Applause -- 39 Steps, April 14-June 18, 223

Illustration by Kyle Malone

APPLAUSE

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

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH Fiery Angel

Limited

THE 39 STEPS

ADAPTED BY Patrick Barlow

FROM THE NOVEL BY John Buchan

FROM THE MOVIE BY Alfred Hitchcock

LICENSED BY ITV Global Entertainment Limited

AND AN ORIGINAL CONCEPT BY Simon Corble AND Nobby Dimon

With Nate Miller, Henry Walter Greenberg, Marco Alberto Robinson, Amelia Pedlow, Annie Barbour, Seth Dhonau Stage Managers: Rick Mireles, Megan Winters

SCENIC DESIGN BY Lex Liang

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN BY Lindsay Jones

DRAMATURGY BY Kimberly Colburn

COSTUME DESIGN BY Kathleen Geldard

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY BY Matt Zambrano

VOICE AND DIALECT BY Jeffrey Parker CASTING BY Grady Soapes, CSA and Bass/Valle Casting

LIGHTING DESIGN BY Isabella Byrd

SHADOW PUPPET DESIGN AND CREATION BY Andy Gaukel

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT BY Matthew Campbell

DIRECTED BY Meredith McDonough

The 39 Steps is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

The original London production directed by Maria Aitken designed by Peter McKintosh lighting designed by Ian Scott sound designed by Mic Pool and movement directed by Toby Sedgwick opened at the Tricycle Theatre (now known as Kiln Theatre) in Kilburn in August 2006 and transferred to the Criterion Theatre in the West End on 14th September 2006 and subsequently to the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway on 15 January 2008. The original production was directed by Fiona Buffini.

This production is licensed and the film is distributed by ITV Global Entertainment Ltd.

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

THE SINGLETON THEATRE • APR 14 – JUN 18, 2023

PREMIERE SPONSORS

Robert & Judi Newman

June Travis

SPOTLIGHT SPONSORS

Martin & Jo Semple Sustainer Society

SUPPORTING SPONSOR

SEASON SPONSORS

THE 39 STEPS CAST

(In order of appearance)

Clown ........................................................................................................................................................................................ Nate Miller

Clown Henry Walter Greenberg

Richard Hannay Marco Alberto Robinson

Annabella/Pamela/Margaret Amelia Pedlow

Annabella/Pamela/Margaret (Jun 13 – 18) Annie Barbour

Clown (Nate Miller) – Compere/Heavy One/Mrs. Higgins/Salesman One/Paperboy/Policeman One/ Professor/Chief Inspector Albright/Highland/Mr. MacQuarrie/Bog/Mr. McGarrigle/Heavy Two

Clown (Henry Walter Greenberg) – Mr. Memory/Heavy Two/Milkman/Salesman Two/Policeman Two/ Mrs. Jordan/Sheriff/Highland/Mr. Dunwoody/Heavy Two/Bog/Mrs. McGarrigle/Heavy One

UNDERSTUDIES

Annie Barbour (Clown, Anabella/Pamela/Margaret), Seth Dhonau (Clown, Richard Hannay)

SETTING

London, 1935

THE 39 STEPS will be performed with one 15-minute intermission.

Stage Manager Megan Winters

Assistant Stage Manager Rick Mireles

Stage Management Apprentice Angie Salazar, Lorna Stephens

WHO’S WHO

ACTING COMPANY

NATE MILLER (Clown) (He/Him/His)

is a Brooklyn-based actor, producer, and founding member of Lesser America Theatre Co. Nate is a Milwaukee native, graduate of Marquette University and The Juilliard School’s Drama Division. Broadway: JUNK (LCT). Off-Broadway: You Will Get Sick (Roundabout), The Merchant of Venice (TFANA), Ripcord (MTC), Love and Information and Peter and The Starcatcher (NYTW). Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Playmakers Rep, The Wilma, The McCarter, Shakespeare Theatre DC, Moliére in The Park. Film: Either Side of Midnight and Another Kind. TV: “The Code,” “The Goodwife,”

and “Us & Them.”

www.iamnatemiller.com www.lesseramerica.com @iamnatemiller

HENRY WALTER

GREENBERG (Clown). (He/Him/ His). Regional credits include: Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse), The Undeniable Sound of Right Now (Raven Theatre), Buried Child (Writers Theatre), Ideation (Jackalope Theatre), Masque Macabre (Strawdog Theatre), Cyrano (BoHo Theatre), Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (Stage West), and Lord of the Flies and The Spark (WaterTower Theatre). Henry is a Conservatory graduate from the sketch and improv institution, The Second City (Chicago). In addition to his work as an actor, Henry served as

the Literary Manager at A Red Orchid Theatre (founded by Oscar nominee Michael Shannon). Training: BFA, Baylor University. MFA, UC San Diego.

