Applause Magazine, April 26 - May 26, 2019 by The Publishing House

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VOLUME XXX • NUMBER 7 • APR - MAY 2019

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APPLAUSE

SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

VO LU M E X X X • N U M B E R 7 • A P R – M AY 2 0 1 9

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe ASSOCIATE EDITOR: John Moore DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone DESIGNERS: Casey Eickhoff, Brenda Elliott, Terri Smith CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sylvie Drake, Jennifer Kemps, Cheyenne Michaels Applause is published eight 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.

Greetings and welcome to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts! We are delighted you are joining us for the return engagements of The Illusionists and CATS as well as Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Sweat. Sweat is the culmination of our Denver Center Theatre Company’s 40th season, and what an exceptional season it has been! First, we greeted Chris Coleman as the Company’s fourth Artistic Director and he swept us up immediately in his Denver directorial debut. In Oklahoma!, he gave us a new perspective on the crucial role African Americans played during the rush to settle the Oklahoma Territory. This was balanced by the irreverent yet poignant production of Vietgone and William Somerset Maugham’s 1926 oh-so-timely portrayal of The Constant Wife. We then enjoyed our most successful run ever of A Christmas Carol before it goes on hiatus during The Stage Theatre renovation. January opened with two world premieres — Last Night and the Night Before and The Whistleblower — while Chris once again mounted a fresh approach to a classic with the lush and opulent staging of Anna Karenina. These last three plays all took place as the Theatre Company was welcoming sold-out crowds to its 14th annual Colorado New Play Summit. Four readings of works in development, three one-act play readings by winners of our Regional High School Workshop and Playwriting Competition, and one concert reading of our first musical commission — Rattlesnake Kate. It was an exhilarating whirlwind that showcased the best new voices in the American theatre. Now we set our gaze forward — to a new season, to new theatres, to new plays and playwrights. You can read all about our 2019/20 DCPA Theatre Company season on pages 10-11, which will offer up the first-ever production of A Doll’s House and A Doll’s House, Part 2 in repertory, a direct-from-Broadway hit and two world premieres. Thank you for joining us for this remarkable season. You are the reason we tell stories — to remind every person in our audience that the stories on our stages reflect the diversity, the complexity and the beauty of our community.

Janice Sinden President & CEO

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

UPCOMING

SHOWS

Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ biggest stars step into the spotlight — actors, designers, students and you.

Powered By Off-Center Now – Apr 14 The Illusionists Now – Apr 14 Between Us Now – May 26 CATS Apr 24 – 28 Sweat Apr 26 – May 26 Wicked May 8 – Jun 9 The Last Defender May 28 – Jul 28

Fiddler on the Roof Jun 11 – 16 Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles Jun 23 Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Jul 9 – 28 It’s Not You, It’s Me The Second City Jul 31 – Aug 25

Anastasia Aug 7 – 18

Indecent Aug 30 – Oct 6

Photos by John Moore and Amanda Tipton.

Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End Sep 4 – 22

1. DCPA hosted an Auction Preview Party in advance of its 39th annual Saturday Night Alive benefit for arts and education. The Silent Auction, which featured a walk-on role in the upcoming tour of Wicked, was chaired by Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons and Jack Fitzgibbons. 2. THEATRE COMPANY patrons got first-hand insight into Anna Karenina when they attended a pre-show Perspective discussion with the cast. 3. DCPA EDUCATION’s Regional High School Playwriting Workshop and Competition culminated in readings of one-act plays at three area high schools. DSST: Conservatory Green High School students enjoyed Después de la Illuvia (After the Rain) by Katanu Mwendwa. Read more on page 32. 4. BROADWAY enjoyed an opening night cast party at A Bronx Tale, where young Frankie Leoni (right) celebrated his touring debut with fans in the Chazz Palminteri / Robert DeNiro production. 5. THEATRE COMPANY artisans proved the notion that “math is cool” when they created an uncommon elliptical-shaped stage floor for Anna Karenina. Their work inspired a new NewsCenter series called “Standing Equation.” Check it out: denvercenter.org/NewsCenter-Standing-Equation. 6. THEATRE COMPANY casts formed a mutual admiration society when actresses Allison Altman (Anna Karenina) and Zaria Kelley (Last Night and the Night Before) met at an opening night party.

A Doll’s House & A Doll’s House, Part 2 in repertory Sep 6 – Nov 24 Miss Saigon Sep 10 – 22 The Improvised Shakespeare Company Oct 15 – Mar 22 Blue Man Group Oct 22 – 27 The Phantom of the Opera Nov 6 – 17 Twelfth Night Nov 15 – Dec 22 Jesus Christ Superstar Nov 26 – Dec 1 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical Dec 3 – 8 Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis Dec 14 – 15 Escape to Margaritaville Dec 23 – Jan 5 FOR A COMPLETE LIST, VISIT DENVERCENTER.ORG Tickets for some shows are currently unavailable.

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AUG 30 – OCT 6

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The North American Tour Company of Cats. Photo by Matthew Murphy. 2019

THE DCPA’S OWN BY JENNIFER KEMPS

This musical will inspire you to be adventurous and take risks. …Don’t get discouraged by obstacles or challenges; you will always land on your feet. — JENNIFER KEMPS, CATS FANATIC JENNIFER KEMPS IS THE FORMER GROUP SALES MANAGER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AND A SELF-AVOWED CATS FANATIC

The first musical I ever saw in New York City was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS. I was eight years old, and my mom had read us the poems over and over again from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. This was to be my first musical experience. My family and I made the special trip in from New Jersey to the Winter Garden Theatre. At age 40 today, I wish I could go back and tell my eight-year-old self how extraordinary this matinee would be. The following is the letter I would write. Dear Jennifer (age eight), I know you are excited! You are about to watch the most magical Jellicle Ball with cats of all shapes, sizes and colors. I know Mom has told you that the cats will come out in the audience. Don’t be afraid; they won’t touch you. The lights will go out in the theatre and you will be transported to the junkyard where the cats live and play. Cat eyes will glow from all around the stage and you’ll lean forward in your seat waiting with enthusiasm. Each cat will teach you a valuable lesson if you listen closely. • Asparagus “Gus” – There is a thrill to being the center of attention; embrace that moment as it will fade. • Jennyanydots – Nobody will call you Jenny, let alone Jenny-any-dots. • Bustopher Jones – Never turn down free food. • Grizabella – It will get lonely sometimes, but you’ll come out stronger on the other side. • Macavity – Being peculiar and unique is a good thing! • Skimbleshanks – It’s important to have a good work ethic and let people rely on you.

