THE DROWSY CHAPERONE

CO-PRODUCED BY VINTAGE THEATRE and PERFORMANCE NOW THEATRE COMPANY

SEPTEMBER 2 – OCTOBER 9

 

BERNIE CARDELL IS A NATIONAL TREASURE!!!

 

This production of the Tony Award-winning show is a close replication of the one last year. The review will therefore be pretty much the same, except for where this production has introduced a new actor or some other innovation in the production.

 

     Last September THE DROWSY CHAPERONE appeared on the west side of town at Performance Now Theatre Company in the Lakewood Community Center.

This September Vintage Theatre and Performance Now Theatre Company are co-producing (reproducing?) the show in Vintage Theatre’s own Nickelson Auditorium in Aurora.

     This time there are a few changes due to schedules, moves and what not. Somehow the show has evolved into something even better!

     Having swept the MARLOWE AWARDS at the end of last year, THE HENRYS followed suit this summer.  You really can’t go wrong buying a seat for this spectacular show. It’s entertainment of the highest and best! And who doesn’t need a bit of that in these unsettling times? What was wonderful in the production in Lakewood, has been made all the more enjoyable in the intimacy of The Jeffrey Nickelson auditorium at Vintage.

     The show opens with the musings of a musical theatre super fan - Man in Chair- who’s trying to lift his spirits and decides on playing the original Broadway cast recording of a show called The Drowsy Chaperone. As he describes the show and plays the record – “yes, record”- the show explodes across the stage with eye-popping, ear-pleasing panache!

     Bernie Cardell portrays Man in Chair, and his portrayal is one of those truly exceptional performances that are SO rare, it will be talked about in theatre circles for decades. Cardell’s incarnation of ‘man in chair’ is tenderly vulnerable and wondrously open as he informs the audience of all his interesting points of view about “The Drowsy Chaperone’s” characters as well as the actors who played them. Cardell’s character walks in and out of the scenes in such a way as to let us as audience realize he’s more at home in his musical theatre fantasies than he is in real life. Kelly Van Oosbree’s direction of Cardell in “An Accident Waiting to Happen,” will have you in stitches. (Sorry. No spoilers.)

     In a nutshell, the plot has to do with whether Janet Van de Graaff and Robert Martin will get married or not.

     There have been a couple of changes in the cast. The bride is now played by Denver favorite Colby Reisinger. Ms. Reisinger is a musical theatre triple threat with a voice to die for. 

     The Latin Lover, Aldolpho is played by Matt LaFontaine with a superb comic take on the role. 

     Michaela Murray, who played June in the recent smash hit, GYPSY, knocks it out of the park as Trix, the aviatrix. 

     George A. Zamarripa is Feldzieg this time around. His performance in the role of this gangster boss is outstanding.

     Adrianne Hampton enchants as the squeaky wannabe actress and gangster moll, Kitty.

     As the groom, Andy Sievers continues to take the city by storm with his triple threat musical theatre talents.

     Brian Trampler (Underling) and Jennifer Burnett as Mrs. Tottendale return with vaudeville inspired moments that include spit-takes and malaprops galore.

     Andrew Bates taps up a storm as George, the Best Man.  Mr. Bates also scaled down his Marlowe Award and Henry award-winning scenic design for this more intimate space with true genius.

     Nancy Evans Begley stuns us once again as the Drowsy Chaperone herself. Begley’s spectacular voice is once again rocking the rafters. Her exaggerated facial expressions and semaphore-like gestures are now even in-your-face funnier.

     Tim Campbell and Kris Graves are the hilarious gangsters posing as pastry chefs. Their “Toledo Surprise” is hilarious.

     The choreography and direction by renowned Kelly Van Oosbree is perfection.

     Under the baton of Music Director Mary Dailey, the offstage band delivers the Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison score flawlessly.

       Emily Maddox’s Lighting Design provides just the right moods.

       Nikki Harrison’s costumes dazzle.  

 

NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

 

Vintage Theatre and Performance Now Theatre Company presents 

 “The Drowsy Chaperone” 

Tony Award winning send-up of the Jazz Age musical.

Sept. 2 – Oct 9

Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. at 2:30 p.m.

$20 - $38

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

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010

90 Minutes no intermission.

 

 

 

 

 HAIR

MINERS ALLEY PLAYHOUSE: through October 2

 

Alejandro Roldan, Brian Bohlender and the cast of HAIR (photo credit: Sarah Roshan)

Sexy, exhilarating and devastating all at once, Miners Alley Playhouse’s production of HAIR is a stunning accomplishment!!!

