Tag: John.moore@denvergazette.com
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A stage manager is the invisible conductor | John Moore
Journalists learn early on that no matter what you write, no matter the topic, someone will take offense. And tell you all about it. You also learn early on which reader responses to take seriously. The anonymous ones, my very first editor taught me well, usually tell you more about the general unhappiness of the…
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Widows peak: Profiles in resilience | John Moore
The enduring show-biz mantra “The show must go on” has undergone some overdue reconsideration in recent years. “The show,” of course, does not have to go on – and really should not when the health and safety of audiences or artists are at stake. We’re just starting to get that. But for some actors who’ve been…
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Sand Creek: Healing and history come together | John Moore
There are many ways of measuring the impact of any given theatrical performance. But they don’t get much more impactful than when a woman approached educator and now theater practitioner Cinnamon Kills First at the end of “Breathing Healing into the Banks of Sand Creek” last May and apologized. The woman, accompanied by her daughter,…
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Those about to rock … are already rocking | John Moore
A veteran stage actor’s program is typically filled with past performing glories in “Les Misérables” or “Beauty and the Beast.” Not often do you see way more interesting life details revealed, like: “Ethan also plays flag football”; “Liam has been taking drumming lessons since he was 5”; or, “Christopher hopes to one day be part…
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Sibling revelry: 2024 was all in the family for these bros | John Moore
Four of the most impressive years by members of the Colorado theater community were accomplished by two sets of brothers. Matthew Dailey, who has been performing on area stages since he was just a wee Denver boy, came into his own as a director and choreographer with a knockout production of “Jersey Boys” for the…
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Peak musical performances of 2023 | John Moore
Now, for the fun part. The Denver Gazette’s annual True West Awards recall 30 good stories of the theater year without categories or nominations. But attention must be paid to a few of the many standout individual performances of the year. And the greatest of 2023 (or pretty much any other year) was when Maiesha…
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Damn (Yankees)! Check out these fresh faces of 2023 | John Moore
Ellie Plenk is a preternaturally talented sixth-grader who is currently starring in a fully sold-out run of “Matilda the Musical” at the Littleton Town Hall Arts Center – and it’s only the second theater production of her life. But she’s not some 11-year-old rookie, OK? Her first role was starring in “Matilda Jr.” at the…
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Where there is a Will, there is a woman | John Moore
It’s been a rough, oh, four centuries for Shakespeare’s women. But local stage directors flipped the script in 2023, making it a remarkable year – if not for the Bard’s characters, then certainly for the women performing them. It began with Local Theater Company culminating a three-year creative project that imagined Lady Macbeth in the…