Podcast: Colorado New Play Festival & Henry Awards

FAQ: What are the Henry Awards for theatre?

Alex and Toni return from their theater road trip to Steamboat Springs to discuss the 27th Annual Colorado New Play Festival, dive into the 2025 Henry Award nominations, and interview two Bobby G Awards winners heading to NYC.

Highlights

Colorado New Play Summit (01:18) – We experienced four compelling new works at this prestigious festival that boasts a 75% success rate of plays moving to regional theaters or NYC. Standouts included “Creature Feature” (Roundabout Theater), “Vienna, Vienna, Vienna” (Six Point Theater), and Lauren Gunderson’s “Muse of Fire” where she starred as Anne Hathaway opposite Shakespeare.

Henry Awards Discussion (16:22) – Analysis of the newly announced nominations, including the major shift to gender-neutral performance categories. Denver Center leads with 29 nominations, while Little Shop of Horrors, Music Man, and Waitress top the nomination counts. Ceremony: July 28th at Lone Tree Arts Center.

Bobby G Winners Interview (26:00) – Grayson Graham (Lutheran HS) and Hannah Schnorr (Fossil Ridge HS) discuss their winning moments, upcoming Jimmy Awards trip to Broadway, and advice for aspiring young performers. Hannah heads to NYU’s Tisch School while Grayson is now seriously considering theater programs.

Key Takeaways

• Steamboat’s festival directly partners with theaters, creating built-in production opportunities
• This year’s Henry Awards feature tier-based categories instead of gendered divisions
• Colorado continues nurturing theater talent from high school to professional levels

Next Week: Full episode topic TBD. Subscribe to our Thursday newsletter for the latest Colorado theater updates.

Sponsored by Town Hall Arts Center, Miners Alley, Rocky Mountain Rep, Colorado Candlelight, Aurora Fox, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company.

OnStage Colorado Podcast Chapter Outline

Episode Introduction (00:00 – 01:42)

• 00:00 – Welcome and host introductions (Alex Miller and Toni Tresca)
• 00:15 – Return from Steamboat Springs trip mention
• 00:40 – Preview of Bobby G Awards interview with Grayson Graham and Hannah Schnorr
• 01:05 – Discussion of upcoming National Jimmy Awards in NYC

Colorado New Play Summit Coverage (01:42 – 14:58)

• 01:18 – Introduction to 27th Annual Colorado New Play Summit in Steamboat Springs
• 02:49 – Distinction from Denver Center’s New Play Summit
• 03:07 – Festival success statistics and Tony Award connection (“Purpose”)
• 04:18 – Festival format and theater company partnerships

Day One Productions (04:53 – 08:40)

• 04:53 – Meet the playwrights session
• 06:05 – “Creature Feature” by Noah Diaz (Roundabout Theater)
• 07:52 – “Dawn” by Thuyet Thuy Pham (Everyman Theatre)

Day Two Productions (08:44 – 13:23)

• 08:44 – Schedule break and Steamboat activities
• 09:39 – “Vienna, Vienna, Vienna” by Carrie Perloff (Six Point Theater)
• 11:59 – “Muse of Fire” by Lauren Gunderson (North Light Theater)
• 12:51 – Discussion of limited networking opportunities

Henry Awards Discussion (16:22 – 25:00)

• 16:22 – Introduction to Henry Awards nominations
• 16:58 – Overall takeaways and distribution analysis
• 18:20 – Town Hall Arts Center snub discussion
• 19:56 – Outstanding Production nominations (plays and musicals)
• 22:07 – Gender-neutral category changes discussion
• 24:49 – Awards ceremony details (July 28, Lone Tree Arts Center)

Bobby G Awards Winners Interview (26:00 – 40:16)

• 26:13 – Introduction of Grayson Graham and Hannah Schnorr
• 27:10 – Winning moment reactions
• 28:34 – Student backgrounds and school information
• 29:24 – Discussion of “Carrie” production at Fossil Ridge
• 31:32 – Discussion of “Newsies” production at Lutheran High School
• 32:25 – Jimmy Awards preparation and process
• 33:28 – Theater’s appeal to younger generations
• 35:09 – Closing medley experience at Bobby G Awards
• 36:22 – Advice for aspiring theater students
• 38:14 – Future career plans and college considerations

Episode Wrap-up (40:16 – 42:09)

• 40:18 – Interview recap
• 40:56 – Website content promotion (reviews and upcoming features)
• 41:51 – Newsletter subscription reminder
• 42:09 – Closing remarks and sign-off

Transcript

Created by AI wolverines; beware!

Alex Miller (00:00)

Hello, hello, and welcome to the OnStage Colorado podcast. I’m Alex Miller and I’m joined here by Tony Truska. Hey, Tony.

Toni Tresca (00:06)

Hey Alex, it’s good to be back with you here. We’re both back home after our trip to Steamboat Springs this weekend.

