Jon Bee - Page 3

We may not have gotten snow just yet, but White Christmas at Boulder Dinner Theatre is the perfect way to catch the holiday spirit.

The classics can go a long way at Christmas. Although the story doesn’t really mention Christmas, there is something about classic musicals that still some captures the essence of festivity. In Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s latest production of The Sound of Music, the hills are anything but quiet.

The holidays always come with baggage. Winter events, gift giving, and family gatherings can quickly devolve into mayhem among the twinkling lights that line every streetlamp and window sill. Though, Arvada Center's current holiday production of Elf provides it's own sense of pandemonium.

Hip-hop meets Tchaikovsky? Sign me up! The latest stop for the Hip Hop Nutcracker was Denver’s own DCPA Buell Theater. Though it may not be the ballet you’re used to, this rendition brings classical into the contemporary space.

Coming out is hardly ever easy. The build up to the reveal, even down to the very second that the words, 'I'm gay' leave your lips can make it feel like as soon as you say it, everything that you built up in your mind will immediately come cascading down like an avalanche. Such a moment is where we find ourselves in Cherry Creek Theatre's latest production, Jest a Second.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Shakespeare plays. While studying abroad in Italy back in college, I performed a variety of Shakespeare scenes, including the infamous Queen Mab monologue. I also got the chance to visit Verona and stand atop Juliet’s balcony. So when a Shakespeare inspired improv comedy company was coming to town, I knew I had to be in the room.

History has its eyes on you - or at least according to Alexander Hamilton. American Political History has never been more important in today’s society than in the moments we collectively take together. Relationships and bonds between our friends and neighbors, or perhaps lack there of, is highlighted in our daily news. Sometimes, it is essential to not look at what is happening, but instead look back at what happened. In his first work by playwright Jonathan Shapiro, this ideal takes shape in the form of Sisters in Law, the newest show for Theatre Or.

We all have those movies that we cling to for comfort. Movies, or even musical albums, that we could watch or listen to on repeat forever. For many of my friends, Steel Magnolias provides that sense of comfort. The iconic work as both a stage production and feature film have long impacted storytelling, and this show is the latest production to grace the stage of Cherry Creek Theatre.

My senior year of high school, my final literature class book report was on Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein. Since then, I’ve read that book probably three or four times. For some reason, I always come back to the rather dark tale that inspired later projects such as the Mel Brooks comedy movie, Young Frankenstein. That movie would go on to inspire its musical version, which we find to be Vintage Theatre’s latest production.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the songs of yesteryear. Jukebox musicals usually leave me in a happy place by the time the show ends. In the case of Million Dollar Quartet at Arvada, this show left me feeling the same way I felt from the moment it started - joyful.

Let me start by saying how lovely it was to sit and enjoy live theater again after so much time away. As we all start to come out of the woodwork and step into a new world, I stand ready and exhilarated for the new renaissance of art that is headed our direction. Welcoming me to this new age was Candlelight Theatre’s staff, cast, and crew and their current production, Little Women.

We don't always get to choose our family. Often, there are at least a couple black sheep in every family. But what happens when everyone is the black sheep?

As a long time thespian, I have seen first-hand what happens when a performance does not go according to plan. In fact, it is through theater that I learned the important concept of "cope and adjust." But what happens when everything goes up in flames? Well, you cope and adjust, until the last flame burns out. Such is the case in the latest show to hit DCPA, The Play That Goes Wrong.

In Cherry Creek Theatre's current production of A Little Night Music, the talented storm the stage to produce a cohesive and clean production. 

As children grow older, it is almost a requirement to leave the world of princesses and fairies behind you. But what happens when the princesses grow up too? This is where we find them in BDT's newest staging of Disenchanted.

In Candlelight Dinner Playhouse's current production of Nonsense, things go awry after one of the Little Sisters of Hoboken accidentally poisons more than half of the nuns. In an effort to raise funds and reman stable, those that are left decide to put on a variety show for the community where things don't go exactly as planned.

One of my earliest Christmas memories is watching the movie version of White Christmas with my family. To this day, it is still a valued family tradition to sit back and tune in to a film that defined part of my childhood, as I'm sure it did for many. With the stage version on the road, it is the perfect opportunity to dive headfirst into the holiday spirit.

A Christmas Carol in and of itself, is a Christmas tradition, if not for all, certainly for many families across the world. In fact, when the book first went to print on December 19, 1843, it sold out by Christmas Eve. I suppose the story has been a tradition for some stemming back generations; back to the beginning. AT DCPA, the telling of A Christmas Carol is what many look forward to each holiday season, and this year's production does not disappoint. 

Some shows in the Christmas theatre canon are taken from classic stories such as A Christmas Carol, while others perhaps form a more original holiday tale. And then there are the special few that can only be described as "cult-classic." In A Christmas Story, we once again meet little Ralphie and his family as he hopes for a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun from Santa - or at least his parents. From the infamous scene at the flag pole to the leg-lamp in the window for all the neighbors to see, this current production at BDT Stage has it all for those wishing to live out a live version of their favorite Christmas movie. 

Opera is not just a classical style of performance. It is the foundation for everything that would come after. Thus, knowing where we came from is just as important as knowing where we're going. In Opera Colorado's production of Verdi's La Traviata, the classical art form is presented at it's best with elements of both the past and present.