A midsummer’s theatre retrospective, plus a chat with Dixie Longate and the Top 10 Colorado Headliners
In this episode of the OnStage Colorado Podcast, hosts Toni Tresca and Alex Miller look at the best shows of the year so far on Colorado stages. Later in the show, Alex talks with Dixie Longate, who’s final run of her show Dixie Longate’s Tupperware Party is at the Denver Center’s Garner Galleria this summer.
Also in this episode, we run down the Top 10 Colorado Headliners — shows of interest we think are worth checking out. This week’s list:
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Denver Center, August 6-17
Pippin, Denver Center, August 7-24
The Play That Goes Wrong, StageDoor Theatre, Conifer, August 8-23
Escape to Margaritaville, Theatre SilCo, Silverthrone, August 8-31
Assassins, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, Golden, August 8-September 14
Guys & Dolls, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Grand Lake, ends Aug. 29
Special Sauce, Bas Bleu, Fort Collins, Aug. 8-10
Dogs and Cats Living Together, One Night Stand Theatre at Vintage Theatre, Aug. 10
The Entrepreneur Girlfriend Hour, Talking With Teri Studio, Centennial, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, BETC, Dairy Arts Center, Aug. 12-20
Chapter list
Chapter 1: Introduction & California Trip (00:00-04:00)
- Welcome and introductions
- Toni’s California visit – first time in the state
- Warner Brothers studio tour highlights
- Team Star Kid performance of The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals
- Appeal to Colorado theater producers to stage the show
Chapter 2: What We’ve Seen – Recent Theater Reviews (04:00-18:30)
- Around the World in 80 Toys at Buntport (experimental work in progress)
- Cry It Out at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (Alex’s review)
- Stanley Underground magic venue in Estes Park (Toni’s visit)
- Sweet and Lucky: Echo rehearsal observations
- Assassins at Miners Alley rehearsal visit
Chapter 3: Theater News (18:30-26:00)
- DIRT (Denver Immersive Repertory Theater) receives $400,000 downtown development grant
- Discussion of funding priorities and established vs. new companies
- New York Shakespeare in the Park Delacorte Theater renovation news
Chapter 4: Mid-Year Theater Retrospective (26:00-55:00)
Toni’s Top Picks:
- Musicals: Bright Star, Ghost Quartet, Little Shop of Horrors, Some Like It Hot
- Plays: National Bohemians, Hot Wing King, Chasing Breadcrumbs, Book Handlers, Curious Incident, Steel Magnolias, The Tempest
Alex’s Top Picks:
- Case for the Existence of God, Morning After Grace, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Perfect Arrangement, Rock of Ages, Richard II, Cry It Out
Disappointments:
- Little Miss Sunshine, Once Upon a Mattress, The Wiz (touring production)
Chapter 5: Colorado Headliners – Upcoming Shows (55:00-1:09:00)
Chapter 6: Interview with Dixie Longate (1:09:00-1:32:00)
- Character introduction and final tour announcement
- Origins in Mobile, Alabama and Tupperware selling career
- Broadway Drama Desk Award nomination vs. Laurence Fishburne
- Cultural differences in audiences across regions
- International touring experiences
- Never Wear a Tube Top While Riding a Mechanical Bull show concept
- Future plans post-retirement from touring
Chapter 7: Wrap-up & Upcoming Content (1:32:00-1:34:00)
- OnStage Colorado website content preview
- Upcoming reviews and coverage
- Newsletter subscription reminder
- Teaser for next week’s Charlie Miller interview about Sweet and Lucky: Echo
- Closing remarks
Sponsors mentioned: Miners Alley, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Colorado Candlelight, Theatre SilCo, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company
Transcript
Brewed up by AI wildebeests, don’t mind the errors. Or fine, be that way!
Alex Miller (00:04)
Hey, hey, hello and welcome to the OnStage Colorado podcast. Once again, I’m Alex Miller and joined again by Tony Tresca. Hey, Tony.
Toni Tresca (00:12)
Hey Alex, it’s great to be here with ya.
Alex Miller (00:14)
Yeah, so you’re out of town. So you weren’t weren’t shows this weekend. You’re in California. What were you up to out there? Do see anything out there?
Toni Tresca (00:21)
Yeah, I was actually visiting an old friend from undergrad. We had not seen each other in person for three years, so it was really nice to get to catch up. Did some of the California things. I went to the beach. Very lovely out right now. Always a constant wind. This is my first time in California. Everything they say about the beach vibes and that beach weather, 100 % true. Really enjoyed that. I did a Warner Brothers studio tour, so I got to see
Alex Miller (00:50)
Nice.
Toni Tresca (00:51)
where they shot Jurassic Park, for instance, the jungle sequences, as well as Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure, saw that location. I saw some of the spots they filmed La La Land, as well as a bunch of other shows and TV shows, which was a lot of fun. And I did, in fact, see some theater while I was up there. That was actually the impetus for the trip. This theater group whom both of us really enjoy called Team Star Kid.
They’re an online theater group who has been producing pretty regularly since 2007 in which they did their, they launched their parody musical, A Very Potter Musical, and they released it online. And so since then, they’ve released all of the shows that they do live online. And I’ve been watching them since 2012. So it was pretty wild to see these people whom I have like a parasocial relationship with.
Alex Miller (01:38)
wow.
Toni Tresca (01:42)
live on stage, they were performing the revival of The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, which is a musical about a guy who doesn’t like musicals. It’s hilarious, they did an excellent job. It’s a much more produced version of the show than they released initially online in 2018 when they did the first production. The set is much more elaborate, the lighting and sound effects are much more fleshed out.
Alex Miller (01:48)
All right.
Toni Tresca (02:10)
They didn’t change a word of the script, but they changed some of the direction to just kind of clarify tonal things. And I thought it was a really sharp production. And after seeing it, I was kind of wondering like, why has that show not made it to Colorado yet? The rights are available. You can do it with a really small cast. It’s hilarious. Also the name, the guy who didn’t like musicals, that’s perfect for getting people who are not in the theater world to come see your show. I feel like it’s, ⁓ and it’s hilarious. It’s just,
Alex Miller (02:25)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Toni Tresca (02:40)
hilarious top to bottom. It’s this horror comedy that’s just got excellent music, hilarious jokes. So Colorado theater producers, if you are listening, please consider this my formal appeal to you. Stage the guy who did not like musicals.
Alex Miller (02:52)
Hahaha
Yeah, seems like the kind of thing you could stand up at the Garner Galleria for a couple of months or something like that.
Toni Tresca (03:02)
If they did it at like the Garner with like that budget that they have at the Denver Center, the production, ⁓ I mean, I would, I’d probably go multiple times, Alex, so just between you and me.
Alex Miller (03:11)
Right. Right.
Because it’s never the same show twice. Or is it? Yeah.
Toni Tresca (03:15)
It’s a little bit different. They’ve got,
it’s a little different. It’s mostly scripted though, actually. It’s rather than being improvisational. There’s some moments that they improvise with the audience, largely a scripted show.
Alex Miller (03:28)
Okay. Well, that’s amazing that this was the first time you’d ever been in California. Which beach were you at? Were you in LA area or what?
Toni Tresca (03:35)
⁓ I was in Orange County ⁓ and so we went to one of the beaches over there. I could not tell you the name. It was at one of California’s beautiful state parks though. So ⁓ it was really fun.
Alex Miller (03:37)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Yeah.
So they’re not all burnt to a crisp or inundated with water or on fire or anything like that. it’s still nice places to visit in California.
Toni Tresca (03:58)
yeah luckily the water was not on fire when we were there.
Alex Miller (04:03)
All right, well, we’re here again with some more theater stuff in Colorado. So after our last episode focusing exclusively on this year’s Henry Award winners, that was a lot of fun. But now that we’re in August and more than half the years over, we had an idea to kind of look back on the first part of 2025, sort of a preview of our onstage Colorado Awards, the Oscars that come out in January.
Toni Tresca (04:13)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and it’s already been a pretty busy year so far, so I’d say it’s definitely worthy of a mid-year retrospective.
Alex Miller (04:34)
Yeah, absolutely. So we’ll get to that in just a bit. And then we’ll touch on and for that we’ll touch on some news, get to our top 10 Colorado headliners, and also hear my conversation with Dixie Longate, ⁓ speaking of the Gardner Galleria. So this is a performer best known for her Dixie’s Tupperware Party one woman show that’s come to the Garnieria several times. And it’s here again through August 17, in its final season.
Toni Tresca (04:57)
Nice and I know she’s doing that as well as another show that also has a fun name, Never Wear a Tube Top While Riding a Mechanical Bull, ⁓ August 20th through September 7th. So I guess that’s the final ⁓ show for her.
Alex Miller (05:05)
you
Yep. Have you ever wanted to top? did once. And we had a beach day in high school and the principal or the vice principal who was evil got on the loudspeaker and said, no wearing, you know, bikinis or you know what tube tops was on the list. So of course, you know, several of my buddies ⁓ borrowed tube tops from our friends and wore tube tops to just stick it in the eye of the, of the man there in high school back.
Toni Tresca (05:16)
I can’t say I’ve ever, I’ve ever tubed. No, no tube tops for me, Alex.
Alex Miller (05:40)
long time ago. that’s that was my tube top experience, but it does make sense not to wear one on a mechanical bowl. ⁓ You know, so so she talks all about that in her show. And so, yeah, it’s a fun conversation and she does it in character. So stick around for that in just a bit.
Toni Tresca (05:55)
Looking forward to hearing that. Now let’s turn quickly to what we’ve seen since our last episode. What’d you get out to, Alex?
Alex Miller (06:04)
Well, we were both at Around the World and 80 Toys, which, yeah, you wrote the review. That’s a tricky review to write because it was an interesting show, but it was also far from smooth. There was a lot of stuff going wrong with it. But it was kind of, it was interesting because it was acknowledged that was gonna be the case and that it was really sort of watching a work in progress. So if you took it in that spirit, it really was.
Toni Tresca (06:07)
That’s right.
Alex Miller (06:30)
an enjoyable thing and do you want to just hit on some of the highlights of that? ⁓ Does it have any more ⁓ performances at Bunport? it done?
Toni Tresca (06:39)
It is done at Buntport, but it is going to be at the Philly Fringe Festival in September. So if any of our listeners happen to be in that area, you can check out this production that will have been workshopped a bunch more and hopefully smoothed out because, yeah, as you mentioned, it was a little bit rough around the edges, but in a really endearing way, I would say. ⁓ The show follows the inventor of…
Alex Miller (06:48)
Ha ha ha.
Toni Tresca (07:05)
cinema, he’s a man who has now found himself at the end of his life, kind of forgotten and he’s running this toy store and the play itself kind of frames this man’s story within the context of around the world in 80 days. So you’re seeing this man’s kind of life played out in that format. It’s deeply experimental in nature. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it on a stage before. It was as if you were watching a silent film.
be created in front of you because there’s this large projection screen that you’re really watching Thaddeus Phillips on stage move these toys and pieces around, but you’re really watching the projection screen above to see the effect that this has and how all these different layering, these different special effects that he does, they all integrate together. ⁓ Really, really interesting. It seems like it’s going to be really
Alex Miller (07:37)
Right.
