Applause -- The Color Purple, March 31-May 7, 2023

APPLAUSE

THE COLOR PURPLE

HUGE SELECTION OF BRANDS LIKE MASSOUD, BERNHARDT, CENTURY AND SO MUCH MORE!

Non metallic Pantone 4515 + Black (C-40%, M-50%, Y-50%, K-100%)

White + Black (C-40%, M-50%, Y-50%, K-100%)

SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

WWelcome to the DCPA. We are delighted you’re here! Your presence continues to ensure our success and for that we are especially grateful.

In January, we released our 2021/22 Community Report. With your active participation, we were able to distribute 605,145 tickets to 30 productions, engage with 100,043 students, host 21,345 guests in our rental spaces and welcome 22,502 individuals to our community events. Collectively, the DCPA had an economic impact of $203,406,512 on the metro Denver area.

Thank you for your part in boosting not only the DCPA’s recovery from the pandemic, but also preserving the vitality that is the cornerstone of downtown Denver. We recognize that you have many options in our thriving and diverse region, and we appreciate the value you place in the arts — especially live theatre.

We hope you will join us for the newly announced Theatre Company season, which will feature the world premieres of Cebollas and Rubicon plus the enduring favorites, Emma and A Christmas Carol, among others. We invite you to join us for these local, handcrafted productions that are exclusive to our audiences. You can see the full lineup on pages 24-25.

Equally exciting are the Broadway hits making their way to Denver for the very first time — Jagged Little Pill, Beetlejuice, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, SIX, Message In A Bottle, MJ and Company. Plus, we’ll round out the season with many familiar favorites including Annie, Wicked and the national tour launch of the return of MAMMA MIA!

Mark your calendar for another fantastic season of theatre! We’ll see you soon.

Warm regards,

Janice Sinden President & CEO, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

READ THE COMMUNITY REPORT

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.

IN THIS ISSUE

The 39 Steps pg 10

Riverdance.................................... pg 12

Les Misérables pg 14

The Color Purple pg 16

Anastasia pg 22

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone

DESIGNER THIS ISSUE: Brenda Elliott

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Paul Koob, Lucas Kreitler

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Cynthia Barnes, Emma Hunt, John Moore, Kelundra Smith, Rob Weinert-Kendt

Applause is published seven 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

Martin Semple, Immediate Past Chair

Ruth Krebs, Vice Chair

Robert C. Newman, Secretary/Treasurer

Dr. Patricia Baca

Brisa Carleton

Fred Churbuck

Navin Dimond

David Jacques Farahi

Kevin Kilstrom

Susan Fox Pinkowitz

Manny Rodriguez

Alan Salazar

Richard M. Sapkin

William Dean Singleton

Robert Slosky

June Travis

Ken Tuchman

Tina Walls

Dr. Reginald L. Washington

Judi Wolf

Sylvia Young

HONORARY TRUSTEES

Margot Gilbert Frank

Jeannie Fuller

Daniel L. Ritchie

Cleo Parker Robinson

HELEN G. BONFILS FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

William Dean Singleton, President

Martin Semple, Vice President

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF UPCOMING SHOWS:

Dr. Reginald Washington, Secretar y/Treasurer

Ruth Krebs

David Miller

Robert C. Newman

Hassan Salem

Robert Slosky

June Travis

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

Gretchen Hollrah, Chief Operating Officer

Laura Maresca, Vice President, Human Resources

Charlie Miller, Executive Director & Curator, Off-Center

Lisa Roebuck, Vice President, Information Technology

Charles Varin, Managing Director, Theatre Company

Allison Watrous, Executive Director, Education & Community Engagement

Jane Williams, Chief Financial Officer

The Board and staff of the DCPA mourn the loss of Edward Payson Call (1928-2023), Founding Artistic Director of our Theatre Company. His vision established our foundation, his artistry fueled our passion and his contributions to theatre were felt throughout the American Theatre community. He will be greatly missed.

Get Tickets

MAY 4, 2023

JOIN THE DCPA FOR A STYLISH BENEFIT LUNCHEON IN SUPPORT OF OUR WOMEN’S VOICES FUND!

Gather with theatre-lovers from across Denver and help us celebrate the brilliant work of female playwrights and directors in fabulous fashion. Browse retail displays, take advantage of networking opportunities galore, sip seasonal beverages, and savor a seated luncheon in the Seawell Ballroom. Afterward, join us for the Parade of Hats, where attendees with the most exceptional, extravagant headwear will take home prizes provided by the DCPA.

Prepare your finest derby, beret, or pillbox and get your tickets to the annual Women with Hattitude Luncheon today!

Photo by Amanda Tipton

TAKING THEATRE TO THE COMMUNITY

BY SUZANNE YOE

TThe Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ commitment to community performances goes back before Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, before its DCPAccess $10 ticket program, even before its founding in 1979.

In fact, the very fabric of the DCPA was rooted in community because its benefactress, the late Helen Bonfils, made it her mission.

When Miss Helen, as she was fondly called, inherited The Denver Post from her father Frederick in 1933 she began producing The Denver Post Operas in Cheeseman Park. These free public performances continued when DCPA founder Donald R. Seawell stepped in as Presidentthen-Publisher of The Denver Post (1966 to 1981). He then extended his commitment to providing professional quality performing arts by conceiving of and creating the Denver Performing Arts Complex, which then-Mayor Bill McNichols called the “greatest gift ever given to the city of Denver.”

Fast forward to 2023, and that same commitment to community connection continues with Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. Launched as a high school program in 2015/16, the program has expanded to public performances at libraries, civic centers and parks. Held each fall and spring, DCPA Education and Community Engagement present adaptations of three Shakespearean plays in repertory — Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth Now in its eighth year, the program has reached more than 70,000 people in schools and public spaces. Spring performances run April 8 – May 13; locations and times are noted in the space below. Head out to your local park or community center for a lively, 90-minute performance and share Shakespeare with your neighbors…the way it was intended to be.

Join us for a free performance of DCPA’s SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT! Abridged versions of some of the Bard’s most beloved plays performed in and around a pick up truck “set.” Mark your

For more information email: COMMUNITY@DCPA.ORG

SPONSORED BY

Photo by McLeod9 Creative

MAKING CONFETTI OUT OF SUSPENSE

IN PATRICK BARLOW’S SLY STAGE VERSION OF

TH E 39 STEPS,

SUSPENSE IS ALL ABOUT WATCHING

FOUR ACTORS TAKE ON SOME 50 CHARACTERS

BY ROB WEINERT-KENDT

“I“I am out to give the public good, healthy, mental shakeups,” Alfred Hitchcock wrote in 1936, in an essay that might have been a mission statement for his multi-decade film career as the Master of Suspense. “Civilization has become so screening and sheltering that we cannot experience sufficient thrills at first hand. Therefore, to prevent our becoming sluggish and jellified, we have to experience them artificially.”

That essay was published a year after the British director completed The 39 Steps, a dashing espionage thriller that not only supplied the requisite jolts, but was arguably the first recognizably “Hitchcockian” film: Here was the Handsome Everyman tangled up mistakenly in a highstakes international caper; the Icy Blonde hurled by chance into his path and inclined to thaw only after some shared hardship; the Smiling Sophisticate Villain with a seamy retinue of thugs and lackeys; and assorted unsuspecting passersby who might help or hinder our hero, depending on their mood or predilection.

The film’s improbable plot—about rival rings of spies vying over some direly significant state secret—unfurled in a headlong rush, from chase to capture to escape and back to chase again, in a rolling roundelay of mounting danger and derring-do. They set the template for e-ticket movie rides from James Bond to Speed.

“What I like in The 39 Steps are the swift transitions,” Hitchcock later told French director Francois Truffaut. “The rapidity of those transitions heightens the excitement... You use one idea after another and eliminate anything that interferes with the swift pace.”

Now think for a minute: What’s another genre that relies on speed and improbability, crossed wires and missed connections? Funny you should ask: It’s farce, of course. As Pauline Kael astutely noted, the original film is “directed with so sure a touch the suspense is charged with wit.” The family resemblance between the chase thriller and the slapstick comedy will not be news to devotees of Chaplin or Keaton, not to mention Jackie Chan. It turns out that some skilled British farceurs in West Yorkshire, England, apparently also noticed this affinity, and duly turned Hitchcock’s Highland fling into a stage romp that has become an unlikely international hit.

That stage adaptation by actor/writer Patrick Barlow went on to wow the West End, Broadway, off-Broadway, even Madrid before fairly blanketing the U.S. in a tour and a series of original regional renditions.

What’s particularly notable about Barlow’s comic adaptation isn’t just that it’s comic, but that he has pushed the original material just enough to show the underlying humor.

