Podcast: Talking film and ‘On Screen Colorado,’ our new sister site

Plus reviews of recent shows, a chat with Nancy Evans-Begley and playwright Mia Burnett about ‘Divine Bull Transformation’ and the top 10 Colorado headliners.

OnStage Colorado is growing. In this monthly episode of the podcast, Alex Miller and Toni Tresca announce the launch of OnScreen Colorado, a new sister site dedicated to covering Colorado’s film and TV landscape — from Sundance’s arrival in Boulder in January 2027 to the more than 20 festivals already happening across the state each year.

The episode also catches up on recent reviews from across the OSC crew, including standout productions in Brighton, Denver and beyond. Plus, Alex sits down with playwright Mia Burnett and Veritas Productions founding artistic director Nancy Evans Begley to talk about Burnett’s new play Divine Bull Transformation, opening May 15 at Denver’s Mizel Center. And as always, the guys round out the show with their top 10 Colorado headliners — shows worth checking out in the coming weeks.

Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

(00:00) Welcome back Alex and Toni open the second installment of the monthly edition of the podcast, noting that with expanded coverage, a new fiscal sponsorship and more reviews than ever, the weekly cadence had to give way to a monthly format with occasional bonus episodes.

(02:30) What the review crew has been seeing Toni shares his enthusiasm for Much Ado About Nothing at Platte Valley Theatre Arts in Brighton, directed by Kelly Van Oosbree and set in 1918, with standout performances from Bill Diggle as Benedick and Sarah Kit Farrell as Beatrice. He also recommends English at the DCPA, a play set in a 2008 Iranian classroom that balances comedy with grounded character work, and We Are the Tigers, a cheerleader-murder musical with pop-punk energy and tonal whiplash.

Alex runs through other recent reviews on the site: Garth Gersten’s positive notices for Mary Jane (with Candace Orrino carrying the show and Madelyn J. Smith standing out in dual supporting roles) and Furlough’s Paradise at Curious (directed by Jada Suzanne Dixon, with an electric lead from Alex Campbell); April Tooke’s mixed take on Jagged Little Pill at the Fine Arts Center; and Alice Kaderlan’s enthusiastic review of Matthew Lopez’s Somewhere at the DCPA.

(10:30) Main topic: Introducing On Screen Colorado The guys dig into the launch of On Screen Colorado, the new sister site covering Colorado’s film and TV scene. Toni explains the rationale: Sundance’s arrival in Boulder in January 2027 is the biggest thing to happen to Colorado film in a generation, but no one is covering the state’s full screen ecosystem the way it deserves. They run through the remarkable lineup of festivals already happening month by month across Colorado — from the Denver Jewish Film Festival in January to the Sundance Short Film Tour in December, with major events like Telluride, Mountainfilm, SeriesFest, Aspen Filmfest, BIFF and the Denver Film Festival in between.

The site will offer comprehensive festival coverage, a statewide film calendar, filmmaker profiles, festival-goer guides and a regular newsletter. The editorial promise is the same as OSC: independent, honest and Colorado-first. Reach out at info@onscreencolorado.com if you’re a filmmaker, venue, festival organizer or writer who wants to get involved.

(21:00) Interview: Mia Burnett and Nancy Evans Begley on ‘Divine Bull Transformation’ Alex talks with playwright Mia Burnett and Veritas Productions founding and producing artistic director Nancy Evans Begley about Burnett’s new play Divine Bull Transformation, opening May 15 at Denver’s Mizel Center. Burnett describes the play as a satirical look at the mental health world, set in a cosmic limbo disguised as group therapy and following six souls and their enigmatic therapist Rafael — whose name draws from the Hebrew root for healing. The title nods to dialectical behavioral therapy and the biblical golden calf, evoking how people can mistake the map for the territory in therapy.

Evans Begley shares why the script grabbed her — a survivor of suicide and someone passionate about removing stigma around mental health, she read the play in just over an hour and immediately knew Veritas had to produce it. The two discuss the non-traditional casting process (mostly precast based on prior work), the collaborative-but-finished nature of the script, and what they hope audiences take away: compassion for difficult characters, and a feeling that mental health conversations can be approached with less shame — and a lot more humor than you might expect.

