Artistic director David McClendon nearly doubled Theatre Aspen’s operating budget in less than three years to $1.1 million. He raised the theater’s official professional status. He brought in Broadway veterans, solidifying the company’s growing artistic reputation. He envisioned a $50 million performing-arts Institute for Aspen that would include other local arts organizations.
He planned to expand his company from summers only to year-round, performing in two new theaters and operating a Sundance-like lab for developing new projects. He never ran up a deficit.
Now, he’s out of a job.
Board co-chair Melanie Sturm said McClendon’s contract will not be renewed, citing a need to cut expenses and downsize programming. Simply put, Sturm said it cost too much to pay for and house a year-round artistic director in Aspen, when she doesn’t see it as a year-round job.
McClendon will not be replaced by a full-time successor because Theatre Aspen is a summer company, Sturm said – which tells you all you need to know about the company’s future plans. “We are a summer theater that spans two months of the year,” she said.
“We are very grateful for what David has helped us to accomplish, but we needed to rationalize our organizational structure,” added Sturm, who confirmed that managing director John Redmond also has resigned.
She said the company will take the “substantial savings” from those two salaries and reallocate them to bring in more employees doing more jobs at lower salaries. McClendon’s plan for a winter offering has been scrapped, but the board will pursue a permanent facility – eventually.
Theatre Aspen performs in one of the nicest theaters anywhere. It just happens to be covered by a tent and sits in a park. But Sturm, citing competition from the Aspen Music Festival, said the current audience doesn’t warrant a larger space yet. “When we can’t fill a 150-seat theater every night, the idea of a new, 250-seat theater is premature,” she said.
Theatre Aspen just hosted “The Last Five Years,” featuring the Broadway star of “The Pirate Queen.” “It Ain’t Nothing But the Blues” was a landmark production. It was, by all accounts, one of the 27-year- old troupe’s best seasons.
Oh, well.
“It was a great run, but it seems I took it as far as I could take it,” said McClendon, who has directed several plays for the Denver Center Theatre Company, including “Boston Marriage,” “Lobby Hero” and “Jesus Hates Me.”
“I went there to build, and we built. We did some terrific work, and I am very proud.”
More building ahead
Grand Lake’s remarkable Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre has sold nearly every seat for the past three seasons at the 192-seat Grand Lake Community House. Now it has purchased nearby land it hopes will one day be the site of a new 300-seat theater.
The land sits about three blocks into town on the lake side of Grand Avenue. The purchase was made possible by an anonymous $720,000 donation.
The next step is a feasibility study to determine how much money must be raised to build it. “We are doing this the right way,” said board vice president Susan Brandt. “We are not going to turn a shovel of dirt until the money is there, as well as a reserve that will ensure the stability of this company well into the future.”
Briefly…
Shadow Theatre’s $250,000 loan from the city of Aurora that will allow it to open a new state-of-the-art theater at 1468 Dayton St. is expected to be approved by the City Council on Oct. 14. It’s an unprecedented urban-renewal loan that will forgive 20 percent of the loan over five years …
The Colorado Theatre Guild will present “Play in a Day” Friday through Oct. 7 as part of Denver Arts Week. Teams will create plays paying tribute to, on successive days, the visual arts, music and dance. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. Oct. 7, at the Greek Amphitheatre in Civic Center Park. Free (303-300-3547) …
The Denver Center Theatre Company will present Ami Dayan in a staged reading of Israeli Oren Neeman’s “Conviction,” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Jones Theatre. The DCTC commissioned Dayan and Mark Williams to translate Neeman’s true story of religious persecution during the 15th century. Call 303-893-4100 for free tickets …
Denver Center Theatre Company stalwart David Ivers was expected to miss last Thursday’s opening night of “You Can’t Take It With You” because of a kidney stone (He plays Ed). But he didn’t. The DCTC’s current stalwart (he appeared in five plays last season alone) missed the final three preview performances but made it through opening night with flying colors (Look for a review of the play in Monday’s Denver Post) …
And finally, GerRee Hinshaw and Mare Trevathan hosted a talent show Monday that raised more than $4,600 to help local talent agent Cathy Reinking in her fight against breast cancer.
This week’s openings
Tue-Nov. 4. Arvada Center’s “Defiance” (in the black-box theater)
Fri-Oct. 27. Spotlight’s “A Murder is Announced” Lakewood
Fri-Oct. 31. Thin Air Players’ “Dr. Jekyll’s Medicine Show” Cripple Creek
Fri-Oct. 21. Main Street Players’ “Kiss Me Kate” (at former Pinnacle Dinner Theatre) Littleton
Fri-Oct. 31. Mercury Motley Players’ “Allied Witches – Hot Columbian Nights” (at Mercury Cafe)
Sat-Nov. 10. Firehouse’s “Some Girl(s)” (at John Hand Theatre)
This week’s closings
Today. Colorado Festival of World Theatre (Colorado Springs)
Today. Thin Air Players’ “Annie Get Your Gun” (Cripple Creek)
Sat. Theatre Group’s “Torch Song Trilogy” (Phoenix Theatre)
Sat. And Toto Too’s “The Feast of the Flying Cow … and Other Stories of War” (at the Victorian Playhouse)
Sat. Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “The Glass Menagerie”
Oct. 7. Germinal Stage Denver’s “A Touch of the Poet”
Oct. 7. Arvada Center’s “Moonlight and Magnolias”
Oct. 7. Denver Center Attractions’ Monty Python’s “Spamalot”
Oct. 7. Aurora Fox’s “Anna in the Tropics”
Oct. 7. Lake Dillon’s “Pig Farm”
Oct. 7. Performance Now’s “Hello Dolly!” (Lakewood)
This week’s podcast
Running lines: This week, Joaquin Liebert of Su Teatro’s “Bowl of Beings” talks with Denver Post theater critic John Moore about his high-school drama teacher … John Moore