It’s not just that Barlow has dropped in sly visual and verbal references to other Hitchcock films, from Psycho’s shower murder to North by Northwest ’s crop duster chase. No, the thing that stands out most about the new stage version is that it’s a kind of tribute from one medium to another: Just as Hitchcock used the full arsenal of cinematic technique to maximum effect in his film, Barlow’s 39 Steps does something similar with the craft of theatre by having just four actors play the whole thing—trains, planes, automobiles, sheep, and all.

Illustrations by Kyle Malone

One actor plays the put-upon lead, a Canadian bachelor named John Hannay, throughout. But the others are multiple-cast: a woman as three of Hannay’s love interests (including the blonde, Pamela) and two “clowns” who jump in and out of dozens of other characters, from train conductors to policemen to innkeepers to heavies. The gleeful flurry of quick-change characterizations might put one in mind of Charles Ludlam’s The Mystery of Irma Vep—except that most of the changes in The 39 Steps happen, beguilingly, right before our eyes.

In translating the film to the stage, Barlow has said that he used the screenplay as a blueprint. “I just took the film and then added things that make me laugh,” he said. To give a key example: Hannay and Pamela, handcuffed together by two baddies, must spend the night in a hotel room. Hitchcock includes a famously sexy scene in which Pamela gingerly takes off her stockings while Hannay’s hand flops embarrassedly across her thigh, as well as a charming bit in which sharing sandwiches becomes an awkward hand dance. But while the film retained a British understatement, Barlow wanted to go a bit further.

“I added in [a] kind of mad argument between them,” Barlow said. “That relationship fascinated me, between Pamela and Hannay—the repression of it. Repression is very interesting for a writer to look at. It’s very like Brief Encounter... The Hitchcock film treats the relationship quite lightly, so I added a lot to it.”

COMING UP FROM BROADWAY

Your wish has been granted! Disney’s Aladdin is coming to the Buell Theatre June 13-18. A thrilling production filled with laughter and splendor; you won’t want to miss what The Wall Street Journal called “Broadway magic!”

From the producer of The Lion King, this hit Broadway musical features all your favorite songs from the beloved film as well as new music written by Tony and Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Newsies) with lyrics by Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast). Sing along to “A Whole New World” and dance in your seat to “Friend Like Me.”

With choreography and direction by Tony Award-winning Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon) and sets, costumes, and lighting from Tony Award winners Bob Crowley (Mary Poppins), Gregg Barnes (Kinky Boots), and Natasha Katz (An American in Paris), the stage is filled with sparkle and beauty. Reminisce about when you first saw Aladdin in theatres in 1992 or watch as your child experiences the magic of Aladdin for the first time. It’s an extraordinary theatrical event where one lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite.

If the stage version, then, adds its share of pratfalls, it’s complemented by retaining some of the film’s focus on actual nail-biting suspense. But that’s not to say that the stage version doesn’t elicit side splitting laughter.

Come to think of it, such extreme reactions aren’t too far from the “healthy mental shake-ups” Hitchcock had in mind. There are exceptions (Vertigo and Psycho come to mind), but Hitch mostly intended his filmic jolts to be ultimately pleasing, not unsettling. After all, he also once quipped, “Some films are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake.”

Rob Weinert-Kendt is Editor-in-Chief at American Theatre and has written about theatre and the arts for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Guardian and The San Francisco Chronicle

What I like in The 39 Steps are the swift transitions. The rapidity of those transitions heightens the excitement...

— ALFRED HITCHCOCK, MASTER OF SUSPENSE

Marcus M. Martin as Genie. Aladdin North American Tour.

Photo by Deen van Meer. © Disney

THE LASTING STAMINA OF

RRiverdance 25th Anniversary Show is celebrating its silver anniversary and it’s a double whammy — 25 years performing for 25 million fans.

But that was not the original expectation. Riverdance started as a one-time, seven-minute performance. “It came from the Eurovision song contest, which is a big contest in Europe and it’s watched by about 500 million people,” said John McColgan, Director. “Every year there’s an internal act and my wife (Moya Doherty, Producer) was the producer…. She contracted Bill Whelan (Composer), Michael Flatley (male lead dancer), Jean Butler (female lead dancer) and choreographers. That was the first appearance of Riverdance and it was a sensation.”

Julian Erskine, who retired in 2020 after serving as Senior Executive Producer since the show’s inception, remembers that first night. “It’s hard to describe just how enormous [the audience reaction] was. Not just in the Eurovision venue, where the entire audience let out a spontaneous roar and jumped to [its] feet, but also across all the Irish radio and TV stations and newspapers where it was the number one topic of discussion.”

Such a buzz was created that when the routine was repeated on Irish television, nearly the entire country watched. With its instant popularity, the creative team quickly planned a full-length performance to play Dublin. “The original hope,” Erskine said, “was for a one-month run.”

That was 1994 and Riverdance continues to play to enthusiastic audiences across the globe.

“Riverdance has no language barrier,” said McColgan. “I’ve stood in the back of darkened theatres in Mexico and Germany and China and the US and the UK. The response is always the same. People are energized. People come away from it uplifted.”

“Its longevity is due to the performers on stage and the culture that every night is Opening Night,” McColgan continued.

Those dancers are the heart of the show — skilled athletes whose precise execution may be rivaled only by the Rockettes. When asked if that point-perfect unison is achieved by endless hours of rehearsal or great choreographic direction, Erskine assessed it as a bit of both.

“Mostly it’s down to the competitive background of Irish dance. All of our performers are championship-winning dancers and as such, perform with extreme precision and exceptional timing. What seems extraordinary to the audience seems ordinary to the dancers,” he said.

“We manage to get the best dancers in the world,” McColgan said, “and they’re proud to deliver 110% every night.” Which they do. Enjoy.

RIVERDANCE

MAY

Audio Described performance: June 3 at 2pm

Its longevity is due to the performers on stage and the culture that every night is Opening Night.

— JOHN MCCOLGAN, DIRECTOR

Trusted Planning for Life

BEYOND OUR DREAMS

Alain Boublil (Book & Original French text) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (Book & Music) share their insights on Les Misérables.

AA few years after the huge success of the original Les Misérables in Paris, we met Cameron Mackintosh to discuss an English version. He told us excitedly, “You do not realise what you have written.” Neither he nor we could have imagined that three decades later we would be continuing to play in London and on tour in the UK. An unprecedented success like this cannot be explained but only witnessed with amazement and pride by its creators. Stravinsky once said “A real creator does not know what he is doing.”

We were to walk through the magical door leading us to the chain of talents of James Fenton, Trevor Nunn and John Caird, Herbert Kretzmer, and now Laurence Connor and James Powell. Under Cameron’s passionate helm, all have added their invaluable contributions to our original work which they have brilliantly complemented throughout the years, bringing Les Misérables to maturity and both of us into a world that has been our home ever since. We went on to write Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre, The Pirate Queen and other works.

The spirit of Victor Hugo may protect us. His novel proclaims its message around the world, to all nationalities, cultures and ages. Still, it astounds us that this young generation flock to see a current show which was written before they were born. Too often musicals age with their audience, but in this case we are the only ones who age while, onstage, the ideals and the passion of Valjean, Javert, Cosette, Marius and the rebel students are still as timeless as ever.

Attending one rehearsal at The Barbican Theatre in 1985, where in front of our eyes was mounted the musical which exceeded our wildest dreams, Alain said: “I hope that we will still be running in two months.” After 37 years, in light of all the challenges facing our theatre community today, we still are!

LES MISÉRABLES

MAY 10 – 21 • BUELL THEATRE

ASL, Audio described & Open

Captioned performance: May 20, 2pm

“One Day More” from Les Misérables

Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

ALAIN

BOUBLIL CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG

…the ideals and the passion of Valjean, Javert, Cosette, Marius and the rebel students are still as timeless as ever.

— ALAIN BOUBLIL & CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG

AFTER 30 YEARS,

THE COLOR PURPLE STILL STIRS AUDIENCES

BY KELUNDRA SMITH

OOne of the most quoted sentences from Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple is “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

Walker grew up in Eatonton, Georgia in the 1940s, the youngest of eight children in a sharecropping family. It is in those cotton fields that Walker likely saw purple asters, the wildflowers that grow anywhere there’s soil in the state of Georgia. The radiance of those flowers contrasted the society that kept the family in poverty.

Years later, Walker returned to the color purple, this time as a metaphor for a woman named Celie who learns to find God in herself. At the beginning of The Color Purple, Celie is a 14-year-old girl in rural Georgia whose mother has died and whose father is progressively more abusive to her and her sister, Nettie. In the first half of the book, Celie’s letters to God recount her fears and trials being married to Mister, the widower to whom she was sold by her father.

The second half of the book is written as letters between Celie and Nettie. Through these letters, Walker shows how Celie grows into herself and inspires the women around her — Sofia, Shug and Squeak — to do the same.

In 1983, Alice Walker became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for The Color Purple. It also won the National Book Award. In 1985, it was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey.

Twenty years later, The Color Purple became a Broadway musical with book by Marsha Norman and music by Brenda Russell, Stephen Bray and Allee Willis. Then, the musical was revived and revised in a Tony Award-winning production in 2015.

