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APPLAUSE VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 3 FEB – MAR 2022

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APPLAUSE

SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

Rattlesnake Kate ...................... pg 14 Hamilton .......................................pg 24 4

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In the Upper Room.................... pg 6

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone DESIGNER THIS ISSUE: Brenda Elliott CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Paul Koob, Lucas Kreitler CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Leo Adam Biga, Brittany Gutierrez, John Moore, Janice C. Simpson

Welcome to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts! This issue of Applause is a celebration of storytellers. From our Middle and High School Playwriting Competition to one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time, great theatre relies on a good plot that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. The DCPA celebrates playwriting at all levels. In January, our Education Department was in the ﬁnal stages of its annual Middle and High School Playwriting program, complete with in-school workshops, a selection of both middle and high school ﬁnalists, and the announcement of three winners whose works are read as part of the Colorado New Play Summit. The Summit is a presentation of four scripts in development — each of which is rehearsed and given public readings at which the playwrights observe audience reaction. Did the punchline land? Was there a dry eye in the house? What was unexpected and caught the audience’s attention? These reactions inform rewrites in preparation for a future production. After readings and workshops, a play might be fortunate to receive a full production. Such is the case with two of our current plays: Rattlesnake Kate and In the Upper Room, both of which were originally read as part of the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. The former was inspired by a little known yet highly colorful character from Colorado’s history — Kate Slaughterback — who saved her son, killing 140 rattlesnakes in one courageous battle and becoming a global sensation. The latter recounts the Berry’s, a multi-generational African American family in the 1970’s whose lives orbit around a strong-willed matriarch whose secrets drive her relatives nuts. Once a play receives its debut, the hope is that it will be produced by other regional theatres or even on Broadway. Ron Chernow’s biography about Alexander Hamilton inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write one song. It received such an enthusiastic response that he developed it into a full musical, which was workshopped and produced at The Public Theatre before transferring to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre. And the rest, as they say, is history. The success of any play is a two-way street. It’s the playwright and a director. Then it’s a director and a cast. Finally, it’s a cast and an audience. We each have an important part to play in the evolution of the script. So listen carefully, lean in, laugh or cry, let the experience transport you…to a front porch, to the Wild West or way back to 1776. Enjoy!

IN THIS ISSUE

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PLAYWRIGHT BEAUFIELD BERRY DRAWS ON HER OWN FAMILY FOR

IN THE UPPER ROOM BY L E O A DA M B I G A

Generations live strong in the memory and imagination of Omaha-based playwright Beauﬁeld Berry. Her original family drama In the Upper Room, a 2019 Colorado New Play Summit selection, gets a world premiere production by the DCPA Theatre Company this winter. Set in 1974 Omaha, this Black American family drama draws closely on her own multicultural clan’s gumbo of Southern, Midwest, Afro-Puerto Rican and American Indian heritage. Her biracial background adds another lens on this complex household. Dominated by matriarch Rose, keeper of family secrets, characters navigate mysteries, lies and love in that Black is Beautiful era. Their intertwined lives brim with socialcultural touchstones, rituals and traditions. In this emotional hothouse, spirits have their say, too. It’s a sweet, sad, funny mosaic of American gothic meets magic realism told from a Black feminist perspective. Berry’s examination of family only happened after years spent searching for herself. Writing short stories and performing in plays since childhood, her self-taught craft remained the one constant as she led a scattered life in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Her gypsy life intersected with Colorado when she worked at a Telluride ski lodge and ranch. “I wasn’t settled with anything. I was kind of discovering where I belonged in the world of performance and theater,” she said. During her vagabond period a short play of hers got accepted by the Great Plains Theatre Conference (now Great Plains Theatre Commons, GPTC) in Omaha. In fact, Dramaturg Heather Helinsky was exposed to In the Upper Room at the GPTC, where it was workshopped

and read in 2017 and was later a ﬁnalist in the Eugene O’Neil Theater’s National Playwrights Conference. Unbeknownst to Berry, Helinsky submitted the piece to the Colorado New Play Summit. “Our New Play Development Director at the time, the late Doug Langworthy, read it and he said this is something we should think about,” Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman said. Coleman agreed, calling it “a big, human-centered American family drama.”

