PROMO: Showtune

HERMAN'S HITS: Lee Ann Scherlong, Keither Hershman, Deb Curtis, Kris Graves, Melinda Catherine-Gross and Michael Nicosia bring the Broadway tunes of Jerry Herman to life in Spotlight Theatre's production of "Showtune: Celebrating the Words & Music of Jerry Herman," performing through September 25 at Denver's John Hand Theatre. Photo credit: Brian Miller.

The works of Jerry Herman, one of Broadway's pre-eminent tunesmiths, will be showcased in the musical revue "Showtune: Celebrating the Words & Music of Jerry Herman," presented by Spotlight Theatre at the John Hand Theater in Denver, August 28-September 25.

Herman is responsible for the iconic tunes and witty lyrics for "Hello Dolly!," "Mame," and "La Cage aux Folles." He's less well known for the worthy musical "Mack & Mabel," "Milk and Honey," additional songs for "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine," and of course the title song from the film "Barney's Great Adventure." Two songs from "Hello Dolly!" were featured prominently in the film "WALL-E."

Herman has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice.

Performances of "Showtune" are at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, through September 25. Tickets are $18-$20. Call 720-880-8727 or visit online at http://www.thisisspotlight.org/.

PROMO: Denver Center unleashes "Tap Dogs"

Every performer wants to leave his or her mark on the world. The cast of "Tap Dogs" will do their level best to leave their mark -- and dents -- on the stage floor of the Buell Theatre when the high-voltage dance show returns for eight performances only, September 21-26.

"Tap Dogs" is described as a rocking theatrical event (which means REALLY LOUD) that is part theater, part dance, part rock concert, and a rough, tough and rocking reinvention of tap, performed by an all-male cast on a construction site scaffolding set.

The show was created by Australian choroegrapher Dein Perry in 1995. Since then it has toured to 330 cities worldwide, with more than 12 million seats old.

"Tap Dogs" is loud, fast, and athletic. It's fueled by testosterone, loaded with (male) sex appeal, and oozing machismo. If that's your kind of thing, check it out. "Tap Dogs" certainly makes an impression, and not just on the floor.

For more information on "Tap Dogs," visit http://www.tapdogs.com/. For information and reservations, call 303-893-4100 or visit http://www.denvercenter.org/.

PROMO: Denver Vic engages in "Tomfoolery"

**UPDATE: "Tomfoolery" has been extended to run through September 11, 2010.**

Paula Jayne Friedland, Henrik Boes (back), Amanda Goldrick (front) and Clark Bomer Brittain star in the witty and sarcastic Tom Lehrer musical revue "Tomfoolery" at the Denver Victorian Playhouse. Photo by Wade P. Wood.

There's something subversive going on in a dark north Denver basement that threatens to unhinge the stiff upper lips of grim Americans who have been brainwashed and hung out to dry by years of fear-mongering news coverage and hate politics. There's no secret password to get in, and you don't need to wear a disguise, but you will want to bring $20, to cover the price of admission and a donation for snacks.

The Denver Victorian Playhouse presents "Tomfoolery," a musical revue showcasing the witty, clever, and darkly humorous songs of 50s and 60s icon Tom Lehrer, through August 28. The music and lyrics are so fresh, lively and relevant, it's hard to believe this material is 40 years old. But then, so are the Smothers Brothers' routines. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.

Whether they know it or not, a new generation is ready for an injection of Lehrer's offbeat, twisted, yet surprisingly upbeat songs. And we "old timers" could use a booster shot. The cast of four wasn't even born when I was singing along with Lehrer's sly, bouncy voice to such memorable hits as the outrageous "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," irreverent "The Vatican Rag," and the apocalyptic "We Will All Go Together When We Go." How many of us could gleefully sing every word of "The New Math" and "The Elements" (the periodic table set to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major General's Song" from "Pirates of Penzance) without having a clue what it meant?

Not since the 60s has this country needed such a healthy dose of satirical musical humor to help us break out of our terror-induced paralysis, shake the numbness from our overstimulated brains, take a step back, look at the absurdity of our situation and laugh. Tom Lehrer's "Tomfoolery" is just the tonic.

Intrigued? Check out the Denver Vic's video clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqSe5TgsCAU.

"Tomfoolery" plays Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 1 p.m. through September 11 at the Denver Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker Street, Denver. Tickets are $18. Call 303-433-4343 or visit http://www.denvervic.com/ for information and reservations.