When the DCPA Theatre Company presents the musical adaption of The Color Purple, it will be director Timothy Douglas’ third time at the helm, which he previously directed at Portland Center Stage and Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C. Douglas says that every time he encounters the work, he has a life-changing experience.

He first read The Color Purple as an undergraduate student at Yale University in the 1980s. He says he cried three pages into the book and read it in one sitting. Douglas shared that he was abused as a child, and the novel and subsequently the musical, have helped him understand his experiences more clearly.

“It articulated the pain I was feeling; I can count on one hand how many books have done that to me,” Douglas says. “It also helped me with insight into the pain my mother was going through that would get her to a place to be abusive. I recognized the behavior of the men and what underlies that. I don’t spend time defending the men, but the level of psychological turmoil that causes that abuse.”

This is similar to the journey Celie takes through the musical. At the beginning, she is downtrodden and looking for affirmation outside of herself. However, there is no relationship closer than the one with self, and Douglas tries to make every production feel intimate.

Illustrations by Kyle Malone

“The thing I try to do in every production, though it’s impossible, is to get back to the intimacy of the book where it’s just Celie and God,” Douglas says. “When I talk to my company on the first day of rehearsal, I tell them that.”

Maiesha McQueen, who plays Celie, recalls reading The Color Purple for the first time in high school, but she says she wasn’t fully able to receive it because she hadn’t found her own liberation yet. In the book, Celie and Shug find liberation through friendships and intimacy after being emotionally, physically and sexually abused by various men. McQueen believes a lot of women can relate to the way society suppresses women’s sexuality.

“I grew up like many women — in a very repressed space,” McQueen says. “I don’t think my parents knew it, and I wasn’t really churched, but there were these limited definitions of what a girl was supposed to do and be like. Things like attraction, desire, masturbation, fulfillment versus non-fulfillment, we didn’t talk about it.”

As a full-figured woman, McQueen says that bodies tell stories and she believes that inhabiting the role of Celie will make audiences reconsider the story.

“There were certain casting choices made for the movie, so those images of the women and their bodies have been fixated in our minds,” McQueen says. “I was excited and interested in being able to be frail on the inside. When we think about women who are oppressed, abused and made to feel small, that does not discriminate based on what your body happens to look like.”

Having encountered the book, movie, and musical many times as an adult, McQueen is able to recognize the revolutionary nature of Walker’s hallmark work. Celie is the color purple — the divine creation that God deems worthy of celebration. Since chattel slavery, Black women’s bodies have been used, experimented on and criticized for capitalistic and patriarchal gains. In The Color Purple, Black women are regarded not for their usefulness, but for simply existing.

“The book brought home this idea of the divine feminine and the power of the Black woman to take her own happiness, sexual liberation and freedom,” McQueen says. “At the end of the show, Celie is still living in a racist and sexist society, but her understanding of her own divinity is her liberation.”

Douglas agrees. “Whether people acknowledge or not, Celie is never a victim of her circumstances,” he says. “She is always who she is, but through the story the women are like beacons that pull who she is at core to the surface. She doesn’t change; she becomes more realized and it’s the women around her who change. I think people see their self-resilience in her journey.”

Whether you’re an experienced actor or you’re just looking for a new hobby, we have a theatre class for you. Courses range from intro-level to advanced and are always taught by experienced professionals.

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[Celie] doesn’t change; she becomes more realized and it’s the women around her who change. I think people see their self-resilience in her journey.

— TIMOTHY DOUGLAS, DIRECTOR

Photo by McLeod9 Creative

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director Charles Varin, Managing Director

present

THE COLOR PURPLE

BASED UPON THE NOVEL WRITTEN BY ALICE WALKER AND THE WARNER BROS./AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT MOTION PICTURE

BOOK BY MARSHA NORMAN

MUSIC & LYRICS BY BRENDA RUSSELL, ALLEE WILLIS, AND STEPHEN BRAY

With

D’Marreon Alexander, Katelyn Bowman, David Aron Damane, Elise Frances Daniells, Arnold Harper II, Rajané Katurah, Ne’Lashee’, Torrey Linder, Maiesha McQueen, Caleb Mitchell, Elexis Morton, Domonique Paton, Brad Raymond, Steven C. Rich, Nathan Andrew Riley, Christine Wanda, Taylor J. Washington, Angela Wildflower Stage Managers: Corin Davidson, Nick Nyquist, Malia Stoner

SCENIC DESIGN BY Tony Cisek COSTUME DESIGN BY Trevor Bowen LIGHTING DESIGN BY Peter Maradudin

MUSIC DIRECTION and CONDUCTING BY S. Renee Clark

FIGHT DIRECTION BY Geoffrey Kent

CASTING BY Grady Soapes, CSA and Binder Casting Chad Eric Murnane, CSA & Amber Snead, CSA

CHOREOGRAPHY BY DANE FIGUEROA EDIDI

SOUND DESIGN Ken Travis

INITIMACY CHOREOGRAPHY BY Greg Geffrard

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Matthew Campbell

DIRECTED BY TIMOTHY DOUGLAS

THE COLOR PURPLE was produced on Broadway at the Broadway Theater by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and Quincy Jones. The world premiere of THE COLOR PURPLE was produced by the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.

THE COLOR PURPLE is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.theatricalrights.com

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

THE WOLF THEATRE • MAR 31 – MAY 7, 2023

PREMIERE SPONSOR

The Flagg Family

SPOTLIGHT SPONSORS Singleton Family Foundation Sustainer Society

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

CAST

(In order of appearance)

Nettie Elexis Morton

Celie Maiesha McQueen

Darlene Christine Wanda

Doris Ne’Lashee’

Jarene........................................................................................................................................................................ Domonique Paton

Pa Steven C. Rich

Mister David Aron Damane

Preacher/Ol’ Mister Brad Raymond

Squeak Elise Frances Daniells

Harpo................................................................................................................................................................................... Torrey Linder

Sofia Taylor J. Washington

Shug Angela Wildflower

Buster/Grady Arnold Harper II

Guard/Bobby Nathan Andrew Riley

Adam ...................................................................................................................................................................D’Marreon Alexander

Olivia Rajané Katurah

Ensemble D’Marreon Alexander, Katelyn Bowman, Elise Frances Daniells, Arnold Harper II, Rajané Katurah, Ne’Lashee’, Elexis Morton, Domonique Paton, Brad Raymond, Steven C. Rich, Nathan Andrew Riley, Christine Wanda

UNDERSTUDIES

D’Marreon Alexander (Bobby/Guard), Katelyn Bowman (Squeak/Olivia/Church Ladies), Elise Frances Daniells (Darlene), Arnold Harper II (Ol’ Mister/Preacher), Rajané Katurah (Nettie), Ne’Lashee’ (Sofia), Caleb Mitchell (Adam/Buster/Grady), Domonique Paton (Shug), Brad Raymond (Pa), Steven C. Rich (Mister), Nathan Andrew Riley (Harpo), Christine Wanda (Celie)

SETTING

Rural Georgia

THE COLOR PURPLE will be performed with one 15-minute intermission.

Dance Captain Rajané Katurah

Associate Music Director Dan Graeber

Assistant Director Mykai Eastman

Stage Manager Corin Davidson

Assistant Stage Manager Nick Nyquist, Malia Stoner

Stage Management Apprentice Nia Pitts

THE ORCHESTRA

Conductor/Keyboard 1

S. Renee Clark

Flutes/Clarinet/Alto Saxophone Art Bouton

Acoustic/Electric Bass

Keyboard 2

Guitars/Dobro

Domi Edson

Dan Graeber

Mitch Jervis

Trumpet/Flugel Horn Dawn Kramer

Drums/Percussion

Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Tenor and Baritone Saxophone

Lorenzo A Sanford, III

Allison Young

Music Contractor ................................................................................................................................................................Jim Harvey

Orchestra musicians are represented by the Denver Musicians Association: AFM Local 20-623

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.

ACTING COMPANY

D’MARREON ALEXANDER (Adam/ Ensemble) (He/Him/ His). New York and National tour credits include: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (National tour); A Charlie Brown Christmas (The Palladium Times Square); The Garden of the FinziContini (The New York Opera). Other credits include: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Ogunquit Playhouse); Now That I Can Dance (Mosaic Theatre of Detroit); Gem of the Ocean and Jesus Christ Superstar (Western Michigan University). BFA, WMU.

KATELYN BOWMAN (Understudy) (She/ Her/Hers). Regional credits: Little Shop of Horrors (Greenbrier Valley Theatre); SHOUT (GVT); All Shook Up (Flat Rock Playhouse); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (APAC); Grease (Ivoryton Playhouse). Tours: Legally Blonde. TV/ Film: “Go Fetch Club.” @katelyncatalina

DAVID ARON DAMANE (Mister) (He/Him/His).

