his “Faust,” the composer’s “Romeo et Juliette” was the most popular opera in the second half of the nineteenth century.

     Madison Leonard is a ravishing Juliet. Her acting stuns and her soaring soprano intoxicates!

     Juliet’s Waltz is sung and played with such joie de vivre it will make you rise out of your seat. 

          Ricardo Garcia is a dashing, well-sung Romeo. His duets with Ms. Leonard blend to ear-pleasing perfection. One is happy to report that there is undeniable chemistry between Mr. Garcia’s Romeo and Ms. Leonard’s Juliet. 

     Wei Wu is stellar in the acting and singing of Frere Laurent. 

     Shea Owens delivers a well-sung and credible Mercutio.

     Erroll-Wesley Shaw’s performance in the role of Le Duc is masterful. This artist’s basso cries out to be heard in larger roles.

     Adam Cioffari is most memorable in the singing of Juliet’s father, Comte Capulet.

     Although Sarah Neal’s Gertrude is delightful in the acting and the singing, one might wish the director had cast a more seasoned actress for the Nurse.

     The lush musical joie de vivre of Capulet’s party will sound in your ears for days. It’s almost as strong an earworm as ‘the dance of the knights’ in Prokofiev’s ballet about these same ‘star-crossed lovers.’ 

     Under the baton of Maestro John Baril, the scrumptious Central City Opera orchestra delivers Gounod’s melodious score to perfection. Baril’s music direction keeps the musicians in the pit and the singers onstage always in sync.

     Matthew S. Crane’s gray crypt of a set design, which plays host to both love and death, proves to be more than efficient in its construction.  

      Matt Herndon’s fight choreography is expertly on point. 

     The costume design by Robert Perdziola is eye-popping indeed.

"Romeo and Juliet" is sung in French with English surtitles.

(Gounod’s "Romeo and Juliet" is playing in repertoire with "Kiss Me Kate" - Tony for Best Musical of 1949 - and Rossini’s "Othello.")

 

For tickets call the box office at 

303-292-6700 or go online at centralcityopera.org

 

 

 

 

 STONEWALL

BENCHMARK THEATRE: June 9 – July 1

 

 “Stonewall,” is a “devised” work, written by Neil Truglio. 

      Mr. Truglio, who with Abner Genece and Candace Joice two seasons ago helmed the creation of another “devised work” titled ELEPHANT (Marlowe Award for Best New Play), is a force to be reckoned with.

     Truglio also directs and designs this production, delivering a powerful memory play honoring the individuals who took a stand against police, politicians and the mob in the Christopher Street riots. Their demand for freedom, dignity and PRIDE, began our nation’s journey to where the LGBTQ community is today with regard to equal rights. 

      Stonewall is a powerful play with a cast larger than any to have ever graced the stage of this intimate venue.

   Anchoring the piece are performances by two veteran actors portraying gay and lesbian characters who experienced the tumult leading up to the riots at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in 1969, as well as one character who was involved with the police and politicians.

      Dan O’Neill (Martin Boyce), Barbara Porreca (Martha Shelley) and Verl Hite (Seymour Pine) break the fourth wall, speaking directly to us as audience as the historical drama unfolds behind them. 

   The police raid on the Stonewall Inn involving abusive treatment of customers and bartenders alike led to six days of violence and protests in the Village.

     The huge cast is comprised of many new faces that one hopes will appear soon again on stages across Denver.    

     Due to the time constraints of such a work, we are given only fleeting glimpses of all these courageous men and women. It would take an epic work to explore them in such a way as to truly give them their due.

     It is to be noted that due to content and language, no children under the age of 12 are admitted.

     The producers also caution parents in this regard that police brutality and harassment, as well as homophobic and transphobic slurs, hate crimes and murders are referenced as well.

     This is a true story that started the nationwide struggle for LGBTQ rights. It is perfect timing for Benchmark to produce this show during Pride Month.

    If you are a lover of serious docudrama, go see this powerful production!

 

For tickets go online at benchmarktheatre.com

 

 DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

PERFORMANCE NOW THEATRE COMPANY: JUNE 9-JUNE 24

          

L-R: Chris Boeckx and Tim Howard (Photo credit: RDG Photography)

Based upon the 1998 movie, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,”this musical has music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Jeffrey Lane.

     The show was nominated for ten Tony Awards in 2005, and Norbert Leo Butz won the prize for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

     Set on the French Riviera, two “fraudsters” trying to upstage one another in the art of flimflam, are outdone by an heiress they try to scam.

