Applause -- The Lehman Trilogy -- May 3-June 2, 2024

APPLAUSE

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

WWelcome to the theatre! This issue of Applause encompasses the final months of an extraordinary season in which we’ve seen demand for theatre revitalized. Thanks to you, we have exceeded nearly every Broadway goal and extended the runs of four shows — Cebollas, Rubicon, The Secret Comedy of Women and The Improvised Shakespeare Company®.

We’re delighted to end the season on a high note. First up from the Theatre Company will be a refreshingly unconventional adaptation of Emma, a Latine exploration of immigration and culture in Where Did We Sit on the Bus? and the historical look at the rise and fall of a financial empire in The Lehman Trilogy.

Across the Galleria will be a trio of Broadway’s best hits including a celebratory account of Cher’s six-decade career in The Cher Show, an all-new take on Stephen Sondheim’s Company and the long-awaited return of Disney’s Frozen, which originally started here in 2017. And let’s not forget Space Explorers: THE INFINITE at Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace, Broadway’s Next Hit Musical in the Garner Galleria Theatre and Bluey’s Big Play in the Buell.

As one season ends another begins. We heat up the summer with the return of Wicked followed by the national tour launch of KIMBERLY AKIMBO plus an entire season of touring shows, which we shared in March.

In this issue, I’m pleased to announce our upcoming 2024/25 Denver Center Theatre Company season. Highlights include Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter based on the New York Times best-selling novel, the world premiere of The Reservoir by Denver-born Jake Brasch and everyone’s favorite, Little Shop of Horrors. You can find the full season on pages 18-19.

We hope you will rejoin us next season, but for now, on with the show!

Vladimir Script

Warm regards,

Janice Sinden

Janice Sinden, President & CEO

APPLAUSE

VOLUME XXXIV • NUMBER 6 • APR - JUN 2024

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone

DESIGNER: Brenda Elliott

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Paul Koob, Lucas Kreitler

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Misha Berson, Lisa Bornstein, Linnea Covington, Emma Holst, Joanne Ostrow, Kelundra Smith

Applause is published six 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.

Applause magazine is funded in part by

Angie Flachman, Publisher For advertising 303.428.9529 or sales@pub-house.com coloradoartspubs.com

Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that engages and inspires through the transformative power of live theatre.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Hassan Salem, Chair

Ruth Krebs, Vice Chair

David Jacques Farahi, Secretary/Treasurer

Nicole Ament

Dr. Patricia Baca

Brisa Carleton

Jerome Davis

Kevin Kilstrom

Susan Fox Pinkowitz

Manny Rodriguez

Alan Salazar

Richard M. Sapkin

Martin Semple

William Dean Singleton

Robert Slosky

Tina Walls

Dr. Reginald L. Washington

Judi Wolf

HONORING OUR ELDERS

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.

16

Sylvia Young

HONORARY TRUSTEES

Navin Dimond

Margot Gilbert Frank

Jeannie Fuller

Robert C. Newman

Daniel L. Ritchie

Cleo Parker Robinson

HELEN G. BONFILS FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Martin Semple, President

William Dean Singleton, Vice President

Dr. Reginald L. Washington, Secretar y/Treasurer

Nicole Ament

Kevin Kilstrom

Ruth Krebs

Susan Fox Pinkowitz

Hassan Salem

Robert Slosky

Judi Wolf

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Janice Sinden, President & CEO

Jamie Clements, Vice President, Development

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director, Theatre Company

John Ekeberg, Executive Director, Broadway & Cabaret

Lydia Garcia, Executive Director, Equity & Organization Culture

Angela Lakin, Vice President, Marketing & Sales

Glen Lucero, Vice President, Venue Operations

Laura Maresca, Chief People & Culture Officer

Charlie Miller, Executive Director & Curator, Off-Center

Lisa Roebuck, Vice President, Information Technology

Charles Varin, Managing Director, Theatre Company & Off-Center

Allison Watrous, Executive Director, Education & Community Engagement

Jane Williams, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Der Rosenkavalier

LEGACY GIVING

It is because of one Legacy Gift that we exist today. We invite you to join our Encore Society when you name the DCPA in your estate plan.

Encore Society members receive special event invitations, ticket offers, and member-only perks. Join by:

• Making a tax-free gift in your will or revocable trust

• Designating the DCPA as a beneficiary of a retirement plan, IRA, insurance policy, or other account

• Taking advantage of tax-wise giving through appreciated stock or your IRA RMD

For more information, contact: Connor Carlin ccarlin@dcpa.org | 303.446.4842

MORE WAYS TO GIVE

MAKE SHOWTIME A NIGHT ON THE TOWN!

Uplevel your pre- and post-show experience with a DCPA premium membership.

BEST OF BROADWAY SOCIETY

Indulge in unforgettable evenings all Broadway season long! Enjoy pre-show cocktails and dinner at Kevin Taylor’s at the Opera House, front-and-center orchestra seats, and intermission amenities in the Wolf Room at the fabulous Buell Theatre.

Contact: Marc Ravenhill • mravenhill@dcpa.org • 303.572.4594

DIRECTORS SOCIETY

Get unprecedented access to Denver Center Theatre Company shows! Enjoy pre-show dinners and behind-the-scenes discussions with creatives, premium seating, and opening night festivities with the cast and crew. Contact: Marc Ravenhill • mravenhill@dcpa.org • 303.572.4594

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

Build your brand recognition and entertain your clients as a Corporate Member. You’ll receive tickets to eight DCPA shows, private pre-show cocktails and dining, and professional networking opportunities. Contact: Caroline Eppers • ceppers@dcpa.org • 303.446.4873

Soara-Joye Ross in A Little Night Music

Photo by Amanda Tipton Photography

Leslie Alexander and Sophia Dotson in A Little Night Music

Photo by Amanda Tipton Photography

THE IMPORTANCE OF VOICEOVER

CBY LINNEA COVINGTON

Cartoon superheros, talking toilet paper, instructional videos, audiobooks — these are all done by voiceover artists.

“It can be so very broad. I think of voiceover as being anytime you hear a voice without the face of the person speaking,” said Mare Trevathan, a professional voiceover artist, local actor and DCPA Teaching Artist who has recorded over 500 titles, her favorite of which was voicing a talking sword.

Voiceover work plays into everyday life a lot more than most people think, and it’s a skill that’s both needed and profitable. It’s also a skill one needs to learn. You may have been told you have a “good voice” which is helpful, but it’s not a reason to launch a career.

“It’s important people understand all voices are good voices, it’s just understanding what’s right for any given situation,” said Trevathan, who mentioned a woman she knows who has a babylike voice perfect for toys, but not great for books or instructional videos. “Even if you have a traditionally ‘good voice,’ which is about five-percent of people, it’s more about what you can do with it.”

Trevathan recommends a few things for those who want to get into the voiceover game. Before you take a voiceover class, start with acting.

“An acting class will speed up any work you will do in a voiceover class, and you will learn how to create circumstances that directly support a voiceover script you’re working on,” she said.

Another key in learning to be successful is taking a class in improv. Especially, explained Trevathan, in the age of artificial intelligence. Turns out AI can do a lot, but it can’t improvise a situation or inject emotion.

Then, of course, taking classes with a professional voiceover artist will set you up for success.

“I don’t feel like people are wasting their time and money on dreamland. There is work out there for people who can and want to put in the time and energy into voiceover,” added Trevathan. “Anyone can be a talking sword, but they may not get paid for it.”