Alex Miller (00:15)

Yeah, yeah, we’ll get to that in a sec. So this is, yeah, this is one of our highly anticipated bonus episodes in between our longer ones that can run, you know, over an hour with the headliners and the interviews. But we do have an interview in this episode. Later on, I did with two of the winners of this year’s Bobby G Awards, the kind of the Tony Awards of Colorado High School Theater. So I had a great time talking to Grayson Graham and Hannah Schnorr, both of whom are now.

Toni Tresca (00:22)

Mm-hmm.

Alex Miller (00:40)

Going on to New York City, think this week they’ll be, I think they’re gonna, they were gonna be there like doing workshops and stuff. And then on Monday, June 23rd at these National Jimmy Awards ⁓ hosted by Josh Groban, there’s gonna be a ceremony and there’s some performance and all kinds of stuff involved. So stick around for that one. It’s a fun conversation with some up and coming Colorado theater artists. So ⁓ yeah.

Toni Tresca (01:05)

Yeah, that sounds like it’s going to be a cool conversation and we’ll have to check in with both of them after the the jemmys see how that experience was for them.

Alex Miller (01:13)

Yeah. Yeah. So ⁓ what else are we talking about this week, Tony? What?

Toni Tresca (01:18)

Well, we are talking

about our aforementioned trip to Steamboat Springs in which we, in addition to taking in some of the nature and going, we went on a very lovely hike. We saw this beautiful waterfall out there, but that was not the main reason we went. We went for the 27th annual Colorado New Play Summit, which took place June 13th and 14th.

Alex Miller (01:42)

Yeah, we were there and yeah, it was cool. was fun to take a little theater trip with you. I don’t think we’d ever done that before. And so yeah, we stayed with a friend of mine, an old theater buddy of mine, and we got to see these four readings. And yeah, we did a little bit of a hike up to Fish Creek Falls there in Steamboat and hung out by the Yampa River, is, the event took place at the

It was at Bud Werner Library there, right on the banks of the Yempa River. And so was fun just hanging out watching all the activity, the kids and rafters and kayaks and kids hanging out and jumping in and all that. So that was…

Toni Tresca (02:24)

And you could always

tell when you were approaching the performance venue, that library, because since it was a Hot Springs, it smelled strongly of sulfur. So you could smell it when you entered.

so this event is not to be confused with the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Colorado New Play Summit. This one is, well, it’s pretty different.

Alex Miller (02:49)

Yeah, so, you know, this festival is not an association with a particular theater and the plays that we hear. And we hear that these plays at this festival can land on Broadway and other regional theater companies and do pretty well.

Toni Tresca (03:07)

That’s right, their site claims that 75 % of the plays chosen move on to those regional festivals or New York City stages. And the festival has been called one of the top festivals in North America, a claim which they have some more credence as of recently because they just won big at the Tony Awards or rather one of the plays that they backed early on, Purpose, which originally premiered in a reading in this festival.

went on to win the top prize at the Tony’s for the plays, best new play. So that’s quite a feather in the cap. And I’ll also say this festival ⁓ partners with theater companies specifically. So they recruit theater companies around the world who have writers. And so there’s kind of a vested interest from those theater companies in eventually staging a production. So for instance, ⁓ one of the

Alex Miller (03:42)

Yeah.

Toni Tresca (04:05)

shows that will talk about Creature Feature was brought by the Roundabout Theater in New York City. So I would not be shocked if in a little bit we hear an announcement that Roundabout is staging a full production of Creature Feature.

Alex Miller (04:18)

Yeah, yeah, I think if your play is at this one, you got a pretty good chance of getting a full production somewhere, probably with the theater company you already associate with. So this year they had the usual four plays presented in readings with a bunch of great casts, I must say. But before we get into them, I would just note that since these are works in progress, just like the new play Summit at the Denver Center, they asked that we don’t review them, but that won’t stop us from talking about them in general terms, right?

Toni Tresca (04:42)

That’s right, hopefully the new play festival won’t send any goons around ⁓ to torture us if we step over a line or anything like that.

Alex Miller (04:53)

Yeah, yeah, I hear they have a team of real bruisers to enforce those rules. ⁓ so okay, so when we started off day one, there was kind of a meet the playwrights kind of thing that was pretty informal. I don’t know that we learned a whole ⁓ bunch there, but a little bit of preview of the shows and kind of their thoughts on the process.

Toni Tresca (04:56)

I’m

would say the only playwright who was revealing was interestingly Lauren Gunderson, who is kind of, she was the, she’s the playwright who has the most heat coming into the festival. She’s one of the country’s most produced playwrights regularly. And she actually shared that she made a massive four and a half page cut to the final part of her script that she said really kind of cleaned that up and clarified some action.

there, which I thought was pretty interesting and quite revealing.

Alex Miller (05:43)

Yeah, yeah, and we’ll get to that in just a bit. So starting off on day one, we saw this this reading of a play by Noah Diaz, who’s associated with New York’s Roundabout Theater, as you were saying, ⁓ creature feature. ⁓ this was ⁓ many people will know this actor that was in it, Brian Landis-Felkins was one of the one of the readers, and he was great. then it was a play, I have to say that I think we both had a lot of ⁓

fairly confident that this one will go on to have a long life perhaps. was a really, really fun show. It was told from the point of view of an 11-year-old girl ⁓ played by ⁓ a 70 or 80-year-old woman named Susan, an actor named Susan Blomert, because it’s a memory play where she’s looking back on these events of her mother, who was kind of an alvira character on a TV show during the 80s. And her dad was basically the producer.

