Curious Theatre Company Presents GOOD PEOPLE, Now thru 4/19

Curious Theatre Company presents David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, directed by Artistic Company Member Christy Montour-Larson. The production runs March 6 - April 19, 2014 at 1080 Acoma Street, Denver. The opening night is March 8, 2014, at 8 p.m.

In South Boston, good people lean on their neighbors in tough times, nights are spent playing bingo at the local church, and life is lived from paycheck to paycheck. Falling on tough times, Margie Walsh looks up a former boyfriend hoping to turn her luck - and her life - around. Pulitzer Prize-Winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire explores how a twist of fate can change a life, and whether we can ever escape our circumstances without abandoning our roots in this humor-filled story about society and class.

"Good People marks Curious' return to the plays of David Lindsay-Abaire, which is very exciting for our company of artists - and hopefully for our audiences, too," says Producing Artistic Director Chip Walton. "Many of the artists involved in this show have worked together on our previous David Lindsay-Abaire plays, including our award-winning productions of Fuddy Meers and Rabbit Hole. We've assembled a Linsday- Abaire 'A-Team' for Good People, led by director Christy Montour-Larson and featuring actresses Dee Covington and Kathryn Gray. Building a body of work in relation to specific playwrights is one of the advantages to having an Artistic Company, and it also deepens our understanding and relationship to their writing."

The cast includes Curious Artistic Company Members Dee Covington, Kathryn Gray, John Jurcheck and Michael McNeill, with Betty Hart and Leslie O'Carroll.

The creative team includes Curious Artistic Company Members Richard Devin and Jason Ducat, with Caitlin Ayer, Meghan Anderson Doyle and Kristin Hamer.

Christy Montour-Larson (Director) has directed over 75 productions from Shakespeare to Pinter to musicals to the newest works in America. A Curious Artistic Company Member, her productions of Red and 9 Circles topped the 2012 award lists. Her other Curious credits are Time Stands Still, A Number, Rabbit Hole, I Am My Own Wife, Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted, Proof and Fuddy Meers. Christy's work has also been seen locally in The Giver, Well (Denver Center Theatre Company), Cabaret, All Shook Up (Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities), Crimes of the Heart, Always...Patsy Cline (Town Hall Arts Center) and The Diviners (Phamaly). Nationally, she has directed for Creede Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, New American Theatre, Rochester Civic Theatre, the Duluth Playhouse, Dark Horse Theatre and for Seven Devils Playwright Conference, where she also sits on the Board of Directors. This spring she looks forward to directing Shadowlands for the Denver Center Theatre Company and This for Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company. Her work has been recognized with multiple honors from the Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Awards, Denver Post Ovation Awards, Marlowe Awards, Denver Examiner Awards and True West Awards. She is an Affiliate Faculty Member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Christy earned her BFA in Theatre from University of Minnesota, Duluth, where she was recently awarded the Promethean Award for outstanding alumni. She earned her MFA in Directing from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

David Lindsay-Abaire (Playwright) is a playwright, lyricist, librettist and screenwriter. His plays Good People and Rabbit Hole were recently directed by Daniel Sullivan at Manhattan Theatre Club. David was most recently nominated for a Grammy Award with composer Jeanine Tesori (Best Musical Show Album) and two Tony Awards (Best Book of a Musical and Best Score) for their work on Shrek the Musical. Prior to that David was awarded the 2008 Ed Kleban Award as America's most promising musical theatre lyricist. Prior to that, he received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole, which premiered on Broadway at MTC's Biltmore Theatre. Rabbit Hole also received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play and the Spirit of America Award. David's plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World, High Fidelity and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David's screen credits include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole (20th Century Fox) starring Nicole Kidman, as well as the features Rise of the Guardians (DreamWorks) and Oz: The Great and Powerful (Disney, directed by Sam Raimi). David is a proud New Dramatists alumnus, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild Council.

Dee Covington (Margaret) is an Artistic Company Member and founding member of Curious Theatre Company, last seen as Mel in After the Revolution. Other recent Curious acting credits include Veronica in God of Carnage, Bev/Kathy in Clybourne Park (Denver Post Ovation Nominee, Supporting Actress in a Play), The Homebody in Homebody/Kabul (Best of Westword, Best Contemporary Monologue), The Loud Stone in Eurydice, Ella in Curse of the Starving Class, Francine in For Better, Little Genny in Tempodessey and an ensemble member of The War Anthology (The Denver Post Ovation Award, Best Actress in a Drama; Henry Award, Best Ensemble). Other past shows include The Dead Guy, Paris on the Platte, Nickel and Dimed, The Mineola Twins and Praying for Rain. Covington's directing credits at Curious include The Brothers Size, Collapse, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Speech & Debate and The Denver Project. She is also the program director for Curious New Voices, Curious' nationally recognized youth playwriting program, currently celebrating its 10th anniversary season.

Kathryn Gray (Dottie) is an Artistic Company Member at Curious Theatre Company who has been working in Denver theatre since 1978. Curious acting credits include the Long Island Mum in Dead Man's Cell Phone, Nat in Rabbit Hole, numerous roles including Bix Beaver in Bright Ideas, Gert in Fuddy Meers, Nancy Shirley in Frozen and Miss K in Praying for Rain. She has an extensive acting background as well as experience in directing, producing, private coaching and dialect work.