DCPA Education o ers seasonal classes in acting, improv and voiceover. Visit denvercenter.org/education for details.

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u,

In WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? Latiné artists excavate their own histories

BY KELUNDRA SMITH

WWhen performer and playwright Brian Quijada was in the third grade, his teacher taught the class a lesson about the Civil Rights Movement during Black History Month. She explained that a woman named Rosa Parks changed the course of history by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Quijada raised his hand and asked, “Where did Latinos sit on the bus?” His teacher replied that she didn’t know. This moment was etched into Quijada’s mind and nearly 20 years later he wrote, Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, a one-person show inspired by that memory.

The mostly autobiographical play is composed of a mix of poetry, rap, monologues, and live sound mixing and looping. In it, the Civil Rights Movement lesson sends a curious kid, Bee Quijada, home to ask questions about his Salvadoran family’s immigration story, which continues well into Bee’s 20s. However, what he finds along the way is that the only answer he needs is the dream he holds inside his heart.

Quijada says he was inspired to write the play as a young actor in New York when he kept being called into auditions for roles that didn’t resonate with his experience as a brown kid who grew up in a Jewish and Italian neighborhood in Chicago. By that time, he’d defied his parents’ wishes, moved to New York, and chosen to be an artist instead of a doctor, lawyer, or accountant.

“I wanted to play a Latino character that wasn’t steeped in Latino trauma,” Quijada said. “There weren’t a lot of comedies. I love hip-hop and there weren’t a lot of stories of hip-hop. I wanted to tell a story where I could do the

things I loved and tell personal stories through musicals and comedy.”

Quijada grew up making home videos with his brother Marvin. He also grew up going to Quinceañeras and other celebrations where music moved the room. In the script, he recalls this early introduction to performance by saying, “I’m a strong believer that we are all born with rhythm. Those who think they can’t dance do have it somewhere deep within them. Waiting to be released and displayed on the floor.”

As Quijada got older, he started doing musical theatre with Jewish friends at his middle and high schools, performing in shows such as Cats and The Wizard of Oz. The closer he got to art, the more distance he felt between his true calling and his parents’ desires for him. He pointedly captures this experience gap in Where Did We Sit on the Bus? in the stanza: “I get why the Mexican workers in Highland Park restaurants don’t know whether to talk to me in English or Spanish when I walk in with my white friends. I get why the white librarian wonders what nationality I am because my English is white-washed.”

“American isn’t Black and white, there’s nuance and gray lines,” Quijada said. “We have to have empathy for the American immigrant. I was battling identity questions and asking where I fit in a Black and white America. What does it mean for me to grow up loving Michael Jackson, me a brown kid, dancing like a Black kid who wanted to be a white kid. The piece is summed up by a coming-of-age story and figuring out who the hell you are.”

by Kyle

Illustration

Malone

Where Did We Sit on the Bus? received its world premiere at Teatro Vista in Chicago in 2016. It garnered Outstanding Solo Performance and Sound Design at The Chicago Jeff Awards and earned him two Drama Desk nominations in the same categories for its Off-Broadway debut at Ensemble Studio Theatre that same year. Since that time, it has been performed across the country.

Four years ago, Quijada stopped acting in the play and passed it along to his friend Matt Dickson, who has directed the production ever since, and mentee and friend, performer Satya Chávez. The two met when Dickson and Quijada were working on another show, Undesirables, while Chávez was a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. When Quijada’s journey performing the show ended, he knew who to call.

Chávez said that part of what attracted them to the script is that it reminded them of their family’s story.

What does it mean for me to grow up loving Michael Jackson, me a brown kid, dancing like a Black kid who wanted to be a white kid. The piece is summed up by a coming-ofage story and figuring out who the hell you are.

— BRIAN QUIJADA, PLAYWRIGHT

“Eduardo Quijada is basically Gerardo Chávez,” Chávez said. “Brian’s dad told him the story of having to eat tortilla and salt for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and my dad ate rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner….”

Chávez’s parents migrated to the U.S. from Mexico. Immigration is an ever-present issue in the piece, much like in real life. When Bee asks her mom how she came to America, she responds, in part, “A quarter of an apple and half a sandwich to get over the border. / 3 days.”

“The piece itself is not trying to be politically divisive,” Chávez said. “It makes a point to make you fall in love with the immigrant characters and Bee Quijada, but then there’s a spoken word piece called ‘Let Them In’ that reflects on the hypocrisy of a country founded by refugees and immigrants who won’t let a new generation in.”

As artists, both Chávez and Quijada carry their parents’ stories with them. Quijada said that he hopes the next generation will feel inspired by the piece. “Tell your story in the unique way that only you can tell it. That’s what I did, put all the joy in with all the things I was passionate about.”

WHERE

DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?

APR 19 – JUN 2 • SINGLETON THEATRE

ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance: May 12 at 1:30pm

Post-show discussions: May 14, 21, 23 & 28

• All people are equal • Moments are shared • Differences are valued • Discussion is encouraged

We respect that everyone experiences our stories differently.

“ … THE MOST HIGH - PROFILE — AND HIGH ALTITUDE — MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL IN AMERICA.” - THE TIMES, UK

2300 WILLOW CREEK DR. - 24 ACRES, BOULDER JOEL RIPMASTER

1077 GILBERT STREET, BOULDER JOEL RIPMASTER

820 6TH STREET, BOULDER JOEL RIPMASTER

14 45 MOSS ROCK PL, BOULDER DAVID SCOTT

RED CREEK TRAIL RANCH - 65 ACRES, GYPSUM BRENT RIMEL & ED SWINFORD

BOULDER FLOWER FARM - 9 ACRES, LONGMONT BOB DALTON

COMPANY REVIVAL FINDS NEW DEPTH

IIn his 2010 memoir and lyric collection, Finishing the Hat, Stephen Sondheim wrote of his surprise at the reception of Company in 1970: “I had no idea Company would be so unsettling to public and critics alike.” He was “stunned by the polarized reactions of fervent admiration and ferocious rejection” when the somewhat experimental production premiered.

The play derived from a group of brief one-act plays written in the late 1960s by actor and playwright George Furth. Sondheim and Furth merged the scenes into a musical built around a single urban man with an emotionally empty life and a distinct fear of marriage. Nothing much happens in the story, just a display of neurotic antics around a surprise 35th birthday party. The action takes place inside the mind of the main character, Bobby.

Lacking the usual linear plot, Company was a new form, labeled (not by Sondheim) the “concept musical.”

“As far as I know,” Sondheim wrote, “prior to Company there had never been a plotless musical which dealt with one set of characters from start to finish. In 1970, the contradictory aspect of the experiment (a story without a plot) was cause for both enthusiasm and dismay.”

BY JOANNE OSTROW

The revival half a century later has stunned audiences once again by making the central character a female. More than just a gender-bending rewrite, with the male Bobby now a female Bobbie, the revival switches up ancillary characters as well and finds new depth. British director Marianne Elliott ’s Tony Award-winning production has been hailed as revelatory.

Matt Rodin who plays Jamie in the touring production, said what ’s so remarkable about Sondheim and Furth’s work is that 50 years after its inception, “the messages and ideas are still deeply relevant. What it means to be in a relationship with another person, the messiness of marriage, and the dance of compromise all hit home in the same way they did in the ’70s — maybe even more so now.

