The first Colorado staging of “Next to Normal,” the Pulitzer-winning musical about a housewife’s ongoing struggles with depression, bipolar disorder and suicide, is coming at you — with coffee and dessert.
The Carousel Dinner Theatre in Fort Collins, which has amassed an impressive record of beating other companies to the first local stagings of “The Producers,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” “Cats” and “Miss Saigon,” will debut “Next to Normal” starting Sept. 2.
“Our audience demands the full gamut of shows,” said Carousel owner Kurt Terrio. ” We’ve gotten some of our best feedback from some of our more dramatic offerings. So I think our audience is ready for it. People want to be moved. They’d rather feel the extreme of something, anything, than just the middle ground.”
Terrio’s first full season since moving into the new two-theater Midtown Arts Center also will include “Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding,” “White Christmas,” “The Sound of Music” and another Colorado first: “Avenue Q,” opening Jan. 13, 2012.
“Avenue Q,” the quirky 2003 Tony Award winner for best Broadway musical, is a daring, doe-eyed evening for the grown-ups. It depicts copulating puppets and delivers razor-sharp commentaries that will actually have you laughing at racism, political correctness and interspecies puppet
sex. Yes, it’s shocking, sophomoric and profane. It’s also laced with
positive messages about tolerance, inclusion and integration, proof
that a musical can be at once adorable and incendiary
Info: 970-225-2555.
In this Denver Post Theater video podcast recorded Nov. 19, 2010, Kurt Terrio, Marissa Walters and David Wohl give you a tour of the new Carousel Dinner Theatre on opening night at its new location at the Midtown Arts Center, 3750 S. Mason St. in Fort Collins. Video by John Moore, The Denver Post. Running time: 7 minutes, 20 seconds.
For four companies, signals crossed
Four local companies are trying to make the best of a bad situation: having the rights to perform the same titles at the same time.
The Denver Center Theatre Company’s inclusion of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in its new season, opening Oct. 3, throws a wet blanket on little Vintage Theatre, which six months before had announced its own plans to stage the play, opening Sept. 30.
Vintage has decided not to go toe-to-toe with the big boys and has penciled in “The Grapes of Wrath” instead. Its “Mockingbird” had been long cast, and co-founder Craig Bond said he’ll eat $3,000 in already incurred costs to make the change.
Artistic director Kent Thompson has apologized, saying he didn’t realize Vintage had also scheduled the play. While regional companies like the Denver Center trump all others in a metro community when it comes to rights, Thompson was willing to let Vintage go forward.
“But when the largest company in the state decides it wants to do the same show as you, it is advisable to not be performing the exact same title at the exact same time,” said Bond. “Hopefully, they will be more mindful of what other companies are presenting in the future.”
Meanwhile, the Avenue Theater was in for a shock last week when it learned a new theater company called Presteve had announced its arrival with the upcoming regional premiere of Charles Busch‘s newest campy comedy about the secret lives of nuns, “The Divine Sister,” opening May 6.
That’s a “regional premiere” the Avenue had itself announced back on Jan. 5, with a planned June 17 opening.
But there has been confusion about the absolute availability of the regional rights because Busch’s own debut off-Broadway run doesn’t even close until May 1. Both Denver companies were encouraged to go forward by licenser Samuel French Inc. Both shows are cast and well underway. But neither company received actual licensing contracts until last week.
Under normal circumstances, no play is simultaneously licensed to two companies within 60 miles. This isn’t normal.
It’s a bummer for both but especially for Avenue director Nick Sugar and his bunch, who got started first but will have to play second. And just to add to the discomfort of proximity, Presteve will be performing at 1420 Emerson St. — six blocks from the Avenue Theater at 417 E. 17th Ave.
“It’s an unfortunate situation but completely innocent,” said Stephen Paulding, who co-founded Presteve with Preston Lee Britton to help fill the void in gay theater programming in Denver.
“We never would have done this had we known they were planning it too, but we didn’t. Still, we feel the Denver theater community is big enough for both, and we are talking with the Avenue about ways that we can help each other.”
Says the Avenue’s Bob Wells: “We’ve accepted the situation.”
Choose your convent: Presteve at 720-838-5176 or the Avenue at 303-321-5925.
victorian playhouse auction
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Photos from the auction of Victorian Playhouse furnishings and contents April 23, 2011. Photos by John Moore, The Denver Post. To read more about the auction, .
Can a 2003 ruling save the Vic?
Pat Mahoney, retired producer of the Rivertree Theatre, has made it his quest to keep the Victorian Playhouse, which has operated out of the basement of a northwest Denver home for a century, from being converted back into a residential basement by its new owner. And he thinks he has reason for hope.
