Above: On this week’s video podcast, John Moore solicits comment on each of the offerings at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s 2011 Colorado New Play Summit. Guests include Ethan McSweeny, Wendy C. Goldberg, Billie McBride, Maurice LaMee, Jacob Coakley, Jim Hunt, Laura Eason and the Buntport Theater ensemble. Running time: 8 minutes.
Half the fun of the annual Colorado New Play Summit is handicapping which developing works might win a spot on the Denver Center Theatre Company’s next season. That word will come in mid-March, and while as many as three new plays could be chosen, the lock seems to be Lisa Loomer’s “Two Things You Don’t Talk About at Dinner,” a comedy about a Jewish couple who gather a veritable United Nations for Passover Seder.
While all attending media agree not to critically review these works in progress, it’s fair to say “Dinner” eventually will be going national. And it’s not even done yet.
One of the coolest parts about seeing it read last week was having Catherine E. Coulson, the Log Lady from “Twin Peaks,” in town to play the role of an obliviously offensive Christian evangelist.
The lineup also included Octavio Solis’ magical realism “Cecilia Marie,” something of a sequel to the Denver Center’s “Lydia.” Samuel D. Hunter’s “The Whale” follows a dying 600-pound man who is befriended by a young man who may or may not be a Mormon missionary.
But all anyone wanted to talk about, with me anyway, was Lloyd Suh‘s “Great Wall Story,” presumably because of its topic and locale. The play, set in 1899, takes us back to the “glory” days of yellow journalism in Denver. It’s based on the true story of reporters from The Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and others colluding on a huge hoax. Their story: The Great Wall of China will be torn down. China’s economic doors will be opened.
In the play, the story spreads like wildfire, attracting the attention of media barons Hearst and Pulitzer, and is reprinted in newspapers as far away as London. Because China was so closed-off then, it might take years for the story to be discredited. And a lot of newspapers would be sold in the meantime.
The fib gives everyone from businessmen to missionaries the false hope that there would now be money to be made, and souls to be saved, in China. In truth, more than 200 missionaries and 30,000 Chinese Christians were massacred in the anti-West Boxer Rebellion of 1898-1901.
So it’s a play that has the potential to tell a colorful chapter in Colorado history; serve up a cautionary tale of truth and consequences; and explore how the media have — and have not — changed in the past century.
In the play, the Rocky Mountain News scribe who concocted the lie is courted by Pulitzer for a job. Today, we live by the axiom, “If your mother says she loves you — get a second source.” So things have changed. Not that many people believe that, judging by audience reaction to Suh’s play.
At a time when the credible “old media” continues to retract with the economy, the “new media” proliferates with bloggers without editors, and radio and cable TV hosts grow ever more polarizing to attract attention, it’s understandable how some see a new era of yellow journalism afoot.
“There’s such a saturation of media now, in so many forms, that I think there may be parallels with the Hearst-Pulitzer war, and what those camps really had to do to sell papers,” said Suh, who’s from Indianapolis.
Suh first read about the scandal, of all places, in an “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.” In its present form, the play is largely fictionalized. He knows if it is ever to be staged in Denver, it will need an authentic historical feel to cut muster with local audiences. But unlike (responsible) journalists, playwrights do enjoy creative license.
“I’m lucky in that this story was kept a secret for a very long time, so there is very little actual information available about what truly happened,” said Suh. “That allowed me to root it in an initial truth, but still allowed me to use my imagination.”
Summit visitor Jacob Coakley of Las Vegas, editor of Stage Directions magazine, said “Great Wall Story” makes sense for inclusion on a future Denver Center season.
“One of the things people are talking about lately is making theater that doesn’t feel imported from somewhere else,” he said, “but rather theater that is true to a community and its history and its people.”
More summit news
The Denver Center has added Cherry Creek High School grad Laura Eason to its roster of commissioned playwrights. Eason, whose current “Sex With Strangers” is getting rave reviews at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, hadn’t been back to Colorado in 20 years before the summit. Her impressions of the Denver Center’s new-play program: “They are really priming their plays to be successful by the way they do things here,” she said. “That’s both meaningful and motivating to a playwright. The word nationally is that this is a wonderful place to develop work.”
News of the week
The embattled, nomadic Shadow Theatre will go on. “In Search of Eckstine: A Love Story” will be presented March 10-27 at Su Teatro’s Denver Civic Theatre (720-857-8000). . . .
George Washington High School graduate Sierra Boggess (“The Little Mermaid”) has been cast to play Sharon opposite Tyne Daly‘s Maria Callas in the Broadway revival of “Master Class,” opening June 21. . . .
Denver native Jamie Billings, who understudies five roles in the national touring production of “Spring Awakening,” learned at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday she would be performing the role of Ilse in the tour’s first night at the Buell Theatre, not far from where she sang for eight years with the Colorado Children’s Chorale. Ponderosa High grad Angela Reed, who is appearing in the DCTC’s “Map of Heaven,” sat in the second row. She played all of the adult women in the last “Spring Awakening” tour. And if that’s not small-world enough, Pun Bandhu, who plays Michael in “The Catch,” is one of the original producers of “Spring Awakening.” . . .
And finally: Denver Center alum Jacqueline Antaramian plays Clytemnestre in the Metropolitan Opera’s “Iphigenie en Tauride” that will be simulcast live at 11 a.m. Saturday to theaters around the country, including almost two dozen in Colorado (The Pavilions in Denver). “I don’t sing in it, I just act. I play,” she said. “My children are Placido Domingo and Susan Graham — I was a very young bride.”
