Applause -- The Music Man, February 27-March 1, 2026

APPLAUSE

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SIGHTLINE

BY JANICE SINDEN

WWelcome to the theatre!

This is one of the most engaging times of our year when we host the Colorado New Play Summit. Now in its 20th year, this festival features readings of four works in development plus full productions of two world premieres. Over February 14 and 15, theatre aficionados will enjoy:

Readings: Lemuria by Bonnie Antosh, Influent by Isaac Gómez, You Should Be So Lucky by Alyssa Haddad-Chin, and The Myth of the Two Marcos by Tony Meneses

World Premieres: Godspeed by Terence Anthony and Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler

Since its founding in 2005, the Summit has offered 95 readings, of which 47 have gone on to full production including The Book of Will, American Mariachi, and The Reservoir. These readings provide a pipeline of new works that contribute to the future of the American theatre.

Also on our stages are an all-new tour of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, the return of Mark Twain Tonight! featuring Richard Thomas in the iconic role, and the book-turnedmovie, Water for Elephants, brought to life through stunning puppetry and stage effects.

Your presence demonstrates a commitment to sustain this incredible artform. Similarly, Denver voters gave resounding approval for the Vibrant Denver Bond, enabling us to provide a safer, more welcoming theatre experience. Thank you for your ongoing support that makes this work possible.

Vladimir Script

Warm regards,

Janice Sinden

Janice Sinden, President & CEO

H O N O R I N G O U R E L D E R S

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts honors and acknowledges that it resides on the traditional and unceded territories of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary Indigenous Tribes and Nations who have historically called Colorado home.

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APPLAUSE

VOLUME XXXVI • NUMBER 3 • JAN – FEB 2026

EDITOR: Suzanne Yoe

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Kyle Malone

DESIGNER: Paul Koob

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS: Lucas Kreitler, Kyle Malone

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Misha Berson, Lisa Bornstein, Lisa Kennedy, Madison Stout, Collin Van Son

Applause is published six times a year by Denver Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with The Publishing House, Westminster, CO. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Call 303.893.4000 regarding editorial content.

Angie Flachman, Publisher For advertising 303.428.9529 or sales@pub-house.com coloradoartspubs.com Applause magazine is funded in part by

Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that engages and inspires through the transformative power of live theatre.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Ruth Krebs, Chair

Hassan Salem, Immediate Past Chair

Jerome Davis, Vice Chair

David Jacques Farahi, Secretary/Treasurer

Nicole Ament

Marco D. Chayet

Yosh Eisbart

Christopher Hayes

Elizabeth Hioe

Deb Kelly

Robert Kenney

Kevin Kilstrom

Lynn McDonald

Susan Fox Pinkowitz

Manny Rodriguez

Alan Salazar

Richard M. Sapkin

Martin Semple

William Dean Singleton

Sylvia Young

HONORARY TRUSTEES

Navin Dimond

Margot Gilbert Frank

Jeannie Fuller

Robert C. Newman

Cleo Parker Robinson

Robert Slosky

Nicole Ament

Marco D. Chayet

David Jacques Farahi

Ruth Krebs

Susan Fox Pinkowitz

Hassan Salem

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Janice Sinden, President & CEO

Jamie Clements, Vice President, Development

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director, Theatre Company

John Ekeberg, Executive Director, Broadway & Cabaret

Angela Lakin, Vice President, Marketing & Sales

Glen Lucero, Vice President, Venue Operations

Laura Maresca, Chief People & Culture Officer

Lisa Roebuck, Vice President, Information Technology

Charles Varin, Managing Director, Theatre Company & Off-Center

Dr. Reginald L. Washington

Judi Wolf

HELEN G. BONFILS

FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Martin Semple, President

William Dean Singleton, Vice President

Kevin Kilstrom, Secretary/Treasurer

Allison Watrous, Executive Director, Education & Community Engagement

Jane Williams, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

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DRAMATIC LEARNING: WHERE CREATIVITY MEETS CURRICULUM

By Madison Stout

What if learning math felt like rehearsing a dance? What if science came alive through movement and storytelling? At the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, this isn’t hypothetical; it’s the foundation of Dramatic Learning, a program that integrates theatre into core subjects.

ACT. CREATE. GROW. Theatre Education at the DCPA

For nearly 30 years, the DCPA has partnered with Colorado educators to bring arts integration into classrooms, helping students become better learners and better humans. Whether it’s acting out the digestive system in a biology unit or using costume renderings to explore character development in literature, the program helps students connect with academic content through creativity, collaboration, and kinesthetic learning.

“All students deserve to feel seen in their learning,” says Allison Watrous, Executive Director of DCPA Education & Community Engagement. “Arts integration honors different learning styles and invites students to be agents in their own learning.”

Arts integration isn’t just about making learning fun; it’s about making it effective. In Denver classrooms, DCPA teaching artists collaborate with educators to co-teach lessons that align with state standards. From Shakespeare and stage combat to science-based improvisation, students experience learning with their minds and bodies.

And the results speak for themselves. The New Victory SPARK study, which tracked students over three years, found that performing arts education led to:

• 50% increase in creative thinking through improvisation exercises

• 55% growth in teamwork skills, with students choosing larger, more diverse teams

• 10% rise in hope for the future, compared to a 5% decline in the control group

• 20% greater interest in the performing arts, especially among students from under-resourced schools

These findings reinforce what educators at the DCPA have known for a long time: the arts don’t just enrich education, they transform it.

Together, arts integration makes core curriculums more dynamic, memorable, and meaningful while equipping students with both academic mastery and 21st-century skills. It also improves academic performance. Students involved in arts programs show enhanced memory, focus, and literacy skills.

And perhaps most importantly, they’re more engaged. “When students are doing the work — creating, performing, reflecting — they’re not just learning facts,” Watrous says. “They’re learning how to think, feel, and connect.

“If you’re a teacher, or know one, who wants to bring creativity into the classroom, reach out,” Watrous encourages. “And if you have a young person in your life, take them to the theater. Go on an artist date. Spark their imagination.”

To learn more about Dramatic Learning or bring it to your school, reach out to education@dcpa.org.

BECAUSE ARTS EDUCATION ISN’T EXTRA — IT’S ESSENTIAL.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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salon owner Truvy

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The colorful cast of regulars and employees that frequent her establishment include a mother-daughter duo planning a wedding, a woman who’s “been in a bad mood for 40 years,” and a mysterious newcomer. Through laughter, tears, and a thick fog of hairspray, these women face trials and triumphs armed with their greatest strength: each other.

BY LISA KENNEDY

I GODSPEED : A WESTERN REWRITTEN

“I always loved westerns as a kid — the showdowns, the gunfights, all that,” playwright Terence Anthony said during a video conversation. His own contribution to the genre, Godspeed — a rousing saga about a formerly enslaved woman on a mission in post-Civil War Texas — is having its world premiere at the Denver Center Theatre Company.

In the popular imagination, the Western has made a home in the theater. The movie theater, that is.

After all, film captures the big sky we westerners dwell beneath. It depicts a vastness that humbles the heart but has also fueled ravenous ambitions. Cinema spent much of its first 100 years making manifest onscreen the designs of Manifest Destiny. Yet, in more recent decades it’s offered up revisions of those earlier stories — for good reason.

This is something the playwright gleaned over time. “At a certain point, I realized, ‘Oh wait a minute, why are all the Indians the bad guys all the time? What’s going on?’” He began paying a different sort of attention.

Anthony reels off a few of his favorite westerns, including two that fall under the revisionist rubric and feature black actors with storylines: 1985’s Silverado with Danny Glover and Lynn Whitfield as siblings and homesteaders, and John Ford’s 1960 drama Sergeant Rutledge, about the eponymous army man (portrayed by Woody Strode) being tried for the sexual assault and murder of a white woman.

“The genre of the Western is just such an amazing vehicle for talking about all the things American. All the

things that led to where we’re at today,” Anthony said, joined by the play’s director, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg. “You can really trace back to how the west was ‘won,’ and the histories that were covered up. That a quarter or more cowboys were black, but we never saw that in books or films.”

The black quasi-cowboy protagonist of Anthony’s creation is actually a formerly enslaved woman named Anna who rechristened herself Godspeed. The play is set in Texas, shortly after the Civil War’s end. But it is no Juneteenth celebration. Texas is roiling. The once enslaved are unsure of where to go, how to begin negotiating their new lives: Is there a way to reset economically their relationship to their enslavers?

As for Godspeed, she has retribution in mind. For that dark if righteous payback, she totes a gun with one bullet.

Godspeed is one of the two plays getting its world premiere having had a well-received staged reading during the 2024 Colorado New Play Summit. (The other, Cowboys and East Indians, also wrestles with the ethos of the West.) Its settling in the Kilstrom is cause for applause but also curiosity. How does a genre so doggedly cinematic yield to the intimacy of the theater? Indeed, the script seems to call for cinematic gestures, like intertitles and maps charting Godspeed’s journey from Mexico up through Texas toward a reckoning. It’s easy to imagine the creative team defaulting to visual projections to nudge the storytelling. Cue Sonnenberg.

“Some of the vocabulary of the western — or just the West — is land and sky,” the director said. “I’ve been think-

ing a lot about that. Because we’re in the round instead of a proscenium. All of our theatricality is old school theatricality because it’s just a floor and an audience all around. So, the things that are strong in the play have to be strong in the production, and that is the relationships between the people.”

Sonnenberg is the founder and former artistic director of MOXIE Theatre, a San Diego-based company focused on presenting works by Women+ creatives. “Delicia has told me she usually doesn’t do ‘boy plays,’ so I was very honored that she was interested,” Anthony recalled, smiling.

But then how many plays have a protagonist as ferocious and mysterious as Godspeed? “A person shows up, then we find out it’s a woman, then we find out that she’s changed her name from Anna to Godspeed, and she’s on a journey,” said Sonnenberg. “It grabbed me from the very first scene. And then there’s the dream sequence, right? And then we get a two-person scene and half of it’s in Spanish!” Sonnenberg said that last bit with a hint of marvel.

Because Anthony has paired his thorny hero with — well, in a different era, Peklai Cobos, might have been called “sidekick.” The play’s not having any of that. A Mexican woman of Coahuiltecan descent, she often gives Godspeed as good as she gets — answering, arguing, advising, always in untranslated Spanish. It’s a gesture that will please some and fluster others.

“I think theater is at its best when it’s subversive,” Sonnenberg said about the playwright’s choices. Not just his refusal to translate Peklai’s dialog but his interest in a period of American history in which post-Civil War opportunity was met with the rise of Jim Crow suppression and violence.

At a certain point, I realized,

“Oh wait a minute, why are all the Indians the bad guys all the time? What’s going on?”

—

TERENCE ANTHONY, PLAYWRIGHT

In navigating the facts and context of the era, the duo found a partner in dramaturg Arminda Thomas. “I am drawn to stories about Reconstruction, and this one is a Reconstruction story in an underexplored setting (South Texas), and with a larger scope than most of those stories, that looks back to the Middle Passage, the annexation of Texas, the Spanish conquest...there’s a lot to dig into!” she wrote in an email.

“Part of what drew me to the play is the ballsiness,” Sonnenberg says. “I like swagger and it has it. There’s real muscularity in the writing. Like, ‘I’m gonna tell you a story and it’s gonna be good, and here we go!’”

Or, to borrow a phrase, “Giddy up!”

RICHARD THOMAS TAKES ON MARK TWAIN

Best known for playing John-Boy Walton in “The Waltons,” Richard Thomas has enjoyed an award-winning career in TV, film, and stage appearing across the nation in Twelve Angry Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. Now — as the only actor authorized to perform Mark Twain Tonight! — he takes on the role of Samuel Clemens made famous by Hal Holbrook. “When the estate reached out and told me they wanted to run this again and they thought Hal would probably be happy if I did it, I immediately said I would love to,” explained Thomas.

Mark Twain Tonight! offers more than one reflection of public life that will resonate with audiences today. While Holbrook performed the show for more than 50 years, assembling the play from a large cache of Twain’s writings, the material was made available to Thomas to develop his own spin on the piece.

“Actors are intrepid researchers, and Twain is just a bottomless well,” concluded Thomas. “You can just keep drawing good water from it without running dry. I’ve always loved him before in a more general-audience way, but this is giving me a great opportunity to go deep. And he’s a wonderful companion. He has insights, he makes you laugh, and he makes you think.”

GODSPEED

JAN 30 – FEB 22 • KILSTROM THEATRE

ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance: Feb 8 at 1:30pm

Stay for a post-show discussion: Feb 10 & 17

Includes ASL Interpretation, Audio Description & Open Captioning READ THE FULL ARTICLE

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

JAN 31 • BUELL THEATRE

THE GEOMETRY OF SPECTACLE HOW WATER FOR ELEPHANTS UNLOCKS THE THIRD DIMENSION

BY COLLIN VAN SON

MMost musicals are two-dimensional. That’s not a put-down; it’s a spatial reality. Stages are two-dimensional surfaces, and the actors who travel them are typically limited to two degrees of freedom: they can move upstage or downstage, stage right or stage left. A notable exception is if the show in question also happens to be a circus. Then the actors are welcome to fly.

From the trapeze to the tightrope, Water for Elephants is emphatically three-dimensional. But accessing what circus designer and co-choreographer Shana Carroll calls “real estate in the air” isn’t just an artistic challenge — it’s also an engineering one.

“It’s a lot of geometry,” says Carroll, describing the network of pulleys, wires, and slings whose sheer complexity occasionally brought rehearsal to a screeching halt. Countless hours were spent troubleshooting and reconfiguring. “We did not make our lives easy,” Carroll admits. “We do things on the stage that are kind of crazy to do, rigging-wise.”

In addition to behind-the-scenes headaches, this complexity delivers some remarkable feats of showmanship. Carroll points to the moment when the cast raises the center pole of the Benzini Brothers’ circus tent; what would normally take 30 minutes of pre-show preparation, the cast accomplishes with real-time choreography.

Much like pitching a big top, choreographing Water for Elephants was a team effort. When Jesse Robb joined the project as a co-choreographer, it marked the start of a collaboration that he and Carroll fondly refer to as their “arranged marriage.” The two soon found that their experiences working for Cirque du Soleil allowed them to develop a common movement language, one that evolves over the course of the show.

Robb describes the show’s early choreography as “very utilitarian,” a reflection of the intense physical labor that a circus requires of all its members. But as protagonist Jacob Jankowski begins to acclimate to life on the road, the choreography gradually takes on the unabashed spectacle of Depression-era circus. “You get a little bit further into act one,” says Robb, “and you’re looking at very Broadway-esque moments in [‘The Lion Has Got No Teeth’]. And then ‘The Grand Spec’ at the end of act one, the language is very much old-school presentational circus. So the choreographic language changes dramatically throughout the show.”

For Carroll, a former trapeze artist, this combination of 1930s old-school circus and modern-day artistry is a major part of the show’s appeal. As a veteran of several traditional circuses, she enjoys recalling her horseback entrances and the onstage poker games she played against an elephant.

“I love the artsy theatrical circus that I now do,” she says, “but I really have so much reverence for the roots... And marrying them — doing in a traditional context some of the newer contemporary language — is really satisfying for me, because I actually don’t like when it’s so delineated.”

The importance of unspoken physical language is a theme that Carroll and Robb return to frequently. And when building out such a language, it helps to have what Carroll calls “that little glossary in your head,” a way to find the right pairings of physical movement with an emotional moment.

Through the risks they entail and the images they create, different circus techniques lend themselves to different metaphors. Aerial taps into freedom and liberation. Ground acrobatics calls to mind community and interdependence. Three-high stacking evokes a sense of victory — or at least it always has to Carroll, who at one point in the process found herself needing to revise her personal glossary.

During the show’s development, director Jessica Stone wanted to employ three-high stacking to depict the practice of red-lighting, in which Benzini employees are hurled from a moving train when their services are no longer required. But to Carroll, the violence of red-lighting clashed with her understanding of the three-high stack as a victorious, uplifting image. Eventually, however, she came to realize that, “oh no, if we make it about danger and about the risk and the stakes, we can change that imagery.”

It’s a lot of geometry. We did not make our lives easy. We do things on the stage that are kind of crazy to do, rigging-wise.

— SHANA CARROLL, CO-CHOREOGRAPHER

This kind of collaboration, cross-pollination, and flexibility is nowhere more evident than in the show’s cast. Most circus performers are specialists in a particular discipline such as tumbling or juggling. But in the case of Water for Elephants, the show’s relatively small cast — there are only seven dedicated circus performers — means that versatility is at a premium. As a result, the artistic team was constantly on the lookout for what Carroll calls “unicorns,” performers who could not only soar on a trapeze but could juggle a knife and tumble as well.

While the Benzini Brothers are fictional, the most successful real-life circus of the 1930s — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey — is still around today, preparing to kick off a new tour in 2026. For Robb, the enduring appeal of the circus has a simple and personal explanation: “I know my impetus [in becoming an artist] was wanting to run away to Cirque du Soleil when I was 20 years old, and it was the idea of finding a community of like-minded people.”

The way Carroll sees it, the power of circus comes back to mechanics. “If five people are doing a trick and two people are throwing and one person’s catching, [you can’t ignore] the trust and the fact if one person doesn’t do their job, someone dies. It really is just the most profound way of showing interconnectivity and interdependence.”

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

FEB 11 – 22 • BUELL THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio Described, and Open Captioned performance: Feb 22 at 1pm

NEXT UP FROM BROADWAY

HELL’S KITCHEN

Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen (April 14-26) is not just a musical — it’s a love letter to New York City, adolescence, and the power of finding your voice. Loosely based on Keys’ own teenage years in Manhattan Plaza, the show pulses with the energy of 1990s Hell’s Kitchen, blending R&B, soul, and hip-hop into a theatrical experience that feels both personal and universal.

Critics have called the musical “a rousing delight” (Entertainment Weekly), “a glorious tapestry” (Variety), and “easily the best new musical at the Public since Hamilton” (TheaterMania). But Hell’s Kitchen isn’t just about accolades — it’s about connection. The story of a young woman navigating family, ambition, and identity resonates far beyond the streets of New York. Keys reimagines some of her most iconic songs — “Fallin’,” “Perfect Way to Die,” and “Girl on Fire” among many others — to serve as emotional anchors, offering audiences a fresh lens on familiar hits.

As the show travels the country, it brings with it a message that’s both timely and timeless: that music can be a lifeline, and that every city has its own rhythm worth listening to. Hell’s Kitchen is poised to inspire a new generation of theatergoers — one soulful note at a time.

Book, Music & Lyrics by Meredith Willson

Story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey

STARRING

Elliott Andrews Elizabeth D’Aiuto

Charles Antenen Patrick Blashill Addie Jaymes Dylan Patterson

Michael Santora Madison Sheward Savannah Stevenson Paul Urriola Emmanuelle Zeesman

Big League Productions, Inc. in association with Deborah Denenberg PRESENTS WITH

Christian Andrews Bryce Bayer Anna Chin Danny Cruz Kalista Curbelo Whitney Daniels Erin Diehl Craig First Brian Doolittle González Sophie Goron Alexi Ishida

Cameron Janson Hannah Rose Kidwell Kevin Kuska Rose Messenger

Joshua Pierre Moore Kylie Noelle Patterson Brandon Ranalli Aidan Rawlinson

Shae Reynolds Brayden Schilling Marielle Utayde Matthew Wautier-Rodriguez

Scenic Design by ANN BEYERSDORFER

Video & Projection Design by LISA RENKEL

Music Supervision KRISTIN STOWELL

Costume Coordinator ROBIN L. McGEE

Production Stage Manager KAITLIN BUTTOFUCO

Technical Supervisor D. WADE JOLLY

Broadway and Tour Costume Design by SANTO LOQUASTO

Sound Design by WALTER TRARBACH

Music Direction THOMAS FOSNOCHT

Tour Press & Marketing TRUE MARKETING

WENDY J. CONNOR

Associate Producer SOPHIE WHITFIELD

Associate Director ROQUE BERLANGA

Lighting Design by KEN BILLINGTON

Hair & Makeup Design by ROXANNE DE LUNA

Casting CASTING BY ARC

General Management BIG LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS

ZACH KROHN

Company Manager OWEN O’BRIEN

Associate Choreographer NAOMI KAKUK

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DANIEL SHER DIRECTION BY MATT LENZ

CHOREOGRAPHY BY JOSHUA BERGASSE

TOUR BOOKING BY TRACEY MCFARLAND, BROADWAY & BEYOND THEATRICALS

”Meredith Willson’s The Music Man” is produced by special arrangement with MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL, New York, NY. www.mtishows.com

CAST

(in order of appearance)

Conductor CHRISTIAN ANDREWS

Charlie Cowell MICHAEL SANTORA

Traveling Salesmen DANNY CRUZ, CRAIG FIRST, BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ, CAMERON JANSON, JOSHUA PIERRE MOORE, BRAYDEN SCHILLING, MATTHEW WAUTIER-RODRIGUEZ

Harold Hill ELLIOTT ANDREWS

Olin Britt JOSHUA PIERRE MOORE

Amaryllis ADDIE JAYMES

Maud Dunlop ROSE MESSENGER

Ewart Dunlop BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ

Mayor Shinn PATRICK BLASHILL

Alma Hix WHITNEY DANIELS

Ethel Toffelmier ALEXI ISHIDA

Oliver Hix MATTHEW WAUTIER-RODRIGUEZ

Jacey Squires CRAIG FIRST

Marcellus Washburn PAUL URRIOLA

Tommy Djilas CHARLES ANTENEN

Marian Paroo ELIZABETH D’AIUTO

Mrs. Paroo SAVANNAH STEVENSON

Winthrop Paroo DYLAN PATTERSON

Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn EMMANUELLE ZEESMAN

Zaneeta Shinn MADISON SHEWARD

Gracie Shinn SHAE REYNOLDS

Mrs. Squires HANNAH ROSE KIDWELL

Constable Locke CHRISTIAN ANDREWS

Residents of River City CHRISTIAN ANDREWS, ANNA CHIN, DANNY CRUZ, KALISTA CURBELO, WHITNEY DANIELS, ERIN DIEHL, CRAIG FIRST, BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ, ALEXI ISHIDA, CAMERON JANSON, HANNAH ROSE KIDWELL, ROSE MESSENGER, JOSHUA PIERRE MOORE, KYLIE NOELLE PATTERSON, BRANDON RANALLI, AIDAN RAWLINSON, SHAE REYNOLDS, BRAYDEN SCHILLING, MATTHEW WAUTIER-RODRIGUEZ