PROCESS INFORMS PRODUCTION

Dramaturg Jacqueline Lawton and director Gregg Daniel worked with Berry through the New Play Summit readings. A strong reception earned the play a season spot that the pandemic pushed back to this winter. “I didn’t know it was going to be something we produced, but Beauﬁeld did such great work in the two weeks of that workshop, really digging deep into the script and the story so that when it performed for audiences they just kind of went nuts for it,” Coleman said. “It was one of the most successful workshops we had that year.” Daniel, who’s directing the production, found in Berry a willing collaborator. “She listened very carefully, she respected my ideas,” he said. “I knew she’d be a terriﬁc partner to go into mining this text and really uncovering this story. She wasn’t holding onto her words as some playwrights do. She wanted to improve upon the play, she wanted to make it as tight, as lean, as potent as it could be. In Daniel, she found an ideal interpreter of her work. “I think every playwright wants to be taken care of by their director. That’s what I need, a director who respects me

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and listens and who I can give that back to. That is Gregg Daniel in a nutshell. He’s decisive. He also refers to me and puts me ﬁrst, so I trust him to make great decisions for our show.” Workshopping has led her to more fully embrace theatre’s collective practice. “As a younger writer I thought writing was a lonely machine fueled by heartbreak, whiskey and cigarettes. But like so many other truths in life, it takes a village.” A play, she said, “passes through hands and hearts, and everyone leaves their mark, and it lives, breathes and grows with every incarnation.”

PULL OF FAMILY

Not one to shy away from the mystical, Berry found her ancestors, speciﬁcally grandma Rose, actively serving as her muses. “As a child I had what I call now spiritual visitings. I asked the universe not to have one again for a very long time and I guess Rose just decided the rules didn’t apply to her and so she broke on through.” The spectral visits by Rose were vivid. “Her voice was so strong and loud in my ear that it was very real to me.” Other ancestors weighed in as well. Feeling inspired and guided, Berry wrote 100 pages in three days. Most of what she wrote “under the inﬂuence” has remained intact. “They ended up giving me a marvelous gift.”

BIGGER-THAN-LIFE MATRIARCH

It’s fitting that Rose, the bossy fulcrum on which the play revolves, should have “dictated” her own story. In death, as in life, she’s a tyrant and enigma who defies easy analysis. “The secrets, the relationships, the dynamics – those things are so universal to American families regardless of race and generation and whatever,” she said. “But it is exciting to me that this is specifically a Black family. They are unapologetically themselves. It’s a fly on the wall of Black family life but also showing that Black family life is the same as any other family life.”

FIRST IN A CYCLE

She projects Upper Room as the ﬁrst in a seven-play cycle. She’s developing new works in the cycle that deal with various issues: Branch and Bone (growing up biracial), Ivory (Black mental health), Spectrophobe (life in the deep South), and Mulatto (identity). Coleman won’t be surprised if a new play by Berry ﬁnds its way to DCPA. “She is fearless, she is hilarious. I just really enjoy her personally as well as the quality of her writing.”

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.

(l-r) Director Gregg T. Daniel, Playwright Beaufield Berry and Dramaturg Regina Victor

IN THE UPPER ROOM FEB 11 – MAR 13, 2022 DOROTA AND KEVIN KILSTROM THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio-Described performance: Mar 6 at 1:30pm

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February 6–May 8, 2022 Explore the enduring legacy of Mexico’s La Malinche—one of history’s most enigmatic and fascinating figures. Image: Alfredo Ramos Martínez, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca), 1940. Oil paint on canvas; 50 x 401⁄2 in. Phoenix Art Museum: Museum purchase with funds provided by the Friends of Mexican Art, 1979.86. ©The Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project, reproduced by permission. Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche is organized by the Denver Art Museum. This exhibition has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Additional funding is provided by Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, University of Denver: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS4. Special thanks to the National Institute of Anthropology and History and Mexico’s Secretary of Culture. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Feb 26–27 + Mar 4–5 • See the world premiere productions of Neyla Pekarek (of The Lumineers) and Karen Hartman’s Rattlesnake Kate and Beauﬁeld Berry’s In the Upper Room. • Hear readings of fresh scripts from Kimber Lee, Leonard Madrid, and Kirsten Potter.