And was all about this family tension and when the, what was her name? ⁓ Morgana? ⁓ Yeah, right. Yeah, she decides she just had enough after 10 years and quits and it just throws the whole family into hysterics along with ⁓ the head of the, I guess the head of the studio who was played by BLF and who…

Toni Tresca (06:47)

⁓ yeah, Morgana. But her real name was Maggie.

Alex Miller (07:05)

And so the interesting thing was that they were telling us that these characters, some of these characters, including that producer and a few others will actually be dressed as monsters because this whole thing is about these monsters and creature feature type things. we were really curious about how that might look if that’s actually what they do with it. But it was fun. They had like pictures of some of the monsters, like the creature from the Black Lagoon and a wolf man and a few others there to kind of give us a…

Remind us what they might look like if it’s a full production.

Toni Tresca (07:37)

Yeah, as you mentioned up at the top, would be curious to see what this looks like in a fully staged production someday. This was a really fun reading with ⁓ really cool performances by strong crop of actors.

Alex Miller (07:52)

Yeah, and very funny, very funny too. ⁓ Next one was a ⁓ bit more serious, but still had a few laughs. That was called Dawn by Thuyet Thuy Pham, ⁓ a Cambodian playwright. So this was associated with the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, DC area.

So this one was about ⁓ some Cambodian women, a mother and a daughter revisiting the past and a fraud drama. There was some stuff going back to the Vietnam War and some some pretty pretty heavy family stuff.

Toni Tresca (08:23)

Definitely a lot more serious than the previous play. yeah, was definitely somebody who’s kind of working out a very personal experience. Felt a little rough around the edges to me, but it was pretty solid reading, nevertheless.

Alex Miller (08:40)

Yeah. So what about day two?

Toni Tresca (08:44)

⁓ Day two, so this one interesting quirk of the festival is we had the introduction with all the playwrights and then two readings pretty much back to back on Friday night. And then there is a massive break all day Saturday until about 4pm, which you and I, we filled with a hike and we took over the streets of Steamboat along with the other tourists there. And we…

Alex Miller (09:05)

my god, all the tourists in the world

were in Steamboat.

Toni Tresca (09:10)

It ⁓ was a lovely weekend,

when we ventured into the farmers market, which was a bad idea because it was just blocks and blocks of packed streets and people and galling vendors. But I mean, good for them. Glad to see it. But then we so we were doing that until 4 p.m. on Saturday when we took in Vienna, Vienna, Vienna by Carrie Perlop. This is a story about three generations.

Alex Miller (09:16)

You

Yep. Yep.

Toni Tresca (09:39)

of women,

The play is being brought by Six Point Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. ⁓ And if the name Carrie Perloff sounds familiar to any Colorado folks, that is because Carrie had a play at the New Play Summit, that’s the one by the Denver Center, this past year, If God Were Blue. And that was a piece about the kind of Renaissance art world and this kind of battle between artists at that time. ⁓

This play is very different. It feels more kind of like if anybody’s seen the White Lotus season two, the three generations of Italian men kind of going to Italy. This is similar in that it’s three generations of Jewish women who travel to Vienna when this grandmother is there to get an award. ⁓ I thought it was very funny, very emotionally moving. The relationships between the three women were crystal clear.

And you really understood where all of these women were coming.

Alex Miller (10:40)

Yeah, yeah, and also great performances also ⁓ by, I think they actually were actors from Minnesota that came out to do this one. And then what was the last one we saw, this one you mentioned earlier?

Toni Tresca (10:48)

Mm-hmm.

Final play by Lauren Gunderson. This is Muse of Fire. It is a two-hander from North Light Theater in Soky, Illinois. This is just right in the Chicago area. And it featured Lauren Gunderson herself playing Anne Hathaway, who is the wife of William Shakespeare, who was played by Casey Murphy in this reading. And it’s kind of this discussion about their relationship.

or lack thereof because Will Shakespeare famously kind of abandoned Anne back in Stratford-upon-Avon to go into London, produce plays and work on his stuff while leaving her alone with the children. This particular, and the relationship particularly in this play gets extra strained after their son Hamnet dies, we learned. And so this play is set around the time when Will is writing The Tempest, his final play.

And they’re also kind of unpacking these pieces and seeing if they can learn to forgive each other.

Alex Miller (11:59)

Right, yeah, and you know, Lauren Gunderson’s a damn good actor and ⁓ we really enjoyed her performance and it was, compared to a lot of readings, they were very on their feet and, you know, kind of moved, they were moving the music stands where they had their scripts around quite a bit and it was really, active. And yeah, Casey Murphy as well was fantastic too. It was interesting, it reminded me a little bit of Ann Juliet, which I just saw, which was about…

Toni Tresca (12:03)

Mm-hmm.

