Applause January-March, 2022 by The Publishing House

APPLAUSE VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 2 JAN – MAR 2022

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APPLAUSE

SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Martin Semple, Chairman Hassan Salem, Chair-elect Robert Slosky, Vice Chairman William Dean Singleton, Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Patricia Baca Brisa Carleton Fred Churbuck Isabelle Clark Navin Dimond David Farahi Susan Fox Pinkowitz Kevin Kilstrom Ruth Krebs Robert C. Newman Manny Rodriguez Alan Salazar Richard M. Sapkin June Travis Ken Tuchman Tina Walls Dr. Reginald L. Washington Judi Wolf Sylvia Young

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IN THIS ISSUE

The Choir of Man ...................... pg 14

Applause is published five times a year by Denver Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with The Publishing House, Westminster, CO. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Call 303.893.4000 regarding editorial content.

Janice Sinden, President & CEO

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ........ pg 10

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone DESIGNER THIS ISSUE: Brenda Elliott CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Paul Koob, Lucas Kreitler CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Brittany Gutierrez, Joanne Ostrow

Welcome and thank you for being a part of our season! Your presence makes a difference to the DCPA, its employees, and the hundreds of visiting artists who join us to conceptualize, produce and bring to life the work on our stages. Whether we are presenting Broadway tours such as Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show or The Choir of Man or producing our version of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the lifeblood of the theatre are our creators — playwrights, designers, actors and directors. Prior the pandemic, a visiting artist’s livelihood was precarious at best. Show by show, these individuals trade the security of a nine-to-five job to pursue their passion. But when that already uncertain income evaporated overnight, it was catastrophic. As Jesse Cameron Alick noted in his study Emerging from the Cave: Reimagining our Future in Theater and Live Performance, “The nature of what we do — the liveness of the thing, once our biggest asset — was now our greatest liability.” According to the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts’ Economic Activity Study, employment in the arts fell by 28% between 2017 and 2019. On a national level, the Argonne National Laboratory in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimate that the unemployment rate of actors increased from 24.7% in 2019 to 52.3% in 2020. When live theatre was put on hiatus, these artists embraced their creativity by inventing new artforms, interacting with audiences in wholly new ways, and staying relevant and ready to return. In short, they were our inspiration. Despite the uncertainty, fear and restlessness, we tuned into their Tik Tok videos, live streams and podcasts. They gave us hope. And now, it is our turn to lean in and listen to their ideas, needs and knowledge. It is our turn to invest in new work, young artists and aspiring playwrights. It is our turn to celebrate, uplift and reaffirm their importance to the enrichment of our lives. When playwrights recount the past two years, I hope the final scene is about the perseverance of the American Theatre, the resilience of the human spirit and the global healing that will, ultimately, rise from the ashes. Your support of these artists — your very presence in our theatre today — gives voice to the stories of tomorrow.

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show...................... pg 8

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Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is celebrating its silver anniversary and it’s a double whammy — 25 years performing for 25 million fans. But that was not the original expectation. Riverdance started as a one-time, seven-minute performance. “It came from the Eurovision song contest, which is a big contest in Europe and it’s watched by about 500 million people,” said John McColgan, Director. “Every year there’s an internal act and my wife (Moya Doherty) was the producer… She contracted Bill Whelan (Composer), Michael Flatley (male lead dancer), Jean Butler (female lead dancer) and choreographers. That was the ﬁrst appearance of Riverdance and it was a sensation.” Julian Erskine, who retired last year after serving as Senior Executive Producer since the show’s inception, remembers that ﬁrst night. “It’s hard to describe just how enormous [the audience reaction] was. Not just in the Eurovision venue, where the entire audience let out a spontaneous roar and jumped to [its] feet, but also across all the Irish radio and TV stations and newspapers where it was the number one topic of discussion.” Such a buzz was created that when the routine was repeated on Irish television, nearly the entire country watched. With its instant popularity, the creative team quickly planned a full-length performance to play Dublin. “The original hope,” Erskine said, “was for a one-month run.” That was 1994 and Riverdance continues to play to enthusiastic audiences across the globe. “Riverdance has no language barrier,” said McColgan. “I’ve stood in the back of darkened theatres in Mexico and Germany and China and the US and the UK. The response is always the same. People are energized. People come away from it uplifted.” “Its longevity is due to the performers on stage and the culture that every night is Opening Night,” McColgan continued. Those dancers are the heart of the show — skilled athletes whose precise execution may be rivaled only by the Rockettes. When asked if that point-perfect unison is achieved by endless hours of rehearsal or great choreographic direction, Erskine assessed it as a bit of both. “Mostly it’s down to the competitive background of Irish dance. All of our performers are championship-winning dancers and as such, perform with extreme precision and exceptional timing. What seems extraordinary to the audience seems ordinary to the dancers,” he said. “We manage to get the best dancers in the world,” McColgan said, “and they’re proud to deliver 110% every night.” Which they do. Enjoy.

