A busy weekend of live theater openings ranges from Boulder Ensemble’s “Shipwrecked” to Springs Ensemble Theatre’s hard-hitting nuclear-testing drama “The Land Southward” to Performance Now’s “High Society.” Check them all here:
Telluride Theatre’s “Alice Underground”
Opening Tuesday, Feb. 7, through Friday, Feb. 10: In this new play by Colin Sullivan, don’t expect Wonderland as you know it. The story follows Charles Dodgeson down the rabbit hole, where he becomes author Lewis Caroll. Original music by Ehren Borg and Sam Burgess.
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday
Palm Theater, 721 W. Colorado Ave., Telluride, 917-623-7504 or
Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 25: This family friendly regional premiere by Donald Margulies (“Dinner with Friends”) is subtitled, “The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself).” The adventurous de Rougemont invites you to hear his amazing story of bravery, survival and celebrity that left 19th-century England spellbound. Featuring tempests and battles, pearl divers and sea turtles (and a bit with a dog), “Shipwrecked” examines how far we’re willing to blur the line between fact and fiction in order to leave our mark on the world. Suitable for ages 6 and up. Children age 4 and older are welcome at a special family matinee at 10:30 a.m. on Feb 25.
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; plus 4 p.m. Sundays and 10:30 a.m. Feb. 25.
Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or
Germinal Stage-Denver’s “Entertaining Mr. Sloane”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through March 18: In this British comedy by Joe Orton, a blowsy landlady and her sexually repressed brother seduce a seemingly hapless young man into their sexual company, each for six months of every year, and with hilarious consequences.
By the late author of “Loot” and “What the Butler Saw.”
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays.
2450 W. 44th Ave., 303-455-7108 or and here’s a remarkable new news story in which
Performance Now’s “High Society”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 26: In this delightful romantic comedy based on “The Philadelphia Story,” set in 1938 and set to the music of Cole Porter, tells of Tracy Lord’s ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven, who refuses to let her marry the bland George Kittredge as planned. Two reporters who arrive to cover the wedding find much more than they’d anticipated among this niche of high society. Songs include “True Love,” “I Love Paris,” “Just One of Those Things” and “Let’s Misbehave.” This is Performance Now’s 10th anniversary season and “High Society” was the first musical that late founder Nancy Goodwin directed for the company at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Five original cast members have returned.
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, 303-987-7845 7845 or
Arvada Festival Playhouse’s “A Gentleman and Scoundrel”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 19: In this comedy by Jack Sharkey, a young products analyst named Fred Dickson is in a financial bind that even his boss (and sometimes sweetheart) Jenny Corell can’t solve for him. Unable to get raise in pay, Fred hits on the scheme of hiring on at the office in the guise of Texan “Rick Laredo,” so that (as his own assistant) he can get two salaries for one job. Complications arise when Jenny proceeds to fall head-over-heels in love with “Rick,” leaving Fred as his own love-rival. Things grow more complicated when the company’s credit-check investigator discovers that Fred is banking double what he actually earns.
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays.
5665 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., 303-422-4090 or
Thingamajig’s “Love Letters”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Tuesday, Feb. 14: A.R. Gurney’s popular Valentine’s Day play covers a lifetime of correspondence between a man and a woman. It chronicles their lives from the time they are learning to write, until one dies.
Showtimes: 6 p.m. Friday and Tuesday; 7 p.m. Saturday and Monday; 2 p.m. Sunday.
2313 Eagle Drive, Pagosa Springs, 970-731-7469 or
Springs Ensemble Theatre’s “The Land Southward”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 26: Throughout the 1950s, the United States government conducted above-ground nuclear testing on Nevada’s soil, and aimed the fallout directly toward rural Southern Utah. The “downwind” syndrome was born. Darcy Hogan’s non-linear play looks at the fallout, spanning 40 years of science, propaganda, cover-ups, and even puppets. Some adult language and situations.
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 5 p.m. Sundays
1903 E. Cache La Poudre, Colorado Springs, 719-447-1646 or
Windsor Community Playhouse’s “Murder is Par for the Course”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 18: Windsor Community Playhouse’s annual murder mystery dinner theater offering tells the story of the murder of a big shot named Holin Wunn, who was poisoned at the local celebrity golf tournament. Was it his ex-girlfriend, his arch-nemesis or his caddie? The audience will question the suspects and decide the murderer.
Showtimes: Doors open for dinner at 6:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1:45 p.m. on Sunday
561 E. Garden Drive, Unit A, Windsor, 970-674-1790 or windsor’s home page
Millibo Art Theatre’s “Babette’s Night of Amore”
Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11, only: The irrepressible Babette hosts a cabaret of “extended family” given to song, dance and all things romantic. Tickets include champagne, chocolate, wine and decadent desserts dispensed with Babette’s priceless love advice.
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs, 719-685-4729 or
Planet X Players’ “Beast of Babylon”
Opening Friday, Feb. 10, through Feb. 18: Follow the emerging Hero of Gutian on his quest to rescue the king’s daughter from the evil clutches of a rival lord in this swashbuckling tale of action and adventure performed to the live percussive rhythms of the War Ensemble band. Set in the cradle of civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates fertile crescent, “Beast of Babylon” blends mythology, traditional heroic epic,and Hollywood camp in a tale of blood, blades, babes and beasts.
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
At the Bug Theater, 3654 Navajo St., Denver, 303-477-5977, or
Devil’s Thumb’s “The Shape of Things”
Opening Saturday, Feb. 11, through Feb. 25: How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? Which price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil Labute here. A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friends’ engagement crumbles, so unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships, exposing the raw meat and gristle that lie beneath.
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 8 p.m. Feb. 14
At the Wesley Chapel, 1290 Folsom St., Boulder, 303-506-5868 or
Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Rumors”
Opening Saturday, Feb. 11, through March 25: Neil Simon farce in which four couples arrive at a swank New York City anniversary party – but the host has been shot and his wife is missing. The escalating cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Showtimes: 7:45 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 1:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner 75 minutes before)
802 9th Ave., Greeley, 970-352-2900 or
Stories on Stage’s “No Such Thing as Supply and Demand”
Saturday, Feb. 11, and Sunday, Feb. 12: This ongoing series features themed programs in which excerpts of short stories and essays are read. This time: A fierce and funny look at the different ways we all deal with money, and the different ways money deals with all of us. The stories: “How to Lay Off Your Kids,” by Carina Chocano, and “Catalogue Sales,” by Molly McNett, both read by Morgan Hallett; “My Hard Bargain,” by Walter Kirn, read by Chip Persons; and “The Landlord,” by Wells Tower, read by Leonard Barrett.
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Saturday (at the Dairy Center, Boulder); 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday (at Su Teatro’s Denver Civic Theatre)
At the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder (Saturday), and at Su Teatro’s Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive, Denver (Sunday), 303-494-0523 or
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Compiled by John Moore, Special to The Denver Post