Toni Tresca (08:03)
profound and effective once all of the transitions are ironed out. yeah, Thaddeus acknowledged that this performance that we saw on opening night was the first time the work had ever been done start to finish before, all together. And there were a couple points where you’re like the projections, the projector that he was using, he needed to still like manually turn it and it took a little while or like when he would turn a projector on, it would be really blurry until he waved his hand in front of it to kind of reset the projection each time.
Alex Miller (08:15)
Right, right.
Right, right.
Toni Tresca (08:32)
And it
feels these are, it’s nothing major. It’s just little simple bugs that happen because like you said, it was the first time he’d ever done it.
Alex Miller (08:40)
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, that was was a really cool show that we saw at Bunport. And then this weekend, I got to cry it out at Boulder Ensemble Theater Company. So they had their opening weekend for this show at the Savoy, but it’s moving to the Dairy Center. So it’ll be there August 8th through 24th. So this is a Molly Smith Metzler play directed by Candice Orino. And I really liked it. It’s a story about motherhood and
challenges that new mothers face in our world today, whether it’s not being able to afford to pay for daycare or trying to decide whether you want to go back to work if you can afford to go back to work. And so it’s basically about three different ⁓ families, their stories. ⁓ this is so Noelia Antweiler plays Jessie and she’s kind of like the, I guess the main focus. And man, Tony. So, you know, I’ve seen Noelia, we both have in a lot of shows and a lot of times she’s in these kind of big
She’s a really athletic ⁓ performer who can be really big, but here she is this really vulnerable woman who I think she’s probably dealing with some postpartum depression. And ⁓ man, she really just killed it. She was so, ⁓ so good in this. And it was actually her birthday that night, on opening night on Agon. But also great cast. mean, you had a…
Mackenzie Byer as her kind of this woman that she befriends who was fantastic and she had kind of a she was kind of like the working class Long Islander and and of course as someone who used to have a Long Island accent I was I’m always critiquing that and I was like man that was pretty good of course I found out later they had Jeffrey Parker on their side to help with with that say no more Marco Alberta Robinson another really well known Colorado actor who we often see in those much bigger
Toni Tresca (10:17)
well, that certainly helps.
Alex Miller (10:26)
Saucy rolls here is kind of this this really uptight sort of rich guy and great to see him and then Erica Maury plays his super bitchy wife who’s got her own story, you know, and the reason why she’s she’s not so pleasant to be around. So really recommend it. It’s funny. It’s very touching. It’s extremely well acted. Candice did a great job directing it. So definitely heads up on that one. So like I said, it’ll be at the Dairy Center starting this weekend through through the 24th.
Toni Tresca (10:58)
Yeah, from reading your review, it sounded like a very moving production. I particularly liked your description of the one scene in which Noelia, who like you mentioned, can be a very big performer. She is getting dressed down by another character and just has to sit there and react with her only her face. And it just a little, yeah, it sounds like a really masterfully acted and directed production.
Alex Miller (11:13)
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (11:24)
⁓ But I did not see that, so I won’t spend any longer chatting about it. Like you mentioned, did see Around the World and 80 Toys. I thought it was quite interesting. I went up to Estes Park last weekend where I’ve been doing quite a bit more reporting recently to check out the Stanley Underground. It is a magic venue that has been built into this underground facility on the campus of the Stanley Hotel.
It’s actually in the old proprietor’s office downstairs where he would secretly spy on people. ⁓ And it’s been converted into this 75 seat, really intimate space where they have a, it’s called, Aidan Sinclair is the guy who founded it. And he regularly performs there as well as they have seances that they do. And then during the summer they do shows seven days a week.
Alex Miller (11:59)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (12:17)
⁓ And they bring in national acts from around the country. And that was whom I checked out. We saw Jared Cough that evening. And excellent magician. He has been on stuff like America’s Got Talent before and those kind of ⁓ shows. He’s very comfortable with the crowd. He did like a variety of magic tricks too. Everything from like close up hand magic to mind reading and more stuff that you might consider like an illusionist.
would do, ⁓ which is, that’s fairly rare. Usually magicians focus on one area of expertise for their magic, but he, it’s a 70, roughly 75 minute show, and he just constantly was changing up the style of magic, as well as it was kind of like a fringe show almost, in that he was kind of talking through his life and his relationship to magic as he was performing these really elaborate tricks.
Alex Miller (12:47)
huh.
wow, that sounds excellent. Really cool.
Toni Tresca (13:18)
It really was excellent. know magic gets a bad rap and sometimes sometimes people think it can be cheesy and hokey and it absolutely can be but that is not what the Stanley Underground is producing. It is really high quality magicians that they bring in and it’s a really impressive operation just the fact that they’ve been able to scale up. Aidan Sinclair started just doing performances in rooms at the Stanley Hotel that weren’t being used.
And now he has his own established venue in the space that is selling out seven days a week during the summer.
Alex Miller (13:54)
and where is that, where is the Stanley Hotel?
Toni Tresca (13:57)
It’s in Estes Park as you drive in on the main road after you get up the mountains. It’s on your right.
Alex Miller (14:04)
that one. Okay. thought you
were talking about one in Denver. So this is the Stanley Hotel that we… Okay. Right, right, right. All right. And then you did, you checked out some rehearsals.
Toni Tresca (14:08)
⁓ yeah, yeah, this is the Stanley in Estes Park.
That’s right, Alex. I’ve been going backstage using my media access to check out some rehearsals, ⁓ including rehearsals for the upcoming Denver Center as Off Center’s production of Sweet and Lucky Echo. This is the kind of spiritual sequel to Sweet and Lucky, which Off Center did in 2016. It was a huge moment for the company.
Alex Miller (14:19)
Ha ha ha ha!
Whoa.
Toni Tresca (14:44)
Charlie Miller often cites that as being the point in which Off Center really found its voice as being a leader in immersive work, because up until then they had been doing immersive, but they’d also been doing like comedy nights and improv and things like that. And so after this production, they really solidified their vision. And you’ve seen that in the work that they’ve been producing here after. And so it was really interesting to sit in the room. I was being guided around by Zach Morris, who is from Third Rail Productions.
I ended up walking into the experience close to the end of the show, which ⁓ I won’t spoil for you here since it is, I got the whole thing spoiled, but that’s my job. ⁓ But it was a really interesting set. It’s basically kind of creating a warehouse interior that features all these moving ladders and rails. And you as the audience are being invited to literally help.
Alex Miller (15:22)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (15:39)
create this environment. You are asked by performers to help raise sales in the room and do these things as this story of this couple is unfolding. You realize that the, I’ll give you the framing device, because this is what I think this is helpful to go in, is you walk into an attic and you realize that somebody has died and now you are unboxing their memories and watching them come to life in this space. And it has some really interesting
obviously question meditations on life, death, the afterlife and things like that. It’s also a really just kind of physical piece as well it looks like from the little bit that I got to watch. And so it definitely made me intrigued to see how this would be staged in its entirety.
Alex Miller (16:26)
Right. That’s great. Yeah. Well, so yeah, I had a Q &A with a couple of ⁓ Zach’s assistant directors on the site and then Charlie Miller’s on the podcast next week to talk all about it. So stick around for that to learn more about Sweet and Echo and definitely looking forward to checking that out.
Toni Tresca (16:43)
Yeah. And then another rehearsal that I got to check out was the upcoming production of Miners, Alley’s Performing Arts Center’s Assassins. So this is the Sieben-Sondheim musical. being directed by Warren Sherrill. And I sat down beforehand with Warren, Lynn Mathieu, who is the artistic director over there, and then Julia Tovey, who is the lead in the production as the proprietor.
and we just chatted a little bit about how this musical is hitting in 2025 after the assassination attempt on President Trump. ⁓ This musical, I got this in fact nailed down, they chose the musical before Trump’s assassination attempt. And so then they’re just, but it certainly does add ⁓ a different flavor coming after being a musical about the killing of presidents.
Alex Miller (17:25)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (17:35)
when that has just happened, as well as the pretty high profile assassination that was successful earlier this year by Luigi Maggioni on the United, the CEO of the healthcare company. So assassins are definitely on the minds of Americans. And so we talked about what that was like to be creating the work there. And then I got to watch the first ⁓ three numbers of the piece. Set is really, really exciting. It looks.
Alex Miller (17:46)
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (18:02)
Totally unlike how Minors Alley has ever used their new performing arts center before, it feels as though the story is literally creeping out into you as the audience and let me just say these are figures whom you do not want to be that close and intimate with.
Alex Miller (18:17)
huh. Wow. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I’m to be there Saturday night to see the opening weekend. So looking forward to that. Even though as you’ve, as you know, I’m not necessarily a Sondheim fan, but this one sounds pretty intriguing.
Toni Tresca (18:30)
Yeah, I will be very curious to see if you are still anti-Sondheim after checking out this work.
Alex Miller (18:34)
Yep.
All right. Moving on to the news. Anything in the old news bag this week?
Toni Tresca (18:42)
Yeah, so it’s been a little bit of a slower news time ⁓ after the big news of the Henrys, but there was one really big developmental piece of news out of Denver. ⁓ Dirt, AKA Denver Immersive Repertory Theater, received $400,000 from the downtown Denver Authority money to renovate ⁓ the world’s first residential immersive theatrical production and studio.
So it’s coming from the DDA who announced last week that they were passing out over $570 million in investments to renovate downtown. And if you’re thinking, wait, I thought Denver was in a budget deficit and about to lay off city employees after already suspending a bunch of city services. Yeah, you would be correct, but ⁓ you know, finances be damned. They’re gonna try to rebuild downtown and invest all this money.
Alex Miller (19:28)
Yeah.
Well, the DTA probably has its funding in a separate pot from, you know, the rest of the city, I’m sure.
Toni Tresca (19:44)
It is correct. This was approved via a bond. And so this money has been set aside. However, critics of this allocation argue that it was not supposed to be spent on ⁓ things like theater. had been promised more bike paths, improvements to other existing infrastructure, as well as improvements to the zoo, which is not downtown per se, but that was one of the things that was promised.
when this bond was being authorized. So it’s certainly interesting to see Dirt as being the largest recipient of money.
Alex Miller (20:21)
Right, well, 400 grand out of 570 million is not that much. Is that the right amount, 570 million? That sounds like an awful lot. It’s not 5.7 million or 57 million.
Toni Tresca (20:32)
I think
I may have accidentally messed up that number. Yeah, um… No, I did not mess up that number. It is 570 million dollars.
Alex Miller (20:41)
Wow,
Alex Miller (20:43)
Hey, just coming in after the fact here, Tony just clarified with an email to me that it was $570 million was approved in 2024. $100 million was just granted on July 30th, just to clarify that.
Alex Miller (20:58)
All right, cool. Well, look forward to seeing what that’s all about.
Toni Tresca (21:03)
Yeah, it’s interesting because Dirt is a relatively new organization to the area. mean, well, that’s not shocking. They’ve literally never produced anything in the area before, not staged a single thing. ⁓ And yet they’re now the recipient of this $400,000. And that’s on top of a $10,000 grant that they got from the city. yeah, the city is clearly investing in Immersive.
Alex Miller (21:10)
Yeah, never heard of them.
Toni Tresca (21:33)
transforming the former Patagonia flagship store at 1500 Blake Street into what is going to be this year-round immersive experience production studio and venue. ⁓ I just think it’s interesting. I got to interview Steve Wargo and Blair Russell ⁓ earlier this year for a piece I wrote for Denver Westward that came out in February. And they seem like smart producers. They have a lot of experience and seeming success coming out of the New York market.
but they don’t have any knowledge or experience here in Denver. And it’s just, it’s an interesting choice to fund ⁓ Dirt when there are immersive theater groups who have existed in Denver and have been producing work rather successfully at a high profile level for years. It’s kind of, I suppose you could make the argument that Off Center doesn’t need the money. However, they are about to build.
and build a permanent immersive site after they get done with their contract in their South Broadway space. So seems like you might want to invest in an organization who has more track record, more of a track record or who at least has produced something.
Alex Miller (22:37)
Yeah, I’m sure. ⁓
Yeah, I’m sure Ren over at Audacious Immersive would have loved 500 grand to play with. Or some of the others like Catamounts or I don’t know, maybe some of the others. Yeah.
Toni Tresca (22:47)
Absolutely.
or Denver immersive. There’s
actually a ton of working ⁓ immersive groups or even groups who are immersive adjacent like the Denner Theater folks who have been, they have been fighting tooth and nail and they are continuously bringing in audience members to the area. So I hope that this is a wise choice on the part of the city and that these guys really do deliver.
Alex Miller (23:01)
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (23:16)
They open something that’s able to be successful and operating year round because their vision is to employ over 40 local artists a year at the minimum. And so that’s excellent. That’s a new jobs being brought into the area, ⁓ huge potential. However, ⁓ that’s assuming that the doors open, which they have not yet.
Alex Miller (23:26)
Right.
Yeah, well, interesting to see that. So we’ll definitely follow up on that when we’ve got more information. So I just had one bit of non-Colorado news that I thought would be of interest, and so many of our listeners have either lived in or like to visit the Center of American Theater, New York City. So this was an article I saw in the Times about the Delacorte Theater in New York City’s Central Park. So this is where Shakespeare in the Park is staged, the free shows there.
Toni Tresca (23:46)
Absolutely.
Alex Miller (24:03)
that they do every summer. And apparently the theater, which was built in 1962, was in pretty rough shape. The Times article was talking about how it was overrun with raccoons and falling apart. But now it’s been reinvigorated with an $85 million renovation by the architect Stephen Chu. And this was interesting. He said he repurposed the Redwood from 25 decommissioned city water towers and left some of the old water stains to give the new facade an instant patina. So you know, if you’re ever in New York City, you know all these…
buildings have these water towers on top of them and made a lot of the old ones are made out of wood. So that was a really inspired choice. but anyway, so the free Shakespeare in the Park program opens this week with good old 12th night running August 7th into September to September 14th. So if you’re in New York, definitely check out the new Delacorte theater.
Toni Tresca (24:50)
I mean, that’s really great. We always love to hear about being invested in theater. Hence our last segment. We love money in theater. Just hope that it always works out. And that’s funny. They’re doing Twelfth Night. So are two outdoor Shakespeare production companies here in Colorado. Did they all coordinate or is Twelfth Night just in the air?
Alex Miller (24:58)
Yeah.
It’s a good alfresco, Shoa. know, can’t deny it.
Toni Tresca (25:14)
which true.
And Shakespeare in the Park is also a program of New York’s public theater, which A.D. Oscar Eustis ⁓ is on board with, and he’s a friend of the pod.
Alex Miller (25:26)
That’s right. Yeah, Oscar was on earlier this year to talk about the end center production of the forgotten arm which he directed. It was ⁓ kind of a joint thing with Amy Mann. So it was so much fun to have him on the show.
Toni Tresca (25:37)
Yeah, we get all the heavy hitters here at the Onstage Colorado Podcast.
Alex Miller (25:39)
That’s right. And
speaking of, well, next week, we’ll have the Denver Center’s off center head, Hancho Charlie Miller that we were just talking about with that immersive production of Sweet and Lucky. So be sure to come back for that.
Toni Tresca (25:49)
Mm-hmm.
Definitely curious to hear Charlie talk a little bit more about that. But for now, let’s turn to our main topic, A Midsummer’s Theatre Retrospective. This has been on our minds a lot because we’ve been looking through the season so far in preparation for our upcoming Oscar Awards in January. We decided that rather than wait till the very end of the year and kind of try to…
then collect all of our thoughts. We do this mid-season check-in, write down what really impacted us by this point so that we don’t forget anything important.
Alex Miller (26:28)
That’s
right. Yeah. Trying to pick the nominees as we go to remember it also. So yeah. So this, you know, our season runs as a calendar year as opposed to the Henry’s which runs May to May. So we’re just looking at the 2020, 2025 shows so far. So Tony, what were some of your faves from the years so far?
Toni Tresca (26:47)
Yeah, we’ve reviewed roughly 65 shows this year to date. So we’ve got a pretty big list of stuff to choose from. I mean, I’m including a couple of things that I didn’t necessarily review for On Stage Colorado, but I reviewed for other outlets in here. so I’ve selected eight plays and four musicals that have really, it really impacted me this year. I’ll start with the musicals since there are a few less of those. One of my faves is
Alex Miller (27:11)
Okay.
Toni Tresca (27:17)
bright star that was performing over at Candlelight. It’s closed now. It’s a beautiful musical, ⁓ kind of a Southern Gothic, and it features a staggering performance by Genesee Pierce at the center of it. She has lovely vocals. She’s playing the same character in different decades, and so she really has to do these physical transformations. ⁓ The scenic design was lovely. The Mason jar band.
was live on stage and integrated into the show in really interesting, thoughtful ways. ⁓ it’s one of… Candlelight is no stranger to big, lavish musicals, as we’ve said many, many times on this podcast. And yet this was something a little bit different than them. It’s not that same kind of more spectacle-driven style of show like Anastasia, which they’ve currently got up now, or Cats, or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor, Dreamcolor. It’s a really emotional…
piece and I thought the ensemble that they brought together to do this really delivered. It’s something special.
Alex Miller (28:19)
Yeah, great.
Okay, well, one of the ones that ⁓ plays on top of my list was Case for the Existence of God, which was earlier this year at Curious Theater. Two-hander ⁓ with, ⁓ wow, really ⁓ interesting character study of two fathers in very different places. So also, anodyne to cry it out, although the situations are very different with these two men. So really well done ⁓ dramatic piece that kind of left you like sort of just.
slack-jawed at the end you’re like wow that was that was pretty intense and they and they won one Henry for that one was a director for that one trying to remember
Toni Tresca (29:00)
They did not win a Henry for that one. Curious won for downstate.
Alex Miller (29:04)
Downstate, I’m sorry, yeah, that was another serious drama they did. So ⁓ yeah, just ⁓ wanted to think about there. what else did you have on your list?
Toni Tresca (29:15)
⁓ another musical that I had on my list was a ghost quartet. This is a four person musical. It’s a basically a song song circle style. ⁓ it was produced in Boulder at the Dairy Art Center by the Catamounts and just a really visceral piece. So much action. The seat, the set design.
extends out into the audience. You’re literally sitting amongst these four storytellers as they walk you through ⁓ stories over the ages. It spans thousands of years. It’s a really kind of heady cerebral experience, but one that I’ve not been able to get out of my head.
Alex Miller (29:56)
Mm-hmm. Great. Well, I had a couple from Miner’s Alley, Morning After Grace, which was a, ⁓ I’d say a comedy set in a kind of an old folks home that really had a lot of great performances in it. It was, you know, it was, I don’t want to call it like a heavy hitting show, but it was really enjoyable and it definitely touched on some really, you know, some interesting topics that affects, you know, people later in their lives.
Toni Tresca (30:05)
Yeah.
Alex Miller (30:20)
And then we both really loved the National Bohemians. So this was an original, a new world premiere by Luke Sorge that, was that Luke? Right. Okay, of course. And so, and that was a lot of fun. It also featured Len Mathieu returned to the stage after, I don’t know, like a decade or something. So, and he is a damn good actor. It was great to see him out there. Steven Byrd was in it. It was great. Oh, it great to see him on stage.
Toni Tresca (30:33)
That is, yeah, that was Luke and.
Alex Miller (30:49)
really a ⁓ fun, funny show and also had some really great technical elements to it that were recognized at the Henry’s like lighting and sound for this ongoing like hurricane that’s going on during the show.
Toni Tresca (31:02)
Yeah, this was also one of the productions on my list of the best so far of the year. Just a really searing family drama set in the middle of a searing storm outdoors.
My next musical is one that I think you might also have on your list, Little Shop of Horrors at the Denver Center. We’ve talked about this show a number of times on the podcast. We reviewed it together. This is one of our favorite shows. I mean, for folks, I guess you can’t see this because this is a podcast, but…
Right above my shoulder here is my poster of Little Shop of Horrors hanging up proudly in my room. So I’m tough. This is a show that if it’s not done well, I will just be so disappointed. It would have bummed me out to no end if this show, if this production was crappy. But luckily, Chris Coleman, the artistic director at the Denver Center, assembled a powerhouse cast who did one of the best versions of Little Shop that I have had the pleasure of seeing live.
Alex Miller (31:50)
Ha ha ha ha!
Toni Tresca (32:07)
It just, such fluid transitions, such a distinct sharp vision for the piece of satire. ⁓ and it was fun as hell. So I got to give it points for all those things.
Alex Miller (32:18)
⁓ ditto, ditto, ditto. That is definitely one of my favorite musicals, if not my very top favorite. And Chris did a bang up job with it, great cast. And the actor that played the dentist got a Henry as well. can’t remember. ⁓ But you saw him recently. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Toni Tresca (32:37)
Yeah, Will Bronner. And I
did, you’re exactly right. I did see him recently in California. He was in the cast of The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. That revival that they did, was wild. was such a different role than he was playing here as the dentist. He’s playing a professor, this kind of uptight, snotty professor, which is very different than his kind of machismo, larger than life dentist or…
Alex Miller (32:44)
Yeah.
That’s right. That’s great.
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (33:06)
any of the other variety of very silly characters that he was playing throughout the show.
Alex Miller (33:11)
Yep, That’s a show I would just go see once a year. ⁓ So another favorite of mine this year was Blues for an Alabama Sky at Firehouse ⁓ and also Perfect Arrangement at Firehouse. So Blues for an Alabama Sky, this was in February, it’s a Harlem era, 1930s Harlem, it’s a cotton club, the Depression is hitting, everybody’s sort of out of work and it’s…
It’s just a really great story. It was directed by Adrian Martin Fullwood ⁓ and a great, really great cast. And I think ⁓ Jonathan Underwood won a Henry for his performance in that, believe. ⁓ So really, really a really great show. Another really strong production from Firehouse. And then Perfect Arrangement was kind of had a similar vibe. It was a historic piece set during the Red Scare or the purple, what’d they call it? The purple.
