2008 Season Shows
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Book, Music & Lyrics by Rupert Holmes
Opens June 6
Rating: PG (for Bawdy Humor)
This Tony Award winning musical transports you
to a flamboyant Victorian music hall where
a loony group of actors are performing their
rendition of Charles Dickens’ unfinished
mystery novel. Since poor Dickens dropped
dead before revealing the murderer, the actors
rely on you, the audience, to vote for the ending
you want to see! Who killed young Edwin Drood?
Was it the demented John Jasper? The hot-headed
Neville Landless? The innocent Rosa Bud or the
infamous Princess Puffer? With many possible endings,
you’ll
want to see this rowdy, musical tour-de-force
again and again.
Fools
by Neil Simon
Opens June 20
Rating: G (all audiences)
In a village cursed with a plague of stupidity,
common sense is uncommon and intelligence is
unintelligible. To the rescue comes Leon, the
new schoolteacher, who must break the curse in
one day or become hopelessly stupid himself.
But is there even a curse to be broken? Are the
villagers really this stupid? Or have they simply
believed in the curse for too long? With characteristic
wit and imagination, Neil Simon’s farcical
fable spins hilarity from stupidity.
Quilters
Music & Lyrics by Barbara Damashek
Book by Molly Newman & Barbara Damashek
Opens June 27
Rating: PG (ages 10+)
A revival of a CRT favorite, this warm story
of a pioneer woman and her daughters captures
the vastness and beauty, the sorrows and
joys, the harsh challenges and unparalleled
freedoms of frontier life. Their stories, told
through a mosaic of music, dance, and drama,
were described by Newsweek as, “a tender
and moving theatre work, a human patchwork rippling
in the breeze of memory.”
Life is a Dream
by Calderón de
la Barca
Opens July 25
Rating: PG (ages 10+)
Considered a masterpiece of Spanish drama, Life
is a Dream is unlike anything you have ever seen
at CRT. Presented in English, this play tells the story
of a man who has lived his entire life imprisoned in
a cave, only to awake one day to find that he is a
prince in a palace. But which life is real and which
is a dream? Written in 1635, this play seems as if
it were written today as it explores whether free will
can overcome the weight of destiny.
Billy Hell
by Steven Cole Hughes
Opens August 29
Rating: R (for language and adult themes)
Written by Denver playwright and author of 2005’s
hit Slabtown, this western tale follows gunslinger
Silly Billy and his beloved whore (sorry…ex-whore)
Messy Bessy as they high-tail it for Old Mexico to
escape the law. Pursued by a one-eyed bounty hunter
and his sidekick through a fantastical dessert, Billy
and Bessy meet an old-west Vaudevillian, a pair of
French can-can dancers, and a mysterious Mexican guitar
player. This surreal look at the Old West is a mythic
journey that combines music, dark humor, and the ultimate
theological showdown.
Boomtown: Improv Comedy at CRT
Opens July 4
Rating: PG-13
After playing to sold-out houses last season,
CRT’s
resident improv company is back! Guided only by an
audience suggestion and their fertile (and often bizarre)
imaginations, this group of actors performs spontaneously
and totally unscripted. The actors don’t know
if the scenes will be about Siamese twins or evil Smurfs,
Irish chips and salsa or Human-Gorilla marriages. All
they know for sure is that it will be original, funny,
and inspired by you.
The Creede Initiative Children’s
Show
by Jeff Carey
Opens July 2
Rating: G (all audiences)
The creators of the critically-acclaimed Lullaby Bay and Emelia’s
Tree are once again bringing thoughtful and original
children’s theatre to Creede. This year, they
invite you to join Scruff Turbo on her Sci-Fi adventure
through space. Last year The Denver Post named Lullaby
Bay, “one of the top ten must-see plays” that
year. For children of all ages, this year’s show
is sure to be an amazing experience and one of the
highlights of the season.
Meet the Beasts: The Fables of Aesop
and La Fontaine
Book and Lyrics by Jeff Carey
Music by Jessica Jackson
Opens May 24
Rating: G (all audiences)
This hilarious new children’s musical is
high-spirited entertainment for kids and adults alike.
Join the “fabulous fabulists” Aesop and
Fontaine as they sing, clown, and scramble their
way through some of the most enduring fables the
world has ever known. With unstoppable energy and
fresh humor, this touching journey of friendship
makes ancient stories seem brand new.