Alex Miller (12:24)

know, Will Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway battling over a play, in that case Romeo and Juliet, but very different because, well, A, it wasn’t a musical and B, was just, you know, all kinds of different things going on but also very funny and, ⁓ yeah, and, you know, I think we could see the change that she had made at the end, at least as far as we could tell, seemed like it was a pretty good move and, yeah, this one was like, ⁓ was it a rumor that it might be coming here to Colorado?

Toni Tresca (12:51)

That’s just a rumor though. We can’t say anything else about that Alex.

Alex Miller (12:51)

Can’t say that. ⁓

All right, well, it remains to be seen, but I’m sure it’ll make it out there at some point, so hopefully we’ll see it. So yeah, so we were a little surprised, but compared to the Denver Center Theater Company’s event where there’s dinners and lunches and there’s a lot of opportunity for mingling with the playwrights the actors, there really wasn’t ⁓ any of that. So it would have been cool if there’d been like a…

I don’t know, something.

Toni Tresca (13:23)

Yeah, could have maybe done like a picnic or a barbecue on Saturday or as local theater company just did with their local lab, they actually did a hike on one of the days or a coffee shop meetup. Any of those ideas could have been fun so that we could have had a bit of a chance to talk with the playwrights and the actors, as well as the people who actually were producing the festival. It would have been nice to just have a moment to chat with them a little bit about the work that they put into this.

Alex Miller (13:50)

Yeah, well, they’ve been doing it for 27 years. guess they know what they’re doing. but, know, and you know, it left it definitely left us free to do whatever you want on a Saturday. So maybe we’ll make an annual journey out of it. Who knows?

Toni Tresca (13:54)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. It was definitely a really polished event that showcased four plays that you could really imagine having a life outside of this festival, which is ultimately one of the big points of doing these festivals in the first place is as an incubator for future production. another one that I would be another kind of a play fest that I’d be curious to get to that.

Alex Miller (14:22)

Yep. Yeah.

Toni Tresca (14:29)

neither of us have so far is the Durango Play Festival, which is doing its seventh annual readings June 24th through the 29th. So that’s coming up on just this upcoming week. So haven’t been there, won’t be able to make it out there this time, but if there are any other new play enthusiasts, just wanted to flag that for you while there’s still some time.

Alex Miller (14:51)

Colorado, a hotbed of new play activity. Not bad. Yeah.

Toni Tresca (14:55)

Yeah, I would say that’s definitely true.

Alex Miller (14:58)

The Onstage Colorado podcast is sponsored by Town Hall Arts Center in Littleton, presenting the musical On Your Feet, May 23rd through June 22nd. It’s the story of Gloria and

Onstage Colorado is brought to you in part by Miners Alley Performing Center, whose production of Ring of Fire runs May 9th through June 29th. Ring of Fire is a high energy jukebox musical that brings the legendary songs of Johnny Cash on stage, weaving his iconic hits into a story of love, resilience, and the American spirit. Tickets at minersalley.com. supporting Onstage Colorado is Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater in Grand Lake. Their 2025 summer season runs from June 6th through September 5th and includes Disney’s Frozen,

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It’s a classic heartwarming drama that’s also got lot of laughs as a hodgepodge of women form friendships as strong as steel which they are forced to lean on when tragedy strikes. Tickets at thesilco.org.

Alex Miller (16:22)

So all right, well, moving on. One of the big news items from the past week was the Henry Awards came out. So we had just gotten the list of nominees when we were recording last week episodes, so we should definitely dive in a little bit deeper. so ⁓ this is of course the annual theater awards hosted by the Colorado Theater Guild. ⁓ And they have a, you know,

team of her ⁓ just lots of volunteer ⁓ judges who get out to as many places they can all around the state. So what’s your initial takeaway Tony is anyone furious about anything as so is often the case with the Henrys. ⁓

Toni Tresca (16:58)

Is anyone furious? Alex, what a naive question. Of course, it’s an award

show. Of course, people have big opinions about it. I think outside of some of the Facebook comments, I think if you really kind of dig into the nominations themselves, it’s a pretty widespread of a lot of different groups. mean, sure, the Denver Center does dominate as kind of per usual with these awards. They got 29 different nominations. ⁓

There was also some surprises like Rocky Mountain Rep got 23. So some representation from the mountain towns out there. Colorado Springs also was pretty well represented throughout the nomination. Some nods up north as well. So I mean, there were definitely some people who were who voiced some frustrations that certain productions didn’t get nominated. I think in particular, the one that the

One that I’m most inclined to agree with is like a town halls, ⁓ just pretty much shut out aside from the nomination for the solo play that they received. Their production of Urinetown was outstanding. I know you really enjoyed their Jersey Boys, which I didn’t get to see, but so that company produces really high end work in that space. And there was a lot of really impressive options for them to choose from. So.

Alex Miller (18:08)

yeah.