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Anastasia Davidson and Marianna McClellan. Photo by Adams VisCom

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The exhibition has been produced as a joint venture between Lokschuppen Rosenheim, the University of Aberdeen Museums, the Roemer- und -Pelizaeus Museums Hildesheim and MuseumsPartner Austria, and is presented in Denver by Chevron.

REVIVING A LEGEND:

RATTLESNAKE KATE

It’s been three years since Colorado New Play Summit audiences got a sneak peek at Rattlesnake Kate, which back then wasn’t much more than a promising idea in the imagination of Neyla Pekarek. Simply put: “The Rattlesnake Kate world premiere musical that you will see today is dramatically different from the concert version you may have seen in 2019,” DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman said. There are at least a dozen new songs, Pekarek said, and only one that remains unchanged. The cast has been expanded from six actors to 14. There is now a fully developed script and a score that’s been expanded threefold. “It’s a completely different show,” said Pekarek. The Aurora native, cellist and composer began developing the largely unknown story of Colorado frontierswoman Kate Slaughterback into a concept album back in 2015. The hook: Back in 1925, the self-reliant single mother came upon a migration of rattlesnakes near her farm in Hudson while on horseback with her 3-year-old adopted son. So, naturally, she proceeded to wipe out all 140 of them. “At first she killed them with her rifle, but she ran out of bullets,” Pekarek said. “So then she plucked a ‘No Hunting’ sign from the ground and just started bludgeoning those snakes to death.” Pekarek had recently left the Grammy-nominated band The Lumineers and was pursuing her own artistic identity

when she discovered a kindred spirit in Slaughterback. Born near Longmont in 1894, she was a nurse during World War II who held a variety of jobs, including taxidermist, midwife and bootlegger. She was divorced six times and made her way farming her own land. Pekarek wove Slaughterback’s biography into a 2018 concept album called Rattlesnake. Coleman then commissioned Pekarek, with the help of Brooklyn playwright Karen Hartman, to transform the album into a fully fleshed stage musical. Hartman, playing big-time catch-up, came to the Summit with 40 pages of script in hand – “and we immediately threw 30 of them away,” she said with a laugh. But Coleman was so taken by the songs and the theatrical potential of this uniquely Colorado story that he immediately slated Rattlesnake Kate for a full production in January 2021. Then came COVID. “The delay gave us time to expand the story and integrate some of the deeper conversations that we are having about America right now,” Hartman said. The story is now framed as a group of contemporary storytellers who come in all shapes, genders, ages, colors and clothes, inviting us to gather around a campfire to hear a story of the past. “The very first line of the show is Neyla singing: ‘This is a tale about the West,’ ” Hartman said. And

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even though Kate’s story took place 100 years ago, Pekarek added: “This is really the universal story of anyone who has been invisible.” To underscore that point: Kate is being played by three different actors of differing ages and races. “After our last workshop, we talked a lot about diversifying the cast so that storytellers look like the Colorado that we see today,” Pekarek said. One of those lock-opening creative conversations came when African American choreographer Dominique Kelley (DCPA Theatre Company’s Oklahoma!) read Hartman’s script and discovered this White woman from the early part of the 20th century who was fiercely authentic in a way that rubbed up against the system of the day. “And when I finished reading it, I thought, ‘Well, that’s my story. I’m Kate,’ ” said Kelley. That’s when Coleman knew the story his team had to tell was larger than just one snake-killing loner. “The hope is that lots of people can see themselves in Kate,” he said. Slaughterback experienced a fleeting taste of international celebrity when word of the snake attack started to spread in 1925. Hartman says that’s one thing Slaughterback and Pekarek have in common: “Both of them had this ‘shot-out-of-a-cannon’ experience with fame as a young person, and then they had to reinvent themselves,” said Hartman. After the glory comes the question: “What now?” The rattlesnake attack happened when Kate was just 32, and her life didn’t end there. She had 44 more years of “What now?” to go.