Betty Hart (Kate) makes her Curious Theatre Company debut after recently moving to Denver from Atlanta. Her credits include Portia in Merchant of Venice, Tituba in The Crucible, Ismene in Antigone (Shakespeare Tavern), Helen in The Trojan Women (Theatre Emory), Betsy in As It Is in Heaven (Aurora Theatre), Lucy in Dracula (Soulstice Theatre), the Visitor in The America Play (Actor's Express) and the Narrator in the musical Beehive (Theatrical Outfit). Betty is a facilitator and director for Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre Programs. She is also a proud member of Actor's Equity Association.

John Jurcheck (Stevie) is an Artistic Company Member at Curious Theatre Company who has tread the boards of Colorado stages for over a decade. Curious acting credits include Andrew Porter in Becky Shaw, Big Stone in Eurydice, Wesley in Curse of the Starving Class and Shane Mungitt in Take Me Out. Other local credits include Dixie Walker in Jackie & Me (Denver Center Theatre Company), Macbeth, Richard III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival) and many others. John and his wife Courtney are the owners of Siddhi Yoga and Meditation in Denver.

Michael McNeill (Mike) is an Artistic Company Member at Curious Theatre Company where his past roles have included Man 1 in 9 Circles, Dale in Home by Dark, Weston in Curse of the Starving Class and Jerry Gross in Bug. He has also been seen locally in Dividing the Estate, A Raisin in the Sun, The Crucible (Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities), Almost Maine and Honus and Me (Aurora Fox Arts Center). He appeared in the national tour of Biloxi Blues and various productions in New York at the old Quaigh Theatre and Westbeth Theatre Center, as well as in Los Angeles at Galaxa Studios, Santa Monica Complex, Knightsbridge Theatre and The Whitefire. He has also appeared in regional productions at Dorset Theatre Festival, Society Hill Playhouse, Birmingham Theatre and Round House Theatre. Film and television credits include Juncture, Uptown Girls, Days of Our Lives and Miracle Pets. Michael is a graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Leslie O'Carroll (Jean) makes her Curious Theatre Company debut. Recent credits include a reprise of her role as Mrs. Fezziwig in the Denver Center's annual production of A Christmas Carol, as well as When We Are Married, Reckless, Eventide (Denver Post Ovation Award, Supporting Actress in a Play), Plainsong, The Diary of Anne Frank, All My Sons and Wit (Denver Center Theatre Company). Leslie has also worked at Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The Aurora Fox Arts Center and TheatreWorks. Film and television credits include Breaking Bad, Footloose and Neil LaBute's Once Upon A Time.

Chip Walton (Producing Artistic Director) founded Curious Theatre Company in 1997, serving as Producing Artistic Director since its inception. Named Denver's "2005 Theatre Person of the Year," he has directed 36 shows for Curious over the past 15 years, and his work has garnered more than 50 local and national awards. In 2008, Curious was honored with the Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. Walton has served as the President of the National New Play Network, a network of 25 theatres across the country dedicated to the development and production of new plays for the American theatre. Walton was also selected in the inaugural class of Livingston Fellows, as one of five individuals from across Colorado selected by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation as exceptional non-profit leaders with significant potential for contribution, change and leadership in Colorado's nonprofit sector. He has directed in the National New Play Network Showcase of New Plays, the Kennedy Center's MFA Playwriting Festival in Washington, D.C. and accepted a National Theatre Company Award in New York for Curious from the prestigious American Theatre Wing. Most recently, Walton participated in the Visiting Professionals program at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and is currently serving on the Leadership Group for Imagine 2020: Creating a Future for Denver's Culture.

Performances are March 6 - April 19, 2014. The opening performance is on March 8, 2014 at 8 p.m. Curtain times are Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 - $44 and are available at the Box Office, 1080 Acoma Street, Denver; 303.623.0524 or online at curioustheatre.org.

Discussions with artistic staff and cast members will follow all performances March 13 - April 18, 2014.

About Curious Theatre Company: "No guts, no story" embodies the ethos of Curious Theatre Company. Established 16 years ago by a vanguard Artistic Company that has since grown to 28 professional actors, designers and directors at its core, Curious brings the best new theatre to Denver, producing thought-provoking plays designed to challenge ideas, stir emotions, and leave audiences talking.

Under the artistic leadership of founding Producing Artistic Director Chip Walton, Curious Theatre Company reaches more than 17,500 individuals each year through: five main-stage productions; the innovative Curious New Voices youth education program; the unique Denver Stories original play commissions that honor area luminaries; and a range of Curious 360o audience enrichment activities.

A recipient of more than one hundred local and national awards, Curious includes among its most prized accolades the 2011 Denver Post Ovation Award for Best Year by a Theatre Company, 5280 Magazine 2011 Top of the Town Editor's Choice for Best Theatre Company, Westword Reader's Choice for Best Theatre in 2012, and the 2013 Colorado Theatre Guild's award for Outstanding Season.

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