Toni Tresca (18:20)

for the judges to not really bite at those, felt like a little bit of an oversight. But I think it’s really hard also when talking about these awards because we haven’t seen everything. And we all saw different productions on different versions of the shows on the nights that we were there. And unless you’ve seen every single show and every single person who is nominated, it is really tricky to kind of weigh in. And your kind of gut reaction is to just be like,

Why didn’t my favorite get nominated? But you kind of have to think, Colorado is a pretty big state. There’s a lot of different regions who are represented in these awards.

Alex Miller (18:58)

Yeah, there’s a million variables that go into it. You can’t always get a Henry Judge to every show you want them to be at. And you’ve got all kinds of different personalities doing it. But yeah, the town hall thing was definitely stood out. But it was great to see Rocky Mountain Rep and also some others like Firehouse Theater got 11, which is great because I think they’ve been doing a lot of great work for a small theater.

⁓ and also Performance Now had 14. they’re, you they, that seems like the musicals seem to do pretty well overall. So real quick, the outstanding production of a play nominations or dial-in for Murder at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Downstate at Curious Theater Company, I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter at the DCPA Theater Company, National Bohemians for Miner’s Alley, The Reservoir at DCPA Theater Company. ⁓ And then do you want to do the musicals?

Toni Tresca (19:56)

Sure, so outstanding production of a musical. The nominees are A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Waitress, also at the Arvada Center, Little Shop of Horrors by the DCPA Theater Company, Come From Away by Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater, and The Music Man, also by Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater.

Alex Miller (20:17)

Yep. And you know, the top shows by nominations Little Shop of Horrors, which we both adored. It was a fantastic production. Music Man at Rocky Mountain Rep. Waitress at the Arvada Center, which is another one with 10 nominations. That was just a complete banger. ⁓ And yeah, come from away with eight. A Gentleman’s Guide at the Arvada Center with seven, which was also a really great show. A couple of cabarets, one from Breckenridge Backstage and other Flat Valley had had a few.

Toni Tresca (20:24)

Mm-hmm.

Alex Miller (20:46)

and then a couple in a downstate curious and then Eyes Up, Mouth at Gate from Buntport which was absolutely hilarious, crazy ass show that Buntport did. One of their best in years, in my opinion, got six and also National Bohemians which was also a really strong new play from Luke Sorge at the Miners Alley Forming Center so well deserved there.

Toni Tresca (21:10)

Absolutely. Yeah, I was really happy to I think it was there were a lot of really good shows that got nominated this year again as I mentioned since I haven’t seen all 170 different shows that were submitted. It’s kind of hard to weigh in particularly on the ones that you I haven’t seen but I do want to mention one other thing before we move on from our Henry’s discussion the big change the thing that got a lot of people chattering particularly online was the shift this year.

away from gendered categories. So instead of best actor, best actress, they’ve now just got outstanding performer in a play, for instance, tier one and tier two. And those tiers are divided by budget categories with the larger theaters being tier one, smaller companies being tier two. That got a lot of chatter ⁓ from folks in the company, from folks out in the theater world. What do you think about that, Alex? We talked briefly, briefly about it last week.

Alex Miller (22:07)

Yeah, yeah, well, of course, you know, our awards, the Oscars that we do, we made that decision when, you know, when we put ours together, what that white, white differentiate just have one actor category. But we were also talking a little bit about, you know, I mean, there is the chance that, you know, particular category could have just, you know, two men or just two women. And, you know, is that is that gonna, you know, turn people off or whatever, but

But they also added, there’s a couple more opportunities to win, right?

Toni Tresca (22:39)

Yeah, it does seem like, well, there’s more opportunities to be nominated. There’s a lot more nominees in here. ⁓ So I think that’s always good, more opportunities for showcases. But it also, it’s interesting in some of these categories, you see it’s a little bit like what happens at the Emmy Awards, which is the television awards over there where…

If you have a show that has an ensemble cast, you just see a lot of people sweeping certain categories. Like for instance, Little Shop of Horrors had a bunch of different nominees and supporting actor, same with like the Hot Wing King as well. So it’s interesting to notice, I think that can also tell you something about where the judges minds are at as well since, okay, these shows have a swelling of support. ⁓ So just something interesting to think, to keep in mind if you’re at home trying to predict the Henry Awards.

Alex Miller (23:33)

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, ⁓ you know, the the bottom line is, it’s great that the Chora Theatre Guild is putting the effort into doing these. It’s not always going to be perfect. You can’t get, you know, absolutely every show covered. you ⁓ know, there’s it’s a scoring system. It’s ⁓ so you never know how the how the numbers are going to add up when once all the ballots are turned in. So but anyway, so the Henry Awards will be ⁓ held on July.

July 28 at the Lowentree Arts Center. And of course, you can get tickets to go see it if you want to want to do it. Last year, they made a real effort to trim it down, lean it down to be really much more efficient time wise. And I think we were in it out of there in like two hours last year.

Toni Tresca (24:18)

That’s right. was a, the show last year really ran smoothly. There were some great musical performances, including by the folks who were nominated at the Bobby, who won at the Bobby G awards, excuse me. And it was, it was a really fun show and it’s, it’s a fundraiser for the Colorado theater guild and the after party afterwards is just the, it’s a who’s who of the theater community. So if you just want to go see all your, all your theater friends or do some networking out there.