RIVERDANCE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW FEB 2 – 6, 2022 BUELL THEATRE 8

THE ORIGINS OF RIVERDANCE

COSTUMES, SET AND LIGHTING

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Riverdance - 25th Anniversary Show (Heartland). Photo by Jack Hartin © Abhann Productions.jpg

Take a journey to New Jersey in the 1950s when the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical Jersey Boys steps onto the Buell stage this spring. Jersey Boys will take audiences into the life of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and share the behind-the-scenes story of how four blue-collar boys became the biggest American pop sensations of all time. Do you think you know everything about this toe-tapping musical? Get to know Jersey Boys with a game of trivia. How many albums did the Four Seasons sell before they were 30 years old? a. 120 million b. 175 million c. 200 million How many Four Seasons songs in the musical were on Billboard’s Top Ten? a. 5 b. 11 c. 18 What are the total number of costumes/looks that can been seen on stage? a. 196 b. 200 c. 231 What are the total lighting cues that happen throughout the performance? a. 431 b. 512 c. 615 Don’t miss the chance to hear some of the biggest Four Seasons hits “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Oﬀ You” in Jersey Boys this April 15 – 17.

(l to r) Corey Greenan, Eric Chambliss, Jon Hacker and Michael Milton. Photo: Joan Marcus

RIVERDANCE

JERSEY BOYS

Key: b, b, a, c

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COMING UP FOR BROADWAY:

(l to r) Corey Greenan, Eric Chambliss, Jon Hacker and Michael Milton. Photo: Joan Marcus

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THE GIFT OF

VIRGINIA WOOLF:

SEARCHING FOR TRUTH AMID LIFE’S ILLUSIONS BY JOANNE OSTROW

Imagine the audience’s shock in 1962 when Edward Albee’s first full-length play had its Broadway debut: On the set of a bland living room, the crude baiting and vicious game-playing of a middle-aged married couple unfolds like a prizefight. The devastating language, brutal wit and merciless puncturing of illusions— it was all new onstage. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a sharp break from the shallow entertainments of conventional American theater. Edward Albee’s masterpiece remains powerful, shocking and oddly relevant today. In style, Who’s Afraid Virginia Woolf? has been likened by critics to the European theater of the absurd. The title is a singsong academic pun on “the big bad wolf,” as in, Albee once explained, who’s afraid of living life without false illusions? The setting is the living room of a New England college associate professor, George, and his wife Martha, as they entertain a new faculty member and his wife, Nick and Honey, through a boozy after-party of escalating verbal warfare. George calls his and Martha’s sparring “merely… exercising.” In the narrowest view, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is about marital dysfunction and the emotional destruction intimate partners can rain on one another. Moreover, it is a search for truth amid life’s illusions. In the sense that it is a period piece, it is also about a woman’s stifled potential and the role that women were expected to play at the time. “Certainly the play is a study of a dysfunctional marriage,” New York-based director Margot Bordelon

said in an email interview. “It also seems to be a look at the devastating effects of infertility during a time period when (even more so than today) a woman’s worth was connected to getting married and having children. Martha is a brilliant woman who could have had a celebrated career of her own, but her dreams are funneled into her husband’s professional trajectory and they both suffer from the weight of that.” Through it all, Albee is probing the relationship between fantasy and reality. “Truth and illusion, George. You don’t know the difference.” — Martha Bordelon agrees Albee’s play is particularly relevant for our time. Consider that we live in an era marked by claims of “Fake News” and “alternate facts” or other efforts to blur or deny what’s real. It isn’t such a stretch. “I think that’s right!” Bordelon said. “We’re living in a time where access to information is more fluid, (more democratic?), than it’s ever been in our country’s history, and yet fake news is spreading faster than ever. Rather than living through a time of great knowledge, it feels like we’re living through a time of amplified ignorance.” Bordelon recently read an essay about the play that called it “an optimistic tragedy.” “That really resonated with me,” she said. “George and Martha engage in sick games and verbal abuse to mask their heartache, but ultimately they strip away their illusions and confront the truth together. Can we in America do the same? Can we move past the vitriol and divisiveness? Can we engage in a legitimate truth and reconciliation movement in this country?”

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Instead of “get the guests,” can America get the truth? Bordelon suggests the play may be especially relevant, even necessary, in the age of Covid. “After 18 months of theaters being dark, this play is a terriﬁc night of liveness,” she said. “It demands such emotional athleticism and endurance from the four performers. At its three-hour-plus running time, it requires endurance from the audience!” Albee called his play a “grotesque comedy.” Bordelon aims to emphasize the comedic alongside the painful. “We will absolutely lean into the comedy in this production,” she said. “One, just to keep it moving, and two, because it’s the only way to earn the darkness. All four of our actors are skilled comedians, and all four have deep emotional access. My hope is to mine and feature all of that.” The cast brings an impressive depth of experience to the task: Jon Hudson Odom (“Lovecraft Country” on HBO) as George, Kelly McAndrew (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Broadway) as Martha, Isabella de Souza Moore (“The Path” on Hulu) as Honey, and Paul David Story (Equus, Broadway) as Nick. “We go to the theater hoping to watch artists performing at the highest level of their craft,” Bordelon said. “I’m hoping our production oﬀers that to the Denver audience.”

