After 26 years of rabble-rousing and protest – onstage and off – it almost seemed too easy.
Here were dozens of El Centro Su Teatro supporters gathered before Monday’s Denver City Council meeting. And steeled for a fight, if needed.
But before you could say “roll call,” the council gave fast first approval to a $1.53 million low-interest loan that will allow the company to purchase its new home at 215 S. Santa Fe Drive. The unanimous approval came so quickly, without dialogue or dissent, “It was a little bit of a letdown,” joked veteran actor Yolanda Ortega-Ericksen.
Well, as much as $1.53 million can be considered a letdown – which is to say, it can’t. Suffice to say everyone from the nation’s third-oldest Chicano theater company was giddy. Yet there was something odd about the whole thing. “Can you believe it? Ortega-Ericksen said with a laugh. “We’re going through procedure!”
Artistic director Anthony J. Garcia said it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Months of work went into his bid for a community development loan from the Denver Office of Economic Development. But he said the council’s full support shows what the company has come to mean to the city.
“I don’t feel like Don Quixote at all anymore,” said Garcia. “This is not only a natural progression for us, but for this city. What this says is that we have really become an indispensable part of the fabric of this city.”
Garcia singled out Mayor John Hickenlooper as “incredibly supportive” for decades.
“Now that he’s the mayor, he is kind of required to stay on the sideline,” Garcia said, “but when he cheers from the sideline, it’s a louder cheer than anyone else’s.”
Final loan approval is expected Monday. First payment isn’t due until the facility opens in 2009. Now, Su Teatro only has to launch a $3.5 million capital campaign to build the facility.
“The money is out there in our community,” said Garcia. “And by ‘our community,’ I mean Denver. I’m not at all intimidated by what we have to do.”
Bas Bleu moves forward
The Bas Bleu Theatre’s capital campaign to purchase and expand its home in Old Town Fort Collins received a major boost last week when it received an additional $120,000 grant from the Denver-based Gates Family Foundation, bringing that group’s commitment to nearly $300,000.
Bas Bleu now has raised $1.7 million toward its $3 million overall goal. It needs $333,835 to complete its purchase of the historic Giddings Building, with the rest going toward renovation and creating a programming endowment.
Ado about “Mermaid”
Now that we know Disney’s first offer to play Ariel here in “The Little Mermaid” is our own Sierra Boggess, online speculation has amped up that Sherie Rene Scott will play Ursula. She was the original Amneris in Disney’s “Aida.”
The hottest rumor: Disney will replicate stage swimming by fitting actors with “Heelys” – shoes with built-in wheels.
“Rent” stars in Boulder
“Rent” film stars Rosario Dawson and Jesse L. Martin appear Friday at the Boulder Theater, along with the cast of Town Hall’s upcoming “Footloose” and the Colorado Children’s Chorale, as part of “All the World’s a Stage.” It’s a fundraiser for There With Care, a Colorado-based nonprofit that assists families of critically ill children ($25; 303-447-2273).
Briefly …
The Broadway-bound “Legally Blonde” has opened for previews in San Francisco. We already knew it stars Denver’s Annaleigh Ashford (nee Swanson). Turns out the book was written by Denver’s Heather Hach, best known for writing the “Freaky Friday” film remake, and least known as my former next-door neighbor. “Heather is great,” Ashford said. “She’s such a sweetheart, and has written some funny stuff.” …
The Denver-born “Hats” musical opened last week in New Orleans. It reopens here March 16 … The Elitch Theatre now says its debut outdoor staging of “The Pavilion” will bow June 7 … Denver-based lighting designer Jacob M. Welch was praised in Variety last week for his work on the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s “A Splintered Soul” in Los Angeles. It was directed by former Denver Civic Theatre artistic director Brantley M. Dunaway…
And finally … how about that Scott Ferrara? Poor guy was hospitalized with food poisoning when he starred in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Hamlet” in 2002. The night before last week’s opening of “The Pillowman,” he was sent to the hospital with early signs of pneumonia. But there are no understudies for this play, so Ferrara was back on the boards for the next night’s opening.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
This week’s theater openings
TUE-FEB. 25 | Arvada Center’s “The Subject Was Roses”
THU-FEB. 24 | Denver Center Theatre Company’s “King Lear” (Stage Theatre)
THU-FEB. 24 | Shadow’s “Two Trains Running”
THU-FEB. 11 | Alliance Stage’s “The Syringa Tree” (at TheatreWorks) | COLORADO SPRINGS
FRI-MARCH 4 | Germinal Stage Denver’s “Diversions and Delights”
FRI-FEB. 18 | Festival Playhouse’s “The Gin Game” | ARVADA
FRI-MARCH 10 | ROA Productions’ “Right On, America!” (late nights at the Avenue Theater)
FRI-FEB. 24 | Brooks Arts Center’s “As Above So Below” (at First Divine Science Church)
SAT-APRIL 15 | Cabaret Dinner Theatre’s “The Full Monty” | GRAND JUNCTION
This week’s theater closings
TODAY | National touring production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (at the Buell Theatre)
TODAY | Fine Arts Center’s “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” | COLORADO SPRINGS
SAT | OpenStage’s “Splitting Infinity” | FORT COLLINS
SAT | Spotlight’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” (at the E-Project) | LAKEWOOD
SAT | Buntport Theater’s “Something Is Rotten”
FEB. 4 | PHAMALy’s “Our Town” (at the Aurora Fox)
FEB. 4 | “Topdog/Underdog” (today at TheatreWorks in Colorado Springs; Feb. 2-4 at Hoag Hall in Pueblo)
