Mike Boggess and his wife, Kellun Turner, have seen their daughter perform many times as “The Little Mermaid” on Broadway. But Sierra Boggess doesn’t expect to see her parents back at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre anytime soon.
“We don’t think their hearts can take it,” she said with a laugh last week. “I think they might emotionally explode.”
That’s because Sierra’s cello-playing older sister, Summer, now occasionally joins the “Mermaid” orchestra, most recently for performances on Friday and Saturday.
When Summer made her first appearance a few weeks ago, the George Washington High School grads became the first siblings to perform together on Broadway since actors Sutton and Hunter Foster appeared in “Les Miserables” for two days nearly a decade ago.
Summer, who made her Broadway debut in April in “Young Frankenstein,” is a substitute who covers a variety of Broadway shows. “But ‘The Little Mermaid’ is definitely my favorite,” she said.
Their first night together was, for both, sweet, fun, unbelievable, emotional amazing, you name it — even if all Summer got was an occasional look at her sister’s tail flying around the side of the stage.
“That first time, I was too emotional about it,” Sierra said. “When I came out on stage for my first song, I had to stop thinking about it, because I wasn’t going to be able to get through. I was going to start crying.
“All my cast knew she was in the orchestra, and when we gave them a bow after it was over, we were all really giddy. She came up to my dressing room, and we jumped up and down screaming and crying.”
Summer is the oldest of three musical sisters. The youngest, Allegra, just graduated as a piano performance major from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
So how long before Allegra joins Summer in the “Mermaid” pit?
“Actually, she’s off to Egypt next month to teach English as second language,” Summer said. “But we’ll make it happen somehow.”
Listen to John Moore’s entire 16-minute podcast conversation with the Boggess sisters by .
Lowenstein swaps Bonfils stories
Retired producer Henry Lowenstein and former Denver Post reporter Eva Hodges Watt regaled a rapt gathering at the New Denver Civic Theatre on Tuesday with stories of theater philanthropist Helen Bonfils and her legendary theater (now the Tattered Cover Book Store).
Lowenstein told yarns about hiring Jonathan Parker, the vastly overqualified father of Cleo Parker Robinson, as a handyman despite scurrilous protestations about his race. “When I took over, one of my conditions was . . . the doors are going to be open to everybody,” Lowenstein said.
He also told of the 1969 night The Denver Post’s Cheesman Park staging of “Camelot” went on as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, with actors in armor, and an audience in the thousands, crowding portable TVs. Watt, author of “Papa’s Girl,” dished on the legendary feud between Helen and her sister, May Bonfils Stanton (her name was not allowed to see print in The Post).
But leave it to loquacious Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher to steal the show. He was a teen stagehand on those Post outdoor musicals who once had an opportunity to thank Bonfils for building Holy Ghost, “the crown jewel of Denver churches,” Gallagher said.
“I have a secret,” Bonfils told the lad then. “I built that church to get my father out of purgatory.”
Her father was, of course, Denver Post co-founder Frederick G. Bonfils.
Briefly …
When “High School Musical” stops in Denver this week, Fort Collins native Bobby List will be playing drama-club enthusiast Ryan Evans. He’s a grad of Rocky Mountain High School, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music. . .
Congrats to young Keean Johnson, who played Bobby, the kid who gets roughed up in the Denver Center’s recent “Plainsong.” He’s been cast in the Broadway production of “Billy Elliot” opening Oct. 1. So, too, has Ponderosa High grad Eric Gunhus . . .
Johnson also appears on “The Big Green Rabbit,” a popular children’s show that airs on Rocky Mountain PBS Channel 6. It stars Chris Reid, the dad in the Aurora Fox’s “Honus and Me.” “Rabbit” repeats at 8 a.m. Monday and every day this week. The next season debuts Sept. 8 . . .
Two weeks ago, we put Brian Freeland in the awkward position of defending the Denver County Cultural Council’s decision to deny Germinal Stage-Denver SCFD funding for 2009. Freeland, just one of 11 council members, stepped down last week, but says his decision was already in motion before that story ran. “I feel like I have given three good, solid years of commitment to changing what can be changed within the structure,” Freeland said. “I feel like my energies can now be spent on other areas of advocacy . . .
Feedback from that SCFD story, including a response from executive director Peg Long; and to our suggested overhaul of the Colorado Theatre Guild’s Henry Awards, is posted at .