Broadway: The Book of Mormon (Broadway and National Tour), Don’t Dress for Dinner, Big River (Broadway and National Tour), Riverdance (Broadway and National Tour), The Life. Other National Tours: The Color Purple and The Who’s Tommy. Off-Broadway: The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Drama Desk nomination, Best Actor in a Musical), Carmen Jones (CSC), Dinah Was. Regional credits include: Show Boat (Goodspeed); Porgy & Bess (NYC Opera); Macbeth (Stratford, Ontario); Kinky Boots, Othello, Titus Andronicus, To Kill A Mockingbird (Ford’s Theatre). TV/Film: “Dynasty,” “Jett” (Cinemax), “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD,” “The Good Fight,” “Instinct,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Law & Order.”

WHO’S WHO

ELISE FRANCES

DANIELLS (Squeak/ Ensemble) is beyond excited for her first show with DCPA!  As a recent graduate with a dual master’s degree in opera and musical theatre, she loves both musical worlds equally. Elise recently appeared on Playbill.com in their cast announcement of OffBroadway›s Harmony: a New Musical as U/S Josephine Baker. Previous credits include: Southern Crossings (NYC Premiere), Chiffon (Little Shop of Horrors), Lorrell (Dreamgirls), Deloris (Sister Act), Diedre (Runaways), and Chorus/Featured Dancer (Carmen with AZ Opera). Follow her projects via @elisedaniellsmusic.

ARNOLD HARPER II (Buster/Grady/ Ensemble) is ecstatic to be making his DCPA debut. Most notably known for playing ‘Ken’ in Ain’t Misbehavin’

(Barrington Stages and The Rev. Theatre Company). Other regional credits: Elf and Kinky Boots (Ogunquit Playhouse), Five Guys Named Moe (Playhouse on Park), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (ACT of CT), Little Shop of Horrors. Look what God has done! IG: @arnoldharperii

RAJANÉ KATURAH (Olivia/Ensemble/ Dance Captain)

Regional credits include: Beauty and the Beast and Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Ordway Center of Performing Arts); Cinderella, The Wiz, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (Children’s Theatre Company); A Christmas Carol (Guthrie Theater); Into the Woods; Thunder Knockin’ At the Door (Ten Thousand Things); For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf (Penumbra); and Marie and Rosetta (Park Square Theatre). Other Theatres: The Old Globe (San Diego), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta). Training: BA Theatre, Spelman College. @rajanekaturah

NE’LASHEE’ (Doris/ Ensemble) (She/Her/ Hers) is excited to be making her DCPA debut. She is a former member and Musical Director of the Harlem Gospel Choir. She has performed in several regional musical theater productions, including two previous productions of The Color Purple, two productions of Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Avenue Q. One of her most memorable roles was in Dreamgirls as Effie White, a role in which Henry Krieger lauded her for singing “I’m Not Going” exactly the way he wrote it to be sung. Grateful! Live your best life - RIGHT NOW!

IG: @only1nelashee Website: www.nelashee.com

TORREY LINDER (Harpo). Broadway tour credits include: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Elf, and Dirty Dancing. He has been seen in several regional productions. TV & Film: “Abolitio” on PBS and B&B with me

MAIESHA MCQUEEN (Celie) is a multifaceted performer and creative. She most recently completed a successful run of Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Barrington Stage, which was selected as a 2022 New York Times Critics Pick. Before that, she starred on Broadway alongside Sara Bareilles in the hit musical, Waitress. Shortly after, she performed to sold-out audiences in a one-woman show, embodying the life and music of Mahalia Jackson. Other notable theatre credits include: Fannie, Until the Flood, The Color Purple, His Eye is on the Sparrow, Ain’t Misbehavin’, ‘Da Kink in My Hair, Chasin’ Dem Blues, East Texas Hotlinks. @maieshamcqueen

CALEB MITCHELL (Understudy) (He/ Him/His) is still a new face to the city of New York and is so excited to be working on this show! The Nashville native is an alum of The LINK Program (2021). Previously seen in Songs for a New World production last year at Village Theatre. He hopes you enjoy the show and take some time to give yourself some love.

IG: thecalmitchell/ TikTok: thecalebmitchell

ELEXIS MORTON (Nettie/Ensemble)

(She/Her/Hers) is thrilled to be making her DCPA debut!

Last seen in Jubilee at Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

NYC: Ragtime on Ellis Island and The Bad Years. Regional: Little Shop of Horrors (ASF), Side by Side (Northern Stage), Little Shop of Horrors (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), A Year with Frog and Toad (Arden Theater Company), Little Shop of Horrors (Trinity Rep. Theater Company), and various roles at sea (Disney/Celebrity Cruise Lines). TV/

Film: “Godfather of Harlem” (ABC/ EPIX 2023). The Luedtke Agency. Elexismorton.com @misslade_sings

DOMONIQUE PATON (Jarene/Ensemble)

(She/Her/Hers) is so excited to perform here at the DCPA.

Broadway: Wicked National Tours: Les Misérables and Hairspray. Regional credits include: FROZEN (Live at the Hyperion), RENT, In the Heights, Little Shop of Horrors, The Color Purple, Grease, AIDA, and FAME. Broadway Revival Workshop of Once on This Island. Special thanks to KMR Talent Agency. So much love for my super supportive parents, DMP4 and JJS.

Jeremiah 29:11 IG: @domoniquemusic

BRAD RAYMOND (Preacher/Ol’ Mister/ Ensemble) (He/Him/ His) is so excited to be making his DCPA debut! Brad has performed as an actor, singer or conductor at some of the art world’s most esteemed

institutions. Some of Brad’s favorite credits include: Lilies of the Field; Fetch Clay, Make Man and Born for This. Brad is ecstatic to be reunited on stage with his friend Maiesha McQueen after their Suzi Bass Award-winning performance in Chasin’ Dem Blues Look for Brad as Big Slim this December in the much-anticipated film version of The Color Purple musical.

STEVEN C. RICH (Pa/ Ensemble). National tours: CATS and Miss Saigon. Regional credits include: Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables, Parade (White Plains PAC); Smokey Joe’s Café and Sweeney Todd (Connecticut Repertory); Around the World in 80 Days (Fulton Theatre); Ragtime (Cohoes Music Hall); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Strauss Theatre); Phantom (Westchester Broadway); Five Guys Named Moe and All Night Strut (Cortland Repertory); Big River (O’Donnell Auditorium).

NATHAN ANDREW RILEY (Bobby/ Guard/Ensemble).

National tour: Disney’s The Lion King and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. New York credits include: High Button Shoes (New York City Center’s ENCORES!) and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Favorite Regional credits: The Scottsboro Boys (Phoenix Theatre); In the Heights and Shrek (Pacific Conservatory Theatre). Thanks to casting/creatives, family and mio inamorato. @nathanandrewriley

CHRISTINE WANDA (Darlene/Ensemble) (She/Her/Hers) is truly over the moon to be making her DCPA debut! Past credits include: Once On This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); A Christmas Carol, Sister Act, The Little Mermaid, and Singin’ in the Rain (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre); and South Pacific, All Shook Up (Flat Rock Playhouse). Much love to her amazing agents at DGRW. Elon MT ‘21. www.thechristinewanda.com |  @thechristinewanda

TAYLOR J. WASHINGTON (Sofia) (She/Her/ Hers). Select past credits include:

Brooklyn the Musical (Monumental Theatre Company), Lysistrada Jones (Red Branch Theatre Company), The Color Purple (Riverside Center/Speakeasy Stage Company), and Disney Cruise Line. She has performed with artists such as Richard Smallwood, Heart, and more. Special Awards/Training: Helen Hayes Nominated, Berklee College of Music.

ANGELA WILDFLOWER

(Shug). Broadway

Credits: Motown the Musical. OffBroadway credits include: Venice (Public Theatre), The Color Purple (Broadway Sacramento), Crowns (Pasadena Playhouse/Ebony Rep); October Sky (The Old Glove), Venice (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Emojiland (NYTW), My Lord What a Night (CATF), Ain’t Misbehavin (Rubicon) and many more. International credits include: Post Modern Jukebox, Hinton Battle Variety. TV/Film: “Russian Doll” (Netflix), “Atlanta” (FX), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Raising Kanan” (Starz), “FBI” (CBS), “Roxanne Roxanne” (Netflix), “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon) and more. Training: B.A. Spelman College.

PLAYWRIGHTS

STEPHEN BRAY (Music and Lyrics) made his Broadway debut with The Color Purple. After beginning music studies with private instruction in Detroit, Bray continued training at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Working with Madonna, he wrote and produced many of her top-ten recordings, including “Angel,” “Into the Groove,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” “True Blue” and “Express Yourself.” Performing with Breakfast Club, he earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and a top-ten single. He has composed and produced for multiplatinum artists including The Jets, Gladys Knight and Kylie Minogue. Film and television projects include Beverly Hills Cop II, Who’s That Girl?, All About The Benjamins and the theme for PBS’s “California Connected.” Stephen is developing artists for his Soultone label and looks forward to more musical theatre. He would like to thank his daughter Milena

for her eternal patience and his family for their continuing support.