George and Martha engage in sick games and verbal abuse to mask their heartache, but ultimately they strip away their illusions and confront the truth together. Can we in America do the same? — MARGOT BORDELON, DIRECTOR

An inevitable question: How does a modern theater director approach this classic without thinking of the famous movie? Do Liz Taylor and Richard Burton live in Bordelon’s subconscious? “My confession: I haven’t seen the movie! Certainly these characters live in the zeitgeist but I purposefully didn’t watch the film before auditions because I didn’t want to be influenced by Taylor and Burton’s famous interpretations. The actors who live in my mind are Tracy Letts and Amy Morton from the Steppenwolf production ten years ago. I lived in Chicago for six years and I saw them both in dozens of productions so when I was first re-reading the play in preparation to direct it, it was their cadences, rhythms, and humor I heard in the text.” The ethnic and racial diversity represented by cast members in the DCPA Theatre Company production is unlike the 1960s version, further obliterating any movie memories the audience may carry. We are invited to make way for new interpretations. Whether appreciated as optimistic tragedy or grotesque comedy, the play remains radical six decades on.

EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? JAN 7 – MAR 6, 2022 • WOLF THEATRE ASL, Audio described performance: Jan 30 at 1:30pm

HONORING OUR ELDERS We invite our audiences to join the DCPA as we honor our Elders for the care of the land on which we perform with an oﬃcial land acknowledgement. These words are shared at company meetings, ﬁrst rehearsals, public forums and in the pages of Applause to recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples, their traditional territories and the care they have shown to all who reside here. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts honors and acknowledges that it resides on the traditional and unceded territories of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary Indigenous Tribes and Nations who have historically called Colorado home. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and to all those who have stewarded the land and water for generations. May this acknowledgment express the DCPA’s commitment to grow and deepen its relationships with the vibrant Indigenous communities who continue to thrive and uphold their sacred relation to this land.

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EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? With Isabella De Souza Moore, Kelly McAndrew, Jon Hudson Odom, Paul David Story Stage Managers: Anne M. Jude, Corin Davidson

SCENIC DESIGN BY Lisa M. Orzolek

SOUND DESIGN BY Jason Ducat

COSTUME DESIGN BY Meghan Anderson Doyle

DRAMATURGY BY Sarah Rose Leonard

CASTING BY Bass/Valle Casting

LIGHTING DESIGN BY Paul Whitaker

FIGHT DIRECTION AND INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHY Samantha Egle

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Matthew Campbell

DIRECTED BY MARGOT BORDELON The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

THE SINGLETON THEATRE • JAN 7 – MAR 6, 2022

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EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director

EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

CAST

In Order of Appearance

Martha..................................................................................................................................................................KELLY McANDREW George.............................................................................................................................................................JON HUDSON ODOM Nick.......................................................................................................................................................................PAUL DAVID STORY Honey.............................................................................................................................................ISABELLA De SOUZA MOORE Stage Manager...........................................................................................................................................................ANNE M. JUDE Assistant Stage Manager...............................................................................................................................CORIN DAVIDSON Stage Management Apprentice..................................................................................................................HARPER HADLEY The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers of the United States.

SETTING The living room of a house on the campus of a small New England college. There will be two 10-minute intermissions.

WHO’S WHO ACTING COMPANY ISABELLA De SOUZA MOORE (Honey). (She/Her/ Hers). Regional credits include Mary Poppins (Syracuse Stage); Annie (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); the world premiere of Mystic Pizza (Ogunquit Playhouse). Television Credits: Hulu’s “The Path.” Training: BFA in Musical Theater, Syracuse University. KELLY McANDREW (Martha). (She/Her/ Hers). Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Off-Broadway: The Thin Place (Playwrights Horizons); Novenas for a Lost Hospital (Rattlestick Theatre); Men on Boats (Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb); The Wolves (Clubbed Thumb); Perfect Arrangement (Primary Stages); Abundance (TACT); Almost, Maine (Transport Group); Good Television (Atlantic Theater Company); Still Life (MCC); The Cataract (The Women’s Project); Book of Days (Signature Theatre). Regional theatre credits include: The Humana Festival (’16, ’17, ’19), The Old Globe, Westport Playhouse, Yale Rep, Arena Stage, and A.R.T. TV: “Daredevil” (recurring), “New Amsterdam,”

“The Sinner,” “The Good Fight,” “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black” (recurring), “Smash,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Elementary.” Film: A Kid Like Jake, Island Zero, Appropriate Behavior, In the Family, Everybody’s Fine. Training: UMKC. www.kellymcandrew.com JON HUDSON ODOM (George). Regional credits include: Miss Black For President (Steppenwolf); The Magic Play (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Witch (Writers Theatre); An Octoroon, Botticelli in the Fire, and Shipwreck (Woolly Mammoth Theatre); Angels in America Parts 1 and 2 (Round House and Olney); The Magic Play, Piano Lesson, Our Town, Hay Fever and Colossal (Olney); Father Comes Home From the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 (Round House Theatre); The Swindlers and Twelfth Night (Center Stage Baltimore); Yellowman (Rep Stage); 2-2-Tango (Studio Theatre). TV: “Lovecraft Country” (HBO), “Somebody Somewhere” (HBO), “Chicago PD” (NBC). Film: A Savage Nature, The Year Between. Three-time nominee and recipient of the Helen Hayes Awards. Company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Education: University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

