I have been interested in theater since at least fourth grade, when I began participating in my school’s plays. I am certain that before Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company‘s production of The Wolves I have never seen a play about nine high school-aged women — girls whose lives and struggles might have, at one point, resembled […]
Read More[Review] Men on Boats (The Catamounts)
There is an old Slate article that I am particularly fond of: a mother is reading The Hobbit to her 5-year-old daughter, and the daughter gets it into her head that Bilbo Baggins is a girl. She won’t be dissuaded, and insists that her mom read the story “the right way.” The mother says the pronoun switch was […]
Read More[Review] The Constant Wife (DCPA)
At intermission my husband leaned over to me to say, “This could have been written today. And it would still be shocking.” After all, The Constant Wife wasn’t penned recently; W. Somerset Maugham wrote the play in 1926, nearly a century ago. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) calls the play a “cheeky satire [that] […]
Read MoreReview: Mr. Perfect (Bas Bleu Theatre)
It’s September, which means the arts season has finally opened! As much as I have enjoyed my outdoorsy adventures, it has been a long summer without (much) theater. My own season began with Mr. Perfect at Bas Bleu Theatre in Fort Collins. Written and directed by William Missouri Downs, this romantic comedy introduces us to […]
Read MoreBanff or bust, part 6: Calgary
The bad news: we were forced to re-route our trip. Originally, our game plan called for us to take a 7-hour drive through Alberta’s Jasper National Park, which I have been led to believe is heaven on earth. The wildfire smoke has persisted, which would have made our drive overly long and tedious instead of […]
Read MoreRAUSCH (The Catamounts/Control Group Productions)
Early on in my time in Colorado, I was introduced to a fellow theatre critic/hobbyist who asked me what types of theatre I prefer. “The weird stuff,” I told her. “Contemporary, boundary-pushing, immersive, untested. The stuff that might not work.” She told me to keep an eye on the Boulder-based theatre group The Catamounts — […]
Read MoreCirque du Soleil’s Corteo
Dan and I were invited to see Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo touring show in Broomfield. (Full disclosure: tickets were provided.) I already adore Cirque shows (see my previous Cirque-obsessed post), but Corteo hit a special chord for me because: I like my comedy darrrrrrk. Corteo, while certainly fun and comedic and clowny, begins with the line […]
Read MoreReview: Urinetown (Colorado State University Theatre)
The Colorado State University School of Music, Theatre and Dance closed out its mainstage season with Urinetown, an early 2000s Broadway hit every bit as irreverent as the title suggests. Following a devastating 20-year drought, a corporation has popped up with a bold solution to a water shortage crisis: a ban on private toilets. Citizens […]
Read MoreNatural Shocks
On Saturday, Dan and made our way to Boulder to a theater that has quickly become one of my favorites: the Dairy Arts Center. (Read a great article involving the Boulder theatre scene and the Dairy Arts Center at American Theatre.) We were heading to Boulder for a reading of Lauren Gunderson‘s “Natural Shocks.” The […]
Read MoreReview: Dirt, A Terra Nova Expedition (Bas Bleu Theatre)
As much as we all might love Hamlet and Company, it is critical that theatres (and other arts organizations) support new and evolving work that reflects current issues, perspectives, voices. Bas Bleu Theatre, which more commonly produces established plays such as Equus and Waiting for the Parade, has tapped local author Laura Pritchett to create […]
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