Alex Miller (24:29)

Mm-hmm.

Toni Tresca (24:46)

that after party is the place to be.

Alex Miller (24:49)

Absolutely.

Toni Tresca (24:50)

But that is it for the Henrys for now. We are going to toss it to Alex’s interview with those amazing young theater artists from this year’s Bobby G Awards.

Alex Miller (25:00)

Onstage Colorado is brought to you by the Aurora Fox, whose production of Little Miss Sunshine runs June 6th through 29th. It’s a heartwarming and hilarious musical adaptation of the beloved Academy Award winning film. Little Miss Sunshine celebrates the power of love, determination, and the joy of following your dreams, no matter the obstacles. Tickets at aurorafoxartcenter.org. Also supporting Onstage Colorado is the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, presenting The Tempest, June 7th through August 10th, and Richard II, July 5th through August 10th.

Shows take place in the Roe Green Theater on the campus of the University of Colorado Boulder. Tickets at cupresents.org.

We’re also supported by the Boulder Ensemble Theater Company, whose new season starts in August and includes Cry It Out, Elizabeth the First in Her Own Words, The Thin Place, Every Brilliant Thing, Brooklyn Laundry and Mary Jane, as well as Mad Librarians for the kids. Get tickets at BETC.org.

Alex Miller (25:59)

right, we are joined now by two incredible young performers who are making Colorado proud on the national stage. Welcome to the podcast, Grayson Graham and Hannah Schnoor.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (26:00)

need you to show your food to them.

Hey! ⁓

Alex Miller (26:13)

Okay, so you both recently took home top honors at the 2025 Bobby G Awards, which is Colorado’s premier high school musical theater competition. You’ve won outstanding performances and a leading role, but your story doesn’t end there. They’re both going to be heading to Broadway to represent the entire state of Colorado at the Jimmy Awards, which is the National High School Musical Theater Championships. And you’ll be performing at the legendary Minskoff Theater on June 23rd. So

Wow, super cool to go from Colorado High School to the bright lights at Times Square. And ⁓ yeah, so I just wanted to dive a little bit into your journey, your passion for musical theater and what it means to carry the Colorado banner all the way to Broadway. So welcome to the show, congrats.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (26:56)

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Alex Miller (26:57)

Yeah, so, ⁓ well, tell us about the moment your name was called as outstanding performance in a lead role at the Bobby G Awards. What was going through your mind?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (27:10)

It was kind of surreal, honestly. Like it was hard to I saw my name up on like the little screen and I was like, what? So I sat there just to like make sure that that was happening. But crazy. So they called Hannah’s name first and I didn’t even hear mine. And I was so like…

Alex Miller (27:14)

huh.

Ha ha ha.

huh.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (27:39)

I just didn’t want to get my hopes up. So I put my head in like my hands. I like just wasn’t looking and I like closed my eyes and I heard Hannah’s name and I didn’t hear mine. And then my friend next to me was like smacking my arm. He was like, Grayson look. And I looked up and my name was on the screen and I just like shot out of my chair and I just stared at my friend and I was just like, ⁓ my gosh, my name’s on the screen. What now? And then you’re like standing in the aisle and you’re like,

Alex Miller (27:53)

Hahaha.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (28:08)

Come on, come on. And I’m just like shell-shocked. Like it was so unreal. And it was just that walk to the stage. And it’s like, I get to read the speech I wrote. Like it was all like the little like things like that was like, it so amazing.

Alex Miller (28:24)

That’s great.

Great. So, ⁓ Grayson, you are at Lutheran High School in Parker and you’re, are you a rising senior or junior?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (28:34)

I’m a junior. I’m going into my senior year.

Alex Miller (28:37)

Okay, ⁓ and Hannah, you graduated from Fossil Ridge in Fort Collins and you’re heading to NYU’s Tisch School in the fall. That’s super exciting. Yeah, was it hard to get into Tisch?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (28:44)

Yeah.

Yeah, the audition was really fun, but it was scary. The different thing about Tisch is it’s 50 % academic, 50 % like artistic review. So it kind of just, if you get a no from one or the other, you’re just not in. So I’m just glad to be going there. I think I’m going to have a really fun time.

Alex Miller (29:07)

huh.

Yeah, that’s a really cool part of New York City too, down there. That’ll be awesome. So, I don’t know what that noise is. Can you hear that?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (29:20)

Sorry, I’m trying

to shut up everything that has sound up.

Alex Miller (29:24)

Okay, well, Hannah, so your production was was Carrie, is that correct? Okay, didn’t you play play Carrie? Okay, so you got the blood spilled all over you and that kind of thing. So, you know, I’ve never seen that musical what and it’s I was a little surprised that a high school would do that one since it’s kind of violent. So what was it like doing performing that show at your high school?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (29:32)

I did, yes. yeah.