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

• Mr. Mistoffelees – There is always magic around you. • Mungojerrie / Rumpleteazer – Own up to your actions regardless of whether there are others to blame. • Old Deuteronomy – You become wiser with age, and also slower. • Rum Tum Tugger – Be carefree and laid back; don’t take life too seriously. This musical will inspire you to be adventurous and take risks. You’ll learn to be aware of your surroundings, and you’ll know when to be the center of attention or to sit back with a curious spirit and observe. You’ll learn how to live in the moment and enjoy the simple joys around you. You’ll be kind and loving to animals and will have cats of your own someday. Don’t get discouraged by obstacles or challenges; you will always land on your feet. With love, Jennifer (age 40) The uniqueness of this musical — from the costumes to the set and lights — will ground you and let you experience life as a cat. I walked away with such awe and appreciation for live theatre that it has become the one constant in my life. Take a moment to observe and respect all the cats on stage. There is a special characteristic to each as they portray the feline species. And after 120 minutes, I hope you arch your back, stretch your claws and have more strut in your step.

CATS APR 24 – 28 BUELL THEATRE ASL interpreted, Audio-described and Open Captioned performance: Apr 27 at 2pm

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IN READING

Illustration by Kyle Malone

B Y S Y LV I E D R A K E

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • DENVERCENTER.ORG 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Visionary playwrights often identify events destined to alter society well before anyone else is remotely up to speed. You’ll find such prescience in Ibsen’s plays, plenty of Shakespeare’s, some of O’Neill’s and, more recently, pretty much all of the late August Wilson’s. When it comes to playwright Lynn Nottage, the analogy with Wilson is particularly pronounced, if unintended. Wilson and Nottage simply share a vibrant social conscience that guides their creativity. Both are attracted to issues that affect the marginalized among us. Both tend to overwrite, yet both also have the talent to do it so eloquently that we’re almost always willing to forgive. And Nottage, by now, has elbowed her way up into that rarefied pantheon of artists known for their social awareness and their committed body of work. Her 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat, which you are about to see, focuses on line workers in a factory central to life in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the beginning of the 21st century. Reading is a town that the playwright meticulously researched and identified as one of the poorest in the country. We’re invited to share some of its work force’s high spirits, camaraderie and seemingly endless good fortune in the neighborhood bar where some of these people gather after work to relax and share a few drinks. Little do they suspect how soon — and how radically — that measured life will change. The ramifications of the 1994 NAFTA agreement (never mentioned by name) will yank them from their moorings and toss them into the maelstrom of losing the only jobs they’ve ever known, leaving them to flounder without a compass or a clear path forward. For director Rose Riordan, a longtime Associate Artistic Director of Oregon’s Portland Center Stage, directing Sweat in Denver is a first encounter with this playwright’s work. “Nottage,” she says, “writes about what she cares about, and she goes deep. Sweat fits right into her ethic and her curiosity.” Sweat also happens to be Nottage’s second Pulitzer Prize-winner — a first for a woman. It was preceded in 2009 by her Pulitzer-winning play Ruined, a gritty ode to survival in war-torn Congo by the population of an isolated brothel run by the pragmatic Mama Nadi; she’s a protective madam who nonetheless also profits from the women she shelters, taking no prisoners. The play was seen at the Denver Center in 2011. Sweat zeroes in on people in a crisis much closer to home, but its effect on them is no less devastating. Her focus is on workers descended from generations of unionized laborers at the same plant who held the same jobs all of their working years and looked forward to retirement with generous pensions. The drill was familiar and not expected to change. Until it did. Let’s face it: losing security in middle age is paralyzing — a shock from which it is not easy to recover. Such workers feel betrayed, confused and lost. Can they pull out of this quagmire? Are they merely complacent? Is there blame to assign?

“I never see characters I direct as bad or good,” comments Riordan. “I think they’re living the only way they know how. They simply claim ownership to something that’s been part of their family for generations and as far back as anyone can remember, and they don’t have the capacity to believe it can change or end. They don’t seem to understand business and its lack of concern for their well-being.” Since the action in Sweat is mostly confined to that working-class bar frequented almost daily by these neighborhood habitués, we get to know them pretty well. They spend their off hours drinking away time and money, gossiping and nursing grudges or relationships, as they wait for those promised golden years. Two of the women — Tracey, alcoholic and angry, and Cynthia, more resourceful and ambitious — have sons Jason and Chris, respectively, who are buddies and also work at the plant. The boys have inherited more than a way of life. They also reflect their parents’ differing notions about how to cope.

“I think they’re living the only way they know how. …They don’t have the capacity to believe it can change or end.” — ROSE RIORDAN, DIRECTOR

“They represent possibility,” says Riordan. “One is complacent and doesn’t reach for more; the other has a shot at something completely different. It’s a kind of betrayal that nobody, especially not his best friend, really understands.” That is as close as Nottage wants to come to taking a position. She sees these people as they are. Her unwavering bead on their authenticity validates the play. That includes the bar’s owner, Stan — an aging former plant worker who had been injured on the line and became a barkeep to earn some dollars and stay close to his community. Stan is friend, colleague and confidant to all, including Oscar, his diligent if quiet American-born Latino busboy. Oscar is the outlier. When Stan decides it’s time to sell the bar, he sells to Oscar. As Riordan sees it, “Oscar represents America’s changing demographic. He’s the future and stands in clear contrast to the denizens of this town, particularly of this bar, who treated him like he was invisible.” Nottage chooses to make her play jump around in time, carefully recording the date of each scene in astute political detail. These notations allow the audience to draw its own conclusions. If Sweat refrains from judgment, it doesn’t shy away from pointing to the social failures that let those workers down. Nottage is careful to not do the work for us. She simply opens the door, provides the instructions on connecting the dots and points us in the right direction.

COSTUME COLUMN Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama takes place in the small industrial town of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the early 2000s. One might think moderndress shows are a piece of cake compared to productions with period costumes, but they can still require a bit of sweat. For Costume Designer Kevin Copenhaver, the biggest obstacle is the cinematic nature of the show. “Most of these scenes flow right into each other, without characters even leaving the stage, so I have to visually help tell that story with internal quick changes where possible,” Copenhaver said. “This might involve the removal or addition of a piece of clothing, a quick hairstyle modification, or in some cases, a makeup switch.” Nottage based her play on interviews she conducted in 2011 with working-class residents of Reading, which at the time was one of the poorest cities in America. “The characters in this piece have to be relatable and real,” Copenhaver said. “I will be paying careful attention to small details, such as the aging and distressing of the clothes worn in the factory, to the small touches that might lend a bit of depth — such as personalization (jewelry, style, etc.) and choice in terms of what a character might wear when not ‘on the job.’”

Sylvie Drake is a translator, writer, and a former theatre critic and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She is a regular contributor to culturalweekly.com and served for several years as Director of Publications for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

SWEAT APR 26 – MAY 26 • SPACE THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio-Described performance: May 19, 1:30pm Personal Closed Captioning Devices available May 7 – 26 Please stay for a Talkback immediately following the performance: May 4 – 26

Theatre Company artisans will use paints and tools to achieve a “distressed” look.