The cast includes Ileana Lucero Barron as Alex, Matthew Combs as Rafael, Jennifer Burnett (Mia’s mom) as Laverne, Ali Chung as Joanna, Grey Dumois as Chris, Eddie Schumacher as Tim and Abigail Kochevar as Julia.

Divine Bull Transformation runs May 15-24 at the Mizel Center, with a sliding-scale ticket price starting at $20. A talkback follows the May 17 performance, and May 18 is an industry night fundraiser for the Denver Actors Fund.

(40:00) Top 10 Colorado headliners

• Cinderella — Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, Golden, through June 13. Kate Poling’s 1950s-flavored adaptation that mirrors the theatre’s mainstage Pump Boys & Dinettes.
• Ain’t Nothing But the Blues — Vintage Theatre, Aurora, May 22-June 21. A musical revue tracing the blues from Africa to Mississippi to Memphis to Chicago, directed by Jonathan Underwood.
• Avenue Q — Town Hall Arts Center, Littleton, through June 7. The naughty puppet musical comedy, a strong fit for Town Hall’s wheelhouse.
• The Cake — Firehouse Theater, Denver, May 30-June 28. Bekah Brunstetter’s play about a conservative North Carolina baker asked to make a cake for a lesbian wedding — a familiar premise for Coloradans.
• Creede Repertory Theatre summer festival — May 23-September 19. This summer’s slate includes Fully Committed, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Working: A Musical and Moriarty, plus Boomtown Improv and youth programs.
• The Truth About 250-150 — Control Group Productions, touring across Colorado, May-September. An immersive mobile museum experience created in collaboration with Indigenous groups, confronting the history of land theft in Colorado.
• Sweeney Todd — Magic Circle Players, Montrose, through May 30. The Sondheim classic at one of the Western Slope’s most active community theatres.
• POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive — Springs Ensemble Theatre, Colorado Springs, June 4-21. The farcical comedy about the women keeping the president functional.
• This Is the Day ’91 — Buntport Theater, Denver, May 22-June 14. A comedy about adults trying to reclaim a Guinness World Record they broke as teenagers in 1991 — and every performance is being filmed for a potential real record attempt.
• Violet — Aurora Fox Arts Center, June 5-28. The Jeanine Tesori musical about a young woman traveling across the 1960s American South, co-produced with Phamaly Theatre Company.

(51:00) Offstage Toni recaps a Las Vegas trip — Phish at the Sphere (a visually overwhelming experience he highly recommends, even from obstructed seats) and Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart at AREA 15, which he uses to muse on what Denver’s Meow Wolf lacks in terms of a surrounding ecosystem. He also attended the Sundance Film Festival panel in Estes Park on April 28, where organizers focused tightly on the Boulder rollout in 2027, leaving folks hoping for tangible commitments to other parts of the state somewhat disappointed.

Film roundup from Toni: the new Michael Jackson biopic gets a thumbs-down for sidestepping the complicated parts of its subject’s legacy; the Lorne Michaels documentary is a skip in favor of Susan Morrison’s biography; and The Devil Wears Prada 2 turns out to be a surprisingly grim comedy about the death of journalism. He’s heading to The Living End at the Sie FilmCenter and the 25th-anniversary screenings of Shrek this weekend.

Alex has been working through the latest season of The Boys on Prime with his wife Andy — a gory but sharp commentary on power and corporate America — and the four-part Malcolm in the Middle reboot, which lets Bryan Cranston dive back into the role with his usual fearless comic energy.

(1:04:00) Outro: The podcast is evolving too The guys wrap with news that the podcast itself will be rebranded as the On Colorado podcast, covering Colorado’s performing arts on stage and on screen — same hosts, same Colorado-first lens, bigger tent. Theatre coverage isn’t going anywhere; it just gets a larger platform alongside film, TV, festivals and possibly music. Cadence is still TBD. Same feed, same subscription, broader scope coming soon.