UNDERSTUDIES

Understudies never substitute for the listed performers unless a specific announcement is made at the time of the appearance. For Harold Hill — BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ, BRAYDEN SCHILLING; for Marian Paroo — WHITNEY DANIELS, ALEXI ISHIDA; for Marcellus Washburn — CRAIG FIRST, KEVIN KUSKA; for Mayor Shinn — KEVIN KUSKA, JOSHUA PIERRE MOORE; for Winthrop Paroo & Amaryllis — KYLIE NOELLE PATTERSON; for Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn — HANNAH ROSE KIDWELL, ROSE MESSENGER; for Mrs. Paroo — HANNAH ROSE KIDWELL, ROSE MESSENGER; for Charlie Cowell—BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ, CRAIG FIRST; for Tommy Djilas— DANNY CRUZ, AIDAN RAWLINSON; for Zaneeta Shinn — KALISTA CURBELO, MARIELLE UTAYDE; for Gracie Shinn — MARIELLE UTAYDE; for Olin Britt — CHRISTIAN ANDREWS; for Ewart Dunlop, Oliver Hix, Jacey Squires — KEVIN KUSKA; for Maud Dunlop, Alma Hix, Mrs. Squires, Ethel Toffelmeir — SOPHIE GORON

SWINGS

BRYCE BAYER, SOPHIE GORON, KEVIN KUSKA, MARIELLE UTAYDE

Dance Captain: ERIN DIEHL

Assistant Dance Captain: BRYCE BAYER

THE MUSIC MAN CAST

MUSICAL NUMBERS

ACT I

Scene One: A Railway Coach, morning, July 3, 1912

“Rock Island” Charlie Cowell & Traveling Salesmen

Scene Two: Train Depot, River City, Iowa

Scene Three: The Center of Town

“Iowa Stubborn”

Townspeople of River City “Trouble” Harold, Townspeople

Scene Four: A Street

Scene Five: The Paroos’ House “Piano Lesson” Marian, Mrs. Paroo, Amaryllis “Goodnight, My Someone” Marian

Scene Six: Madison Gymnasium, July 4th

“Columbia, Gem of the Ocean” Eulalie “Seventy Six Trombones” ............................................................................................. Harold, Townspeople

Scene Seven: Madison Gymnasium

“Sincere” Olin, Oliver, Ewart, Jacey

Scene Eight: A Street

“The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl” Harold, Marcellus

“Pickalittle” Alma, Ethel, Eulalie, Maud, Mrs. Squires

“Goodnight Ladies” Olin, Oliver, Ewart, Jacey

Scene Nine: Madison Library

“Marian The Librarian” Harold, Boys & Girls

Scene Ten: A Street, the following Saturday, late afternoon

Scene Eleven: The Paroos’ Porch, immediately following “Gary, Indiana” Harold, Mrs. Paroo

“My White Knight” Marian

Scene Twelve: The Edge of Town, noon, the following Saturday

“The Wells Fargo Wagon” Winthrop, Townspeople

THERE WILL BE ONE 15-MINUTE INTERMISSION

ACT II

Scene One: Madison Gymnasium, the following Tuesday evening

“It’s You” Olin, Oliver, Ewart, Jacey, Harold & Townspeople “Pickalittle” (Reprise) Eulalie, Maude, Ethel, Alma, Mrs. Squires & Ladies

Scene Two: The Front of the Hotel, the following Wednesday evening

“Lida Rose” Olin, Oliver, Ewart, Jacey

“Will I Ever Tell You?” .................................................................................................................................. Marian

Scene Three: The Paroos’ Porch, immediately following “Gary, Indiana” (Reprise) Winthrop, Mrs. Paroo, Marian

Scene Four: Madison Park

“Shipoopi” Marcellus, Harold, Townspeople

Scene Five: The Footbridge

“Till There Was You” Marian

“Seventy Six Trombones” & “Goodnight, My Someone” Harold & Marian

“Till There Was You” (Reprise) Harold

Scene Six: The Center of Town, immediately following “Finale” ................................................................................................................................................ The Company

WARNING: The photographing or sound recording of any performance is strictly prohibited.

WHO’S WHO

ORCHESTRA

Music Director, Keys 1 —THOMAS FOSNOCHT

Assistant Music Director, Keys 2 —Abigail Galleta Canafe

Reed 1 — Megan Howell

Trumpet 1 — Talitha Duckworth

Trombone 1— Brandon Berube

Bass — Mike Parisi

ELLIOTT ANDREWS (Harold Hill) is thrilled and humbled to be on this stage tonight! Favorite credits: Berkeley Rep, Walnut Street, Opera North, Gainesville Orchestra, AMT, Westchester Broadway, The Argyle, Arrow Rock Lyceum, Mason Street Warehouse. Love and gratitude to the entire Music Man team, ARC, Mikey at The Collective, my family, Becca, and Richie. Thank you for supporting live theatre! @elliottrandrews

ELIZABETH D’AIUTO (Marian Paroo) National tour debut! Previous credits: The Sound of Music int’l tour, Camelot (Guenevere), Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), West Side Story (‘Somewhere’ Soloist), Vanities (Joanne) and Rumors (Cassie). Graduate of The Boston Conservatory. Immense gratitude to Matt, Casting by ARC, & Brian Herrick at HKA. For Mom and Dad. www.elizabethdaiuto.com @elizabethdaiuto

PAUL URRIOLA (Marcellus Washburn) National tour debut! Previous: Barfee in Spelling Bee (GEVA Theatre), Horton in Seussical (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Celebrity Guest Stars in The Rochester Golden Girls’ Drag Parody Musical Series (OFC Creations). So much love to family and friends and many thanks to Big League Productions! This one’s for Ted. @mrwhiskerface

SAVANNAH STEVENSON (Mrs. Paroo) is delighted to be part of her first national tour. After receiving a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, Savannah became a practicing lawyer for 18 years before returning to theater. Recent credits include Grace Farrell in Annie, Angie in The Prom, and Widow Corney in Oliver!, each at the beloved Sharon Playhouse. Huge thanks to the creatives, cast, crew, and producers. Kisses to J, C & S.

Reed 2 — Josh Roberts

Trumpet 2 — Gumaro Gomez

Trombone 2 — Guillermo Ramirez

Drums — Garrett Davis

DYLAN PATTERSON (Winthrop Paroo)is thrilled to be making his national tour debut! Credits include Drag: The Musical (Off-Broadway). Dylan would like to thank his incredible coaches for their guidance. Endless gratitude to Kim Pedell, Zoom Talent and McKenna Murdock, DDO. Dylan sends love to his amazing family & friends for their encouragement and inspiration @dylantheon.official

PATRICK BLASHILL (Mayor Shinn) has been working in Chicago for the last 35 years and has performed at Steppenwolf, The Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens and many others. Some notable productions include Lord of The Rings, Cat’s Cradle, Midnight Cowboy, Much Ado About Nothing, Long Days Journey into Night and The Harvest. Film: Visiting Friends, The Dancing Monkey. Television: Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Empire. Patrick is represented by the Gray Talent Group.

EMMANUELLE ZEESMAN (Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn) recently toured in Hairspray which performed in 165 cities! Other national tours/ off-Broadway: DuMaurier-Finding Neverland, Aunt-Em u/s Wicked Witch-The Wizard of Oz, FoscaPassion, Marmee-Little Women, Mrs. Johnstone-Blood Brothers (CCC Best Actress Award). Thanks to Matt Lenz, Big League, ARC and the whole Music Man team! Love to Huzzah, friends and family! @emmanuellezeesman

ADDIE JAYMES (Amaryllis) is beyond excited to play Amaryllis on The Music Man tour! Recent credits: Annie (Broadway Palm), A Christmas Story (Goodspeed), Annie national tour ’23, Annie Warbucks (Surflight), Gypsy (Wick). Endless thanks to her family, Danii, Ginna Claire, and the creative team for believing in her and making this dream a reality!

@addie_jaymes

MICHAEL SANTORA (Charlie Cowell) is thrilled to be joining the national tour of The Music Man! A New Orleans native, he holds an MFA in Acting from The University of Idaho. National tours: Annie, Flashdance, Anything Goes and Million Dollar Quartet. Off-Broadway: The Office! A Musical Parody (Dwight). Favorite roles include Nick Bottom (Something Rotten!), Harold Hill (The Music Man), Will Rogers (The Will Rogers Follies), and Don Lockwood (Singin’ in the Rain). Special thanks to ATB! All my love to my wife Kim, Ronald, Nannan, and my Mom, who always holds a special place in my heart. www.michaelsantora.com

CHARLES ANTENEN (Tommy Djilas) Originally from Atlanta, GA, Charles is a proud graduate of Florida State’s MT program — Go Noles! National tours: Peter Pan (Tootles, Peter Pan u/s), Regional: Cats, Kinky Boots, Jersey Boys (MTWichita), The Little Mermaid, Wizard Of Oz, Newsies (Tuacahn). He would like to thank ARC and his family for all their support.

MADISON SHEWARD (Zaneeta Shinn) Credits: A Chorus Line (Drury Lane); Gypsy, Damn Yankees (The Marriott Theatre), American Psycho (Kokandy Productions); Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (CFRT); The Wolves, Concord Floral (Young Company); Junie B. Jones. (YPTC). Film/TV: Chasing The Party, Surfacing. Madison is grateful to her family for their endless love and support.

CHRISTIAN ANDREWS (Conductor, Constable Locke, Ensemble, u/s Olin Britt) National tour debut! Regional: Frozen (Kristoff, Midwest Regional Premiere), Come From Away (Bob & Others), Twelfth Night, Last Stop on Market Street. BFA in Acting ’23 from Millikin University. Represented by Gray Talent Group. Big hugs to family & friends! @chris.andrewss

BRYCE BAYER (Dance Ensemble

Swing, Assistant Dance Captain) National tour debut! Regional: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Muny, American Stage Theatre Company, The Wick Theatre, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Laguna Playhouse, Music Theater Heritage, The Palace Theatre, and more! Millikin University BFA Musical Theatre graduate. Represented by The Movement Talent Agency. Love to family, friends, and Dan. For Dad. IG: @bbayer7

ANNA CHIN (Dance Ensemble) is a Palo Alto born performer and recent graduate of the Steps On Broadway Conservatory. She is currently a student at Columbia University, a member of The New Jack Cole Dancers, and is so excited to be making her Broadway national tour debut with this beautiful cast and company! @annaachin

DANNY CRUZ (Dance Ensemble, u/s Tommy Djillas) is immensely grateful to be making his professional debut in the national tour of The Music Man. Currently training at The Norwalk Conservatory. Danny would like to thank his parents and all four of his sisters for the endless love and support. IG: _danny_cruz_

KALISTA CURBELO (Dance Ensemble, u/s Zaneeta Shinn) is thrilled to make her national tour debut with Music Man! A South Florida native and proud Point Park graduate. Recent regional credits: 42nd Street; A Chorus Line (Kristine); No, No, Nanette; Top Hat; West Side Story. Endless thanks to the Music Man team, her amazing family and friends. @kalistacurbelo

WHITNEY DANIELS (Alma Hix, Ensemble, u/s Marian Paroo) is pleased to make her national tour debut! Previous credits include Titanic (North Shore Music Theatre), A Little Night Music (Ogunquit Playhouse), Beautiful (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), and performing at Shanghai Disneyland Resort and for Disney Cruise Line Sending love and thanks to her family, friends and ATB Talent! @whitnafaye

ERIN DIEHL (Dance Ensemble, Dance Captain) is thrilled to make her musical debut with The Music Man national tour! Originally from Maryland, Diehl trained in classical ballet earning her BFA from The University of Utah in 2022. Previous credits include dancing with The

Nashville Ballet, Ballet Rhode Island, and the first national tour of Christmas In the Air.

CRAIG FIRST (Jacey Squires, Ensemble, u/s Marcellus Washburn, Charlie Cowell) is delighted to be harmonizing in River City. Tours: Hairspray (Brad/ Dance Captain), Cocomelon (Blippi). He thanks Matt, Josh, Arc Casting and the rest of the team for their vision. Special thanks to Jim at Movement Talent Agency. Craig is forever grateful for Mom, Caroline, Danna, and his friends.

@CraigFirst

BRIAN DOOLITTLE GONZÁLEZ

(Ewart Dunlop, Ensemble, u/s Harold Hill, Charlie Cowell) is thrilled to be making their national tour debut in The Music Man! Past credits: Dmitry (Anastasia), Sir Robin (Spamalot), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), George (Sunday In The Park with George). For his family, everyone who helped foster his love for music, and PMA for their support! For Nicole, for showing up and always believing. @briandoolittlegonzalez

SOPHIE GORON (Swing) National tour debut! Maryland native, Coastal Carolina University MT ’19. Previously: Disney on Classic (Japan tour), Seabourn Cruise Line, Carousel with JWM Theatricals (Julie Jordan), and Studio Tenn Theatre Co’s The Sound of Music (Elsa Schraeder) Immense gratitude to friends, family, Brian Herrick and the HKA team, and her cat Bagel. xoxo @iamsolfi

ALEXI ISHIDA (Ethel Toffelmeir, Ensemble, u/s Marian Paroo) (she/her) is thrilled to be touring with The Music Man! Regional: Sacramento Music Circus, Phoenix Theatre Company, Gretna Theatre, Shenandoah Music Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, and Disney Cruise Lines. Special thanks to Brian Herrick/HKA, the cast and crew, and endless love to my family and friends! @lexipepsi7

CAMERON JANSON (Dance Ensemble) trained at Creative Conservatory in Michigan. He traveled with Tremaine Dance and NYCDA as an assistant. Cameron is excited to be making his professional debut and to be part of such an amazing company. Thank you to my loving and supportive family! Here we go...

HANNAH ROSE KIDWELL (Mrs. Squires, Ensemble, u/s Mrs. Paroo, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn) is thrilled to be a part of this new production of The Music Man national tour! Regional: Emma Goldman in Ragtime, Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Nettie in Carousel. International: Swing and Mother Abbess U/S in Jack O’Brien’s The Sound of Music. She would like to thank God, her family, and you! 1 Samuel 2:1-2

KEVIN KUSKA (Swing, u/s Marcellus Washburn, Mayor Shinn) National tour debut! Kevin is a music director, educator, and owner of an online voice studio — Kuska Studios. Regional credits: Broadway in Chicago, Paramount, Drury Lane, Marriott, and Chicago Shakespeare. BFA Millikin University, Masters of Vocal Pedagogy — Rider University. Thank you to all of my family and students!

ROSE MESSENGER (Maud Dunlop, Ensemble, u/s Mrs. Paroo, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn) is thrilled to be making her national tour debut! Originally from New Brunswick, Canada, Rose is a recent graduate of CCM and most recently performed in the original Canadian company of TITANIQUE. Rose is grateful to her family, friends, and team at Avalon Artists Group for their ongoing support. For Mabel. @rose_messenger

JOSHUA PIERRE MOORE (Olin Britt, Ensemble, u/s Mayor Shinn) is ecstatic to be making his tour debut with The Music Man! A native of San Antonio, TX, JP earned a B.M. from Texas State University and a M.M. from ASU. JP thanks his family, friends, and the team at Bloc NYC for their endless support.

KYLIE NOELLE PATTERSON (Ensemble, s/b Winthrop Paroo, Amaryllis) is thrilled to join The Music Man national tour! Credits include the Annie national tour Represented by Kim Pedell, Zoom Talent & McKenna Murdock, DDO Kids. She is deeply grateful to her coaches & mentors for their continued guidance. Kylie thanks her family and friends for their unwavering love & support. @kylie.noelle.official

BRANDON RANALLI (Dance Ensemble) Brandon is thrilled to be making his national tour debut! Most recently seen in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, Brandon’s credits also include — Off-Broadway: iLuminate

Regional: Billy Elliot (MTWichita, Gateway Playhouse, Media Theatre), 42nd Street (Palace Theatre), Anything Goes (Milton Theatre). Television: Etoile, So You Think You Can Dance Season 17. Brandon s represented by McDonald Selznick Associates Talent Agency. @brandonranalli

AIDAN RAWLINSON (Dance Ensemble, u/s Tommy Djillas) is overjoyed to make his national tour debut. Born in Pasadena, CA, he found his love for performing arts through ballet and his grandfather’s Rodgers and Hammerstein DVDs. A proud NYU Tisch graduate (New Studio on Broadway). Regional: Cabaret (Emcee), Rent (Mark) Endless love and thanks to family and friends.

SHAE REYNOLDS (Gracie Shinn, Dance Ensemble) is thrilled to be a part of The Music Man tour! She currently resides in NYC, where she studied dance theatre after training competitively in MA. Recent credits include An American in Paris and A Christmas Carol. Shae thanks her loved ones for their support! @shae_reynolds

BRAYDEN SCHILLING (Traveling Salesperson, Ensemble, u/s Harold Hill) from Columbia City, Indiana, is a BFA graduate of Ball State University. Recent credits include West Side Story (Tony), Disney on Classic Japan (Prince Eric), The Music Man (Harold Hill), and RWS Global on HAL’s Zuiderdam He’s thrilled to make his national tour debut!

MARIELLE UTAYDE (Dance Ensemble Swing, u/s Zaneeta Shinn, Gracie Shinn) A recent grad from NYU Tisch Drama at the New Studio on Broadway. Originally from Northern Indiana and a proud Filipina artist. Recent credits include Hair (Vanguard Theater), A Chorus Line (NYU Tisch), Carrie (NYU Tisch) Thank you to ARC, her friends and family for their endless love/support! @marielle.utayde

MATTHEW WAUTIER-RODRIGUEZ (Oliver Hix, Ensemble) is grateful to be making his national tour debut. Theatre credits: Waitress, Come From Away, South Pacific, Oklahoma! TV credits: FBI, Law and Order. A special thanks to LohneGraham Management, ARC Casting, and Big League Productions for this wonderful opportunity. Endless love to his family and friends. IG: @matthewwautierrodriguez

MEREDITH WILLSON (Book, Music & Lyrics) Meredith Willson was born in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa. He learned to play the flute as a child and began playing semi-professionally while still in high school. After high school he left Iowa to study at the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (later the Julliard School), receiving flute instruction from Georges Barrere, the world-renown flutist. While still attending the Institute, he was hired as principle flutist and piccolo player for the John Philip Sousa Band. He later joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra where he was 1st flutist. He became musical director for various radio programs throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, including Tallulah Bankhead’s program, “The Big Show,” for which he wrote the hit song “May The Lord Bless and Keep You.” He composed the scores for the movies The Great Dictator and The Little Foxes, as well as symphonic, band, and choral works, including The Jervis Bay: Symphonic Variations on an American Theme and Anthem of the Atomic Age. Willson wrote three Broadway musicals: The Music Man, his first and most successful; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (music and lyrics), and Here’s Love (book, music and lyrics). As an author he has published two autobiographical works (And There I Stood with My Piccolo and Eggs I Have Laid), one novel (Who Did What to Fedalia) and a memoir about the making of The Music Man (But He Doesn’t Know the Territory).

MATT LENZ (Director) Broadway: Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Velocity of Autumn (Associate Director on original productions), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Resident Director). Off-Broadway Idaho! The Comedy Musical, The Great Daisy Theory, Fingers and Toes, and Alan Ball’s Tense Guy. US National Tours include: Hairspray, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Cheers: Live Onstage, Catch Me If You Can and The Who’s Tommy. International: The Sound of Music & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Global tours) and productions of Hairspray in Australia, South Africa, the UK, Toronto, and Germany. Regional: Recent, High Society: The Cole Porter Musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, the world premiere of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical and

Buyer and Cellar (Broadway World Award), plus many plays and musicals at Paper Mill Playhouse, the Ahmanson, the MUNY, Ogunquit Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Cape Playhouse, North Carolina Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theater, La Mirada, Zach Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Casa Manana, Gateway Playhouse, Short North Stage and the Forestburgh Playhouse. Matt is a member of the SDC and the Founding Artistic Director of the annual In The Works ~ In The Woods Festival of new plays and musicals in upstate New York. www.mattlenzdirector.com, @magicmattlenz

JOSHUA BERGASSE

(Choreographer)Broadway: Smash (Tony nomination), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, On the Town (Tony nomination, Astaire Award), Gigi. Off-Broadway: Joy, Sweet Charity (Chita Rivera Award), Cagney, Bomb-itty of Errors, Captain Louie, Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Encores!: I Married an Angel, Little Me, ...It’s Superman!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Golden Apple. Josh has done over a dozen productions of West Side Story (recreating the original Jerome Robbins choreography). TV: Smash (Emmy Award), multiple episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, A Capitol Fourth, Jessica Jones, Sinatra: Voice for a Century, Hawkeye, Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert. @joshuabergasse

ANN BEYERSDORFER (Set Designer) is a New York City-based set designer. Broadway Associate Design: Company, Tammy Faye, How to Dance in Ohio, Ink, Jitney, The Children, and Anastasia (national tour and international productions). Select Regional Design: Goodspeed (A Chorus Line, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), The Muny (Bring it On, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, and Camelot), Stages St. Louis (Murder for Two, Newsies), Southwark Playhouse in London (Afterglow), Maltz Jupiter Theatre (Beautiful), Syracuse Stage (Primary Trust, Yoga Play, What the Constitution Means to Me), Lincoln Center (Carmen), The Alliance Theatre (Knead). TV Design: Saturday Night Live (Production Designer on the Film Unit, NBC), Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas (production designer, Showtime), Vir Das: Landing (production designer, Netflix). Ann is a

Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award winner and is a LiveDesign/ LDI 30 Under 30 recipient (2018). www.annbeyersdorfer.com

SANTO LOQUASTO (Broadway and Tour Costume Designer) is an international designer for theatre, film, dance, and opera. He has received four Tony Awards and has been nominated 24 times. In film, he has received three Academy Award nominations and has won a BAFTA for his work with Woody Allen with whom he has collaborated on more than 30 films. Other films include Desperately Seeking Susan and Penny Marshall’s Big. Among his 80 Broadway productions designing sets and/or costumes, most notable are: The Cherry Orchard at Lincoln Center, American Buffalo, Cafe Crown, Grand Hotel, Lost in Yonkers, Movin’ Out, Ragtime, Fences, The Assembled Parties, Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler, The Iceman Cometh, The Music Man with Hugh Jackman, as well as eight Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and numerous Off-Broadway productions at Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater, Classic Stage Company and the New York Public Theater. He was most recently represented on Broadway with sets for the George C. Wolfe production of Gypsy, with Audra McDonald. For the Metropolitan Opera he has designed both sets and costumes for Luisa Miller, Faust, Salome and A View From the Bridge. Most recently The Marriage of Figaro at The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and Gianni Schicchi at La Scala He has worked with most major international dance companies and has collaborated with Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Glen Tetley, John Cranko, Helgi Tomasson, Kenneth MacMillan, James Kudelka, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp, and Paul Taylor. Santo received the Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration in 2002, was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004, received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2006, the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007, The Gaudium Award in 2013, and USITT Distinguished Achievement Award in Scenic Design and Technology in 2017.

KEN BILLINGTON (Lighting Designer) creates lighting for theatre, television, and architecture. 104 Broadway shows icluding last seaon’s Smash and this seaon’s Beaches, the original production of Sweeney Todd and the current Chicago, the longest-running American musical in history. Hundred of US and worldwide tours including Dreamgirls, Waitress, White Christmas, also Chicago in over 25 countries. Other projects include Fantasmic! Disneyland, for 27 years the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and the architectural lighting for New York’s Tavern on the Green. Numerous awards include the Tony, Lumen (architecture), Ace (television), Inducted into The Theatre Hall of Fame in 2015.

LISA RENKEL (Video & Projection Designer) an Emmy Award-winning producer and multi-departmental designer based in New York City, who thrives on collaborative design. Her diverse portfolio spans from Broadway productions to music world tours and architectural installations, showcasing her passion for innovative storytelling through visuals. Her theatrical designs include: New York: N/A – A New Play (Lincoln Center), AfterRite (Met Opera), Emojiland The Musical (The Duke) (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Awards), Soundcake (Lincoln Center), Queens Girl in the World (Theatre Row), The Revolving Cycles… (The Duke), She Persisted (Sheen Center), Broadway Bares (BC/EFA). Regional: Frozen and Beautiful (Maltz Jupiter) Espejos: Clean (Hartford Stage), Dom Juan (Bard Summerscape), Justice (Arizona Theatre Company), Eureka Day and Yoga Play (Syracuse Stage), Reefer Madness (New 42), Indecent and Merrily We… (Cape Rep) In addition, Lisa has served as an associate and animator on Broadway productions such as TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, Here Lies Love, and Junk. Her creative and producer credits include: Music: The Eagles (Las Vegas Sphere), Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday 2 (World Tour), Lady Gaga – Chromatica (World Tour) and Enigma Residency (Park MGM), Esports World Cup ft. Post Malone (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), League of Legends Worlds Opening Ceremony ft. Lil Nas X (Emmy Award), Ariana Grande – Sweetener (World Tour & Coachella headline) and Don’t Look Up (Film), Childish

Gambino (Coachella headline), Louis The Game Mobile Game (Louis Vuitton). A graduate of UNC School of the Arts and an active member of USA829, Lisa’s dedication to her craft shines through in her ability to blend compelling narratives with advanced technology. Explore more of her work at voidprisma.com.

ROXANNE DE LUNA (Hair & Makeup Designer) Ogunquit Playhouse: Wig Designer 2018 to present, Papermill Playhouse: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (2024). Cleveland Play House: Amadeus, Light It UP! (world premiere). Two River Theater The Scarlet Letter (world premiere). Big League Productions: The Cher Show first national tour, Tuacahn & North Carolina Theater: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (2023), Kinky Boots (2020). Playmakers Repertory Company LORT-D: My Fair Lady, Intimate Apparel (2017). Born and raised in El Paso, TX. Graduate with her Master of Arts from University of Cincinnati- Conservatory of Music in Wig & Makeup Design, 2015.

ROBIN L. McGEE (Costume Coordinator) is thrilled to be a part of this production! An awardwinning costume designer, Robin’s work has been seen on Broadway (As Long As We Both Shall Laugh) and at renowned regional theaters, including The MUNY, Goodspeed, The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Fulton Theatre, Musical Theatre West, Gulfshore Playhouse, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and Ogunquit Playhouse, among others. Her diverse portfolio spans opera, plays, dance, film, parades, and even circus clowns! Robin is passionate about her craft and looks forward to continuing her design journey while pursuing her goal of visiting all 50 states and all seven continents. Proud member of USA 829

KRISTIN STOWELL (Music Supervisor) is a music director, pianist, composer, arranger, copyist, and educator based in Washington, D.C. She has previously worked for Big League Productions as the music supervisor for the national tour of The Cher Show and is thrilled to be part of The Music Man team! Other recent credits include serving as music director for Mystic Pizza (Paper Mill Playhouse, Riverside Theatre, La Mirada Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse (world premiere)). Her original award-winning

musical Endometriosis: The Musical premiered in 2025, and she has been a music supervisor for Norwegian Cruise Lines for the past decade. Kristin currently serves on the faculty of American University, where she teaches courses in theatre and music.

THOMAS FOSNOCHT (Music Director/Orchestrator) Thrilled to be back with Big League for The Music Man! Recently music supervisor/ conductor for the 2025 national tour of The Addams Family and 2024 national tour of Little Women. He cocreated a new musical, Little Things, with David Smith Playhouse 46 in NYC and an upcoming production at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. Favorite shows include: Company (Justin Guarini) Mame (Andrea McCardle) and Clue (Sally Struthers) at Bucks County Playhouse, Annie (Wanda Sykes) at Media Theatre, and The Story of My Life (Rob McClure) at Delaware Theatre Company. Tom has served as Vocal Director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, highlights include: The Effectors. Instagram : @_tom_ashton_

WALTER TRARBACH (Sound Design) Broadway: Water For Elephants (Drama Desk Award), Spongebob Squarepants (Tony nomination), The Farnsworth Invention, Cymbeline. Co-Sound Design: Ain’t Too Proud (Tony nomination), The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Doctor Zhivago. Other credits: Damn Yankees, Take The Lead, The Harder They Come, The Elf on the Shelf, Queen of the Mist, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Madagascar Live!, Nickelodeon Storytime Live! He is married to photographer Kimberly Witham.

KAITLIN BUTTOFUCO (Production Stage Manager) National tour: The Cher Show (ASM & PSM). Select regional credits: A Christmas Carol, Come From Away (John W. Engeman Theater), Waitress, Jersey Boys, The Bodyguard, Kinky Boots (Theatre by the Sea).

WENDY J. CONNOR/DONNA FIEGEL (Tour Press & Marketing) TRUE Marketing is a full-service entertainment marketing firm based in Orlando, Florida that boasts a full Marketing and Public Relations Consulting Team, Graphic Design Department, and Social Marketing Strategy Team. Team TRUE has worked on national tours of A Christmas Story – The Musical, An American In Paris, Legally Blonde, A

Chorus Line, My Fair Lady, Spring Awakening, The Producers, 42nd Street, Dreamgirls, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, and The Wizard of Oz. www.TeamTRUE.com

MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL (MTI) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser, and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 70,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide. MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City with additional offices in London (MTI Europe) and Melbourne (MTI Australasia).

ARC (Casting) 150+ productions across the globe & 13 Artios Awards for Casting. Broadway/NY past & credits include: Othello, Real Women Have Curves, A Wonderful World, Life of Pi, Chicago the Musical, Disney’s The Lion King & Beauty and the Beast, Hadestown, Lost in Yonkers, Great Comet of 1812, Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, 39 Steps, Pippin, La Cage aux Folles. TV/Film: Netflix, 20th Century Fox, NBC, Lionsgate, Disney Channel. West End/U.K.: Hadestown, Thriller Live, Menier Chocolate Factory. Tours: 1776, Hairspray, Waitress, Urinetown, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland, Into the Woods, We Will Rock You. Regional: A.R.T., Paper Mill Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Bay Street, Berkeley Rep, Alley, Goodspeed, Hollywood Bowl, McCarter, Signature. ARC, Part of RWS Global. www.castingbyarc.com IG: castingbyarc

BROADWAY & BEYOND THEATRICALS (Tour Booking) Led by founders and industry veterans Tracey McFarland and Ryan Bogner, Broadway & Beyond Theatricals (BBT) is a full service theatrical booking agency and Tonynominated production company. BBT’s Booking division provides tour direction services for theatricals from Broadway to family shows, holiday fare, dance and comedy across North America. The Producing divi-

sion creates quality theatrical content in New York and for the road while offering Executive Producing and consulting services to commercial producers and IP stakeholders. On Broadway as Producer: The Cottage, The Kite Runner. Broadway tours as agent: A Christmas Story, The Cher Show, The Kite Runner, The Addams Family Musical, An American In Paris, Legally Blonde, The Music Man & more.

BIG LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS/

DANIEL SHER (Executive Producer and General Management) is celebrating its 35th season of producing and general managing Broadway tours of shows and attractions throughout the world. Early highlights were collaborations with Disney on Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (US Tours, Taiwan, and China) and with Cameron Mackintosh on a new production of Miss Saigon. Also, the Tony® Award-winning Broadway revival of 42nd Street and Susan Stroman’s Broadway production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. Others: Footloose (Las Vegas, US Tour), Titanic, 1776, Peter Pan, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Rip Taylor, Blast!, The Who’s Tommy (US Tour, South America, Europe, and Japan), Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Ruben Studdard, and the first national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – flying car and all More shows: The Producers (Susan Stroman’s original work), Hello, Dolly! with Sally Struthers, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady (US Tour and China premiere), original hip-hop dance show Groovaloo (Off-Broadway), Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical (10 US Tours, Grand Ole Opry, and Madison Square Garden), Dreamgirls (US Tour, China premiere, Japan), Hair (US Tour and Japan), Bring it On (US Tour and Japan), and Legally Blonde (US Tours, China premiere, Singapore) More recently, A Chorus Line toured the US, Japan, and was seen in China for the first time. Post-pandemic included An American in Paris, a new production of South Pacific, Little Women, a brand new production of The Cher Show (first and second national tours), and The Addams Family. Current work includes our continued touring flagship production, A Christmas Story The Musical, and a new production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. Future seasons include Bright Star and Legally Blonde.