Mahoney is citing a 2003 city ruling that confirmed the property’s use as a theater, which states: “The land use will remain the same. The basement will hold the theatre, with the upper floors being used for theatre support. Any change in the character or the uses allowed would require a new re-zoning.”
Mahoney is hoping that the new buyer’s sale contingency that seller Wade Wood remove the theater seating and lighting before closing May 3, would require both legal permits and a zoning change. Without them, he argues, Wood must leave the theater alone.
This week’s Best Bet: “9 to 5”
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The national touring production of “9 to 5” is the Broadway musical adaptation of the iconic 1980 girl-power film about three fed-up office workers who take out their revenge on a misogynistic boss. No Dolly Parton in Denver, but you will still hear 18 new songs she wrote for the stage reinvention. Taking Parton’s place in the lofty annals of buxomdom is “American Idol” runner-up Diane DeGarmo, pictured. The musical opens Tuesday, April 26, and plays at 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through May 8 at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. $20-$105. 303-893-4100 or 800-641-1222, at all King Soopers or .
This week’s audio podcast: Jesse Johnson of “9 to 5”
In this week’s audio podcast, , who returns to Denver next week to play the son of Violet, among others, in the national touring production of “9 to 5,” playing April 26-May 8 at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Info: 303-893-4100 or . Running time: 8 minutes. To listen to their conversation, .
This week’s theater openings
Opening Tuesday, April 26, through May 8: National touring production of “9 to 5,” at the Buell Theatre
Opening Tuesday, April 26, through May 22: Arvada Center’s “The Lady With All the Answers,” in the studio theater
Opening Thursday, April 28, through June 25: Adams Mystery Playhouse’s Murder in Dead Man’s Gulch”
Opening Friday, April 29, through May 22: Spark Theatre’s “Dangerous Liaisons”
Opening Friday, April 29, through May 22: Cherry Creek Theatre’s “Side by Side by Sondheim”
Opening Friday, April 29, through May 15: Performance Now’s “The Music Man” Lakewood
Opening Friday, April 29, through May 21: Theatre Company of Lafayette’s “Inherit the Wind”
Opening Friday, April 29, through July 10: Jesters Dinner Theatre’s “Carousel” Longmont
Opening Saturday, April 30, through May 28: The Avenue’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
This week’s theater closings
Today, April 24: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Fiction” Golden
Saturday, April 30: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Ruined,” at the Ricketson Theatre
Saturday, April 30: Dangerous Theatre’s “Black Stockings”
Saturday, April 30: Afterthought’s “Waiting to Be Invited” Aurora
Saturday, April 30: Buntport Theater’s “Trunks” (children’s serial)
Sunday, May 1: Gravity Defied’s “Seussical, the Musical,” at the Aurora Fox
Sunday, May 1: Vintage Theatre’s “The Dixie Swim Club” Pueblo
Sunday, May 1: CenterStage Theatre Company’s “The Sound of Music” Louisville
Most recent theater openings
“An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf” On a hot July night in 1961, this “comic tragedy in seven courses” celebrates the joys of food, sex, bullfighting and the collected works of Ernest Hemingway. Through May 7. Presented by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or
“Hell Bent on the Tent” This original work by the Vaudeville Tycoon takes place in the early 1900s at Ambrose E. Bigtop’s Three Ring Circus. The show mixes classic elements of vaudeville and melodrama, and sprinkles pop-culture references spanning through today. Through May 8. At Theatre ‘D Art, 128 N. Nevada St., Colorado Springs, 719-357-8321
“Howl” This new theatrical adaptation of Allen Ginsberg’s seminal 1956 poem is not homage: It’s described as a real-time portal into the visions, omens, hallucinations, miracles and ecstasies of America then and now. Through May 6. Presented by Square Product Theatre at the Wesley Chapel, 1290 Folsom St., Boulder, 303-442- 0234 or
“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” This touring comedy, which mixes music, spoken-word and burlesque, and features rotating performers from Comedy Central. It’s “Fear Factor” for Jews although, we’re told, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love these broads.” Through Sunday. Saturday at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret, 16th and Arapahoe streets, 303- 293-0075 or ; Sunday at Avogadro’s Number restaurant, 605 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970- 493-5555 or .
“The Seagull” Anton Chekhov’s classic play, which is said to have launched modern theater, offers turn-of-the-last-century Russian characters at a lakeside estate who are all hopelessly in love, mostly with the wrong person. Through May 8. Presented by TheatreWorks at the Bon Vivant Theater, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Colorado Springs, 719-255-3232 or
“The Sound of Music” Classic musical about the young nun who leaves her convent to serve as governess to a widower’s seven mischievous “Do-Re-Mi”-singing children. Through May 1. CenterStage Theatre Company at the Louisville Middle School, 1341 Main St., 303-673-0744 or center
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:
