As the theater community rallies to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, there comes a harsh reminder that it does not have to look 1,400 miles to find a family in need.
Denver 10th-grader Akil LuQman, who starred as Young Simba in “The Lion King” national tour that launched at the Buell Theatre in 2002, has been displaced with his mother and six siblings to an area hotel after fire gutted their home Sept. 3.
No one was home, but Mariko LuQman lost all her furniture, and her children lost their clothes. The home near East 35th Avenue and York Street, which Mariko rented from the Denver Housing Authority, is so damaged the LuQmans will be permanently relocated to a home 6 miles to the southwest.
Akil, who turns 16 on Oct. 10 and is the second-oldest sibling, has taken it hard.
“When Akil came home from a year on tour, he took on the responsibility to be the man of the house, so this has been very stressful on him,” Mariko said. It was partly because of Akil’s help at home that she left her job as a Denver police dispatcher to return to college full time, where she is studying human development and music theater.
“But I know God has my back,” she said. “We don’t have anything on those poor people from Katrina. We are all safe, and we are all together.”
Mariko said Akil’s box of “Lion King” memorabilia was water-damaged but not burned – and that he may have more stuff to add to it in a few years.
“When Akil left the tour in 2003, they said, ‘Come back when you are 18 and play the older Simba,”‘ Mariko said. “That’s his actual plan. He’s already practicing.”
Mariko had no renter’s insurance, but the faculty at Akil’s Denver School of the Arts has organized a cash and clothing drive. Last week DCA performed its all-school “Scene Days,” with one day of proceeds going to Katrina’s victims and another to the LuQmans.
“Our hearts have all gone out to his family,” DSA teacher Shawn Hann said. “Akil is such a great kid. Why do bad things have to happen to the best people?”
Checks can be mailed to Mariko LuQman via DSA, 7011 Montview Blvd., Denver 80220. Clothing for boys (ages 9, 13 and 15) and girls (8, 11, 12 and 17) can be dropped at that address.
Massive Katrina benefit
The Colorado Theatre Guild will stage “When the Saints Go Marching In,” a communitywide benefit for the American Red Cross, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Denver Civic. Performers will include the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Jamie Horton and the casts of Modern Muse’s “Inherit the Wind” and Next Stage’s “Assassins.” The emcee is John Ashton, and the director is Jim Hunt. Tickets $50, at 303-739-1970 …
Most every theater has organized a financial response to Katrina, though frankly most seem equally motivated to increase ticket sales. One of the larger efforts is underway in Grand Junction, where the Cabaret Dinner Theatre and sister Metro Playhouse have begun a $10,000 drive (970-255-0999).
Locals updates
Beth Flynn (“Always … Patsy Cline”) is starring as the good witch in “The Wizard of Oz” Tuesday through Sept. 25 at the American Musical Theatre of San Jose (Calif.). …
Denver Post Ovation Award winner Brett Aune (the Bug’s “Waiting for Godot”) has landed his first paid gig since moving to Los Angeles – and ironically, he’s once again named Vlad. Only this time Aune is a Russian terrorist on the Fox Drama “24.” Aune parlayed a one-day assignment as an extra into two weeks of “blowing up a van, a hallway and a dude,” he said, as he and a group of decidely Nordic-looking Russians take over an airport. Aune had no lines, “but I got to carry guns,” he said.
Briefly …
The Arvada Center will bring back its hit musical “The Full Monty” in place of the previously announced British rock musical “Three Steps to Heaven,” which shows the darker sides of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Apparently the producer holding the rights recently died, and until his estate is settled, all future productions have been suspended. “Monty” will run June 27-Aug. 6, 2006. …
The Pinnacle Dinner Theatre has pushed back its opening of “Singin’ in the Rain from Sept. 7 to Oct. 6. Producer David Pritchard cited difficulty in shipping the set from a theater in California, and the need to search nationally for male tappers and the two male leads. …
The public is invited to meet new DCTC artistic director Kent Thompson at a free open house 5-7 p.m. Tuesday in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
