By John Moore May 8, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore copyright 2013 for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 66: Rocky Mountain Deaf Theatre’s “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s”: There’s not another theater company… Continue reading Photos: My night at Rocky Mountain Deaf Theatre’s ‘Murder at the Howard Johnson’s’
Author: John Moore
Award-winning arts journalist John Moore was named one of the 12 most influential theater critics in the United States by American Theatre Magazine during has 12 years at The Denver Post. Hen then created a groundbreaking new media outlet covering Colorado arts an culture as an in-house, multimedia journalist for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He also founded The Denver Actors Fund, a nonprofit that has raised more than $600,000 for theatre artists in medical need. He is now a journalist for hire as the founder of Moore Media Colorado. You can find samples of his work at MooreJohn.Com. Contact him at culturewestjohn@gmail.com
Moore on Moore: You can’t say ‘director’ without ‘dire’
How our overture looked and sounded to the audience (above) The photo above shows how we staged the climactic song, “True Love,” just after Patsy Cline’s death. You can see how Megan Van De Hey (Patsy) was silhouetted in Louise’s window, singing (live) while a grainy video recording of her singing the same song… Continue reading Moore on Moore: You can’t say ‘director’ without ‘dire’
‘Step Up to the Mic’: A special karaoke party fundraiser June 1
By John Moore May 5, 2013 This has been a time of extraordinary personal challenge for members of the Colorado theater community. Many of our friends have found themselves in great and sudden need, and with numbing regularity: Shelly Bordas’ terminal cancer prognosis. Frank Oteri and Max Peterson facing expensive colon surgeries. Robert Michael… Continue reading ‘Step Up to the Mic’: A special karaoke party fundraiser June 1
Photos: My night at Town Hall’s ‘The 39 Steps’
Mackenzie Paulsen and a “bottom’s up!” James O’Hagan-Murphy brush up on a key bit of physical comedy after having four days off between performances. By John Moore May 3, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos… Continue reading Photos: My night at Town Hall’s ‘The 39 Steps’
Fund to aid actor Robert Michael Sanders launches like a rocket
Robert Michael Sanders and Megan Van De Hey. Photo by Ellen Kaye. Below right, Sanders appears in the Denver Center’s “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” with Shannan Steele, Daniel Langhoff and Lauren Shealy. Photo by Terry Shapiro. By John Moore May 2, 2013 A modest effort by friends of a hospitalized Denver… Continue reading Fund to aid actor Robert Michael Sanders launches like a rocket
Photos: My night at the Arvada Center’s Dividing the Estate’
“Dividing the Estate” cast members Ghandia Johnson (far left) and Kristen Adele (far right), are joined at the afterparty by Adrienne Martin-Fullwood, Sheila Traister, Lisa Young, Kathi Wood and Candy Brown. By John Moore May 1, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on… Continue reading Photos: My night at the Arvada Center’s Dividing the Estate’
Photos: My night at Miners Alley’s ‘The Memory of Water’
By John Moore May 1, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore copyright 2013 for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 61: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “The Memory of Water”: Anyone who has read the “religious views”… Continue reading Photos: My night at Miners Alley’s ‘The Memory of Water’
Photos: My night at Buntport’s ‘A Knight to Remember’
Brian Colonna’s adventures are subtitled, “My Quest to Gallantly Recapture the Past.” By John Moore April 30, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore copyright 2013 for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 60: Buntport Theater’s… Continue reading Photos: My night at Buntport’s ‘A Knight to Remember’
10 years and 2 days later, the first openly gay athlete in team sports history
By John Moore April 29, 2013 It’s hard for me to believe it was 10 years and 2 days ago that I wrote the following story about the new Broadway play “Take Me Out,” which imagined the serious repercussions of the first openly gay male athlete in the history of team sports. As of today,… Continue reading 10 years and 2 days later, the first openly gay athlete in team sports history
Photos: My night at square product’s ‘The Ding Dongs’
The world might run a little more peaceably if people only respected other people’s door signs. By John Moore April 28, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 59:… Continue reading Photos: My night at square product’s ‘The Ding Dongs’