Toni Tresca (33:50)
Yes, he did.
Alex Miller (34:05)
The Purple Scare during the 50s when McCarthy and everybody’s going nuts, they’re trying to chase gay people everywhere. And it’s about two couples who live ⁓ sort of fake lives pretending to be married to a member of the opposite sex. they share, they have these two adjoining apartments with sort of a sneaky ⁓ closet door that they can go through. And also a really great one. And I know Miranda Byers won ⁓ a Henry for her performance in that.
and I think also Kelly Gyllenhaal did also. So that was definitely recognized at the Oscars and also one of our faves too.
Toni Tresca (34:36)
That’s right.
Yeah, yeah, it was nice to see Firehouse pick up three Henrys this year. They’re a company who does very consistently impressive work that punches above its weight in that space on its college, that college campus that they’re in. John Hand ⁓ College, right? Yeah. no, it’s the John Hand Theater. It’s a different name for the college.
Alex Miller (34:45)
Yeah.
They do.
theater, yeah.
Yeah, but it’s part of the same building. It’s like the Denver free college or free university or something like that. Yep.
Toni Tresca (35:09)
That’s right.
Yeah. My final musical is actually a touring production. ⁓ And it was at the Denver Center. We don’t normally talk about touring productions, but this was really something special. I just thought some like it hot, which is the adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe musical set during the Prohibition. It’s got a very jazz inspired score, tons of tap dance numbers and just…
Alex Miller (35:26)
Right.
Toni Tresca (35:37)
really funny performances. This is the kind of musical that people say Broadway doesn’t make anymore, and yet, Some Like It Hot is here to kind of prove all the haters wrong. It’s got original music in a score that actually leaves you humming it when you go out, rather than just immediately forgetting everything you’ve heard because all songs were so bland and sound like the same generic pop hit that you might hear on the radio.
Alex Miller (36:02)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (36:03)
And it was also a musical comedy that actually had jokes. Can you believe it, Alex? A comedy that actually is funny. Every 30 seconds, there was either a real joke that actually made people laugh or a song. So it was a true musical comedy in every sense of the word. I know it’s no longer here in the Denver area, but if it ever comes through, I cannot stress enough how much you need to get tickets for it. Just something incredible worth doing. And I really don’t know if any other
Alex Miller (36:09)
Ha ha ha!
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (36:33)
local theaters can actually produce the show because the level of dance required from every member of the cast is, it’s really high. It makes it really tricky to do, I think, at a local level. And so that’s why I just wanted to shout out this tour. This is what Broadway should be doing, but so often is not.
Alex Miller (36:53)
Yeah, after hearing you talk about it, I’m like, I want to see that next time it comes around, which I imagine it will. Another show that I think we both really loved, we reviewed this on the podcast, The Hot Wing King, which was closed out the Denver Center Theater Company’s season. So this is a story about black masculinity that was really funny, but also touching. And it’s set against this, ⁓ creating hot wings for this festival coming up and it’s got
Toni Tresca (37:05)
Mm-hmm.
Alex Miller (37:21)
It’s very, very layered ⁓ script by ⁓
⁓ Katori Hall is the playwright and ⁓ also great set. think they won a Henry for their set. just yeah, really, really great production that ⁓ I really enjoyed more than I thought I would because I was like, really a play about hot wing festival or whatever, but it had a lot going on.
Toni Tresca (37:36)
That’s right.
It’s not really about the Hot Wings. It’s about this found family ⁓ and how they kind of litigate masculinity in the 21st century. What parts do they want to uphold? Which parts can they leave behind? ⁓ This was also on my list of some of my faves for the year so far. Really great play produced in the DCPA’s Round Theater.
Alex Miller (37:48)
No.
Right. Yeah. And I think another thing we both loved about it was the young man, the character who comes across at first as kind of like a hood or whatever you will. And then we dig into his story and find out all the shit that he’s had to deal with and why he sometimes swipes something to get by. And his arc was really interesting.
Toni Tresca (38:33)
Yeah, his arc as well as his relationship with his father who shows up a little bit into the piece unexpectedly at this house. It leads to a really pivotal conversation that takes place upstairs later in the piece that is just really touching. My next play that I thought was
Alex Miller (38:37)
Yeah. ⁓
Toni Tresca (38:56)
This has been really good so far, comes from local theater company up in Boulder. Their world premiere of Chasing Breadcrumbs, which they produced originally at their local lab. I remember seeing it there and thinking, yeah, this is okay. I’m not really sure if these themes ⁓ about people trying to remove history from our history books and kind of minimizing the role that black people play in our country. I’m not sure if those themes really hit as hard.
Yeah, but then the 2024 election happened, some revisions happened on this play, and then they staged it in February 2025 with a really exceptional cast of mostly local folks. ⁓ That’s local to Colorado, not local theater company. And it’s a really funny satire about the theater industry.
and kind of this group of Karens who is determined to improve their image by producing this play about their founder and recognizing her role in the civil rights movement. However, surprise, she played no role in the civil rights movement and was actually fairly racist. And so that’s the kind of the comic situation that the play is grappling with. ⁓ Yeah, this was, I really enjoyed it.
Alex Miller (39:54)
the
Right, right.
Yeah, yeah, it was fun. Directed by Betty Hart, a friend of the pod, has been on a number of times and also with some great performances, including the aforementioned Noelia Antwiler, Lavor Addison, Christina Fountain, Michaela Murray, really, really great production from local.
Toni Tresca (40:28)
Yep. The only thing, my only critique for the production was I just never could get my hands around that one musical bit that they did.
Alex Miller (40:36)
yeah. Yes,
I remember us puzzling over that. ⁓ My next one that stuck out this year, the book candlers from Buntport. So we talked about this recently, but this was a story or a reprise of a show that was pretty popular, I guess, so they brought it back. ⁓ really an interesting, very interesting, multi-level set that they used. They took advantage of the enormous Wairspace house that they have there. ⁓
really interesting, funny story about this little company that ⁓ their job is to distress books for rich people so that they can put these books on their shelves and make it look like they’ve been well perused. And it’s a lot of social commentary in there that is probably one of the deeper things that Buttport has done in a while.
Toni Tresca (41:24)
Yeah, that was a revival of the show that it did in 2018 based on the short story of the same name. Yeah, I also had this on one of my favorite productions of the year so far. Really, the set, like you mentioned, was just marvelous to behold. They’re constantly passing books to each other from a variety of locations all around the stage. And it ends in this really kind of, yeah, I’ll say grim.
Alex Miller (41:43)
huh.
Toni Tresca (41:51)
manner in which these people realize the futility of what they’re doing and they’re kind of starting to question it. But then they choose, rather than accept that truth and kind of change their reality, to just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. Forget this story about the people who are handling books for the elite so they don’t have to do any work. It’s fine. ⁓
Alex Miller (42:07)
Yep.
Toni Tresca (42:19)
I thought for 2025 it’s an unfortunately timely message.
Alex Miller (42:24)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Toni Tresca (42:26)
Another piece that I had on my list was the curious incident of a dog in the nighttime directed by Richard Cowden over at the Aurora Fox Art Center.
Alex Miller (42:36)
yeah, that
was a good one.
Toni Tresca (42:39)
really jaw-dropping production that they did there, staged with projections in the background that anybody who’s listened to this podcast for a long time knows that I very mixed reactions to opinions. Largely, I hate them, ⁓ but this production integrated them in a way that actually benefited the story. wasn’t just flat, static backdrops. They were hand-drawn illustrations.
Alex Miller (42:52)
Ha ha.
Yeah,
very cool.
Toni Tresca (43:06)
supposedly
rendered from the mind of the central main character in his journal to kind of really immerse you in this story about ⁓ a child who has some kind of disability and is kind of incapable of communicating with the world and kind of their emotions ⁓ in a manner. And it’s kind of all triggered by this death of a dog that he finds and this crumbling of his reality. You’re also kind of grappling with.
the failed relationship of his parents. And you see the relationships that form in the community around him to kind of support Christopher through these moments. It’s a really great ensemble piece. Rich did a really nice job casting and some really exceptional performances from ⁓ River Hensel at the center as Christopher, and then Matthew Murray and Jess Austin as the two parents in the role in the production.
Alex Miller (43:36)
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (44:04)
Yeah, this is one that has been staged locally before, but not quite like this, and I just found this production to be very, very effective.
Alex Miller (44:13)
Yep, yep, great show. ⁓ Another one that I really liked, I mean, this has been staged plenty of times around here, Rock of Ages at the Pace Center done by Veritas Productions and directed by great Kelly Van Osbray. Really a banger production of this fun show that I actually hadn’t seen it in quite a while. I actually saw a touring production when I came to the Denver Center a while ago and I’d kind of forgotten enough about it that it was sort of fresh to me again. It was like.
It’s got some sort of rude humor in it that I didn’t necessarily appreciate because I’m a prude about some of this, some of that stuff. But really a great production, a lot of fun to check out.
Toni Tresca (44:53)
Yeah. My next production is one that we saw together, Steel Magnolias by Theodore Silco in Silverthorn. This production was directed by Missy Moore and features a real who’s who of Colorado women doing just exceptional work. This is a piece that is
Alex Miller (45:00)
yeah.
Toni Tresca (45:15)
likely familiar to listeners. either seen the movie or seen this play staged. And if you haven’t, you have another opportunity this year. Candlelight Dinner Theater is going to be doing Steel Magnolias quite soon. So this is a war horse of a show. And yet I think what really made this production click was Missy Moore’s direction of these really capable actors. It’s all in one location in this hair salon. And yet the movement and specificity
Alex Miller (45:23)
Yep.
Toni Tresca (45:43)
of every single choice in the production was so clear. It was clear that they, all of these women had a grasp, had a firm grasp on who these characters were and how they would behave even in those moments where they’re just sitting there. They’re not engaging necessarily with the other characters. They’re just like picking their nails or reading a magazine or something. It’s those little touches that make it feel just so naturalistic and real. ⁓
and just make those emotional moments that happen in the second act all the more heartbreaking.
Alex Miller (46:17)
Yeah, such a great production of this play that it’s one of those plays that, you know, like you said, very familiar, but I always like to see it every once in a while when it comes around. And especially when this cast, you know, was just such a banger cast. So, also, yeah, of course, well directed by Missy. ⁓ Another one that I saw not too long ago is ⁓ Dick Two, otherwise known as Richard the Second, Colorado Shakespeare Festival. ⁓ Great production that ⁓ really ⁓
⁓ You know, teased out some of the humor of the story, but also really great, performances by, ⁓ so Tim Orr directed and then Kevin Rich played Richard II and ⁓ was just great. It was one of those times where it’s like when he came on the stage, I was always just all eyes on him because, you as it should be, it’s his plays about him, but yeah, he did a great job portraying this sort of sad sack, the historic figure.
at least as portrayed by ⁓ William Shakespeare.
Toni Tresca (47:21)
Yeah, I’ve heard really good things about this production. It was interesting to read your review as somebody who had seen Colorado Shakespeare ⁓ stage this piece years ago and just how much more memorable this version of it was. ⁓ Yeah, I can’t help wondering if maybe current political moments and having somebody who is maybe similar to Richard II in office right now makes…
Alex Miller (47:31)
Yeah.