I love that show. It’s been my favorite show since seventh grade, actually. And our admin really worked with us and they, my director and our choreographer and our music director and our tech director all came together and they made like this presentation for our admin on why we wanted to do this show and why it’s important right now, because we more so focused on how bullying looks today because a lot of the show is

Alex Miller (29:52)

Mm-hmm.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (30:17)

really focused on the bullying aspect. So we integrated social media. So like we had live streaming happening during the show. like during the period scene when Carrie is getting bullied, my back was to the audience, but someone on their phone was live streaming, like what it looked like to look down on me. And then that was put on a projection behind the set, basically. we really wanted to go with

Alex Miller (30:20)

Sure.

Interesting.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (30:46)

the idea of what does it cost to be kind, which is a lyric and like a line on the show. And that was like our main message of like how every kid needs a safe space and whether that’s at school or at home and how Carrie didn’t have one and she didn’t even have one in a person and how that affects people.

Alex Miller (31:05)

Right, yeah, that certainly is very, know, bullying has been going on forever. It seems like it’s become more in the spotlight and more, or less tolerated, I like to say, hopefully. But Carrie was certainly one of the early films that really pointed that out. And Grayson, what was the show you guys did at Lutheran that you brought to the Bobby G’s?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (31:29)

Yeah,

we just did, we just had a production of Newsies.

Alex Miller (31:32)

Okay, great. And who are you in that?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (31:36)

I was Jack Kelly.

Alex Miller (31:37)

okay. That’s a fun role. you enjoy playing that kind of Repscallion kind of character? ⁓

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (31:44)

yeah, absolutely. I’ve always played the more like I’m usually a shyer like character. So it was really cool to have like, everyone’s like, Grayson’s Jack Kelly, like he’s he’s the confident ringleader. I can do it. I got this. So that was really exciting.

Alex Miller (31:50)

Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh.

That’s great. well, so you guys are going to get to know each other really well, but you probably didn’t know each other until you met at the Bobby G’s, is that correct? OK, well, it’s going to be a lot of fun going to New York. And do you have to prepare anything to in advance of going to the Jimmy’s?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (32:18)

yeah. A lot of stuff.

Alex Miller (32:20)

Okay,

do you have to, are you going to be doing like an audition kind of thing or?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (32:25)

Yeah, so we pick, so we have two songs from our show that we bring with us and then we have to pick four others from a list. And the third day in, they have us audition. And after that, it’s down to the top 40 and then they’re auditioned again for the top eight. And then the winners are actually chosen during the awards ceremony.

Alex Miller (32:53)

Okay. Okay. I wanted to ask you, one of the things that we talk a lot about on the OnStage Colorado podcast is the problem that theaters have where not a lot of young people are going to theater. They’re more likely to, or maybe the stereotype of look at stuff on their phones or whatever. And it’s been going on for a while, but what do you say to, I don’t know, your generation? Do you have any hope that people are gonna…

know, younger people are gonna start getting more interested in theater or what does theater have to say to, you know, to your generation?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (33:28)

I feel like, yeah, with the phones thing, I feel like everyone’s really in their own bubble. And what’s cool about theater is it shares stories of experiences you might not even have thought about before. And it really makes you think, and it’s just cool to experience. I feel like there’s times in my life where I don’t get to see a lot of theater, and then when I go see show, it’s like, oh yes, that was really fun, I missed that.

Yeah, that’s what I would say, I think, is just experiencing other stories and it really opens your mind to other people’s experiences. And I think, you know, a lot of people dog on jukebox musicals or like movies made into musicals like Mean Girls or something. But I do think that is what’s getting our younger generation into musicals because it’s, I know that song or, ⁓ I’ve seen that movie. Like, ⁓ I want to see that on stage.

Alex Miller (34:18)

Sure.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (34:24)

So I think it’s like a gateway into being like, wait, that was really cool. I’d love to see something else. And it kind of builds from there. And then I think that’s kind of what’s getting the younger generation started is with material that they know. And then you kind of branch off into the original works.

Alex Miller (34:43)

Uh huh. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And you know, a lot of times people just have not been exposed to theater when you take them to something for the first time, they’re like, Whoa, this is really cool. You know, people are right there live on stage. So, so both of you performed in the closing medley with the past winners and other nominees at the Bobby G awards. What was that collaborative moment like? And how does it feel to be a legacy of the Bobby G award winners? So start with you, Hannah.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (35:09)

⁓ it was just so much fun. I feel like every year there’s, everyone’s just so unique and seeing all of these different characters and shows and people come together. It’s just awesome. And the fact that we do have the alumni that come back and it’s like a little callback for people who like watch the videos on YouTube or something. It’s like, ⁓ I’ve seen them before. And yeah, I’m just excited to be a part of it, honestly.

Alex Miller (35:37)

huh.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (35:38)

⁓ I had a great time. ⁓ when I found out that there was dancing, I was kind of like, there’s dancing. ⁓ not like I’m not big on that, but I had so much fun and everyone was so kind and encouraging. And I had a very special like chance to be there with my co-star, Caden Deagle. We were both nominated and that experience with him was just amazing that we got to share. ⁓ and I loved making all my new friends that I hope to keep in touch with. ⁓ yeah.

Alex Miller (35:45)

Ha ha ha!