STAFF FOR THE MUSIC MAN

2026 NATIONAL TOUR

PRODUCER AND GENERAL MANAGER

Big League Productions, Inc.

President Daniel Sher

General Manager Zach Krohn

Associate Producer Sophie Whitfield

Associate General

Manager Owen O’Brien

Management Consultant Brent Watkins

Travel Consultant Gina Willens

Accounting Neuschatz, Neuschatz, Herman & Hanke, LLP

Insurance Edgewood Partners Insurance Center

Banking JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Payroll Checks & Balances Payroll

Lodging ............................... Road Concierge

Education On Location Education

COMPANY MANAGER

OWEN O’BRIEN

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

KAITLIN BUTTOFUCO

TECHNICAL & CREATIVE STAFF

Assistant Stage Manager Mesa Winder

Assistant Company

Manager David Hersh

Production Supervisor James Book

Scenic Design

Assistants Gabriella Nuñez, Hayden Bingham, Claire Kramer, Luke Blumencranz

Assistant Lighting

Designer Aidan McLeod

Lighting Programmer David Arch

Associate Video

Designer Blake Manns

Video Programmer Andres Fiz

Additional Costume

Design Robin L. McGee

Costume Package

Coordinator Liv Kurtz

Costume Design

Assistants Val Cuevas & Somie Pak

Props Supervisor Brendan McCann

Associate Hair & Makeup

Design Teagan Rose

Lighting Supervisor Paul Gould

Production Sound Shaughn Bryant

Production Electrician Dimitri Taylor

Production Video Jim Book

Keyboard Programmer Jim Harp

Reduced Orchestrations Thomas Fosnocht

Head Carpenter Jonathan Rogers

Assistant Carpenter/ Flyman Michael Green

Head Electrician Ryan Anderson

Assistant Electrician/ Spot Op ...................................... Rose Allen

Head Video Alan Highe

Head Sound Anthony Lopez

Assistant Sound Joseph Roma

Head Props Kelly Butler

Head Wardrobe John Beltre

Star Dresser Donna MacNaughton

Head Hair/Makeup Lilly Bennett

Child Tutor/Wrangler Kate Riley

TOUR BOOKING

Broadway & Beyond Theatricals

Tracey McFarland Ryan Bogner Jaymi Gilmour

Megan Savage Kelsey Young Zachary Hedner

TOUR PRESS & MARKETING

TRUE Marketing

WENDY J. CONNOR DONNA FIEGEL

Marketing Intern - Zane Miller

BROADCAST ADVERTISING & MEDIA PRODUCTION

FRANK BASILE

MEREDITH WILLSON’S THE MUSIC MAN WAS REHEARSED AT GIBNEY CENTER

www.themusicmantour.com

CREDITS

SCENERY PROVIDED BY: EMPIRE TECHNICAL FABRICATION, TTS STUDIOS, ROSE BRAND, GOOD LUCK GRIPS

PROPS PROVIDED BY: IMPACT DESIGN OF CHARLESTON, SCENE WORKS INC., GOOD LUCK GRIPS, GRUMPY’S PROPS

DROPS PROVIDED BY: IWEISS, COBALT STUDIOS, BIG IMAGE SYSTEMS

LIGHTING PROVIDED BY: INTELLIGENT LIGHTING SERVICES LTD

SOUND PROVIDED BY: BIG LEAGUE PRODUCTIONS, INC.

TRUCKING PROVIDED BY: JANCO

BUSING PROVIDED BY: PEAK TOURING AND LAMOILLE VALLEY

Backstage and Front of the House Employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (or I.A.T.S.E.).

United Scenic Artists • Local USA 829 of the I.A.T.S.E represents the Designers & Scenic Artists for the American Theatre

THE USE OF ANY RECORDING DEVICE, EITHER AUDIO OR VIDEO, AND THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS,EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT FLASH, ISSTRICTLY PROHIBITED.

DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOLLOWING SUPPORT IN ITS 2025/26 BROADWAY SEASON

PLEASE BE ADVISED

• LATECOMERS and those exiting the theatre are seated at predetermined breaks in designated areas.

• PHOTOS, RECORDING & CELL PHONE USE are prohibited.

• CHILDREN 6+ are welcome in our theatres and must be ticketed.

• DRINKS are allowed in provided containers.

• ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES, LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS & BOOSTER SEATS are available in most theatres. Ask an usher to direct you.

• BRAILLE PROGRAMS are available with 2 weeks’ notice to accessibility@dcpa.org.

Members of Denver Theatrical Wardrobe, Wigs, Hair and Make-up, IATSE Local 719

Appleton, Robin Asselin, Lauren Bassignani, Julie Clough, Vonnie Cory, Craig Cory, Cyndie Davies, Steve Davis, Anne Dore, Carolyn Elwood, Liz Guess, Deborah Gunter, AnnSue Holabird, Judy Holabird, William Knabb, Amoreena Krimbel, Amber LaCasse, Lauren Lambert, Kelsey

Lambert, Leslie Lambert, Sarah Martin, Loren Millikan-Hale, Sharon Morrow, Callie Nelson, Timothy Parsons Wagner, Lisa Payne, Laura Poole, Dave Richards, Alan Sorce, Marisa Spadi, Elisa Tepel, Amy Vlasova, Eliza Watts, Nicole Williams, Kami Wilson, Barbara

DPAC House Crew

Mark Anthony Perry Elliott Kiko Marra Allen Olmstead

Albert Sainz Sr. Josh Thurman

Derek Tovar

David A. Wilson

The Denver Performing Arts Complex is owned and operated by Denver Arts & Venues for the City and County of Denver. City and County of Denver

Mike Johnston, Mayor

Denver Arts & Venues

Gretchen Hollrah, Executive Director

Jen Morris, Deputy Executive Director

Tariana Navas-Nievas, Deputy Executive Director

Denver Arts & Venues, Arts Complex Operations

Jody Grossman, Venue Director

Todd Medley, Facilities Superintendent

Kelly Graham, Safety, Security and Garage Operations Manager

Carol Krueger, Patron Services Manager artscomplex.com | (720) 865-4220

For immediate assistance & security (720) 865-4200

GO BEHIND THE SCENES

Find out how costume designers, set builders, propmakers, and technical specialists create our shows from scratch.

Behind-the-Scenes Tours take place

Mondays and Saturdays at 10am During these walking tours, you will experience recent updates to our storied performance spaces and discover the people and processes that bring theatre to life.

$12 • 2-hour guided tour

PRESERVING A CLASSIC: MEREDITH WILLSON’S THE MUSIC MAN

BY LISA BORNSTEIN

WWhat makes something obsolete – and conversely, what makes it a classic? The very premise of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – the abduction of young women to care for the brothers – keeps it off most stages these days. The King and I requires heavy alterations to overcome its condescension toward the culture of Southeast Asia.

One might guess The Music Man, nearly 70 years old, would fall into that category. Meredith Willson’s 1957 musical was drawn from his own childhood, as well as his days playing the piccolo for John Philip Sousa’s legendary band. In tiny, fictional River City, Iowa, con man Prof. Harold Hill rolls into town, promising to fix an entire town’s problem by teaching its youth to play band instruments.

But director Matt Lenz sees much relevance in it to our present day.

“I do think there is something to be heard differently today in terms of what’s happening in society,” Lenz says. ”It’s a little bit stuck in its ways, and a little fractured, and a little cynical,” he says of River City. “And I love that the arts can come in and get them to harmonize, literally, and to change their minds”

The Denver tour is an entirely new production, a partnership between director Lenz and choreographer Josh Bergasse who previously collaborated on the 2017 production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“It’s chockfull of those amazing songs,” Lenz says. “The first thing I thought was I need somebody like Josh to do this with me because there are these huge, athletic, fantastic dances in it.”

With a 34-member cast and 10 who are dancers first, the show is bringing back the full choreography that used to be a hallmark of musical theatre.

“We’ve got to make sure we have a crew of real dancers in this, in kind of the old-fashioned way they did musicals,” Lenz says. “I don’t think there are tons of shows on the road these days that surprise people with that full-on dance.”

While little had to be eliminated from the show for today’s audiences, the designers met with an eye toward how today’s audiences would see, hear, and feel, and what they could do to celebrate the musical’s core while reaching those theatergoers.

“The first thing we talked about was the rhythm of the show, which starts right off the bat with the train,” Lenz explains. Its rhythm serves to underlie the heart of the show — a small town that doesn’t want to be thrown off its rhythm.

I love that the arts can come in and get [the residents of River City] to harmonize, literally, and to change their minds. — MATT LENZ, DIRECTOR

“‘Rock Island’ is dialogue that…becomes musicalized when the train starts up and you start to hear the rhythm of the train,” Lenz says of the opening number. “I want to find a way to carry that through even more. Is there something to keep them in a kind of rhythmic lockstep? There’s something about that town just clicking along, and everything being the way it is, and then that relaxing, and then that scaring some people to death.”

And that’s a sensation that never falls into obsolescence.

MEREDITH WILLSON’S THE MUSIC MAN

FEB 27 – MAR 1

BUELL THEATRE

ASL Interpreted, Audio Described, and Open Captioned performance: Feb 28 at 2pm

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

BY JOANNE OSTROW

W FINDING YOURSELF IN COWBOYS AND EAST INDIANS

When her play, Cowboys and East Indians, has its world premiere, playwright Nina McConigley thinks it’s going to be mind-blowing for her mother, who was born in India and lives in Wyoming, to see actors wearing saris onstage at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Growing up in Casper, as “the other kind of Indian in Wyoming,” McConigley said, there wasn’t another sari in sight. Nor an Indian grocery store or restaurant. Her Indian/Irish-American family moved to Wyoming when she was a baby. Her mother found it difficult to adjust to the emptiness and new culture, while Nina grew up feeling confused and isolated.

“The play isn’t so much about race; it’s about not seeing a version of yourself and what that does,” McConigley said. “Wyoming is one of the least racially diverse states, and it is a different kind of growing up.”

She hopes the play, co-adapted by Matthew Spangler from her semi-biographical short story collection of the same name, reinterprets the American West for audiences. “I hope it gives people a different look at Wyoming and the idea of rural immigration.”

Like her main character, “I did live back home with my family when my mom had cancer. When I wrote the short story, it was about anxiety for me. So much of my sense of Indian-ness was through my mom and I did think, if I lose her, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Now a professor at Colorado State University, her new novel, How to Commit A Postcolonial Murder, will be published simultaneously with the world premiere of Cowboys and East Indians, which was a hit at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s 2024 Colorado New Play Summit, delivering a smart mix of culture-clash comedy and pathos that sparked tears and laughter in a staged reading.

McConigley and Spangler met in their hometown of

Casper and followed each other through middle and high school, each harboring a love of the West, the sparse landscape and the people. DCPA Director of Literary Programs Leean Kim Torske, the show’s dramaturg, is also from Wyoming and co-commissioned McConigley and Spangler to adapt the short stories for the Denver Center Theatre Company.

