Casting for the Denver Center Theatre Company’s upcoming 2006-07 season offers the clearest evidence yet of its continuing evolution under artistic director Kent Thompson. That means many new faces and recent acquaintances returned but, inevitably, fewer old friends.
When predecessor Donovan Marley took over in 1983, he cleaned house of a then-still fledgling company. But because audiences then had more than two decades to bond with Marley’s core group, Thompson is wisely adopting a more gradual and humane transition.
Some stalwarts have left on their own, most notably Jamie Horton to teach at Dartmouth. Thompson has let others go (while leaving the door open for future returns). But though Thompson’s second season includes bedrocks such as John Hutton, Bill Christ, Randy Moore and Kathleen M. Brady, it won’t feature them in leading roles nearly as often as in the past. Rather we will be given opportunities to better know many of the sensational new actors
Thompson introduced last year.
Among the opening plays, “Amadeus” will feature four recognizable stars – Douglas Harmsen, Brett Harris, Stephanie Cozart and Bill Christ (in his final role for the company for now). “Living Out” pairs Romi Dias (the terrific maid from last year’s “The Clean House”) with underutilized 17-year company veteran Gabriella Cavallero; “Season’s Greetings” has Mike Hartman (who was so riveting in “All My Sons”), the chameleonic wonder Sam Gregory and Charlotte Booker (who walked away with “The Clean House” in her first Denver role, and is now walking back).
You can sense from that first group Thompson’s desire to mix fresh and familiar faces. Philip Pleasants (Scrooge) later headlines “King Lear” with Hartman, Gregory and Cozart; Martin McDonagh’s bloody Irish
series resumes with the great Larry Hecht (who else?) headlining “The Pillowman” along with Harmsen and David Ivers; “Pure Confidence” teams Pleasants and Hartman with several newcomers; Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” brings back Jeanne Paulsen (last year’s bravissimo “All My Sons” matriarch) with Hutton and Moore; “The Sweetest Swing in Baseball” stars Gregory and Kathleen McCall; and finally “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” features Pleasants with Brady, the DCTC’s senior actor.
The only Marley holdovers still truly flourishing under
Thompson are Harmsen and Hartman. His go-to guys are now clearly Gregory and Pleasants.
Change is necessary but hard. So will be seeing so many established stars spending much of next season in bit roles. Thompson’s gradual approach is humane, but having to wait until May to see Brady in a leading role seems criminal.
Briefly …
The Cripple Creek Players have dedicated their 2006 season to 21-year-old Colin Arrick, who died May 28 of a massive epileptic seizure. Arrick was once a student in the company who went on to perform and operate spotlights. His mom has explained that three years ago, her son chose to stop taking his medication because he wanted to feel normal. She hopes anyone living with epilepsy heeds his tragic death and stays on the meds. She also has designated the Butte Opera House for memorial contributions (719-689-2513) …
Boulder’s Ami Dayan will be performing his off-Broadway bound “The Man Himself” at the Bas Bleu Theatre in Fort Collins Thursday through Aug. 19. The cautionary tale of a disenfranchised man who finds a home within the bosom of evangelical extremists is also being made into a motion picture directed by Benjamin Flaherty (719-235-8944) …
And finally …
Last weekend brought just another example of what makes PHAMALy one of the most extraordinary theater companies anywhere. Actor Lucy Roucis buried her father on the afternoon of Aug. 4, then went on as Addaperle in “The Wiz” a few hours later.
I met Jim Roucis in 2002, and he explained how he would not let his daughter’s advancing Parkinson’s disease keep his large family from living normal lives. “So if we’re at a restaurant and Lucy has a seizure, why, I’ll just hold her with one arm and I’ll try to eat with the other,” Jim said at the time. “It’s not much fun, but it’s part of the game.”
PHAMALy only has a handful of performances a year, and there is nowhere Jim Roucis would have had his daughter that night other than onstage. And what better place for a woman who has just lost a member of her family than to be embraced in the arms of her
PHAMALy?
I suspect, though, that Roucis still will be feeling her father’s arm around her shoulder for years to come.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
This week’s theater openings
FRI-AUG. 13|Thunder River’s “Desperate Affection”|CARBONDALE
FRI-AUG. 26|StageDoor’s “They Came From Mars …”|ASPEN
SAT-SEPT. 10|Victorian’s “Dancing Girl: An American Woman’s Greek Village Odyssey”
SAT-SEPT. 16|Longmont Theatre Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”|LONGMONT
This week’s theater closings
TODAY|Arvada Center’s “The Full Monty”|ARVADA
TODAY|Steel City’s “Beulah Summer Melodrama” (at Beulah Community Center|PUEBLO
SAT|Victorian Playhouse’s “Steel Magnolias”
SAT|Spotlight’s Theatre Company’s”Moon Over Buffalo” (at Event Center)|LAKEWOOD
SAT|Southern Colorado Rep’s “The 1940s Radio Hour”|TRINIDAD
SAT|Jesters Dinner Theatre’s “The Sound of Music” |LONGMONT
AUG. 13|Lake Dillon’s “Once on This Island”|DILLON