“This is really the universal story of anyone who has been invisible.” — NEYLA PEKAREK, COMPOSER

That’s why one of the writers’ biggest creative challenges was deciding how and when to stage the rattlesnake attack in the musical. The solution came from Broadway orchestra arranger Christopher Jahnke (Dear Evan Hansen), who suggested they tease the incident early in the musical, and revisit it later. Like a classic musical reprise. “The second time you see it, you see it in all its glory, and Kate is reliving the experience for a contemporary, younger person to hear and understand,” Hartman said. “When you see it again, you see it in the larger context of her entire life, and it is much more meaningful.” The overriding question that has driven Hartman and Pekarek: “Why now? Why do we need to see this story today?” Hartman said. She hopes they have produced “a powerful and previously untold story that a lot of people can relate to.” Pekarek counts herself among the many who have emerged from the quarantine wanting to approach their lives differently. “I am the kind of person who is a people-pleaser,” she said. “I really do not like to ruffle feathers. It’s really hard for me to advocate for myself. And here’s Rattlesnake Kate, a woman who lived completely authentically to who she was all the time, regardless of cost or consequences. I know that’s more of who I want to be. “She was kind of a misfit, and I think this is a story for misfits.”

RATTLESNAKE KATE FEB 4 – MAR 13, 2022 • MARVIN & JUDI WOLF THEATRE ASL Interpreted & Audio Described performance: Feb 20, 2pm

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY

TOOTSIE

Get ready for the official love letter to the theatre that will have you laughing out of your seat. Based on the 1982 film, the Tony Award-winning Tootsie tells the story of an actor whose reputation for being difficult catches up to him, which prompts him to adopt a new identity as Dorothy Michaels to land the role of a lifetime on Broadway. What changes will fans of the film notice on stage? In the film, Michael Dorsey (as Dorothy Michaels) auditions for a role in a lead soap opera and the musical centers around a role on Broadway. Tootsie Book Writer Robert Horn shared with the Chicago Tribune during the pre-Broadway engagement, “by moving the show to Broadway, we get the chance both to pay tribute to the theater and make fun of it.” What else can audiences expect? Tootsie Composer David Yazbek (The Full Monty and The Band’s Visit) tells the Chicago Tribune to not expect to see recreations of the ‘80s music from the film and to expect the exact opposite with a more upbeat and funky sound. See the hilarious comedy Tootsie at The Buell Theatre, Mar 29 – Apr 10, 2022.

The cast of the National Tour of Tootsie. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

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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 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

Michael Kimbrough....Manager, Engineering Brian McClain .....................Manager, Custodial Casey Meschievitz ...................................Manager, Environmental Health & Safety Steven Bilbao, Ken Long, Carmen Molina, Judith Primero Molina, Juan Loya Molina, Jermaine Parker .................................Custodians

Lane Randall, Liz Sieroslawski*, Sam Stump, Andrew Sullivan*, Emmalaine Wright*....................Ticket Agents Adam Bush...................Subscription Manager Billy Dutton...........................Associate Director, Operations Roger Haak .................VIP Ticketing Manager Danielle Freeman, Kassandra Lopez, Ella Mann..........................Box Office Managers EVENT SERVICES Kirk Petersen .......................Associate Director, Savanna Campbell, Patron Relations Samantha Egle........................Event Managers Colin Dieck, Anne Fitzgerald, Group Sales Hunter Premschak, Jessica Bergin........................................... Manager Seth Miller..............................................Technicians Maddie Young ...................................Coordinator Thomas Duffin .........................................Manager, Event Technology Theatre Services Cody Gocio .......................... Event Coordinator Carol Krueger............................................ Manager Stori Heleen-O’Foley ....Lighting, Team Lead Aaron McMullen ........................Interim Theatre Services Manager John Hess.............Manager, Sales & Business Shane Hotle.................................Audio Engineer Bryan Faciane.........................Interim Assistant Theatre Services Manager Tara Miller........... Manager, Event Operations Brook Nichols ...................... Technical Director Nora Caley, Jacob Foster, Will Stowe ....................Audio/Video Engineer Teresa Gould, Kaylyn Kriaski, Robin Lander, Myrisa Martin, Ian Wells ........................................Video Engineer Margaret Ohlander ..............House Managers Brooke Wyatt........Manager, Event Logistics Aaron McMullen, 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, Growth & Acquisition Juliana Whelan.................................Coordinator, Produced Programs Suzanne Yoe.......................Director, Content & Communications