MARCO ALBERTO

ROBINSON (Richard Hannay) is a Denverbased actor. At the DCPA: Rattlesnake

Kate, Wild Fire, Xanadu, A Christmas Carol, Goodnight Moon, This is Modern Art, and The Wild Party. Arvada

Center: I Do! I Do!. Colorado

Shakespeare Festival: Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, Cyrano de Bergerac, Loves Labours Lost, King John, and Edward III. Miners Alley Playhouse: Fun Home. Theatre Aspen: The Museum of Broken Relationships. Colorado Springs

Fine Arts Center: Sweeney Todd, Assassins, Hairspray. Little Theatre of

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.

the Rockies: Dogfight, Aida, and The Fantasticks

AMELIA PEDLOW (Annabella/Pamela/ Margaret). At the DCPA: The Glass Menagerie, Hamlet, and The Liar. Off-

Broadway: Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (BAM), Intelligence (NYTW NEXT Door), The Metromaniacs and ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Red Bull), Pride & Prejudice (Primary Stages), You Never Can Tell (Pearl Theatre Co.), and The Liar and The Heir Apparent (CSC). Selected Regional: Emma (Guthrie), Dear Jack, Dear Louise (Arena), Private Lives (St. Louis Rep), Doubt (Studio Theatre), Red Velvet (The Old Globe), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Theatre Co), and Ether Dome (La Jolla Playhouse, Hartford Stage & The Huntington). TV: “The Good Wife,” “Blue Bloods,” “Shades of Blue,” “The Blacklist.” B.F.A. Juilliard.

ANNIE BARBOUR (Understudy/Playing

Annabella/Pamela/ Margaret Jun. 13-18)

(She/Her/Hers) is a Colorado-based actor and is thrilled to be a part of this production of The 39 Steps. At the DCPA: Theater of the Mind. Other credits: Small Mouth Sounds, The Moors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and The Diary of Anne Frank (Arvada Center Black Box Repertory Theatre). Her regional work has taken her to Theatreworks in Colorado Springs, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Kismet Creative Center, and St. Louis Shakespeare. Training: BFA from Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts.

SETH DHONAU (Understudy). At the DCPA: A Christmas

Carol, The Other Josh Cohen, Wild Fire, Twelfth Night, Xanadu, and First Date. Local credits include:

Shakespeare in Love, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and King Charles III. Training: Northwestern University, UCB New York.

PLAYWRIGHT

PATRICK BARLOW (Book) besides his version of Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, Patrick Barlow’s Olivier-nominated adaptation of A Christmas Carol has played off-Broadway and London’s West End while his 4-person adaptation of The 39 Steps has played in over forty countries worldwide, winning Olivier, Helpmann, Moliére and Tony Awards and making Patrick the most performed playwright in America for 2012/13. Most recently, his rewriting of John Milton’s Comus has played to critical acclaim at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Patrick is also celebrated in the UK for his two-man theatre company National Theatre of Brent, whose comedy epics include Wagner’s Ring Cycle, The Charles and Diana Story, The Messiah, The Wonder of Sex, The Arts and How They Was Done, The Black Hole of Calcutta, The Life and Times of the Dalai Lama and Zulu! They have won two Sony Gold Awards, a Premier Ondas Award for Best European Comedy and the New York Festival Gold Award for Best Comedy. Other screenwriting includes Van Gogh (Prix Futura Berlin Film Festival), Revolution!! (Best Comedy Jerusalem Film Festival) and the BAFTA-winning The Young Visiters. Publications include Shakespeare: The Truth! and The Complete History of the Whole World. Patrick has also appeared in Absolutely Fabulous, Shakespeare in Love, Notting Hill, Nanny McPhee and Bridget Jones’s Diary. He is currently writing theatre versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and Dracula