REVIEW: PHAMALY presents Disney's Beauty and the Beast

BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN THE BEAST. Jenna Bainbridge as Belle and Leonard E. Barrett Jr. as Beast in PHAMALY's terrific and tender production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast." Photo Credit: Michael Ensminger

I've seen several productions of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast." I've loved them all, and for different reasons. The national touring production had all the magic and spectacle of a high-ticket blockbuster musical. A high school production I attended was filled with youthful "Broadway wannabe" enthusiasm, with rented sets and costumes "just like the real thing."

I'm going to see "Beauty/Beast" every chance I get, and not just because it has truly great music and lyrics, a funny, touching story, memorable characters and a redemptive theme. "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" is one of those rare musicals where WHO is doing the show is just as important as HOW it's performed.

But no matter how many different productions I see, I will always remember and cherish PHAMALY's current version, performing at The Space Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex through August 15, and at the Arvada Center August 26-27.

Now celebrating its 21st season, PHAMALY is a Colorado-based theater company comprised entirely of performers with a wide variety of physical challenges. The company's mission is "to enable persons with disabilities to showcase their talents and abilities through live performance and to make the performing arts more accessible to everyone."

In this production, we have the perfect marriage of material, venue and talent. With just a couple of tweaks, PHAMALY has made "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" a savvy, emotionally wrenching and ultimately transcendant work of art.

A blind young prince (Jaylen Dionta James) is spoiled by having everything done for him. His learned helplessness turns inward to narcissism and contempt for others. An enchantress (Twanna LaTrice Hill) curses (or maybe blesses) the prince by transforming him into a hideous, frightful beast and gives him the ultimate challenge: learn to love and be loved or die. It's that simple. The Beast's household servants, who had enabled the young prince, gradually lose their humanity and are slowly morphing into household objects, a further consequence of their codependent relationship with the emotionally disabled prince.

Fast forward a few years and Belle (Jenna Bainbridge), is treated as different and strange because she is intelligent and likes to read. Her eccentric inventor father (David J. Wright) assures her that "special" is good, if you are loved. The local bully (Stephen Hahn) wants to possess Belle, but circumstances, and perhaps fate, conspire to make Belle a prisoner of the brooding Beast (Leonard Barrett Jr.). She finds allies in the household servants, including a frisky chandelier (Daniel Traylor), a fussy clock (Mark Dissette), teapot and teacup (Kathleen Traylor, Molly Nash), an opera-singing wardrobe (Jodi Hogle) and a teasing feather duster (Lyndsay Giraldi-Palmer).

Over the course of the show, Belle begins to tame the savage Beast and bring out his true, noble nature, but time is running out for them both.

PHAMALY's artistic team is superb, with director Steve Wilson revealing deep and compelling insights into the material uniquely relevant to a cast with various disabilities, drawing out highly affecting and nuanced performances from fantastical characters, managing a large cast with many entrances, exits and scene changes, while staging a large scale musical in the round. It's a superhuman task, and Wilson succeeds beautifully. Co-choreographers Debbie Stark and Cindy Bray, along with fight choreographer Mark Dissette, seamlessly integrate varying abilities and even powered wheelchairs into a graceful, action-packed, show-stopping and spectacular theatrical achievement.

Bainbridge melts hearts instantly as the lovely and sensitive Belle, and Barrett is a uniquely sympathetic Beast. Traylor and Dissette are a hoot as the sidekicks, and Hahn is appropriately brutish as Gaston. Taking a role that is usually little more than a buffoon and punching bag for Gaston, Regan Linton transforms Lefou into a witty, complex and fascinating character, who elicits cheers and applause in the climactic battle.

The company has elected to list their various disabilities in the cast bios section of the program. I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I wouldn't want to be identified by my disability. On the other hand, I wouldn't want an audience to sit around wondering "what's wrong" with this one, or that one. Better to just get it out in the open and move on, I suppose. I can't help feeling admiration for the cast considering the kinds of scary-sounding conditions these performers have overcome in order to thoroughly entertain their appreciative audience.

PHAMALY's production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" is a tremendous accomplishment, a celebration of achievement and overcoming daunting challenges. The event transcends the mere performance of a show. I daresay there's something holy about the whole experience, perhaps giving all of us, like the Beast, a chance to become a little more human.

PHAMALY presents "Disney’s Beauty and the Beast" at the Space Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex Friday/Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through Aug. 15, also 2 p.m. Aug. 14; Tickets are $30 adults, $28 senior/students ($99 four-pack available). Tickets for the Circle of Stars Gala at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5 are $75. Call 303-893-4100 for tickets, or visit http://www.phamaly.org/.