Photos: My Night at ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’
If you’ve ever been backstage at the Mary Miller Theatre, you know the largest single space back there is the bathroom. So that’s where I gathered the eight members of director Ian Gerber’s cast for this portrait, which sort of seems appropriate for a play as hilariously pocked with potty language as David Mamet’s profanity-laced… Continue reading Photos: My Night at ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’
Photos: My night at the Aurora Fox’s ‘The Color Purple’
By John Moore April 25, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 57: The Aurora Fox’s “The Color Purple”: The musical stage adaptation of Alice Walker’s epistolary novel follows… Continue reading Photos: My night at the Aurora Fox’s ‘The Color Purple’
Photos: My night at The Edge’s ‘The Shadow Box’
Haley Johnson, left, with “Shadow Box” castmate Patty Ionoff. By John Moore April 24, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No. 56: The Edge Theatre’s “The Shadow… Continue reading Photos: My night at The Edge’s ‘The Shadow Box’
Photos: My night at Ignite Theatre’s snowy ‘Cabaret’
There’s a lot of touching in the Kit Kat Klub — and in the backstage area of the Aurora Fox — as actor Maggie Tisdale can attest. The Fox’s shop area has been converted into a temporary dressing room to accommodate the huge Ignite Theatre cast, which performs on the studio stage while another big… Continue reading Photos: My night at Ignite Theatre’s snowy ‘Cabaret’
Photos: Opening weekend of ‘Always … Patsy Cline’
From left: Carla Kaiser Kotrc as Louise, music director Jalyn Courtenay Webb and Megan Van De Hey as Patsy Cline. By John Moore April 14, 2013 Opening No. 54: Starkey Theatrix’s “Always … Patsy Cline”: Photos from opening weekend, including an on-stage proposal! Starring Megan Van De Hey as Patsy Cline and Carla Kaiser… Continue reading Photos: Opening weekend of ‘Always … Patsy Cline’
Photos: My night at the Arvada Center’s ‘The Man of La Mancha’
William Michals, left, and Ben Dicke, who play Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, strike their pre-show poses. By John Moore April 1, 2013 Welcome to my ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series bringing you iconic snapshots from behind the scenes on opening nights in Colorado theater. All photos by John Moore for www.CultureWest.Org. Opening No.… Continue reading Photos: My night at the Arvada Center’s ‘The Man of La Mancha’
Video: Oskar Eustis on the American theater: ‘The worst of both worlds is happening’
Video by John Moore for CultureWest.Org. By John Moore April 3, 2013 Public Theatre artistic director Oskar Eustis does not mince words when speaking about the state of the American theater. While in some ways it is healthier than it has ever been, especially in the areas of diversity and decentralization, he also says… Continue reading Video: Oskar Eustis on the American theater: ‘The worst of both worlds is happening’
Outtakes: My night at ‘Tell Martha Not to Moan’
By John Moore, March 24, 2013 Opening No. 52: Athena Project Festival’s “Tell Martha Not to Moan”: The play, by Clinnesha D. Sibley, looks at the changing world through an African-American home in Detroit 2007. As the presidential campaign plays out on the national stage and the 40th commemoration of the Detroit Riot is… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at ‘Tell Martha Not to Moan’
Breaking news: Fourth actor takes reins of “Other Desert Cities” in its final weekend
Kate Berry stars in “Other Desert Cities” at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Photo by Jeff Kearney. By John Moore March 30, 2013 There’s been another twist in the wild tale of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s Colorado premiere of the celebrated play “Other Desert Cities.” David Hastings is now the fourth… Continue reading Breaking news: Fourth actor takes reins of “Other Desert Cities” in its final weekend
Anatomy of a theater director: A daily Q&A with Colorado’s creative minds
By John Moore May 3, 2013 My return to directing (“Always … Patsy Cline,” which closed April 27 at the PACE Center), had me revisiting a story idea I always wanted to do for The Denver Post, but never got around to: The anatomy of the theater director. So I am doing it now,… Continue reading Anatomy of a theater director: A daily Q&A with Colorado’s creative minds
Outtakes: My night at ‘Pardon My Dust’