 

     With music by Galt MacDermot, and Lyrics and Book by Gerome Tagni and James Rado, HAIR opened on Broadway in 1968. Nominated for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, it won the Grammy for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album. (The album sold some three million copies.)

   In 1969 yours truly left the boredom of Montana for a jaunt across the pond and a Junior year abroad in Aix-en-Provence.

    On the way I stopped in NYC for a couple of days…and saw HAIR.  

     The New York cast was superb. They were as concerned about stopping the war in Viet Nam and staying out of the draft, as I was. My number came up and I was all set to go, when Father Harrington, the president of Carroll College, sent a note allowing me to be a conscientious objector. (He knew about the peace marches I had led in Helena and Marseilles.) 

      The electricity projected from the New York stage was palpable.  A year later when I hitchhiked from Marseilles to see the London production, I was surprised to find it bloodless, stale and uninteresting. The British were not invested in this war. They were just 'playing Hippy.' 

     I also learned a great deal of my French slang by listening to the recording of the version francais. I never did see the French stage production, but the recording was fiery and fun to listen to. The French had already been to Viet Nam and capitulated. They knew what HAIR was all about.

 

     The Miners Alley Playhouse production of HAIR is outstanding!!!

 

Director Len Matheo has cast the show to perfection. He utilizes every square inch of the playing space. Matheo’s concept is driven home by his ability to shift the scenario on a dime from joy to heart-wrenching anguish. This, my theatre-loving friends, is the Genuine Article!!!

      Angie Simmons' choreography of “the largest cast ever at Miners Alley,” is exuberant and sometimes spills over into the audience to great effect.

     Denver favorite Alejandro Roldan’s performance as Claude singing “I GOT LIFE!,” and “MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, ENGLAND” is unforgettable.

     Brian Bohlender’s Berger,going from trousers to loincloth, astounds with “LOOKING FOR MY DONNA!”

     Ben Hilzer endears as the hilariously goofy Woof.

       Preston Adams’ portrayal of HUD is amazing as he leads us into the show with “AQUARIUS,” as well as in all his subsequent numbers.

       Both Bussy Gower as Jeannie, whose pregnant and gas-masked lament about “AIR” pollution is potent indeed, and Katie Jackson as Crissy, whose singing about her ideal - but lost - love, “FRANK MILLS,” provide truly unforgettable performances!

     Valerie Igoe’s Sheila is at her best with the heart-rending “EASY TO BE HARD!”

     Renowned musical director David Nehls commands the keyboards while conducting the superb live stage band. The show's rockin’ music  is piped in from the lobby.

     The Lighting Design by Vance McKenzie stuns!

      Don’t miss this awesome production! 

 

For tickets go online at minersalley.com or call the box office at 303-935-3044.

 MAMMA MIA

STAGE DOOR THEATRE IN CONIFER

THROUGH JULY 31

 

Set on a Greek island, the music of ABBA fuels a young girl’s search for her birth father. When three possible suspects show up from her mother’s past, mayhem ensues along with lots of laughs, explosive dance numbers and non-stop tunes.

     “Thank you for the Music,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “The Winner Takes it All” and “Dancing Queen” are just a few of the Abba hits you will get to hear.

     In Stage Door’s production OF Mamma Mia, Tanner Kelly’s Music Direction creates an ear-pleasing evening indeed!

     Justin Johnson’s stage direction for this jukebox rom-com brings forth winning performances from one and all in this huge cast. From the leads, Marika Reisberg (Donna) and Annie Carpenter (Sophie) to the supporting cast, Donna’s friends, and beaux from the past, this cast shines.

     Of special note are Donna’s two compatriots: Tracy Denver (Tanya) and Jessica Sotwick (Rosie) in their trio, Donna and the Dynamos.

     The set design by Dean Arniotes and set construction by Biz Schaugaard, deliver a smashing Greek Taverna.

     Jess Melton’s glitzy costume design is eye-popping!

     Superb choreography by Tracy Doty is exuberantly danced by the ensemble. Go check out the excellent work being done in Conifer at Stage Door Theatre.

 

For tickets call 303-838-0809 or go online at stagedoortheatre.org

 TWO REMAIN,MEMORIES OF AUSCHWITZ

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

Left to right: Sean Stanton and Curt Olds 

(photo credit: Amanda Tipton)

COMPOSED BY JAKE HEGGIE

LIBRETTO BY GENE SCHEER

JULY 16, 20.21, 28

 

It is important to Remember those who perished in the Holocaust - Jews, homosexuals, political dissidents - so it will never happen again!

     Jake Heggie’s opera,”Two Remain,” is based partially upon the true stories of two survivors of Auschwitz: Gad Beck and Krystyna Zywulska. 

