2010/11 Denver Center Theatre Company Season Announced!


The Denver Center Theatre Company has 11 sensational plays for the coming season — Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, classic Shakespearean comedy, groundbreaking world premieres.


Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps
Sept 10-Nov 14 | Ricketson Theatre
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan | From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock | Original concept by Nobby Dimon and Simon Corble

From Broadway to our backyard, this new adaptation was hailed by the New York Times as “absurdly enjoyable…a gleeful riff on Hitchcock’s 1935 film.”

Combine a film masterpiece with a juicy spy novel and add a splash of Monty Python humor. The result? A fast-paced whodunit with four versatile actors portraying 150 roles. The rather dull Richard Hannay encounters a woman who claims to be a spy. When she is suddenly murdered, Richard finds himself the focus of a nationwide manhunt led by a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps.” This film noir gem is a hilarious comedy full of dazzling, inventive stagecraft and virtuoso performances that will have you rolling in the aisles until the death-defying, climatic finale.
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The House of the Spirits
Sept 17-Oct 23  | Space Theatre
by Caridad Svich
Based on the novel by Isabel Allende
A haunting and lyrical adaptation of Isabel Allende’s critically-acclaimed bestseller, The House of the Spirits, looks at four generations of political, social and familial upheaval through the powerful lens of memory. In this vibrant family saga set in Latin America, unforgettable characters tell the magnificent story filled with pride, passion and triumph.  “That rarest of successes — a book about one family and one country that is a book about the world and becomes the world...” – Cosmopolitan
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Dracula
Oct 1-30  |  Stage Theatre
by Charles Morey
From the novel by Bram Stoker
The towering horror classic comes to the Denver stage. Bram Stoker’s terrifying psychodrama pits the demonic Count against two vulnerable young women, and the valiant men who risk everything to save their lives—and their souls.
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Reckless
Nov 12-Dec 18  | Space Theatre
by Craig Lucas
It’s a snowy Christmas Eve at the Fitsimmons house when Rachel’s hubby Tom announces that, instead of buying her a puppy, he took out a contract…on her life. Rachel flees declaring, “I always wanted to do something reckless.” Her life becomes a surreal, revolving door of Christmas crises, catapulting her across 50 states and, coincidentally, always a town called Springfield. This hilarious, non-stop plot includes psychoanalysis, TV game shows, poisoned champagne, a homeless shelter and, likely, the kitchen sink.
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A Christmas Carol
Nov 26-Dec 24  |  Stage Theatre
by Charles Dickens
Adapted for the stage by Richard Hellesen | Music by David de Berry
What better way to shine a light in the dark of winter than enjoying this holiday tradition, the classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge confronting his ghosts of past, present and future and finally finding redemption.  With original songs, enchanting sets and opulent costumes, this production is great for the whole family. Buy now for the BEST price!

A Christmas Carol is not part of a subscription package. Subscribe by April 23 and buy tickets before the public for $40 — a savings of 30%. Hurry; this holiday favorite sold out in 2009!
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World Premiere
Map of Heaven
Jan 14-Feb 26  |  Ricketson Theatre
by Michele Lowe
Lena’s painting career is on the rise; her beautiful maps of places real and imaginary are poised to take New York by storm. But when her radiologist husband makes a fatal decision, Lena’s life is upended. A contemporary story with devastating repercussions, Map of Heaven explores the overwhelming consequences of a single lapse in judgment.

DCTC commissioned-playwright Michele Lowe is nominated for the 2010 Harold and Mimi Steinberg / American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.
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World Premiere
The Catch
Jan 21-Feb 26 | Space Theatre
by Ken Weitzman
America’s national pastime meets America’s financial meltdown. A failed dot-commer schemes to regain his lost fortune by catching a star slugger’s record-breaking homerun ball — through willpower, planning and sheer determination. Playwright Ken Weitzman’s baseball drama The Catch knocks the cover off our national obsession with sports, riches and celebrity.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Jan 28-Feb 26  | Stage Theatre
by William Shakespeare
A feast of midsummer madness, mischievous fairies, mismatched lovers and musical merchants collide hilariously in Shakespeare’s magical comedy. When lovers find refuge in the forest, a misguided fairy unleashes comical chaos with a love potion. “The course of true love never did run smooth”; now everyone must untangle the mismatched relationships in pursuit of wedded bliss. This web of magic in the Athenian woods casts a powerful, pleasing spell on audiences of all ages.
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Limited engagement & part of the 1st US Tour!
Traces
March 11-May 15, 2011  | Stage Theatre
Created by The 7 Fingers (Les 7 doigts de la main)
The 7 Fingers (Les 7 doigts de la main) is an astonishingly talented French Canadian company that has pioneered a whole new brand of theatrical entertainment. On what may prove their last night on earth, seven street youths celebrate life with dazzling, gravity-defying displays of skill – balancing on each other’s heads, tumbling through hoops and leaping spectacularly up giant poles. More than just a display of acrobatic brilliance, the audience is gradually drawn into the performers’ real life stories and, by the dramatic climax of the show, on the edge of their seats, willing them to pull off the seemingly impossible.
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Winner! 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Ruined
March 18-April 30, 2011  | Ricketson Theatre
by Lynn Nottage
Mama Nadi struggles to keep her small bar and brothel prosperous in the midst of the raging Congo civil war. By catering to soldiers on both sides of the conflict, she manages not only to keep her girls safe, but also discovers a romance of her own. Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama uses compassion, outrage and humor to explore what it takes to survive the devastating effects of war.
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Superior Donuts
April 1-May 7, 2011  | Space Theatre
by Tracy Letts

"... a witty, seductive, live-wire dark comedy that you just don’t want to end and you just don’t want to miss.” - Chicago Tribune

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August Osage County) tells the tough but tender story of a fading, family-owned donut shop. Arthur, its aging proprietor who is content to reminisce about the good ol’ days, hires a young, African-American assistant bursting with ideas for healthy menu options, hopeful about an unpublished novel and burdened by unpaid gambling debts. Superior Donuts affectionately explores our roots, the need to embrace change and the redemptive power of friendship. 

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