Yeah, ill-suited for the
throne, for sure.
Toni Tresca (47:48)
Yeah,
somebody who is ruling by their own personal temperament rather than out of duty for their people. Yeah, it’s play that certainly I imagine hits different now. But Colorado Shakespeare Festival has been doing a really remarkable job this year. Its other production, The Tempest, is my final pick for ⁓ best productions of the year so far.
Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s version of this was a just magic musical inspired production ⁓ of this fairy tale, ⁓ essentially. it’s directed by Kevin Rich, who starred in Richard II. It features really…
really powerful performances from Ellen McLachlan at the center, who folks might remember from Kang Lear two years ago. She’s playing Prospera, who is the female version of Prospero. And changing that relationship from father to daughter to mother and daughter has really profound impact on the kind of tenor of the play and this kind of plot of marrying your daughter away, because you see that this is a life
that she did not necessarily choose for herself is not what she thought was going to happen to her daughter. And yet kind of grappling with how her life unfolds in a way, manner that is much, much different than hers. In addition to just being featuring some really funny performances from folks like Matt Zambroni, who I just thought was at the top of his game here. And then a very musical performance from an out of town actor who was playing Ariel, who composed pretty much all original songs.
and did write original music for this production that he played live throughout as kind of a accompaniment that was featured throughout the show. just a really magical production and there’s still time to check this one out. Just a little bit more time though.
Alex Miller (49:43)
Yeah, yeah, it
runs through this, this Sunday, August 10. So you still got a chance to check out the Tempest and Richard, the second. So yeah, and you know, they were shut out of the Henry Awards this year. And we really, they better correct that for this year, because of the, like you said, the Tempest was bangers. So was Richard the second. So
Toni Tresca (50:02)
I believe I said this on the podcast last time, that if the Henry voters decline to recognize the Colorado Shakespeare Festival this year, then we do seriously have to question who the Henry judges are and if they understand slash appreciate Shakespeare or classical works in general. Cause I think that’s a, I don’t think I’ve from analyzing past nominations, that is definitely a trend is that classical pieces Shakespeare are not nearly as well.
recognized as more contemporary works by the Henrys. So I kind of wonder if there’s maybe a little bit of a classical bias that could exist. But maybe I’m just talking out of my ass. Henry judges, you have every chance to prove me wrong this year.
Alex Miller (50:37)
Yeah, I don’t know.
Yeah, it’s just, know, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival just does these incredibly, you know, really lavish productions with great casts. And it’s like, you know, the fact that they’re not being recognized more often is just, it’s just silly. And I don’t get it either. So, well, my last one that I wanted to mention that I’ve already talked about, so I won’t go too far, is that Cry It Out definitely is going to be one of my top shows of the year so far.
For sure, so just talking about top of your game, Noelle Antweiler really was just showing a different side to her skills as an actor and also accompanied by three other great performances and nicely directed by Candace Arino.
Toni Tresca (51:29)
Honestly, I hadn’t been planning to check Cry It Out out myself just because I, somebody who has not gone through ⁓ parenting ⁓ in any capacity and hopes not to for many more years, I was like, maybe this play is not for me. ⁓ But I don’t know, it sounds like that’s what you said. Yeah, you said at the end of your review, you were like, it might even make people consider having kids. And so.
Alex Miller (51:39)
Yeah.
Yeah, it could dissuade you from having kids. ⁓
Yeah, well, of course, a
lot of people already are thinking a lot harder about it than I think they used to ⁓ because it’s so damn expensive and fraught than it used to be. Of course, parenthood has never been easy, but when you have to cough up like half of your annual earnings for daycare, I mean, that’s tough.
Toni Tresca (52:00)
It’s true.
It’s not a play per se, but one other thing I wanted to shout out for It’s Excellent this year was the Denver French Festival. I thought that that was just so well organized this year. It was really an impressive display. They basically took over the city for several days and I got to see a myriad of excellent productions. ⁓ So I just…
Alex Miller (52:25)
Yeah.
Toni Tresca (52:45)
I just want to shout out, I know they do great work pretty much every year, but this year at the Fringe really was something special.
Alex Miller (52:51)
Yep, yep, for sure. Yeah, was really well done. It’s just getting getting bigger and bigger and better every year. So
Toni Tresca (52:58)
Any, before we move on Alex, are there any misfires or disappointments of 2025 so far?
Alex Miller (53:07)
Probably, but I didn’t mark down any in particular that ⁓ I know we’ve talked about. Of course, The Wiz was the touring Broadway production that we were both kind of underwhelmed by. But in terms of locally produced stuff, I can’t think of anything really glaring. Do you have something in mind?
Toni Tresca (53:24)
My biggest disappointment of the year so far on a local level was Little Miss Sunshine, the musical produced by the Aurora Fox Art Center, directed by Warren Sherrill, a director whom I have a lot of respect for and featuring a really talented local cast. However, the script and music for this play are just so ungodly bad and I just could not understand how this got produced.
Alex Miller (53:31)
yeah.
Toni Tresca (53:54)
I didn’t, just, yeah, it was a really frustrating experience watching so much. So many people who you know are talented, kind of being forced to act in this flop. But you know, not every show’s a hit.
Alex Miller (54:08)
Yep. I guess I would say that at least according to our reviewer, Alice Caderland, once upon a mattress at Central City was a disaster. Although, you know, it happened when I was at Cry It Out, I overheard a woman talking about it and I asked her, hey, how’d you like it? And she was like, oh, it was great. So, you know, you never know.
Toni Tresca (54:28)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, these are just one person’s opinion. But, yeah, that’s interesting to hear that it was effective for somebody else.
Alex Miller (54:38)
Yeah,
for sure.
Toni Tresca (54:41)
Well, that brings us to the end of our round up so far. For those listening at home, if there’s anything that you think we’ve missed, ⁓ please feel free to reach out to us. We’re both pretty easily accessible on social media, or you can hit us up at info at onstagecolorado.com with some of the favorite things you’ve seen so far. Because we have not seen everything. We do see a lot, but not everything.
Alex Miller (55:06)
That’s right. Yep.
All right. Well, we’re to take a quick break and when we come back, we’ll have our Colorado Headliners and my conversation with Dixie Longgate.
Alex Miller (55:21)
Onstage Colorado is brought to you in part by Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, whose production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins runs August 8th through September 14th. Assassins is a provocative, Tony Award-winning musical that explores the minds and motives of history’s most infamous figures who attempted to assassinate U.S. presidents, blending dark humor and compelling narratives to examine the American dream’s darker side. Tickets at minersalley.com. Also supporting Onstage Colorado is a Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater in Grand Lake.
Their 2025 summer season runs from June 6th all the way to September 5th and includes Disney’s Frozen, Guys and Dolls, Footloose, and Nonsense. Find tickets at rockymountainrep.com. Onstage Colorado is brought to you by Colorado Candlelight featuring Anastasia through August 31st in Johnstown. This dazzling show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past.
Tickets at coloradocandalite.com. We’re also supported by Theatre Silco, featuring Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville, August 8th through 31st in Sylvathorne. This upbeat and energetic musical is the story of a part-time bartender, part-time singer, and full-time charmer named Tully, who thinks he’s got life all figured out until a beautiful career-minded tourist steals his heart and makes him question everything. Tickets at thesilco.org.
We’re also supported by the Boulder Ensemble Theater Company whose production of Cry It Out plays August 1st through the 3rd at the Denver Savoy and at the Boulder Dairy Center August 8th through 24th.
Cry It Out is a smart and candid comedy about parenthood and class in America today and the hard choices all mothers make. Get tickets at BETC.org.
Alex Miller (57:07)
All right, we are back ⁓ and ready to hit this week’s Colorado Headliner. So these are some of the upcoming shows that we think you should know about in no particular order. Tony, what have you got to kick us off?
Toni Tresca (57:18)
I’m kicking this off with a touring production coming through the Denver Center. ⁓ Moulin Rouge! The Musical is returning August 6th through the 17th. This production won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and it’s an adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s ⁓ film. It features all new musical mashups, and I know when it came through here a couple years ago, Alex, you wrote in your review that it earned its exclamation point.
Alex Miller (57:45)
⁓
Yep, yep, it’s a pretty darn good show. ⁓ So yeah, I think you’re gonna… Are you reviewing it for us?
Toni Tresca (57:57)
I had hoped to, but I realized that the opening night did not work out with my schedule.
Alex Miller (58:03)
okay. All right. Well, my first one is Guys and Dolls. So this is a very familiar title, of course, but I wanted to mention it because this is being done by Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater up in Grand Lake who just cleaned up at the Henry Awards. if you believe, if you ⁓ take from that the fact that these guys are doing some pretty great work up there, it may well be worth to get up to Grand Lake. And their season goes into September. So you’ve got plenty of chance to see Guys and Dolls and they’re also doing
Nonsense, frozen and footloose and I can’t remember off the top of my head which which ones are running ⁓ when but I think they’re I think they’re pretty much all ⁓
Toni Tresca (58:41)
All of them except for Nonsense are open at this point.
Alex Miller (58:44)
Okay,
and then since it of closes out the season, it looks like it opens September 5th. So yeah, you might want to check out if you want to see some great musical theater in a neat place, check that out.
Toni Tresca (58:56)
Yeah, it’s fascinating to just thinking about Rocky Mountain Rep’s kind of sweep this year. I wonder if we will see that repeated next year. These musicals are fairly, not fairly, these musicals are incredibly conventional ⁓ and kind of by the book this year. ⁓ Last year, mean, but that didn’t stop them last year. Their production of A Music Man was a big winner. Come From Away is a staple at this point.
Alex Miller (59:03)
Yeah.
Yeah
Yeah, come from away is yeah, music man. Yep.
Toni Tresca (59:27)
So yeah, I’m sure, I have heard from folks who have made that trip up to Grand Lake that frozen is really something special.
Alex Miller (59:34)
yeah. Okay, cool.
Toni Tresca (59:37)
My next pick is another musical that’s at the Denver Center but is not produced by the Denver Theater or a touring group. It is Pippin, being staged by the country’s longest running disability theater company, Family Theater. It opens in previews August 7th and runs through the 24th in the Kilstrom Theater, that’s the space in the round at the Denver Center. Right?
Alex Miller (1:00:05)
Yes, Kylstrom. Yep.
Toni Tresca (1:00:05)
That’s the Kilstrom. Okay, thank God. All of sudden I was like, wait a second, did I just like
totally just say another theater’s name? Okay, yeah, Kilstrom in the round. I’ve never seen Pippin before, it’s apparently a very popular musical. Fosse’s originally did it. Have you ever seen Pippin before, Alex?
Alex Miller (1:00:11)
I
Yeah.
I hate to say this, but I saw the original Broadway production with Ben Varine, I think was in it. yeah, so yeah, when I was a kid, used to get the had the wonderful opportunity to see some shows in New York City since I lived out on Long Island. But I do not remember a damn thing about it. so ⁓ yeah, and it’s so neat that the Denver Center makes the Killstrom available for family. That’s a great space for them to perform in because, you know, some of the actors are, you know,
Toni Tresca (1:00:30)
wow, okay.