Yeah, that’s Grace, what advice would you give to younger students who are just maybe thinking about trying out for the School of Musical? What would you want them to know about what that’s like and how it can help them?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (36:22)

I would say, hmm, I feel like, like I do this a lot. It’s really easy to compare yourself to everyone else and like who’s auditioning. Just be like, they’re a better singer, they’re a better actor. And I think it’s important to remember that everyone can bring something different to any role. Even if you feel like that role doesn’t suit you. Like I had that mindset with Jack Kelly where I was like, I’m always the shy, like awkward, and I want this role. It’s like tough and…

outgoing. That’s like the biggest thing I would say is like, don’t put yourself in a box and recognize your own strengths. I’d say if you’re contemplating like doing a musical or play, do it. Whether that’s on stage, whether that’s backstage, do it. Because the community that you have with theater is unlike any other activity or sport because you spend

so many hours and more hours than I think people realize together. like acting itself is very vulnerable. Like sharing stories is very vulnerable. So you get to know each other on that level. And so I think theater is a great thing for people to join because it just creates these like lifelong bonds that you can’t really get anywhere else. So I say do it because it’s just fun. you.

Alex Miller (37:46)

Yep,

absolutely. So Hannah, obviously you’ve kind of, ⁓ you’re pursuing a path towards perhaps being a professional actor ⁓ since you’re off to the races going to NYU. So that’s a great launch point. What about you, Grayson? Is that something that you think, ⁓ having gone through this experience sort of younger, earlier in your career, I guess you could say, has this made you think that you want to head in that direction as well?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (38:14)

⁓ yeah. So since I was little, I’ve always wanted to be in like movies. That was always my thing. It’s like, I just want to be an actor when I grow up. And then as I reached high school, I started to like, like almost like try to like, accept that that’s not realistic. ⁓ and I think this whole experience has really like, it was really, it’s really cool to have a lot of outward validation and recognition where it’s like, maybe I do have a shot on these kinds of things. ⁓ I have a

huge passion for music. I’m in a band. like playing piano and singing. honestly, I’m just in pursuit of any performance. And I think, gosh, I have one more year to think things through before I drop for colleges and stuff like that. But this experience has definitely changed that course a little bit, for sure. A lot of it.

Alex Miller (39:01)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Have you have you’re you’re you must be already looking at schools if you’re a rising senior. Do you have any any in mind?

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (39:14)

I’m

definitely looking at NYO now. I’m checking out, there’s a lot of music schools.

Alex Miller (39:20)

That is like, man, I’m glad my dog can’t hear that. She’d be going nuts. all right. So yeah, that would be good one.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (39:25)

Hahaha!

I’m looking through music schools like ⁓ Southern California, Belmont, and I’ve heard that Baylor has a good program. Just looking kind all over. I want to explore America a bit, just see where would I like to stay, what program suits me the best. That’s the whole college deal there.

Alex Miller (39:58)

All right. Well, all right, Grayson Graham and Hannah Schnoor, congratulations on your wins at the 2025 Bobby G Awards and you’re getting to go to New York City. It sounds like an amazing experience and I wish you the best. Break legs all around out there.

Suzanne Yoe/DCPA (40:13)

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Alex Miller (40:16)

All right.

Toni Tresca (40:18)

All right, that is it for the podcast this week. Thank you for doing that interview with the Bobby G award winners. That’s a, that was a great conversation, Alex.

Alex Miller (40:27)

Yeah, it was fun because you know we don’t cover high school musicals, which is not to say that isn’t a lot of great work going on there is just too damn many of them. It’s just impossible for us to cover so but it was yeah that was great to talk to them and especially talking to you know young actors who’s heading off to the Tisch School at NYU that is super exciting.

Toni Tresca (40:35)

Mm-hmm.

Totally. So if people are still hungry for some more theater content, what can people check out on onsagecolorado.com right now and what’s coming soon for folks.

Alex Miller (40:56)

Yeah, well, your review of The Tempest is up there, which is an absolutely fantastic take, I must tell you. It was a very well done review, something I know you spent a lot of time on. And on the other end is Four Old Brods on the High Seas from our viewer April Tuck at Funky Little Theatre Company down in the Springs.

Toni Tresca (41:17)

You know, it’s interesting, two aquatic-themed reviews up on the site at once, Alex.

Alex Miller (41:23)

I guess that’s right. That’s about all they have in common. ⁓ and yeah, we will have some other shows. This week was a little off just because we were out of town, but we’ll have all kinds of stuff coming up on the site as the summer season continues to heat up.

Toni Tresca (41:32)

Mm-hmm.

Totally. And if you want to stay up to date on what’s going on in theaters and comedy venues across the state, subscribe to the OnStage Colorado newsletter, which comes out pretty much every Thursday.

Alex Miller (41:51)

Yep. And next week for a full episode, have no idea what we’re talking about yet, but we’ll definitely come up with something. So, all right. Well, that’s all for this week. Thanks so much for listening. I’m Alex Miller.

Toni Tresca (41:59)

That’s right.

and I’m Tony Tresca and we’ll see you at the show.

Alex Miller (42:09)

yeah.