The immersive show at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House is like nothing else you’ll see this summer

When one of your favorite bands is back in town with brand-new, exciting material, you’ve got to go to the show, right? In this case, the group in question is Band of Toughs — an immersive Colorado theatre company that hasn’t been seen ’round these parts since 2021’s delightful Under the Stars with the Brews and the Bard: As You Like It.

This time, the BoTs have rummaged around in the literary past to tell a story of the three Brontë sisters and their drunken brother. The action takes place in multiple locations in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House — almost everywhere, it seemed, but the stage itself.

“Immersive” can mean a lot of things, and here the BoTs have constructed a highly entertaining, incredibly well-thought-out exploration where place and story shift underfoot, the audience is asked to be as itinerant as the players and the gloomy family at the center is imbued with as much misery as they are badassery.

You needn’t have read Anne Brontë’s Agnes Gray, Charlotte’s Jane Eyre or Emily’s Wuthering Heights to keep up (although it wouldn’t hurt). The BoTs tell most of what you need to know along the way, using facts and a lot of creative license to depict the curious home life of one of English literature’s most famous families.

(L-R) Atlas Drake, Elizabeth Kirchmeier, Michael Gunst and Janet Mylott as the Brontë siblings in ‘Gin & Gothic’ | Photo: Brian MIller

Things kick off in the Ellie’s lobby with the house band — Bertha and the Bed Burners — led by singer Kamara Thomas. One of the first songs is “Our House” — an ’80s hit from Madness that sets the stage for the journey into Brontë world. Teams are chosen (I was on Team Anne) and we meet the authors as they’re creatively revealed in three themed shadow boxes. From these museum-style dioramas we meet and cheer Anne (Atlas Drake), Emily (Elizabeth Kirchmeier) and Charlotte (Jane Mylott).

Their tipsy bro Branwell is played with humor and intensity by Michael Gunst. Although he never wins the fame as a writer his sisters did, Branwell here plays an interesting role as a foil to his highly competitive siblings.

As Charlotte, the eldest, Jane Mylott is stately and imperious while Kirchmeier as Emily is more angst-ridden and introverted. Maybe it was because I was recruited to Team Anne at the beginning, but I felt particularly drawn to the youngest of the writers. Drake’s depiction of Anne is particularly winning as the sickly and disillusioned governess who goes on to build her own literary identity before dying short of turning 30.

Kate Moore as TB or Tuberculosis | Photo: Brian Miller

On the move

I lost count at some point but I think there were six or seven distinct performance areas throughout the rambling space of the Ellie. Upstairs lobby, theatre, downstairs lobby right, downstairs lobby left, loading dock and orchestra pit. With the band setting up in different places, the need for light, set and sound in all of them (and seating for the audience), makes it impossible to overstate what a challenge this show is technically to pull off. On opening night, there were only a few glitches here and there — none of which distracted from the action which is already a bit chaotic.

Leaning into the “Rocktale” vibe, there’s plenty of singing and dancing as well as opportunities for the audience to join in. Along the way, we learn more and more about the tragic history of the Brontë sibs who lived in the first part of the 19^th century in northern England. Surrounded by diseases (mainly TB) and death, the isolated children developed their own imaginary worlds and unique voices. Throughout Gin & Gothic, we get to know each of them as individuals and as a mostly dysfunctional unit. And we also see them as siblings who are loving and supportive of one another as a group that really only has itself to rely upon.

The final scene of ‘Gin & Gothic’ is staged in the orchestra pit at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. | Photo: Alex Miller

Rock stars

Using words, music, movement and excellent costumes and scenic elements, BoTs Artistic Director Colleen Mylott has imagined an entire world with the Brontës at the center as their own rock-star band. Under pseudonyms, the three sisters saw extraordinary success as novelists while also living and dying in a highly cloistered environment. Gin & Gothic looks to blow up that seclusion and celebrate them as the stars they were — fully realized characters in their own right. By the end of the evening, the audience has moved from being on different teams to all being on Team Brontë.

Bolstering the story is a gallery of other characters, with the incomparable James Brunt at the center as our emcee/guide. Kate Moore portrays tuberculosis itself — a darkly funny presence who pops in and out dresses as a beach bum looking for her next conquest. There are also some “bibliophiles” for each author to fill in detail along the way, including Lloyd Harvey as Emily’s booster, Victor Longman for Branwell and Lainey Martin for Emily.

In a production that relies as much on technical detail as it does on storytelling, Gin & Gothic is a beautiful mashup of cast and crew that truly delivers something fresh and entertaining. This moveable feast even has its own real bartenders following along to make sure those who wanted them had a drink in hand. On top of it all comes a behind-the-scenes tour of an opera house that’s one of Colorado’s most impressive performance spaces.

The BoTs are back, big time, with another tremendously enjoyable romp through the Denver Center that defies just about any categorization.