MARSHA NORMAN (Book) won the Pulitzer Prize for her play, ‘Night, Mother and a Tony Award for her book of the Broadway musical, The Secret Garden. Ms. Norman is co-chair, with Christopher Durang, of the Playwriting Department of the Juilliard School and vice president of the Dramatists Guild of America. Her other plays include Getting Out, Traveler In The Dark, Sarah and Abraham, Trudy Blue, and Last Dance. Her published work includes four plays, Vol. I: Collected Plays by Marsha Norman and a novel, The Fortune Teller. She has numerous film and TV credits, Grammy and Emmy nominations, and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the Fellowship of Southern Writers. She is a native of Kentucky who lives in New York City and Long Island with her two children.

BRENDA RUSSELL (Music and Lyrics) has a unique musical perspective, intimate voice and prolific treasuretrove of lyrics, that prove that a truly glowing talent only deepens with time. Composer of the classics “Get Here,” “If Only For One Night,” and the Grammy-nominated “Piano in The Dark,” Brenda’s songwriting prowess and chameleon-like ability to shift between musical genres and combine styles trumpeted ovations in 2005 with the opening of the Tony Award-winning hit Broadway musical The Color Purple, for which she, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray co-wrote the music and lyrics. Brenda and her co-authors were also nominated for a 2007 Grammy in the Best Musical Show Album category for the original cast album.

ALLEE WILLIS (Music and Lyrics) is a one-woman creative think-tank. A multi-disciplinary artist and visionary thinker whose range of imagination and productivity knows no bounds, her success exuberantly defies categorization; ‘unique’ pales as a descriptor. Willis is a Grammy-winning and Emmy- and Tony-nominated composer whose hit songs – including Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and “Boogie Wonderland,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This,” and The Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There for You (Theme From Friends)” – have sold over 50 million records. In 2006, Willis’

songs were also featured in three of the top grossing films of the year, Happy Feet, Night At The Museum and Babel

DIRECTOR

TIMOTHY DOUGLAS. Off-Broadway: Frankenstein (Classic Stage Company). Regional productions include August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, and the world premiere of Radio Golf (Yale Rep), and over 100 plays, musicals and premieres for Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep, Childrens Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Guthrie Stage, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Portland Center Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, Signature Theatre, Steppenwolf, Sundance, and many others. Opera: Champion (Boston Lyric Opera). International: Disgraced (Great Theatre of China), Insurrection, Three Sisters (Toi Whakaari, New Zealand). Upcoming: Blue (New Orleans Opera). Recipient of the Lloyd Richards Directing Award from the National Black Theatre Festival. timothydouglas.org

CREATIVE TEAM

BINDER CASTING (Casting) was founded by Jay Binder nearly 40 years ago and has been part of RWS Entertainment Group since 2016. The office has cast 150+ Broadway, Off-Broadway, and National Touring productions, in addition to countless national and international projects spanning both stage and screen. Binder was featured prominently in the Broadway documentary, Every Little Step, and is a proud 12-time recipient of the Artios Award for Excellence in Casting. The office infuses its work with both a deep respect for its roots and a commitment to growth.

www.bindercasting

TREVOR BOWEN (Costume Designer). Ride the Cyclone (Arena Stage); The Day You Begin, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1964 (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). New York Credits include: Molière Turns 400 (FIAF); All is Calm (Sheen Center). Trevor’s regional design credits include Guthrie Theater, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Asolo Rep, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, MN Opera, 5th Ave, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Penumbra Theatre,Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Steppenwolf Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival.

www.trevorbowendesign.com

MATTHEW CAMPBELL (Production Manager) (He/Him/His) is grateful and honored to support, collaborate, and work with our brilliant and outstanding production team, shops, crews, artisans and guest artists to create extraordinary theatre. Previously a stage manager at a few stops in the mid-west as well as numerous Colorado theatres and Assistant Professor of Theatre at Brooklyn College in New York. Joined the DCPA stage management team in 2010 and after several years moved over to the production management team. Every show along the way is a favorite, but some DCPA and Off-Center highlights have been Sweet & Lucky, The 12, Lord of the Flies, Animal Crackers, Frankenstein, Book of Will, Rattlesnake Kate, and The Chinese Lady.

TONY CISEK (Scenic Designer). With Mr. Douglas: over 50 productions across the US. At the DCPA: Choir Boy, Sweat, and Anna Karenina. Recent Regional: Selling Kabul (Signature Theatre); Toni Stone (Milwaukee Rep/ Alliance Theatre); Show Way (The Kennedy Center); In His Hands (Mosaic Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre). Roundabout Theatre, Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Goodman Theatre, South Coast Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Indiana Rep, Syracuse Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Play House, Pioneer Theatre, Round House Theatre, Peoples Light, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Studio Theatre. www.tonycisek.com.

S. RENEE CLARK (Music Director and Conductor). Credits include: The Wiz (Fifth Ave Theatre); Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Favorites include: Sunday in the Park with George, Big Fish, Big River, Bullets Over Broadway, Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, 9 to 5, Marie and Rosetta, Spunk, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Five Guys Named Moe, Irma Vep, The Fantasticks, Into the Woods, Hamlet the Musical and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Her original compositions have received national recognition. Director credits include: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Suzi Award) and Terry Burrell’s Backstage and Other Stories.

DANE FIGUEROA EDIDI (Choreographer). (She/Her/Hers).

Choreography: DC: The High Ground, Holiday (Arena Stage - intimacy); The Color Purple (Signature TheaterHelen Hayes Nomination); This Bitter

Earth (Theater Alliance - intimacy); Kill, Move, Paradise (Rep Stage); Dontrell Who Kiss the Sea (Helen Hayes nomination) and Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem (Theater Alliance); Siwayul: Heart of A Woman (Nelwat Ishkamewe); As You Like it (Keegan Theater); Nina Simone: Four Women (Arena Stage - Helen Hayes Nomination). New York: Shape (La Mama Theater); Tarantella Spider Dance (Elegua Track. Theater for the New City). Portland: The Color Purple (Portland Center Stage).

GREG GEFFRARD (Intimacy Choreography). (He/Him/His). Chicago: The Factotum (The Lyric Opera - Intimacy & Violence), Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare), Choir Boy (Steppenwolf Theatre - Intimacy & Violence), Bald Sisters (Assistant Intimacy), Fen (Court Theatre), Passage (Remy Bumppo Theatre –Consultant); Detroit ‘67, Bat Boy, The Amateurs (Columbia College Chicago); Gloria, Spunk, and Votes for Women (Roosevelt University). Regional: The Color Purple (Signature Theatre),

K-I-S-S-I-N-G and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Huntington Theatre), White Noise (Studio Theatre - Assist. Intimacy Choreographer). Teaching: Theatrical Intimacy Education, Associate Faculty; Columbia College Chicago, Visiting Professor. Other: Resident Intimacy Consultant at Steppenwolf Theatre.

GEOFFREY KENT (Fight Director)

Previous DCPA credits (20 seasons) include Vietgone, Richard III, Superior Donuts, Dracula, Tommy, Romeo & Juliet and more. Other work includes the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (14 seasons) including Three Musketeers, Henry 4 Part 1, Julius Caesar and more; Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Henry 6 Part 1, Treasure Island; Orlando Shakespeare Theatre’s Cymbeline, Romeo & Juliet; American Shakespeare Center’s Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra; Opera Colorado’s Carmen, Porgy & Bess; Aspen Sante Fe Ballet’s Romeo & Juliet. Geoffrey is one of only twenty Fight Masters with the Society of American Fight Directors. www.geoffreykent.com

PETER MARADUDIN (Lighting Designer). At the DCPA: The Misanthrope, The Cherry Orchard and Guys and Dolls, among many others. Broadway: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Kentucky Cycle. OffBroadway: Threesome, Hurrah at Last, and Ballad of Yachiyo. Regional: Over 300 productions for: The Guthrie

Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Rep, and Portland Center Stage, among many others. Guided over 200 architectural lighting projects to completion. Training: Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama; now teaching at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

KEN TRAVIS (Sound Designer). At the DCPA: American Mariachi, The Who’s Tommy, Rattlesnake Kate. Broadway: Aladdin, Jekyll and Hyde, A Christmas Story the Musical, Scandalous, Newsies, Memphis, The ThreePenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park, Steel Magnolias Numerous New York and regional theaters and companies including: Asolo Rep, The Old Globe, The 5th Avenue Theater, McCarter Theater, Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, LA Center Theater Group, ACT Seattle, Guthrie Theater, KC Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Playwrights Horizons, The New Group, NYSF Public Theater, CSC, Signature Theater NYC, SoHo Rep, Vineyard Theater, The Civilians, Mabou Mines, and national and international festivals and tours.