“I think that ’s not only because we’re more open to discussing marriage and partnership as a society, but this new production has adapted the material in a way that resonates today. Gender flipping Bobbie, Jamie, the boyfriends, and a handful of the other couples’ dynamics paints a more vivid picture of life as we know it. A single woman at 35 has a lot more pressure than a single man at 35. In this production, the wives (particularly Jenny and Susan) lean more stable and clear headed, while the

Britney Coleman as Bobbie (center) and the North American Tour of COMPANY . Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

— MATT RODIN, ACTOR

[50 years after its inception,] the messages and ideas are still deeply relevant. What it means to be in a relationship with another person, the messiness of marriage, and the dance of compromise all hit home in the same way they did in the ’70s — maybe even more so now.

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY WICKED

Cultural phenomenon and beloved musical Wicked returns to the Buell Theatre this summer. Before Dorothy dropped into Oz, two rivals-turnedunlikely-friends tell a story of love, magic, and friendship.

Elphaba, born with emerald-green skin and misunderstood throughout her childhood, grows into a fiery and exceptionally talented young witch. Glinda is everything Elphaba hates: bubbly and popular. Lumped together as university roommates, the witches learn and grow, becoming allies and friends. When the world decides to call one “good” and the other “wicked,” loyalties are tested as each witch must make her own decisions, forging her own path.

husbands (David and Peter) are buttoned up and anxious. We get to see Company through a 21st century lens, and it ’s brighter than ever.”

Given the culture’s heightened expectations for women regarding marriage and children, the gender switch adds meaning. Additionally, in the revival, the wedding-day panic attack is sung by gay male Jamie, rather than straight female Amy in the original, underscoring that gay marriage may be legal but fear of commitment is universal.

Actor Rodin said, “This role is an incredible blessing because Jamie gets an arc of his own. At the end of show, right before Bobbie’s final turn in ‘Being Alive,’ Jamie speaks to her from the other side of commitment. He tells her that everything is going to be okay; that being in a relationship with another person is actually a gateway to a deeper part of ourselves and our shared humanity. And miraculously, for the first time, she listens.”

The score remains among Sondheim’s best, from the wise, heartrending “Being Alive” to the urban anonymity anthem “Another Hundred People” to the zinger made famous by Elaine Stritch, “The Ladies Who Lunch.”

For fans of the original Company, the challenge of seeing the reversed emotional roles is newly rewarding.

“Theater, at its best, provokes questions instead of providing answers,” cast member Rodin said. “This version asks even more questions than the original, and for the better.

“The payoff is an audience, and a company of actors, that feel more seen, understood, and moved. We leave with questions unanswered. And I don’t think theater gets much better than that.”

MAY 22 – JUN 2 • BUELL THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio-Described and Open Captioned performance: Jun 2 at 2pm

This Tony Award-winning musical is “a complete triumph! An original musical that will make you laugh, cry, and think” (USA Today). Known for its iconic songs, including “Defying Gravity,” “Popular,” and “For Good,” Wicked electrifies audiences with its dynamic music, beautiful staging, and moving story.

Wicked features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin) and a book by Winnie Holzman, adapted from the original novel by Gregory Maguire. The production is directed by Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello (Assassins, Take Me Out).

Wicked comes to Denver July 24 through August 25. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to see this exhilarating show, a musical that will change you “for good.”

The National Touring Company of WICKED Photo by Joan Marcus.

David Socolar as Theo and Britney Coleman as Bobbie in the North American Tour of COMPANY Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

THE ONE. THE ON LY. CHER

TThe Cher Show is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy, an Oscar, an Emmy and enough Tony-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage. The Cher Show is so much Cher that it takes three actresses to recount one legendary career. Spread out over six decades, the totality of Cher’s accomplishments may be hard to comprehend. Consider this decade-by-decade look at her career highlights and you’ll understand why she is a legend.

May 20, 1946

Born Cherilyn Sarkisian to an Armenian-American father and an Irish-English-German-Cherokee mother.

1960s

At 16, Cher heads to LA where she meets producer Phil Spector and becomes a backup singer for such groups as The Ronettes and The Righteous Brothers. She meets Sonny Bono and their friendship turns into a romance. They release “I Got You Babe” and rocket to the top of the charts. They continue to turn out hits while Cher becomes a solo artist with her first release, “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).”

1970s

In the face of diminishing sales, the duo develops an act that ultimately becomes “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” (CBS, 1971-1974). When the show ends, so too does their marriage. Building upon her celebrity, the multifaceted performer sets out to redefine herself, resulting in the first No. 1 solo hit of her career with “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.”

1980s

Cher turns to acting, first starring on Broadway and then the big screen in Mask, Suspect, The Witches of Eastwick, Silkwood (Golden Globe, Supporting Actress), and Moonstruck (Academy Award, Best Actress). But she still remains atop the music charts with “I Found Someone,” “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Just Like Jesse James.”

1990s

Cher stars in If These Walls Could Talk, Tea with Mussolini, and Mermaids, which also features her pop cover of “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss).” Soon, her music fills the club scene and she releases Believe for which the title song wins a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

2000s

Soon after releasing Living Proof, Cher announces her retirement from live performance and sets out on a 325-date farewell tour. One performance is televised, scoring her three 2003 Emmy Awards. After a brief hiatus, Cher returns to the stage in Las Vegas where she holds court for 192 shows from 2008-2011.

2010s

Cher releases her first album in 12 years with Closer to the Truth in 2013, returns to Vegas with Classic Cher, and stars in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!

According to Wikipedia, Cher is the only artist to have a #1 single on a Billboard chart in each of the past seven decades with a total of 34 Top 40 hits. She is a fashion icon, an award-winning actress and a music legend. She is Cher.

THE CHER SHOW

MAY 3 – 5 • BUELL THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned Performance: May 4 at 2pm

Morgan Scott as Star in THE CHER SHOW

Photo by Meredith Mashburn Photography.

Morgan Scott as Star in THE CHER SHOW

Photo by Meredith Mashburn Photography.

THEATRE, UP CLOSE

by Jennifer M. Koskinen.

ANNOUNCING THE 2024/25 THEATRE COMPANY SEASON

Join us for more intimate experiences next season! This is your chance to make time for more comedies, tragedies, and musicals. This is your opportunity to enjoy live theatre at its very best — UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

Along with never missing a moment of our season, Theatre Company subscribers get a host of great perks:

• SAVE UP TO 20%*

• EARLY ACCESS

• FREE EXCHANGES

• UP TO 20% OFF ADDITIONAL TICKETS

• AUTO-RENEW OPTIONS**

Jordan Barbour in The 12 .

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present

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

BY Stefano Massini

ADAPTED BY Ben Power

With Matthew Boston, Stephen Elrod, Tasso Feldman, Sasha Roiz

Stage Managers: Nick Nyquist, Malia Stoner

SCENIC DESIGN BY Reid Thompson

COSTUME DESIGN BY Raphael Regan LIGHTING DESIGN BY Jiyoun Chang

DRAMATURGY BY Sarah Rose Leonard VOICE AND DIALECT BY Jeffrey Parker CASTING BY Grady Soapes, CSA And Chad Murnane, CSA Murnane Casting

DIRECTED BY

Margot Bordelon

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN BY Palmer Hefferan

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Jeff Gifford

The Lehman Trilogy was first performed at the Royal National Theatre, London on 12th July, 2018.

The original Italian text of Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini was first published by Einaudi in 2014 The Lehman Trilogy is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.

THE KILSTROM THEATRE • MAY 3 – JUN 2, 2024

SEASON SPONSORS SPOTLIGHT

CAST

(In order of appearance)

Henry Lehman .........................................................................................................................................................

Matthew Boston

Emanuel Lehman Sasha Roiz

Mayer Lehman Tasso Feldman

UNDERSTUDIES

Stephen Elrod (Mayer Lehman, Emanuel Lehman)

SETTING

New York City

The Lehman Trilogy will be performed with two 10-minute intermissions.

Stage Manager

Malia Stoner

Assistant Stage Manager Nick Nyquist

Stage Management Apprentice Rain Young Cultural Consultant Rabbi Caryn Aviv

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.

WHO’S WHO

ACTING COMPANY

MATTHEW BOSTON (Henry Lehman). Credits include leading roles at Old Globe, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Yale Rep, Hartford Stage, A.C.T, Berkeley Rep, Intiman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Rep, Hartford TheaterWorks, Repertory Theater of St Louis, Portland Center Stage, George Street Playhouse, Centerstage, Dallas Theater Center, A Contemporary Theatre, Two River Theater Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, 59E59, SoHo Rep, and many others. TV/Film: “City on a Hill,” “For Life,” “Elementary,” “The Blacklist,” “Mysteries of Laura,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order,” “The Kitchen,” “In the Family,” “Out and About,” “Ghost Ship.”

STEPHEN ELROD (Understudy). Broadway: To Kill A Mockingbird (First National Tour and The Kennedy Center). OffBroadway: Sideways (Theatre at St. Clements) and When It Happens to You (Sheen Center). Regional: Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth (Shakespeare Theatre Company, DC); The Who & The What (Theaterworks

Hartford); Songs of Bilitis (South Coast Repertory). Training: BU, LAMDA. @stephenelrod

TASSO FELDMAN (Mayer Lehman). Regional credits include: The Seagull, The Taming of the Shrew, The Heart of Robin Hood, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors, On The Razzle (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Amadeus, Charley’s Aunt, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Cocoanuts, The Three Musketeers (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Intimate Apparel (McCarter Theater); Goldfish (South Coast Rep); Equivocation (Geffen Playhouse); The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (Lyric Stage Co, Boston). TV/Film: Six seasons on “The Resident,” “Black Box,” “CSI: NY” “The Artist,” “Pirandello on Broadway.” Training: BFA, Boston University.

SASHA ROIZ (Emanuel Lehman) is honored to be performing in Denver in a play that resonates deeply with his own family’s Jewish immigrant roots. Sasha trained at the Guildford School of Acting (UK). With well over 200 episodes of television, he has become a familiar face on the small screen. Best known for his series regular role as Captain Sean Renard on six seasons of

NBC’s “Grimm.” Other major TV roles include “Suits,” “Chicago Med,” “911,” “Salvation” and “Caprica.” Notable theater credits: Pip/Theo in Three Days of Rain (Portland Center Stage), Alex in Past Perfect (Centaur Theatre MontrealMasques nomination), Pedro in Vinci (Centaur Theatre Montreal). @MrSashaRoiz on Instagram.

PLAYWRIGHT

PETER CHAPMAN (Book Author) is author of The Last of the Imperious Rich: Lehman Brothers, 1844-2008, a leading reference on the history of the Lehman family.

STEFANO MASSINI (Playwright) is an internationally renowned novelist and playwright, the first Italian author to receive a Tony Award. He regularly contributes to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, and for several years he has served as artistic consultant at Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa. His works, including The Lehman Trilogy, have been translated into 30 languages, and his plays have been performed in more theatres around the world than those of any other living Italian writer, produced as far afield as Iran and Korea, and staged by directors such as Luca Ronconi and Sam Mendes.

His most acclaimed works, beyond The Lehman Trilogy, include: Intractable Woman, a decades-long international success; Ladies Football Club, which premiered to wide acclaim in Spain; and 7 Minutes, hailed by Le Monde as a “masterpiece” at the Comédie Française. He has won numerous Italian awards, including the Premio Vittorio Tondelli

and the Premio Ubu, as well as the Tony Award, the Drama Guild Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Qualcosa sui Lehman (The Lehman Trilogy) was among the most acclaimed novels published in Italy in recent years and won the Selezione Campiello Prize, the Super Mondello Prize, the De Sica Prize, the Prix Médicis Essai and the Prix Meilleur Livre Étranger.

In 2022 he completed his ten-year writing work on the birth of the atomic bomb in a play entitled Manhattan Project, already requested in many theatres around the world. His rewrite based on Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf will debut in 2024.

BEN POWER (Adaptor) is a writer for theatre and the screen. For the last 12 years he has worked at the National Theatre as associate director and deputy artistic director and was responsible for the temporary theatre The Shed. Work for the screen includes Munich: The Edge of War and The Hollow Crown (BAFTA nominations for Best Single Drama and Best Mini-Series). Work for the stage includes adaptations of DH Lawrence’s Husbands & Sons, Euripides’ Medea and Ibsen’s Emperor & Galilean, all for the National; A Tender Thing for the RSC and Complicite’s A Disappearing Number (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards). He was associate director of Headlong where he adapted Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author and Marlowe’s Faustus. He is currently creating a television series for Working Title and is published by Faber & Faber.

DIRECTOR

MARGOT BORDELON. At the DCPA: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and You Lost Me. New York (selected): Let’s Call Her Patty and Plot Points in Our Sexual Development (LCT3); …what the end will be, Something Clean, and Too Heavy for Your Pocket (Roundabout); peerless (Primary Stages); Wives (Playwrights Horizons); Do You Feel Anger? (Vineyard); Eddie and Dave (Atlantic); A Delicate Ship (Playwrights Realm). Regional productions at ACT Seattle, Actors Theatre Louisville, Alliance, American Theater Company, Arena, Geffen, Huntington, Miami New Drama, Marin Theater Company, Steppenwolf, TheaterWorks Hartford, the Wilma, and Yale Rep. MFA: Yale School of Drama. margotbordelon.com

CREATIVE TEAM

JIYOUN CHANG (Lighting Designer) is honored to be back for the second time at the DCPA. New York Broadway Credits: Stereophonic, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Cottage, KPOP Broadway, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Tony nom), Slave Play (Tony, Drama Desk, Henry Hewes noms). Recent credits: Walk On Through

(Gavin Creel); The Far Country (Drama Desk, Lucile Lortel noms). Recipient of Suzi Bass Award & Obie Award. The Public, Roundabout, NYTW, MCC, Signature, ATC, Guggenheim, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Berkeley Rep, CalShakes, Guthrie, Old Globe, OSF. Special thanks to David and Eva.

JEFF GIFFORD (Director of Production) is in his eleventh season at the DCPA and oversees everything you see on the stage except the actors. Working with this amazing team of artists and artisans is the highlight of his career. Guiding world premieres to their first opening night is especially gratifying and Jeff has worked on more than 50 of them. Among his favorites are The Book of Will, Dinner with Friends, The Violet Hour, The Beard of Avon, and the new musical Rattlesnake Kate. Jeff holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts.

PALMER HEFFERAN (Composer and Sound Designer). At the DCPA: Emma and You Lost Me Palmer has designed over 80 productions across the country. In 2022, she received a Tony Award® nomination for her work on The Skin of Our Teeth at Lincoln Center Theater. Select credits Broadway: Just For Us (Hudson Theatre); Grand Horizons (Second Stage); The Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54). Off-Broadway: Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA); The Comeuppance and The Death of the Last Black Man… (Signature Theatre); Merry Wives, shadow/land, Wild Goose Dreams (The Public); Flex, Becky Nurse Salem, Mary’s Seacole (Lincoln Center); Nollywood Dreams, BLKS, Collective Rage, School Girls (MCC). Awards: 2019 Obie Award (Sustained Excellence in Sound Design).

SARAH ROSE LEONARD (Dramaturg) (She/Her) is a dramaturg and creative producer. She is currently a Live Events Producer at KQED, the Bay Area’s NPR/ PBS member station. Previously, she was the Literary Manager at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Literary Associate at Signature Theatre in NYC. Favorite dramaturgy credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and twenty50 (DCPA); Angels in America (Berkeley Rep); In Braunau (SF Playhouse); You For Me For You (Crowded Fire); and Big Love (Signature Theatre). Sarah is a co-editor of 3Views on Theater, which publishes theater criticism that promotes a multiplicity of perspectives.

CHAD ERIC MURNANE (Casting) (He/ Him) is a New York-based creative professional and the founder of Murnane Casting. Previously, Chad enjoyed six years as a casting director at Binder Casting, a renowned office within the theatre industry, where he collaborated on dozens of high-profile projects. Career highlights include casting Into the Woods (Hollywood Bowl), Emojiland (Off-Broadway at The Duke), along with national/international tours of

Lincoln Center Theater’s My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Tootsie, and the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple. On film, Chad worked on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and the reboot of Friday the 13th (Paramount).

JEFFREY PARKER (Voice and Dialect Coach) (He/Him) has previously coached A Christmas Carol, The 39 Steps, and A Little Night Music for the DCPA. Jeffrey is a Professor of Theatre at MSU Denver, a Certified Teacher of both Fitzmaurice Voicework and Knight-Thompson Speechwork, and the Director of Voice and Text for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Training: MFA, UC Irvine. BA, UCLA. Jeffrey is the co-author of Experiencing Speech, a book that helps develop speech and accent skills for any reader at any level. God Bless Us — Everyone.

RAPHAEL REGAN (Costume Designer) (He/Him). Previous costume design credits include: Stew (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Zora Howard’s The Master’s Tools (Chelsea Factory); the world premiere of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s On the Far End (Round House Theatre); The Book of Lucy (Brown/Trinity Rep); Metra: A Climate Revolution Play With Songs (Flux Theatre); Being Future Being (Catalyst Dance); According to Coyote (Spokane Ensemble Theatre); Third Wing (LaMicro Theater), and Sovereignty (Harlequin Productions). He received his MFA in Costume Design from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is a member of USA 829 and an enrolled member with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Visit RaphaelRegan.com.

GRADY SOAPES, CSA (Casting) (He/ Him) is the Director of Casting and Artistic Producer with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Grady has cast over 40 DCPA productions including Rattlesnake Kate, Theater of the Mind, The Chinese Lady, The Who’s Tommy, and The Wild Party. Choreography credits include A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Goodnight Moon, Anna Karenina, As You Like It, Drag Machine, Lord of the Butterflies, DragON (Denver Center); Into the Woods, The Liar (Arvada Center); Comedy of Errors (Colorado Shakespeare Festival). Grady also works as a Casting Director for Sylvia Gregory Casting where he has cast multiple commercials, TV, film and video game projects.

REID THOMPSON (Scenic Designer) (He/Him). At the DCPA: You Lost Me Select New York Off-Broadway credits: Roundabout Theater Company, Atlantic Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Ma-yi, Clubbed Thumb. Select regional: Arena Stage, Yale Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Asolo Rep, Miami New Drama, Baltimore Center Stage. Opera: Heartbeat Opera, Stony Brook Opera. Educational: Juilliard, Yale, Princeton,

Columbia, Fordham. Film/TV: Set design and art direction credits on “Kaleidoscope,” “Fallout,” “The Girls on The Bus,” “The Instigators,” “Highest 2 Lowest.” Education: Yale School of Drama. reidthompsondesign.com

STAGE MANAGEMENT

NICK NYQUIST (Assistant Stage Manager). At the DCPA: The Color Purple, Colorado New Play Summit, A Christmas Carol, Indecent. Regional: The Winter’s Tale, One Man Two Guvnors, Richard III, Edward III, You Can’t Take it With You (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Don Giovanni, Falstaff, VocalARts Showcases, Opera Encounters (Aspen Music Festival); You Enjoy Myself (Local Theater Company).

National: My Fair Lady (Lincoln Center - 1st National Tour); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Pulse Theater); Machinal, Albert Herring, Limitless series, First Voices (Boston Conservatory Theater); Peter Pan (Music Theater Works); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre-Hikes); and many others. Nick holds a BFA in Stage Management from DePaul University and spends his free time in the mountains.

MALIA STONER (Stage Manager) (She/ Her). At the DCPA: Rubicon, The Color Purple, The Chinese Lady, Rattlesnake Kate, A Christmas Carol, A Doll’s House, The Santaland Diaries, New Play Summit ‘22. Other Theatres: I Do! I Do!, Million Dollar Quartet (Arvada Center); Aubergine, Small Mouth Sounds, Around the World in 80 Days (TheatreWorks); The Winter’s Tale, One Man Two Guvnors (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Beehive the 60’s Musical (Lone Tree Arts Center); Lab 11: You Enjoy Myself (Local Theatre Company); Newsies, Man of La Mancha, Beauty and the Beast, Music Man, Slipper, and the Rose, 42nd Street, Forever Plaid, A Wonderful Life, Evita and Kiss Me, Kate (Candlelight Dinner Playhouse); Gypsy, Addams Family, Aida, Godspell (Little Theatre of the Rockies); Coppelia (Colorado Ballet Academy); Nutcracker (Colorado Dance Theatre).

THEATRE COMPANY

LEADERSHIP TEAM

CHRIS COLEMAN is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the Denver Center Theatre Company as Artistic Director in November of 2017 and has directed A Little Night Music, Hotter Than Egypt, Much Ado About Nothing, Rattlesnake Kate, 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 Theater 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, wandered the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, explored a working mine in Creede, and rafted down the Arkansas River.

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 long-standing commitment to new plays and new voices.

In addition to DCPA staff, the following crew worked on this production: Killian Eck, Michael James, Skylar Lange, Nikki Mayer

The Director and Fight Director are members 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.

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE

We welcome you to take photos in the theatre before and after the performance. If you post on social media, please credit, and tag the DCPA and the design team:

@denvercenter #DCPATheatreCompany #TheLehmanTrilogy

Director: Margot Bordelon @margotbordelon

Scenic Designer: Reid Thompson

Costume Designer: Raphael Regan

Lighting Designer: Jiyoun Chang

@jiyounchang

Sound Designer: Palmer Hefferan

@palmzhefferan

Dramaturg: Sarah Rose Leonard @sarahroseleonard

Voice and Dialect Coach: Jeffrey Parker

Casting: Grady Soapes, CSA @grayzvander and Chad Murnane, CSA/Murnane Casting

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

PLEASE BE ADVISED

• 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 accessibility@dcpa.org

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is one of the largest non-profit theatre organizations in the nation, presenting Broadway tours and producing theatre, cabaret, musicals, and immersive productions. In its 2022/23 season, the DCPA engaged with nearly 865,000 visitors, generating a $205.6 million economic impact.

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 non-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.

EMMA

A REFRESHING TAKE ON A TIMELESS CLASSIC

BY LISA BORNSTEIN

IIt takes something extra to adapt a 200-year-old classic novel that has already been adapted multiple times for stage and screen. Call it guts — call it ovaries — but actor/playwright Kate Hamill has now adapted five novels of Jane Austen, with her latest, Emma, staged at Denver Center Theatre Company.

“Jane Austen was a proto-feminist,” the New York-based actor and playwright says. “She talked a lot about something I’m very interested in, which is not only the interiority of women’s lives but also what to do when the dictates of your conscience and character are in direct opposition to what your society expects of you.”

In the 1815 novel and the play, Emma is a well-off young woman who, having made a successful match, decides matchmaking is her gift. Comic missteps ensue, as well as a hidden romance.

“When I started thinking about Emma, I was really interested in the frustrations of a woman who cannot work,” Hamill says. “I had an acting teacher who would talk about the tragedy of women before work, who were not able to put their considerable intellect and their talents into work that fulfills them. My Emma became about that, this very brilliant woman who is trying to find someplace to put her excess energy, and matchmaking becomes her outlet, because it’s the only thing she can do.”

Hamill came to playwriting as an actor who was dissatisfied with the roles available to her and other highly educated and trained women.

“I was working, but I very quickly was frustrated, because I felt like I was constantly auditioning to play someone’s wife or girlfriend or prostitute,” Hamill says. “So often, I felt like my identity as a feminist person, which actually predates even my work in theater, was really coming into opposition with the work that I was auditioning for. I would be in these rooms with 600 other women who were all super funny and smart or talented, all of whom were auditioning to play one role out of ten roles. The plays were male gaze-oriented and they were almost always by men.”

Hamill wrote a check for $100 to her friend, Andrus Nichols. “I want to write a new feminist classic, and if I don’t write it, you get to cash it,” Hamill recalls.

The play, her first, was an adaptation of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, partly because Hamill could not find a stage adaptation that had not been written by a man.

Hamill played Marianne, and Nichols played Eleanor. Her second career had begun. In the decade since, she has written nearly 20 plays, including four Austen adaptations and several original pieces.

The playwright’s approach to Jane Austen isn’t all reverence and bonnets. Rather, anachronistic touches, including recent music and dances, are sprinkled throughout. Emma herself regularly breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience.

“I’m always interested in creating a work which is in conversation with the original but which has lots of relevance and unexpected surprises in it,” Hamill says. “I’m always looking to create something that speaks both to people who know the novel very well and also people who have absolutely no relationship with the novel at all.”

My Emma became…this very brilliant woman who is trying to find someplace to put her excess energy, and matchmaking becomes her outlet, because it’s the only thing she can do.

This production is the adaptation’s second; it arrives at the Wolf Theatre following its premiere in the 2021/22 season of Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theatre. Once again, Meredith McDonough will be directing, and their collaborative relationship is so strong that Hamill will be in residence in Denver during rehearsals, unusual for later productions. Along with them will be some of the designers from the Guthrie, as they continue to try to improve the work.

The anachronisms, such as modern makeup and a popcorn machine, are a way for Hamill to bring the audience into what was, when written, a contemporary world, not a costume drama. “Both I and Meredith McDonough, who’s directing this production, we’re both really interested in injecting irreverence and timeliness into this classic work,” Hamill says. “I’m not a dramaturgically rigid adapter, so I tend to come at it from a new-play lens. I tend to come at it as a collaboration between myself and another author — some of whom are currently dead.”

As a writer, she is slightly skeptical of adaptations that hew too closely to the original, as if it were an unmalleable constitution.

“If we played just totally Regency music and Regency dances, it might be a little more dramaturgically accurate, but you’re not going to get the same feeling that [the characters] would get dancing these dances,” she says. “Anytime you have something that’s really dramaturgically rigid, everyone’s about a decade too old, and no one has smallpox scars, and everyone has their original teeth. We understand things through a modern lens. I believe in letting these acts of theater run around in the sun and coloring in crayon on our altars.”

Most of all, though, Hamill wants the audience to realize that this is a comedy. It led her to watch a lot of “I Love Lucy” in preparation for the script.

“She is super, super funny,” Hamill says of Austen. “I think she is often sort of pigeon-holed as a quote-unquote romance writer, but she’s so funny and she’s so smart about people’s characters.”

EMMA

APR 5 – MAY 5 • WOLF THEATRE

ASL Interpreted & Audio Described performance: Apr 28 at 1:30pm Post-show discussions: Apr 18 & 30

1. BELONGING

We build a respectful and empathetic culture through our active commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

2. COLLABORATION

We produce our best possible work together by engaging people with diverse perspectives, lived experiences and talents around our shared goals.

3. COMMUNITY

We cultivate open, responsive, affirming relationships and partnerships for a greater collective impact.

4. CREATIVITY

We embrace innovation and imagination in our daily work to advance our mission.

5. INTEGRITY

We act responsibly, with honesty, accountability and transparency.

6. SUSTAINABILITY

We prioritize the wellbeing of our team, our finances and the environment to ensure our thriving future.

Learn more about what drives the DCPA, and where we’re going, at denvercenter.org/plan

Join us for free public performances of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot! Every Saturday from April 6 – May 13, our troupe of actors will stage 60-minute versions of the Bard’s most beloved plays in and around our pickup truck “set.” Performance locations throughout the Denver metro area TBA

denvercenter.org/community-events

DCPA Event Services

The DCPA Event Services team is here to partner with you for every aspect of your next big event! Create an experience for the record books with immaculate catering, dramatic lighting design, our theatre-quality A/V system, professional staffing — the works — all coordinated by one team under one roof.

Photo by McLeod9Creative

COLORADO NEW PLAY SUMMIT: WHERE PLAYS BEGIN

BY LISA BORNSTEIN

That buzz you heard the last weekend of February was the sound of creation at Denver Center Theatre Company, where the Colorado New Play Summit drew sold-out audiences of nearly 2,000 playwrights, industry professionals and theater fans.

“The festival weekend, it’s a wild, wonderful ride, and there’s a lot that gets packed into it,” said Leann Kim Torske, the Theatre Company’s Director of Literary Programs.

Audiences were treated to staged readings of four new works: Cowboys and East Indians, by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler; OneShot, by Andrew Rosendorf; Godspeed, by Terence Anthony, and Ghost Variations, by Vauhini Vara. In addition, the Theatre Company offered fully staged productions of two scripts from the 2022 New Play Summit: Leonard Madrid’s Cebollas and Kirsten Potter’s Rubicon.

The spotlight shone on several local creators this year. A professor at Colorado State University, McConigley collaborated with playwright Spangler to bring her Wyoming-set short story to the stage. Vara, who lives in Fort Collins, is the rare writer to submit her play unsolicited and have it accepted for the Summit.

It was announced that two plays which received readings at last year’s Summit will receive full productions as part of the Theatre Company’s 2024/25 season. Clue playwright Sandy Rustin has written The Su ragette’s Murder, pairing the voting rights movement with a whodunit. Denver playwright Jake Brasch’s script, The Reservoir, will receive a co-production with three prestigious theaters: the Denver Center, Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, and Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.

