For Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, the end of its professional status next month will not mean the end of professional productions, owner Dave Clark promises.
Well, time will tell.
Clark’s decision to drop Candlelight’s Equity status leaves Colorado with just seven full or partial union theaters. And he says the decision, while painful, was strictly financial.
Of the state’s five remaining dinner theaters, Candlelight was the only union house, and the switch will save about $70,000 a year.
The downside: Union actors and stagehands have lost another place to work. Because they are forbidden from performing at nonunion theaters without a special guest contract, Candlelight audiences will likely not see favorites like Marcus Waterman and Gina Schuh-Turner perform there again after their four-star staging of “My Fair Lady” closes May 30.
Candlelight is a massive, 470-seat theater in Johnstown, 40 miles north of Denver, that opened in June 2008. Clark, owner of Clark Construction, says he now knows that he opened the facility with too-large aspirations, including the ambitiousness of the menu, the hiring of a (since-released) executive chef — and that union contract, which obligates theaters to hire a minimum number of Equity actors per show. (The number varies based on the size of each show’s cast requirements.)
Despite the loss of the union acting pool, Clark said, “there is a huge talent base in our area that is not Equity.”
And nothing rankles a nonunion actor more than the inference that nonunion means nonprofessional. The real difference between earning a living wage and not at a dinner theater isn’t whether you have union or nonunion status — it’s whether you also wait tables and collect tips.
Candlelight was bleeding money for most of its first eight shows, but since August’s breakout hit, “Phantom,” Clark said, “We’re no longer losing money. We’ve turned the tide.” But he sees it as an unsustainable tide without more cost-cutting moves.
Candlelight was an anomaly among dinner theaters; there are only nine or 10 union dinner playhouses left in the country. “And back in the 1980s, there were more than 70,” said American Dinner Theatre Association president David Pritchard.
Equity is a double-edged sword for actors and audiences alike in Colorado. It’s an assurance that a theater is committed to quality productions. But with so few union theaters here, employment opportunities are extremely limited. And many nonunion theaters routinely produce some of our best theater.
Union status typically means higher ticket prices because of the higher associated payroll costs, like health insurance. At Candlelight, ticket prices are going down only $1.50 apiece starting June 1, leaving an average admission cost exceeding $50.
Briefly . . .
Burke Walton, who grew up on local stages like the Town Hall Arts Center, is performing in the world-premiere musical “Nightmare Alley” at the prestigious Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles through May 23. . . . Arapahoe High grad Melissa Benoist appeared on last week’s episode of “Law & Order.” . . .
Members of the handicapped company PHAMALy (and other friends) perform an evening of Beatles tunes, including the entire “Abbey Road” album, starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the D-Note, 7519 Grandview Ave. in Arvada. Featured vocalists are Regan Linton and Daniel Langhoff. $15 . . .
I kept waiting for the “but”: Notoriously blunt New York Times critic Ben Brantley, on National Theatre Conservatory graduate John Behlmann, who has joined the cast of Broadway’s “The 39 Steps” as the leading man: “I left with a special fondness for Mr. Behlmann . . .”
And finally: Look for the Arvada Center’s 2010-11 season announcement Tuesday. It will include the first Colorado staging of one of Broadway’s most fun musicals, and details on unprecedented collaborations with two outside local companies.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
An interview with “In the Heights creator Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Though “In the Heights” is set just 130 blocks up from New York’s theater district, that may as well be Siberia to Broadway tourists who rarely venture to the north. The irony is that while this landscape-altering musical introduces hip-hop and spoken-word rap to mainstream stage life, it’s a wholesome and uniquely American story rooted in 70 years of musical theater tradition.How did it become, and remain, a box-office Broadway smash, recouping its $10 million investment and winning four Tony Awards, including best musical? That starts with infectious star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who made 183rd Street as familiar to audiences as the Russian village of Anatevka. A place not so far from the home they love.