PAUL DAVID STORY (Nick). (He/Him/His). Broadway credits: The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, Equus. Off-Broadway credits: Our Leading Lady (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (The Public Theater). Regional Theater: South Coast Repertory, Dallas Theater Center, Arizona Theater Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, The Colony Theatre, A Noise Within and others. Paul has appeared in several films and television shows including: “American Horror Story,” “Them,” “The Mentalist,” “Body of Proof,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Law & Order: SVU,” In Time, American Violet, The Undying, Saint Nick, and Vartan LLP. Training: BFA, North Carolina School of the Arts. PLAYWRIGHT EDWARD ALBEE is among the United States’s most acclaimed and controversial playwrights. As the adopted son of Reed and Frances Albee, heirs to the fortune of American theater manager Edward Franklin Albee, he had an early introduction to the theatre. He began attending performances at the age of six and wrote a three-act sex farce when he was twelve. He wrote both fiction and poetry as a young man, achieving some limited success, and at the age of thirty returned to writing plays, making an impact with his one-

DIRECTOR MARGOT BORDELON is a New York based director. Recent projects: You Lost Me (DCPA); Someone Else’s House (Geffen); Dance Nation (Wilma); Wives (Playwrights Horizons); Something Clean (Roundabout); Do You Feel Anger? (Vineyard, ATL’s Humana Festival); Eddie and Dave (Atlantic); Plot Points in Our Sexual Development (LCT3); Wilder Gone (Clubbed Thumb); Too Heavy For Your Pocket (Roundabout Underground, Alliance); The Pen (Premieres NYC); peerless (Yale Rep, Cherry Lane, Marin Theatre Company); A Delicate Ship (Playwrights Realm); Okay, Bye (Steppenwolf). Upcoming: When Monica Met Hillary (Miami New Drama); …what the end will be (Roundabout). MFA: Yale School of Drama. www.margotbordelon.com CREATIVE TEAM MATTHEW CAMPBELL (Production Manager). (He/Him/His). Matthew is incredibly grateful to be back to work supporting our outstanding production team and guest artists creating extraordinary theatre after so many difficult months away. He started at the DCPA in 2010 as a stage manager and in 2016 joined the production management team. Previously a stage manager at several local theatres and an Assistant Professor of Theater at Brooklyn College. Training: MFA, University of Iowa. MEGHAN ANDERSON DOYLE (Costume Designer). (She/Her/ Hers). DCPA credits include: A Doll’s House and A Doll’s House, Part 2 (2020 Henry Award Outstanding Costume Design), Xanadu!, American Mariachi, The Wild Party, DragOn, An Act of God, The Glass Menagerie, Sweet & Lucky, One Night In Miami, Appoggiatura, and nearly 20 other productions. Other Theatres: The Odyssey, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Small Mouth Sounds, The

Moors, The Drowning Girls (Arvada Center); The Secretary, The Cake, The Brother/Sister Plays (Curious Theatre Company); The Catamounts; Local Theatre Company; Theatre Aspen; The Aurora Fox; National Theatre Conservatory Rep. Meghan holds an M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Florida. JASON DUCAT (Sound Designer). At the DCPA: Goodnight Moon, Corduroy, The Snowy Day (DCPA Education); Human Error, When Tang Met Laika, The House of the Spirits, Lord of the Flies, Shadowlands, Heartbreak House, Othello. Other Theatres: The Cake, Detroit ’67, White Guy on the Bus, In the Red and Brown Water, Venus in Fur, The Brothers Size, 9 Circles, A Number, and Astronomical Sunset (Curious Theatre Company); Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Henry V, Henry IV, The Tempest, Macbeth, and Richard II (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Sense and Sensibility, The Electric Baby, Bus Stop, The Drowning Girls, and Waiting for Godot (The Arvada Center). Training: MFA in Sound Design from Purdue University SAMANTHA EGLE (Fight Director/ Intimacy Choreographer). (She/ Her/Hers). Her work has been seen on the stages of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Colorado, Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, Denver Children’s Theatre, Athena Project Festival, Lagoon Theme Park, Upstart Crow, New York Fringe Festival, The BiTSY Stage, Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, and numerous other educational institutions in Colorado. She was a Resident Artist as an Intimacy Director at Arena Stage. She is a Certified Teacher and the Regional Representative for the Rocky Mountain Region with the Society of American Fight Directors. SARAH ROSE LEONARD (Dramaturg) (She/Her/Hers) is a dramaturg and creative producer. She is currently a Live Events Producer at KQED, Northern California’s NPR and PBS member station. Previously, she was the Literary Manager at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Literary Associate at Signature Theatre. Favorite dramaturgy credits include This Much I Know (Aurora); twenty50 (DCPA); Angels in America (Berkeley Rep); A Good Neighbor (Z Space); In Braunau (SF Playhouse) You For Me For You (Crowded Fire); Big Love