     Beck was a gay German Jew who passed away in 1993. Zywulska was a Polish dissident, who died in 2012. 

     Heggie and Scheer used journals and documents from the Holocaust Memorial Museum as well as Zywulska’s, “I Survived Auschwitz,” to create the opera. They also sourced interviews, many of which were featured in the film “Paragraph 175,” directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.    

      In the years between 1933 and 1945 the Nazis carried out a heinous crusade against male homosexuals under the statute of the German criminal code that forbade sexual relations between men. This statute was Paragraph 175.

     In the documentary: “Paragraph One Seventy-Five” Gad Beck tells about the nineteen-year-old lover that he had in Berlin, and how Manfred and his entire family were taken to Auschwitz and murdered. 

     “Zywulska was a Polish woman, who changed her Jewish name and who survived Auschwitz by becoming a camp poet. She wrote words to tunes that everyone was familiar with, and they would spread through the camp. Someone who appreciated what she did for morale among the in-mates, gave her a job, where she would not have to be afraid of being killed.

     Heggie and Scheer explored these emotionally charged experiences first as a chamber piece and then later transformed it into this opera, which was commissioned by Music of Remembrance. The piece is adamant that the heinous treatment of Jews, homosexuals and political dissidents must never happen again!!!

     Heggie and Scheer believe that a musical depiction of the emotional reality of these people’s lives is an incredible “conduit for the human heart.” And it is.

      Heggie's score for this opera is nothing short of magnificent! Showing some influence from the works of Kurt Weill, the song "Shoulder to Shoulder, Do Not Forget us!" is beautiful, heart-breaking and indelible. 

     Jake Heggie is also the composer of the outstanding and devastating opera, “Dead Man Walking” (Libretto by Terrence McNally,) and "Three Christmases." Central City Opera’s 2014 production of “Dead Man Walking” still resonates powerfully in memory.

Left to Right: Curt Olds and Tessa McQueen (photo credit: Amanda Tipton)

     Tessa McQueen stuns as Krystina Zywulska! 

 McQueen is a force of nature in her vocal depiction of Krystina's horrifying experiences at Auschwitz.

     Melanie Dubil (Edka), Gabrielle Barkidjija (Zosia/ Wala) and Catherine Goode (Krysia) are brilliant in supporting roles.

     Bettina Bierly's outstanding costume design speaks volumes.

     Curt Olds does an outstanding job portraying the aging Gad Beck. As he sits alone perusing a book in his home in Berlin, he ruminates over his past, and later dances with the apparition/memory of Manfred, his murdered lover.  His heartbreaking performance will resonate within you for a long, long time.

     Sean Stanton portrays Manfred, the spectre of Gad’s long dead lover. Mr. Stanton’s powerful vocals describing the devastating experience of Manfred's arrest by the Gestapo and subsequent murder will haunt you long after final curtain.

     Director Dan Wallace Miller paces the proceedings with a light and respectful touch.

     ( Due to the fact that some actor/singers had become ill, Stephanie Shelden and Abigail Raiford stepped into supporting roles, doing an excellent job at the last minute.)

    Co-conductors Brandon Eldredge and John Baril, led the excellent orchestra with passion and sensitivity.

     James P. McGough (wigs/makeup) has done an excellent job aging Mr. Olds for the role of Gad Beck.

     This opera is sung in English and has a running time of around one hour and forty-five minutes.

     I hope you get to experience this new masterwork of the American Opera.

     One must extend great thanks to this company, which allows the Colorado audience to experience, not only the great classics in the repertoire, but also contemporary works of the American Opera.

     This production is performed in the Foundry.

For tickets call: 303-292-6500 or go online at centralcityopera.org

 

 DIE FLEDERMAUS

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

Composer: Johann Strauss, Jr.

Librettists: Karl Haffner and Richard Genee

(Playing in repertoire with THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and TWO REMAIN through July 31)

 

                                                   

                                 Alisa Jordheim as Adele 
                               (Photo credit: Amanda Tipton Photography)

Strike whatever’s on your calendar for Saturday night! Central City Opera’s production of “Die Fledermaus” is auditory champagne!!! 

 

     The quintessential Viennese operetta, “Die Fledermaus” has been called the greatest of all musical comedies in the repertoire. This comic operetta composed by ‘the Waltz King,’ involving mistaken identities and practical jokes, was traditionally produced in Vienna on New Year’s Eve.