DIRECTOR

MEREDITH MCDONOUGH was the associate artistic director at Actors Theatre of Louisville where favorite directing credits includes Angels in America, Peter and the Starcatcher, and The Last Five Years, as well as the premieres of Colman Domingo’s Dot and Airness, amongst others. Regionally, favorites include Lily’s Revenge with Taylor Mac (Magic Theatre), the world premiere of Emma and Noises Off (Guthrie), Fair Use (Steppenwolf), Private Lives and Lifespan of a Fact (St. Louis Rep), and the US premiere of NSFW. She was the New Works Director for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Education: Northwestern; MFA, UCSD.

CREATIVE TEAM

BASS/VALLE CASTING (Casting).

New York: Broadway’s Gem of the Ocean. Off-Broadway: Radio Golf, Jitney. Public Theater’s: New Works

Now, Minetta Lane, Women’s Project, La MaMa, Epic Theatre, Drama League, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Women in Film and Television. Regional: Hartford Stage, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Trinity Rep, Syracuse Stage, Huntington Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theatre Co., Berkeley Rep, Playmaker’s Rep, Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Geva, CenterStage, Long Wharf Theatre, Arizona Theatre Co. Film: Pushing Hands, Gravesend, First We Take Manhattan. Audition Coach at many of the nation’s top universities and actor training programs.

ISABELLA BYRD (Lighting Designer) (She/Her/Hers) is a Brooklynbased designer. Select NYC credits: Sanctuary City and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York Theatre Workshop), Epiphany (Lincoln Center), and ongoing collaborations with Will Arbery, including world premieres of Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons), and PLANO (Clubbed Thumb).

International work: Cabaret (West End, Olivier nomination), Endgame (Gate Theatre, Dublin), “DADDY”

A Melodrama (Almeida, London.)

Regional: ACT, Old Globe, Alley Theater, Hartford Stage. Awards: Obie, Lotrel, and Henry Hewes. Upcoming: new plays by Annie Baker, Eboni Booth, and Talene Monahon. Proud union member (USA829) and pay equity advocate.

www.isabellabyrd.design

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.

KIMBERLY COLBURN (Dramaturg). (She/Her/Hers). Regional credits include over 40 productions and over 50 developmental workshops of new plays. New York: Dodi & Diana by Kareem Fahmy. Other highlights: Poor Yella Rednecks by Qui Nguyen, A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, Little Black Shadows by Kemp Powers, and The Roommate by Jen Silverman. She has worked with companies including Denver Center, Los Angeles Opera, Mixed Blood Theatre, The Playwrights Center, the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Critical Mass Ensemble, Artists at Play, Musical Stage Company (Toronto), Soulpepper and Native Voices at the Autry. www.theatrekimberly.com

ANDY GAUKEL (Puppetry Designer). (He/Him/His). Credits include Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home and Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique. Andy’s original works, Schweinehund (2015) and Calm Blue Sky (2019), premiered at the Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières, France, and have since been presented throughout the world. In May 2022, Andy’s original puppetry piece, Animist, premiered at HERE Arts Center in NYC. Also in 2022, Andy created shadow puppetry for Dipikah Guha’s Passing and Laura Schellhardt’s Shapeshifter both presented by the McCarter Theatre. Andy is the proud recipient of five Jim Henson Foundation grants to help further his original work.

KATHLEEN GELDARD (Costume Designer). (She/Her/Hers). Regional theatre credits include: Private Lives and Lifespan of a Fact (St. Louis Rep); Tempest, Macbeth, Alabama Story (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); A Chorus Line, Alias Grace, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Misery, Shakespeare in Love (Cincinnati Playhouse); Billy Elliot, Kid Victory (world premiere), Les Misérables (Signature Theatre); and work at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Kennedy Center, Studio Theatre, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Baltimore CenterStage, Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Florida Studio Theatre, Weston

Playhouse, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Folger Theatre and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.