Production Jeff Gifford ...................................................Director Julie Brou................Administrative Assistant/ Office Manager Matthew Campbell......Production Manager Scenic Design Lisa Orzolek .................................................Director Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud..................................Assistants Lighting Design Charles MacLeod......................................Director Lily Bradford..............................................Assistant Reid Tennis+.................Production Electrician Sound Design Alexander Billman..............................Supervisor Wesley Halloran+, Meagan Holdeman+, Timothy Schoeberl..........................Technicians

Stage Management Michael Morales ..................................Production Stage Manager Corin Davidson, Heidi Echtenkamp, Anne Jude, Maggie Kayes, Rick Mireles, Kristen Mun, Malia Stoner, Kristen Sutter ...........................Stage Managers Leilani Lynch, Stacy Norwood, Andie Burns, Katy Gentry, Valerie Schaefer, Elliott Shields, Mathew Strika...................Assistant Managers Harper Hadley, Sage Hughes....................Stage Management Apprentices ACCOUNTING & FINANCE Jane Williams......................................................CFO Scene Shop Sara Brandenburg................................... Director, Eric Moore.............................. Technical Director Accounting Services Albert “Stub” Allison, Robert L. Orzolek, Michaele Davidson .....Treasury Accountant Josh Prues ....Associate Technical Directors Jennifer Jeﬀrey....................Director, Financial Tyler Clark, Amy Wynn Pastor, Planning & Analysis Kyle Scoggins .....................Scenic Technicians Valerie Lingbloom...................General Ledger Louis Fernandez III ... Lead Scenic Technician Accountant Brian “Marco” Markiewicz ....Lead Carpenter Jennifer Siemers ...........Director, Accounting Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne .........................................Director HUMAN RESOURCES Jamie Curl, Tory Fink, Elvira Morales................................Vice President Georgina Kayes, Ashley Lawler.......Artisans Brian Carter, Lizette Collazos..........Directors Meghan Markiewicz ..Associate Supervisor Kaitlyn Faust...................................Administrator Paint Shop Paul Johnson...........................Payroll Specialist Jana Mitchell....................Charge Scenic Artist Monica Robles...............Supervisor, Mailroom Kristin Hamer MacFarlane, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Lisa Roebuck.................................Vice President Vincent Bridgers .....................Senior Ticketing System Analyst Jacquelyne Glover ........Software Developer Simone Gordon ..................Program Manager Brandon LeMarr ....................... Senior Systems Administrator Sarah Martinez, Allyssa Welker ..................Help Desk Analysts Jacob Parker ............................Manager, Data & Applications Joseph Reecher ........................Junior Systems Administrator

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+, THEATRE COMPANY Stephen Mazzeno+, Kyle Moore+, FACILITIES Administration Viktoria Padilla+, Glen Lucero..................................................Director Ticketing & Audience Services Charles Varin .......................Managing Director Matt Wagner+ ...................................Stagehands Jennifer Lopez ...........................................Director Ann Marshall........................... General Manager Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, Joseph Price+ ...........................................Assistant Colton Ebersole, Clint Flinchpaugh, Christina Adamoli*, Jon Collins*, Sabina Rivera .................... Company Manager John Howard.......................................... Engineers D.J. Dennis*, Edmund Gurule*, Wardrobe Elias Lopez*, Jodi Benavides, David Bright, Artistic Anthony Mattivi^.................................Supervisor Hayley Solano* .............Counter/Show Leads Christopher Coleman........... Artistic Director Robin Appleton^, Andy Bruening, Benjamin Koenig, Anthony Saavedra.........Security Specialists Kirsten Anderson*, Scott Lix*, Melissa Cashion .....................Artistic Producer Amber Donner^, David La Beaux^, Judy Briggs...........................................Front Desk Brad Steinmeyer*, Charlie Miller .......Associate Artistic Director Lauren LaCasse, Lisa Parsons^........Dressers Greg Swan* ..................... Subscription Agents Quentin Crump........................................Manager, Grady Soapes ....................Artistic Producer & Jerome Horng, Security & Guest Relations Luis Bordoy, Eli Davis*, Shay Goddard, Director of Casting Marisa Sorce ................................Wig Assistants Merry Davis ..........................Financial Manager Jen Gray*, Chantel Healy, * Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local B-7 + Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 7 Jane Deegan ..................................Administrator Natalie Jaramillo, Noah Jungferman*, Michael Mathey*, Jonce Palmer, ^ Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 719 Staﬀ list current through Jan 21, 2022

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THE MAN WHO FIRST BROUGHT US

HAMILTON — RON CHERNOW ON SERVING AS LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S

“RIGHT HAND MAN” BY JANICE C. SIMPSON

Before Miranda wrote the show, Chernow wrote the best-selling biography on the once-forgotten Founding Father. How involved was Chernow in the making of the musical? What does he think of Hamilton as hip-hop? And what would Hamilton, himself, think?

The story has already become Broadway lore: Lin-Manuel Miranda was on vacation from his Tonywinning musical In the Heights when he picked up a biography of Alexander Hamilton. Before Miranda finished the second chapter of the 800-page book, he began to think of Hamilton’s life as a series of hip-hop songs, performed by people of color. Mutual friends introduced him to the book’s author, Ron Chernow, and the rest, as they say, is history-making. Chernow reveals what it was like for him — a musical newbie — to collaborate on the show that is now a phenomenon. What did you think when you first heard the idea of turning your book into a musical? Ron Chernow: The book had been optioned for a movie in Hollywood three times and, as so often happens, disappeared into a black hole. Lin started by telling me that Hamilton’s story was a classic hip-hop narrative. Needless to say, I had no idea what he was talking about. I know now. But I didn’t know then. I’m a little more hip now than I was at that point. I think Hamilton worked for hip-hop because there was something so driven about him. He’s constantly talking and writing and reading and doing things, and so the pulsating hip-hop music and lyrics really match the tempo of his life. And [Lin] asked me on the spot to be the historical advisor. He said “I want the historians to take this seriously.” Can you explain your involvement as the advisor? RC: First order of business was simply my pointing out errors. As time went on, I commented about the portraits of the different characters, motivations, the dynamics of the different relationships, the dramatic arc.

Company - Hamilton National Tour - © Joan Marcus

How often were you in touch? RC: I kept reentering this process — I would say at about two- or three-month intervals, when there was a first rehearsal, a first workshop, a first theatre festival, a first sing-through of the whole show, the sitzprobe. And then earlier when it was still at the Public Theater, I was seeing the show about every third or fourth night because Lin was still making changes. How did the two of you work? RC: Lin was a strong enough personality with a sense of integrity that allowed him to really have the biographer deeply involved in this way. Whenever there was a new version of the show, I had the opportunity to sit down with Lin for an hour or two and give him my reactions and he would sit there with his laptop. If I said to him something that was ridiculous, he would just stare at me. If I said something that — to him — made sense, he 24

APPLAUSE • FEB – MAR 2022

COLORADO NATIVE JORDANA GROLNICK COMES HOME IN

Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw the whole show? RC: The ﬁrst preview at the Public in January [2015] was indescribably emotional for me. I was just on the verge of tears through the whole performance. It was rather magical and dreamlike that these ﬁgures that I had written about were suddenly dancing and singing on this stage.

HAMILTON

What have you been listening to? RC: Everything from Evita to Follies to A Chorus Line to Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s been a very nice education for me. No 1776 [the musical]? RC: I think that the image of 1776 [a bunch of late middle-aged white males] was in the back of my mind the first time that Lin invited me to a rehearsal with actors. I opened the door of this studio and I peeked in … and my first thought was, “Oh my God, they’re all Black and Latino.” I’m embarrassed to say, I hadn’t thought about the casting at all, but I just assumed that the Founding Fathers, you know…. And I sat down and I said to myself, “Oh boy, I’d better talk to Lin about this when this rehearsal is over.” Number one: Within seconds you forget what racial or ethnic group they belong to. But then I also felt within a matter of minutes…this is an inspired idea because these young Black and Latino performers are not only bringing extraordinary talent, but freshness and passion and energy that I had never seen. Even in this early rehearsal, they were already getting closer to the spirit of the American Revolution than anything I had seen either on stage or screen. Why do you think the show has become such a phenomenon? RC: There are a lot of different reasons. I think that it has revolutionized musical theatre by taking three things that had never been fused together — hip-hop, Broadway show tunes and American history — in this brilliant mix. I think the show really captures the changing demographics of the country. People go into the theatre and as they are watching 18th-century America, they’re simultaneously seeing 21st-century America. Suddenly, the 18th century seems very immediate and very accessible in a way that it has never been before. The show is reacquainting Americans with their own origins. What do you think Hamilton would think of all this? RC: He would love it. You know Hamilton was not a bashful boy.

