All stories by Lisa Kennedy on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Phamaly’s “Vox Vergere” celebrates our various identities with eight one-act plays by Lisa Kennedy

In attending Phamaly productions, audiences of shared and varied abilities can’t help but be changed or at least challenged.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:25AM
Friday, September 30, 2022

In two fiercely acted regional theater premieres, the kids are anything but all right by Lisa Kennedy

With the recent openings of “The Children” and “Dry Land,” area theaters continue to launch their seasons on a high note -- or, depending on how you look at it, a culturally attuned …

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:37AM
Friday, September 23, 2022

“The Chinese Lady” is witty and wincing as it puts questions of humanity on display by Lisa Kennedy

Audience members have grown used to the clever ways that theaters make requests to silence all devices, unwrap candies and otherwise zip it in a show’s prologue. But the Denver Center Thea…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:33AM

Arvada Center offers bewitching reasons to head “Into the Woods” by Lisa Kennedy

The word this summer out of a pandemic-bruised Broadway was promising. The Encores! production of “Into the Woods” wowed and charmed. The news closer to home is even more welcome.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:33AM
Friday, September 16, 2022

Curious launches its season with Will Arbery’s Catholicism-wrestling “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” by Lisa Kennedy

Audiences might find “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” --  at the Curious Theatre Company through Oct. 15 -- rattling. And not merely because a few times during the drama, an ear-splitting…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:55AM
Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Denver’s fall theater season jam-packed with premieres, blockbusters and immersive fun by Lisa Kennedy

Something feels different -- dare we say assured? -- about this fall’s theater season. At the opening night of the thrilling “Hadestown” at the Denver Performing Arts Complex on Tuesda…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Monday, August 29, 2022

Curious Theatre Company celebrates its 25th year with a major change at the top by Lisa Kennedy

There’s an art to letting go, and Curious Theatre's Chip Walton and Dee Covington are deep into the practice of it.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Theater review: “Puerto Rican Nocturne” at Bug Theatre features rich performances in a tragic tale by Lisa Kennedy

Colorado Springs-based playwright Jon Marcantoni Rosa based his drama in part on writer Manuel Suarez’s book “Two Lynchings on Cerro Maravilla.”

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:24AM
Friday, July 22, 2022

Theater reviews: “Dance Nation” swings at Black Box, while “Gypsy” at Vintage trips up by Lisa Kennedy

For the briefest moment these girls -- and one boy -- from Liverpool, Ohio, do their darndest in a studio where camaraderie can be true but also mercurial.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Friday, June 3, 2022

The hero and his squire ride again in the Denver Center’s vibrant production of “Quixote Nuevo” by Lisa Kennedy

It’s tempting to say that Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote never gets old. But aging is very much the point in playwright Octavio Solís’ “Quixote Nuevo” on stage at the…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:42AM
Friday, May 6, 2022

Review: “Choir Boy” deals with privilege, entitlement, coming out and homophobia by Lisa Kennedy

Tarell Alvin McCraney, co-writer of Oscar-winning feature “Moonlight," brings his Broadway play to the Denver Center.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 10:12AM
Thursday, April 21, 2022

COVID, protests wreaked havoc on Colorado’s theater scene. The outcome? Thrilling, smart, messy productions by Lisa Kennedy

When Local Theater Company launches the 11th installment of its Spring Lab this weekend at Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center, the three-day festival of staged readings of new works, conversation…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:42AM
Friday, April 15, 2022

Review: In “Flyin’ West,” four Black women hold fast to their chunk of Kansas prairie by Lisa Kennedy

Just how vulnerable the pursuit of happiness could be for Blacks during Reconstruction is on aching and wry display in Pearl Cleage’s “Flyin’ West.” So, too, is the tenacity of the l…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:42AM
Friday, March 25, 2022

Review: “Refuge” is a gripping border story that focuses on people, not politics by Lisa Kennedy

In “Refuge,” the haunting and grounded new play at Curious Theatre Company, someone we care about will die. That is not a spoiler so much as an acknowledgment that the territory on which…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:42AM
Thursday, March 17, 2022

The audacity of “Lucy Negro Redux” ballet, coming to the Newman Center by Lisa Kennedy

The ballet comes through Denver March 29 and 30.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:03AM
Friday, March 4, 2022

Catch some rising stars this weekend at the Colorado New Play Summit by Lisa Kennedy

Two days before the start of this year’s Colorado New Play Summit in late February, the Denver Center’s Robert & Judi Newman building downtown was a hive of creativity. Four studios …

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Thursday, February 24, 2022

Review: Painful things are afoot in the world premiere of “In the Upper Room” at Denver Center by Lisa Kennedy

“In the Upper Room” ends in much the way it begins. To say more would be to spoil a bold gesture, one that had an audience member exclaim loudly, “Oh, my God!”

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:12AM
Monday, February 7, 2022

DCPA musical “Rattlesnake Kate” tells the tale of one of Colorado’s most heroic women by Lisa Kennedy

In 2019, Neyla Pekarek, the former singer and cellist in the indie-rock band the Lumineers, released “Rattlesnake,” a solo album celebrating the restlessness and boldness. Now, she's tur…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 10:12AM
Friday, January 21, 2022

Review: George and Martha return in Denver Center revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Lisa Kennedy

A revival worth its salt should always bring fresh revelations, even when it’s set in a bygone era. In “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at the Denver Center, that discovery comes by…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:42AM
Thursday, November 11, 2021

“Eddie and Dave” is a gender-bent play about the founding, rise and struggles of the iconic Van Halen by Lisa Kennedy

Listening to the first three songs on Van Halen’s self-titled debut album will tell you much of what you need to know heading into “Eddie and Dave,” a gender-bent play about the foundi…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:32AM
Thursday, November 4, 2021

Curious Theatre explores POC experience with police in “American Son” by Lisa Kennedy

They didn’t see the Broadway production of “American Son” together, but Jada Suzanne Dixon and Chip Walton had the same response as each watched the drama about an estranged interracia…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:12AM
Thursday, October 14, 2021

Racism in America and RBG: These local theater productions will rock you to your core by Lisa Kennedy

“Mama.” that’s the first word spoken in Benchmark Theatre’s riling and deftly performed world premiere of “Elephant.” Actually, "spoken" is inaccurate: "cried out" is more like i…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 11:48AM
Thursday, September 30, 2021

Reviews: “Hundred Days” and “I Do! I Do!” offer scenes from two marriages by Lisa Kennedy

In the sweetly unique musical “Hundred Days” -- on stage at the Aurora Fox -- two lovers cycle through their years as a couple not by growing old in front of the audience but by cramming…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Thursday, September 23, 2021

Review: What’s the truth in Curious Theatre Company’s “The Lifespan of a Fact”? by Lisa Kennedy

There’s a telling moment that comes late in the “The Lifespan of a Fact” on stage --  make that on stage! --  at the Curious Theatre Company, through Oct. 16.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 09:03AM
Monday, September 20, 2021

With “Sojourners Project,” a new theatrical journey begins in Colorado  by Lisa Kennedy

Alicia Young had a dream. (Actually, she had a few.) The actor-activist-director-theater maven was sitting at a cafe in Denver’s Whittier neighborhood recently talking about the inspiratio…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:42AM
Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Fall theater preview: The show must (OK, might) go on by Lisa Kennedy

The curtain rises. (Or the laptop warms up, hitched to a nice-sized monitor.) The theatergoers gather, masked and in-person. (Or sit at home, feet on the coffee table and no protocols to kee…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:42AM
Friday, September 3, 2021

Review: Miners Alley Playhouse “Before You Go” is a worthwhile drama by Lisa Kennedy

"Before You Go" at Miners Alley Playhouse runs through Sept. 19. There's a burst of energy before it settles into something often clever and at times quietly commanding.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:32AM
Thursday, August 12, 2021

How a Denver-based rapper, theater company teamed up to create Phamaly’s “Alice in Wonderland” by Lisa Kennedy

It seems so obvious in retrospect, the pairing of a talented Denver-based rapper with an ace local theater company on an original production. But then, that’s how the best no-brainers ofte…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:48AM
Monday, August 9, 2021

Documenting Colorado, on stage: “Wild Fire,” “CO2020” and “Sojourner” telling our stories by Lisa Kennedy

“Wild Fire” is the latest addition to a growing number of productions foregrounding the stories of Coloradans by conducting fresh interviews, mining oral histories and/or diving into arc…

SOURCE: Denver Post at 08:36AM
Thursday, December 6, 2018

Theater Review: Diorama drama and laughs in Buntport’s latest “Coyote. Badger. Rattlesnake.” by Lisa Kennedy

Created in collaboration with local playwright Ellen K. Graham, Buntport's latest "Coyote. Badger. Rattlesnake" brings drama and laughs.

SOURCE: Denver Post at 07:04PM
Monday, February 19, 2018

Review: Denver Center's "The Great Leap"through March 11th scores with a tale of hoop dreams and hardwood diplomacy by Lisa Kennedy

In Lauren Yee's world premiere production directed by Eric Ting - punctuated with Saul's (BOB ARI) and Manford's (LINDEN TAILOR) bluster - "The Great Leap" asserts a quiet, beautifully unexp…

SOURCE: theknow.denverpost.com at 05:04PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards