THE 2023 MARLOWE AWARDS 

 

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

DRIVING MISS DAISY 

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY

DEBORAH PERSOFF

DRIVING MISS DAISY

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY

SEAN SCRUTCHINS

AMERIKIN

CURIOUS THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY

CRIS DAVENPORT

DRIVING MISS DAISY

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

HANNAH DUGGAN

THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON IN THREE ACTS

BUNTPORT THEATER

 

BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY

TARA FALK

A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN

CHERRY CREEK THEATRE

 

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

BDT STAGE

 

BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL

KENNY MOTEN

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

BDT STAGE

 

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

WAYNE KENNEDY 

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

BDT STAGE

 

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER IN A MUSICAL

eden

CABARET

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS 

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

SHENA RENEE

DREAM GIRLS

LONE TREE ARTS CENTER

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

MARY CAMPBELL

CABARET

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST NEW CHILDREN’S MUSICAL

ALICE CLEANS UP WONDERLAND,

TOWN HALL ARTS CENTER

 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

CHRISTOPHER PAGE-SANDERS

SOPHISTICATED LADIES

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

KEVIN COPENHAVER 

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC 

DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION

HEATHER IRIS HOLT

SEUSSICAL, THE MUSICAL

PERFORMANCE NOW THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN

ISABEL AND MORIAH CURLEY-CLAY

CLYDE’S

THE DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

CHRIS LANE 

CLYDE’S

THE DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY 

 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

CHARLES R. MACLEOD

CLYDE’S

THE DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST NEW PLAY

THE HEADLINERS

CHERRY CREEK THEATRE COMPANY

 

BEST ENSEMBLE (PLAY)

THE INHERITANCE

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

 

BEST ENSEMBLE (MUSICAL)

THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL

MINERS ALLEY PLAYHOUSE

 

BEST PRODUCTION OF AN OPERA

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

 

BEST OPERA SINGER

JENNIFER DE DOMINICI

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

 

BEST PRODUCTION OF A BALLET

SWAN LAKE

COLORADO BALLET

 A Moon for the Misbegotten

Cherry Creek Theatre: 2/3 – 2/26

                 

                                                  CHRIS KENDALL 

                    (photo credit: Brian Miller)

Let me begin by saying that we owe a debt of gratitude to Producer Susie Snodgrass and the folks over at Cherry Creek Theatre for choosing O’Neill’s play for their season. (Since Ed Baierlein and Sallie Diamond closed Germinal Stage Denver, nobody has attempted to produce the great artists of American and World Theatre.) 

     That said, they (Cherry Creek Theatre) have also been wise enough to choose a talented director to oversee the proceedings.

      Tara Falk astutely delivers O’Neill’s tragic realism while brilliantly mining the salty humor which arises organically from the compost of these characters’ gritty reality. 

     Falk’s clear-eyed direction has blessed the show with a powerhouse cast.  

     Featuring three of our premiere actors, Falk introduces a new actor who fits in with ease and chutzpah.

     There are few actors in town who could portray Josie Hogan with the great heart and diamond-bright talent of Emily-Paton Davies. Commanding the stage from curtain to curtain, hers is a compelling and finally, endearing performance you simply can’t miss.

L-R: Cajardo Lindsey and Emily Paton Davies (photo credit: Brian Miller)

     Cajardo Lindsey’s riveting performance in the role of Jim Tyrone is Powerful! Embodying the playwright’s memories of his older brother’s final attempt to find love, this actor’s portrayal is exemplary and unforgettable.

     Chris Kendall’s dynamic performance in the role of Josie’s father, Phil Hogan, is extraordinary! Doing his best to hold a family together, to raise pigs, and eek out a living from the land, Kendall gives us a grizzled, gravel-voiced farmer, who can stave off any challenge with guts and vulgar humor.

     New to this reviewer, Christopher Robin Donaldson gives superb readings of Hogan’s son, Mike, as he runs away to find his fortune at the top of the play. As the trouble-makin’ neighbor, T. Stedman Harder, Donaldson does a great job of intentionally providing comic fodder for the Hogans’ derisive laughter.

      Director Falk has also assembled an incredible group of artists for the technical end of things. 

      Upon entering the Pluss Theatre we are regaled with Tina Anderson’s superb fragmentary scenic design, which is constructed in such a way that we as audience get to observe the action going on inside the shanty as well as outside.

     Nicole M. Harrison’s costume design for each of the characters is spot on.

     Emily A. Maddox is constantly shifting the mood with her eye-pleasing lighting design.

     The excellent sound design by Max Silverman makes one wonder whether the Pluss theatre has got a new sound system. His choices of folk fiddles and the like to bridge the scenes work incredibly well.

     Eugene O’Neill won four Pulitzer Prizes for literature. They were for “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “Beyond the Horizon,” “Anna Christie,” and “Strange Interlude.” Influenced by Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg, O’Neill’s tragic realism is ranked right up there with Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams in American literature. In fact, O’Neill’s plays were, for a long time, the most produced in America after Shakespeare and Shaw.

     “A Moon for the Misbegotten” is O’Neill’s last completed play. It’s often thought to be a sort of sequel to his autobiographical “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” 

 

For tickets call: 303-800-6578 or go online at cherrycreektheatre.org