Alex Miller (1:00:53)
in wheelchairs or otherwise, you so just gives them a lot of flexibility for their entrances and exits. And of course, it’s just a beautiful space.
Toni Tresca (1:01:02)
Yeah, and it’s a tradition that’s been happening pretty much since Family Theatre was founded. A producer who is at the Denver Center went to their original production of Guys and Dolls, saw it, was so impressed by what they were doing that they extended this invitation that has been ongoing ever since. It’s definitely one of the one of the best things that the Denver Center does for the community, because they don’t often make their spaces open and available for local theater groups.
Alex Miller (1:01:25)
Yeah.
Yep. All right. My first one here that second one is something called Special Sauce up at Bob Blue in Fort Collins. This is just running this weekend, August 8th through 10th. So it’s an original work about horror podcast hosts. That sounds really familiar, Tony, because you are a horror podcast host ⁓ as well. So a vampire pizza delivery workers and menacing Pomeranians. So come sink your teeth into something new at Bob Blue. So that sounds awful fun up in Fort Collins.
Toni Tresca (1:02:02)
I’m glad you put that one on the list. I remember we chatted about that in like our summer theater preview or something that we did on the pod. That’s cool that it’s being staged up there. It sounds like a treat. My next piece is one that you might be familiar with, The Play That Goes Wrong. This is the thrilling whodunit performed by the Cornell Drama Society. But as the name implies, everything that can go wrong
Alex Miller (1:02:07)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (1:02:31)
does. So sets are falling apart, props disappear, actors dropping like flies, and yet somehow they just keep pushing through. ⁓ This is being done by Stage Door Theatre in Conifer, ⁓ August 8th through the 23rd, and I shout that out because Stage Door has been doing a number of impressive, largely musical productions, and so I thought this was a pretty compelling opportunity to go see a play from them.
Alex Miller (1:02:58)
Yeah, although I think I should point out this is Shark Box theater that’s performing in Stage Door space. ⁓ yeah, not to say that Stage Door doesn’t do great work as well, ⁓ yeah, saw, I saw a Shark Box show there last year. It was a farce. I can’t remember. It ⁓ was pretty well done. So I’m curious to see. And that’s one of those plays that I don’t mind going and see over and over again, because it’s just so damn funny.
Toni Tresca (1:03:03)
⁓
Alex Miller (1:03:28)
So this next one is One Night Stand Theater, August 10th. So of course there is just one. It’s called Dogs and Cats Living Together. It’s ⁓ short place and stories about family pets and the people who love them. I just picked out a couple of them. One by Kelly McBurnett and Tronicos. A feline reaches out from beyond the grave in cat funeral. Three canines get first rate financial advice and tech preparation for dogs. By John Busser, I love that.
Christmas Comes in a Cat Carrier in the Unexpected Delight of Snowbirds by Lisa Delic Arrhenio Ferrend. So those are just a few of them. yeah, that sounds like an awful lot of fun from the One Night Standers who always do a good job.
Toni Tresca (1:04:10)
At the very least, they’ve got incredible titles.
Alex Miller (1:04:13)
Yep. And did I say it’s at vintage that they’re doing this on August 10th? So that is Sunday, I guess.
Toni Tresca (1:04:22)
My next headliner is a musical by your favorite Jimmy Buffett, Escape to Margaritaville being done by Theodore Silco in Silverthorn, August 8th through the 31st. This is the story of part-time bartender, part-time singer, and a full-time charmer named Tully who thinks she’s got life all figured out until a beautiful career-minded tourist steals his heart and makes him question everything.
Alex Miller (1:04:26)
Ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha.
Toni Tresca (1:04:52)
I did not know that was the plot of Escape to Margaritaville until right now. I’ve never seen this musical before, even though it is staged all the time.
Alex Miller (1:05:00)
Yes, yes, you can’t get away from ⁓ Jimmy Buffett and stuff. On a weirdly related note, I would just shout out Carl Hyason’s new novel, Fever Beach, which is, his books are always set in Florida and feature a cast of Merida Wells. And they’re all pretty much the same. I couldn’t tell one, I’ve read a lot, most of his novels, but they’re great, they’re great. They’re just like a comfort food for me when I read them. So it’s Fever Beach.
My next ⁓ headliner is the entrepreneur girlfriend hour talking at the Talking with Terry Studio in Centennial. Don’t often say that ⁓ place for any of the shows. Second and fourth Tuesdays. So she’d reached out to me a while ago and I kind of wasn’t sure whether this was theater or what the hell it was, but I just mentioned it here because it’s kind of interesting. It’s a high energy talk show experience in here to shake up the stage. Talking with Terry TV has launched a live audience studio show bringing coaching,
Transformation and high impact conversation. yeah, it sounds like it’s sort of maybe somewhat theater adjacent or TV, some sort of a kind of a live talk show kind of thing in Colorado. So I don’t know. That’s kind of interesting. So check that out if you’re so inclined.
Toni Tresca (1:06:17)
Yeah, that does sound rather unique. I have a chance to get live advice and talk through that. And is it filmed too?
Alex Miller (1:06:20)
Yeah.
I guess so. don’t know. It almost sounds like it’s maybe in her home, maybe in her basement. I don’t know.
Toni Tresca (1:06:35)
Interesting. Well, if somebody gets over there and checks it out, you let us know. My final pick is one I’ve already mentioned on the show, so I won’t spend too much time, but I do want to let you know it’s coming. It’s Assassins over at Miners Alley Performing Arts Center in Golden. This musical is running August 8th through September 14th. It’s a Tony award winning piece about people who have tried to kill the president, features music and lyrics by Steven Sondheim and
Alex Miller (1:06:38)
Mm-hmm.
Toni Tresca (1:07:04)
As I mentioned before, got to see some of the rehearsals and it’s shaping up to be a really, ⁓ a really thoughtful production.
Alex Miller (1:07:12)
Okay, cool. All right, my last headliner is Elizabeth the first in her own words. So this is kind of ⁓ a short production, a short run from Betsy at the Dairy Arts Center, August 12th through 20th. It’s a one woman show ⁓ featuring Betsy favorite Tamara Meneghini. ⁓ so Elizabeth the first, ⁓ it’s funny. One of the things that one of my favorite podcasts is called the rest is history. And right now I’ve been learning all about Mary Queen of Scots.
who was the cousin to Elizabeth I and who was very much wanted to be named Elizabeth I’s successor. So I’ve been learning a little bit about Elizabeth I through that.
Toni Tresca (1:07:49)
That conflict is discussed in the play.
Alex Miller (1:07:51)
Yeah, yeah.
So, so yeah, that sounds if you’re into history, this sounds like a real, real fun thing to check out. But I believe it’s selling out quick. So jump on those tickets for Elizabeth the first in her own words.
Toni Tresca (1:08:05)
Yeah, this is a rem- I guess it’s a remount of sorts. Tammy did this production at the Denver French Festival in 2024, then the Edinburgh French Festival that same year, and now is kind of remounting this production. I got to see it before, in between her French run and her Edinburgh run. Actually, at a private rehearsal, ⁓ but for something else. But yeah, it’s a really good production.
Alex Miller (1:08:13)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay,
great.
Toni Tresca (1:08:33)
It’s really interesting. It’s just her. It’s very informative. I can say I did learn stuff. it integrates, it’s also kind of a meditation on how Shakespeare interpreted this character as well. So you will notice quite a few Shakespeare references, some more subtle than others throughout the piece.
Alex Miller (1:08:46)
Right.
Great.
Toni Tresca (1:08:55)
So lots of fun stuff coming up around the state to check out, but right now we are going to toss it to Alex’s interview with Dixie Longate.
Alex Miller (1:09:11)
All right, so we are here with Dixie Longgate. Dixie, thanks so much for coming on the OnStage Colorado podcast.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:09:16)
Are you kidding me? Thank you so much. And I’m going to apologize ahead of time if you’re watching live. ⁓ I’m trying to balance everything on here because there’s construction where I’m staying right now. So I had to move into another room. everything, literally, if you saw this, my computer is balanced on a piece of tough wear on my bed. So, tough work comes from many, many helps. Trust me.
Alex Miller (1:09:37)
That
seems quite apropos for you. So this is an interesting time for you. So you have two shows running sort of consecutively. You’re doing Dixie’s Tupperware Party and then you’re doing your show Never Wear a Tube Top while riding a mechanical bull. And it’s the last time for both of these shows that have come around through Denver several times over the years, right?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:09:40)
Yeah
Yes, this is the end of the tour. I’ve been running it 17 years. Look here, it’s sliding again. Yeah, this is the end of 17 years. I’ve been on the road for all this time and I figured, you know what? I’ve had a great time. It’s been an amazing opportunity to see the world go all over the place, helping people with their creative, quality, good storage solutions, you know? And then also just ⁓ meeting so many great people and doing some, playing so many great art centers. But I think, okay, this is the time.
take my final bow and I’ve got other things that I’m looking forward to hopefully working on and to do everything to wrap everything up in Denver, my favorite city in the world. I’ve been here nine times now. This is my ninth time and everybody’s always so lovely. The audiences are always so kind and gracious and everybody at the Denver Center for Women Arts are always so nice to me. So I was like
Perfect way to wrap it up and because I’m wrapping it up with Never Wear a Tube top while riding a mechanical bull and 16 other things I learned while I was drinking last Thursday, they produced the original production of that back in 2014. So to end on that show here is sort of poetic and wonderful to do that. So that’s gonna take my final bat on September 7th and I’m looking forward to it. So this is the way.
Alex Miller (1:10:56)
Right.
Yeah, that’s great. So where are you from?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:11:09)
Mobile Alabama, born and raised. You know they say you can take a little out of the trailer, but you can’t have sex twice without moving the 10 quarter. Because then you’re going to get the same angle and you’re never going to learn anything. You can’t be like, look, you’re doing it wrong. know, so that’s how you got to film it. Yeah.
Alex Miller (1:11:24)
Okay, well my wife is from Alabama. She’s from a little town. It’s a little town called Coetopa near Demopolis, which is I think way north from where you are.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:11:26)
What part?
Yeah,
I was gonna say, don’t know. I don’t recognize that, so it must not be around me. Yeah, I’m from Mobile, so that’s the South. So, she’s probably way up there. haven’t even, probably even never had sex with the same people. So that’s hard.