Billie McBride as Dorothy Parker. By John Moore, March 24, 2013 Opening No. 50, And Toto Too Productions’ “Pardon My Dust”: “I don’t care what anybody says about me … as long as it isn’t true.” That’s one of the many Dorothy Parker witticisms actor Billie McBride quick-fires while portraying one of the greatest… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at ‘Pardon My Dust’
Outtakes: My day at Magic Moments’ ‘Spirit & Soul’
By John Moore, March 24, 2013 Opening No. 49, Magic Moments’ “Spirit & Soul”: That’s 193 people — count ’em! — at the curtain call for Magic Moments’ 30th annual pop-music revue at Kent Denver High School. Magic Moments integrates disabled and able-bodied cast members of all abilities, ages and experience levels for a… Continue reading Outtakes: My day at Magic Moments’ ‘Spirit & Soul’
Revisiting “Marisol” in Colorado Springs means revisiting Armageddon in New York
By John Moore March 24, 2013 There’s a lot that’s still freaking me out about revisiting the apocalyptic drama “Marisol” for the first time in eight years last Sunday — not the least of which is that afterward, I couldn’t concretely answer when I was asked how Theatre ‘d Art’s current staging in Colorado… Continue reading Revisiting “Marisol” in Colorado Springs means revisiting Armageddon in New York
Outtakes: My night at Theatre ‘d Art’s ‘Marisol’
“I’m looking for my lost skin. Have you seen my lost skin? It was once very pretty. We were very close. I was really attached to it.” — Joseph Forbeck, as “Man with Scar Tissue.” In this photo, Forbeck in the process of having his makeup applied backstage by artist Sarah Nasatka. By John… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at Theatre ‘d Art’s ‘Marisol’
Outtakes: My night at UC-CS’s “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”
Sunday’s performance was preceded by a theater conversation between Kevin Landis, left; legendary Public Theatre producer Oskar Eustis, who brought “Bloody” to Broadway in 2010; and “Bloody” composer Michael Friedman. Watch for the video podcast to come. By John Moore March 20, 2013 Opening No. 46, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”: Students at the University… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at UC-CS’s “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”
Outtakes: My night at the grand re-opening of The Edge Theatre
The Edge Theatre’s new storefront at 1560 Teller St. in Lakewood. The grand re-opening was marked on March 15 with a party and the opening performance of David Mamet’s “Race.” By John Moore March 20, 2013 Opening No. 45, “Race”: The Edge Theatre has moved 2 miles east, into a new, 99-seat theater in… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at the grand re-opening of The Edge Theatre
Magic Moments’ rotund roster includes some big-name local actors
It is not uncommon for more than 200 people to participate in the annual Magic Moments pop-rock revue. This year’s crew includes some established names in the local theater community, including Amy Board, Sarah Rex, Ronni Gallup, Keegan Flaugh, Mark Shonsey, Dana Hart Lubeck, Donna Debreceni, David Nehls and others. By John Moore March… Continue reading Magic Moments’ rotund roster includes some big-name local actors
Outtakes: My night at the Local Lab New Play Festival in Boulder
From left: Meridith Crosley Grundei, Lorenzo Gonzalez, Pun Bandhu, Rachel Fowler, George A. Keller and Belita Moreno read from Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Informed Consent.” By John Moore March 19, 2013 Opening No. 44, Local Lab New Play Festival: The Local Lab is an annual weekend of three new American play readings at the picturesque… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at the Local Lab New Play Festival in Boulder
Video, photos: Elin Palmer and Joshua Novak at the Walnut Room
Video of Elin Palmer at the Walnut Room on March 14, 2013. By John Moore March 15, 2013 The handful of sagacious local-music aficionados who are not in Austin for South by Southwest were treated last night to sets by two of Denver’s most admired and crushworthy artists, Elin Palmer and Joshua Novak, at… Continue reading Video, photos: Elin Palmer and Joshua Novak at the Walnut Room
Outtakes: My night at Lakewood High School’s ‘Les Misérables’
Connor Kingsley, center, who plays Marius, gathers the cast in the hallway outside the school auditorium to salute director Tami LoSasso after an ambitious opening performance of “Les Misérables” on March 13. By John Moore, March 14, 2013 My ongoing, 2013 labor-of-love photo series, “It’s Opening Night in Colorado Theater,” brings you one intimate,… Continue reading Outtakes: My night at Lakewood High School’s ‘Les Misérables’