Colorado New Play Summit: The Gift of Collaboration

By: Joanne Ostrow Someday there will be costumes, props, scenery and lighting. For now, the messy process of shaping and fine tuning a play, hearing what works and what doesn’t, takes place in bare-bones, all-day marathons over two weekends of readings. With actors stationed at music stands, scripts before them, the words (with luck and […]

The Three Phases of Rattlesnake Kate

Strong. Ambitious. Fearless. Badass.  Those are just some of the words used to describe the Colorado Western woman, Kate McHale Slaughterback—famously known as “Rattlesnake Kate.” When Composer Neyla Pekarek ventured to the Greeley Museum while in school at the University of Northern Colorado, she did not expect to be captured by the story of how […]

Making Theatre Affordable

Attention-grabbing headlines about outrageous ticket prices are hard to overcome, but at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, we attempt to make theatre affordable. Here’s how: Scholarships Whether it’s a Student Matinee or an education class, scholarships are available to students and schools to eliminate barriers to participation. In fact, in our 2018/19 season, […]

Progression of a Script

Since our inception in 1979, the DCPA Theatre Company has been committed to new works. In fact, our very first season included the world premiere of Passing Game by Steve Tesich. By our 1982/83 season we had held our first public reading of a work in development — A Beautiful World by David Jones. Our […]

Pop Culture References in In the Upper Room

Adapted from Inside Out | Lynde Rosario, Editor and Reginald Edmund, Contributing Writer Set in 1974, In the Upper Room tells the story of a multi-generational black family led by the family’s controlling and secretive matriarch, Rose Berry. But to understand the Berry family requires understanding the 1970s as well as the many pop culture […]

References in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is filled with references, from single line-drops to overarching ideas. This list doesn’t cover everything that could be mentioned, but it’s a good start. Watch the show and see if you can notice any more!  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Albee stated in a Paris Review interview, “Who’s Afraid of […]

Reviving a Legend: Rattlesnake Kate

By: John Moore Hard to believe, but it’s already been three years since Colorado New Play Summit audiences got a sneak peek at Rattlesnake Kate, which back then wasn’t much more than a promising twinkle in the eyes, ears and imagination of Neyla Pekarek. Simply put: “The Rattlesnake Kate world premiere musical that you will […]