Boulder’s Dinner Theatre: 11/16 – 3/1

     BOULDER’S DINNER THEATRE’S ”SPAMALOT” IS AN EXTRAVAGANZA OF SILLINESS THAT WILL PLEASE NOT ONLY FANS OF THE MONTY PYTHON COMICS BUT JUST ABOUT ANYONE WHO LOVES TO LAUGH!

     The 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” has been a cult favorite ever since it opened and its fans adore the musical it spawnedalot! In 2005 The Pythonesque musical won the Tony Award for Best Musical on Broadway.

      Goofy, silly, wacky and irreverent, “Spamalot” is a whimsical fantasia of the omnipotent variety. I can hardly wait to get back to see it again. This time the whole fam damily is going!

                                       

                                                     Wayne Kennedy and Alicia Dunfee

     Alicia Dunfee is magnificent as the Lady of the Lake. Ms. Dunfee is decked out in some of the most gorgeous costumes to have been seen this season. The gowns costume designer Linda Morken has created for Ms. Dunfee’s aquatic goddess  shimmer and sparkle throughout. Dunfee’s vocals are, as usual, outstanding.

     Wayne Kennedy is an Arthur who is disturbed, doubting and indubitably destined to discover the whereabouts of the Grail. Bob Hoppe is a superb Sir Robin. Brian Jackson has never been better as Sir Launcelot , a Knight of Ni and an epithet-spewing Frenchman on the battlements. The winsome, bodacious Brian Norber is a hoot as Dennis’s mother.  Brett Ambler, Blake Walton and Scott Severtson deliver the goods with just the right over the top over acting. And who would have thunk that the voice of Jerry Lewis is the actual Voice of God? Scott Beyette is delightfully subservient in the role of Patsy, Arthur’s longsuffering servant. And last but not least,the Lady of the Lake’s “Laker Girls” are given just the right cheerleading  pulchritude and chutzpah by Tracy Warren, Jessica Hindsley, Norelle Moore and Tracy Zimmerman.

                                    

Left to right: Brian Jackson, Wayne Kennedy, Scott Beyette and some short Knights of Ni

     Ms. Arpan directs with the sure hand of one who has known numerous actors in all of the roles in this show. This lady performed in this show on Broadway and was part of the national tour. Arpan really knows what works and what doesn’t as far as staging Monty Python’s funny “business.” Her direction emphasizes all the allusions to past musicals inherent in the show. The Fiddler on the Roof (“You Won’t Succeed on Broadway”…if you don’t have any Jews) and Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” (“The Song that goes Like This”) are just two of these. There are also jabs at “Wizard of Oz,” “West Side Story” and numerous other musicals.

     Amy Campion has done wonders with the set and Todd Debreceni’s Armor Fabrication and Design is astounding. The fun quotient of this show is exponential and the laugh meter is nearly always on hyperdrive!

Oh, and if you order the Prime Rib your waiter will shout “Fetchez la vache!”

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

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre is located at 5501 Arapahoe Avenue
, Boulder, Colorado

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

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre is located at 5501 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, Colorado.

 Marlowe's Musings

    Town Hall Arts; 11/15 – 12/29

     With Bob Wells’ direction of his new production of “Annie” Town Hall Arts continues its claim to being one of the very best musical theatre venues in the region.

     Wells has discovered a phenomenal talent in Sydney Fairbairn. She’s that little girl with the red hair and the indomitable hope for Tomorrow. It doesn’t hurt that she’s cute as a button and can sing either. We’ve seen enough reproductions of this show in which the child actors are just not up to the task. And while we’re on the subject the ensemble of little girls in the orphanage is superb to a waif. Running the orphanage as Miss Hannigan is LuAnn Buckstein, one of Denver’s foremost talents in comedic acting. It is to be hoped that Ms. Buckstein will be seen again soon in productions such as this one. Her talent for character roles is remarkable. 

     Daniel Langhoff is outstanding in the role of Daddy Warbucks. A bit youngish for the role, Langhoff does smashing work. His duets with Ms. Fairbaim ("Something was Missing" and "I Don't Need Anything But You") as well as his delivery of numbers such as “N.Y.C.” stun!

                              

                               Rebekah Ortiz, Daniel Langhoff and Sydney Fairbairn 

     Rebekah Ortiz, who knocked everyone out in Ignite’s “Pippin, proves a fetching Grace.

     Cory Wendling's fiery performance in the role of Rooster tears the place up accompanied by Taylor Nicole Young's superb Lily.

                                   

                  Left to Right: Cory Wendling, LuAnn Buckstein and Taylor Nicole Young

     There are great talents in the supporting cast as well: Damon Guerrasio, Paul Jaquith, Kevin Walton, Kateri Cates and John Mackey.

     The technical work is flawless. Tina Anderson’s set design moves us in Bob Wells’ seamlessly precise transitions from orphanage to mansion to Times Square with artistry that’s illuminated by Seth Allison’s eye-popping lighting design.

     Donna Kolpan Debreceni has provided us with ear pleasing tracks of the indescribably delicious variety.

     Kelly Kates’ choreography is exhilarating!

     Cindy Franke’s costumes are spot on.

     You’ll have to pray to the theatre gods to get a seat. The run is nearly SRO!

Town Hall Arts is at 2450 West Main Street, Littleton Colorado

Call 303-794-2787  for tickets or go online at townhallartscenter.com

Snow Falling on Cedars

Vintage Theatre: 11/22 – 12/15

     Spare and clear as Haiku, Director Sam Wood’s “Snow Falling on Cedars” is also illuminating and poignant.

     Based upon the David Guterson novel that became a movie in 1999, the story deals with a newspaper reporter who’s covering a murder trial. A fisherman has been killed in Puget Sound and the man accused of the murder is the husband of the reporter’s teenage girl friend.

Left to Right: Arlene Rapal and Ben Cowhick

     Ben Cowhick turns in a superb performance in the role of Ishmael Chambers, the reporter. Arlene Rapal is outstanding as Hatsue. Dale Li rivets as Kabuo Miamoto the accused man. Glenna Kelly turns in a very fine performance as the mother of the deceased fisherman.

     The play includes flashbacks to scenes involving the American concentration camps for the Japanese while the War in the Pacific raged.

Left to Right: Robert Payo and Maria Cheng

     Director Wood has brought together a fine cast that also includes Maria Cheng, Robert Payo, Wade Wood, Roger Simon, Brian Brooks and Christian Munck.    

     Although one bank of lights failed to work on opening night the gallant cast managed to carry off the riveting drama with professional panache.

     The evocative sound design is one of the memorable highlights.

Vintage Theatre presents

"Snow Falling on Cedars"

A courtroom drama, a mystery, a love story set in a community divided by whites and Japanese.

*Nov. 22 - Dec. 15
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 80010Marlowe's Musings

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Death by Miss Fortune

Windsor Gardens Theatre Company

     Pamela Clifton has directed a very fun production of a play called “Death by Miss Fortune” over at Windsor Gardens.
                           
           Mary Julsen and Ed Loffredo

     It was a genuine pleasure to get to experience the presentation of this comic pastiche. Clifton, who also wrote the script, has assembled an adorable and enthusiastic cast who are learning the dramatic arts and having a ball in the process.

     The scenario communicated by these thespians is that of a playwright who is writing a mystery involving a murder at a talent show. The seniors who brought this comedy to life are getting a chance that many would envy. They are embracing this lucky opportunity with enthusiasm and passion.
                                   
                           Lynn Nicholson

     The auditorium at which, Clifton and her cast present their shows is comfortable and elegant. This is a group of actors who really know what it means to entertain a sold out house and having a great good time themselves.Marlowe's Musings

Rancho Mirage

Curious Theatre: through Dec. 7

     Sometimes one is simply overwhelmed by the artistry on the Denver stage. For a rolling world premiere “Rancho Mirage” rocks. It’s the funniest of Steven Dietz’s plays to date and one of the most entertaining productions to have been seen at Curious for a long time. 

     Director Christopher Leo has assembled a cast of Curious Theatre’s brightest stars and gives the proceedings a quicksilver pace that keeps us totally enthralled throughout.

     Playwright Dietz has great compassion and a great sense of humor about his characters’ frailty, frustrations and foibles.  These characters are friends in the true sense of the word. Since they know each other so well the are able to

Left to right: C. Kelly Leo and Karen Slack

annoy and madden each other with their petty peeves and critical gaze. What they do for the audience is destroy funny bones.