GRADY SOAPES (Casting) (He/Him/ His) 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, A Doll’s House and A Doll’s House Part 2 in repertory, Oklahoma!, Last Night and the Night Before, The Who’s Tommy, The Wild Party, A Christmas Carol Grady also works as a Casting Director for Sylvia Gregory Casting where he has cast commercials for Subaru, Fruit of the Loom and has been an associate on several TV, film and video games projects. 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); as well as Artist in Residence at Colorado State University in 2010. Grady is the producer of the Colorado New Play Summit and former producer of the Colorado New Play Festival.

STAGE MANAGEMENT

CORIN DAVIDSON (Stage Manager) (She/Her/Hers). Over 15 productions at the DCPA including: Theater of

the Mind, Choir Boy, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Wild Fire, twenty50, Indecent, Corduroy, The Who’s Tommy, The Secret Garden, Sweeney Todd, Lookingglass Alice. At DCPA Cabaret: An Act of God. Other Theatres: Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Renaissance Theatre Works, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Training: BFA Stage Management, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

NICK NYQUIST (Assistant Stage Manager). At the DCPA: Colorado New Play Summit, A Christmas Carol, Indecent. Local: Don Giovanni, Falstaff, VocalARTS Showcases, Opera Encounters (Aspen Music Festival); Richard III, Edward III, You Can’t Take it With You (Colorado Shakespeare Festival). Around the US: 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); and many others. Nick holds a BFA in Stage Management from DePaul University and spends his free time in the mountains.

MALIA STONER (Assistant Stage Manager) (She/Her/Hers). At the DCPA: 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); 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 (Artistic Director) is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the DCPA Theatre Company as Artistic Director in November of 2017 and has directed 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 Theater of the Mind, 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: Delaney Althauser, Jacki Armit, Andy Bruening, Lisa Ehrle, Karen King, Katarina Kosmopoulos, David LaBeaux, Jocelen Barnett Smith, Sarah Steen, Beth Walker, Nicole Watts, Jack Yoder

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 innovative immersive plays. In its 2021/22 season, the DCPA engaged with more than 703,000 visitors, generating a $203 million economic impact.

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

#TheColorPurple

Director: Timothy Douglas

Scenic Designer: Tony Cisek

Costume Designer: Trevor Bowen

Lighting Designer: Peter Maradudin

Sound Designer: Ken Travis

Music Director: S. Renee Clark

Choreography: Dane Figueroa Edidi

Casting: Grady Soapes, Chad Eric Murnane & Amber Snead

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 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 e ects used in connection with this production were constructed and coordinated by the Theatre Company’s Production Sta .

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.

A JOURNEY TO THE PAST IN ANASTASIA

BY JOHN MOORE

IIf you didn’t know better, you might be hard-pressed to believe that the same songwriting team wrote the vastly di erent musicals Lucky Sti , Ragtime, Once On This Island, Seussical and Anastasia. That span covers madcap farce, historical drama, Caribbean-flavored deities, children’s theater and an adapted animated fantasy.

And that’s just a small sample from the catalog of Theatre Hall of Famers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, whose Anastasia takes on the enduring myth of the Russian Duchess long hoped to have survived the massacre of the Imperial Romanov family.

of her past, two con men make plans to pass her o as the real thing to the Dowager Empress in Paris, hoping to get money from the woman who would be Anastasia’s grandmother. The sadistic Rasputin has been replaced here by Gleb, a Bolshevik general who has orders to hunt down and kill the girl.

The stage musical is an adaptation of the classic animated 1997 film with an original score by Ahrens and Flaherty. “Ever since, we wished someone would make it into a stage musical one day — and take us along for the ride,” Ahrens said.

Nearly 20 years later, they got their wish.

In keeping with their mantra of not repeating themselves, the songwriters dug in to create something completely new. They kept just six songs from the film score and wrote 16 new ones.

“We really wanted to re-conceive the story, re-examine the myth and, frankly, be more historically accurate,” Flaherty said. “We were literally going from a twodimensional medium into a three-dimensional medium, so we felt the characters needed to have more depth and drama in their lives.”

“Lynn and I don’t like to repeat ourselves. We really try to go in di erent directions,” Flaherty said of these 40-year collaborators.

What most appealed to Ahrens and Flaherty about Anastasia was its irresistible legend. “It’s not a true story; we all know that,” said Ahrens. “We know what happened to Anastasia. We know where her ashes are. But the myth that she may have somehow survived has persisted for all these years….”

Anastasia is set years after the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. It opens as a young amnesiac shows up in Russia with only a few hazy memories and a keepsake that suggests she might be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna. As “Anya” sets out to discover the mystery

What they came up with, Ahrens believes, is a story that is just as transporting as the source film, but in a more grown-up way. “Obviously, kids can come and have a great time. But this is a more grown-up version of the Anastasia tale,” Ahrens said. “This is more romantic and more adventurous. We have real relationships and real family connections.”

To any Anastasia film fans coming to see the musical for themselves, Ahrens says, in a nutshell: “Fasten your seat belts and prepare for something that’s the same — only different.”

The Company of the North American Tour of Anastasia

Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made.

We really wanted to re-conceive the story, re-examine the myth and, frankly, be more historically accurate.

– STEPHEN FLAHERTY, MUSIC AND LYRICS

ANNOUNCING THE THEATRE COMPANY SEASON

For the 2023/24 Theatre Company season, we’ve curated a collection of grand adventures and underdog stories. Major historical events and moments from everyday life (with a theatrical twist). We’ve assembled a lineup that pays tribute to cultural titans like Stephen Sondheim, Lynn Nottage, and Jane Austen. And we’re bringing you a trio of modern plays that push the limits of stagecraft and storytelling. Don’t miss a moment of the action! Get your subscription today and enjoy:

• The best seats at the best price — save up to 21%

• Early access to Broadway touring productions and other added attractions

• Discounts on additional tickets

• Free exchanges and concierge ticketing services

• Easy auto-renew options to keep your seats, year after year, and more!

The cast of Laughs in Spanish

Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Music and Lyrics by Stephen

Sondheim

Book by Hugh Wheeler

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Suggested by a Film by Ingmar Bergman

Originally Produced and Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince

Directed by Chris Coleman

SEP 1 – OCT 8, 2023 | WOLF THEATRE

Sometimes, a hero is more than just a sandwich CLYDE’S

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by Jamil Jude

OCT 27 – NOV 26, 2023 | KILSTROM THEATRE

Three sisters, one dead body, and a 10-hour road trip

By Leonard Madrid

Directed by Jerry Ruiz

JAN 26 – MAR 10, 2024 | SINGLETON THEATRE

The story of the greatest spy you’ve never heard of RUBICON

By Kirsten Potter

Directed by Chris Coleman

FEB 9 – MAR 10, 2024 | KILSTROM THEATRE

A delightfully unconventional rendition of Jane Austen’s classic

By Kate Hamill

Based on the Novel by Jane Austen

Directed by Meredith McDonough

APR 5 – MAY 5, 2024 | WOLF THEATRE

A theatrical mixtape created right before your eyes WHERE DID WE

By Brian Quijada

Directed by Matt Dickson

Featured Artist Satya Chavez

APR 19 – JUN 2, 2024 | SINGLETON THEATRE

Three brothers build an institution that’s “too big to fail”

By Stefano Massini

Adapted by Ben Power

Directed by Margot Bordelon

MAY 3 – JUN 2, 2024 | KILSTROM THEATRE

2023 COLORADO NEW PLAY SUMMIT: A CELEBRATION OF THE WRITTEN WORD

BY CYNTHIA BARNES

IIn the beginning of every play — before the set, the costumes, the makeup — are the words that make the story, the story that ultimately becomes the play. Lovers of words and the stories they create converged at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex on February 25 and 26 for a celebration of creativity and the power of the written word to inspire, illuminate, and entertain.

Now in its 17th year, the Colorado New Play Summit showcases the works of four promising young playwrights, read by seasoned actors and guided by some of the country’s most talented directors. Beloved by local enthusiasts, the event has also become a destination for industry professionals from across the nation eager for a glimpse of emerging talent and a chance to spot plays that may become the ‘next big thing.’

The four 2023 Summit plays are the reservoir by Jake Brasch; Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham; Joan Dark by Christina Pumariega, and The Suffragette’s Murder by Sandy Rustin.

This year’s plays grapple with addiction and police abuse, faith and feminism — potentially dark subjects that are nonetheless lightened with humor and lifted up by hope.

Artistic Director Chris Coleman couldn’t be more pleased with both the Summit’s plays and their reception. “It was heartening to see how much the writers were willing to try and tackle in their four days of rehearsal,” he says. “I particularly enjoy hearing the audience’s thoughts after the readings, as it proves super informative in our decision making about future productions.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

PHOTOS: 1 Zoë Golub-Sass and Christina Pumariega – Joan Dark / 2 Jake Horowitz and Caroline Aaron – the reservoir / 3 Sandy Rustin – The Suffragette’s Murder / 4 Michael Charles and Erin Cherry – Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids / 5 Jamie Ann Romero and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer – The Suffragette’s Murder / 6 Vincent Terrell Durham – Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids. Photos by Jamie Kraus Photography.

