There’s still much mystery surrounding the sudden resignation of Alan Osburn as the artistic director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s performing-arts department in August, but with a new season about to start Oct. 8, there’s no time to waste.
The FAC’s board will conduct a national search and hopes to have a replacement named within six months. In the meantime, it has named award-winning technical director Christopher Sheley (one of the state’s top set designers) and assistant director of performing arts Tim Muldrow as co-interim directors.
Osburn had no comment.
The Colorado Springs FAC is 75 years old and presents some of the most lavish theater in the state, especially its musicals.
More news from Colorado Springs
Oskar Eustis, perhaps the most important theater producer and director in America, will lead a discussion on “The State of American Professional Theater” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at TheatreWorks, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Colorado Springs. Eustis, who developed “Angels in America” and “The Kentucky Cycle” into Pulitzer winners, is artistic director of New York’s Public Theater and of the New York Shakespeare Festival (719-262-3232 or ) . . .
TheatreWorks is also the only company in the state participating in “National Theatre Live,” which beams the best of British drama to theaters around the world. TheatreWorks re-broadcasts each presentation on a 9-by-16-foot screen in its Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater. Next up: “Phedre” (Oct. 7-9); “A Disappearing Number” (Nov. 5-7); “Hamlet” (Jan. 24-26); the Broadway smash “Fela!” (Feb. 1-9); “King Lear,” starring Derek Jacobi, (Feb. 16-18); and “Frankenstein” (April 1-3). Tickets range from free (for University of Colorado-Colorado Springs students) to $15 (719-262-3232) . . .
On Friday, TheatreWorks launched its original play looking at Nikola Tesla‘s time spent in Colorado Springs. It will also bring back Thaddeus Phillips from Oct. 21-31 to present his own Tesla play — renamed from “Microworld(s), Part I” to “Capsule 33.” That’s a bit of a theatrical event — it’s run entirely on sustainable energy — and it’s getting some attention in New York. A four-week run starts Sept. 17 at the off-Broadway Barrow Street Theatre.
Good news for Lake Dillon
Lake Dillon Theatre, coming off a spectacular season, including a four-star production of “Hair,” is on a roll. The company held a 24-hour fundraiser that generated $150,000 for more staffing. The company has four full-time employees, and the new revenue will allow them to additionally hire an executive director, a director of patron development and a box-office manager.
Briefly . . .
Robert Dubac, of “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron” fame, returns to the Galleria Theatre Oct. 21-Nov. 14 for his new show “Free Range Thinking” (303-893-4100). . . .
Jazz singer Rene Marie, whose first foray into playwriting, “Slut Energy Theory,” was a surprise highlight of last year’s theater season, has been signed to perform her one-woman work about sexual abuse Jan. 28-29 in Dallas. “It’s a whole new world out there, but I believe in U’Dean,” she said of her main character. “I believe in her story, her personality and her, ahem, ‘charm.’ ” . . .
Paragon Theatre’s popular annual “Miscast” fundraiser, an evening of local actors performing roles in which they would never be appropriately cast, returns to the Aurora Fox on Sept. 27 (303-300-2210).
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
This week’s theater openings
Opening Tuesday, Sept. 14, through Oct. 10: Arvada Center’s “Sunset Boulevard”
Opening Tuesday, Sept. 14, through Oct. 10: “A Mile High Celebration: The Second City’s 50th Anniversary,” at the Galleria Theatre
Opening Thursday, Sept. 16, through Nov. 14: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The 39 Steps,” Ricketson Theatre
Opening Thursday, Sept. 16, through Oct. 3: TheatreWorks’ “I Am Nikola Tesla” Colorado Springs
Opening Friday, Sept. 17, through Oct. 17: Town Hall Arts Center’s “Rent” Littleton
Opening Friday, Sept. 17, through Oct. 30: The Avenue’s “The Love List”
Opening Saturday, Sept. 18, through Oct. 24: Bas Bleu’s “Cherry Docs” Fort Collins
Opening Saturday, Sept. 18, through Sept. 26: Stapleton MCA’s “Happy Days, A New Musical,” at Founder’s Green Aurora
This week’s theater closings
Today, Sept. 12: 73rd Avenue Theatre’s “Praying for Secrets” Westminster
Saturday, Sept. 18: Equinox’s “Reefer Madness, the Musical” (at the Bug Theatre)
Saturday, Sept. 18: Thin Air Theatre Company’s “Gunslinger: The Legend of Billy the Kid” Cripple Creek
Sunday, Sept. 19: Afterthought’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” at Shadow Theatre Aurora
Sunday, Sept. 19: Vintage Theatre’s “On Golden Pond”
Sunday, Sept 19: Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Bye, Bye, Birdie” Greeley
Best Bet: Nonesuch’s “My First Time”
Time for some pillow talk(s). Nonesuch, a salon theater in Fort Collins, debuts “My First Time,” Ken Davenport’s provocative new comedy that’s about exactly what the title infers: It’s a theatrical look at that rawest state of the human condition — the first sexual experience. Drawn from more than 40,000 online submissions, the actors tell true stories that are by turns comic, sentimental, erotic, political, galling and heartrending. The audience will provide some of each evening’s stories through the form of a questionnaire. $20, with a dinner package from the Rustic Oven also available. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 10 p.m. Saturdays at 216 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-224-0444 or
Most recent openings
“Aida” Elton John and Tim Rice’s contemporary musical take on the timeless bond between an enslaved Nubian princess and an Egyptian soldier. Through Nov. 20. Carousel Dinner Theatre, 3509 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970-225-2555 or
“Arsenic and Old Lace” Enduring comedy about two darling old ladies who have turned their cellar into a cemetery. Through Sept. 25. Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., Longmont, 303-772-5200 or
“Art” Yasmina Reza’s ubiquitous Tony-winning best play about a friendship that’s tested when a man buys a white painting with a hefty price tag. Starring Chris Kendall, Jim Hunt and Josh Hartwell. Through Oct. 24. Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington St., Golden, or 303-935-3044.
“Brilliant Traces” An Alaskan man’s slumber is interrupted when a disheveled and bewildered young woman dressed in full bridal regalia bursts through the door of his remote cabin. Through Oct. 10. Presented by OpenStage at the Nonesuch Theater, 216 Pine St, Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” Gordon is dead, but his cell phone lives on. When Jean, an empathetic museum worker, answers his ringing phone beside her in a café, she is soon playing unwitting comforter and confessor to the man’s grieving friends and family. Before she knows it, Jean is ensnarled in the underbelly of the dead man’s bizarre life. By Sarah Ruhl (“Eurydice”). Through Oct. 16. Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma St. 303-623-0524 or
“A Devil Inside” In David Lindsay-Abaire’s black comedy, a mother has waited 14 years to tell her son that his 400-pound dead father was actually murdered, disembodied and thrown into a drainage ditch. Thus begins a comic and twisted journey of obsession and revenge. Through Sept. 26. Presented by Theatre d’ Art in the Osborne Studio Theater at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, 719-357-8321.
“Dracula” Heritage Square Music Hall’s irreverent spin on Bram Stoker’s classic horror story. Through Nov. 14. 18301 W. Colfax Ave., Golden, 303-279-7800 or
“The Economy: the Musical” A troupe of northern Colorado educators-turned-performers take a lighthearted look at today’s economic realities, both in and out of the world of education. Friday and Saturday only. Presented by the Moonlighting Teachers at the Rialto Theater, 228 E. Fourth St., Loveland, 970-962-2120 or
“Horror in Hollywood” In the Adams Mystery Playhouse’s latest family-friendly interactive dinner-theater comedy, you’re an extra on the set of a major movie, where someone turns up dead. Through Nov. 13. 2406 Federal Blvd., 303-455-1848 or
“An Ideal Husband” In Oscar Wilde’s 1895 comedy, a successful government minister’s well-off wife is threatened when a woman arrives with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Through Sept. 25. Presented by Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or
“Love, Laughter and Lucci” Family comedy about three generations of an Italian Catholic family, all living under one roof. Through Sept. 25. Arvada Festival Playhouse, 5665 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., 303- 422-4090 or
“The Second Weekend in September” A drunken encounter between two men, one married with a family, leads to a 20-year romance confined to a single weekend every year. Through Oct. 9. Dangerous Theatre, 2620 W. Second Ave., Unit 1, 720-233-4703 or
“Shout” This 1960s musical revue tracks five women coming of age during those liberating days that made England swing. Songs include “To Sir With Love,” “Downtown,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Goldfinger.” Through Nov. 14. Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., 303-449-6000 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:
