Theater Review: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf

AfterThought Theatre Company
at Dayton Street Theatre, 1648 Dayton St., Aurora

Plays through Aug. 6
Fri. & Sat., 7:30pm, Sun. 5:30pm
Tickets online or at 303-856-3797

When I think back to the wonderful production of FOR COLORED GIRLS . . . , a lot of "S" words come to mind: sinuous, sexy, slithering, sophisticated, scintillating. Seven beautiful African-American women take the stage confidentally and speak the words that make Ntozake Shange's poetry come to life. They walk the walk, tell the stories, dance the dance, and live the life of Shange's women. In their slinky (another "S" word) black gowns, each adorned with an identifying color accessory, they explore the world of the contemporary black woman. Although the show was written in 1975 and originally performed on Broadway in 1977, its stories and emotions are as real today as they were 35 years ago.

The amazing ensemble consists of Juannean Young (Orange), Ebony Booth (Red), Devonne-Lee (Purple), Stephanie Hancock (Brown), Kenya Pollard (Green) and Joi Phillips-Daniels (Blue), with Renelda Snell, the artistic direcor of Afterthoughts, as the Lady in Yellow. They work together like a finely tuned machine, supporting one other in the telling of the stories, and sharing the moments of each woman's experience. There are short poems and longer essays; there are stories set to music and stories set to the stark color of life. There are funny stories about losing your virginity in the back seat of a car, and finding a playmate that has the same name as your hero, Toussaint. There are poems about strength—like the woman who chastises her man for walking off with all her “stuff” and how she wants her personal “stuff” back so she can continue life as a free, independent sister. And the group poem about women who are tired of hearing “Sorry” from their men. And the heartbreaking story of "A Nite with Beau Willie Brown," a tale of extreme spousal abuse that comes to a tragic end. From beginning to end, it's a stupendous, shattering evening (see what I mean? More “S's”).

This show has a very short run, so you've only got two more weekends to catch it. For all you Boulderites, it's worth the drive, and one of the best Mexican restaurants in town—La Cueva—is across the alley. Make a date night of it!

A wow factor of 8 1/2 for COLORED GIRLS!

"Imitation of Wife" ENCORE performance for the Boulder County AIDS Project

“Gender Illusion Technician” brings her “one-woman” show back, by popular demand, on January 21 & 22, 2011 to benefit the Boulder County AIDS Project.

Gender Illusion Technician, Jeffrey A. Kash (aka “Ms. Eda Bagel”) returns to the Dairy Center for the Arts for two performances of “Imitation of Wife.” Kash splices together film dialogue, show tunes and comedy routines – drawing heavily from sources from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s – to tell the story of Eda Bagel, a repressed housewife with no domestic skills. Kash’s lip-synching is spot-on, with facial expressions used to great comic effect.

The encore performance (which sold out in November, 2010) will benefit the Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP), helping to fund the agency’s crucial services related to HIV/AIDS relief, educational & advocacy efforts.

WHEN: Friday, January 21 and Saturday, January 22. Show begins at 7:30 pm.

WHERE: Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO

TICKETS: $20 (+ service fees) with proceeds to benefit Boulder County AIDS Project, available at the Dairy Box Office, or by calling (303) 444-7328. Ages 18+.

Enjoy this video preview!

Psychosis: The Musical

By Rebecca Jessup

NEXT TO NORMAL

A rock musical, winner of Pulitzer and Tony awards, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, starring Alice Ripley, Asa Somer, Curt Handsen, Emma Hunton and Preston Sadleir; directed by Michael Greif. Through Jan. 16 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 950 13th St., Denver, CO 80204 Performances: Tues-Sat 8pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm & 6:30pm Run time: 2 hours 20 minutes, with one intermission

“Next to Normal” is a musical that takes on challenging and difficult subjects, including the kind of family trauma and toxicity that can trigger mental illness, and the destruction that mental illness can trigger within a family, as well as the toxins that our society uses to treat mental illness. If there is a central theme here, it might be illness, or poison. These are not topics that fit easily into the format of a musical, and the cast and crew expend enormous energy in trying to make it work. The score varies from songs of humor, hope and wit to dark, rattling and discordant hard-rock numbers. The rock songs often contain a dissonance that underscores the dark and deep emotions at play in the plot. It takes courage and strength to tackle this material on stage, in this format; the effort is laudable, but not always entirely successful.

So much of the play is sung that it borders on being a rock opera, and the cast is so small that each character carries a great deal of the weight of the entire show. Every role is a challenge, and every actor brings considerable strengths. The central character, Diana Goodman, is portrayed by Alice Ripley, who won the 2009 Tony for Best Actress for her performance of this role on Broadway. She brings great emotional vigor to the role, as well physical grace, agility and strength. Diana’s loyal and long-suffering husband is played by Asa Somers, her daughter Natalie by Emma Hunton, Natalie’s boyfriend by Preston Sadleir, Diana’s psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist by Jeremy Kushnier, and her somewhat mysterious son by Curt Hansen, who moves with the speed and menace of a panther. Ripley’s singing can be problematic; she slides onto notes with an odd vibrato, and slips into distracting pronunciations that make lyrics more difficult to understand (e.g., the words “in my soul” sound like “in my sewel”).

The high-tech single set is intelligently designed, often representing the traditional floor plan of the family house, upstairs and down, but shifting to signify a doctor’s office, a mental hospital, or even the distance between the mentally ill character and her delusions.

The six musicians are on stage facing the audience, rather than in the pit, and the volume of their electrified instruments is often enough to drown out the actors’ voices. The program warns that “strobe lights are used in this production,” and the final musical number, “Let There Be Light,” is punctuated none too subtly by a mercifully brief use of the blinding lights. Since the central material of the plot is dark and uncertain of resolution, this upbeat last song feels illogical, even manipulative. “Next to Normal” has the courage to present deeply unsettling thematic material – but heaven forbid that anyone should leave the theater on a down note!

Rebecca Jessup, a Latin teacher and freelance writer, contributes regularly to GetBoulder.com and Boulder Magazine.

“For I am bound, as on a wheel of fire….”

"King Lear perplexes and awes—and in some weird way delights as well. Perhaps it’s the line after line of unmatched poetry, or perhaps the sheer universality of its themes. For anyone who has children, or who has cared for a once powerful parent, the play reverberates with meaning."

Photo courtesy Colorado Shakespeare Festival

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) opens its summer season tonight with King Lear, hailed by many as the greatest play in the English language. Performances are in the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the University of Colorado at Boulder’s campus.

Director Lynne Collins has chosen to set Lear in the American West, turn of the century, in a world dominated by powerful, masculine men, who had made it big in timber, mining, and landholdings the size of an entire country. In this setting, as the most powerful of them all, Lear is truly a king.

In a first portentous scene, the still powerful but aging Lear (John Hutton) calls together his court to divide his kingdom among his three daughters: Goneril (Karyn Casl), Regan (Karen Slack), and Cordelia (Jamie Ann Romero). Asked to prove their love with words, the two elder daughters make fulsome declarations. But the youngest, Cordelia, is honest and reticent. (“I cannot heave my heart into my mouth.”) She refuses to say anything more than that she loves her father “according to my bond,” i.e., as a daughter should love her father. Infuriated, Lear disinherits Cordelia and she leaves with her suitor, the Duke of Burgundy (Benjamin Bonenfant), who recognizes her worth and values her for herself alone. Lear declares that he will divide his time between the households of Goneril and Regan—and that fateful decision sparks the fearful events which follow.

Only nine performances of Lear will be given: July 1 (Preview), 2 (Opening Night), 3, 20, 21, 29, 30 and August 7 and 8. Early (6:30 pm) and later (8:00 pm) curtain times are available. See calendar at www.coloradoshakes.org for times.

TICKETS

Adult tickets range from $18 - $54, with youth (ages 13 – 17) at $20 and kids (ages 5 – 12) priced at only $10 for Orchestra section seating. Purchase tickets online at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival website, by calling the box office at 303-492-0554.

Tickets may also be purchased at the CSF Box Office on the garden level of the Theatre & Dance Building, University of Colorado at Boulder, 10am-6pm Tuesday-Friday and Noon to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. CSF’s production of King Lear is sponsored by the law firm of Faegre & Benson.

Note that The Fantasticks also opens July 2 at the University Theatre on the CU Boulder campus. Read about all of this season's plays on the Colorado Shakespeare Festival website.

TELL US ABOUT IT

Did you see Lear's Preview performance July 1? Tell us and our Readers about it. Submit your comments below.

BETC's THE CLEAN HOUSE earns 3 1/2 stars from the Daily Camera!

The Clean House
Boulder Ensemble Theater Company
At Dairy Center for the Arts
2590 Walnut Street, Boulder

Through April 17
Thursday-Saturday: 7:30pm
Sunday: 4pm

Audiences are in love with The Clean House! This beautifully funny play about forgiveness, second chances and rebirth is the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of spring. Come fall in love tonight! Now through April 17.

"The Clean House is a treasure of a play. Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company's production is filled with jewels." -Daily Camera

Read the full REVIEW!

Make it a complete evening out and enjoy a post-show drink at Baker Street Pub Grill, just around the corner. Every attendee receives a FREE BEVERAGE voucher!

Click here to BUY TICKETS

Watch the YouTube video:




The Clean House is presented through a generous gift from Producing Partners Mike and Diana Kinsey and funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

*****

BETC's 2010-2011 season:

DOUBT, A PARABLE
by John Patrick Shanley
Sept. 30 - Oct. 23, 2010

THE SANTALAND DIARIES
by David Sedaris
adapted by Joe Mantello
Dec. 1 - 23, 2010

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
adapted by Marilyn Campbell Curt Columbus from the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A regional premiere!
Feb. 17 - March 5, 2011

AN EMPTY PLATE IN
THE CAFE DU GRAND BOEUF
by Michael Hollinger
A regional premiere!
April 21 - May 7, 2011

CU Theatre Presents: CABARET, THE MUSICAL

University Theatre
April 8-10 & April 14-17 at 7:30pm
Matinee: April 8 at 2:00pm

Book: Joe Masteroff
Composer: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb

John Kander and Fred Ebb’s legendary musical turns 1931 Berlin into a dark and sexually charged haven of decadence during a time when political unrest racks the country, the economy has been destroyed, and millions of unemployed roam the streets. Cabaret opened on Broadway in 1966 and won eight Tony Awards.

Young American writer Clifford Bradshaw moves to Berlin and falls in love with 19-year-old English performer Sally Bowles at the sleazy Kit Kat Klub. As his writing progresses so does the chaos in the world around them, and he discovers the dark side of human nature through Sally’s callousness, the debauchery of the seedy cabaret, and glimpses of the impending horrors of Nazi Germany.

Cabaret is for Mature Audiences only.

High School Students: $5
General Public: $17
Seniors: $15
Box Office:
On-Line Tix: http://www.cutheatre.org

Theater Review: Eventide

Their Town

By Rebecca Jessup

Mark Twain wrote in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, “When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop—that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.” Eventide is about juveniles, adults and a community; it starts, continues and stops where it best can. Like real life, it is not entirely tidy, and not all issues are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.


Eventide, adapted from the novel by Kent Haruf, continues the stories of several characters from the author’s earlier work, Plainsong, and is set in the same place—Holt, a fictional small town on the eastern plains of Colorado. The main two characters in the opening scene are the McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond, senior citizens who live on their cattle ranch with a young woman named Victoria and her very young daughter. Victoria occupies the position of a daughter to the two brothers, although she is not related by blood. Their nearest neighbor is a mile and a half away. Neither of the brothers has ever married, or lived anywhere else than the ranch that was homesteaded by their grandparents, but they encourage Victoria to go off to college in Fort Collins.

The voices, speech patterns and dialogue, especially of the two brothers, are brilliantly authentic. The life of a small farming and ranching town is duplicated in the spare scenery and furniture, the costumes, the painted backdrop, and the rat-a-tat patter of a cattle auctioneer, the whine of country music at a dance in the Legion hall. The profound connection of the two brothers is immediately evident, even to someone unfamiliar with Haruf’s novels. The haunting music by Gary Grundei evokes the West. The action is drawn forward by cast members who stand on the stage but not in the scene and narrate, like the narrator in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Their voices add to the impression of small-town life, of events flowing through and connecting the lives of the people. Because the Stage Theatre is in the round, characters enter and exit by walking down the aisles past the audience, enhancing the sense of immediacy.



The play revolves around the precariousness of life and the struggles of a small community in the vast, flat land. Harold dies, and Raymond grieves and adjusts with the help of Victoria and two friends, Tom and Maggie. Other residents of the town include Luther and Betty June Wallace, a good-hearted but mentally challenged couple who are ultimately unable to protect their two beloved children from Hoyt Raines, the most menacing presence in the town. Other characters include Betty June’s older daughter, who has run away from foster care; Rose Tyler, a kind and intelligent social worker who helps the Wallaces; Linda Mae, a nurse who has lived in Holt for less than a year, and who makes a falsely positive first impression; and DJ Kephart, a hyper-responsible 11-year-old orphan who takes care of his sickly grandfather. DJ does his homework in the local bar, watched over by the barmaid, when his grandfather has cashed his monthly check.

