2025 COLORADO THEATER PERSON(S) OF THE YEAR

Colorado College pals made a bold move in 2025 to buy the Denver warehouse that has been its home for quirky, smart theater since 2001

Here’s the thing about the Buntport Theater collective: There’s nobody like them. Not in Denver. Not in Colorado. Not in the United States. And they’ve been showing bedazzled audiences exactly why for 25 years now.

Or did you not just see them address the silliest aspects of both pet morbidity and the importance of well-chosen underwear in a Halloween reprise of the purr-fectly titled audience favorite “Edgar Allan Poe Is Dead and So Is My Cat”?

We learned in 2025 that these clever college pals, these creative unicorns, these quick-witted writing wizards who have collaboratively brought an astonishing 55 silly, smart, absurd and always original plays and musicals to theatrical life (along with hundreds of hours of other original programming) since 2001, are going to keep on doing what they do straight up until their performing days are over – hopefully many, many years from now.

Because in 2025, as the five remaining members of the original artist-driven ensemble straddle both sides of age 50, the Buntporters made a bold move to launch a $2.65 million capital campaign and buy the entire warehouse building that always has been their creative home at 717 Lipan St.

The purchase will allow the company to expand from its existing one-third of the 10,000 square-foot corner of the warehouse to full occupancy of the entire building, which will allow it to expand its commitment to community by making badly needed backstage space available to untold numbers of area arts organizations that need it.

At a time of their lives when others might be starting to wind things down, “we’re doubling down,” said ensemble member Erin Rollman.

“It’s a big deal for us to be doing this. It’s like we’re saying, ‘We’re going to be here, and we’re going to have a place for other people to make work. We think it’s a big thing. And we’re happy if other people also think it’s a big thing, too.”

My, how lucky we are in Denver to have them.

On the just-completed Colorado Gives Day, Buntport’s fiercely loyal fan base sent the company an emphatic, $55,000 message of support for their capital campaign. And with that, the Buntporters crossed the halfway threshold, with $1.33 million now committed toward their five-year goal.   

For the estimable ensemble’s entrepreneurial efforts to both secure their building and ensure they will be making fun stories for their audiences to enjoy well into old(er) age, the collective is today being named the Denver Gazette True West Awards’ 2025 Colorado Theater ‘Person’ of the Year.

“All of this makes me so happy, because I feel like Buntport is everything that the best theater should be,” said Regan Linton, former artistic director of Denver’s disability-affirmative Phamaly Theater Company, and in 2025, an artistic collaborator with Buntport on her new play, “The Menagerist.” “I just think they do theater the way it should be done. And I think they’re one of Denver’s best-kept secrets.”

The core company – Brian Colonna, Hannah Duggan, Erik Edborg, Samantha Schmitz and Rollman, maintain a kind of delightful oblivion to the extent of the impact they have had on the local cultural landscape all this time. Or that they are now starting an empathic new phase that’s unheard of at this stage of any independent arts organization’s ecology and lifespan.

“Just today, I was asked: ‘Does this feel like as much of a completely ‘new phase’ for the company as it sounds like?’” said Rollman. ‘I said ‘Yeah, it does.’ But the part that feels crazy to me is that we’re too old for a new phase. I’m thinking, ‘I’m 50 – who the hell do I think I am?”

Colonna believes this milestone moment is an opportunity for the company to both reflect on the journey so far and gear up for what’s next.

“You know, from the start, we were told that the Denver theatergoing community wouldn’t really be supportive of original work,” he said. “But everyone has been so helpful to us from the very beginning. I mean, we had a meeting with (legendary theater producer) Henry Lowenstein on, like, Day 4 that we were in town. He was very practical and took us through numbers and told us, ‘This is how you get audiences.’ It was all very helpful.”

But this next leap requires the full faith and financial commitment of the theatergoing community itself, and that has these generally facile quipsters struggling to adequately convey their gratitude.

“People are being very generous with their money, and it’s really they who are buying the building, not us,” Colonna said. “That support is mind-blowing. When people tell us, ‘We have really fond memories of being here, so we are sending some money your way,’ that feels both humbling and exciting, because it’s an acknowledgement of all the time that has passed, and the work that has gone into it. But it also makes us excited for the work that is yet to come.”

FULL STORY ON BUNTPORT BUYING BUILDING

How did this happen?

Everything about the Buntport story is unheard of in the performing arts. Because everything about Buntport is as original as the company itself.

(The name, by the way, is a mangled reference to Kennebunkport, home of the Bush family presidential retreat in Maine.)

Imagine you’re a wide-eyed theater kid graduating from college (let’s say Colorado College!) 25 years ago, and you want to keep the good times rolling until the world inevitably forces you to settle down and get a job. So you and your six closest theater pals start a company. Nothing unusual there.

Only, you will never perform an existing play, ever, for the rest of your lives. So long, Shakespeare, Williams and Mamet. Instead, you are going to write and perform everything yourself. Not only that, you are going to go about it as a completely egalitarian mini-society where everyone in the company is equal. There will be no boss. Everyone will contribute to the writing. Everyone will have a say in the direction. Everyone will build the sets and hang the lights. Everyone will be paid the same. And at the end of the day, everyone will take turns cleaning the toilets and taking out the trash.

And it will work.

We’re talking low-key, yet truly radical collaboration here, the kind of social experiment that has been repeatedly proven to be unsustainable. Except here.

There are plenty of companies around the country that create original plays. But they don’t average two to three full, original works every year for a quarter century. And they don’t do it with artistic continuity over decades.

Elsewhere, ensemble members come, they go, and new members take their places. “But we’ve never heard of another company that does things quite the same way we do,” said Colonna. “I do think it is probably unique.”

Think about a comedy factory like Second City in Chicago. It’s had hundreds, maybe even thousands of members. Buntport has had seven.

Marriage is no excuse for getting out. No, the only way out of Buntport is to have a kid. (Two of them, Matt Petraglia and Evan Weissman, have.)

The Buntporters are ridiculously smart people, so they were bound to lose a few to an outside world that – news flash – generally compensates workers better than a grassroots, self-sustaining local theater company.

Petraglia left in 2007 and is now raising a family in Greeley while working as a QC Chemist at IEH Laboratories. Weissman, also a married father, left Buntport in 2012 to become the visionary founder of  Warm Cookies of the Revolution. That is a unique “civics health club” that has encouraged more than a million people to participate in important local issues in fun and meaningful ways. They both remain part of the company’s essential DNA.

“First and foremost, these people are the most creative and interesting and inspirational people in my life,” Weissman said. “In the time that I was here, I learned about getting along with people and how you build things together. My time here gave me the confidence to think that I might be able to do something new and weird and different. I never could have been a major part of any kind of art-scene world if not for Buntport.”

“If I may,” Rollman interrupted, “… you would be a shell of a human being if not for Buntport.”

(Editor’s note: You should know that, as in most families, any hint of public earnestness is immediately pounced on like blood in the water.)

“Oh yes, thank you – the words wouldn’t come,” said Weissman, instinctively jumping on the bit. “Yes, ‘shell’ was the word that I was looking for. If not for Buntport, I would be a shell of a human being.”

After the laughter subsided, Petraglia dared to take on the same question.

“So this was a very large part of my beginning of life right after college, and it definitely shaped who I am,” he said. “Whenever I see stories about Buntport in the media, I’m extremely proud to say, ‘I used to work with them.’ I’m so glad I get to bring my kids to shows at Buntport. My parents still love to come. I’ve taken my daughter to see ‘The Lion King,’ but even more so, she wanted me to bring her back to Buntport to see ‘The Book Handlers’ a second time. She loved that show. I don’t know why. I mean – it’s so much talking!”

For the record: “The Book Handlers” was a satirical comedy about anti-intellectualism where quirky office workers took unread books from wealthy people and made them look well-worn, thus creating the illusion of the elite being cultured without the effort of actual reading. You know, a children’s story.

“We sent Matt a ransom note in the mail saying that if he didn’t donate money to our capital campaign, we were going to leak (an incriminating) photo of him to the lifestyle editor at the Greeley Tribune,” Rollman said. “And his daughter immediately was like, ‘Was that from Buntport?’ She wasn’t fooled at all.

Lights, camera … jostling!

When the seven original members of the Buntport collective gathered a few weeks ago for a photo shoot, we walked into the company’s newly expanded backstage space, which is already being used by other arts organizations, notably the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company and Batala Colorado (the Denver chapter of a global Afro-Brazilian drum band).

The Buntporters weren’t told exactly why they were being asked to come here on a Saturday afternoon to take this group photo. But, no matter. True to their whimsical artistic inclinations, they devoted several days to carefully creating something of a Shakespearean forest in their new backstage space – you know, to give the photographer an interesting visual landscape. To boot, they were all wearing matching track suits inspired by a local punk band called Spells.

It could not have been more appropriate that they anchored this arboreal setting with an anachronistic but highly practical couch, front and center. It wasn’t “the couch” that this team made into a character of its own many years ago when it staged a wildly popular ongoing sit-com satire of “Seinfeld” called “Magnets on the Fridge” that ran for years.

There’s just something about Buntport and couches that go together. Buntport has built its identity around its casual, intimate and accessible, couch-like vibe that reflects their non-traditional approach to just about everything.

The company doesn’t determine a fixed ticket price, instead encouraging audiences to pay whatever the spirit moves them to pay. If the seats are all filled (as they often are), they make big, fluffy pillows available for overflow audiences to sit a little more comfortably on the floor. It’s a very basement vibe. Buntport is a place to chill, watch creative stuff without pretense and laugh.

There was a lot of laughter during this photo shoot. Within minutes, and without prompting, the gang was tossing Petraglia into the air for their amusement and the photographer’s pleasure, as if they had all seen each other yesterday.

As for being newly named the Colorado Theatre Person of the Year, the company seems genuinely touched because hopefully, Rollman said, that means it’s being a good neighbor. Everything about the “next phase” is tied into being a good community partner for all.

“It would not be as fun for us to get to take a step like this without bringing other people along with us,” Rollman said. “Frankly, I don’t imagine we’ll use the extra space for ourselves very much – if ever. But that other people get to use it makes us happy. Because we all know that there aren’t enough rehearsal spaces in this town. And we believe that thing. You know: ‘All boats rise,’ whatever that is.”

(Sorry, one last interjection: That’s “A rising tide lifts all boats.”)

And, thanks to Buntport and its supporters: Boats are lifting.

Now, the plan is simply: Onward: “Stay the course,” said Duggan. “It’s all on track. Ten thousand points of light.” 

Note: The Denver Gazette True West Awards, now in their 25th and final year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community throughout December by revisiting 31 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.

Buntport Theater/Coming up:

• Jan. 23-25: “The Rembrandt Room” (reprise)

• Jan. 20: “The Great Debate” (semi-monthly)

• Information: buntport.com

• To donate: buntport.com/2025/10/capital-campaign

TRUE WEST AWARDS’ COLORADO THEATRE PERSON OF THE YEAR 2002-24

• 2025: Buntport Theater ensemble

• 2024: Jessica Robblee and Mark Ragan: Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company

• 2023: Kenny Moten, director

• 2022: Jada Suzanne Dixon: Curious Theatre Company artistic director

• 2021: Everyone who kept a Colorado theater company afloat

• 2020: No designation given

• 2019: Bobby LeFebre: Playwright, slam poet, actor and activist

• 2018: Jessica Austgen: Playwright, actor and improviser

• 2017: Regan Linton: Phamaly Theatre Company artistic director

• 2016: Billie McBride: Actor and director

• 2015: Donald R. Seawell: Denver Center for the Performing Arts founder

• 2014: Steve Wilson: Phamaly Theatre Company and Mizel Center for Arts and Culture

• 2013: Shelly Bordas: Actor, teacher, director and cancer warrior

• 2012: Stephen Weitz: Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company co-founder

• 2011: Maurice LaMee: Creede Repertory Theatre artistic director

• 2010: Tony Garcia: Su Teatro artistic director

• 2009: Kathleen M. Brady: Denver Center Theatre Company actor

• 2008: Wendy Ishii: Bas Bleu Theatre co-founder

• 2007: Ed Baierlein: Germinal Stage-Denver founder

• 2006: Bonnie Metzgar: Curious Theatre associate artistic director

• 2005: Chip Walton, Curious Theatre founder and artistic director

• 2004: Michael R. Duran: Actor, set designer, director and playwright

• 2003: Nagle Jackson: Denver Center Theatre Company director and playwright

• 2002: Chris Tabb: Actor and director

More True West Awards coverage

• 2025 True West Awards, Day 1: Matt Zambrano

• Day 2: Rattlebrain is tying up ‘Santa’s Big Red Sack’

• Day 3: Mission Possible: Phamaly alumni make national impact

• Day 4: Jeff Campbell invites you to join him on the dark side

• Day 5: Cleo Parker Robinson is flying high at 77

• Day 6: Mirror images: Leslie O’Carroll and Olivia Wilson

• Day 7: Philip Sneed will exit Arvada Center on a high

• Day 8: Ed Reinhardt’s magic stage run ends after 27 years

• Day 9: Costume Designer Nikki Harrison

• Day 10: DU’s tech interns getting the job done

• Day 11: Husbands, wives keep home fire burning

• Day 12: Denver School of the Arts’ Drama Dash

• Day 13: Theater as a powerful response to violence

• Day 14: Elitch Theatre no longer a ghost town

• Day 15: A double play for playwright Luke Sorge

• Day 16: ‘Legally Blonde’ at the Air Force Academy? Elle, yes!

• Day 17: Kelly Van Oosbree is the cat in the hats

• Day 18: Phamaly presents a ‘Pericles’ for the neurodivergent

• Day 19: Justine Lupe and Coloradans on the national stage

• Day 20: Immersive Theatre after the end of Off-Center

• Day 21: Matt Radcliffe and theater as therapy for trauma

• Day 22: Pure ‘Follies’ at Vintage Theatre

• Day 23: The play is the everything

• Day 24: ‘Assassins,’ Frozen’ lead list of impact musicals

• Day 25: Unsung heroes of the invisible arts

• Day 26: Can tiny Creede lead the country out of the divide?

• Day 27: All in the Sandvold/Harmon Pardee family

• Day 28: The breakout performers of 2025

• Day 29: Super seasons by local actors in 2025

• Day 30: Attention must be paid: David Nehls and others