(Signature Theatre); and The Hotel Colors (The Bushwick Starr). LISA M. ORZOLEK (Scenic Designer). At the DCPA: (250+ productions/30 seasons) A Doll’s House, A Doll’s House, Part 2, The Whistleblower, Human Error, Native Gardens, Disgraced, The Nest, Tribes, One Night in Miami, Benediction, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Shadowlands, Jackie & Me, Death of a Salesman, The Liar, Superior Donuts, Othello, Well, Gee’s Bend, The Pillowman, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, and more (DCPA Theatre Company); Goodnight Moon, Corduroy, The Snowy Day (DCPA Education); DragOn, Sweet & Lucky (DCPA Off-Center); The Improvised Shakespeare Company®, Xanadu, First Date, An Act of God, Love... Perfect... Change, Forbidden Broadway, Girls Only, and more (DCPA Cabaret). Other Theatres: Lone Tree Arts Center; Colorado Shakespeare Festival; National Theatre Conservatory. Training: BFA in Scenic Design, Boston University. BASS/VALLE CASTING (Casting). New York: Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean. Off-Broadway: Radio Golf, Jitney. The Public Theater: New Works Now, Minetta Lane, Women’s Project, La MaMa, Epic Theatre, Drama League, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Women in Film and Television. Regional: Hartford Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, Syracuse Stage, Huntington Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theatre Co., Berkeley Rep, Playmaker’s Rep, Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Geva, CenterStage, Long Wharf Theatre, Arizona Theatre Co. Film: Pushing Hands, Gravesend, First We Take Manhattan. Audition Coach at many of the nation’s top universities and actor training programs. PAUL WHITAKER (Lighting Designer). (He/Him/His). New York credits include work at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, MCC Theater, and others. Regional Theatre Credits: The Guthrie, The Alley, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, The Children’s Theatre Company, The Long Wharf Theatre, The Huntington Theatre Company, Center Stage, Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Minnesota Opera, San Diego Opera, and others. Paul is a graduate of Macalester College and

EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

act The Zoo Story (1959). Over the next few years Albee continued to satirize American social values with a series of important one-act plays: The Death of Bessie Smith (1960), the savagely expressionistic The Sandbox (1960), and The American Dream (1961). Albee came fully into the national spotlight with his first fulllength play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962).

EDWARD ALBEE’S WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

the Yale School of Drama. Paul is a Principal Lighting Designer/Theatre Consultant for Schuler Shook. www.paulwhitakerdesigns.com / www.schulershook.com STAGE MANAGEMENT ANNE M. JUDE (Stage Manager). Recent Credits: Rock of Ages – Hollywood (The Bourbon Room). National Tours: Elf, Mary Poppins. Selected Regional Credits: A Picture of Dorian Gray, Othello, Henry V (A Noise Within); The Glass Menagerie, Man of La Mancha, Dreamgirls (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), First Stage Children’s Theater, Fulton Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals. Education: BFA Arts Administration - Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin. CORIN DAVIDSON (Assistant Stage Manager) (She/Her/Hers). Over 15 productions at the DCPA including: Wildfire, twenty50, Indecent, Corduroy, The Who’s Tommy, The Secret Garden, Sweeney Todd, Lookingglass Alice. At DCPA Cabaret: An Act of God. Other Theatres: Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Renaissance Theatre Works, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Training: BFA Stage Management, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. THEATRE COMPANY LEADERSHIP TEAM CHRIS COLEMAN (Artistic Director) is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the DCPA Theatre Company as Artistic Director in November of 2017 and recently has directed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House, Anna Karenina and Oklahoma!. Previously, Chris served as Artistic Director for Portland Center Stage in Oregon for 18 years. Under his leadership, PCS renovated the city’s historic Armory into a new home, saw annual attendance nearly double, workshopped 52 new plays that went on to productions at over 100 theaters around the US and UK, and became a national leader in how theaters engage with their community. In 1988, Chris founded Actor’s Express in Atlanta (in the basement of an old church), a company that continues to be a cultural force in the Southeast today. He has directed at major theaters across the country, including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Alliance Theater, Dallas

Theater Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, ACT/Seattle, the Asolo, Pittsburgh Public, 59E59, and New York Theatre Workshop. He and his husband, actor/ writer Rodney Hicks, live in Reunion with their 100 lb. English blockhead yellow lab and their 18 lb. terrier mix. Since moving to Colorado, he has hiked Dominguez Canyon, wondered at the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, explored a working mine in Creede, and rafted down the Arkansas River.

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE

CHARLES VARIN (Managing Director) and his team are responsible for the administrative, financial and business operations for Theatre Company and Off-Center productions and other artistic initiatives. Since joining the Theatre Company in 2006, he has played a major role in executing the artistic vision of the organization and facilitating the production of shows such as Sweet & Lucky, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Sense & Sensibility The Musical, The 12, Sweeney Todd with DeVotchKa and many more. Charles is passionate about artistic innovation and firmly believes in DCPA’s longstanding commitment to new plays and new voices.