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APPLAUSE • SEP – NOV 2018 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

Photo by Adams VisCom

THE WHOLE FAMILY

present

SWEAT BY

Lynn Nottage With Cycerli Ash*, Jordan Bellow*, Derek Chariton*, Tara Falk*, Sam Gregory*, Leslie Kalarchian*, Gustavo Márquez, Timothy D. Stickney*, William Oliver Watkins* Stage Managers: Kurt Van Raden*, Michael G. Morales*

SCENIC DESIGN BY Tony Cisek

SOUND DESIGN BY Elisheba Ittoop

COSTUME DESIGN BY Kevin Copenhaver

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN BY Gregory W. Towle

FIGHT DIRECTION BY Geoffrey Kent

LIGHTING DESIGN BY Charles MacLeod

VOICE AND DIALECT BY Christine Menzies

CASTING BY Harriet Bass, CSA and Grady Soapes, CSA

RESEARCH DRAMATURGY BY Mary Blair

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Jeff Gifford

DIRECTED BY Rose Riordan

Sweat was co-commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle and Arena Stage World premiere produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Sweat was first presented in New York by The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) Originally produced on Broadway by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund Sweat is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited THE SPACE THEATRE • APRIL 26 – MAY 26, 2019

SEASON SPONSORS

SWEAT

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director

SWEAT

CAST

In Order of Appearance All of the characters were born in Berks County, Pennsylvania Evan........................................................................................................................................................WILLIAM OLIVER WATKINS* Jason.........................................................................................................................................................................DEREK CHARITON* Chris........................................................................................................................................................................... JORDAN BELLOW* Cynthia.................................................................................................................................................................................CYCERLI ASH* Tracey........................................................................................................................................................................................TARA FALK* Stan...................................................................................................................................................................................SAM GREGORY* Jessie.................................................................................................................................................................. LESLIE KALARCHIAN* Oscar.....................................................................................................................................................................GUSTAVO MÁRQUEZ Brucie..............................................................................................................................................................TIMOTHY D. STICKNEY* Assistant Director..................................................................................................................................................................JEN ROWE Stage Manager.................................................................................................................................................... KURT VAN RADEN* Assistant Stage Manager.....................................................................................................................MICHAEL G. MORALES* Stage Management Apprentice........................................................................................ JESSICA STEFFEN-SCHEPERS *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

SETTING: Reading, Pennsylvania in 2000 & 2008. There will be one 15-minute intermission.

WHO’S WHO CYCERLI ASH (Cynthia) gives all glory to God for all her accomplishments. She is excited to make her debut here in Denver. She just recently earned her black belt in hapkido. She received her undergrad from Rutgers University and her masters from the University of Tennessee. She’s worked with theater companies such as Kenny Leon’s True Colors, Dominion, Clarence Brown, Portland Center Stage, Portland Playhouse, and PassinArt. She’s the CEO of a non-profit theatre company in Atlanta, Georgia. Some TV credits include a recurring role on “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” on Freeform, “Tales” on BET, and “Skinned” on TVOne. Commercially she’s worked with companies such as Hilton, Crown Reef, Home Depot, and Capital One. Blessings. JORDAN BELLOW (Chris). Recent New York theatre includes The Russian and the Jew (The Tank), SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Feels...KMS (New Ohio Theatre), Macbeth, Alkestis (The Connelly Theatre). Regional: A Raisin in the Sun (Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage); All The Way, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol (South Coast Repertory); Fly (Florida Studio Theatre).

TV: “Gotham,” “Orange Is the New Black.” DEREK CHARITON (Jason) is excited to be a part of this wonderful play at this important theater, and for the chance to visit Colorado for the first time. An LA native, Derek is a UCLA alum whose former play credits include The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Pacific Resident Theater); The Ginger Man (UCLA); A Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Picnic at Hanging Rock (Idyllwild Arts); and Desert Rats (US Premiere - LATC), to name a few. Recent TV credits include: “NCIS: LA,” “SWAT,” “American Horror Story,” “Medal of Honor,” “Lethal Weapon,” “9-1-1,” “The American West,” and “Frontiersmen.” TARA FALK (Tracey). Broadway: Metamorphoses, The Constant Wife, and Enchanted April. OffBroadway: This Is Our Youth. Regional: Long Wharf, McCarter, Hartford Stage, Rep Theater of St. Louis, Eugene O’Neill, Curious Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Hartford TheaterWorks and many more. TV: “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns” and “The Black Donnellys,” plus numerous national commercials and voiceover spots. Former teacher of “Girls Write”

with Athena Project and current Teaching Artist with the DCPA Education Department. Training: Boston University College of Fine Arts. SAM GREGORY (Stan). Most recently, Torvald in A Doll’s House, Part 2 for TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT. At the DCPA Theatre Company: 48 productions. Multiple seasons for the Colorado, California, and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals. He has appeared at the Seattle, Milwaukee and San Jose Repertories, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, American Players Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center: New Playwrights Festival, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Two River Theatre Company, Northern Stage and the Eureka Theatre. Occasionally, he appears in local commercials. And a long time ago, he did some TV shows including “NY Undercover,” “One Life to Live” and “As the World Turns.” LESLIE KALARCHIAN (Jessie). OffBroadway: The Woman in Black (also The Old Globe). Regional: Arena Stage, Portland Stage Company, Milwaukee Rep, the McCarter, Saratoga Shakespeare. TV/Film: “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order:

GUSTAVO MÁRQUEZ (Oscar). At the DCPA Theatre Company: A Christmas Carol, Native Gardens. Other Theatres: American Idiot (Town Hall Arts Center); Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar (Colorado Shakespeare Education); Dracula (Aurora Fox); Merchant of Venice (Local Theatre Co. LAB); I Am Alive (Alex Theatre, Glendale, California). Other Stage Credits: The Tempest, Metamorphoses, You Can’t Take it With You, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Grease, Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Training: BFA, MSU Denver. TIMOTHY D. STICKNEY (Brucie). Recent: Duke Frederick/Duke Senior in As You Like It, Achilles in Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare Theatre Company). New York: title roles in Macbeth (NYSTI), Hamlet (Take Wing and Soar; AUDELCO nominated), Richard III (TWAS), and Othello (Africa Arts), and Kent in King Lear (TFANA), Oswald in King Lear (with Kevin Kline), Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet (NYSF/Central Park’s Delacorte). Regional: Macduff in Macbeth, Burbage in Shakespeare In Love (Chicago Shakespeare); Macbeth in Macbeth (St. Louis Rep.); Orsino, Banquo, Macbeth (The Old Globe); Lorenzo in Merchant of Venice (Hartford Stage). International: Sebastian in The Tempest and Pothinus in Caesar and Cleopatra (Stratford Festival). TV: RJ Gannon on “One Life to Live” for 13 years. WILLIAM OLIVER WATKINS (Evan). At Denver Center: Ruined, Jackie & Me, One Night in Miami…, As You Like It. New York: Snakeskin Suit, Nodding Off (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Camp Logan (National Black Theatre). Regional credits include: Othello, Twelfth Night (Cincy Shakes); Thirst (CATF); The Christians, The Merchant of Venice (Gulfshore Playhouse); Great Expectations (Syracuse Stage); Lombardi (Cleveland Play House); Act One (Good Theater); A Raisin in the Sun (Studio Arena); To Kill a Mockingbird (GPTF). TV/Film: “Wu-Tang’s American Saga,” “Law & Order,” “SVU,” “Blindspot,” “The Blacklist: Redemption,” “Madam Secretary,” “Forever,” Nasty Baby, “Nurse

Jackie,” My Soul To Take, “Rescue Me.” Training: BFA, Webster.

Center Stage at The Armory). Literary Associate with Portland Center Stage.

PLAYWRIGHT

TONY CISEK (Scenic Designer). With Ms. Riordan: A Life, The Whipping Man, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Portland Center Stage). Anna Karenina (DCPA Theatre Company), Roundabout Theatre, Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Goodman Theatre, South Coast Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Centerstage (Baltimore), Indiana Rep, Syracuse Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Play House, Folger Theatre, Round House Theatre, The Kennedy Center. tonycisek.com.

LYNN NOTTAGE’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined has received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre). Other plays include Intimate Apparel (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play; Roundabout Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, South Coast Repertory); Fabulation, Or the Re-Education Of Undine (Obie Award; Playwrights Horizons, London’s Tricycle Theatre); Crumbs From the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’Knockers, and Poof! Nottage is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/ Laura Pels Award for Drama, and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists, and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer. lynnnottage.net DIRECTOR ROSE RIORDAN just completed her 22nd season as the Associate Artistic Director for Portland Center Stage and has most recently directed Tiny Beautiful Things, A Life, Kodachrome, Our Town, The Pillowman, The Thugs and LIZZIE the musical. In 1999, she founded the annual JAW: A Playwrights Festival. JAW has been instrumental in developing new work and supporting playwrights. Rose is excited to be making her Denver debut with Sweat. CREATIVE TEAM HARRIET BASS, CSA (Casting). New York: Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean, Off-Broadway’s Radio Golf, Jitney, Public Theater’s New Work Now, Minetta Lane, Women’s Project, La MaMa, Epic Theatre, Drama League, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Women in Film and Television. Regional: Hartford Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, Syracuse Stage, Huntington Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theater Co., Berkeley Rep, Playmaker’s Rep, Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Geva, CenterStage, Long Wharf Theatre, Arizona Theatre Co. TV/Film: “Pushing Hands,” “Graves End,” “First We Take Manhattan.” Audition Coach at many of the nation’s top universities and actor training programs. MARY BLAIR (Research Dramaturg). Our Town, The Oregon Trail (both with Rose Riordan) plus Mary’s Wedding (Portland

KEVIN COPENHAVER (Costume Designer). At the DCPA (29 seasons): Corduroy, The Who’s Tommy, The Snowy Day, Sweeney Todd, Frankenstein, The Christians, Lord of the Flies, Animal Crackers, Just Like Us, Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, The Whale, Dracula, Mama Hated Diesels, A Christmas Carol, Tantalus and many others. Other Theatres: Hair (Geva Theatre Center); Sylvia, The Explorer’s Club, Passing Strange, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Smokey Joe’s Café, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Divine Sister, Tommy, Dream a Little Dream, Love, Janis, 12th Night, Titus Andronicus, Regional Premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher (USF). Training: BA in Theatre Design, University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Centro Maschere e Strutture Gestuali, Padua, Italy. JEFF GIFFORD (Director of Production and Construction Project Management) is in his sixth season at the DCPA. He finds working on world premieres especially exciting and has worked on more than 40 of them in the last 25 years. In addition to guiding this very talented team of 75 artists and artisans, he spends a fair amount of time focused on renovation work in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. Having completed The Space Theatre renovation in fall 2017, we have now begun work on The Stage Theatre (soon to be known as The Wolf Theatre). ELISHEBA ITTOOP (Sound Designer). Her designs and original music have been heard at the Public Theater, the Kennedy Center, American Repertory Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, MCC, New York Theatre Workshop, Steppenwolf Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, National Gallery of Art, Soho Rep, Huntington Theatre, Denver Center, Two River Theater, Women’s Project, Triad Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Arena Stage, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Okeechobee Music Festival, and the Center for Puppetry Arts. Education: NYU, North Carolina School of the Arts. elishebaittoop.com GEOFFREY KENT (Fight Director). 18 seasons at the DCPA Theatre Company including 1001, King Lear, Lonesome West, Eventide, Richard III. Other Theatres: Colorado Shakespeare Festival (14 seasons), Utah Shakespeare

SWEAT

SVU,” The Incoherents, After Water There is Sand and the upcoming Monte Bezell indie thriller. Awards: Drammy for Outstanding Actress under the direction of Chris Coleman at Portland Center Stage in Itamar Moses’ world premiere, Celebrity Row. Training: MFA, University of San Diego/Old Globe.

SWEAT

Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Curious Theatre Company, Arvada Center, Opera Colorado, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, American Shakespeare Center. Henry Award for Outstanding Fight Direction. Instructor, University of Denver. geoffreykent.com CHARLES MACLEOD (Lighting Designer). At the DCPA (300+ productions/36 seasons): Corduroy, Xanadu, Human Error, Native Gardens, Two Degrees, As You Like It, One Night in Miami…, Appoggiatura, Shadowlands, black odyssey, Jackie & Me, Death of a Salesman, The 39 Steps, Reckless, When Tang Met Laika, The Diary of Anne Frank, Lydia, The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1001, Gem of the Ocean, All My Sons, A Christmas Carol, Lost Highway: The Music and Legend of Hank Williams, My Way, Forbidden Broadway, Always… Patsy Cline, Love Janis, The Secret Comedy of Women, and many others. charlesmacleod.com CHRISTINE MENZIES (Voice and Dialect). Sweat is Ms. Menzies’ first production at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Other credits include Swine Palace Productions and the Reilly Theater, Louisiana; Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage and Artists Repertory Theater, Oregon; Kentucky Shakespeare Festival; Cornerstone Theater and A Noise Within, Los Angeles. She is Professor of Voice and Director at California State University, Northridge. GRADY SOAPES, CSA (Casting) is the Director of Casting and Associate Producer with DCPA. Recent casting credits include Oklahoma!, Anna Karenina, The Whistleblower, Last Night and the Night Before, The Constant Wife, The Who’s Tommy, The Wild Party, A Christmas Carol, This Is Modern Art and casting associate on many other Denver Center productions. Choreography credits include Anna Karenina, As You Like It, Drag Machine, Lord of the Butterflies, DragON (DCPA); Comedy of Errors (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); The Music Man (Perry-Mansfield). Grady is the producer of both the Colorado New Play Summit and Colorado New Play Festival and holds a BA from Colorado State University. GREGORY W. TOWLE (Multimedia Design) is excited for his first design with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Previous credits include: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with Village Theatre Company, Paper Cut with Local Theatre Company, Milk Like Sugar with Mosaic Theatre Company, All the Way with Arena Stage, and Around the World in 80 Days with Arizona Theatre Company. STAGE MANAGEMENT KURT VAN RADEN (Stage Manager). 50+ productions at the DCPA Theatre Company including Anna Karenina, Oklahoma!, The Who’s Tommy, Zoey’s Perfect Wedding, Macbeth, The Secret Garden, The Book of Will, Frankenstein,