Company - Hamilton National Tour - © Joan Marcus

Had you been a fan of musicals before? RC: I’d always preferred straight drama as opposed to musicals. But I must say, having been involved with this show has given me enormous respect for musicals and how diﬃcult they are to do. I’ve actually spent the last few months listening to a lot of cast albums from earlier decades because I’ve just gotten interested in musicals.

When Hamilton returns to Denver, it’s a homecoming for Colorado native Jordana Grolnick, swing and co-dance captain. We talked with her about the show, COVID and coming home: DCPA: Why do so many Coloradans make it to Broadway? Is it the altitude? Grolnick: Oh, for sure! People live here because they love it here, and that passion and conviction translates into following one’s dreams. DCPA: A photo on your website shows you as a young child in a tutu. Did you dance from a young age? Grolnick: My mom put me in dance class at age three (thank you, Mom!!). I was obsessed with it and never stopped. DCPA: How long was your Corona pandemic “hiatus”? How bad was it? Grolnick: [Hamilton] got shut down for two weeks at first, so I traveled back to Colorado. Two weeks turned into two months, turned into “until further notice,” so I moved semipermanently back to Boulder. DCPA: Can you feel a difference in audiences now? Grolnick: I think people have been truly aching for communal experience. I’ll never forget the first time I sang “Yorktown” after the pandemic — “The world turned upside down” brought me to tears because I finally knew exactly what it meant. We had lived it and been given the chance to come back and tell the tale.

HAMILTON

FEB 16 – MAR 27, 2022 • BUELL THEATRE ASL Interpreted, Audio-described and Open Captioned performance: Mar 26, 2pm ASL Interpreted performance: Mar 18, 7:30pm

READ THE FULL Q&A

Jordana Grolnick Matthew Murphy Photography

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T Through its community outreach program, Ameristar Cares, team members help those who need it most by volunteering time and making financial contributions.

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“ 28

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FOSTERING TOMORROW’S

PLAYWRIGHTS

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There’s an expression: Good writers are born not made. Maybe…but good writers can become great when their talents are guided. In 2013, DCPA Education set out to meet a growing need. High schools were asking for support for aspiring young writers, so the team offered in-school playwriting workshops and an annual one-act competition. Once the program took off, it was no surprise that middle schools also expressed interest, so last year, the program expanded to encompass grades 6-8. To date, more than 25,000 students have participated in the program. “It is so exciting to see the enthusiasm, creativity and talent of these young playwrights,” said Claudia Carson, DCPA Education Playwriting Manager. “Whether inspired by personal accounts, social issues or science fiction, the submissions are always highly entertaining, well written and engaging. We are so proud of our students!” This year, DCPA Teaching Artists have offered 89 workshops to 1,680 students in 21 schools. Of those participants, the DCPA received 135 submissions to its annual playwriting competition. All submissions are reviewed by DCPA artistic, literary and education professionals. In January, the team announced 10 high school finalists and three winners. The winning high schoolers’ scripts will have a professional staged reading during the annual Colorado New Play Summit in March. The high school winners, along with the three middle school scripts, are then published in a theatre anthology. “We invite our theatre family to read about the winning scripts on our website at denvercenter.org/write-a-play,” said Carson. “Who knows? You might be reading the work of the future Lin-Manuel Miranda.” The DCPA’s High School Playwriting Competition is made possible by the generous support of Chevron, The Robert and Judi Newman Family Foundation and Transamerica.

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Applause -- Hamilton, March 1-March 27

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