Sense & Sensibility: The Musical

I am generally not a fan of the various adaptations of Jane Austen's books (including Sense and Sensibility). I have a difficult time keeping the characters in Jane Austen's books differentiated in my mind. It seems to me that Darcy is the leading man in all adaptations of all her books and their similar stories blend together in my mind into seemingly the same story re-told several times. With this background and thinking in mind, I purchased tickets for my wife and I to see Sense & Sensibility: The Musical primarily for her and was somewhat concerned that I would be bored throughout. I am pleased to report that I was pleasantly surprised at how much more enjoyable this production was than the other adaptations I have seen.

Although I am generally not a big fan of adaptations of Jane Austen novels, I have found many musicals that I enjoy. It turns out that I much prefer Jane Austen's novels adapted in musical format as compared to straight dramatic acting. In this post, I'll briefly look at what made this adaptation, for me, more generally entertaining.

I enjoyed the music in Sense & Sensibility: The Musical. The songs were catchy and appropriate for the storyline. I also liked that fact that the songs and musical performances displaced some of the seemingly endless gossip and conversation of most Jane Austen adaptations. I realized I much prefer music conveying some of the same types of information to dialog conveying all of it. There was still enough dialog to convey the important points of the story and there was still dramatic acting, but it was not overdone to the point of boredom.

Sense & Sensibility: The Musical (Denver Center Theatre Company) was performed in The Stage theater of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. This production made great use of set movement and people movement to keep things lively. Props and actors came up through the stage floor and down into the stage floor. Props and people moved in and out of the stage from the left and from the right and to and from the audience. It also didn't hurt that we had front-row seats in a theater in which there really are no bad seats.

Sense & Sensibility: The Musical is premiering in Denver as a full production after director Marcia Milgrom Dodge held a workshop premier of it at the Colorado New Play Summit that was met with enthusiasm. In the Applause program for this production (Volume XXIV, Number 7, March-May 2013), Sylvie Drake writes, "It's never easy to take a sprawling novel and reduce it to its essentials. Some of the the Austen characters aren't in the musical, yet their absence takes nothing away from the central story." I preferred this focus on the essence.

Sense & Sensibility: The Musical has been a hit in Denver. The original shows have sold out and an extra show has been added (Sunday, May 26). Critical reviews have also been very positive. Denver Post Theater Critic Lisa Kennedy calls it "a gorgeous new musical" and awards it 3 1/2 stars (out of 4). She highlights some of the things that impressed me most including the creative use of the trap doors in the stage flow, the huge paintings setting the backdrop for scenes, and the grassy sloping hill. CBS4's Critic At Large Greg Moody calls it "simply delightful" and focuses on other aspects that I enjoyed: its simplicity and avoiding overdoing the acting, singing, or stage sets. Sandy MacDonald, for TheaterMania.com, articulates what I think many of us who have seen the production feel: "Clearly Sense & Sensibility is a Broadway hopeful, and it's to be fervently hoped that this superb rendering finds its way there soon."

I (somewhat surprisingly) truly enjoyed Sense & Sensibility: The Musical. The music was good, the acting was good, and I found the story engaging. I cannot recall any other Jane Austen adaptation that I could have called "engaging" for me. I think anyone in my situation (generally likes certain musicals but not necessarily a fan of Jane Austen adaptations) would likely enjoy this production. I enjoyed it so much that I now realize that Edward, not Darcy, is a leading man in the story.

Candlelight Dinner Playhouse (and "Big River")

Based on recommendations from multiple friends, we decided to go see Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown, Colorado. We are very happy that we took their recommendations seriously.

Tara and I have always enjoyed seeing plays at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) in theaters such the Buell Theatre, the Space Theatre, The Stage Theatre, and the Ricketson Theatre. Although we're always pleased with the performances there, there are times, especially after a long work week, when the idea of driving in rush hour into Denver and then dealing with parking issues and needing to get into and out of dinner in time for the show sound unappealing.

One of the advantages of a dinner theater is the ability to have dinner and see the show in the same location. This can definitely be a more relaxing experience without needing to worry about finishing dinner and getting to the theater in time for the show. There are some excellent restaurants in the Denver area near the DCPA, so it is possible to have a really nice dinner before seeing the shows. We liked several things about the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse including the fact that we enjoyed the food and the show.

The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse sells tickets for dinner and show or for show only. We enjoyed their food enough that I doubt we'd go there for the show only, but it is an option. The tickets that include dinner and show cover one entree (there are several to choose from) along with a salad. Optional items that can be purchased above this base price include appetizer, premium entrees, desserts, and soft drinks or other beverages. People who purchase show only tickets can choose to purchase appetizers, desserts, and beverages as well. We really liked getting our dessert at intermission and I think it would be difficult to watch everyone else enjoying desserts at intermission without having one for myself. I recommend purchasing dessert in either case (ticket and show or show only)!

The entree and other choices appear to be selected to fit with the theme of the show. For example, as the Dining page currently indicates, there was a "Big River Menu" when we went. This menu shows the five entrees one can choose from as part of the dinner and show package as well as the optional entree upgrades, appetizers, and desserts. The menu also shows choices that fit well with the show experience in the deep South.

Our main waiter for the evening happened to be the actor (Keith Hatten) who plays Jim in Big River. He has a great, deep singing voice and it was nice to be able to talk to him briefly before the show and during the intermission. The entire staff was friendly and we enjoyed the friendly atmosphere.

The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse is a modern facility and this was noticeable. The seating areas are spacious (one of the advantages of watching the show from where one eats is the necessary extra space afforded the theater-goer) and the newness and cleanliness of the building were appreciated. I could not tell from the photograph I had seen of it how large it is. According to the website, it houses 280 theater-goers and is a $6 million building. A better perspective of the building is available via the virtual tour. Even the restrooms are very nice.

The parking at Candlelight Playhouse is free. It appeared that overflow parking on the street was necessary, but this is a street that's not very busy and it should be relatively easy to park on it if necessary.

Others' reviews of Candlelight Dinner Playhouse and of their Big River production have also been enthusiastic and positive. Bryan VanDriel (The Greeley Tribune), wrote in "Theater Review: Candlelight’s ‘Big River’ cast blows the roof off every performance":

“Big River” marks the beginning of Candlelight’s fourth season, and I’ve been able to see every one of the shows so far. The company’s built a reputation for outstanding food and high quality entertainment, and this is the best show yet.

Other reviews include the recently released Mile High Critics review and Big River rolls into Northern Colorado’s Candlelight Dinner Playhouse.

I wholeheartedly agree with VanDriel's assessment of the acting and singing abilities of some of the main cast members in "Big River." He articulates this better than I can do by describing why some of the main characters (Mark Lively as Huck Finn, Keith Hatten as Jim, Dominique Simmons as Alice, and others) are played so well. Lively presents an energetic, imaginative, and mischievous Huck Finn we picture when we read Twain's writing. Lively's singing, especially with Lively on "Muddy Water" and "River in the Rain," produces significant dramatic effect. I think I wasn't the only one who also welcomed any opportunity to hear Simmons' gospel-inspired singing. The rest of the cast was very good as well and the actors playing the Duke (Brian Burron) and the King (Scott Severtson) captured Twain's well-known comedic portions side well, which helped to keep the very serious subjects being covered in this play from becoming too weighty. Because of the great performances, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse's production of "Big River" delivers important reminders and lessons while entertaining at the same time.

Candlelight Dinner Playhouse's location in Johnstown, Colorado, puts it within reasonable driving distance of Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, and even Cheyenne. We felt it was well worth the drive. We enjoyed the food, the acting, and the overall experience immensely. The "Big River" production comes to a close in less than two weeks.

DCTC's The 39 Steps

I was fortunate to be able to see the Denver Center Theatre Company's production of The 39 Steps at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts last night. This was also my first time to see a show in the ~250 seat Ricketson Theatre.

There were many things to like about DCTC's "The 39 Steps." The numerous characters in the story were played primarily by four cast members and I laughed as much at their switching between roles as the jokes and comedic lines. In some cases, the comedic lines involved the fact that it was a cast of four. This is not like any Alfred Hitchcock production I have ever seen. It did have a taste of the Hitchcockian suspense, but the silliness of this particular production made me laugh and smile throughout. The audience was really into the humor and antics of the cast. This version of The 39 Steps was significantly more humorous than the movie version.

Not only did I enjoy the humor injected by the ridiculousness of having only four people play multiple roles (even in some scenes with more than four characters), but I also enjoyed how scenes from the movie "The 39 Steps" were interwoven with the telling of the story. As a Hitchcock fan, I also enjoyed film and verbal references to Hitchcock classics such as North by Northwest, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Birds, and Psycho.

I also enjoyed the Ricketson Theatre. It's a smaller theater, but I like being able to go into the theater in one of two different doors depending on which side of each row the seats are on. There was also more leg room in this theater than in some of the other DCPA theaters.

I'll admit some hesitancy in attending "The 39 Steps" because the movie is not one of my favorite Hitchcock movies (I like the above listed ones, Rear Window, and others better). I was pleasantly surprised to see this production take the best features of the film and make it even more entertaining to watch with the added humor of various types. It was a very nice surprise. This is such a fast-paced production that I never had the opportunity to day dream or nod off and was fully engaged the entire time.

Here are other reviews (all positive) of the Denver Center Theatre Company's "The 39 Steps":

• Denver Center Theatre Company Climbs to Comedic Heights in '39 Steps'
• 'Good Evening': Divinely Silly '39 Steps' Certainly is One
• 5280: The 39 Steps
• 'The 39 Steps' Film Noir Farce

By the way, Hitchcock's movie The 39 Steps can currently be streamed via NetFlix's streaming that I have previously blogged on.