The lives of these people and families touch or fail to touch, intertwine, and sometimes unravel in truthful and affecting ways. In the end, some things resolve and some do not; some glad things come to pass, and some sad ones. We come to care about these people, and we leave them as best we can.

• The Denver Center Theatre Company’s Eventide, by Eric Schmiedl, based on the novel by Kent Haruf, directed by Kent Thompson. Starring Philip Pleasants and Mike Hartman as Harold and Raymond McPheron, David Ivers and Leslie O’Carroll as Luther and Betty June Wallace, William Zilinski as Hoyt Raines, Lauren Klein as Rose Tyler, and Augustus Lane Filholm as DJ Kephart. Through Feb. 27 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Rebecca Jessup (jessupr@comcast.net) is a freelance writer and Latin teacher.

Tickled Pink

By Rebecca Jessup

Legally Blonde, the hit Broadway musical now playing at the Buell Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, is an exuberant, hilarious funfest. The story follows the film starring Reese Witherspoon in its broad outline, although not in all details.



A Malibu Barbie/Valley Girl named Elle Woods, supported by her stereotypically cute sorority sisters, is preparing for her imminent engagement to Warner Huntington III in the opening number, “Omigod You Guys!” Elle is devastated when her Ken-doll guy not only fails to propose but actually breaks up with her. It seems he has ambitious plans that don’t include a fashionista mall surfer, and he’s off to Harvard Law School.

Elle, who is nothing if not plucky, comes up with the brilliant solution: She’ll follow him to Harvard! She crams and gets in, in an absurdly improbable scene with the admissions committee. After sashaying into her first class in a giddy haze of pink, she gets her first-ever leash correction: She’s humiliated and kicked out of class by the villain of the piece, a Harvard law professor named Callahan, portrayed in all his oily glory by Ken Land, supported by super-WASP Vivienne (Megan Lewis), Warner’s new girlfriend. Elle comes close to failing, and is turned around by recent graduate and professor’s assistant Emmett (D.B. Bonds) in the song “Chip on My Shoulder” (“But with the chance you've been given / Why are you not driven as hell?”) By the end, Elle has grown from the bouncy “Omigod” teeny-bopper of the opening number to an older, wiser but still effervescent version of herself, and she transforms that OMG into a heartfelt “Oh, my God.”

Paulette the hairdresser, winningly played by Natalie Joy Johnson, is the new advisor and friend Elle meets at a beauty salon in Boston. Ven Daniel plays the UPS man, Kyle, who has a package for Paulette. Colleen Sexton plays Brooke Wyndham, the intimidatingly fit workout-industry diva who hires Callahan and his young assistants to defend her in a high-profile murder case. Elle is backed up regularly by her Delta Nu sorority sisters, who become a “Greek chorus” inside her head when she moves from Malibu to Harvard.

The Buell was packed even on a Tuesday night, with hardly an empty seat. The crowd was rewarded with two hours of airtight performances, wonderful dancing, music and lyrics, and an intelligent script that makes fun of, among other things, blondes who have more fun, New Age music, lawyers, seduction, and American provincialism (“Is he gay or European?”). The strong voices of the cast were backed up by a tiny but well-amplified pit band. The scenery changed often, swiftly, with seamless choreography and stage direction that made it all look easy and inevitable.

Becky Gulsvig, as Elle, pumps the part full of all the passion and emerging compassion, heart, guts and strength that make Elle an appealing character. Her singing is strong and true, although overshadowed slightly at the very end by Vivienne’s. There’s nary a weak line or a false note in the show. Even Elle’s chihuahua mix and Paulette’s bulldog turned in flawless performances—but this show is such a powerhouse that the dogs just can’t steal it.

Rebecca Jessup (jessupr@comcast.net) is a freelance writer and Latin teacher.

---

Legally Blonde the Musical, presented by Denver Center Attractions, runs through Feb. 14. For ticket information visit www.denvercenter.org or call 303-893-4100.
Director/choreographer, Jerry Mitchell; lyrics and music, Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe; book, CU-Boulder grad Heather Hach; music director/conductor, James Sampliner.

Hitching Post Theater: A Play in a Day - TODAY!