The playwrights, directors, dramaturgs and casts of (clockwise from upper left): Ghost Variations, Cowboys & Easts Indians, One-Shot and Godspeed

Photos by Harper Anne Finch and Grady Soapes.

2024 Colorado New Play Summit Participants

Donathan Walters in Godspeed

Photo by Harper Anne Finch.

Anastasia Davidson in Ghost Variations. Photo by Harper Anne Finch.

ITHE LEHMAN TRILOGY

BY MISHA BERSON

In 2008 the prominent Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers had 25,000 employees around the world. It carried $639 billion in assets, and was the fourth largest investment bank in the United States — and one of the oldest.

But when its massive portfolio of mortgage-backed securities lost value and the nation’s over-inflated housing bubble burst, the company saw its stock price plummet — while other leading financial institutions also hit the rocks. By September 15, Lehman had amassed $613 billion in liabilities. With just $1 billion cash on hand and no private or government bail-out, the company shocked Wall Street by filing for bankruptcy.

You might assume a play titled The Lehman Trilogy, like numerous films about financial institutions gone bust during that recession-triggering autumn, focuses sharply on a seemingly invulnerable institution’s demise.

But the Tony-winning drama by Ben Power and Stefano Massini, a hit in London, on Broadway and around the U.S., accomplishes something less predictable and more illuminating than a disaster timeline. It follows the rise of the Lehman firm from its mid-19th century creation by a trio of three enterprising immigrant brothers, up to a kind of coda to its fateful collapse in 2008. And in doing so, it raises questions and concerns about the personal and societal

damage wreaked by unbridled financial opportunism, without ethical or governmental guardrails to regulate it.

Based on a verse novel and play written in Italian by Massini, who was born and resides in Florence, The Lehman Trilogy has also been praised for its lean, effective style of theatrical storytelling over three acts. A trio of actors portray the three Lehman founders — Emanuel, Henry (Heyum) and Mayer — as well as transforming before one’s eyes into dozens of other characters, including some of the brothers’ descendants.

Spinning off actual events, the epic begins with the arrival of the Bavarian Jewish siblings in Montgomery, Alabama in 1844. In European countries, Jews had often been banned from owning land or joining unions. In the American South, the Lehmans began their business as a dry goods store.

But they soon carved out a different role as middle men, purchasing large quantities of cotton from plantations (run on slave labor) and reselling it at a profit — spinning cotton into gold, as it were.

After the devastation of the Civil War, the play depicts Emanuel (a financial visionary, always looking for inventive ways to increase profits) moving the company to New York City’s burgeoning Wall Street district. There he embraces the lucrative business of making high-end loans, investing

Illustration

by Kyle Malone

in such hot commodities as oil, iron and a new cross-country railroad system that forever changed the economy.

But over time, guided by the sons and grandsons of the founders, Lehman Brothers lends enormous sums for massive bundles of increasingly complex “derivatives” — as in mortgage-backed securities, which prove to be unsustainable as impractical loans and defaults multiply.

Yet as much as The Lehman Trilogy is a primer and timeline on the relentless march of American capitalism over several generations, it is also a study of how much is lost to a family with unbridled, singleminded profiteering. Gradually but surely, the Lehmans shed their Orthodox Jewish religious observances, their ties to the Old Country, and their familial trust in one another — as well as their concern for those who suffer from their moves in increasingly risky financial markets.

The Lehman Trilogy began in the theater as a five hour-plus verse work, performed (in Italian) at Teatro Piccolo in Milan. Intrigued, the renowned stage and film director Sam Mendes engaged British playwright Power to adapt the sprawling saga into a three-hour play. Mendes’ National Theatre staging premiered in London in 2018.

It was an immediate hit, hailed by the Guardian newspaper as an “astonishing” event “spanning 150 years,” and a tour de force for the shape-shifting actors.

When the work arrived on Broadway in 2021, critics were also enthusiastic. The Washington Post review by Peter Marks lauded the show as “a marvelous reckoning with [the Lehman] legacy, and a fascinating audit of a driven family’s psychic balance sheet.”

But The Lehman Trilogy also sparked some controversy. There have been complaints that it pays little attention to the Lehmans’ exploitation of slave labor in the Antebellum South, including the brothers’ own purchase of slaves. (In 2005 the company publicly acknowledged and apologized for its slavery ties.)

Also, charges that the play promulgates harmful caricatures of Jews have arisen. In the Jewish online magazine Tablet, Judith Miller wrote that it “contains subtle but pervasive intimations of the classic antiSemitic tropes it ostensibly laments, with invocations of Jewishness — and Jewish power, and Jewish money…”

During 2008 financial crisis, and sadly to this day, bogus antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews malevolently dominating and rigging the world economy have swirled online.

Defenders of the play note that Mendes is Jewish, and Massini, though gentile, has been an avid student of Jewish history and religion since his youth.

Also, the National Theatre engaged a rabbi as a script consultant. Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Epstein (who also consulted on a production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America) advised on the Jewish rituals and Hebrew dialogue in the play, but also participated in lengthy discussions with the authors about how to represent the Lehmans’ Jewishness without stereotyping them.

“The Lehmans were Jews and they ran a bank,” Powers told the SoCal Jewish News. “There’s no getting away from that, but I don’t think the show deals in tropes. I think that their Jewishness and their financial acumen are two separate issues. I’m confident that the play is responsible in terms of the story it tells.”

The Denver Center Theatre Company production will allow the audience to judge for itself.

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

MAY 3 – JUN 2 • KILSTROM

ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance: May 26 at 1:30pm

WWhen Disney Theatrical Group decided to adapt the animated film Frozen for the Broadway stage, they enlisted a team with more than just stellar theatrical bona fides. Not only do they have a collective 16 Tony Awards®, but they also have art and design in their bones.

When it came time to design the sets and costumes, Christopher Oram had an artistic game plan. He filled, as he put it, “sketchbook after sketchbook of scribbles and ideas and shapes” inspired by everything from Nordic architecture to royal costuming. What emerged from those early ideas are the beautifully icy winterscapes and earth-toned greenways that today greet audiences on tour across North America.

Oram said his designs were primarily inspired by research trips he took to Scandinavia, where “glaciers and forests and churches” inspired his lush design concepts that reflect the region’s magic and mystery.

“You’re out in the middle of a fjord and there’s literally no one else around,” he said of his visit to Norway. “You see tiny houses clinging to the bottom of giant steep cliffs. The water is bottomless beneath you, and it’s pitch black. You get that there may be goblins in the woods and fairies under the rocks. Nature is so present around you.”

He drew on those inspirations in his scenic design. He took cues from the timber-based architecture in Norway, all heavy woods and pillars and planks. Oram embedded the traditional Norwegian folk art called Rosemåling — a type of decorative painting that features stylized flowers — into many elements of the set. It’s a nod to the “wonderful juxtaposition of heavy wood and delicate floral motifs,” giving a “big masculine space with all this feminine detailing.”

“It’s all in service of the narrative of the story, visually,” he said.

The costumes are just as inspired.

“All Disney animated characters have iconic looks,” he said. “But for the stage you have to interpret that work for an older, more sophisticated audience.”

“You have to conceive of garments in a different way, but make them iconic and recognizable and beautiful,” he said.

NATURE AND NORWAY

DESIGNER CHRISTOPHER ORAM TALKS ABOUT FROZEN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL

Oram did that by maintaining the silhouettes from the film but using fabrics that move in certain ways to give the actors physicality and weight. The costumes feature layers of satins and silks, with beading and embroidery as lush accents. Hand dying created stunning ombré effects in blues, golds, scarlets and whites.

