Followers of local theater these past two decades understand the significance of Erik Sandvold and Martha Harmon Pardee appearing together on the same stage in Curious Theatre’s “Up.”
Sandvold and Pardee just don’t happen to be among them.
These multiple award-winning actors have performed separately for more than 30 companies, ranging from the dilapidated old Changing Scene to the Denver Center Theatre Company. Their career pinnacles came with Pardee’s snarling, sniveling portrayal of Martha in Paragon’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” and Sandvold’s role as a wartime German transvestite in Curious’ one-man tour-de-force, “I Am My Own Wife.”
Sandvold and Pardee are married (to each other). And they haven’t performed in the same play together since they were newlyweds 17 years ago.
While this prospect has many people excited, it brings a look of blank dullness to Sandvold and Pardee’s faces.
The reason is simple: because they’re actors.
“Because of sheer preoccupation and terror,” Pardee says with her trademark straightforwardness. “Right now, I am in terror land.”
Right now, Sandvold and Pardee are more focused on figuring out who their characters are than mulling a casting milestone.
“Up” is the bittersweet story of Walter Griffin, a man who 16 years ago built a flying lawn chair that carried him 16,000 feet in the air, bringing him 15 minutes of fame. But he hasn’t quite come down to the ground since, which is straining his family life.
Pardee plays both the aunt that Walter’s son comes to work for, and, briefly, Walter’s mother-in-law. And that’s a source of irresistible humor in the Sandvold-Pardee household. Pardee is still teased about the disparity in their ages — she’s five years older — though she’s the one who freely offers up that she once babysat for one of Sandvold’s classmates. And that, when she was married the first time, Sandvold was just a sophomore in high school.
“She was a bit of an older woman,” Sandvold says with a beaming smile, to which his wife agrees: “Both chronologically and in terms of . . . miles.”
The two both attended Northwestern University — but not together. They met in 1991 at the home of Frank Georgianna, who was conducting auditions for a play called “The Film Society” for the Boulder Repertory Company.
“Frank knew Erik, but he didn’t know me,” Pardee said. “Someone described me to him as ‘one of Denver’s best older actresses.’
“So he called me in to play his mother,” she added, spitting that last word out with mock disdain.
Sandvold was sent up from the basement to bring the ‘older actress’ down. “We met on the stairs, and I was like, ‘Hellooo!‘ ” Sandvold said. ” ‘She’s holding up well!’ “
“I wasn’t even 30!” Pardee interjects. And he concurs: “You were 29.”
The two have played married partners several times, last time in an eight-hour staging of “Nicholas Nickleby” at the Denver Civic Theatre. She played all of Sandvold’s love interests — so she pretty much got it out of her system, she says with a laugh.
But with the arrival of daughters Addie, 14, and Tuuli, 12, it became unfeasible for them to be acting in plays at the same time.
They both make their livelihoods as narrators for Talking Book Publishers Inc., a service for the blind. Pardee is the most-recorded narrator in the country, with more than 1,000 fiction and nonfiction books to her credit. Because Sandvold has had a less-stringent work schedule, he’s been more free to take acting jobs. Most recently, he appeared in the Denver Center’s “Well” and Curious’ “Opus.”
At home, there’s often one parent running the household while the other is immersed in the creative process. Then, the roles reverse.
“There are these periods of intense focus and absence at our house — and then a very quick re-entry,” Sandvold said. “When we’re home, we are very hands-on, focused parents.”
The best part about growing up Sandvold? Says Pardee: “Our children have been around really interesting, fun adults who are creatively charged people.”
Seventeen years later, it was “Up” director Chip Walton’s idea to bring these two powerhouse actors back onto the same stage.
“This is something I’ve wanted to see happen for a very long time, and I’ve wanted it to happen at Curious,” said Walton, who acted with Sandvold for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival 15 years ago. “These are big-time actors who have both made huge contributions to the theater community at every level. And I think audiences have a deeper relationship with them because of that.”
And because of their own marriage, they have a deeper relationship with Bridget Carpenter’s play about a self-absorbed dreamer who has been blessed with a family — and yet, it’s not enough.
“It’s about a family struggling to make their way amidst the dual pull of both artistic aspirations and the financial realities of American life,” Sandvold said.
“Up” is a fantastical play — it flashes back to the lawn-chair launch, and it even features as a character Philippe Petit, the “Man on Wire” tightrope walker.
But it’s essentially about a man who’s trapped by his past accomplishment. And the choice Walter ultimately must make — either to keep his head in the clouds and be true to his own artistic ambitions, or to plant his feet back onto the ground for the good of his family — strikes this stage couple close to home.
“The question is really this: At one point do you give up a dream, or modify that dream, because of other realities of your life?” Pardee said. “It’s like when you are an actor, and you have a couple kids.
“From that point on, there is a different way that you make decisions. There just is.”
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Up”
Family drama. Presented by Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma St. Written by Bridget Carpenter. Directed by Chip Walton. Featuring Erik Sandvold, Mare Trevathan and Sean Mellott. Through June 18. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays starting May 23. $18-$42. 303-623-0524
A video look at our “Up” photo shoot
This weekend’s other theater openings
“Annie” Annie is a spunky, Depression-era orphan determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Songs include “Tomorrow” and “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.” Through July 11. Union Colony Dinner Theatre, 802 9th Ave., Greeley, 970-352-2900 or
“The Music Man” The throwback musical about a con man who comes to a small town intent on making his mark; instead they make theirs on him. Through July 25. Jesters Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont, 303-682-9980 or
“A Naughty Vaudeville” An always changing, weekly offering of vintage burlesque numbers, combined with song and dance sauciness. Hosted by “Cora Vette” and her signature sparkle vinyl costumes. Much more tease than strip. Performances Wednesdays only. Open-ended. Presented by BurlyCute at the Crossroads Theatre, 2590 Washington St., 720-308-5091 or
“Peter Pan” In J.M. Barrie’s classic story, Wendy, John and Michael take a trip to an island filled with Lost Boys, pirates, Indians and the fearless Peter Pan, who wings across the stage in all his flying glory. Songs include “Never Never Land,” “I Won’t Grow Up” and “I’m Flying.” Through Sept. 5. Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., 303-449-6000 or
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” In the play that launched Edward Albee as a major American playwright, the profanity-laced and drunken conversation between two married couples turns into a commentary on the corruption of American values, the nature of illusion and the destitution of marriage. Through May 29. Presented by Star Bar Players at the Lon Chaney Theatre, 221 E. Kiowa St., Colorado Springs, 719-390-0255 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:
Video bonus: Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Festival
Above: Performance excerpts filmed and edited by Denver Post videographer Mahala Gaylord. Recorded May 6, 2010. Running time: 2 minutes.
Above: Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher reciting Sonnet 116. Running time: 1 minute, 30 seconds.
Running Lines video podcast: Curious New Voices’ “Interludes”
Highlights from 10 musically themed plays by playwrights ages 15-21 in conjunction with Curious Theatre’s staging of “Opus.” Presented March 22, 2010. Filmed and edited by Denver Post theater critic John Moore. Running time: 10 minutes.