Love the theater but short on time? Then you’ll love the play-in-a-day concept recently launched in Boulder by Erin Kelly and Jesse McDonald. As the Hitching Post motto states, "If you love organic, edgy and uninhibited entertainment, then you've got to come and experience Hitching Post Theater."

The idea started in 2004 in Los Angeles, but when Kelly and McDonald moved their company, Rock Rose Entertainment, to Boulder in fall 2009, they were eager to get their feet wet in Colorado’s entertainment industry, and Hitching Post was born.

The concept is simple: At 9 a.m. five writers randomly choose two actors from their headshots. Producers unveil the theme of the day. The writers have until 1 p.m. to draft short plays of seven to 10 pages for their two actors. At 1 p.m. the producers collect the scripts and rush them to the waiting actors and directors. The first performance is at 7 p.m.

Hitching Post Theater opened Oct. 11 and produced plays Nov. 8 and Dec. 13, when more than 130 people attended the two shows. Each month features new themes and new artists. Performances are on the second Sunday of the month. January's productions are today, January 10 at 7 and 8:30pm.

Nobody gets paid, but “you get your play produced for you, you are given a stage on which to create. With the investment of one day, your work is showcased. The artist gets a chance to work and test their craft,” Kelly says.

The plays are currently produced at the Kelly Barn, 1360 Sumac Ave., but Kelly and McDonald plan to move them to the Nomad Theatre later in 2010. For more information or tickets, visit Rock Rose’s website. You can also become a fan on Facebook.
—Kay Turnbaugh

Pictured: Katie B. Jarvis in the opening performance. Photo by Kimberly Wyatt

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre through Nov. 7. Music and lyrics by William Finn. Book by Rachel Sheinkin.
Directed and choreographed by Alicia Dunfee.
Based on C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, an original play by The Farm.

By Rebecca Jessup

Nerds, unite! Geeks and eggheads, welcome! This musical brings all our most painful pre-teen (and teenage) moments to life with clarity, humor, and just the right combination of affection and horror. If we weren’t laughing and tapping our toes, we’d be sobbing. The New York Times aptly called this show “A Chorus Line with pimples.”

The contestants in the Putnam County Spelling Bee are middle-schoolers played vividly by adults, who are challenged to spell words like “chimerical,” “hasenpfeffer” and “crepuscule.” (At each performance, a couple of volunteer audience members are brought onstage to play spellers who don’t make the final cut.) The six key students are academic overachievers whose social insecurities and ineptitudes are palpable.

As in A Chorus Line, each contestant gets the spotlight long enough to explain his or her particular psychic pain. Olive (Alicia Dunfee) has a mother who has effectively abandoned her and a father who doesn’t show up for the bee, and her best friend is the dictionary. Leaf (Matthew Peters) comes from a family of hippies, makes his own clothes, has arrived in the contest by default, and doubts that he’s smart. Billy Barfee (Scott Beyette) is the nerdiest of the bunch, the greatest overachiever and the most maladroit in relating to others. Chip (Bryan Jackson) is the previous year’s winner, on whom puberty has landed like a cartoon safe falling from the sky. Marcy Park (Anna Hanson) is a parochial-school automaton who speaks six languages, plays piano and violin, and is pained to hear herself described as “all business.” Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Mary McGroary), the youngest, suffers from severe anxiety covered by a wide smile; While her two fathers fuss over her, she speculates as to who and where her mother is, and whether they’ll ever meet.

The spellers are ushered through the competition by three adults: Rona Peretti (Shelly Cox-Robie), the one-time champion who has run the bee for years; Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Wayne Kennedy), the pronouncer; and “comfort counselor” Mitch Mahoney (Leonard Barrett), who hands out hugs and juice boxes to the losers.

As the characters make their way through the spelling bee, they recognize and protest the inherent unfairness of the contest (as in the song “Pandomonium”), and each character is personally tested and challenged. Only one takes the champion’s cup, but none leaves without some transformation. The audience may not notice the lessons for the laughter.

The stage set effectively evokes a high school gym. The costumes are witty and successful illustrations of the characters. All the voices and performances are strong and true, a testament to the talents of the cast, as well as the direction. Overall, the show is completely winning.

Rebecca Jessup (jessupr @ comcast.net) is a Latin teacher and freelance writer.

Fringe Buzz: Last Day to Fringe It Up!

