Bill McHale produced nearly 200 Country Dinner Playhouse shows seen by 4.6 million playgoers over 30 years at the now-shuttered musical barn at Interstate 25 and Arapahoe Road. He gave hundreds of actors their professional starts.
“I can almost not overstate Bill McHale’s influence on my career,” said Rachel de Benedet, currently featured in Broadway’s “The Addams Family.” “He used to always grumble about how they don’t teach comedy anymore. Well, I wish he would teach comedy, because I value his understanding of it to this day.”
McHale, 76, will be given the Colorado Theatre Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the July 19 Henry Awards. It will be presented by his protege, Paul Dwyer.
“I always thought entertaining people is what theater is all about,” McHale said. “We are not here just to make money, but to help people forget whatever stress or trauma they may be going through in life.”
McHale believes the CDP, which closed in 2007, seven years after his retirement, was instrumental in legitimizing the business of staging professional musicals in Denver. When things were really cooking, the CDP drew 150,000 people a year.
Among the long list of local actors, actresses and designers who worked for McHale are Jan and Marcus Waterman, Michael J. Duran, Paul and Penny Dwyer; Deborah Persoff, Michael Gold, Randy St. Pierre, Sue Leiser, Jeff Hovorka, Jan Giese, Rob Costigan, Brian Mallgrave, Markus Warren, Bob Hoppe, Erik Bryan and his daughter, Maureen McHale. Among the stars he sent along their ways were Morgan Fairchild and Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams (“Junebug”).
But the person McHale most wants to single out for thanks: Rob Westan, his production stage manager. “He was my right hand,” he said.
The Barnstormers, the food servers who performed before the main show, were McHale’s idea. He was also known to perform in a show or two, notably as Leadville Johnny Brown in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” Harold Hill in “The Music Man” and Emile deBeque in “South Pacific.”
When McHale heard he was to be honored at the Henry Awards, he said, “Are you sure you’ve got the right guy?
“I feel good for all the actors and stagehands and musicians that worked for me at the theater and helped make the shows the successes they were.”
The Henrys will be begin at 6 p.m. July 19 at the Denver Center’s Space Theatre, and the public is encouraged to attend. A full list of nominations is posted at Tickets $20-$25 (303-931-7241).
Hicks remembrance at Red Rocks tonight, July 11
An informal evening of remembrances for Denver Center Theatre Company director Israel Hicks will be held at dusk tonight (Sunday, July 11) at the Seven Ladders Rock area of Red Rocks Park in Morrison. Visitors are asked to arrive beginning at 6:30 p.m. A map is posted at .
Testimonials have been coming in from around the world since Hicks died of cancer July 2. Said nationally regarded director Kent Gash, a graduate of George Washington High School: “I would not have a career were it not for the path blazed by men like Israel Hicks, whose work entranced, moved and irrevocably changed audiences, and whose nurturing and training as an educator led many young artists to innovative and substantive careers. A deep loss, keenly felt.”
Briefly …
Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s four-star production of “Hair,” running through Aug. 27, is already the biggest-selling show in the company’s history (970-513-9386). And now it’s been announced the cast will perform at the Henry Awards. . . .
The slate of touring musicals that will come through Denver in 2011 was announced Wednesday, led by “Billy Elliot” and “Next to Normal.” Our full report is still posted . …
And finally: The biggest misnomer in theater is that summer is an off-season, refuted by our many summer-only companies and the whopping 12 openings coming up just this week. On Saturday alone, PHAMALy’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Paragon’s “The Real Thing” (starring Denver Center stalwart Sam Gregory) and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Our Town” will be fighting it out for opening-night attention.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
This week’s theater openings
Opening Tuesday, July 13, through Aug. 8: Arvada Center’s “All Shook Up”
Opening Thursday, July 15, through Aug. 15: Backstage’s “The Menopause Monologues” Breckenridge
Opening Thursday, July 15, through Aug. 26: Lake Dillon’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (Thursdays only at the New Pavilion) Keystone
Opening Thursday, July 15, through July 31: Springs Ensemble Theatre’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” Colorado Springs
Opening Thursday, July 15, through July 25: E-Project’s “Sylvia” Lakewood
Opening Friday, July 16, through Aug. 8: Evergreen Players’ “Urinetown”
Opening Friday, July 16, through Aug. 20: Theatre Aspen’s “Same Time, Next Year”
Opening Friday, July 16, through Aug. 6: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Measure for Measure” Boulder
Opening Friday, July 16, through July 25: Platte Valley Players’ “Our Town” Henderson
Opening Saturday, July 17, through Aug. 15: PHAMALy’s “Beauty and the Beast” (at the Denver Center)
Opening Saturday, July 17, Aug. 14: Paragon’s “The Real Thing”
Opening Saturday, July 17, Aug. 4: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Our Town” Boulder
This week’s theater closings
Today, July 11: Performance Now’s “Chicago” Lakewood
Today, July 11: Union Colony’s “Annie” Greeley
Today, July 11: 73rd Avenue Theatre’s “Gypsy” Westminster
Most recent theater openings
“Baby” Musical about impending parenthood, told through three couples dealing with the painful, rewarding and comic consequences of the experience. Through Aug. 13. Presented by the Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre at the Massari Performing Arts Center at Trinidad State Junior College, 719-846-4765 or
“The Cemetery Club” Jewish comedy about three widows who make it a habit to meet every year at the graves of their husbands and talk about their lives. Through July 31. California Actors Theatre, 1250 Hover Drive in the Twin Peaks Mall, Longmont, 303-774-1842 or
“Defending the Caveman” National touring production of the longest-running solo play in Broadway history, exploring the gender gap. Through Aug. 22. Presented by the Carousel Dinner Theatre, 3509 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970-225-2555 or
“Murder 1929: Will Power” This mystery dinner-theater tale is a web of twisted family affairs. Overnight accommodations available. Through Oct. 30. Presented by Till Death Do Us Party at the Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main Street, Boulder, 303-443-6461 or
“Murderer” A macabre killer-chiller in which a man named Norman has apparently murdered his mistress, and is in the process of disposing of the body when he is interrupted by a cop. But things are not what they seem. Mature themes. Through Aug. 8. Presented by the Firehouse Theater Company at the John Hand Theatre, 7653 E. First Place, 303-562-3232 or
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” Steve Martin’s first play imagines a chance meeting between Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and a visitor from the future at a Paris bar in 1904. Performed in the lobby of the Barth Hotel as a benefit for Senior Housing Options, which provides assistance to 500 low-income seniors. Through Aug. 14. 1514 17th St., 303-595-4464, ext. 10, or
“The Taming of the Shrew” Shakespeare’s playful, provocative battle of the sexes pits the shrewish Kate against the fortune-seeking Petruchio. But just who is taming whom? Through Aug. 6. Mary Rippon Outdoor Amphitheatre on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus, 303-492- 0554 or
“The Underpants” Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s turn-of-the-century sex satire focusing on the relationship between a prudish government clerk and his delectably voluptuous young wife, Louise. Through Aug. 29. Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington St., Golden, 303-935-3044 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
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