A look at the shows that drew a lot of attention

With 200 reviews posted this year on the OnStage Colorado website, I thought it’d be fun to just look back on the most viewed.

Many factors can influence the number of people who read a particular review. Sometimes I’ll notice a review from a year or more ago getting attention from people in other states and even other English-speaking countries (the ones from Nigeria or Uzbekistan are likely up to no good; or it’s a bot). A theatre company looking to perhaps stage a particular show may have found it on a Google Search, or someone researching a theatre company may have stumbled across it.

(L-R) Chris Kendall, Dwane Carrington, Abbie Apple Boes and Edith Weiss in ‘A Jukebox for the Algonquin’ at Miners Alley. Our review was the second-most read of 2024. | Photo: Sarah Roshan Photos

Organic search is a big driver as well, and someone searching for information about a show they’re contemplating seeing will often see our reviews near or at the top. In the case of a show in the No. 4 spot below — Jesus Christ Superstar — a lot of the search traffic came from outside Colorado. Big national tours like that one have lots of people looking for a review to evaluate if they want to cough up the big bucks for a Broadway show.

In this Top 10 list, most of these shows rose to the top because the theatre companies themselves were savvy about taking a positive review and sharing it widely. Smart arts marketers know third-party endorsements can drive ticket sales, so they’ll promote the reviews on social media, newsletters, websites and the like. Not doing so is a big missed opportunity, and it really doesn’t require a ton of money, time or effort. For our friends in the theatre community, we always encourage you to squeeze whatever promotional juice you can out of a review. Even if it’s not a rave, you can usually find something to blurb about!

Anyway, here’s the list, with links to the reviews:

  1. School of Rock – PACE Center/Veritas Productions
  2. A Jukebox for the Algonquin – Miners Alley
  3. Newsies – Performance Now
  4. JC Superstar – Denver Center
  5. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Vintage Theatre
  6. The Full Monty – Miners Alley
  7. Cabaret – Breckenridge Backstage Theatre
  8. These Shining Lives – Firehouse Theater
  9. Gem of the Ocean – Aurora Fox
  10. Impossible Things – The Catamounts
Editor & Publisher at  |  + posts

Alex Miller is editor and publisher of OnStage Colorado. He has a long background in journalism, including stints as the top editor at the Vail Daily, Summit Daily News, Summit Country Journal, Vail Trail and others. He’s also been an actor, director, playwright, artistic director and theatre board member and has been covering theatre in Colorado since 1995.