SPECTACULAR EVENTS. SIMPLIFIED.

DCPA Event Services

The Denver Center’s Event Services team is here to partner with you for every aspect of your next big event. We can create an experience for the record books with immaculate catering, dramatic lighting design, our theatre-quality A/V system, professional staffing — the works!

We’ll meet with you for a behind-the-scenes tour of our rental spaces, contribute to the creative process (if desired), and, on the day of the event, help you hit every cue with flawless precision. All you need to do is dream up your perfect event and let our theatrically trained staff make it a reality.

photo credit: Denver International Airport

The only limit is your imagination. Get in touch with us today!

The perfect way to complement a night at the theatre? Dinner and drinks, of course! Enjoy the best of downtown Denver with our Preferred Restaurant Partners.

Range explores the New American West with cuisine that focuses on ingredients, cultural influences, and cooking techniques inherent to the Rocky Mountain West. While you are here you can enjoy an extensive wine list, craft cocktails, and local beers to complement every meal. When you dine at Range, you will receive complimentary parking for the evening of the show!

Located inside Four Seasons Hotel Denver, EDGE Restaurant is a progressive American steakhouse with global influences utilizing superior quality meats, locally sourced Colorado game, fresh seafood, and produce from nearby farms. EDGE Bar is a dynamic see-and-be-seen bar featuring expertly handcrafted cocktails, an award-winning wine list, a selection of local craft beers, and a menu of approachable fare.

Located inside The Curtis Hotel, The Corner Office is the flirty rendezvous where edgy global dishes meet chic creative cocktails in the heart of downtown Denver. Progressive comfort food mixed with international flavors give traditional favorites a fresh twist.

PROUD SPONSOR OF DCPA EDUCATION AT THE COLOR PURPLE

SAFELY DELIVERING AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, EVER-CLEANER ENERGY

CChevron and its 600-plus Colorado employees are proud and honored to call this state home. Chevron is no newcomer to Colorado, having operated on the Western Slope since the 1930s. Today, the company is also proud to partner with Front Range communities from metro Denver to Weld and Larimer counties. Chevron Colorado is focused on safely delivering the affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy this state needs. Its team has re-imagined what safely and responsibly producing oil and natural gas looks like with the goal of a lower-carbon future. The result is a transformational design that lowers greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90% and shrinks Colorado’s surface footprint by more than 95%. Learn more at colorado.chevron.com.

Partnering with Communities

As the human energy company, Chevron’s dedication to developing people drives its culture and community partnerships. The company is proud to support the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as a vital element in the state’s creative energy. The arts are for everyone, and Chevron’s contribution enables the youth theater, budding teen playwrights, and more.

Chevron’s community support includes many other programs. In 2022, the company invested several hundred thousand dollars in K12 STEM education, basic skills acquisition, and higher-education scholarships. Education partnerships include:

• Sponsoring the Colorado Energy Day robotic1 competition in Denver and supporting robotics teams in Denver, Weld and Mesa counties

• Investments in curriculum, materials and teacher professional learning for Eaton and Weld County RE-1 school districts

• Establishing a diversity, equity and inclusion fellows’ program for faculty and staff at the University of Northern Colorado

• Supporting career pathways for minorities, rural underserved students, refugees and immigrants through higher education and community-based organizations like the Mi Casa Resource Center

• Other partnerships include Eureka! math and science center, Water Education Colorado, and Colorado State University

Chevron is proud to support the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as a vital element in the state’s creative energy.

THE ARTS BRING POSITIVE ENERGY TO ALL OF OUR LIVES

TThe arts power our communities. They inspire us; they entertain us; they educate us; they connect and heal us. Through employee volunteerism, granting and sponsorships, Xcel Energy infuses arts and culture into their employee volunteer opportunities, giving programs and community sponsorships.

“Arts and culture contribute to the vitality of the communities we serve,” said Lauren Gilliland, senior director of gas operations at Xcel Energy-Colorado. “From bridging cultural gaps and elevating diverse perspectives to driving economic development and educating our youth, the arts bring positive energy to all of our lives.”

Xcel Energy is also committed to building a future powered by clean, reliable, safe energy, with a vision to be a net-zero energy provider by 2050. Learn more at xcelenergy.com.

PROUD SPONSOR OF DCPA OFF-CENTER’S CAMP CHRISTMAS

From bridging cultural gaps and elevating diverse perspectives to driving economic development and educating our youth, the arts bring positive energy to all of our lives.

— LAUREN GILLILAND, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF GAS OPERATIONS

SETTING THE STAGE FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

FFor nearly two decades, CIBC has proudly supported the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and its ongoing efforts to enrich the Denver community. During this time, it’s seen firsthand the impact that the DCPA has made through arts education. CIBC is passionate about the role arts education plays in building confidence, fostering critical thinking and shaping tomorrow’s leaders. The CIBC team is honored to further this important work and committed to benefiting DCPA theatre and education programs. CIBC’s contributions have enhanced the DCPA’s ability to positively impact more than three million students through its education program, bringing them one step closer to realizing their ambitions.

CIBC also strives to ensure its clients’ successes. This leading North American financial institution provides wealth management, private banking and commercial banking financial solutions to the Denver community through a team driven by its passion to be the leader in client relationships. CIBC strives to understand each client’s story, financial needs and goals because the team is committed to helping make their clients’ ambitions a reality. Distinguishing factors of CIBC include:

• High touch client experience: Dedicated service and support from your experienced team in both wealth management and commercial banking

• Dynamic investment management: Investing proactively to drive outperformance in ever-changing markets

• Strategic approach to private banking: Banking solutions aligned to your objectives and wealth plans.

• Comprehensive approach to commercial banking: Offering commercial lending, treasury management and access to capital markets to address complex business needs.

Learn more at us.cibc.com

used under license. Investment Products Offered are Not FDIC-Insured, May Lose Value and are Not Bank Guaranteed. This ad is not to be construed as an offer to buy or sell any financial instruments. CIBC Capital Markets is a trademark brand name under which CIBC and some of its subsidiaries, including CIBC World Markets Inc., CIBC World Markets Corp., member of FINRA and SIPC, and CIBC Bank USA, provide different products and services. Capital Markets products are not FDIC insured; not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by, CIBC Bank USA; and are subject to investment risk, including loss of principal.

CIBC is proud to serve as a long-time sponsor of the DCPA and to further deepen its engagement with this worthy cause.

Private

banking solutions are offered through CIBC Bank USA, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. CIBC Bank USA and CIBC Private Wealth Group, LLC are both indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of CIBC. CIBC Private Wealth Group and its subsidiaries do not provide, and are not responsible for, the products and services offered by CIBC Bank USA. CIBC Bank USA (Bank) will not pay employees of CIBC Private Wealth Group or its subsidiaries for referring clients to Bank, but to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations, the referral of clients to Bank for eligible products or services may be considered by CIBC Private Wealth Group in determining discretionary compensation to employees. The CIBC logo is a registered trademark of CIBC,

(Photos - Clockwise) Alexandrya Salazar (Little Anastasia) and Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress) in the North American Tour of Anastasia. Photo: Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made. / Riverdance Lead Dancers.

Photo: Ewa Figaszewska & Fatima Caballero. / “Beggars at the Feast” from Les Misérables. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

DCPA

Janice Sinden President & CEO

Gretchen Hollrah COO

Lydia Garcia Executive Director, Equity & Organization Culture

Seán Kroll Coordinator, Equity & Organization Culture

Donna Hendricks President & CEO Executive Assistant

Julie Schumaker Manager, Board Relations & COO Executive Assistant

BROADWAY & CABARET

John Ekeberg Executive Director

Administration

Ashley Brown Business Manager

Alicia Bruce General Manager

Lisa Prater Operations Manager

Garner Galleria Theatre

Abel Becerra Technical Director

Jason Begin+,

Anna Hookana+ Core Stagehands

DEVELOPMENT

Jamie Clements Vice President

Connor Carlin Associate Director, Major & Planned Gifts

Kara Erickson-Stiemke Coordinator

Daniel Escobar Manager, Corporate Partnerships

Amanda Gomez Manager, Annual Fund

Kaylie Gro Manager, Grants & Reports

Marc Ravenhill Associate Director, Donor Relations

Megan Stewart Manager, Events

Erin Walker Senior Director

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Allison Watrous Executive Director

Stuart Barr Technical Director

Claudia Carson Teaching Artist & Manager, Playwriting & Bobby G

Leslie Channell Director, Business Operations

Emily Doherty Teaching Artist & Manager, Theatre for Young Audiences Programming

Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski Director, Education & Curriculum Management