Today is your last day to Fringe–make the most of it! We've had our ear to the ground and have some staff recommendations from the Fringe buzz. If you plan it right, you can catch at least six shows today!

Death Wore Elevator Shoes, 2:30pm, FUMC Labyrinth (First United Methodist Church), 1421 Spruce St.
The Secret Lives of the Divine, 4pm, BMoCA, 1750 13th St.
Gregg Tobo's Astonishing Magic Show, 4:30pm, FUMC Labyrinth (First United Methodist Church), 1421 Spruce St.
A Murder One Less, 5:30pm, BMoCA, 1750 13th St.
Like a Virgin, 6pm, CU Museum of Natural History, Henderson Building, CU Campus
Light As Air, Heavy As Sound, 7pm, Naropa PAC, 2130 Arapahoe Ave.
Bonne Nuit Poo Poo, 7pm, Community Dance Collective 2020 21st St, Unit B
Evolution of Soul 685, 8:30pm, Naropa PAC, 2130 Arapahoe Ave.
The Last Straight Man in the Theatre, 8:30pm, BMoCA, 1750 13th St.
Good Girls Don't, But I Do, 10pm, BMoCA, 1750 13th St.

Check out the Fringe website for more shows with their final runs today and tomorrow. Plus, don't miss Fringe Encore! featuring the best-selling show in each venue.

Boulder International Fringe Festival
Through August 24
www.BoulderFringe.com
Box Office: 720-563-9950

“futureLOVER” with French artist, Ben Evans at BMoCA, Friday, August 7

Friday, August 7, 7pm
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
1750 13th Street, Boulder
$5 for non-members and free entry to all BMoCA members

“futureLOVER is a performance about the exploration of a modern man: fragile, vulgar, nostalgic. It is a dance of objects and memory, confession and solitude…events in search of masculine codes that are rarely found. Make your own. DIY.”

In describing his work French artist, Ben Evans, states:

“My work situates itself between performance and installation. I call it performance because it is not easily defined as theater nor simply labeled as dance. Collaborative by nature, I seek to work alongside other artists, and am deeply influenced by other mediums, notably architecture, sculpture, and photography. A recurrent theme in my work is a search for the incorporation and co-operation of these mediums. In this way, there often exists a direct rapport with the space in which I perform (oftentimes a non-theatrical venue) and the architecture and objects therein. The process of making work fascinates me, and so the personal experience of being in this process often finds its way into the performance itself. While I don’t always focus on identity as a theme, inevitably the work is often emotional and tends to reflect a certain sense of self, and a quiet experience of the live moment.”

The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is a dynamic venue dedicated to the presentation of significant art of our time. Through an innovative program of regional, national and international exhibition and performance, the museum inspires and educates its community and visitors from around the world to explore the forefront and evolution of contemporary art.

The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 1750 13th Street in downtown Boulder, Colorado. The museum’s summer hours (through October) are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 11am to 5pm; Wednesday, 11am to 8pm; Saturday, 9am to 4pm; Sunday, noon to 3pm; closed Monday. Regular museum admission is $4 for adults; $3 for students, seniors, and educators. Free admission to the museum is offered to members, children under 12, and during the Boulder County Farmers’ Market—Saturdays from 9am-4:00pm and Wednesdays from 4:00-8:00pm—generously sponsored by CHASE and Xcel Energy.

Kirsten Gerdes Stoltz
Associate Curator
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art

Vox Feminista's "Money" is a bargain of a show

Vox Feminista, Colorado’s premier radical theater troupe, addresses such timely topics as ecological capitalism, poverty and feminism, prison labor, Pentagon spending, corporate greenwashing, lobbying, health care, banking and how we count in their spring production MONEY opening tonight at the Nomad.

Through poetry, drama, comedy, video, and song, Vox examines the tragedy of the market and the counter forces we’ll need in order to heal.

"As the impossible bubble economy bursts like fireworks all around us, Vox Feminista ponders the subject of MONEY - money and meaning, the meaning of money. How do we measure well-being in a state of imperial decline and denial? How do we redefine “national security” and “terrorism”? What should we do with a system that teaches us to destroy our only habitat? Can we awaken humanity’s sleeping heart? Because, now we know: what’s for sale in America is our welfare. Homo Economicus staggers forward. Hopefully, we’ll find the will to use this crisis as an opportunity to enlarge a harvest of real democracy and learn to share."