Oram was especially excited about a scene featuring Elsa in a pant suit, a switch which gave her “modern-day independence and fierceness.”

“You can’t stage a fight scene with her in a ball gown,” he said with a laugh.

Oram said he was thrilled to design and conjure the world of Frozen for the stage. Critics agreed. Variety called his work “very theatrical,” and the Los Angeles Times had high praise for the designer’s “imaginative handiwork.”

“I’m absolutely an aesthetic designer,” said Oram. “I love beauty. I love texture. I love design. I love the world around me.”

I’m absolutely an aesthetic designer. I love beauty. I love texture. I love design. I love the world around me.

— CHRISTOPHER ORAM, DESIGNER

FROZEN

JUN 19 – JUL 3 • BUELL THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance: June 29 at 2pm

Four New Readings June 14th & June 15, 2024 Theatre Companies: Northlight Theatre, Chicago * En Gard Arts, New York Old Globe Theatre, San Diego * Seattle Rep, Seattle For

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Mon~Sat, 10-6 Sunday, 11-5 shop online & by appointment

FEATURING

Michael Stern, conductor Jon Kimura Parker, piano

ON THE PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 “Pastorale”

George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue

Franz Liszt Les Préludes, S.97 Poème symphonique No. 3

TICKETS

JULY 19 | RIVERWALK CENTER, BRECKENRIDGE

Tickets: $5-55

JULY 20 | KING CENTER, DENVER

Tickets: $5-75

Tickets on sale April 1st!

DCPA is a part of UCHealth’s Ready. Set. CO challenge aimed at helping Colorado get back to the summit of good health and become the healthiest state in the nation.

To learn more about Ready. Set. CO please visit: uchealth.org/readysetco/

PROUD SPONSOR OF DCPA BROADWAY

UCHEALTH SUPPORTS THE YOUTH ENGAGEMENT FUND

The health system celebrates its seventh year partnering with the DCPA.

BY LINNEA COVINGTON

TThe Denver Center for the Performing Arts and its longtime partner, UCHealth, are teaming up to ensure the youngest community members have more access to arts programming.

UCHealth has a history of incorporating the arts into patient care. For years it has used art and music therapy as tools to help patients in their healing journeys. And, more recently UCHealth teamed up with the DCPA’s presentation of The Secret Comedy of Women to film a virtual reality version of the popular show so that both staff and patients can enjoy an escape during periods of stress.

This year, UCHealth is taking its support of the arts one step further through its commitment to the youth engagement fund. “UCHealth is happy to support the youth engagement fund to ensure the youngest members of our community have an opportunity to learn and draw inspiration from the programs, classes and immersive experiences offered by DCPA,” said Manny Rodriguez, Chief Marketing, Experience and Customer Officer at UCHealth.

Whether offering patients an unexpected arts experience while in the hospital, challenging the community to be the healthiest it can be or providing opportunities for youth to explore the wonders of the live theater, UCHealth knows that culture enriches lives. “Exposure to various art forms has been shown to improve both physical and mental wellbeing,” Rodriguez continued, “and it allows adults and children alike the opportunity for expression as well as provides an outlet for creative thinking and emotions.”

It seems that a trip to the theatre is just what the doctor ordered.

PROUD SPONSOR OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

A“At CBS Colorado, we bring you news about what’s happening at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and in arts and cultural communities throughout Colorado. CBS Colorado understands the positive impact the arts have on our community — it fosters pride and a sense of belonging, has a positive impact on a community’s economic vitality and enhances the quality of life for everyone. CBS Colorado is committed to making Colorado a great place to live.”

– Tim Wieland, CBS Colorado President and General Manager

Savor the best of downtown Denver and support the performing arts in style by dining with our Preferred Restaurant Partners.

SHOW YOUR THEATRE TICKETS TO GET:

Complimentary half-dozen oysters, half bottle of Prosecco, and valet parking until 10:30pm

Complimentary seasonal dessert

Complimentary valet parking and dessert with entrée purchase

Special pre-theatre menu, $45 per guest

Special pre-theatre menu, $89 per guest

Complimentary parking and 20% off bill

Complimentary martini with purchase of a dinner entrée

Free general admission entry with same-day DCPA ticket

Complimentary starter with the purchase of a main entrée

ELEVATE YOUR EXPERIENCE

You’ve worked hard and now it’s time to preserve and grow your assets. Talk with an Osaic Institutions financial advisor to discuss how you can grow and manage your wealth.

Osaic Institutions, Inc. mmullen.bcufinancial@bellco.org

Justin

Osaic Institutions, Inc. jparks.bcufinancial@bellco.org

Investment and insurance products and services are offered through OSAIC INSTITUTIONS, INC., Member FINRA/SIPC. Osaic Institutions and Bellco Credit Union (“Bellco”) are not affiliated. Products and services made available through Osaic Institutions are not insured by the NCUA or any other agency of the United States and are not deposits or obligations of nor guaranteed or insured by any credit union or credit union affiliate. These products are subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of principal. The past performance of any investment product should not be considered an indication of future results. Insurance products may be purchased from a producer of your choice without affecting your relationship with Bellco. Bellco has contracted with Osaic Institutions to make non-deposit investment products and services available to credit union members.

PROUD CORPORATE MEMBER OF THE DCPA

TTCI Wealth Advisors supports Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) because it is Denver’s cultural heart. The tireless work by the professionals at DCPA ensures that Coloradans young and old experience the joys of live theatre.

The impact of DCPA goes far beyond the stage. DCPA creates opportunities for the community to gather. The communal experience of viewing a performance enables neighbors to form bonds with one another through the art they experience. Thus, the arts become the catalyst for weaving a robust social fabric. DCPA touches thousands of lives each year, and Denver is a stronger, more vibrant community because of it.

Through its educational outreach, the DCPA provides the youth of the greater Denver area opportunities to engage with theatre. Its offerings allow kids an avenue to explore their artistic potential, discover new perspectives, develop an early artistic appreciation and share ideas. Arts education is crucial for nurturing creativity, fostering critical thinking and providing a platform for self-expression. It equips students with skills for personal and academic success.

The enchantment of theatre comes to life at DCPA, which presents a playground for imaginations to thrive, capturing the hearts and minds of young and young-at-heart. When lights dim and curtains rise, audiences embark on adventures to last a lifetime, with breathtaking stories and unique characters through landscapes of the mind.

In life, everyone is their own author, crafting storylines and chapters along the way. At TCI Wealth Advisors, the goal is to help assure life’s story can be developed to the fullest. The Advisors at TCI help by ensuring that assets align with the goals each client hopes to achieve. They help guide clients through life’s journey, with its unique combination of opportunities, challenges and successes. TCI Wealth Advisors helps transform financial goals into tangible accomplishments, helping ensure that every client leads their version of a purpose-filled life.

Regardless of the twists and turns in life’s journey, it’s imperative for the Denver community to embrace and support its cultural heart. DCPA’s enduring impact nourishes individual experiences and contributes to the overall vibrancy of the greater Denver community. Each person is an essential element in preserving the enchantment of live theatre for future generations. That is a lasting cultural DCPA legacy that can and will continue to shape and inspire lives for many years to come.

At TCI Wealth Advisors, the goal is to help assure life’s story can be developed to the fullest.

Photo: From the Hip Photography