Sweeney Todd, Lookingglass Alice, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Animal Crackers, Hamlet, Just Like Us, Romeo & Juliet, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Three Musketeers, Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, A Christmas Carol. At DCPA Cabaret: First national tour of Murder For Two. Other Theatres: Over 56 new plays at The O’Neill Theatre Center, The Great River Shakespeare Festival. MICHAEL G. MORALES (Assistant Stage Manager). At the DCPA Theatre Company: The Constant Wife, The Who’s Tommy, A Christmas Carol. National Tours: Hamilton, The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Rock of Ages (1st National), Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago and Movin’ Out. Pre-Broadway: Wonderland and Miss Abigail’s Guide… Regional: My Fair Lady (The Asolo), West Side Story (The Fulton). Training: BFA, UCF. THEATRE COMPANY LEADERSHIP TEAM CHRIS COLEMAN (Artistic Director) is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He was named DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Director in November of 2017. Chris spent the prior 18 years as Artistic Director for Portland Center Stage in Oregon. 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 U.S. and U.K., 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, Center Stage Baltimore, 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 Stapleton with their 100 lb. English blockhead yellow lab and their 18 lb. terrier mix. 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: Zach Barnes-Fagg

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE We welcome you to take photos in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. If you post photos on social media, please tag the DCPA and the design team: @denvercenter #DCPAToday #DCPASweat Playwright: Lynn Nottage @lynnnottage Director: Rose Riordan Scenic Designer: Tony Cisek Costume Designer: Kevin Copenhaver Lighting Designer: Charles MacLeod Sound Designer: Elisheba Ittoop @eebalish 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. • DRINKS are allowed in provided containers. • ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES, LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS & BOOSTER SEATS are available in most theatres. Ask an usher to direct you. • BRAILLE PROGRAMS are available with 2 weeks’ notice to ckrueger@dcpa.org or 303.893.4836. The Theatre Company is grateful for the funds provided by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Special thanks also to grants from the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation; and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. The Theatre Company is a division of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organization serving the public through the performing arts. The Theatre Company operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States; and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. The Theatre Company also operates under an agreement with Denver Theatrical Stage Employees Union, Local No. 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. The Theatre Company is constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for not-for-profit resident theatre companies. The costumes, wigs, lighting, props, furniture, scenic construction, scenic painting, sound and special effects used in connection with this production were constructed and coordinated by the Theatre Company’s Production Staff.

The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union. The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Backstage and Ticket Services Employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. (or I.A.T.S.E.) The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

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THE ILLUSIONISTS BY JOHN MOORE

“I tell young women wanting to pursue magic to make yourself the role model. Anything you want to do is possible as long as you work hard and go after it.”

Raymond Crowe(left) and Sabine Diemen (inset) The Illusionists • 2019 US Tour

The Illusionists, Live From Broadway is a sophisticated variety show that gives seven of the greatest magicians in the world 10 minutes each to blow your mind. And then, on to the next. “Most of our audiences love all five of them,” says Director Neil Dorward. But should you not care for one, just blink and another will appear before your very eyes. The ensemble includes an escape artist, a mentalist, a daredevil and a deductionist. The Illusionists was (and remains) a simple performance concept that Dorward and Creative Producer Simon Painter modestly launched in 2012 as a two-week run at the Sydney Opera House. It has since grown into a worldwide phenomenon that has played on Broadway and now has three current touring productions traveling the world, with stops including Canada and Russia. There is just something we humans universally love about being fooled, Painter said. “That goes back to childhood,” he said, “that lovely age of innocence.” But why do we so love to be fooled? That’s a bit like saying, “Why does a kid like Christmas?” Painter said. Both require a certain suspension of disbelief — and a healthy belief in magic. The current touring production of The Illusionists features its first-ever female magician, Sabine Diemen of Amsterdam. Diemen joined the Holland Show Ballet as a dancer at age 18, and that opened the door to her joining The Illusionists. “One of the assistants had an injury one day, and they put me in the illusion called The Fire Cage,” she said. “I immediately loved it.” Because magicians have always been men, Diemen added, “We don’t have a Beyoncé of magic.” They do now. “I love the idea of inspiring young girls,” she said. “I tell young women wanting to pursue magic that even if there are not many role models to look up to, make yourself the role model. Anything you want to do is possible as long as you work hard and go after it.” Her message for Denver audiences: “The Illusionists is a jampacked show with all the varieties of magic you can wish for. I know for sure you’ll have lots to talk about at the dinner table after you’ve seen the show.”

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Tara Miller......................................... Senior Manager Brook Nichols......Director, Event Technology Janice Sinden..............................President & CEO Peter Sifter.......Facilities Operations Manager Maggie Lamb........................Executive Assistant Madison Stout......................Reception/Security to the CEO Dawn Williams................................Director, Event Sales & Marketing BROADWAY & CABARET Cesar Carillo, Juan Loya, Carmen Molina, Blanca Primero, Judith Primero, ADMINISTRATION Angeles Reyes Soto.............................Custodians John Ekeberg.........................Executive Director Alicia Bruce................................. General Manager MARKETING, SALES & Ashley Brown...........................Business Manager PATRON SERVICES Lisa Mallory........................................Vice President GARNER GALLERIA THEATRE Abel Becerra.............................Technical Director Patrick Berger.............Audience Development Manager Anna Hookana+..........................Core Stagehand Heidi Bosk.................................Associate Director, PR & Integrated Marketing DEVELOPMENT Casey Eickhoff, Brenda Elliott..........Senior Graphic Designers Shelley Thompson.........................Vice President Brianna Firestone..........Director of Marketing, Rebecca Clark.......................................Coordinator Insights & Strategy Megan Fevurly.......................Associate Director, Rachel Garn..................................Email Developer Individual Philanthropy Jacquelyn Glover.......Junior Web Developer/ Tamara Fox.....................................Grants Manager Administration Alicia Higginbotham..............Manager, Special Brittany Gutierrez.................... Communications Events Associate Ariel Keener.........Coordinator, Special Events Donna Hendricks................Executive Assistant Marc Ravenhill....................Director, Individual & Jeff Hovorka......... Director, Sales & Marketing Institutional Philanthropy Emily Kent................................Director, Marketing David Lenk.......................................Video Producer EDUCATION Emily Lozow......Marketing & Digital Manager Allison Watrous..................... Executive Director Adam Lundeen...........Marketing Technologist Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski.......................Director of Kyle Malone.....................................Design Director Education & Curriculum Management Helen Masvikeni..........................Project Manager Stuart Barr..................................Technical Director Carolyn Michaels....................................Copywriter Claudia Carson.....Teaching Artist & Program Cheyenne Michaels.........Marketing Associate Manager – Playwriting & Bobby G John Moore....................... Senior Arts Journalist Leslie Channell....................Director of Business Anna Nunez........................Jr. Marketing Analyst Operations Joseph Schurwonn.................Financial Analyst Linda Eller........................................................Librarian Sarah Shepard........................... Communications Coordinator Dana Good...............................Assistant Registrar Timothy McCracken...................Head of Acting Austin Walker.................Marketing Coordinator Andre Rodriguez......................Teaching Artist & Suzanne Yoe...........Director, Communications & Cultural Affairs Program Manager – Shakespeare David Saphier.......Teaching Artist & Program TICKETING & AUDIENCE SERVICES Manager – In School Programming Elizabeth Schmit..........................Office Manager Jennifer Lopez....................Director, Ticketing & Audience Services Melissa Sumner............................................Registrar Rachel Taylor...............................Teaching Artist & Ticketing Services Program Manager – Literacy Engagement Kirk Petersen...........................Associate Director, Patron Relations and Resiliency Programming Justin Walvoord........................Teaching Artist & Micah White.............................Associate Director, Program Manager – Teacher Subscription Services Professional Development Billy Dutton....Associate Director, Operations Maggy Stacy, Malcolm Brown..............Subscription Manager Robyn Yamada............................Teaching Artists Amanda Gomez...........VIP Ticketing Manager Christina Gesford, FACILITIES & EVENT SERVICES Tristan Jungferman, Zoë Mäkelä, Lauren Trujillo....................Box Office Managers Clay Courter.......................................Vice President D.J. Dennis, Edmund Gurule, Roger Haak, Rebecca Hibbert, Hayley Solano, Steven Allen, Benjamin Koenig, Michael Quezada................Security Specialists Mariah Thompson..............................Show Leads Kirsten Anderson, Keenan Coke, Quentin Crump, Cody Gocio.....................Lead Security Officers Scott Lix, Brad Steinmeyer, Gregory Swan.....................Subscription Agents Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, Rena Bugg, James Bullock, Adam Busch, Eric Farrell, Clint Flinchpaugh, Michael Kimbrough................................ Engineers Kelcee Covert, Cynthia Dillon, Jennifer Gray, Kristina Guarriello, Taylor Hayes, Danielle Bell, Savanna Campbell, Matt Leaver.................................Events Managers Noah Jungferman, Cecillia Kim, Timothy Courson.....................Director, Facilities Gustavo Márquez, Frank Millington III, Management Clayton Nickell, Hayley Obremski, Gunnar Reinig, Becca Saunders, Jane Deegan................................. Office Manager Liz Sieroslawski, Andrew Sullivan, Colin Dieck, Stori Heleen, Will Stowe, Emmalaine Wright.........................Ticket Agents Ian Wells.............Event Technology Specialists Theatre Services Tom Duffin...........Manager, Event Technology Carol Krueger............................................... Manager Dan Havens................................Security Manager Ethan Aumann, Nora Caley, Brian McClain.....................Custodial Supervisor Samantha Egle, Jahnice Jones,