Alex Miller (1:11:46)
Well, can you tell me a little bit of how you got started selling Tupperware as part of your parole and how you turned that into Broadway success?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:11:53)
I started
SailTup where it was 24 years ago and yeah my my parole officer said I need a job in order to get my kids back and I’m like that’s stupid because you know I don’t want kids but they’re they make you take you know you’re in prison they’re okay great then they say you’re gonna get out you’re like freedom and then they hand you your kids not freedom and but I started SailTup and I’m gonna try to balance this a little more so I’m not
Hopefully this is going to stop sliding. So yeah, I started selling Tupperware just in people’s living rooms and was doing it for a while and a couple of years and I became one of the top selling Tupperware ladies in the entire United States and Canada. And the thing that was so inspiring to me is I would sell Tupperware and I would go to the Jubilee, the big Tupperware convention every year in Orlando at Tupperware headquarters. And I would watch these people getting recognized, being put on stage, getting cheered.
for all the work they’re doing. The sales are doing, the teams are building, all this stuff. And it was really inspiring to watch these people that ⁓ by their own admission, they say, look, I was always told I’ve never gone out to nothing. I was always told that I would never have anything other than a career as maybe a homemaker or working part-time at some little store. And I’ve been able to become a Tupperware lady, grow a team, have a whole organization that I run and make good money. And I just kept watching these people be celebrated. And I was like, you know what?
There’s a story in here. I want to tell the story because I think it’s a wonderful story about kind of the unsung hero in the world that everybody kind of dismisses, but then they find a way to make something really valuable. Because it’s not just that people make money selling top work. It’s that by doing that, become bigger members of the community, bigger members of the family, bigger, you know, that they can grow themselves to do more than they ever gave themselves credit for doing. And I always love that that kind of thought process behind the top work.
parties in between the Tupperware ladies. So that’s what I created the show to be. It’s kind of a love letter to all those ladies that never get the pats on the back that they deserve. And I frame it all through Tupperware parties. So I’m on stage, I’m doing a Tupperware party. And then every time I’m picking up the products, I’m reminiscing and telling little stories. And so growing this whole storyline about all the wonderful people in the world that don’t give themselves enough credit or pats on the back for me the great things that they are that contribute to the rest of society.
Alex Miller (1:14:11)
Okay, great, great. So you’ll have actual live Tupperware on stage.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:14:15)
Yes, it’s Tupperware and people get Katlog order form. They can order it if they want to, but they play along. So it’s like being at a regular Tupperware party. got people up to help me with some of the demonstrations because that’s what we do at Tupperware parties. And yeah, so it’s interactive and fun. the shows, because the audience is always different, the interactions are always different. And that’s what makes it stay so fresh and fun for me. Because I’ve been doing this for 17 years now on the road. I’ve got thousands of performances under my belt. the reason…
that is so interesting and fresh all the time for me is I never know who’s gonna be there in the room. I never know who’s gonna be with me on stage.
Alex Miller (1:14:51)
Right. So, you know, do you have one particular like piece of Tupperware that you just love above all others?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:14:58)
There are so many that I love. My can opener is
a thing of beauty because I can open a can and you have to see it to believe it. It’s one of the most amazing can openers in the world. These no sharp edges. It’s so easy to use. People are stupid so they don’t always know how to use it. First I got a coach to use it but then once they get it it’s amazing. I’ve got this gel shot caddy that I take gel shots to church with me which makes the sermon just fly by. And it’s so, I mean you can serve other things on it if you want to.
Why would you? mean, Jell-O Shots are such a staple, such a food group, that she’s perfect for that. I have this great little corkscrew, this little wine opener, and I love them. It makes such a great gift for like, you know, teachers that need to be able to drink at work or in the car when I’m driving. And I was like, oh, it’s a Thursday in Parc. So I can like go to stoplight and then reach in the back of my stash of wine.
toe of the glove box and then open it with a canner or the wide opener from the glove box and then just before that red light turns to green I’m ready to start sipping again it’s really where the doctor always says keep hydrated especially in the hot summer months so that’s what I’m doing as doctor orders
Alex Miller (1:15:53)
There you go.
yeah, yeah, when I was a kid I remember we had these Tupperware popsicle makers that you could put in like Kool-Aid or chocolate milk or something and create these popsicles.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:16:07)
Yes, ergotica and a little bit of fruit juice. Yeah,
children three and older, obviously. But yes, those were great. Of course, like a classic piece that everybody remembers from their childhood.
Alex Miller (1:16:13)
Yeah.
Yeah, So speaking of kids, you have several with unique names. You got Winona, Dwayne, and Absorbine Jr. Are they all grown up now?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:16:25)
I did.
They are grown, you know how kids do, they grow like weeds. And then I’m on the road all the time and I come back in there, I was like, did you bring me something? I’m like, I don’t know, did you get a job? You know how kids are, there’s always asking me something and not willing to give anything back. But they’re angels, they’re down at home, they’re down in Alabama. And so I have friends that look in on them all the time. And my oldest, she takes care of the other ones. She’s able bodied, so she’s able to take care of the other ones when I’m gone. My little one, he’s so cute, Absorbent Junior, he’s got the shakes.
Alex Miller (1:16:37)
Yeah.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:16:57)
you know, because I was drinking when I was pregnant. you know, Dr. T is going to have a shivers for the first couple years of his life, but they’ve kept going on. But you know what? He’s so good. I know someday he’s going be the best bartender because he don’t even got him. He just puts everything in there and just stands there like this and shakes for a while. It just makes me feel so good. He’s just a baby Jesus.
Alex Miller (1:17:11)
my gosh. my gosh. Right.
I do remember Absorbine Junior was used as some kind of a cut healing medicine, wasn’t it? Or something like that.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:17:23)
It’s some sort of pain reliever analgesic thing. Listen, I didn’t even expect to have a third one. And so when I was in there, I was so groggy about the time I woke up because they gave me all the drugs. There was an op duty nurse that was new and said she didn’t know how to perform. So she wrote Absorbent Junior, which is one of the pain relievers they were giving me for something I was aching on. And she wrote it on the name line. And by the time I figured that out, was just too much work.
change it so that’s I just can’t imagine your it just stuck.
Alex Miller (1:17:52)
Okay.
Well, I bet a lot of people think the father must be absorbing senior, but that’s not true. Right.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:17:58)
don’t know who the daddy was. You know, you do that in the South when you like wake up one morning, you’re like,
it could be a host of people. But trying to go through that 23 and me is just so fraught with problems. So I just didn’t even bother. You know, let’s just say I’m popular, but I love my kids for the most part when I’m feeling like that.
Alex Miller (1:18:09)
It is. OK.
Right.
So I saw this element to your history that you lost out to Laurence Fishburne on a Drama Desk Award for solo performances. how did that happen? Did you least get to meet him? And do you think he could? What would you imagine his Tupperware selling skills would be like?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:18:31)
Well,
you listen, he’s very talented, but let’s be honest, I should have won that award. I was nominated for a drama list. I just started my show in New York City in 2007 and I did the show and it was going real well. And at the same time, Lawrence FitzBurn was doing a show called Third Good, about Third Good Marshall up on the broadways.
And so there was a category in the Drama Desk for, was called Outstanding Solo Performance for a solo show and I was in a solo show and so it was, so it was, hey, and I don’t know, have you ever heard of Thurgood Marshall? Probably not. Have you heard of Quality Creative Food Stores Solutions? Absolutely, everybody has. So I think it was really good. But I did get to meet him, was super sweet. got to meet him at the Drama Desk ceremony, award ceremony. I was there and he was so sweet and they had me.
Alex Miller (1:19:00)
I have.
You
DIXIE LONGATE (1:19:16)
They had me do like the thank yous. They asked me if I would come up and then do the thank yous like, you know, because it’s the most thankless thing to be like, oh, thank you to the venue that is hosted and thank you. I mean, most of the I thank the liquor sponsor. That was what was the most important thing of the night. But you know, have to be able to thank yous and they wanted me to like make it sort of more interesting than just saying thank you. And I did, I did my best and I made it people giggled and it was right before the category I was nominated in. So then I went off to the side of the stage after that where they was announcing and then Lawrence won.
And then when he came up and accepted and then he walked off the stage to the same side I was and he extended his hand to me He was laughing so hard. He extended his hand and shook my hand He said well you got a new fan now because I guess I make him giggle what I assume the thank is which is so sweet Has he ever called? No. Has he ever written? No. Does he still talk about the great night we spent together? No, he don’t but that’s all right, you know things people move on
Alex Miller (1:20:10)
sure sure sure I would definitely if I had a choice between buying Tupperware from from you or Laurence Fishburne I
DIXIE LONGATE (1:20:18)
I I think so. think it’s just that’s just kind of natural, you know, it’s him a little.
Alex Miller (1:20:22)
Yeah. So you
have toured all over the country. What are some of the biggest culture shocks you’ve experienced? Like, I don’t know, going on like New York City or other places that maybe not got that Southern vibe.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:20:34)
You know, it’s so funny because everybody, every place I go to is different. place, like we have such a big country and there’s such diversity in this country, which makes it so unique and so interesting. And so I always love, especially like I’m here for a bunch of weeks, which is the most fun when I get to sit down in the city for a while. Cause then I get to sort of live in the city, meet people, go out and see the highlights of the city and everything. But what I found, which is so interesting is people in the South, they get me. like they, they don’t laugh at the
they laugh at sort of the recognition, the acknowledgement of like, the South is the stories that tell the way I tell them. They’re like, you remind me of my aunt or I’ve had sex with somebody just like you, you know what it is. But then in the North, they’re laughing more about the foibles of the show and of me and my storytelling and not so much the recognition of it. So they’re laughing, but it’s just they’re laughing about two different things at two different places in.
the stories I tell, like some people will laugh out of recognition, some people laugh like, that’s a funny thing. I’m like, no, it really happened. This is my life. And so that’s interesting. And it’s a distinction that normally audiences wouldn’t get, but I get as the person that is the performer and talking about everything. But the thing that I love is people.
everywhere are so kind and so neighborly and so warm. And one of the things I love to do is after each show I go out and I’m in the lobby with the audience. I, know, people want to bite a check word, people want to make a picture of me, people want to chat while I’m always out there to do that. And the one thing universally is people are just so stick and kind and they always want to come and share stories with me. And I love giving hugs to everybody. And it’s just, it’s just not, think we have more in our lives that we are in line on than we are separated by.
And I think that’s valuable to remember that sometimes it seems like everybody’s at each other’s throats so much. I think we like as a group, as a species of human beings, I think we have so much more in common and it’s nice to be able to celebrate those commonalities and the things that us all up together.
Alex Miller (1:22:39)
Absolutely. Hey, have you ever taken your show like over to Europe or outside the US?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:22:44)
I have, I’ve been, well, I’ve played Australia. I’ve played ⁓ London, I’ve played Scotland. I’ve done a couple of events like on big cruises where I’m one of the headliners. So I’ve done those through Europe. So I’ve gotten like a bunch, I’ve been in Canada. I’ve gotten a bunch of different audiences with different points of view. And it’s funny because it, like, for example, in Australia, which was so fun, Australia, Tupperware came to Australia much later than it was here, obviously in U.S. It started in the U.S. So it wasn’t for a long time that it didn’t get to Australia. So like,
where it was really culturally huge in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s here in the United States. It didn’t really hit down there till like the late, like the 2000s, like 2000s and like early, know, like I went over, I was there in 2012, the first time I was in Australia. And I would pick up a piece of Chuck Ware from my demo table.
people would start laughing before I even said anything, because it was just this recognition that is still culturally really huge over there. So it was funny to just kind of hear that different reaction. People are like, my God, that’s amazing. have one of those. I just got one of those at a party. my mom has that. We always talk about it. We always still use it. So that sort of difference in when it’s hit the culture has kind of made the stories more fun when I’m doing the show.