     Bill Hahn pulls out all the stops with a performance that is comic gold! C. Kelly Leo is at her best in a searing melt down near final curtain. Karen Slack, Erik Sandvold, David Russell and Devon James are all at the top of their game.
                                       
                                        Left to right: Bill Hahn, C. Kelly Leo and Karen Slack

      The professionalism is everywhere present and there is a budget that allows for visual and auditory satisfaction many times missing in theatres with a more modest allowance. Every actor onstage delivers Mr. Dietz’s wordsmithing with an undeniable naturalness. Everything feels fresh and as if these characters were all encountering these dilemmas for the first time. Dietz’s characters have known each other forever…know the buttons to push as well as the pitfalls of conversation to avoid - and in no time flat - to wallow around in with glee.

     It’s Christopher Leo’s best directorial work to date and it will make you roar!

Curious Theatre Company
1080 Acoma St.
Denver, CO 80204     For tickets go online to curioustheatre.org or call the box office at 303-623-0524Marlowe's Musings

Electra Onion Eater

Buntport Theatre: 11/1 - 11/23Left to right: Erik Edborg, Andrew Horwitz, Erin Rollman and Hannah Duggan

     Buntport Theatre is a gift of the gods! Their lampooning of Sophocles’ Greek tragedy ”Electra” is a delectable ambrosia.

     “Electra Onion Eater” proves once again that the demigods over at Buntport have the recipe for turning the most tragic tale into an evening of theatre that’s an Olympian laugh riot! Anyone who saw their send-up of Shakespeare’s “Titus” knows that.

     The genius of this troupe is that they are able to sublimate ego (Really? I know!) and collaborate in the writing and directing in order to bring forth shows that are somehow sublimely smart and sensationally silly.

     This one is sort of a tragedy of the geeks that gives us a mash-up of contemporary sit com and advert jingle while providing a nudge and a wink to the mask which uneasy wears the frown.

      Hannah Duggan is the magnificently breezy and carefree matriarch, Clytemenestra. Erin Rollman is her hysterical (and hysterically funny) daughter Electra who, continues to grieve for her dead daddy Agamemnon by cryin’ like a rat eatin’ onions. Erik Edborg is Orestes, Elektra’s long lost 

bro. 

      In this glimpse into the dirty laundry of one of the original dysfunctional families of Greek theatre the Buntport crew has brought in guest artist Andrew Horwitz as friend of the fam, Brucey-Goosey.

     Even if you have never heard of Sophocles’ “Electra”…No Worries! The show’s so tight you get it all right from the start.

     This show comes with the highest of recommendations from this reviewer’s desk.Marlowe's Musings

Buntport Theatre is located at 717 Lipan St Ste B Denver, CO 80204 Call (720) 946-1388 or go online at www.buntport.com for tickets

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The Edge Theatre Company: Through 11/17

     There is a fine production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at The Edge Theatre.  Directed by Angela Astle, The Edge continues its reputation for taking risks.

     Brian Landis Folkins’ portrayal of Brick is a compelling one that is modulated with true craftsmanship.

Brian Landis Folkins and Maggy Stacy

     Maggy Stacy’s sultry performance in the role of Maggie the cat is a convincing one.

    Emma Messenger is outstanding as Big Mama. Her character is deliciously real in her aggravating and annoying characterization.

                                     

                            Maggy Stacy and Emma Messenger

     Marc Stith’s Gooper is imbued with so much humanity one feels an empathy for a character one generally dislikes.

     Russell Costen’s Big Daddy is powerful.

                                                   

                                    Russell Costen

     Justin Lane’s scenic design for Astle’s vision of this in the round presentation is extremely well done. Aided by the sound design of Kenny Storms and Steve Caldarola’s lighting design the show is blessed with external natural sounds and explosions of fireworks. Caroline Smith’s costumes are spot on.

Photo Credit: Rachel D Graham / RDGPhotography

The Edge Theatre

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

The classic favorite story of a Southern family in crisis.

Oct 18 – Nov 17

Fri./Sat. @ 7:30 p.m.; Sun. @ 6 p.m.

Tickets: $20 - $22

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

The Edge Theatre, 1560 Teller Street, Suite 200, Lakewood CO 80214. Free Parking.Marlowe's Musings