Best known for his stage adaptation of The Kite Runner, Spangler is a playwright and professor of performance studies at San José State University where he teaches courses in how refugees and asylum-seekers are represented through the performing arts. One of his other plays, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, co-written with Nesrin Alrefaai and based on the bestselling novel by Christy Lefteri, will receive its second UK tour this spring.

When she wrote Cowboys and East Indians, McConigley said, she never thought of the story as a play.

Spangler recalled the pair participated in a 2022 panel discussion in Casper and hypothetically talked about how they might approach adapting Nina’s collection of short stories for the stage. Eventually, this hypothetical discussion would lead to a real commission and collaboration.

Although popular culture is full of Irish, Italian, Chinese, Jewish, and other New York City immigration stories, McConigley notes a lack of stories about rural immigrants. “While it is difficult being an immigrant anywhere,” she said, “unlike cities with diverse ethnic populations, Casper is very monocultural. I just wanted to write about my experience of growing up, brown in Wyoming, really.”

When there is no reflection of yourself in the world around you, your identity is in question. “There was a brief moment as a kid when I [described myself as] ‘Arapaho,’” McConigley said. “Easier than explaining…”

For Spangler, who has generations of Wyoming fami-

ly history, “the play essentially is about loneliness, how we deal with loneliness, and how we try to create senses of belonging to mitigate loneliness. Sometimes those spaces of belonging are risky.”

“There’s something about [the Wyoming] landscape that’s beautiful, striking, and also its own metaphor for loneliness,” Spangler said.

McConigley recalls visiting numerous book clubs around Wyoming when Cowboys and East Indians came out, “and having many people say to me, ‘I’ve never thought about race in Wyoming.’ And I just thought, ‘What a privilege, you never had to. You just aren’t in the minority.’”

The play isn’t so much about race; it’s about not seeing a version of yourself and what that does.

— NINA MCCONIGLEY, AUTHOR OF “COWBOYS AND EAST INDIANS”

For his part, Spangler said, “to be able to write a play set in our hometown and work with people I’ve known for decades is something I never thought I’d be able to do.”

Cowboys and East Indians is ultimately a hopeful play that’s packed with wide-ranging emotions and that subverts expectations in multiple ways. “I was surprised people cried during the New Play Summit,” McConigley said. “The play is hopeful. It asks you to look at those around you, and you don’t know the story within them. You just don’t know. I think the play surprises a lot of people. Watching the audience was so interesting, you can visibly see the audience stressed, then relieved, then a little bit confused….”

Both express gratitude to the Colorado New Play Summit and Denver Center Theatre Company. “We learned so much from that workshop,” McConigley said. “The fact that they financially supported us to write this play….” As a mother of young children and a full-time professor, she said, there’s no way she could have done it otherwise. “I’m definitely wearing a sari on opening night. My mom, too.”

COWBOYS AND EAST INDIANS

JAN 16 – MAR 1 • SINGLETON THEATRE

ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance: Feb 1 at 1:30pm Stay for a Post-Show Discussion: Jan 28, Feb 12, Feb 24

1. BELONGING

We build a respectful and empathetic culture through our active commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

2.

COLLABORATION

We produce our best possible work together by engaging people with diverse perspectives, lived experiences and talents around our shared goals.

3.

COMMUNITY

We cultivate open, responsive, affirming relationships and partnerships for a greater collective impact.

4.

CREATIVITY

We embrace innovation and imagination in our daily work to advance our mission.

5.

INTEGRITY

We act responsibly, with honesty, accountability and transparency.

6. SUSTAINABILITY

We prioritize the wellbeing of our team, our finances and the environment to ensure our thriving future.

Learn more about what drives the DCPA, and where we’re going, at denvercenter.org/plan

HENRY’S EX-WIVES GET THEIR SAY (AND SING) IN SIX

EXCERPTED FROM A 2023 APPLAUSE ARTICLE BY

MISHA BERSON

Need a refresher course on who the “six” wives of King Henry VIII were? Here’s a quick rundown:

Henry’s first and longest union (two decades) was with a smart, assertive Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, who despite many pregnancies only produced one viable child with the monarch, christened Mary. Assuming Catherine would never produce a male heir to his throne, Henry divorced her.

Wife No. 2 was lovely Anne Boleyn, who also gave birth to a daughter (the future Queen Elizabeth I), but alas, no son. To be rid of her, Henry accused Anne of adultery and though historians now doubt her guilt, she was tried and executed.

Next up? Jane Seymour. She produced a male heir, who became King Edward VI — but she died 12 days after his birth.

This condensed version omits a lot of political and personal rivalry among Henry, his wives, and their relations and courtiers. But what you get from SIX is its own unique take on the women’s experiences and a big jolt of pizazz: sparkly royal mini-dresses and teeny crowns, catchy tunes and punchy lyrics as the wives (or ex-wives, they remind you) belt out solos, boogie and are each other’s backup singers.

SIX JAN 7 – 11, 2026

BUELL THEATRE

The king then turned to Anne of Cleves, a sort of mail order German bride. Henry loved Thomas Holbein’s flattering portrait of her but rejected her in the flesh. Uncrowned, her marriage annulled, Anne still enjoyed a cushy life at court — and unlike poor Anne Boleyn, kept her head on.

On to Katherine Howard, a fun-loving young woman Henry called his “blushing rose without a thorn.” That is, until dalliances with two other men led to her own execution.

Catherine Parr was his final bride and reportedly a faithful nurse to the ailing monarch. (After his death she remarried, only to perish in childbirth herself soon after.)

ASL Interpreted, Audio Described and Open Captioned performance: Jan 10 at 2pm

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

GO ALL IN

SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR THE BEST SEATS & EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS! YOUR TICKET TO THE

AND MUCH MORE!

4 WAYS TO ENJOY THE VERY BEST OF BROADWAY KEEP THINGS FLEXIBLE

Mix and match with 10- or 20-pack vouchers valid for most shows this season.

Choose our 5-Show Package and experience the best of Broadway — in Denver! ELEVATE YOUR EXPERIENCE

Customize a flexible package of 4+ familyfriendly shows tailored to your crew.

Upgrade with VIP perks like premium seating, pre-show dinners, and exclusive events.

UPCOMING ADDED ATTRACTIONS

Complement your 2025/26 season with perennial Broadway hits and fresh new shows that have been taking the industry by storm!

PROUD PARTNER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

CCBS Colorado’s Dillon Thomas is known as Your Reporter in Northern Colorado, but around here, he’s better known as Colorado’s connection to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. CBS Colorado’s team of Your Reporters covers Colorado’s vibrant arts scene like no one else and Dillon’s coverage of the DCPA is unique and far-reaching. His commitment has put him on the road with America’s top traveling productions, including MJ the musical, TINA — The Tina Turner Musical and SIX. “Telling the stories of these extraordinary performers and showing our viewers the long hours behind the scenes and the intense effort these shows require is one of my great honors,” Thomas says. “I’m very proud to represent CBS Colorado and showcase all the incredible talent that the DCPA brings to our theatres throughout the year.”

We are so grateful to our partners and to the thousands of donors and event participants over the years that have helped to improve and enrich the lives of those in our community.

— THE DENVER POST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

PROUD SEASON SPONSOR OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

TThe Denver Post is proud to support the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, both through sponsorship of its acclaimed theatre productions as well as with grant funding through The Denver Post Community Foundation. The longstanding partnership with DCPA has given countless individuals of all ages, the opportunity to experience and develop a lifelong appreciation for the arts.

The Denver Post Community Foundation believes in giving back to the communities in which it serves and proudly supports hundreds of nonprofits’ programs and events. Support is given in many ways: through The Denver Post Community Foundation, employee volunteering, and inkind advertising.

The Denver Post Community Foundation, a recognized 501 (c)(3) nonprofit agency, raises funds through individual and corporate donations, through its unique Signature Events and Programs and through the annual holiday Season To Share campaign. The overall mission is to improve and enrich the lives of those in the Denver community through support of programs that benefit arts and culture; children and youth; education and literacy; and the provision of basic human services. To date, more than $13,250,000 has been raised and distributed.

• Signature Events and Programs

These well-established events and programs have become staples in the community. They offer partners, participants and volunteers something unique each year. They include: Pen & Podium Literary Lecture Series, Passport To The Arts, and the Colorado State Spelling Bee

• The Denver Post Season To Share

The Denver Post Season To Share holiday fundraising campaign supports metro Denver nonprofit organizations that help low-income children, families, and individuals move out of poverty toward stability and self-sufficiency. Each year, grants are awarded to more than 50 deserving nonprofits with programs focused on children and youth, health and wellness, homelessness, and hunger. These grants are made possible through the generosity of Denver Post readers, the broader community, corporate donors, and our valued partners. Donations are matched and accepted year-round. To learn more, visit seasontoshare.com .

Together We Can Make A Difference denverpostcommunity.com

SET THE STAGE FOR A PERFECT DAY

From intimate vows to grand celebrations, our theatrically trained designers will set the stage for your perfect day. With personalized care every step of the way, we’re here to ensure your “I do” gets the standing ovation it deserves.

[The arts] inform, inspire, and uplift while bringing the community together.

— ANDY AYE, CO/AZ/NV/NM MARKET LEADER, GIS

PROUD SPONSOR OF WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

TThe arts are a significant part of making Denver an amazing place to live and work. U.S. Bank believes in the power of play, which includes the arts, because it brings joy, encourages creativity, teaches problem-solving skills, and builds emotional learning. That is why U.S. Bank is a long-time supporter of the magnificent programs and spectacular performances at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA).

The arts educate, promote understanding, broaden our perspectives, and enable communities to share rich cultural experiences. Denver is fortunate to have a thriving arts community, which is home to some of the nation’s finest theatres, museums, and artists.

“We’re proud to serve the DCPA because it provides the best in live entertainment, in addition to education for all ages through the art of theatre,” said Andy Aye, Global Industrials and Services Market Leader for Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. “We know the critical role that the arts play in our society. They inform, inspire and uplift while bringing the community together.”

In 2023, the U.S. Bank Foundation committed $96.4 million in corporate contributions to nonprofit organizations across the entire enterprise, $3.1 million of which was invested to Colorado nonprofits. Those contributions had an emphasis on community development diversity and inclusion, financial education, and the environment. Additionally, its employees volunteered more than 360,000 hours, demonstrating that employee engagement is a major component of its community success.

“The DCPA brings us together to appreciate our diversity of thought, perspective, and talent,” said Aye. “I am always amazed at how much we share when we all laugh or gasp during a key moment in a performance. It is a sense of participation and belonging that strengthens our community. Supporting the DCPA is making an investment in ourselves, the arts, and the place we call home.”

