Country Dinner Playhouse is just the third local company to mount Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” this year, but its massive production opening Wednesday certainly boasts the greatest resources among them.
The costumes alone, all 65, are valued at $200,000. They were built at shops in New York, Philadelphia and Orlando, Fla., for a production in Fort Atkinson, Wis. “What makes them so special is that the majority are hand-beaded,” said producer Paul Dwyer.
“Beauty and the Beast,” the story of a cursed household whose members progressively turn into personified household items until their master learns to love and be loved, was the only animated film nominated for best picture and has become a Broadway staple as well, having played nearly 4,800 performances in 11 years.
“With these costumes, we are trying to capture not only the love story but the animated magic that captivated filmgoers,” Dwyer said. “These are very close to what you saw in the animated film.”
Theater in the round precludes CDP from presenting the character of Chip as a magical bodyless teacup, but Dwyer said audiences will be amazed by Lumiere (Brad Ramsey), who turns into candelabra and whose hands light up in stage flame, as well as Madame de la Grande Bouche (Wendy Bawmann), the woman who turns into a wardrobe. “That’s the widest costume, at 45 inches,” said Dwyer, “which should be interesting because our aisles are only 33 inches wide.”
The most spectacular costumes are the cutlery, Dwyer said. Other productions have single human forks and spoons; this one features Vegas-style showgirls who sport not back feathers but as many as 100 forks.
The production marks the return of director Ed Flesch, who headed the CDP’s acclaimed and similarly huge production of “Titanic” in 2001. The 22-person cast, seven of whom are new to CDP, is headed by Gary Lindemann, who performed several roles in Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera”; and newcomer Leah Berry, a recent grad of the Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis.
For info, call 303-799-1410.
Town Hall’s rebirth
The 20-year-old Town Hall Arts Center has for the second time this year broken its box office record for a best-selling, nonholiday musical. “West Side Story,” directed by Nick Sugar, drew 4,840, breaking the mark set earlier this year by “The Music Man.” It’s been a remarkable turnaround for a company in dire financial straights two years ago.
“We have listened to our audiences and given them what they have wanted to see,” said interim executive director Ed Chambers. Last year patrons were given a list of 20 titles and asked to choose their favorites, and the six titles that make up the current season all finished in the top 10. “We have also been very fortunate to attract some of the best creative teams in Colorado,” he said, citing Sugar, Bob Wells, Linda Suttle and Sharlene Wanger, director of the upcoming musical “Little Women.”
Chambers said the field to replace outgoing executive director Bil Rodgers has been narrowed from 90 to three, and a decision is imminent.
Briefly …
Shadow Theatre Company has ditched its Nov. 10 season-
opening “Echoes of God” in favor of a limited engagement of “Emergence-See!,” written and performed by Daniel Beaty, Dec. 1-4 at the University of Denver’s Newman Center. A slave ship rises near the Statue of Liberty in present-day New York and Beaty, playing 40 characters, draws on history, song and slam poetry to address the question, “How free are we?” (303-837-9355). …
Further indications of Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director Kent Thompson’s commitment to fully engaging the local theater community came this week with news of “Curious Night” on Nov. 28 at the DCTC. Curious patrons receive a 2-for-1 discount to “September Shoes” that night, followed by a post-show reception with Thompson and Curious artistic director Chip Walton. Call 303-623-0524 for info. …
Playwright Theatre hosts a special reading of William Missouri Downs’ “After Matthew” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 2119 E.17th Ave. Ten years after Matthew Shepard’s murder, a new Mormon college professor at the University of Wyoming is assigned to mentor a gay writing student named Matthew. Downs also wrote the Miners Alley Playhouse’s incendiary “Dead White Males.”
And finally, the Avenue Theater ventures into children’s theater for the first time with Friday’s opening of “Tribal Tales of Africa,” an original work by Jamie Bruss and Chris Willard who previously wrote Nomad’s award-winning “Belle and the Beast.” “It celebrates Africa and multicultural diversity as opposed to the more traditional things done in children’s theater,” said director Mitch Dickman. The cast includes Tyee Tilghman, Step Pearce, Missy Moore and African storyteller Santemu Aakhu. Showtimes 10 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. and noon Saturdays (303-321-5925).
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