SHOW DATES:
Fri. Mar. 27 & Sat. Mar. 28 - Nomad Theatre, 1410 Quince, Boulder
Sat. Apr. 4, 11 & 18 - Mercury Café, 2199 California, Denver
Fri. Apr.24, - Jamestown Town Hall
Fri. May 1 - the b.side lounge, 2017 13th St., Boulder (21 and over)
Sat. May 2 - Mercury Café, Denver
Fri. May 8 & Sat. May 9 - Nomad Theatre, Boulder
Sat. May 16 - Avo's, 605 S. Mason, Ft. Collins

All shows 8 PM
Admission at the door
$12-$30 sliding scale

CONTINUE THE DIALOGUE. COMMENT BELOW!

For other events happening in Boulder County this weekend, visit our Online Events Calendar.

Boulder Area Theater Highlights

The University of Colorado Department of Theater and Dance spring semester's production of “The Awakening of Spring” continues tonight through this weekend at the University Theatre, Mainstage. A tragedy of adolescence, “The Awakening of Spring” is a searing indictment of Victorian prudishness where well-meaning parents and teachers silence all discussion of sexuality with the teens in their care. Teenagers move from desire, idealism and exploration to unwanted sex, abortion, suicide and despair as they make the complicated, thrilling, frightening and confusing transition from childhood to adulthood without the adult guidance they so desperately need. Note that “The Awakening of Spring” is for mature audiences. March 11-14 at 7:30pm, March 15 at 2pm.

If you're looking for something lighter, Buntport Theater Company presents "Seal. Stamp. Send. Bang." which tells the story of four people and how the post office happens to connect them in surprising ways. It's an all-original musical with a Buntport twist, one that promises you'll never look at mail the same way! March 12-14 at 8pm. Check the website for additional dates and times through April 4.

Join the discussion! Post your reviews of these shows below in the Comments section, or let us know about other great productions.

Looking for more fun stuff to do in Boulder? Visit our online Boulder Events Calendar.

Regional Premiere of HANDLER opens January 29

In the rural South, present day, Geordi has just been released from prison. He and his wife, Terri, a member of the Holiness Way Church, struggle to re-build their marriage after several years of separation and the death of their daughter. One night in service, as rousing singing, dancing and praying takes the congregation into ecstatic celebration, Geordi handles snakes for the first time and is dealt a deadly bite. Three days later, before the astonished eyes of the congregation, Geordi resurrects! What happened to Geordi on the other side? Who gets saved? Who gets forgiven? A haunting story of love, fear and faith.

Presented by DragonFly Arts, this is the Regional Premier for “Handler,” written by American playwright and screenwriter Robert Schenkkan. Directed by Jeremy Williams.

Jan 29-Feb 7 at The Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. 303-652-1637. Tickets available at the door or online at www.brownpapertickets.org

• January 29, 7:30 (Two for One Tickets)
• January 30 and 31, 8 pm (talkback with the cast and director following the Jan 31 show)
• February 4 and 5, 7:30 pm (panel with Professor Deborah Whitehead from the CU Religious Studies Department and Pastor Keenan Tompkins of the Vineyard of Boulder congregation and Handler's director, Jeremy Williams; moderated by Zorwyn Madrone at 6:30pm on Feb 4)
• February 6 and 7, 8 pm

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Final Weekend! Gemma Wilcox Presents 52 Pickup and Shadows in Bloom (Take 2)

Two plays exploring the ins and outs and ups and downs of that turbulent and tender ride we call intimate relationship.

52 Pick Up was voted "Best of Fest" and was at sell out hit show of the 2008 Boulder Fringe Festival. 52 cards in a deck. 52 scenes about a couple's relationship. The title of each scene is written on a card. At the start of the show the deck is shuffled and tossed in the air. The actors pick up the cards one at a time, which determines the playing order of the scenes. No two shows are alike! Or at least, it is very unlikely!

Shadows lurk, jealousy seethes, plants talk, seeds grow in Shadows in Bloom (Take 2). Gemma Wilcox takes the audience on an adventure through the life of Sandra and her complex relationships. Out of the shadows and onto the stage Wilcox transforms seamlessly from male to female, from kid to crustacean, from flora to fauna in the most compelling tale yet. Boulder premiere!

Schedule
Ths, Jan 22: Shadwos in Bloom, 7:30pm
Fri, Jan 23: 52 Pick Up, 7:30pm
Sat, Jan 24: Shadwos in Bloom, 6:30pm
Sat, Jan 24: 52 Pick Up, 8:30pm

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Reader Review: Theatre of the Vampires

Submitted by Rhonda L. Smith of Denver

Want a great Halloween date night? Don’t miss Theatre of the Vampires. “It’s Ann Rice meets Rocky Horror Picture Show, meets Cirque du Soleil,” says Frequent Flyers Productions’ Artistic Director Nancy Smith.

In Act I, a beautiful young journalist goes to Paris to interview the ghoulish emcee of “Theatre of the Vampires,” a variety show for the mortals of Paris. Of course, the emcee falls for said journalist, and manages to suck her into his fiendish world (pun definitely intended.). In Act II, as the emcee and the journalist continue their dangerous flirtation, the vampires carry on their “variety show,” sometimes mocking human fascination with pop culture and its icons, and sometimes simply trying to shock the mere mortals out of their complacency. The show is dark, campy and sexy. It’s not for the faint of heart (PG13 -- leave the little ones at home for this one!).

The beauty of this show is that the entire presentation is done on low-flying trapeze, hanging cloth and other original apparatus. It makes the already bizarre story line that much more surreal and thrilling. There’s nothing to compare with the beauty of taking modern dance airborne, and in this particular application, the result is spectacular and truly otherworldly.

Theatre of the Vampires will show at Macky Auditorium on October 31 and November 1, 8:00. Call 303-444-SEAT, or purchase online at www.thedairy.org.

See more Boulder County Halloween events on GetBoulder.com

Submit a review. Email newsletter@brockpub.com.

Theater Review: Ciao Eden!Young theater company tries to give new life to an old, old story

By Tyera Eulberg

Adam, Eve, the Garden, the Fall—the Biblical story of the birth of humanity has been retold for thousands of years. And as anyone in a Shakespeare production will tell you, it’s not easy to impress with a story everyone already knows. Nevertheless, Company Ink tries to make the Creation story new again through energy and sheer force of will.

Ciao Eden! follows Adam and Eve from their days of innocence in the Garden of Eden on a loud and lascivious journey to the end of their paradise when they taste the apples of the Tree of Knowledge. Company Ink recalls its traditions as a cabaret-style troupe, structuring this first-ever theatrical musical like a revue. Song and dance alternate with dialog and action.

The music frequently departs from the typical Broadway style—the most memorable pieces are a gypsy waltz and West African drumming. Kim Franco is capable—she plays Eve and is Company Ink’s headlining vocalist, as she was for the late, lamented Cabaret Diosa. But the jazz number by Serena the Snake (our original temptress and villain, played by Liza Oxnard) really enlivens the first act.

With minimalist costumes and sets, and a steel Tree of Life and Knowledge, Company Ink strives to update Eden in our gritty modern era. The Tree succeeds—green-clad Serena winds herself into the framework, evoking both a convincing snake and a trap ready to spring shut. Otherwise, “modern” means garish. The extremely loud sound system and writhing dancers give Ciao Eden! all the subtlety of a circus tent.

On the one hand, the production doesn’t take itself too seriously, offering up groan-worthy one-liners as well as a vigorous shadow-play sex scene after the First Couple eat from the Tree of Life. Yet the dark, heavy scenes as Eve learns about fear, pain and anger, plus several minutes of Eve crying onstage, suggest that Company Ink means it to be very somber indeed.

Then, even the most archetypal characters flip-flop. The Snake, for example, is hissing and hostile one moment and Eve’s caring confidante the next. Meanwhile, the esoteric Muses mystify more than inspire (like Serena in the play, I too wondered what the Muses were supposed to do). The result is a mish-mash of tones and themes, leaving the audience perplexed as to how to feel. Should we feel sorry for Eve? Are we proud of her self-actualization? Or should we feel trapped and uncomfortable about the fatalism of it all? I almost miss the rigid “Good and Evil” moral pronouncements of the Biblical version.

Yet Adam and Eve are ultimately the same Adam and Eve we’ve always known. “Man,” enters with a primal roar, focusing on the “biggest and juiciest” fruit. “Woman” sins, forcing Adam to eat the apple too. Company Ink tells us the same familiar story. But with in-your-face enthusiasm and one jazzy little orchestra, the young cast of Ciao Eden! certainly makes you listen.

(Note: Despite what newspaper listings advertise, this production is not suitable for 13-year-old children.)

Ciao Eden! at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St. :: June 29 & 30, 8pm; July 1, 2pm