DCPA TEAM

DCPA

Janice Sinden President & CEO

Donna Hendricks Executive Assistant, President & CEO

Julie Schumaker Manager, Board Relations

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

Jane Williams CFAO

Sara Brandenburg Director, Accounting Services

Jennifer Jeffrey Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Kristina Monge Associate Accountant

Rachel Rodriguez Manager, Accounting

Jennifer Siemers Director, Accounting

BROADWAY & CABARET

John Ekeberg Executive Director

Administration

Ashley Brown Business Manager

Alicia Bruce General Manager

Lisa Prater Operations Manager

Garner Galleria Theatre

Abel Becerra Technical Director

Jason Begin+, Anna Hookana+ Core Stagehands

DEVELOPMENT

Jamie Clements Vice President

Sarah Darlene Manager, Grants & Reports

Julia Dunn Manager, Donor Engagement & Legacy Giving

Kara Erickson-Stiemke Manager, Annual Giving & Stewardship

Emily Kettlewell Director, Operations

Caitie Maxwell Senior Director, Major Gifts

Marc Ravenhill Director, Donor Relations

Sarah Smith Coordinator

Megan Stewart Associate Director, Special Events

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Allison Watrous Executive Director

Stuart Barr Technical Director

Leslie Channell Director, Business Operations

Lyndsay Corbett Teaching Artist & Manager, Bobby G

María Corral Director, Community Engagement

Heather Curran Teaching Artist & Manager, Playwriting

Elliot Davis Evening Registrar & Office Coordinator

Rachel Ducat Executive Assistant & Business Manager

Rya Dyes Registrar & On-Site Class Manager

Gavin Juckette Teaching Artist & Manager, TYA Engagement & Music

Timothy McCracken Head of Acting

Rick Mireles Manager, Community Engagement

David Saphier Teaching Artist & Manager, In-School Programming

Charlotte Talbert Librarian

Rachel Taylor Teaching Artist & Manager, Literary Engagement & Resiliency

Justin Walvoord Teaching Artist & Manager, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

Samuel Wood Director, Education & Curriculum Development

EVENT SERVICES

Tara Miller Event Sales & Operations Director

Brook Nichols Event Technical Director

Aidan Gagner Video Engineer

Michael Harris Lighting Designer

Stori Heleen-O’Foley Event Technical Manager

Shane Hotle Audio Engineer

Kris Lawan,

Savannah Singleton Event Captains

Danielle Levine, Blair Quiring Senior Sales & Event Managers

Jacob Noon, Phil Rohrbach Sales & Event Managers

Benjamin Peitzer Event Technical Lead

Kaden Richter Audio Engineer

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Lisa Roebuck Vice President For security purposes, the IT team has been omitted.

MARKETING & SALES

Angela Lakin Vice President

Whitney Testa Executive Assistant, Marketing & Broadway

Communications

Suzanne Yoe Director

Heidi Bosk, Brittany Gutierrez Associate Directors

Todd Metcalf Media Producer

Creative Services

Kyle Malone Director

Sofia Contreras,

Lucas Kreitler Graphic Designers

Paul Koob Senior Graphic Designer

Noelle Norris Traffic Coordinator

Digital

Michael Ryan Leuthner Director

Erin Bunyard Senior Strategist

Harper Anne Finch Manager, Social Media

Hannah Selwyn Manager, Email

Sergio von Kretschmann Manager, Web

Insight & Strategy

Emily Kent Director

Dan McNulty Analyst

Marketing

Claire Graves Director

Emily Lozow Associate Director

Maddie Lamb, Emmy VanLangevelde, Julie Whelan, Managers

Mikayla Woods Coordinator

Ticketing & Audience Services

Jennifer Lopez Director

Jessica Alverson*, Zeah Edmonds*,

Lauren Estes*, Amanda Foust, Jen Gray*,

Noah Jungferman*, Oliver Knight*, Reagan

Luchte, Brett O’Neill*, Claudia Ruiz*,

Holly Stigen*, Asheala Tasker*,

Rob Warner* Ticket Agents

Kirsten Anderson*, Scott Lix*,

Liz Sieroslawski*, Greg Swan* Subscription Agents

Jon Collins Manager, Subscription

D.J. Dennis*, Edmund Gurule*,

Hayley Solano*, Andrew Sullivan*, Bronwen VanOrdstrand*, Alfonso Vazquez*, Max McCord* Counter/Show Leads

Billy Dutton Associate Director, Operations

Katie Davis, Claire Hayes, Ella Mann,

Lane Randall Managers, Box Office

Chris Leech VIP Ticketing Associate

Katie Spanos Associate Director, Subscriber Services

Group Sales

Jessica Bergin Associate Director

Elias Lopez,

Valery Owen Associates, Group Sales & Education

OFF-CENTER

Charlie Miller Executive Director & Curator

OPERATIONS

Sarah Arzberger, Danielle Freeman Managers

Aaron Chavez Lead

Ruben Cruz, Jordan Latouche Engineers

Simone Gordon Director

Kyle Greufe Senior Analyst

Maria Herwagen Junior Analyst

Brandon LeMarr Associate Director

Alison Orthel, Tara Perticone Analysts

Joseph Reecher Senior Engineer

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Laura Maresca CPCO

Equity & Organization Culture

Seán Kroll Specialist

Human Resources

Brian Carter Senior Business Partner

Andrew Guilder Recruiter & HR Generalist

Michaela Johnson Mailroom Assistant

Paul Johnson Manager, Payroll & Compliance

Jocelyn Martinez Business Partner

Kinsey Scholl Manager, Operations

THEATRE COMPANY

Administration

Charles Varin Managing Director

Emily Diaz Business Admin./ Asst. Company Manager

Jessica Eckenrod Line Producer

Alex Koszewski Company Manager

Ann Marshall General Manager

Artistic

Chris Coleman Artistic Director

Grady Soapes Artistic Producer & Casting Director

Leean Kim Torske Director, Literary Programs

Madison Cook-Hines Literary Assistant

Costume Crafts

Kevin Copenhaver Director

Chris Campbell Assistant

Costume Shop

Janet MacLeod Director/Design Associate

Meghan Anderson Doyle Design Associate

Katarina Kosmopoulos First Hand

Ingrid Ludeke, Carolyn Plemitscher Drapers

House Crew

Douglas Taylor+ Supervisor

James Berman+, Will King, Dave Mazzeno+, Kyle Moore+, Heather

Sparling+ Matt Wagner+ Stagehands

Joseph Price+, Kelley Reznik+ Technicians

Lighting Design

Charles MacLeod Director

Connor Baker+ Production Electrician

Lily Bradford Assistant

Paint Shop

Kristin Hamer MacFarlane Charge Scenic Artist

Melanie Rentschler, Sasha Seaman Scenic Artists

Production

Jeff Gifford Director

Julie Brou

Scene Shop

Eric Moore Technical Director

Albert “Stub” Allison, Robert L. Orzolek, Josh Prues Associate Technical Directors

Jeremy Banthoff, Tyler D. Clark, Kyle Scoggins Scenic Technicians

Wynn Pastor Scenic Technician & Purchasing Agent

Louis Fernandez III Lead Scenic Technician

Brian “Marco” Markiewicz Lead Carpenter

Scenic Design

Lisa Orzolek Director

Nicholas Renaud Assistant

Sound Design & Technology

Alex Billman Supervisor

Meagan Holdeman+, Timothy Schoeberl+, Dimitri Soto+ Technicians

Stage Management

Anne Jude Supervisor

Chandra R.M. Anthenill, Wayne Breyer, Corin Davidson, Kristin Dwyer, Elizabeth Ann Goodman, Harper Hadley, Sage Hughes, Nick Mason, Melissa J. Michelson, Christine Rose Moore, Nick Nyquist, Brooke Redler, Malia Stoner Stage Managers

Sage Goetsch, Dylan Hudson, Hannah Iverson, Casey Pitts Apprentices

Wardrobe

Heidi Echtenkamp Supervisor

Robin Appleton^, Amber Krimbel^, Lauren LaCasse^, Lisa Parsons Wagner^, Nicole Watts^, Kami Williams^ Dressers

Wigs

Diana Ben-Kiki Supervisor

Abby Schmidt^, Marisa Sorce^ Hair/Wig Technicians

VENUE OPERATIONS

Glen Lucero Vice President

Kristi Horvath Director

Merry Davis Financial Manager

Jane Deegan Administrator

Samantha Egle Manager, Event Operations

Facilities

Craig Smith Director

Dwight Barela, Mark Dill, Bryan Faciane, John Howard, Iver Johnson Engineers

Saleem As-Saboor, Adriana Fuentes, Carmen Molina, Judith Primero Molina,

Juan Loya Molina, Blanca Primero Custodians

Michael Kimbrough Manager, Engineering

Oscar Fraire Manager, Custodial

Brian McClain Supervisor, Custodial

Patron Experience

Kaylyn Kriaski Manager, Patron Experience

LeiLani Lynch, Aaron McMullen, Stacy Norwood, Wendy Quintana, Kelci Rigsby, Valerie Schaefer, Ashli Townsend Managers on Duty

Kelly Breuer, Nora Caley, Robin Lander, Melanie Mason, Barbara Pooler, Ayden Smith House Managers

Safety & Security

Quentin Crump Director

Timothy Allen, Jodi Benavides Lead Security Officers

Administrative Assistant/ Office Manager

Matthew Campbell Production Manager

Peggy Carey Production Manager

Prop Shop

Meghan Markiewicz Supervisor

Sara Pugh Associate Supervisor

Bennet Goldberg, Ashley Lawler Artisans

Adena Rice.

Prop Carpenter

David Bright, Ariana Cuevas, Ethan Kemberlin, Jack Leatherwood, Ian Nelson, Ashley Skillman, Zach Stemley, Pamela Winston, Tori Witherspoon Security Specialists

DENVER LANGUAGE SCHOOL

PROUD CORPORATE MEMBER OF THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

DDenver Language School is the only Denver Public School K-8 charter school offering Spanish and Mandarin immersion (K-8) and French (6-8). DLS is committed to providing students with a diverse and globally oriented education, encouraging them to be curious, critical thinkers, and preparing them for the workforce of tomorrow. Its unique model enhances problem-solving and critical thinking; strengthens cognitive ability, flexibility, and creativity; and builds cultural understanding. The curriculum fosters empathy, adaptability, and open-mindedness, and DLS’s holistic approach combines academic rigor.

DLS is proud to be the number one charter school in Denver on the state School Performance Framework and 28th of 1,825 schools in Colorado, placing DLS in the top 1.5% of all Colorado schools.

“Choosing Denver Language School has been one of the best decisions we’ve made for our children,” said Monica W., parent of DLS students. “Not only are they becoming fluent in another language, but they are also developing a deep appreciation for different cultures. We see their confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills growing every day, and we know they are being prepared to thrive in a global world.”

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) provides Denver with access to world-class theatrical performances and arts programming. These experiences expand creativity, encourage selfexpression, and foster cultural awareness, offering opportunities to engage with the arts in meaningful ways. As a Denver community member, DLS is highly invested in supporting the arts and the DCPA, working to nurture a diverse and interconnected world.

We see [our children’s] confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills growing every day, and we know they are being prepared to thrive in a global world.

— MONICA W. PARENT