Playwright: Edward Albee Director: Margot Bordelon @margotbordelon Scenic Designer: Lisa Orzolek Costume Designer: Meghan Anderson Doyle @mdoyle19 Lighting Designer: Paul Whitaker @paul.p.whitaker Sound Designer: Jason Ducat Intimacy/Fight Director: Samantha Egle @humblewarriormovement

In addition to DCPA staff, the following crew worked on this production: Nikki Mayer, Camille Stillman, Arielle Swafford, Amanda Walsh, Kami Williams. The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union. The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Backstage and Ticket Services Employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. (or I.A.T.S.E.) The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is one of the largest nonproﬁt theatre organizations in the nation, presenting Broadway tours and producing theatre, cabaret, musicals, and innovative, immersive plays. In its 2019/20 season, the DCPA engaged with more than 672,000 visitors, generating a $131 million economic impact in ticket sales alone.

We welcome you to take photos in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. If you post photos on social media, please credit and tag the DCPA and the design team: @denvercenter #DCPAToday #DCPAVirginiaWoolf

Photos and the video and/or audio recording during any part of the performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.

PLEASE BE ADVISED • FACIAL COVERINGS are required for everyone 2+ at all times. • LATECOMERS and those exiting the theatre are seated at predetermined breaks in designated areas. • CHILDREN 4+ are welcome in our theatres and must be ticketed. • ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES, LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS & BOOSTER SEATS are available in most theatres. Ask an usher to direct you. • BRAILLE PROGRAMS are available with 2 weeks’ notice to ckrueger@dcpa.org or 303.893.4836.

The Theatre Company is grateful for the funds provided by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Special thanks also to grants from the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation; and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. The Theatre Company is a division of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organization serving the public through the performing arts. The Theatre Company operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States; and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. The Theatre Company also operates under an agreement with Denver Theatrical Stage Employees Union, Local No. 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. The Theatre Company is constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for not-for-profit resident theatre companies. The costumes, wigs, lighting, props, furniture, scenic construction, scenic painting, sound and special effects used in connection with this production were constructed and coordinated by the Theatre Company’s Production Staff.

DCPA DCPATEAM TEAM

DCPA Janice Sinden..........................President & CEO Gretchen Hollrah..............................................COO Lydia Garcia .........................Executive Director, Equity & Organization Culture Donna Hendricks..................President & CEO Executive Assistant Julie Schumaker...................... Manager, Board Relations & COO Executive Assistant BROADWAY & CABARET John Ekeberg...................... Executive Director Administration Ashley Brown.......................Business Manager Alicia Bruce ............................. General Manager Garner Galleria Theatre Abel Becerra......................... Technical Director Herb Caldwell+, Anna Hookana+...........Core Stagehands DEVELOPMENT Jamie Clements...........................Vice President Megan Fevurly..........................................Manager, Grants & Reports Amanda Gomez.......Manager, Annual Fund Kaylie Groﬀ..........................................Coordinator Marc Ravenhill ....................Associate Director, Donor Relations Whitney Staloch................Associate Director, Major Gifts Megan Stewart........................Manager, Events Erin Walker ...................................Senior Director EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Allison Watrous ................. Executive Director Stuart Barr ............................. Technical Director Claudia Carson.......................Teaching Artist & Manager, Playwriting & Bobby G Leslie Channell .......................................... Director, Business Operations Emily Doherty.... Teaching Artist & Manager, Theatre for Young Audiences Programming Rya Dyes ................................Assistant Registrar Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski........................ Director, Education & Curriculum Management Linda Eller.....................................................Librarian Jesús Quintana Martínez ....................... Director, Community Engagement Timothy McCracken................Head of Acting David Saphier .... Teaching Artist & Manager, In-School Programming Elizabeth Schmit......................Oﬃce Manager Melissa Sumner........................................Registrar Charlotte Talbert ......................................Librarian Rachel Taylor.... Teaching Artist & Manager, Literary Engagement & Resiliency Justin Walvoord ....................Teaching Artist & Manager, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot Samuel Wood.........................Teaching Artist & District Liaison FACILITIES Glen Lucero..................................................Director Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, Clint Flinchpaugh ................................ Engineers Jodi Benavides, David Bright, Colton Ebersole, John Howard, Benjamin Koenig ............Security Specialists Judy Briggs...........................................Front Desk Quentin Crump........................................Manager, Security & Guest Relations Merry Davis ..........................Financial Manager Jane Deegan ..................................Administrator

Michael Kimbrough....Manager, Engineering Brian McClain .....................Manager, Custodial Casey Meschievitz ...................................Manager, Environmental Health & Safety Ken Long, Carmen Molina, Judith Primero Molina, Juan Loya Molina, Jermaine Parker .................................Custodians EVENT SERVICES Savanna Campbell, Samantha Egle........................Event Managers Colin Dieck, Anne Fitzgerald, Hunter Premschak, Seth Miller..............................................Technicians Thomas Duﬃn .........................................Manager, Event Technology Cody Gocio .......................... Event Coordinator Stori Heleen-O’Foley ....Lighting, Team Lead John Hess.............Manager, Sales & Business Shane Hotle.................................Audio Engineer Tara Miller........... Manager, Event Operations Brook Nichols ...................... Technical Director Will Stowe ....................Audio/Video Engineer Ian Wells ........................................Video Engineer MARKETING, SALES & PATRON SERVICES Lisa Mallory.....................................Vice President Marketing Heidi Bosk ...........Associate Director, Press & Promotions, Broadway & Cabaret Emmy Cook.......................................Coordinator, Broadway & Cabaret Brenda Elliott, Paul Koob..............Senior Graphic Designers TJ Forlenza ............................................Copywriter Claire Graves............................................... Director, Produced Programs Brittany Gutierrez...................................Manager, Communications Jeﬀ Hovorka .... Director, Sales & Marketing, Broadway & Cabaret Emma Hunt........................................Coordinator, Communications & PR Emily Kent........Director, Insights & Strategy Lucas Kreitler .........Junior Graphic Designer Linda Lang.................................Project Manager David Lenk.......................................Videographer Michael Ryan Leuthner ........................ Director, Digital Marketing Emily Lozow ..............................................Manager, Broadway & Cabaret Kyle Malone................................Director, Design Katie Mount..........Manager, Email Marketing Whitney Testa..................Executive Assistant, Marketing & Broadway Janelle Vargas...........Manager, Web Content Austin Walker..............Manager, Social Media Juliana Whelan.................................Coordinator, Produced Programs Suzanne Yoe.......................Director, Content & Communications

Adam Bush...................Subscription Manager Billy Dutton...........................Associate Director, Operations Roger Haak .................VIP Ticketing Manager Kassandra Lopez, Ella Mann..........................Box Oﬃce Managers Kirk Petersen .......................Associate Director, Patron Relations

Scenic Design Lisa Orzolek .................................................Director Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud..................................Assistants Lighting Design Charles MacLeod......................................Director Lily Bradford..............................................Assistant Reid Tennis+.................Production Electrician

Group Sales Jessica Bergin........................................... Manager Sound Design Maddie Young ...................................Coordinator Alexander Billman..............................Supervisor Wesley Halloran+, Meagan Holdeman+, Theatre Services Timothy Schoeberl..........................Technicians Carol Krueger............................................ Manager Stage Management Nora Caley, Kaylyn Kriaski, Myrisa Martin...........................House Managers Michael Morales ..................................Production Stage Manager Aaron McMullen, Dylan Phibbs, Corin Davidson, Heidi Echtenkamp, Leilani Lynch, Stacy Norwood, Valerie Schaefer...............Assistant Managers Anne Jude, Maggie Kayes, Rick Mireles, Kristen Mun, Malia Stoner, Kristen Sutter ...........................Stage Managers ACCOUNTING & FINANCE Andie Burns, Katy Gentry, Jane Williams......................................................CFO Harper Hadley, Sara Brandenburg................................... Director, Sage Hughes....................Stage Management Accounting Services Apprentices Michaele Davidson .....Treasury Accountant Scene Shop Jennifer Jeﬀrey....................Director, Financial Planning & Analysis Eric Moore.............................. Technical Director Valerie Lingbloom...................General Ledger Albert “Stub” Allison, Robert L. Orzolek, Accountant Josh Prues ....Associate Technical Directors Jennifer Siemers ...........Director, Accounting Tyler Clark, Amy Wynn Pastor, Kyle Scoggins .....................Scenic Technicians Louis Fernandez III ... Lead Scenic Technician HUMAN RESOURCES Brian “Marco” Markiewicz ....Lead Carpenter Elvira Morales................................Vice President Brian Carter, Lizette Collazos..........Directors Prop Shop Kaitlyn Faust...................................Administrator Robin Lu Payne .........................................Director Paul Johnson...........................Payroll Specialist Jamie Curl, Tory Fink, Monica Robles...............Supervisor, Mailroom Georgina Kayes, Ashley Lawler.......Artisans Meghan Markiewicz ..Associate Supervisor INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Lisa Roebuck.................................Vice President Vincent Bridgers .....................Senior Ticketing System Analyst Jacquelyne Glover ........Software Developer Simone Gordon ..................Program Manager Brian Kudalis.........Senior Network Engineer Brandon LeMarr ....................... Senior Systems Administrator Sarah Martinez, Allyssa Welker ..................Help Desk Analysts Jacob Parker ............................Manager, Data & Applications Joseph Reecher ........................Junior Systems Administrator THEATRE COMPANY Administration Charles Varin .......................Managing Director Ann Marshall........................... General Manager Sabina Rivera .................... Company Manager

Artistic Christopher Coleman........... Artistic Director Melissa Cashion .....................Artistic Producer Ticketing Services Jennifer Lopez ...........................................Director Charlie Miller .......Associate Artistic Director Lynde Rosario.........................Literary Manager Christina Adamoli*, Jon Collins*, Grady Soapes ....................Artistic Producer & D.J. Dennis*, Edmund Gurule*, Director of Casting Elias Lopez*, Hayley Solano* .............Counter/Show Leads Production Kirsten Anderson*, Scott Lix*, Jeff Gifford ...................................................Director Brad Steinmeyer*, Julie Brou................Administrative Assistant/ Greg Swan* ..................... Subscription Agents Office Manager Patty Bizarro*, Lindsey Cervantes*, Matthew Campbell......Production Manager Eli Davis*, Jen Gray*, Natalie Jaramillo, Noah Jungferman*, Michael Mathey*, Makenzie Pedersen, Lane Randall, Liz Sieroslawski*, Sam Stump, Andrew Sullivan*..........................Ticket Agents

Paint Shop Jana Mitchell....................Charge Scenic Artist Kristin Hamer MacFarlane, Melanie Rentschler .....................Scenic Artists Costume Shop Janet Macleod... Director/Design Associate Meghan Anderson Doyle ....Design Associate Catherine Gagnon ..............................First Hand Carolyn Plemitscher ..................................Draper Costume Crafts Kevin Copenhaver....................................Director Chris Campbell.........................................Assistant Wigs Diana Ben-Kiki......................................Supervisor House Crew Douglas Taylor+...................................Supervisor James Berman+, William Loving+, Stephen Mazzeno+, Kyle Moore+, Matt Wagner+, Riley Wood+ ...Stagehands Joseph Price+ ...........................................Assistant Wardrobe Anthony Mattivi^ ................................Supervisor Robin Appleton^, Andy Bruening, Amber Donner^, David La Beaux^, Lauren LaCasse, Lisa Parsons^ .......Dressers Jerome Horng, Marisa Sorce ................................Wig Assistants * Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local B-7 + Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 7 ^ Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 719 Staﬀ list current through Dec 20, 2021

BY S U Z A N N E YO E

The Choir of Man started as “a motley group of singers, performers, actors, poets with the idea of celebrating pub culture” according to performer Mark Loveday in an interview with People, and it evolved into a show that celebrates community and shared experience. In 2016, producers in London and Australia “had an idea of putting on a show with men in a pub,” continued Loveday, “which is a bigger part of life in the UK and Ireland and Europe than it is in America. We always see a pub as an extension of our front room. It’s where you pop after work and have a drink and watch football and chat.” So that’s what they’ve recreated on stage — a cozy pub where nine men belly up to the bar and share their own personal stories through rousing song and dance. “We like to say that it’s the best pub you’ve ever been to. It’s a mix of a concert and an immersive theatre experience where the audience comes in and meets nine guys,” narrator Denis Grindel described to CNN. “The show’s all about togetherness and what a better way of coming together than sharing a pint with your mates in your local pub.” The resumption of their tour is, perhaps, made more personal and poignant by the absence from performing together for nearly 15 months. “If this year has taught us anything, it’s that we need

a place to commune,” said Grindel in an Akron Beacon Journal review. “It’s what humans do. We’re social animals.” After all, as he points out, the word “pub” is short for “public house.” “The show is all about togetherness,” explained New Day Cleveland Producer Nic Doodson when the tour reopened at Cleveland Play House. “For all of us in the arts, we haven’t worked in over a year.… None of us have been able to be with the people we love — our family and friends”. “The Choir of Man is a show about togetherness and about community and we happened to have put that in a pub. We sing songs and tell stories about what it means to be in a community…. Hopefully, [the audience members are] going to leave with a big smile on their face.”

THE CHOIR OF MAN JAN 14 – 16, 2022 • BUELL THEATRE ASL, Audio-described and open-captioned performance: Jan 16 at 2pm

APPLAUSE • JAN – MAR 2022 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

The Choir of Man.. Photo by Steve Schuﬀ.

THE PUB AT THE HEART OF COMMUNITY IN

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The Company of INDECENT. INDECENT Photo by Adams VisCom

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2022 THEATRE COMPANY SEASON

EDWARD ALBEE’S

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

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BOOK STARS: SETTING THE STAGE FOR LITERACY

BY S U Z A N N E YO E

What would it have been like to have Charlie Brown’s teacher? Wah wah, wah wah, wah wah… Good grief! A good teacher guides students to learn. A great teacher makes it fun. A DCPA Teaching Artist leaves an impression to last a lifetime. Among DCPA Education’s in-school programs is Book Stars, which invites young children to actively explore literacy through interactive play. “Book Stars engages emergent readers in PreK-Kindergarten by empowering their developing abilities in making meaning between sounds and letters, text and image and their personal place in the world — all based on picture book characters and situations,” said Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski, DCPA Director of Education. “We go in and address the kids as actors,” said Program Manager Rachel Taylor. “Using our imaginations, we visit the places in the book, become participants in the story and explore the action together. For instance, in Goodnight Moon we use Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” in which the children become the objects we pass on our space journey — nebulas, comets, shooting stars, etc.” Not only do the students have fun while learning the basics of literacy, but they also gain lifelong skills that will lead to their future success. “It helps them find their voice, feel confident and know that they are capable of telling that story and being a part of it,” continued Taylor. Plus, they are learning important concepts from a variety of award-winning children’s books. Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera explores careers and encourages children to dream big, They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki explores color, Yoko by Rosemary Wells celebrates cultural diversity and Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin introduces farm animals. Schools often ask Book Stars to come monthly, which allows the children to develop their literacy skills over time. Due to its growing popularity, the DCPA now enlists 15 teaching artists who facilitate workshops in as many as four schools each day reaching more than 13,000 students this school year. “We want children to think about what’s possible in life but also what’s possible in the world,” Taylor concluded. “It helps them discover they can be part of the story.”

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For more information, visit denvercenter.org/bookstars.

Applause January-March, 2022

Articles inside

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Anniversary Show