Last year’s runaway hit musical “The Full Monty” returns to the Arvada Center from June 27-Aug. 6 (720-898-7200), and the big upcoming touring musical will be “Bombay Dreams” at the Buell from July 11-23 (303-893-4100).
But in the Colorado summertime, all thoughts turn to the outdoors. Theater options stretch from Boulder’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival to the tented wonderland that is Theatre Aspen (970-925-9313). The buzz already is building for the second Boulder International Fringe Festival, which takes place in interior and exterior crevices all over town from Aug. 17-28. And Lake Dillon will be performing “Gypsy” in a 3,000-seat amphitheater (970-513-9386).
Any new season brings its scheduling anomalies, and this summer we’ll see three productions of the 39-year-old “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” opening over just two days, June 22 and 23 (Aurora Fox, 303-739-1970; Fort Collins’ Summer Cafe, 970-491-4849; and Grand Lake’s Rocky Mountain Rep, 970-627-3421).
Summer 2006 may be remembered for how the fringe descended on Boulder. Or how Chicagoans ruled the Denver Center, the French stormed the Clocktower, the Mexicans roamed our parks or the Yiddish commandeered the New Denver Civic Theatre.
Here are the 10 shows or events not to miss (listed by opening date; complete theater schedules have been updated, by date and by company, at denverpost.com/theater):
“The Yiddish Are Coming … The Yiddish Are Coming!” June 8-July 16|This lighthearted revue from the creators of “Ruthless” is based on comedy sketches from the 1960s. An example: He wants to be in show business. They want a Jew. His name is Christian Von Trapp. Oy! And it’s got songs like “Yinglish 101” and “Borscht Belt Betty” (New Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive, 303-309-3773).
“La Carpa Inmigrante,” June 8-17|Grupo Zero, from Cuernavaca, Mexico, will perform at various parks around Denver in tandem with Denver’s Chicano troupe, El Centro Su Teatro. The piece will employ Mexican vaudeville, physical theater and mask work (303-296-0219 for times and locations).
“Life x 3,” June 16-July 22|French playwright Yasmina Reza came to prominence with “Art,” and Fort Collins’ Bas Bleu Theatre is the first local company to stage her follow-up, in which two materialistic couples act out three versions of the same disastrous dinner party. The play explores how the slightest random event can change the course of an entire evening (401 Pine St., 970-498-8949).
“Pure Piaf,” June 22-July 8 at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret; Aug. 25-27 at Littleton’s Town Hall Arts Center|Alex Ryer’s new one-woman show traces France’s “Little Sparrow” through 80 minutes and 16 songs. Set in New York’s Versailles Club in the 1940s, Ryer shows how Edith Piaf went from street performer to the world’s highest-paid singer, a star whose death stopped Paris traffic in 1963. She was a doomed heroine who truly believed, “Without love, your life is empty. So, first of all in your life, fall in love.” (Lannie’s: 1601 Arapahoe St., 303-293-0075; Town Hall: 2450 W. Main St., 303-794-2787).
“How I Lost My Denverginity,” previews through June 22, then open-ended|Legendary Chicago-based comedy troupe Second City has taken up residence in the Denver Center’s Galleria Theatre, and its second sketch-comedy and improv offering promises to skewer all things Denver. So watch out, Tom Tancredo, Marilyn Musgrave and John Hickenlooper (14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100).
“The Tempest” with “As You Like It” outdoors; “The Merchant of Venice” and “Unexpected Shaxpere!” indoors, July 7-Aug. 18|The Colorado Shakespeare Festival attracts more than 170 actors, directors and crew from nearly every state and countries as far away as Egypt. Not to mention 30,000 spectators. Those are just two reasons, at 49, America’s second-oldest Shakespeare festival remains one of Colorado’s top summer traditions. It’s always a place where what’s past is prologue (you’ll hear that line in “The Tempest”). For pure fun, check out “Unexpected Shaxpere!” – a visiting Seattle troupe creates an improv version of a Bard play each night (Mary Rippon Amphitheatre and University Mainstage on the CU-Boulder campus, 303-492-0554).
“Debbie Does Dallas,” July 7-Aug. 26|Theatre Group has turned cartwheels for the chance to stage this fun off-Broadway musical inspired by the classic porn flick. It’s a coming-of-age story told in the language of “the rodeo-porno-football circus.” Small-town sweetheart Debbie Benton, captain of her high school cheerleading squad, has a lifelong dream to become a Texas Cowgirl (Phoenix Theatre, 1124 Santa Fe Drive, 303-860-9360).
“The Wiz,” July 14-30|PHAMALy, Denver’s esteemed handicapped theater troupe, has its work cut out to match last year’s award-winning “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” One thing we know: There will be plenty of lions and tigers and wheelchairs, oh my, in this urban, R&B takeoff of “The Wizard of Oz” (Denver Center’s Space Theatre, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100).
Boulder International Fringe Festival, Aug. 17-28|This second annual 12-day freakout is quickly restoring Boulder’s dormant reputation as an eclectic home for experimental theater. The unjuried arts event features theater, dance, circus art, media art, cinema, visual art, spoken word, puppetry, workshops and storytelling (various locations, 720-563-9950). Other festivals to watch: The Colorado Festival of World Theatre in Colorado Springs (July 15-30, 719-475-1737) and Curious’ New Voices staged readings at the Acoma Center (July 28-30, 303-623-0524).
“cowboyily,” Aug. 18-Sept. 30 |Creede Repertory Theatre, 256 miles southwest of Denver, has secured the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Jamie Horton (Curious’ “Fiction”) to helm the premiere of Steven Cole Hughes’ new play. Coles also stars opposite fellow DCTC stalwart Mike Hartman (“All My Sons”). It’s the contemporary story of a writer whose bus crashes; the injured driver steals his journal, setting an unusual relationship into motion (124 N. Main St., 719-658-2540, or toll-free at 866-658-2540).
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