LeiLani Lynch, Aaron McMullen, Stacey Renee Norwood, Margaret Ohlander, Dylan Phibbs, Valerie Schaefer, Elizabeth Schreffler, Elliot Shields, Lauren Veselak, Mica Ward..................................Theatre Company House Managers Volunteer Ushers................................................305+ Group Sales Jessica Bergin................Groups Sales Manager Jonalyn Bradshaw.............................Coordinator, Education Sales Patrick Naughton...Group Sales Coordinator SHARED SERVICES Vicky Miles........................Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Jeffrey........................Director, Financial Planning & Analysis Julie Schumaker..................Executive Assistant to the CFO & Board Liaison ACCOUNTING Jennifer Siemers...........................................Director Sara Brandenburg.......... Accounting Manager Michaele Davidson, Linda Erickson.....................Senior Accountants Valerie Lingbloom...................Staff Accountant HUMAN RESOURCES Brian Carter, Karen Jewell.......................Director Jamie Hawkins..............................HR Coordinator Paul Johnson...............................Payroll Specialist Monica Robles...................Mailroom Supervisor INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Yovani Pina.........................................Vice President Rick Bennett, David Tschan...................Director Eric Boone.............................Software Developer Vincent Bridgers....Ticketing System Analyst Simone Gordon......................Program Manager Christopher Hoge..................................IT Manager Phillip Johnson, Adam Smith.......................IT Analyst; Help Desk Joseph Reecher............................Junior Systems Administrator THEATRE COMPANY ADMINISTRATION Charles Varin...........................Managing Director Ann Marshall............................... General Manager Allison Taylor Brinkhoff......Company Manager Katie Grayson.... Assistant Company Manager ARTISTIC Chris Coleman.............................. Artistic Director Charlie Miller.........Associate Artistic Director/ Off-Center Curator Douglas Langworthy............Literary Director/ Director of New Play Development Melissa Cashion.........................Artistic Producer Grady Soapes.....................Associate Producer/ Director of Casting Lynde Rosario.............................Literary Manager PRODUCTION Jeff Gifford............Director of Production and Construction Project Management Kate Coltun..........................Production Manager Matthew Campbell....... Associate Production Manager Julie Brou..............................Production & Artistic Office Manager

Scenic Design Lisa M. Orzolek....... Director of Scenic Design Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud.....Scenic Design Assistants Lighting Design Charles R. MacLeod..........Director of Lighting Lily Bradford............Lighting Design Assistant Reid Tennis+......................Production Electrician Multimedia Gregory W. Towle..........Projection Supervisor Sound Design Craig Breitenbach..................Director of Sound Alex Billman+, Frank Haas+, Tyler Nelson+...........................Sound Technicians Stage Management Kurt Van Raden.....Production Stage Manager Christoper C. Ewing....Senior Stage Manager Heidi Echtenkamp, Corin Davidson, Rick Mireles, Michael Morales, Kristen O’Connor, D. Lynn Reiland...........................Stage Managers Scene Shop Eric J. Moore..............................Technical Director Josh Prues, Robert L. Orzolek..........Associate Technical Directors Albert “Stub” Allison................................Assistant Technical Director Louis Fernandez III.................Master Carpenter Brian “Marco” Markiewicz.... Lead Technician Tyler Clark, Amy “Wynn” Pastor, Kyle Scoggins, Mara Zimmerman................Scenic Technicians Prop Shop Robin Lu Payne....................Properties Director Eileen S. Garcia...................Assistant Properties Director Jamie Stewart Curl, Tobias Harding, Georgina Kayes, Tony Nguyen, Katie Webster..................................Props Artisans Paint Shop Jana L. Mitchell...................Charge Scenic Artist Melanie Rentschler...............Lead Scenic Artist Kristin Hamer MacFarlane............Scenic Artist Costume Shop Janet S. MacLeod.................Costume Director/ Costume Design Associate Meghan Anderson Doyle......................Costume Design Associate Carolyn Plemitscher, Jackie Scott..... Drapers Cathie Gagnon..........................................First Hand Sheila P. Morris..................................................... Tailor Costume Crafts Kevin Copenhaver....Costume Crafts Director Chris Campbell.......Costume Crafts Assistant Wigs Diana Ben-Kiki........................................Wig Master House Crew Doug Taylor+.................Supervising Stagehand Jim Berman+, Jennifer Guethlein+, Stephen D. Mazzeno+, Miles Stasica+, Tyler Stauffer+, Matt Wagner+......Stagehands  Kyle Moore+.........................Assistant Stagehand Wardrobe Brenda Lawson............... Director of Wardrobe Taylor Malott^, Jessica A. Rayburn^....................Wig Assistants Robin Appleton^, Amber Donner^, Anthony Mattivi^, Tim Nelson^, Lisa Parsons Wagner^, Alan Richards^..............................................Dressers + Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 7 ^Member, I.A.T.S.E. Local 719

As of 3/27/19

PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

A “Our support of the DCPA and its mission is a privilege, and we are happy to see Denver secure its rightful place as a world-class city with a world-class performing arts scene.”

