GROOVY, DROWSY CARNAGE- ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN COLORADO

We have a lot of fantastic theatre in Colorado. Which might sound surprising to people, seeing as we are a fairly small state, with a fairly small population. But that population is quite groovy. I was lucky enough to see four outstanding shows in the past month: Hair at Town Hall in Littleton, God of Carnage at the Curious Theatre, and both The Drowsy Chaperone and Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. All four shows were spectacular, and made me happy to be alive. Sometimes, you see a show, and it's bad. Really bad. And you sit there in your chair, which suddenly feels very uncomfortable, and words like "ponderous" keep floating to the surface of your slowly calcifying brain. But not so with these shows. I felt smarter after watching these shows. Better. Faster. Stronger.  It seemed as if my soul was being fed some sort of ambrosia that gave strength and courage. I believe that's what theatre, and art in general, is supposed to do, even if the subject is sad, gruesome, or horrifying: elevate your spirit, affirm to some degree what it is to be a human being, remind you that no one is alone.

HAIR was a joyous examination of the human spirit, with a solid cast, outstanding band, and rocking, show stopping numbers. GOD OF CARNAGE was wickedly funny, featuring four amazing actors- Karen Slack, Dee Convington, Erik Sandvold, and the always outstanding Timothy McCracken. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE might be the best musical I have seen so far in Colorado- the acting, singing, dancing, direction, design were all superb- and on top of that, Artistic Director Scott Levy stole the show as the Man in Chair. All those shows are closed- but you can still catch JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, which is playing through this week-end. The show is more of a revue, a tribute to Belgian songwriter Jaques Brel. If you like smart, beautiful songs about life, love, war, peace, old people, young people- well, songs about what it is to be a human being- that are performed with grace, style and humor, then this show is for you. The cast of four- Halee Towne, Lacey Conell, Max Ferguson, and Alejandro Roldan- are exceptional performers, able to conjure entire worlds out of thin air. The show is directed/choreographed at a crackerjack pace by Nathan Halvorson. The band is out-friggin'-rageous. I would have been quite content to  listen to them play until the wee small hours of the morning. The design, as always at the Fine Arts Center, was excellent. If you can, get yourself down there to see yet another fine show at this gem of the Colorado theatre scene.

I myself have a new show opening this week-end- a new version of ROSE RED, which I wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics for along with Kari Kraakevik, who did music and also co-wrote lyrics. The cast is amazing, the script streamlined, and we are premiering a new song. So, if you are in the Boulder area, please come see the show- which features some of the best young talent in the state.

And last, but not least, I hope you all take a gander at the indiegogo page for my movie Strong Tea. We just put up a new pitch video yesterday, and it's pretty damn funny. To see it, go HERE. If you like what you see- please throw in a couple of bucks, and share the site with all your friends via facebook, twitter, or whatever social media floats your boat. Thanks, and I'll see you at the theatre.

http://igg.me/at/strongtea/x/3385268