Alex Miller (1:24:02)
huh. Right. Yeah, you know, I’ve read recently that things like Tupperware parties have been replaced by sex toy parties. Have you ever looked at going into that ⁓ part of…
DIXIE LONGATE (1:24:10)
I know, know what?
did, a long time ago, did like a, for a host, she wanted to do a double thing. So I did a little 30 minute temple party and then somebody did a 30 minute sex toy party right after me. And I will tell you, we laughed so hard because people were laughing so much more at the temple. And I think it’s because the lady wasn’t really that good yet at selling the sex toys.
Alex Miller (1:24:20)
You hear that?
Mm-hmm.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:24:36)
So I
was just like, give it to me. Let me have, and I started to kind of help him out, like picking him up, pointing at him, kind of being the vana white behind her and showing off the things. she ended up having a great party that day because she, because I was able to kind of help her kind of get her out of her shell and boost her up. Because the thing about these parties, any kind of parties, I mean, they’ve got so many different kinds of parties. They’ve got, you know, basket parties and handbag parties and.
Alex Miller (1:24:39)
you
Right.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:25:01)
⁓ Makeup parties and all that it’s all about the parties about making things fun because you’re there with a group of people friends You want to get together have a good time with and so like this is the thing about somewhere I always say the Tupperware sells itself. We’ve got
70 years of women that have sold plastic bowls before me. Like I don’t need to educate you on what to do with a bowl. My thing is to make sure you’re having a good time, that you’re gonna remember the party, because that’s why you’re here. And so that’s what I do. I try to make everybody giggle and have a good time. And then they go out remembering, that party was a blast. And so yeah, I think as long as everybody’s having a good time at the parties, people can take their business and make it huge. And that’s why, you know, I wouldn’t do sex toys personally, because I just get exhausted by how many I have to.
replace the batteries for all the time. But in general, you know, it’s like, it’s a great, it’s a great business. And I know some people that are that do it and they love it. have a great time. And sometimes they send me the catalogs and like, I don’t even know what some of these things are. You’re gonna have to educate me.
Alex Miller (1:26:00)
So, moving on to your other show, Never Wear a Tube Top While Writing a Mechanical Bulls has some sage advice built right into the title here. Why wouldn’t you do that? What happened? Is there a story there?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:26:09)
You know,
I, well, and I tell the story in the show, but ⁓ you know, it’s these things when you’re doing, it basically represents mistakes that you make not intended to make them. And then you don’t realize you made a mistake until after you make it. And then it’s about how you deal with a mistake. If you hit, face it head on and just be like, all right, I’m going to own up to it. Or if you kind of shy away from it, shrink and think, well, I didn’t mean to do that. That’s all about how people kind of deal with their own sense of self.
⁓ But I, yes, all that came from a night that I was in Vegas, I was on a bowl, I was riding it in one of them, they have honk tongs out there.
And I made the mistake of wearing the wrong thing because it was very hot outside. I didn’t want to wear a blouse with sleeves. And then all of a sudden, things happen. And thankfully, it’s in Vegas, so you don’t get arrested for things like that. But things happen, things pop out. And then everybody’s like, ooh. And then you go through half the night with, if you don’t have the right friends with you, you go through half the night before you even realize that you popped out of your blouse. And that’s bad. Because then you’re talking to the wrong person. And you say some nice things. And you’re like, oh, Senator, you’re so sweet. Of course, I’ll make a donation. And then you didn’t even realize that you were both wrong the whole time.
Alex Miller (1:26:57)
Right.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:27:16)
So yeah, it’s one of those kind of things. So I took that lesson and put it into a show.
Alex Miller (1:27:23)
Okay, I mean, probably you should wear a sports bra if you’re riding a mechanical bull or something like that, right? ⁓
DIXIE LONGATE (1:27:27)
One would think, but if you know some of my friends, they’re not
gonna be over 20 miles of a sports bra. They’re like, no, let’s go, let’s have some fun.
Alex Miller (1:27:35)
So tell us about this show, what goes on in mechanical, the mechanical wheelchair.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:27:40)
So what the show
is, is it’s basically everything you ever need to know in life. You can learn by writing a mechanical bowl. So I take all the things about writing a bowl, all the steps of it, and then deconstruct it, and then reapply it to your life. And so it’s about all those things that, you it’s about, you can take things that…
you do normally and you can make a part of your life, part of your day to day fun. And the whole thing takes place in my best friend’s honky tonk after her wedding and we throw a big party for her and then she goes away and I’m left cleaning up the honky tonk while she’s on her honeymoon with her new husband. And then I’m sitting there just talking to all the people about how we created a party to things that we did. So my best friend Georgina and got real drunk and we were putting together her party. And you know when you’re drunk you get smarter. And so I ended up, like we created all these things like how we
We were gonna make the party great for her her her wedding and then as we got drunk We just kind of came up with ways to fix up the world and that all started with a mechanical ball and so I tell all those stories and then deconstruct how to ride the ball and then reapply it to your life and then just basically show all the things that That we learned when I was drinking and like, know what, you know, it make the world better Let’s do this and so I talk about all those things and and hopefully lift everybody up and send in the world a little bit happier than when they came in with a little more knowledge
than they have before because it’s surprising to me how many people have never ridden a mechanical bowl and like we are in the greatest country in this world and are you kidding me if you are of an age more than like 15 and you’ve never put a bowl between your legs and ridden it even at like something like an off the highway kind of ⁓ thing that looks like a bowl but it is and it’s like one of them
Earl drums that are like held up by four ropes and you’re like getting on with that. Trust me, you’re gonna learn things about your balance in your life and the way to put things together that you never knew you didn’t know. So that’s what it is.
Alex Miller (1:29:21)
you
Yeah, maybe it’s kind of like skydiving, you know, maybe everybody should skydive and ride them at the Canical Bowl.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:29:33)
Exactly.
Exactly. When somebody pushes you out of a plane, whether you want to be pushed out or not, whether you’re ready to parachute or not, you got to learn stuff really fast on your feet. And that’s what I find about riding a boat too.
Alex Miller (1:29:46)
All right. So this is Denver’s your final stop for these two shows, your final 30 performances. So I know people are going
See you in Demo.
What’s next for Dixie? What can you tell me about what might be coming next?
DIXIE LONGATE (1:30:00)
You know what, I am working
on some new stuff. I’m doing some new writing. I’ve got stuff. I look at it this way. Like I have done the Chaparral Party for so long. I’ve done my other shows. I’ve had such luck being able to go around the world. And I think now I want to take a minute for myself and work on some other stuff. See what other things I can create and do. I don’t have anything, ⁓ anything set in stone right now, but I’m just, I’m putting a lot of stuff out there.
Fortunately over this time I’ve gotten a lot of people that I know and resources that I’ve acquired to be able to create new stuff and Play on new projects. So that’s what I’m working now So everything’s gonna kind of wrap up now and it’s gonna give me some free time to turn my attention to some other things coming up Which I’m really looking forward to because yeah, let’s say like this thing’s falling back because it just Lord I’m sorry about that But no, but that ⁓ yeah, I don’t know. It’s kind of an adventure So we’ll see what the next chapter is like, but I I know this about myself
Alex Miller (1:30:42)
You
DIXIE LONGATE (1:30:52)
you know, there’s that old phrase that you may or may not know. It’s like, you want to take the island, you got to burn the boats, which is the famous old thing about, like, you’ve got to cut off the things that are tying you to the past in order to move forward in the future. And so I looked at it like that. said, you know what, this is perfect time to wrap up the show in the perfect city that I love so much, wrapping it up with tube top, which is what I…
you know, which was started right here in Denver in 2014. So it’s a great time to say thank you so much, take my final bow and sort of like not give myself that that out to just keep going on and touring forever. I was like, okay, now I’m done. Now this kind of forces me into the next adventure and I’m looking forward to it.
Alex Miller (1:31:31)
All right, well, we’re definitely looking forward to seeing what comes next. So Dixie Longgate, thanks so much for coming on the OnStage Colorado podcast. You’re doing the Dixie’s Tupperware party and Never Wear Too Tough while riding a mechanical bull at the Garner Galleria Theater there at the Denver Center. ⁓ So break legs on all of that and look forward to seeing what Dixie’s up to next.
DIXIE LONGATE (1:31:51)
You are so sticky and sweet. Yeah, I mean, and I’m on all the social media, so you’ll find me, you’ll be able to follow along with my journeys as I’m creating new stuff. And of course, my journey is while I’m here in Denver. So thank you so much for having me today. I appreciate you.
Alex Miller (1:32:03)
Thank you, Dixie.
Toni Tresca (1:32:13)
That’s such a fun interview. I really appreciate her dedication to the bit and staying in character the entire interview.
Alex Miller (1:32:19)
Yeah, I
don’t often get people doing the in-charactered thing, so, but yeah, you’ve got to have mad respect for someone with that kind of vision and drive and just putting in the work year after year, mile after mile to make her performing arts dream a reality, really impressive.
Toni Tresca (1:32:36)
Absolutely, yeah, she’s built quite a career out of that character. And that brings us to the end of our show for this week. Alex, if people are still hungry for more theater content, what’s coming up on OnStage Colorado now and soon?
Alex Miller (1:32:39)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, I just posted my Cry It Out review from Betsy ⁓ and ⁓ Matt.
Schultz or Matthew Schultz will be looking at Pippin at Family. So we’ll have a review of that as well as the Margaritaville show. Kim Nicoletti will have a review of that. ⁓ we’ll also have a funky little theater ⁓ company in Colorado Springs is doing Tuesdays with Morrie. So we’ll have a review of that. And then of course, ⁓ Assassins at Miners Alley, which I think Alice is actually going to be doing that review. So plenty of coverage coming up on the site.
Toni Tresca (1:33:26)
Yeah, that’s lots of great stuff. And if you want to stay up to date on all of that going on in theaters across the state, subscribe to the OnStage Colorado newsletter, which comes out pretty much every Thursday, as well as subscribe to this podcast to ensure that you don’t miss any of our exciting updates, including your conversation with Charlie Miller next week.
Alex Miller (1:33:49)
That’s right.
Yeah, so he’ll be on next week to talk about the return of Sweet and Lucky. So we talked plenty about that, so you have an idea. But it’s opening August 13th, so it’s well-timed. We’ll be talking to him right the day before it opens.
Toni Tresca (1:34:02)
Absolutely.
Alex Miller (1:34:03)
Alright, well that’s all for this week. Thanks so much for listening. I’m Alex Miller.
Toni Tresca (1:34:08)
And I’m Tony Tresca and we’ll see you at the show.
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.
A Colorado-based arts reporter originally from Mineola, Texas, who writes about the evolving world of theater and culture—with a focus on the financial realities of making art, emerging forms and leadership in the arts. He’s the Managing Editor of Bucket List Community Cafe, a contributor to Boulder Weekly, Denver Westword and co-host of the OnStage Colorado Podcast. He holds an MBA and an MA in Theatre & Performance Studies from CU Boulder, and his reporting and reviews combine business and artistic expertise.
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