Steven J. Burge to Play Heavenly Father After Wesley Taylor Departs AN ACT OF GOD in Denver

Denver Center for the Performing Arts Broadway/Cabaret announces today that Wesley Taylor, Broadway star and fan favorite in the NBC TV show "Smash," will play God through January 22. Steven J. Burge will assume the role of God starting January 24.

Directed by Geoffrey Kent, AN ACT OF GOD also includes Steven Cole Hughes as Michael and Erik Sandvold as Gabriel.

Auditions for the understudy role of God/Michael will take place Wednesday, December 21 from 10 a.m-2 p.m. For more information visit Denvercenter.org/about-us/careers.

Tickets for AN ACT OF GOD at the Garner Galleria Theatre start at $47 and are on sale now at Denvercenter.org. Please be advised that the Denver Center for the Performing Arts is the ONLY authorized online ticket provider for the Denver engagement of AN ACT OF GOD. Ticket buyers who purchase tickets from a ticket broker or any third party should be aware that the DCPA is unable to reprint or replace lost or stolen tickets and is unable to contact patrons with information regarding time changes or other pertinent updates regarding the performance.

The King of the Universe is tackling His greatest challenge yet: the Mile High City. God takes human form in AN ACT OF GOD, the sinfully funny and critically acclaimed new play direct from Broadway. He's finally arrived to set the record straight...and He's not holding back.

AN ACT OF GOD creative team features DCPA Broadway/Cabaret veterans, Lisa M. Orzolek (scenic design), Meghan Anderson Doyle (costume design) and Charles R. MacLeod (lighting design). Making his DCPA Broadway/Cabaret sound design debut is Anson Nicholson.

AN ACT OF GOD is based on the critically acclaimed book written by God and transcribed by David Javerbaum. Javerbaum is a 13-time Emmy Award® winner for his work as a head writer and executive producer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

The play premiered on Broadway on May 7, 2015 and ran in an acclaimed, limited run through August 2, 2015 starring God in the body of Jim Parsons. It was the first Broadway production of the 2015-2016 season to recoup its initial investment. The play returned to Broadway June 6, 2016 in an acclaimed, limited engagement through September 4, 2016, starring Sean Hayes. This production in Denver is one of the first regional productions of the hit comedy.

As the nation's largest non-profit theatre organization, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts is dedicated to creating unforgettable shared experiences through beloved Broadway musicals, world-class plays, educational programs and inspired events.

The 2016/17 DCPA Broadway season is generously sponsored by United Airlines and Murray BMW. Media sponsorship is provided by The Denver Post and CBS4. Denver Center for the Performing Arts is supported in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).

Follow the DCPA on social media @DenverCenter and through the Denver Center for the Performing Arts News Center.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Wesley Taylor (God through January 22) recently starred as the 'Emcee' in Signature Theatre's acclaimed production of Cabaret. Broadway: The Addams Family, original cast; Rock of Ages, original cast (Theatre World Award; Outer Critics Circle Nomination). TV/Film: "Smash," "The Good Wife," "Lucky Stiff," "The Tomorrow People," "One Life to Live," "I'm Dying up Here," "Looking," "The Tony Awards." As a writer: "It Could Be Worse," (Pivot/Hulu/Vimeo), "Billy Green" (YouTube), and the upcoming "Basics," with Anonymous Content. As a playwright: Bridging the Gap and other short plays by Wesley Taylor (with Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, and Debra Messing) -New World Stages, The Actor's Fund, and Bridging the Gap -Artist Alliance, Rhode Island; Cuckold -Manhattan Repertory Theatre, one act competition; Proud of Us -The Center, LGBTQ play festival, and the upcoming Proud of Us and other short plays by Wesley Taylor for The Actor's Fund in November (Starring Raven-Symoné, Christian Borle and Laura Benanti). Education: BFA in Drama, North Carolina School of the Arts. Twitter: @WesTayTay IG: @sirwestaytay

STEVEN J. BURGE (God starting January 24. Understudy God/Michael through January 22), a multi-award winning character actor, landed in Denver following national tours of ...And Then They Came for Me and A Christmas Carol. Since making his Colorado debut in 2003 as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Steven has appeared on stages throughout the Denver-Metro area including the Denver Center, Curious Theatre, the Arvada Center, Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret, and many others. He was the recipient of The Denver Post Ovation Award for Best Solo Performance in Fully Committed (Aurora Fox), a one-man show in which Steven portrayed more than 30, different characters. The piece also earned him a Henry Award nomination, Westword's Best of Denver Award and an Out Front Colorado Marlow Award. Steven has also been recognized for his work in Contrived Ending (Buntport Theatre) and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (Avenue Theatre).