At CCIG, we’re passionate about the health and welfare of our community. There are few better ways for us to express our commitment to that ideal than, once again, to serve as a sponsor of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Why? Because the arts and culture help shape, build and strengthen communities. As a locally based insurance and employee benefits brokerage, our commitment to the community is at the heart of CCIG’s values. Our support of the DCPA and its mission is a privilege, and we are happy to see Denver secure its rightful place as a world-class city with a world-class performing arts scene. The arts, of course, deepen and widen and expand our sense of life. As Albert Einstein once said: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” We couldn’t agree more.

— BROOK MAHONEY, CEO, CCIG

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

FREE PARKING + DRINK Show your DCPA ticket for complimentary valet parking and a glass of wine, draft beer, or cocktail with entrée purchase. 1455 CALIFORNIA STREET ■ 3 BLOCKS FROM DCPA CorinneRestaurant.com

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THEATER SPECIAL:TWOCOURSE DINNER + GLASS OF WINE $20.00 PER PERSON

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JOIN US BEFORE THE SHOW • 3-Course Theatre Menu Special $30 95 or 10% Off Your Bill • Free Parking at Independence Plaza* • Located 2 Blocks from DCPA LOCA

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Enjoy a meal with us before the show - when you show your tickets, receive OVEN-TOASTED a FREE cocktail, Social Beer or house SANDWICHES wine with entree purchase. Parking is SALADS & SOUPS just $7 GLUTEN-FREE &when you use our valet parking. VEGGIE OPTIONS ICE CREAM RECEIVE $2 OFF WHEN YOU BRING IN THIS AD

Four Diamonds AAA Four Stars - 5280 magazine Just 3 blocks from the theater complex 909 17th Street at Champa Call 303.296.3525 for reservations

PROUD SPONSOR OF THE 2018/19 DCPA BROADWAY SEASON

CONNECTING PEOPLE. UNITING THE WORLD.

“With over 80 years of service to the Mile High City, we are proud of our longstanding commitment to the Denver community that thousands of employees and customers call home.” — SHARON GRANT, VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

United does more than connect passengers through safe and convenient air travel; it forges strong relationships with the communities it serves across the globe. United is pleased to serve as the official airline of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) and proudly supports its remarkable contributions to the performing arts community in Denver and beyond. United provides valuable travel support that allows the DCPA to bring in artists for its productions and sponsors Student Matinee performances for thousands of local students to expand their view of themselves and the world through a targeted theatrical experience and educational talkback. United employees have donated thousands of hours of service to various local non-profit organizations and have tirelessly conducted drives, mentored interns, hosted Aviation Days both at Denver International Airport and United’s flight training center, among many other efforts. As part of United’s relationship with Warren Village transitional housing center, employee volunteers enjoy actively participating with resident families at community events. United’s Volunteer Impact Grants program allows employees to earn grants for nonprofits where they volunteer frequently and has provided thousands of dollars to local organizations. United employees especially love bringing smiles to hundreds of deserving children through the annual holiday Fantasy Flight trip to the “North Pole” and teddy bear deliveries to local hospitals. “At United, we take our role as a community partner and corporate citizen seriously, and we are proud to support the DCPA,” said Sharon Grant, Vice President, Community Affairs. “With over 80 years of service to the Mile High City, we also are proud of our longstanding commitment to the Denver community that thousands of employees and customers call home.” In addition to DCPA, United is honored to support other Colorado organizations including the Colorado Symphony, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Public Schools Foundation, Girls Inc., Latin American Education Foundation, Mile High Youth Corps, Warren Village and Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum and Exploration of Flight locations.

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

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More than 70 visiting artists participated in the 14th annual Colorado New Play Summit.

BY JOHN MOORE

The 2019 Colorado New Play Summit took on timely and topical issues ranging from colorism to gender norms to questions of personal and national identity. It presented an array of ghosts real and imagined. It introduced an exciting variety of complex new roles for older women. It told unexpected stories that are being lived every day throughout America but are rarely presented on our stages. The Summit has grown into one of the nation’s premier showcases of new plays. Since 2006, it has introduced 62 new works leading to 34 fully staged world premieres. This was the first Summit under the full creative influence of DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman, who has chosen two of this year’s readings to be produced next season: Tony Meneses’ twenty50 and Bonnie Metzgar’s You Lost Me. twenty50, set in the year 2050, introduces a congressional candidate who must decide whether identifying himself as a Mexican American will help or hinder him on Election Day. “I love that it really speaks to things that are urgently being debated in this country right now,” Coleman said. You Lost Me is a time-hopping story that follows two women named Ann Harvey connected by blood but divided by two centuries following a shipwreck off the Newfoundland coast. “I haven’t come across that many new plays I felt were poetic and inventive with the structure of the storytelling,” Coleman said. “So when something like You Lost Me comes along, it gets your attention.” Coleman has committed to further developing the

new musical Rattlesnake Kate, and he said the other two Summit offerings — Isaac Gomez’s Wally World and Beaufield Berry’s In the Upper Room would remain under consideration. Those plays were: • Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman’s Rattlesnake Kate is a stage adaptation of Pekarek’s concept album, Rattlesnake. It tells the story of Kate McHale Slaughterback, a Greeley farmer who, as a single mother in 1925, famously fought off a rattlesnake migration. • Berry’s In the Upper Room is an unsparing look back at the playwright’s Omaha family in the 1970s. Their lives orbit around Rose, a controlling matriarch hiding dark secrets from her mysterious past. • Gomez’s Wally World is a comedy set in a 24-hour retail superstore in the border city of El Paso on Christmas Eve, just before the one day each year the store closes. This year’s Summit drew industry leaders from 49 local and national theatre organizations. Total attendance eclipsed 3,000, with a record 975 individuals attending at least one Summit reading. To Metzgar, this year’s Summit slate made it abundantly clear that America is at a moment of change. Just like the American theatre. “On our first day in the room, I looked around at the incredible diversity of voices and of artists and of different perspectives all together here,” Metzgar said. “That shows me that the future is really bright. If one of the great institutions in this country can do that and it can happen here, it can happen everywhere.” To read full coverage of the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit, visit denvercenter.org/news-center.

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

EXPLORE MORE 1

• Breaking News • Feature Stories • Actor Profiles • Community Coverage

6 5

• More Theatre Listings • Education Insight • Videos • Photos Explore the actors, artists, plays and people who create culture in our community.

denvercenter.org/ news-center

PHOTOS: 1. Mary Kate Morrissey in Rattlesnake Kate. 2. The cast of twenty50. 3. Majorie Johnson in In the Upper Room. 4. Leslie Alexander and Leslie O’Carroll. 5. The cast of Wally World. 6. Playwright Beaufield Berry (In the Upper Room) at the Playwrights’ Slam. 7. Betty Hart and Regina Taylor. 8. Neyla Pekarek in Rattlesnake Kate. 9. Kurt Hellerich, Anastasia Davidson and Marianna McClellan in You Lost Me. 10. Liza Fernandez, James Vincent Meredith and Blanca Camacho with twenty50 director Henry Godinez. 11. Colorado New Play Summit party. 12. Sophie Greenway, Katanu Mwendwa and M. Rae K, winners in the High School Playwriting & Workshops Competition. Photos by John Moore and Adams VisCom.

Kristina Fo untaine, Ke vin Cu in the 2019 Colorado Ne rtis and Dan Lin w Play Sum mit.

PROUD SPONSOR OF DCPA EDUCATION

“Giving back is not just an idea we work toward, it’s the cornerstone of PCL’s culture.” — RYAN SCHMIDT, DISTRICT MANAGER

With US headquarters in Denver, PCL Construction is proud to support the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Education programs. PCL, a 100% employee-owned company, is dedicated to giving back to the communities where employees live and work. The organization strives to make a positive contribution by supporting community development programs, such as the DCPA, that promote a greater appreciation for the arts. “Giving back is not just an idea we work toward, it’s the cornerstone of PCL’s culture,” said Ryan Schmidt, district manager. PCL is proud to have partnered with the City & County of Denver on construction projects throughout the Denver Performing Arts Complex, including the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Temple Boyne Buell Theatre, and the Galleria arch. The organization’s 40+ year portfolio in Denver encompasses marquee projects such the original main terminal at Denver International Airport, Republic Plaza Tower, Mile High United Way, and 250 Columbine Condominiums in Cherry Creek. PCL’s work in the Rocky Mountains includes resorts such as the Ritz-Carlton Residences at Vail, the Monarch Hotel and Casino in Black Hawk and the Grand Colorado Peak 8 Residences in Breckenridge. PCL and its employees are passionate about not only building structures, but also building hope for individuals and families in the community through the company’s philanthropic efforts. This is one of the many reasons why PCL is consistently ranked as a Top Philanthropic Company by the Denver Business Journal.

APPLAUSE • APR – MAY 2019 • 303.893.4100 • DENVERCENTER.ORG

A N N O U N C I N G O U R 2 0 1 9/2 0 S E A S O N ! SEPTEMBER

Home Alone in Concert

Bobby McFerrin with the Colorado Symphony Chorus

NOV 29 FRI 7:30

SEP 7 SAT 7:30

FEB 15 SAT 7:30

DYAO Side By Side 2020

DEC 1 SUN 2:30

Beethoven Missa Solemnis featuring the Colorado Symphony Chorus

Love Actually in Concert

FEB 21-23 FRI-SAT 7:30

Drums of the World

SEP 15 SUN 2:00

Opening Weekend: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto featuring Yumi Hwang-Williams SUN 1:00

Macy’s Inc. Family

DEC 6 FRI 7:30

Rhapsody & Rhythm: The Gershwin Concert Experience SEP 28 SAT 7:30

MAR 6-8 FRI-SAT 7:30 SAT 2:30 & 6:00

SUN 1:00

Marin Alsop Conducts MAR 20-22 FRI-SAT 7:30

Handel’s Messiah — Awakening

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 conducted by Brett Mitchell

Holiday Brass

OCT 4-6 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Dvořák Symphony No. 7 OCT 18-20 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Verdi Requiem – 35 Anniversary Celebration of the Colorado Symphony Chorus n

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ Part 1 in Concert

APR 3-5 FRI-SAT 7:30

JAN 3-5 FRI-SAT 7:30

Holst The Planets

SUN 1:00

MPAA Rating: PG

Halloween Spooktacular!

Macy’s Inc. Family

SUN 1:00

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto n

Arrow Symphony Pops

presenting sponsor

SUN 1:00

Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance JAN 31-FEB 1 FRI-SAT 7:30

FEB 7-9 FRI-SAT 7:30

also supported by

SUN 1:00

Colorado Symphony Ball APR 25 SAT 6:00 M AY

MAY 1-3 FRI-SAT 7:30

MAY 8-10 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Jim James and Teddy Abrams with the Colorado Symphony MAY 15 FRI 7:30

Big Band Classics conducted by Brett Mitchell

Arrow Symphony Pops

MAY 16 SAT 7:30

Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring Ingrid Fliter

These performances include FULL SCREENING OF THE FEATURE FILM!

APR 17-19 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Elgar Enigma Variations conducted by Christopher Dragon

FEBRUARY

SUN 1:00

Mahler Symphony No. 9 conducted by Brett Mitchell

A Tribute to Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops JAN 24-26 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Renée Fleming - The Brightness of Light- Colorado Premiere NOV 22-24 FRI-SAT 7:30

Bank of America Free Community Concert

JAN 14 TUE 7:30

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3

Mozart Symphony No. 40

SUN 1:00

JAN 18 SAT 7:30

NOV 3 SUN 2:30 n

Dr. MLK, Jr. Tribute

SUN 2:30

APRIL

JAN 10-12 FRI-SAT 7:30

NOV 1-2 FRI-SAT 7:30

Barber Piano Concerto performed by Olga Kern

Disney in Concert: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

NOV 15 & 17 FRI 7:30

MAR 28–29 SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

NOVEMBER

NOV 8-10 FRI-SAT 7:30

Disney’s Fantasia in Concert

DEC 22 SUN 1:00

JANUARY

OCT 26-27 SAT 7:30

MAR 27 FRI 7:30

DEC 31 TUE 6:30

OCT 11 FRI 7:30

SUN 1:00

Music and Art: A Symphonic Exploration

A Night in Vienna

The Goonies in Concert

Macy’s Inc. Family

MAR 15 SUN 2:30

DEC 16 MON 7:30 DEC 20-21 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

Carnival of the Animals

All Beethoven – 250th Birthday Celebration

OCTOBER

SUN 1:00

Strauss A Hero’s Life conducted by Brett Mitchell

A Colorado Christmas DEC 13-15 FRI 7:30

SEP 26 THU 7:00

MARCH

Celtic Woman: The Best of Christmas Tour DEC 8 SUN 3:30

Bank of America Free Community Concert

Macy’s Inc. Family

FEB 16 SUN 2:30

DECEMBER

Rick Steves - A Symphonic Journey with the Colorado Symphony

Latin Beats: Sonidos de las Américas

Legendary Women’s Voices: An Evening with Cynthia Erivo

Arrow Symphony Pops

NOV 30 SAT 7:30

SEP 14 SAT 7:30

FEB 14 FRI 7:30

Aretha: A Tribute

An Intimate Evening with Kristin Chenoweth and the Colorado Symphony

SEP 20-22 FRI-SAT 7:30

From Britain, with Love MPAA Rating: PG

SUN 1:00

Beethoven Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” conducted by Brett Mitchell MAY 22-24 FRI-SAT 7:30

SUN 1:00

COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG