A woman taking on an army of rattlesnakes, the return of a Christmastime staple and fresh takes on literary classics are all on tap for the 2020-2021 lineup for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ regional theater division.
The new season begins Sept. 18, 2020, and will offer nine mainstage shows. It opens with “Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous,” a play by Pearl Cleage about an actress trying to find her way back into the limelight.
Other highlights include the world premiere of the musical “Rattlesnake Kate.” The show’s music and lyrics are by Colorado musician, singer and songwriter Neyla Pekarek, formerly of the band The Lumineers, and the book is by playwright Karen Hartman. It’s inspired by the story of a Colorado frontierswoman who, about a century ago, battled 140 rattlesnakes to save her son.
Also headlining the new season is the return of “A Christmas Carol,” which took a hiatus in 2019 due to theater renovations, as well as a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s comedy “Emma” and Aaron Sorkin’s theatrical take on the Harper Lee novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“I love that this season brings American classics back into the mix, that several of these stories give us an opportunity to speak immediately to the moment we are living in, and that we continue stretching our relationships across this region,” DCPA Theatre Company artistic director Chris Coleman said in a release. “And, of course, I’m personally excited to be part of the team that is bringing a new musical about a Colorado legend to life here at the Denver Center.”
Here’s the full season:
- “Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous”: Sept. 18 - Oct. 25, 2020
- “Light Up the Sky”: Oct. 2 - Nov. 1, 2020
- “A Christmas Carol”: Nov. 25 - Dec. 27, 2020
- “The Children”: Jan. 8 - Feb. 14, 2021
- “In the Upper Room”: Jan. 22 - Feb. 28, 2021 (world premiere)
- “Rattlesnake Kate”: Feb. 5 - May 14, 2021 (world premiere)
- “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”: April 2 - May 16, 2021
- “Emma”: April 23 - May 23, 2021
- “Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles”: May 14 - June 13, 2021
- “To Kill a Mockingbird”: July 13 - Aug. 1, 2021
Renewing subscribers can reserve season subscriptions now. New subscriptions will be available for purchase starting March 9, 2020. Single tickets will go on sale at a later time.