Complete list of theaters airing “Iphigenie en Tauride” on Feb. 26:
Aurora: AMC Southlands 16
Aurora: Cinemark Aurora 16
Boulder: Cinemark Century Boulder
Castle Rock: AMC Castle Rock 12
Colorado Springs: Cinemark Tinseltown Cinemark
Colorado Springs: Cinemark Carefree Circle with IMAX
Colorado Springs: Hollywood Theaters 14
Denver: Regal Pavilions 15
Durango: High Five Cinema
Englewood: Regal Greenwood Plaza 12
Fort Collins: Cinemark Fort Collins
Greeley: Cinemark Greeley Mall
Highlands Ranch: AMC Highlands Ranch 24 with IMAX
Lakewood: Cinemark Bel Mar 16
Lakewood: Regal Colorado Mills Stadium 16
Loveland: Metrolux 14 Theaters
Pueblo: Cinemark Tinseltown
Sheridan: Regal River Point
Vail: Cobb Cinebistro at Solaris
Westminster: AMC Orchards of Westminster 12 with IMAX
Westminster: AMC Westminster Promenade 24 with IMAX
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
This week’s theater openings
Opening Thursday, Feb. 24, through Feb. 27: PHAMALy’s “The Diviners,” at the Arvada Center
Opening Thursday, Feb. 24, through March 12: Thunder River’s “Streetcar Named Desire” Carbondale
Opening Thursday, Feb. 24, through March 6: Parker Arts Council’s “The Kitchen Witches”
Opening Friday, Feb. 25, through April 2: Victorian Playhouse’s “The Field”
Opening Friday, Feb. 25, through March 19: Equinox Theatre’s “Stop Kiss,” at the Bug Theatre
Opening Friday, Feb. 25, through March 26: Backstage Theatre’s “Fully Committed” Breckenridge
Opening Friday, Feb. 25, through March 12: Coal Creek Community Theater’s “Beau Jest” Louisville
Opening Saturday, Feb. 26, through March 26: Spotlight’s “Harvey”
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 26-27 only: Denver Center Attractions’ “The Aluminum Show,” at the Buell Theatre
This week’s theater closings
Today, Feb. 20: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s “The Producers”
Today, Feb. 20: The Edge’s “Extremities” Lakewood
Today, Feb. 20: Lake Dillon’s “The 39 Steps”
Today, Feb. 20: Arvada Festival Playhouse’s “Let Me Hear You Smile”
Today, Feb. 20: Steel City’s “Love Letters” Pueblo
Friday, Feb. 25: Mercury Motley Players’ “Lovers Split Strangers”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Catch” and “Map of Heaven”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Curious Theatre’s “Circle Mirror Transformation”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Paragon Theatre’s “Reasons to Be Pretty”
Saturday, Feb. 26: The Avenue’s “The Good Body”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Adams Family Playhouse’s “Murder in a Speakeasy”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Hello, Dolly!”
Saturday, Feb. 26: Star Bar Players’ “Bug” Colorado Springs
Saturday, Feb. 26: Jones Theatre’s “A Man for All Seasons” Westcliffe
Sunday, Feb. 27: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Don’t Dress for Dinner” Golden
Sunday, Feb. 27: Heritage Square Music Hall’s “Loud: This Is It” Golden
Sunday, Feb. 27: Manitou Art Theatre’s “The Heyokah Project” Colorado Springs
Sunday, Feb. 27: Afterthought’s “Soldier’s Play,” at Crossroads Theater at Five Points
Sunday, Feb. 27: Performance Now’s “The Sound of Music” Lakewood
Most recent theater openings
“Crime and Punishment” This streamlined, lean and mean 90-minute adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s literary masterpiece is set in the mind of the murderer, where he relives and explores the events that drove him to his horrible crime. “Crime and Punishment” is reimagined as a psychological journey that seeks to unveil hidden dimensions of the human condition. Through March 5. Presented by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., 303-839-1361 or 303-444-7328 or
and here’s
“Equus” In Peter Shaffer’s enduring British drama, a psychiatrist works with a troubled 17-year-old boy to determine why he has committed a brutal act against six horses. Through March 20. Vintage Theatre, 2119 E. 17th Ave., 303-839-1361 or
“Love Letters” In A.R. Gurney’s simple play, two actors tell the story of a 50-year romance by reading the notes, letters and cards that have passed between them throughout their separated lives. Through Feb. 20. Presented by Steel City at Pueblo Central High School, 216 E. Orman Ave. 719-258-8399 or
“A Man for All Seasons” Robert Bolt’s classic play, based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, is about one man’s struggle to stand by his beliefs and the price he pays for his conviction. Through Feb. 26. Jones Theatre, 119 Main St., Westcliffe, 719-783-3004 or
“The Philanderer” George Bernard Shaw’s 1898 play uses the story of a single mother to take aim at gender inequity, the medical profession, the generation gap and, most important, the influence of maverick playwright Henrik Ibsen on the theater. Through March 5. Presented by the Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or
“A Picasso” In this honored two-character play, the famous artist Pablo Picasso is confronted in 1941 Paris by a “cultural attache” from the German secret police. Through March 20. Presented by OpenStage & Company at the Nonesuch Theater, 216 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
This week’s video podcast: Jamie Billings performs in “Spring Awakening”
Denver native Jamie Billings, an ensemble member and understudy in the national touring production of “Spring Awakening,” played of Ilse in her first night back in her hometown, Feb. 15, 2011. Video by John Moore. Running time: 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
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 the latest theater news:
