Preview: Six Degrees of Separation at Vintage (VIDEO)

Weekend foreCAST: Lake Dillon, Aurora Fox and Hip Hip Heredia

Of the shows opening this weekend, these are the ones we want to see. These could be the best shows of the year or these shows could end up being terrible. As always we encourage you to chime in with your thoughts on our list and what shows you are seeing this weekend.

Review: LPC Returns with a Laugh to the Denver Center

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is back! With 1,731 performances under it’s belt, the 2000 – 2004 production of the musical made it the longest running musical in Colorado – and it is easy to see why audiences are so attracted to this delight. A revue-style musical, LPC (as some casually call it) takes you through several sketches depicting the best and the worst of romantic relationships. Four actors (two men and two women) showcase a range of personalities as they struggle to find and keep love. With so many characters, it’s hard for anyone to not find some person and/or situation with which to connect. This time the Denver Center has brought back the original Director (Ray Roderick) and one of the performers from last time around (Shannan Steele) but the three remaining cast members are all new and all bring their own lovely additions to the show.

Curious Theatre Company 2012-2013 Season

“We’re bringing the work of Kristoffer Diaz, Tyrell McCraney and Jordan Harris, three of the most exciting young playwrights in American theatre, for the first time to the Rocky Mountain region,” says Producing Artistic Director Chip Walton.

In announcing their 15th season of producing acclaimed new work, regional and world premieres in the Denver area, Curious Theatre Company has filled their five show season with no fewer than five regional premieres including the highly anticipated arrival of God of Carnage at the end of their 2012/2013 block. Before they conclude with the recent Tony Award winning piece, Season 15 features five regional premieres, including live wrestling, a love story, a sweeping Southern story, and a parallel universe between the present and the 1950’s.

Paragon Christens New Space with Opening of ‘Miss Julie’

It’s a big week for one of Denver’s most loved and most celebrated theatre companies. For Paragon Theatre Ensemble, this weekend’s opening of Strindberg’s classic Miss Julie not only marks the start of their 2012 season, their 11th season as a company, but it also stands as the inaugural production in their new home in the RiNo (River North) Arts District. After bouncing from space to space, spending years sharing venues with other companies, Paragon announced at the end of last year that they had signed a lease to their very own home and were looking forward to settling in. “In a word, producing and rehearsing Miss Julie in the new theatre has been ‘heaven”, says Founder Warren Sherrill. ” It is a pure pleasure and rare treat to be able to rehearse on the actual stage where you perform and we do not take this privilege for granted.”

It has been a long road, both for Miss Julie and the new space. Before either could open, they had to put in some work.

Review: Devil’s Thumb Shows Us Raw ‘Shape’

How many transgressions does artistic license cover? Neil LaBute’s 2001 script explores exactly this, with a sharp, modern feel that is bound to make you feel uncomfortable at some point in the evening. Adam is a shy college student before he meets Evelyn, a confident MFA student with strong views on what constitutes artistic expression. Although Evelyn turns off his friends, Adam is smitten, and forced to think about exactly how much of himself he’s willing to change for her.

Weekend foreCAST: Paragon, BDT, and Firehouse

Of the shows opening this weekend, these are the ones we want to see. These could be the best shows of the year or these shows could end up being terrible. As always we encourage you to chime in with your thoughts on our list and what shows you are seeing this weekend.

Coming Soon: The Backstage Theatre presents Neil Simon’s Oscar and Felix

America’s comic mastermind has updated his classic comedy, The Odd Couple, bringing the trials and tribulations of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison to the present day.  Breckenridge’s Backstage Theatre, winner of the 2010 Outstanding Regional Theatre award by the Colorado Theatre Guild, is proud to present Oscar and Felix opening March 1^st.

Coming Soon: ‘Proof’ at Cherry Creek Theatre

On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?

Coming Soon: The Busy World is Hushed by Ignite Theatre

A skillful mix of comedy and drama, The Busy World is Hushed examines the contradictions we find in our faith, our families and ourselves. Never preachy and claiming no answer to the age-old challenge of reconciling a benevolent god with human suffering, this show encompasses an engaging mix of human interest, religious debate, and complex relationships.

Review: Arvada Mounts an ‘Earnest’ Gem

Calling Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Importance of Being Earnest hammers home the main device of this classic farce — ridiculous misrepresentation.

There’s a good reason that The Importance of Being Earnest is a constant crowd-pleaser, and therefore a popular choices for theater companies of all sizes. The comedy rotates around two men — Jack and Algernon, whose names I only mention to be perfectly clear that neither is named Earnest. Algernon is delightfully irresponsible, and Jack sickeningly in love. When Algernon learns that Jack has fabricated a brother named Earnest to protect his impressionable young ward from his weekend adventures, and Jack learns that his fiancee is quite attached to his pseudonym, both are determined to manipulate the situation to their advantage — even if it means mistaken identity, brotherly rivalry, and throwing each other under the bus without a second thought.

Sneak Peek: First Rehearsal of Xanadu at The Aurora Fox (VIDEO)