     Dr. Falke is going to take revenge on his buddy, Eisenstein for playing a practical joke on him, which earned Falke the name Dr. Bat.  Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, is still being serenaded by an old flame named Alfred, and her chambermaid, Adele, is using the opportunity to ask for the night off to go partying. Eisenstein accepts Falke’s invitation to a party hosted by Prince Orlofsky (Kira Dills-Desurra), at which his masked wife and her chambermaid turn up as well. 

     In the end all the hilarious mayhem gets sorted out, practical jokes are avenged and all of it gets blamed on the champagne.

     Director Joachim Schamberger has done a superb job in the staging. His casting is impeccable.  Schamberger elicits strong characterizations from his actor/singers all the while emphasizing the festive frivolity inherent in the script.

     Gabriel Von Eisenstein (Dr. Bat) is played by William Ferguson. Disguised as le Marquis Renard at Orlofsky’s party, Ferguson is hilarious. Enoch Snow in last season’s production of “Carousel,’ this artist recently played Louis Ironson in “Angels in America” for Salzburger Landestheater. 

     Dr. Falke is played by Troy Cook. Cook’s rendition of “Bruderlein und Schwesterlein” (‘Little Brother and Little Sister.”) charms. This artist played Captain Von Trapp in the 2014 production of CCO’s “The Sound of Music,” and Germont in its 2015 “La Traviata.”                      

   Rosalinde is portrayed by Hailey Clark. This artist played Fiordiligi in CCO’s 2017 ‘Cosi fan tutte,” and more recently Alma Beers in “Brokeback Mountain” at Stadttheatre, GieBen. Clarke’s singing of “Klange der Heimat” (“Sounds of my Homeland”), while masquerading as a Hungarian countess, is magnificent!

     Prince Orlofsky, a wealthy Russian, is portrayed by Kira Dills-DeSurra. This artist’s singing and acting of “Chacun a Son Gout” is just one example of her vocal and acting excellence. Her performance in this role is consistently hysterical, and more than a little bit bombastic. Her accent and comic timing magnificent!

     (It is to be noted that peppered throughout the proceedings there are, from time to time, references to our contemporary “fake news” and “oligarchs” that are not only funny but spot on!)

     Adele, Rosalinde’s chambermaid, is played by Alisa Jordheim. Gilda in last season’s “Rigoletto,” she also played Fredrika in “A Little Night Music” (2009) and Flora in “The Turn of the Screw” (2012.) In this production Jordheim’s singing of the aria known as ‘the laughing song,’ “Mein Herr Marquis,” is utterly sublime! 

     Rosalinde’s old flame, Alfred (Matthew Plenk) sings The Drinking Song; “Trinke Leibchen, Trinke schnell,”(“Drink for drinking makes life merrier.”) Plenk’s singing intoxicates at least as much as the bubbly he’s promoting.

     The boozy jail keeper Frosch is played with broad strokes of comic brilliance by Curt Olds! This actor is currently cast as Monsieur Andre in the World Tour of “The Phantom of the Opera,” as well as recently having played the emcee in “Cabaret” at Atlanta Opera and Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein’s “Candide” for Opera Arizona.

     Conductor John Baril coaxes all the high-spirited joie de vivre - and there’s plenty of it! - out of Johann Strauss Jr.’s gorgeous score.  Under his baton, the luscious Central City Opera orchestra delivers Strauss’s rapture-inducing melodies gloriously!

     Set Designer Erhard Rom provides us with a beautifully appointed scenic design for Gabriel Von Eisenstein’s house, an opulent Century Ballroom and the local jail respectively.

     The excellent lighting design is by renowned resident lighting designer David Martin Jacques.

     Susan Memmott Allred’s costume design is eye-popping!

    This is a decadently scrumptious confection that’s so exhilarating, you can’t afford to miss it.  Run to get tickets!

 

This production is sung in German with dialogue in English.

 

For tickets call the box office at 303-292-6500  or go online at centralcityopera.org

 GYPSY

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS: JULY 1 – JULY 31

(In the Nickelson Auditorium)

 

MARY LOUISE LEE ELECTRIFIES AS MAMA ROSE!!! This outstanding musical theatre actor blows the roof right off the theatre with her emotionally charged rendition of "Rose's Turn."

 

     With music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and Book by Arthur Laurents, Gypsy is what more than one director have described as the Best Musical ever.    

      Add to that the fact that the show is directed by Bernie Cardell, and you have a recipe for success non pareil.

     The tale of an ambitious Stage mother who is fighting for her daughter’s success, Gypsy opened in 1959. It’s set in the 1920’s as vaudeville is dying and burlesque is being born.

     Some of the great numbers you will recognize are: “May We Entertain You?”  “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, “Together, Wherever We Go,”and of course, “Rose’s Turn.”

