Podcast: Hangin’ at the Colorado New Play Summit

News from the state’s preeminent new play festival, plus Missy Moore’s production of K2 at Thunder River and Top 10 Colorado Headliners

In this episode of the OnStage Colorado Podcast, hosts Toni Tresca and Alex Miller review their weekend at the annual Colorado New Play Summit at the Denver Center. The two saw readings of four in-development plays and hobnobbed with a cross-section of the Colorado theatre community.

Later in the episode, Alex interviews the director and two actors from the play K2, now up at Carbondale’s Thunder River Theatre Company.

Toni and Alex also run down this week’s Top 10 Colorado New Headliners, upcoming shows theatre lovers may want to check out:

Happy 2B Nappy, Manos Sagrados, Aurora, through March 1

The Roommate, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, through March 1

Silent Sky, Durango Theatreworks, through Feb. 22

Bakersfield Mist, Thingamajig Theatre at Pagosa Springs Art Center, through March 14

The Importance of Being Earnest, Bas Bleu, Fort Collins, Feb. 21-March 8

The Secret Garden (musical), Glenwood Vaudeville Review, Feb. 13-March 22

My Mother and the Michigan/Ohio War, Miners Alley, Golden, Feb. 20-March 29

9 to 5 The Musical, Vintage Theatre, Aurora, Feb. 20-March 29

Decadent Desires, Wonderbound, Denver, Feb. 26-March 8

Fully Commited, Theatre SilCo, Silverthorne, Feb. 27-March 15

Chapter summary

Chapter 1: Introduction (0:00) Alex and Toni preview this week’s episode, including show reviews, the 20th anniversary of the Colorado New Play Summit, theatre news and an interview with Thunder River Theater Company about their production of K2.

Chapter 2: Water for Elephants review (1:34) Toni recommends the national tour of Water for Elephants at the Denver Center, praising its impressive circus acrobatics, strong music and lyrics and a physical troupe of performers that make this book-to-movie-to-musical adaptation work beautifully for the stage. Through Feb. 22.

Chapter 3: Two Romeo and Juliets (3:33) Toni compares two very different metro Denver productions of Romeo and Juliet: a cannabis-lounge staging by Bowls With the Bard at the Tetra Lounge that had some venue kinks to work out, and the Arvada Center’s stripped-down, 110-minute contemporary adaptation directed by Lynne Collins that offers a thoughtful but perhaps not fully accessible cutting of the play.

Chapter 4: Godspeed at the Denver Center (9:08) Toni shares brief thoughts on the full production of Godspeed at the Denver Center, calling it a much-improved version from the New Play Summit reading but questioning whether the in-the-round staging was ideal for a show that seemed to call for a traditional proscenium.

Chapter 5: News — Ellie Caulkins turns 20 (10:02) The Ellie Caulkins Opera House celebrates its 20th anniversary with a new Harlequin Liberty Switch Stage floor and a special anniversary concert on Feb. 27. Alex shares memories of interviewing the venue’s namesake, Ellie Caulkins.

Chapter 6: News — Colorado kid heads to Broadway (14:30) 12-year-old Denver School of the Arts student Blake Channing Taylor is joining the Broadway cast of MJ the Musical, skipping the national tour to go straight to the New York production.

Chapter 7: News — Deborah Faber remembered (15:01) Alex and Toni pay tribute to longtime Candlelight Dinner Playhouse costumer Deborah Faber, who passed away Feb. 13, honoring her notable work on productions including Bright Star, Anastasia, The Secret Garden and many more.

Chapter 8: News — Playwright honors (16:38) Colorado-grown playwright Zoë Rhulen receives the 2025 Princess Grace Award Playwriting Fellowship for her play Dirt, and Denver-born Jake Brasch’s The Reservoir opens off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater after its journey from the New Play Summit through Denver, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Chapter 9: Colorado New Play Summit recap (18:34) Alex and Toni discuss the 20th anniversary of the Denver Center’s Colorado New Play Summit, sharing general impressions of the four readings: Lemuria, You Should Be So Lucky, The Myth of the Two Marcos and Influent. They also recap conversations with Creede Rep’s Emily van Fleet, DCPA Managing Director Charles Varin, dramaturg Leean Kim Torske and others. Two plays are announced for future full productions: bogfriends and How to Conquer America: A Mostly True History of Yogurt

Chapter 10: K2 at Thunder River — interview (32:03) Alex talks with Director Missy Moore and actors David Ledingham and Elijah Pettet about Thunder River Theater Company’s production of K2 in Carbondale. The trio discusses the technical challenges of staging a play where actors are suspended in harnesses on a mountain set, the intersection of extreme sports and theatre and the play’s exploration of life, mortality and human connection. Through March 1.

Chapter 11: Colorado headliners (54:14) Alex and Toni spotlight upcoming shows across the state

Chapter 12: Wrap-up (1:01:24) Alex and Toni preview upcoming reviews including He Double Crooked Letter at Firehouse Theater, My Mother and the Michigan-Ohio War, The Importance of Being Earnest and 9 to 5 the Musical.