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A review by Lisa Bornstein So often, in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” poor Stella becomes the mousy second banana, navigating the histrionics between Blanche and Stanley. But with Vintage Theatre’s production of the Tennessee Williams drama, actress Kelly Uhlenhopp is a constantly smoking ember. It is almost impossible to look away from her when she […]

A review by Lisa Bornstein Twenty years after “Reality Bites” comes “This,” Melissa James Gibson’s popular Gen-X take on middle age. In the current production by Boulder Ensemble Theater Company, the play incisively sizes up truths both timely and timeless, while also settling into some all-too-familiar dramatic ruts. In their late 30s, Gibson’s urban, middle-class […]

By Lisa Bornstein Playwright Pearl Cleage has the rare talent of writing historical plays that still feel personally relevant, with vivid fictional characters. Hers was a familiar name over the years at Shadow Theatre Company, so it’s fitting that Vintage Theatre is continuing the tradition by presenting her work in the space both companies have […]

By Mare Trevathan Raise your hand if you did theater as a kid. That’s a lot of hands. Most of us loved the attention, sure. And the camaraderie. Plus our imaginations were nimble and our sense of propriety virtually non-existent. Kids are natural actors. The Northglenn Youth Theatre (NYT) is no longer a kid itself, but has […]

A review by Lisa Bornstein Buntport Theater Company has a long relationship with literature. The highly creative, highly amusing company has adapted work by Chekhov, Kafka, Thurber and Sophocles, among others. So a partnership with Stories On Stage, known for wonderful aural evenings of storytelling by superb actors, seems a natural. On this evening, though, […]

By Mare Trevathan Despite the title, “Annapurna,” Sharr White’s two-hander opening as a regional premiere at the Boulder Ensemble Theater Company (or BETC) on January 31, is set in an isolated trailer on the Western Slope of Colorado. And it’s written by an alumnus of Boulder’s Fairview High School. “My mother, and most of my […]

A review by Gwen Gray “People always want to know about the title,” says 3rd Law Dance/Theater’s artistic director and choreographer Katie Elliott, with a smile. The platypus, it turns out, is invoked in 3rd Law’s latest performance — an installation at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art — as a metaphor representing the in-between […]

A Preview by Mare Trevathan Every time a bell rings, what happens? Yes, of course you know. Now 67 years since “It’s a Wonderful Life” premiered, reliving the metamorphosis of George Bailey (and the getting of his guardian angel’s wings) is an American holiday tradition. Even if an annual screening of Frank Capra’s 1946 film isn’t […]

A review of “Because I Said So” by Lisa Bornstein When in doubt, go local. It works for restaurants, it works for shopping, and it certainly works in casting. The most recent iteration of “Stories on Stage” featured four Colorado actors to stunning effect, allowing audiences to see new shades of them (and in some […]

By Marc Shulgold Well, the leaves have finally turned, which means that fall is finally upon us, bringing a bevy of performing arts events. Here’s a sampling of programs that proudly embrace the unusual, the unexpected, the uncompromising. In other words, typical Tier III stuff. PHAMALy Theatre Company I hear the same reaction from audience members all the time,” […]