LINDSAY JONES (Original Music and Sound Designer). (He/Him/ His) Broadway: Slave Play (Tony nominations for Best Original Score, Best Sound Design of a Play), The Nap, Bronx Bombers, A Time to Kill. OffBroadway: Privacy (Public Theater), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Feeding the Dragon (Primary Stages), many others. Regional: Guthrie, Center Stage, ACT, Hartford Stage, Alliance, DCTC, Goodman, Arena Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, and many others. International: Stratford Festival (Canada), Royal Shakespeare Company (England), many others. Audio dramas: Marvel, Audible, Next Chapter Podcasts, award-winning “The Imagine Neighborhood.” Film/television scoring: HBO Films’ A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary). Co-Chair of Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA). lindsayjones.com.

LEX LIANG (Scenic Designer) Credits include: 100+ productions, including Judy Gold’s Yes, I Can Say That! currently playing at Primary Stages. Regional: Actor’s Theatre Louisville, Alliance Theatre, Asolo, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Dallas Theatre, Geva, Guthrie, La Jolla, Long Wharf, Paper Mill, Pasadena Playhouse, Playmaker’s, Portland Center Stage, St. Louis Rep, Syracuse Stage, and Woolly Mammoth. Lex is the founder and principal of LDC Design Associates, an experiential event design and production company in NYC. Recent projects/clients include Absolut Vodka, Operation Smile, Invesco, The Tony Awards, NYFW, NYWFF, William Hill, and others. www.LexLiang.com www.LDCdesign.com.

JEFFREY PARKER (Voice and Dialect) (he/him/his) is a Professor of Theatre at MSU Denver, a Certified Teacher of both Fitzmaurice Voicework and Knight-Thompson Speechwork, and the Director of Voice and Text for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Jeffrey is also a Henry-award winning actor.  Training: MFA, UC Irvine. BA, UCLA. Jeffrey is the co-author of Experiencing Speech, a book that helps develop speech and accent skills for any reader at any level.

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.

MATT ZAMBRANO (Fight Choreographer) (He/Him/His) is thrilled to be making his return to the DCPA, having last appeared as Touchstone in As You Like It and as David in The Santaland Diaries in 2015. Since then, he has been living and working in New York as a Teaching Artist with Disney Theatrical Group (Disney on Broadway) and as a company member of Broken Box Mime Theater. He is a featured cast member of the Story Pirates Podcast and is a graduate of the National Theater Conservatory. DCPA credits include: The Liar, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Christmas Carol www. MattZambrano.com

STAGE MANAGEMENT

RICK MIRELES (Assistant Stage Manager) (He/Him/His) hails from south Texas where he earned his BA and MA in theatre from the University of Texas Pan-American. He also holds an MFA in stage management from the University of Illinois Urbana / Champaign. Regional credits include: Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, The Catamounts, Creede Rep., Breckenridge Backstage Theatre, BETC, and Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. At the DCPA (selected): The Wild Party, Vietgone, Remote Denver,

Goodnight Moon, Between Us, Quixote Nuevo and DragOn. Rick has also worked with Meow Wolf-Denver, Black Ink Prod. (LA), and AEG (Denver).

MEGAN WINTERS (Stage Manager)

(She/Her/Hers) was the Resident Production Stage Manager at the Dallas Theater Center where favorites credits include: In The Heights, Dreamgirls, Colossal, Fly, and Public Works Dallas’ As You Like It. Other regional credits include The Guthrie Theater, The Old Globe, The Alley Theatre, The Ogunquit Playhouse, Shakespeare Dallas, Second Thought Theatre, Olney Theater Center and the Seaside Repertory Theatre. She has taught Advanced Management to juniors and seniors at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. When not managing the stage, Megan can be found aboard Winters’ SNOW Truck, slinging snow to the masses across DFW.

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: Andy Breuning, Lisa Ehrle, Amoreena Knabb, Katarina Kosmopoulas, David LaBeaux, Loren Marten, Tony Nguyen, Sarah Steen, Nicole Watts, Jack Yoder

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 Director and Fight Director are members of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Backstage and Ticket Services Employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. (or I.A.T.S.E.)

The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

TAKING PHOTOS AT THE THEATRE

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

Director: Meredith McDonough

Scenic Designer: Lex Liang

Costume Designer: Kathleen Geldard

Lighting Designer: Isabella Byrd

Original Music and Sound Designer: Lindsay Jones

Shadow Puppets: Andy Gaukel

Casting: Grady Soapes, Bass/Valle Casting

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

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.

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 .

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

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(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