The sudden, temporary shuttering of “Hats! The Red Hat Society Musical” on Dec. 31 has raised a lot of questions about what exactly is going on at the New Denver Civic Theatre.
And for his part, New York-based producer Mitchell Maxwell has a lot of answers. Whether they all pass muster is in the ear of the beholder.
“Hats,” the life-after-50 musical written in part by Melissa Manchester, Kathie Lee Gifford and Pam Tillis, opened to great fanfare (and sales) Oct. 7. The plan was to soon move the big-name cast to New Orleans and cities beyond, leaving permanent local companies behind. The transition to an all-local cast for Denver began Nov. 27, and continued for several weeks.
Then the bomb dropped Dec. 20: It was announced that just 11 days later, “Hats” was going on hiatus here until March 16. Some of the newly hired local actors had been employed for only a few days. Anticipating long-term employment, some lost out on other jobs at this, the busiest time of the theater year. None have been promised jobs when “Hats” returns.
Happy holidays.
“Hats” targets women over 50, but a combination of wintry weather and holiday distractions logically drove the crowd count way down. But the official announcement didn’t blame weather or the attendance. “Our production team needs to focus their attention on New Orleans,” Maxwell said of the Jan. 25 opening there.
But why, with a new local cast up and running in Denver, would the creative team even be needed here? If Denver was making money, would it not help capitalize other stagings?
Turns out it wasn’t.
“We did extremely well in our first six weeks,” Maxwell said. “We did not do exceedingly well after that.”
Maxwell said “Menopause The Musical,” which targets the same audience, experienced a similar ebb and flow at the holidays during its 18- month run at the Civic. To make things worse, the snowstorms all but wiped out the last two weeks. “We got killed,” Maxwell said. “We went from (grossing) $70,000 a week to $9,000 and $12,000.”
Still, you don’t audition actors, sign them to contracts for an open-ended production and then let them go a few days later. Maxwell sympathizes, but added, “With all due respect, shows open and close all the time. Actors are hired, and then shows decide to post notice, for whatever reason.
“I think it’s a positive thing that we are announcing our reopening two months later. We are not leaving Denver.”
There have been other issues at the Civic. The nonunion musicians say some checks have bounced, and though the situation was quickly rectified, they have not been compensated for fees. Maxwell calls that “at best an accounting error,” adding, “I would not hesitate to pay anyone’s fee if I knew about it.”
Meanwhile, the national expansion of “Hats” continues. Manchester will star in the Chicago production opening in April at the Apollo Theatre. But it turns out the original Denver cast of largely Broadway veterans won’t perform in New Orleans after all.
Harrah’s Casino decided to remain a nonunion venue, so union actors can’t perform there.
Maxwell said scrambling to assemble a new, nonunion cast there made the Denver transition a distraction. He asks for patience and perspective.
“We’ve had a great experience with ‘Hats’ so far, and I think we will have a great experience with it for many years to come, in Denver and throughout the country,” he said. “It’s a marathon, and this is the second mile of the race.
“We’ve now been in Denver for almost five years,” he added. “We have employed a lot of people. We’ve brought a lot of people into Denver. We’ve put people into shops and hotels and restaurants. We’ve helped clean up that strip. We’ve done everything we said we were going to do, and I think we start to deserve the benefit of the doubt as much as anybody else.”
Briefly …
PHAMALy, the handicapped company now staging “Our Town” at the Aurora Fox, is hosting different Colorado communities at each of its 23 performances. Today’s show is dedicated to Boulder/Broomfield; next week’s shows salute Lone Tree/Centennial, Denver and Lakewood…
John Behlmann, who graduated from the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory last year, will make his Broadway debut in the World War I drama “Journey’s End.” It stars Jefferson Mays …
And finally: So Denver has landed the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Earlier that summer, Denver will host the National Performing Arts Convention, expected to be the largest assembly of performing-arts professionals in U.S. history. The summer of ’08 is shaping up as an unprecedented showcase for our city.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
This week’s theater openings
TUE-JAN. 28 | National touring production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (at the Buell Theatre)
WED-MARCH 4 | Country Dinner Playhouse’s “Clue, The Musical” | GREENWOOD VILLAGE
THU-FEB. 24 | Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Pillowman” (at the Ricketson Theatre)
THU-FEB. 4 | “Topdog/Underdog” (Thursday-Jan. 28 at TheatreWorks in Colorado Springs; Feb. 2-4 at Hoag Hall in Pueblo)
THU-FEB. 25 | Metro Playhouse’s “The Nerd” | GRAND JUNCTION
FRI-FEB. 25 | Modern Muse’s “Bad Dates” (at the Bug Theatre)
FRI-FEB. 3 | Buntport Theater’s “Something Is Rotten”
FRI-JAN. 27 | Evergreen Players’ One-Acts: “Brilliant Traces” and “Five Nickels” | EVERGREEN
FRI-FEB. 18 | Heritage Square Music Hall’s “Svengali” | GOLDEN
This week’s theater closings
TODAY | National touring production of “Hairspray” (at the Buell Theatre)
TODAY | Country Dinner Playhouse’s “Phantom” | GREENWOOD VILLAGE
SAT | Backstage’s “Greater Tuna” | BRECKENRIDGE
Denver Center Attractions 2007
TUE-JAN. 28 | “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
FEB. 6-18 | “Legends!”
FEB. 28-MARCH 3 | “Heartbeat”
MARCH 10-AUG. 5 | “The Taffetas” (at the Galleria Theatre)
MARCH 27-APRIL 8 | “The Light in the Piazza”
MAY 9-JUNE 3 | “Wicked”
MAY 17-JULY 8 | “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”
OPENING SUMMER | “The Little Mermaid” (at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House)
SEPT. 18-OCT. 7 | Monty Python’s “Spamalot”
OCT. 16-28 | “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”
NOV. 20-DEC. 25 | “White Christmas”
Denver Center Theatre Company 2007
THU-FEB. 24 | “The Pillowman”
JAN. 26-FEB. 24 | “1001”
FEB. 1-24 | “King Lear”
FEB. 9-10 | “Colorado New Play Summit”
MARCH 22-APRIL 21 | “Mrs. Warren’s Profession”
MARCH 29-APRIL 21 | “Pure Confidence”
APRIL 12-MAY 19 | “The Sweetest Swing in Baseball”
MAY 17-JULY 8 | “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”
