Playbill: Three New Plays on Denver Stages for April 23-26

This week a pair of respected regional ensembles will present strong work on stages in Boulder and Lakewood, while the Avenue brings back a crowd-pleasing favorite. Hysteria Dairy Center for the Arts April 23 through May 17 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 4 p.m. Sundays 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April…

Review: The Cherry Orchard Harvests Humor but Isn’t Deeply Rooted

The ghost of Anton Chekhov has been haunting area stages lately, what with last fall’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, an absurdist Christopher Durang comedy-parody at the Denver Center, and the Boulder Ensemble’s recent Stupid Fucking Bird, in which playwright Aaron Posner closely follows the plot of The…

Review: The 12 Delivers Rock and the Resurrection

A rock musical with a biblical theme? It’s been done, of course. But The 12, a world premiere at the Denver Center Theatre, takes a very different approach from that of Jesus Christ Superstar or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It explores the emotional reactions of the disciples who…

Marlon Wayans on Returning to Standup and His New Show I Can Do That

Few performers have careers as varied as that of Marlon Wayans. An actor with a filmography that veers wildly from genre to genre, including outliers like the heart-wrenching Requiem for a Dream, he specializes in ribald horror parodies and high-concept comedies that require elaborate special effects make-up, like White Chicks and Little…

Playbill: Three Performances in Denver and Boulder for April 10-12

A trio of unique collaborations take the stage this weekend, bringing combinations of dance, theater, words and visuals to audiences in search of new ways of looking at life, both high-flying and down-to-earth. Here’s how to take a trip into space or venture through life’s backyard without ever leaving your…

The Ten Best Comedy Events in Denver in April

As the first meek rays of April pierce through the gray clouds of March, comedy blossoms in the hopeful light. This month’s calendar overflows with shows to suit each and every comedic taste, from sophists to sophisticates. Such national names as Godfrey and Norm Macdonald will return to our fair…

Review: High-Flying Stupid Fucking Bird Takes Off on Chekhov

When you think about Chekhov, the usual image is a stage filled with unhappy people, all yearning for something unattainable. That’s also what you get with Aaron Posner’s Stupid Fucking Bird, a take-off on Chekhov’s The Seagull — but this is a hybrid, a parody with a certain amount of…

Ariann Black Makes Magic in a Male-Dominated Field

Ariann Black has worked as a professional magician since 1990, and she’s a master of her enchanting art form. The Canada-born magician began practicing the art of illusion when she was just four years old, working her way through magic school and onto the world’s stage. She’s performed on television…

Playbill: Three New Plays in Denver for March 19-22

Spring has sprung, and theater is blooming across town. This weekend a world premiere will launch this year’s greatly expanded Athena Project Festival, while the longstanding Evergreen Players light up the foothills with a collection of one-acts and the Arvada Center puts audiences on the edge of their seats with…