    Director Bernie Cardell has cast this production to perfection and paced it at a breathtaking clip.

     Chris Boeckx (Lawrence Jameson) and Tim Howard(Freddie Benson) play the two scam artists. 

      Boeckx’ vocals are excellent! His version of “Give Them What They Want” is suave and debonair perfection.  His impersonation of Dr. Shuffhausen is a hoot!

    Tim Howard is hysterically bombastic in his singing of “Great Big Stuff!”  His side-splitting scene with Boeckx, “All About Ruprecht,” is priceless.

 

     Amy Geiger is the Find of the evening! Her portrayal of Christine Colgate, in which she sings “Here I Am” and “Nothing is Too Wonderful to be True” with Mr. Howard, is Amazing! 

 

      As Muriel, Melissa Fike delivers an ear-pleasing version of “What Was a Woman to Do?”

          In the role of Andre Thibault, Jim Hitzke is at his best singing “Chimp in a Suit,” while trying to upgrade Freddy from crass to class. “Like Zis, Like Zat,” his duet with Ms. Fike, charms.

     Jenny Weiss’s take on Jolene, the husband-hunting cowgirl from “Oklahoma,” is high octane fun indeed! Ms. Weiss is a whirlwind of comic musical theatre energy!!!

     Spicing up the high-kicking ensemble, Dallas Slankard and Andy Sievers, both Marlowe Award winners for past performances at this venue, make Will Treat’s choreography sparkle! 

        Andrew Bates dazzles us with his scenic design once again!

     Heather Iris Holt’s music direction is superb!

     This production will make you forget the trauma of the evening news and leave you soaring out into the June evening humming the joyous ear-worms of David Yazbek’s tuneful score.

   How does it get any better than that?

     Run to get tickets!

 

For tickets call 303-987-7845 or go online at performancenow.org

 

 

 

 

 DRIVING MISS DAISY

VINTAGE THEATRE: June 2 – July 9

 

   Deborah Persoff and Cris Davenport

              (photo credit: RDG PHOTOGRAPHY)

Deborah Persoff is a National Treasure!

 

The first play in Alfred Uhry’s ‘Atlanta Trilogy,’ “Driving Miss Daisy,” won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It’s about Daisy Werthan, an elderly Jewish lady and her relationship with Hoke Coleburn, a black chauffeur, who drove for her in Atlanta  from 1948 to 1973.

     The show has been done both on and off Broadway as well as on London’s West End. Adapting the play for the 1989 film, Uhry won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. The film also received an Oscar for Best Picture as well as Best Actress for Jessica Tandy.

     By turns cantankerous and tender, Deborah Persoff’s exquisitely luminous performance will stay in your heart for a very long time.  Ms. Persoff is theatre royalty, and the Denver audience is fortunate to be able to experience her magnificent work.

     Ever since I first saw Cris Davenport in “Intimate Apparel” (Marlowe Award for Best Supporting Actor), I have searched for his name in every program. His work in “District Merchants” (Marlowe Award for Best Actor) was superb. 

     In the role of Hoke Colburn, Daisy Werthan’s chauffeur, Mr. Davenport’s humor and heartfelt emotion make this performance unforgettable.

     William B. Kahn is brilliant in the role of Boolie, Daisy’s son and Hoke’s employer. Mr. Kahn’s performance is the most amiable and multi-dimensional version of this character in memory.   

     Lorraine Scott’s direction of this play is top drawer. Her casting and pacing of the proceedings are supremely well done.

     Rick Reid’s sound design bridges the scenes with excellent musical choices.       

     Kevin Taylor’s lighting design enhances the mood with his usual professional skill.

     The scenic design by Urja Hurkute includes Daisy’s living room, Boolie’s office and a thoroughly well-executed version of Daisy’s car.

    The costumes by Susan Rahmsdorff-Terry are spot on.

    Megan O’Connor’s wig for Ms. Persoff is flawless.

     The characters in this play navigate the social changes going on in the South between 1948 and 1973.  Among them are the bombing of Atlanta’s Temple in 1958 and the 1965 salute to Martin Luther King Jr.

   Uhry is the first playwright to win the Tony, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Oscar.

     You simply must see this heart-opening humanistic production. 

      Run to get tickets!

 

Vintage Theatre Productions

"Driving Miss Daisy"

The heart-warming story of the unlikely friendship. 

June 2 – July 9

Fri/Sat @ 7:30 p.m.; Mon., June 12 @ 7:30 p.m.; Sun @ 2:30 p.m.

$20 - $34

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

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010