Geoffrey Kent (Director) is an actor, director and fight director based out of Denver Colorado. Recent directing work includes A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, 39 Steps, Grapes of Wrath, The Lying Kind and You Can't Take it With You for Theatreworks, Metamorphoses and She Kills Monsters for the Aurora Fox. Geoffrey has worked as the resident fight director for CSF and the DCPA for fifteen years and stages action across the US including the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. As an actor Geoffrey has appeared with the DCPA Theatre Company (Hamlet, Richard III, Othello, Eventide, Superior Donuts), CSF (Mercutio, Iago, Benedick, Achilles) and numerous professional Colorado theatres. He teaches for the University of Denver and is a former instructor for the National Theatre Conservatory.

GOD (Playwright) is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere. His previous novels, The Old Testament, The New Testament, and The Koran, have sold an impressive five billion copies, with the first two in particular coming to be collectively regarded as something of a bible of their field. An Act Of God will be his first work written directly for the stage, although his 1827 comic romp The Book of Mormon was recently adapted into a successful Broadway musical. God lives in heaven with his wife, Ruth, and their children, Zach, Jesus, and Kathy.

David Javerbaum (Playwright) is a 13-time Emmy-winning former head writer and executive producer of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." He is the co-author of that show's bestsellers America: The Book and Earth: The Book, and the sole author of An Act of God: A Memoir and What to Expect When You're Expected: A Fetus's Guide to the First Three Trimesters. His recently retired Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod has more than 2.3 million followers. He is also a Tony-nominated lyricist whose collaborations with songwriter Adam Schlesinger include the Broadway musical Cry-Baby, the Grammy-winning songs for Stephen Colbert's Christmas special The Greatest Gift of All and Neil Patrick Harris' opening number for the 2011 Tony Awards, "Broadway Is Not Just for Gays Anymore." He created the talk show "No, You Shut Up!" with Henson Studios for Fusion. He served as a writer-producer for "The Late Late Show with James Corden," writing the opening to this year's Tony's. He is the co-creator with Chuck Lorre of "Disjointed," an upcoming pot-themed television show for Netflix.

Steven Cole Hughes (Michael/understudy Gabriel) has spent eleven seasons as an actor with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, appearing in Just Like Us, Pride and Prejudice, All My Sons, Blue/Orange, The Lonesome West, The Three Sisters, The Misanthrope, Scapin, Measure for Measure, Love's Labor's Lost, Hamlet and Tantalus. He has spent six seasons with Creede Repertory Theatre and three seasons with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Other theatres include Curious Theatre Company, Arvada Center, Theatreworks, Theatre Aspen, Gulfshore Playhouse, Baltimore Centerstage, Portland Center Stage and Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has appeared on television in "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." He has an MFA in Acting from the Denver Center's National Theatre Conservatory.

Erik Sandvold (Gabriel) is an honors graduate of Northwestern University, Erik Sandvold has frequently performed major roles with the leading theatre companies in Colorado, including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, the Arvada Center, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and Curious Theatre Company, where he's an Artistic Council Member. Notable roles include: the title roles in Nicholas Nickleby and the world-premiere musical Ichabod!; Lloyd Crowder in the world-premiere of Plainsong;and Mason Marzac in Take Me Out, for which he was named Top Actor by the Rocky Mountain News and awarded The Denver Post's Ovation Award for Best Comic Performance. He also won Ovation Awards for Best Solo Performance for playing all 36 characters in I Am My Own Wife and for the world premiere of Bubs: A One Man Musical,which he also performed at Fringe NYC in 2009. Erik has narrated more than 1000 books for the Library of Congress, including the Harry Potter series.

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