This week’s theater openings
Opening today, April 25, through May 9: Gravity Defied’s “Totally Electric,” at the Aurora Fox studio theater
Opening Wednesday, April 28, through May 9: National touring production of “In the Heights,” at the Buell Theatre
Opening Wednesday, April 28, through May 27: Jester’s Dinner Theatre’s “High School Musical 2” (Wednesdays and Thursdays only) Longmont
Opening Friday, April 30, through May 23: Shadow Theatre’s “Simply Simone, The Music of Nina Simone”
Opening Friday, April 30, through May 16: Star Bar Players’ “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Colorado Springs
Opening Friday, April 30, through May 29: California Actors Theatre’s “Talking With” Longmont
Opening Friday, April 30, through June 12,: Dangerous Theatre’s “Mission to Planet Zolbott”
Opening Friday, April 30, through May 1: Naropa University’s “Dead Man Walking” Boulder
This week’s theater closings
Today, April 25: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Grace & Glorie” Golden
Today, April 25: Town Hall Arts Center’s “Altar Boyz” Littleton
Today, April 25: Festival Playhouse’s “What the Bellhop Saw” Arvada
Today, April 25: Red Rocks Community College’s “Ardy Fafirisin” Lakewood
Thursday, April 29: Black Box Burlesque’s “Girls in Space 2010: A Burlesque Oddity!” at Benders Tavern (Thursdays only)
Saturday, May 1: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Othello,” at the Space Theatre
Saturday, May 1: OpenStage’s “Is He Dead?” Fort Collins
Saturday, May 1: Colorado Stage Company’s “Greater Tuna” Lone Tree
Saturday, May 1: Adams Mystery Playhouse’s “Murder on Pirate Island”
Sunday, May 2: Union Colony’s “Funny Money” Greeley
Most recent theater openings
“Angel Street” In this 19th-century psychological thriller, a maniac is slowly torturing his wife into insanity under the guise of kindness. An inspector from Scotland Yard is convinced the man is wanted for a murder committed 15 years earlier in this very house. Through May 8. Presented by the Coal Creek Community Theatre at the Louisville Center for the Arts, 801 Grant St., Louisville, 303-665-0955 or
“Arsenic and Old Lace”Darling old ladies Abby and Martha Brewster have turned their cellar into a cemetery in this enduring black comedy. Through May 16. Presented by TheatreWorks at the Bon Vivant Theatre, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Colorado Springs, 719-255-3232 or
“A Chorus Line” This groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes musical look at struggling Broadway dancers includes “One” and “What I Did For Love.” Through June 26. Carousel Dinner Theatre, 3509 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970-225-2555 or
“Godspell” In Stephen Schwartz’s energetic musical based on the gospel of St. Matthew, a group of friends acts out the story of Jesus. Through May 9. Jester’s Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont, 303-682-9980 or
“Lloyd’s Prayer” Kevin Kling’s comic parable about Bob the raccoon boy, and what happens to him when he is captured and taught how to be human. Through May 15. Presented by Theatre Company of Lafayette at the Mary Miller Theater, 300 E. Simpson, 720-209-2154 or
“Mouse in a Jar” This experimental horror story is packed full of oddities as it explores the Stockholm Syndrome, where one develops an empathy for one’s captor. The LIDA Project describes this original ensemble work as “subterranean punk; acts of desperation required.” Through May 29. At the Bindery Space, 770 22nd St, 720-221-3821 or
“Nine” Dreamlike stage musical inspired by Federico Fellini’s autobiogrpahical film, “8 1/2.” Guido Contini is a famous film director who explores his relationships with women to unblock his cretivity. Through May 16. Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., 720-898-7200 or
“One Woman Show” In this new, ensemble-created comedy, Carol Anne has some things she needs to get off her chest, so she plans to write and star in her own one-woman show. Conceived by Mary-Laurence Bevington. Through May 8. Presented by Square Product Theatre at the Wesley Chapel, 1290 Folsom St., Boulder, 303-442-0234 or
“Oklahoma!”Rodgers and Hammerstein’s celebration of the American frontier includes “People Will Say We’re in Love” and “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.” Through May 9. Presented by Performance Now at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, 303-987-7845 or
“Totally Electric” This musical opens at a 10-year high-school reunion, where we flash back to the final week of school, and we see how members of the class of 1989’s show choir left their mark on their school forever. Opens Sunday. Through May 9. Presented by Gravity Defied at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-325-3959 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue:
