Su Teatro, at 51 the nation’s third-oldest Chicano theater company, is buying an additional building one block south of its present location to establish “an extended cultural campus,” company officials have announced.

Su Teatro is buying the 4,400 square-foot building at 659 Santa Fe Drive, affectionately known in the neighborhood as “The Blue Building,” from legendary music promoter Chuck Morris and his wife, Becky. It most recently served as a satellite office for AEG Presents.

The $1.8 million purchase was made possible with financial support from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries (also known as the state of Colorado’s official arts office) and the Colorado Health Foundation. That means the building will be paid in full upon closing, which will take place in three weeks.

The building was not for sale when Su Teatro first approached the Morrises, who knocked $300,000 off the property’s assessed value as an additional, in-kind donation.

“The Morris family sees this as an opportunity to perpetuate the legacy of the company that has brought so much music to the Denver area and beyond,” Executive Artistic Director Tony Garcia said.

How big of a deal is all of this? In January, Su Teatro burned the mortgage on the former Denver Civic Theatre, its home at 721 Santa Fe Drive since 2010. That purchase price was “just” $790,000.

And there is a third piece of this puzzle: A deal is being crafted that will additionally allow Su Teatro to purchase a 10,000 square-foot building owned by the Morrises at 930 W. 7th Ave., located between the two other Su Teatro properties. That $2.9 million deal will be scheduled for completion in three years, to allow Su Teatro time to organize more fundraising.

In the meantime, the Blue Building will become headquarters for Su Teatro’s True West Award-winning youth theater company called El Teatro VolARTE, which is open to ages 9-21. It will also provide space for classrooms, leadership internships, in-school theater programs and education collaborations with cultural partners, including the Museo de las Americas’ Summer Arts and Culture Camp.

“We are often overrun with activities,” said Managing Director Micaela Garcia de Benavidez. “You will find students practicing their monologues in the stairwell and in the hallways. There are times when Board and staff meetings take place in the lobby. The energy is great, but the focus is sometimes a challenge.”

The Su Teatro Performing Arts Center consists of the mainstage Martinez Theatre, which seats 250, and the Frank Trujillo studio, which seats 100. By moving theater company rehearsals to the Blue Building as well, Su Teatro will have the opportunity to generate more revenue by renting its performing spaces to other community partners.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of what ownership means to an organization that is indigenous to the land upon which it stands. To a company like Su Teatro, ownership represents independence, stability, power – and the potential for healing old cultural wounds.

“Su Teatro is committed to independence and ‘owning our own,’” said Garcia de Benavidez. “The cultural campus is situated in the center of one of the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in the city. Throughout the Westside neighborhoods, buildings are being swallowed up by developers and community spaces are disappearing.

“The success of our communities will promote the success of all communities,” she said.

Su Teatro will host an all-comers “blessing party” at The Blue Building at 4 p.m. July 9 with cake, champagne and music.

Tony Awards magic for Coloradans 

Sunday’s Tony Awards were a dream come true for three Coloradans performing in award-winning shows.

Castle View High School and University of Denver graduate Jenna Bainbridge performed in the musical number for “Suffs,” which won two awards.

“What a whirlwind,” Bainbridge said of her 17-hour day. Get this: The cast of “Suffs” arrived at the Lincoln Center at 8:30 a.m. for a CBS dress rehearsal. Then they went back to their own Music Box Theatre and did a matinee performance of “Suffs.” Then they all came back to the Lincoln Center for the evening broadcast seen by 3.5 million around the world.

“I loved every moment of it,” Bainbridge said. “But my favorite moment of the night was without a doubt being with our cast all huddled around my phone watching the broadcast outside of Lincoln Center when (creator Shaina Taub) won for best score. The scream that came from our cast was surely heard all the way in Jersey.”

Meanwhile, Denver School of the Arts graduate Barton Cowperthwaite performed with the cast of “The Outsiders,” which won four awards, including the biggie — best musical. He and his castmates were back in their dressing room at the Jacobs Theatre when the announcement was made because the host venue could not accommodate all of the various performers.

When he got his hands on the award for the first time, Cowperthwaite posted a photo on social saying simply: “This is LIFE.”

As I’ve said before, both Bainbridge and Cowperthwaite have stories worthy of their own Broadway musicals, and their ongoing successes have continued to inspire others. Like fellow Denver actor Madison Kitchen.

“Tears came to my eyes seeing Jenna perform on the Tonys,” Kitchen wrote on social. “Growing up in the Denver theater community and seeing her perform was always a gift. Her being on the Tonys was only a matter of time. I am endlessly proud of her and the theater community that helped me become who I am.”

In addition, Aurora’s Oscar Whitney Jr., a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, performed with the cast of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen,” also nominated for best musical. All three Coloradans are making their Broadway debuts.

More blessings from Broadway

Another heartwarming story from New York recently game to pass when Benjamin Bonenfant, a graduate of the University of Colorado Springs, and his wife, Chatfield High School and University of Northern Colorado alumna Jamie Ann Romero, were separately cast as understudies in concurrent New York plays. 

Bonenfant joined the wildly praised Broadway play “Patriots,” which looks at Vladimir Putin’s rise to power, and Romero is in “N/A,” a new play about two congresswomen generations apart. That’s now playing at one of the Lincoln Center’s off-Broadway theaters.

Bonenfant, who has credits with the DCPA Theatre Company, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Colorado Springs Theatreworks, Curious Theatre and many more, has had to learn 10 roles for “Patriots” with little expectation of making his actual Broadway debut because his play is limited to 16 weeks and must close Sunday (June 23). But, huzzah, he was called into action on Sunday and again for two shows Tuesday. That makes him, now and forever, listed in the Broadway registry.

Romero made her Broadway debut in much the same fashion last August as an understudy to Laura Bell Bundy in “The Cottage.”

This just in …

The Creede Repertory Theatre, a 58-year-old professional company nestled in the San Juan Mountains 250 miles southwest of Denver, today named award-winning actor Emily Van Fleet as its new Artistic Director. The company has adopted a co-leadership model with Morgan Manfredi as Managing Director. Van Fleet replaces John DiAntonio.

Van Fleet’s hiring continues a sea-change in the Colorado performing arts in that she becomes the 24th female-identifying artistic director of a theater organization she or they did not found – meaning, they were specifically chosen and hired for their jobs. Before the downfall of sexual predator Harvey Weinstein began in October 2017, that number was five. Most of those new hires, like Van Fleet, are first-time artistic directors.

“Emily comes to this position with a long history and deep love for CRT and our community,” said Manfredi.

Van Fleet has performed in nearly 20 Creede Rep productions over six seasons. Other credits include the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Arvada Center and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Van Fleet has won numerous True West Awards and just last week, she was again nominated by the Henry Awards for her starring performance in the Arvada Center’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Story.”

Van Fleet is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and is the daughter of Arvada Center CEO Philip Sneed.

“I knew from my very first season as a company member that I wanted to be a part of CRT’s future,” Van Fleet said. “This is a very special place that offers a deeper understanding of one’s self, encourages growth, and reminds us of what is important: genuine human connection.”

Emotional Esquire screening

A dream came true on Wednesday when Denver-born filmmaker H. Nelson Tracey returned to Denver to present a sold-out, sneak-peek screening of his bittersweet feature film debut, “Breakup Season.”

Tracey, his mother and grandmother all grew up near the Esquire, and all three spent their formative years watching movies at the iconic arthouse cinema that will permanently close on June 30. About 270 friends and family attended the warmly received family film, including ensemble actors Carly Stewart and Brook Hogan, who told The Denver Gazette she’s never attended another screening quite like this one. Hogan sat next to Tracey’s mother for the film, and she later teared up when asked why it was important for her to come to Denver for this particular promotional event.

“Nelson is just so special to me and to all of us,” said Hogan, who is based out of Portland. “The entire crew is just head-over-heels for him because, first of all, he’s just a lovely human — and that translates. And then, his writing. It’s just so warm, and he’s so talented. I feel like he gave me a gift with this role, and part of that gift is that I get to be here tonight, which is so much fun.”

Tracey is working the festival circuit with hopes for a distribution deal by the end of 2024.

Joe Jackson at the Paramount tonight

Iconic rocker Joe Jackson is coming to the Paramount Theatre on Friday (June 21) with an unprecedented, two-part performance. First, Jackson will perform songs from his catalog solo. Next, Jackson.will present the music of Max Champion featuring a nine-piece band. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Aurora Fox sign lighting is Saturday

A reminder: That iconic neon ”FOX” sign outside the historic Aurora Fox Arts Center on East Colfax has been restored to its original 1946 condition and will be officially turned on at approximately 9:30 p.m. Saturday (June 22) immediately following that night’s performance of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” at 9900 E. Colfax Ave. (Because, you know: It wouldn’t make much sense to light it up when the sun is still out.)

And finally: Grace from the Poet Laureate

In a moving blog post this week, Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson shared that there has been “cancer progression” in several parts of her body. “This is it,” is what she first thought when her doctor told her the news. “This is the day my spirit finally breaks … where I once and for all give up.”

But that hasn’t happened. “As I type this, my spirit is fully intact,” wrote Gibson, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021. 

“Through it all, I repeated a line I’d written long before my cancer diagnosis: ‘Let your heart break so your spirit doesn’t.’ Letting my heart break felt like standing in a hurricane without lifting a single finger to protect myself from the debris flying at my skull. But afterwards, I texted a friend, ‘The sun has finally broken through the clouds in my chest.’”

Read the full, remarkable essay at andreagibson.substack.com.

Photo of the week