     Director Cardell has cast the show impeccably. He’s assigned the plum role of Mama Rose to the incomparable Mary Louise Lee, and that of Louise (the young Gypsy Rose Lee) to Camryn Nailah Torres. (Nailah Torres received the Marlowe Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her work in Vintage Theatre’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “CINDERELLA” last season.) 

     The scene(s) involving Louise's evolution into Gypsy Rose Lee near final curtain are superbly acted. Ms. Nailah Torres will take your breath away.    

     Michaela Murray is a brilliant June. Joe Barnard performs the role of Tulsa with real panache. Barnard’s big number, “All I Need Now is the Girl,” is sung and danced beautifully.

     Denver favorite Michael O’Shea is eminently touching as Herbie. 

     Faith Siobahn Ford (Mazeppa), Jenny Mather (Tessie Turah) and ShaShauna 

Staton(Electra) make up the hilarious trio of strippers the troupe encounters entering the world of burlesque. It’s heartwarming to see ShaShauna Staton playing Electra in the auditorium named for her father, Jeffrey Nickelson.

     Joey Wishnia is superb as Pop!

     Cheryl Faulkner’s costume design is spot on!

     Trent Hines’ music direction is his usual professional work. Bravo!

 

July 1 – 31**

$20 - $38

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

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010

 

 THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

(CALL OR GO ONLINE FOR PERFORMANCE DATES.)

 

                                       Rebecca Caine and Diana Newman

Based upon the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer and the 1960 film that starred Olivia de Havilland, “The Light in the Piazza, the Musical,” has music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and book by Craig Lucas.  In 2005 Adam Guettel’s score for “The Light in the Piazza” won the Tony for Best Score. Craig Lucas’s book was nominated for a Tony as well.        

     Under the baton of conductor Adam Turner, the exquisite delicacy of Mr. Goettel’s score is delivered with consummate artistry. The scrumptious Central City Opera orchestra has never sounded better. One must make special mention of the musicianship of harpist, Janet Harriman and guitarist, Patrick Sutton. The composer’s score for this show makes us aware that he is also a jazz artist.

     Rebecca Caine, who originated the role of Cosette in “Les Miserables” in London’s West End, as well as having played “The Phantom of the Opera’s” Christine Daee in the West End and Toronto, plays Clara’s mother, Margaret Johnson.  Caine’s vocals are gorgeous and powerful. With her breaking of the fourth wall, and speaking directly to the audience, we become aware of her daughter Clara’s traumatic past. Margaret’s trip to Florence with Clara, brims with awarenesses about her daughter’s future … as well as her own.

     Diana Newman, who plays Clara, played Papagena in a recent production of “Die Zauberflote” at the Met. Ms. Newman delivers celestial solos with a soaring soprano.

     Clara’s love interest, Fabrizio Naccarelli, is sung by Ricardo Garcia. This actor’s robust vocals are soul-stirring. He was most recently seen as Romeo in “Romeo et Juliette” at Houston Grand Opera.

     Jennifer De Dominici delivers a fiery performance as Franca, Fabrizio’s brother’s wife, that is, by turns, sultry, jealous and angry. DeDominici’s mezzo is powerful and ear-pleasing indeed!

     Judeth Shay Comstock portrays Signora Naccarelli, Fabrizio’s mother. Breaking out of her native Italian to address the audience in English about the emotional mayhem in the house in a chaotic family gathering near the top of Act Two, this actor is hilarious.

       Margaret Johnson’s husband, Roy Johnson, is played by Curt Olds.

     For the last two decades Ken Cazan’s stage direction of Broadway musicals at Central City Opera - from Oklahoma to West Side Story - has been top drawer. His indelible work on Britten’s Billy Budd three seasons ago, surpassed all expectations. 

     Arnulfo Maldonado creates a scenic design that features gigantic Italian post cards from the 1940s and 50s. Maldonado was nominated this year for a Tony for his work on “A Strange Loop.”

     Renowned resident lighting designer, David Martin Jacques, once again creates magic with the lights.  At one pivotal point in the story, Mr. Jacques’ lighting creates the illusion of Clara’s psychological terror by employing a mesmerizing danse macabre of light and shadows.

     Edina Hiser, who created the costumes for “Carousel “and “Rigoletto,” last season, delights with eye-popping fashions for the female leads.

      One is Grateful indeed to see and hear such intensely beautiful work inside the gorgeous opera house once again. Do yourself a favor and get tickets.

    

For tickets call the box office at 303-292-6700 or go online at boxoffice@centralcityopera.org