Tag: John.moore@denvergazette.com
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Ragan & Robblee: Two leaders who truly give a damn | John Moore
When Mark Ragan stepped in to extend the life of the Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado in March 2023, he introduced a new economic model that would quickly ripple out to the benefit of neighboring arts organizations like, well, the Butterfly Effect. Ironically, the first thing Ragan and creative partner Jessica Robblee did was revert…
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Impact plays keep the gas on in cautious times | John Moore
It’s no secret that the performing arts have been on the rocks trying to bounce back from the pandemic shutdown. The year 2024 saw at least five Colorado theater companies go dead or dormant, and it ends with several more on the ropes. (On the bright side, nine foolish (I mean fearless) small startup groups…
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Call it the Giving Tree: Artists helping artists | John Moore
I started the True West Awards in 2013 – the same year I started The Denver Actors Fund, an all-volunteer nonprofit that helps Colorado theater artists pay down their medical bills. And I started both programs with a colostomy bag attached to my gut – the result of what I playfully call my “colon blow.” After a…
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These fresh scene-stealers are staging a breakout | John Moore
Local actors Eli Schroeder and Casey Myers have both disability and 2024 breakout stage performances in common. One played a role he was a perfect fit for. The other just might have been the first actor anywhere to play one (singular) Broadway dance role from a wheelchair. Both were perfectly cast. Both excelled in their…
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Jacob Dresch and the funny faces of 2024 | John Moore
Mixed in with all the stabbings and back-stabbings on area theater stages in 2024 were plenty of direct jabs to the funny bone that came in a variety of styles ranging from classical clowning to deadpan punchlines. One man in particularly fine form was Jacob Dresch, who has run his own summer comedy clinic in…
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The Replacements: Here they come to save the day | John Moore
Here they come to save the day. Call them understudies, swings, covers, replacement actors or first responders. I call them “Wonderstudies.” They are the uncelebrated actors who stand waiting in the wings to answer the call they (truly) hope never comes: A regularly scheduled actor can’t go on due to injury or illness. You’re on.…
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Here she is: Natalie Oliver-Atherton | John Moore
Queen Natalie Oliver-Atherton has a message that’s been 45 years in the making: “Young ladies, all things are possible. But you must do the work, in whatever field you choose. Viola Davis said it. Michelle Obama said it. Oprah said it. Now I’m saying it: Yes, you will have to continue to work twice as…
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Two actors who are breaking the sound barrier | John Moore
Actors Wayne Kennedy and John Hauser both starred in major local stage musicals in 2024. But both seem just as at home out of the spotlight sitting behind a soundboard in the darkness. There’s more than one way of making noise as an artist. Kennedy, one of the most admired actors on Colorado stages for…
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Two musicians who bring good vibrations to area musicals | John Moore
It seems kind of selfish that we get to have Susan Draus working here in Colorado. Draus, a prominent music director in national theater circles, “is the bee’s knees,” said busy-bee guitarist Jason Tyler Vaughn. ‘We’re kind of lucky that somebody like that is living in Colorado,” he said. “Whenever I see her around town,…