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
This week’s theater openings
Opening Tuesday, through July 27: National touring production of “High School Musical” (at Ellie Caulkins Opera House)
Tuesday-Aug. 13: Crossroads’ “Leadville or Bust” (Tuesdays and Wednesdays only)
Thursday-Aug. 23: Theatre Aspen’s “Crimes of the Heart”
Friday-Aug. 23: Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Life is a Dream”
July 25-Aug. 23: Victorian Playhouse’s “Politix”
This week’s theater closings
Today: Vintage Theatre’s “Crazy Bag”
Today: Aurora Fox’s “Honus and Me”
Today: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Matt & Ben” Golden
Today:Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Fiddler on the Roof” Greeley
Today: Festival Playhouse’s “A Bad Year for Tomatoes” Arvada
Today: Theater Company of Lafayette’s “10,000 Wayniacs: Very Short Plays Inspired by Mr. Las Vegas”
Thursday: Little Theatre of the Rockies’ “Doubt” (Norton Theatre) Greeley
Friday: Little Theatre of the Rockies’ “Quilters” Greeley
Saturday: Curious Theatre’s “End Days”
Saturday: Thin Air Theatre’s “An Arrant Knave” Cripple Creek
Saturday: Adams Mystery Playhouse’s “Murder on Pirate Island”
July 27: Platte Valley Players’ “The Trip to Bountiful” Henderson
July 27: Little Theatre of the Rockies’ “Picnic,” Norton Theatre Greeley
Most recent theater openings
Through July 20: Theater Company of Lafayette’s “10,000 Wayniacs: Very Short Plays Inspired by Mr. Las Vegas”
Eleven short, original comedic sketches about Sin City and its favorite crooner, Wayne Newton.
Mary Miller Theater, 300 E. Simpson, 720-209-2154 or
Through July 27: Platte Valley Players’ “The Trip to Bountiful”
Horton Foote’s poignant tale of aging widow living with her son and daughter-in-law in a three-room flat in Houston. Fearing her presence may be an imposition she imagines if she can get away and return to her old home in the town of Bountiful, she is sure to regain her strength, dignity and peace of mind. So she runs away.
At Prairie View High School, 12909 E. 120th Ave, Henderson, 303-227-3053 or platte valley players’ home page
Through July 27: Ovation Players’ “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (with Main Street Players)
The outrageous romp about a Roman slave who wins his freedom by helping his young
master charm the girl next door.
At Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Pkwy, 303-987-7845, or
Through Aug. 2: Limelight Theatre Company’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs”
This company presents theater by young adults. “Brighton” isthe first part of Neil Simon’s autobiographical trilogy, a portrait of the writer as a Brooklyn teenager in 1937, living with his family in crowded, lower middle-class circumstances. Eugene, the young Neil Simon, is the narrator and central character. His mind is full of fiercely fantasized dreams of baseball and dimly fantasized images of girls. The play captures a few days in the life of a struggling Jewish household that includes Eugene’s hard-working father, his sharp-tongued mother, his older and vastly more experienced brother Stanley, his widowed aunt and her two young daughters.
At Bas Bleu, 401 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-498-8949 or
Through Aug. 3: Castle Rock Players’ “Oliver”
Ray-Bans? Faded, baggy jeans? I-Pods? Castle Rock Players present Charles Dickens’ classic tale for a modern generation. It’s about the poor orphan boy who survives a harrowing trip through the dark side of London. His exploits include pick-pockets, kidnapping, friendship, murder and family found. Directed by Steve Paulding.
At Castle View High School, 5254 North Meadows Drive, Castle Rock, 303-814-7740, or
Through Aug. 14: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “The Three Musketeers”
Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 story of inseparable friends who live by the motto, “One for all, and all for one.” Flashing swords and plumed hats flying, these men live for their king, the women who adore them and brotherhood. This kid-friendly adaptation by Linda Alper, Douglas Langworthy and Penny Metropulos (she directed the Denver Center’s “You Can’t Take it With You”) was first produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1999. It emphasizes the romance, the swashbuckling, the piratical element, the spectacle and the humor.
University Mainstage, CU-Boulder campus, 303-492-0554 or
Through Aug. 16: Paragon’s “This is How It Goes”
Paragon Theatre, winner of The Denver Post’s Ovation Award for best season by a theater company, opens the regional premiere of Neil LaBute’s incendiary, interracial new comedy. “This is How it Goes” tackles racism, adultery and deception with his trademark brutal hilarity, proving no story is black and white.
Crossroads Theatre at Five Points, 2590 Washington St., 303-300-2210 or
Though Aug. 17: Spotlight’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor”
Neil Simon’s comedy is a homage to the author’s early days in show biz, when he worked as a junior comedy writer for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows.” He was stuck in a room with a bunch of the looniest writers ever — Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart and others. As the writers try to top each other with gags while competing for the attention of head madman Max Prince (the Sid Caesar character), Max contends with the NBC brass who fear his humor is too sophisticated for middle America.
At West Colfax Event Center, 9797 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, 303-232-0363 or
Through Aug. 23: Barth Hotel’s “Hot L Baltimore”
Lanford Wilson’s play is set in a seedy hotel so rundown, it has lost the “e” from its marquee. This once elegant, now-decrepit hotel is the gathering place for the lost souls, retired old people, misfits and prostitutes living on the lowest rung of society’s ladder. During the course of one day we witness the drama of passing live events, of everyday encounters as residents struggle to maintaining their dignity and honor while their world heads toward upheaval.
at the Barth Hotel, 1514 17th St., 303-534-7142 or or
Through Aug. 23: Backstage Theatre’s “Guys on Ice”
This musical spends a day in the life of three Wisconsin fishing buddies who break out into songs such as “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish Is the Miracle Food.”
121 S. Ridge St., Breckenridge, 970-453-0199 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page.