Emma Kimball Assistant Registrar & O ce Coordinator

Jesús Quintana Martínez Director, Community Engagement

Timothy McCracken Head of Acting

David Saphier Teaching Artist & Manager, In-School Programming

Rachel Ducat Executive Assistant & Business Manager

Rya Dyes Registrar & On Site Class Manager

Charlotte Talbert Librarian

Rachel Taylor Teaching Artist & Manager, Literary Engagement & Resiliency

Justin Walvoord Teaching Artist & Manager, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

Samuel Wood Teaching Artist & District Liaison

FACILITIES

Glen Lucero Director

Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, John Howard, Zak Merten, John Ramos Engineers

Calum Abeywickrema, Brian Adams, Jodi Benavides, David Bright, Cody Bryant, Bryan Faciane, Gabe McNally-Nakamura, Isabella Samaniego,

Shayne Thullen Security Specialists

Judy Briggs Front Desk

Quentin Crump Manager, Security & Guest Relations

Merry Davis Financial Manager

Jane Deegan Administrator

Michael Kimbrough Manager, Engineering

Brian McClain Manager, Custodial

Casey Meschievitz Manager, Environmental Health & Safety

Jerad Ayala, Steven Bilbao, Abraham Cervantes, Lindsey Cervantes, Carmen Molina, Judith Primero Molina, Juan Loya Molina Custodians

EVENT SERVICES

Tom Du n Event Technology Manager

Samantha Egle, Cody Gocio Senior Sales & Event Managers

Stori Heleen-O’Foley Lighting, Team Lead

Shane Hotle Audio Engineer

David Mandlowitz,

Benjamin Peitzer Video Engineer

Tara Miller Event Sales & Operations Director

Brook Nichols Event Technical Director

Kate Olsen Event Sales Coordinator

Viktoria Padilla Lighting

Phil Rohrbach, Alex Skaar Event Managers

Brooke Wyatt Event Logistics Manager

MARKETING, SALES & PATRON SERVICES

Marketing

Giorgio Ausenda Media Producer

Heidi Bosk Associate Director, Press & Promotions, Broadway & Cabaret

Erin Bunyard Senior Digital Strategist

Sofia Contreras Graphic Designer

Emmy Cook Coordinator, Broadway & Cabaret

Brenda Elliott, Paul Koob Senior Graphic Designers

TJ Forlenza Copywriter

Michael Garcia Manager, Web Content

Claire Graves Director, Produced Programs

Brittany Gutierrez Manager, Communications

Linda Horan Project Manager

Je Hovorka Director, Sales & Marketing, Broadway & Cabaret

Emma Hunt Coordinator, Communications & PR

Emily Kent Director, Insights & Strategy

Lucas Kreitler Junior Graphic Designer

Michael Ryan Leuthner Director, Digital Marketing

Emily Lozow Assoc. Director, Sales & Marketing, Broadway & Cabaret

Kyle Malone Director, Design

Dan McNulty Marketing Analyst

Hannah Selwyn Email Marketing Manager

Whitney Testa Executive Assistant, Marketing & Broadway

Kong Vang Social Media Coordinator

Julie Whelan Associate, Produced Programs

Mikayla Woods Coordinator, Produced Programs

Suzanne Yoe Director, Content & Communications

Ticketing & Audience Services

Jennifer Lopez Director

Christina Adamoli*, D.J. Dennis*,

Edmund Gurule*, Chris Leech*, Elias Lopez*, Hayley Solano*,

Sam Stump* Counter/Show Leads

Kirsten Anderson*, Scott Lix*,

Liz Sieroslawski*,

Greg Swan* Subscription Agents

Quinn Chermak*, Wisline Cledgett*,

Tamika Cox*, Mekenzie Dalton*, Elliot Davis*, Zeah Edmonds, Jen Gray*, Natalie Jaramillo*,

Phi Johnson-Grimes*, Noah Jungferman*,

Alison Orthel*, Lane Randall*,

Holly Stigen*, Andrew Sullivan*,

Robert Warner*,

Joseph Williams* Ticket Agents

Jon Collins Manager, Subscription

Katie Davis Coordinator, VIP Ticketing

Billy Dutton Associate Director, Operations

Danielle Freeman Manager, Customer Service

Claire Hayes, Ella Mann, Rocco Williams Managers, Box O ce

Katie Spanos Associate Director, Subscriber Services

Group Sales

Jessica Bergin Associate Director

Brad Steinmeyer Coordinator

Maddie Young Education & Group Sales Associate

Theatre Services

Evan Gendreau Associate Director

Elliot Shields Manager

Kaylyn Kriaski, Leilani Lynch, Aaron McMullen, Stacy Norwood, Valerie Schaefer Assistant Managers

Nora Caley, Teresa Gould, Robin Lander, Myrisa Martin, Selin Ozcelik, Barbara Pooler, Wendy Quintana House Managers

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

Jane Williams CFO

Sara Brandenburg Director, Accounting Services

Michaele Davidson Treasury Accountant

Jennifer Je rey Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Valerie Lingbloom Accountant, General Ledger

Kristina Monge Specialist, Accounts Payable

Jennifer Siemers Director, Accounting

HUMAN RESOURCES

Laura Maresca Vice President

Brian Carter, Lizette Collazos Directors

Paul Johnson Payroll Specialist

Monica Robles Supervisor, Mailroom

Kinsey Scholl Operations Specialist

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Lisa Roebuck Vice President

For security purposes, the IT team has been omitted.

OPERATIONS

Vincent Bridgers Senior Analyst

Adam Busch Junior Analyst

Aaron Chavez Lead

Ruben Cruz Engineer

Simone Gordon Associate Director

Kyle Greufe Analyst

Brandon LeMarr Manager

Sarah Martinez Analyst

Jacob Parker Associate Director

Joseph Reecher Senior Engineer

Chris Robisch Analyst

Cordelia Taylor Coordinator

Alice Welker Administrator

OFF-CENTER

Charlie Miller Executive Director & Curator

THEATRE COMPANY

Administration

Charles Varin Managing Director

Madysen Hunter Business Admin/ Assistant Company Manager

Ann Marshall General Manager

Evangeline Read Production COVID Safety Coordinator

Sabina Rivera Company Manager

Artistic

Chris Coleman Artistic Director

Grady Soapes Artistic Producer & Casting Director

Leean Kim Torske Director, Literary Programs

Production Je Gi ord Director

Julie Brou Administrative Assistant/ O ce Manager

Matthew Campbell Production Manager

Peggy Carey Associate Production Manager

Scenic Design

Lisa Orzolek Director

Kevin Nelson, Nicholas Renaud Assistants

Lighting Design

Charles MacLeod Director

Lily Bradford Assistant

Joseph Price+ Production Electrician

Sound Design

Alexander Billman Supervisor

Meagan Holdeman+ Timothy Schoeberl+, Dimitri Soto+ Technicians

Stage Management

Michael Morales Production Stage Manager

Martinique Barthel, Corin Davidson, Rachel Ducat, Wendy Blackburn Eastland, Anne Jude, Rick Mireles, Nick Nyquist, Malia Stoner, Christine Woods Stage Managers

Nia Pitts, Angie Salazar, Lorna Stephens Stage Management Apprentices

Scene Shop

Eric Moore Technical Director

Albert “Stub” Allison, Robert L. Orzolek, Josh Prues Associate Technical Directors

Jeremy Altho , Tyler D. Clark, Amy Wynn Pastor, Kyle Scoggins Scenic Technicians

Louis Fernandez III Lead Scenic Technician

Brian “Marco” Markiewicz Lead Carpenter

Prop Shop

Meghan Markiewicz Supervisor

Jamie Curl, Georgina Kayes, Ashley Lawler, Nikki Mayer Artisans

Cat V Kerr Associate Props Supervisor

Andrew McGlothen Prop Carpenter

Paint Shop

Jana Mitchell Charge Scenic Artist

Kristin Hamer MacFarlane, Melanie Rentschler Scenic Artists

Costume Shop

Janet Macleod Director/Design Associate

Meghan Anderson Doyle Design Associate

Stephanie Cooper,

Amoreena Knabb, Ingrid Ludeke, Carolyn Plemitscher Draper

Costume Crafts

Kevin Copenhaver Director

Chris Campbell Assistant

Wigs

Diana Ben-Kiki Supervisor

House Crew

Douglas Taylor+ Supervisor

James Berman+, Forest Fowler+, William Loving+, Dave Mazzeno+, Kyle Moore+, Matt Wagner+ Stagehands

Calli Lavarnway+, Kelley “Reznik” Russell+ Assistants

Wardrobe

Heidi Echtenkamp Supervisor

Robin Appleton^, Amber Krimbel^, David La Beaux^, Lauren LaCasse

Lisa Parsons Wagner , Kami Williams Dressers

Marisa Sorce^ Wig Assistants

Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Aymée Nuviola and the Colorado Mambo Orchestra

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker conducted by Andrew Litton

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with Peter Oundjian