OnStage Colorado podcast

It’s spooky season on the OnStage Colorado Podcast. Alex Miller and Toni Tresca catch up on what they’ve seen lately, then round up the state’s haunted theatre, from Sweeney Todd to The Witching Hour. Haunted house expert Danielle Riha shares how to pick a haunt, what makes a great scare actor and her top picks. Alex also talks with Regan Linton and Graham Smith about FDR’s Very Happy Hour, making its Denver premiere at the Denver Center.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome
02:08 What we’ve seen lately
12:41 OnScreen Colorado update
14:15 News and notes
20:45 Spooky season Colorado Headliners
34:21 Haunted houses with Danielle Riha
1:06:20 Interview: Regan Linton and Graham Smith
1:30:26 Coming up and wrap-up

Subscribe to the OnStage Colorado Weekly Blast at onstagecolorado.com.

The Kennedy Center has been in the headlines for more than a year: a board takeover, the president's name added to the building and then removed under court order, and a planned two-year closure. On this bonus episode, Alex Miller talks with Nicole Hertvik, editor of DC Theater Arts, about what the center meant to Washington, what's been lost and the wider pressures facing DC's roughly 80 professional theatres. Nicole also explains how her nonprofit site trains new critics and shares her picks for a DC-area theatre road trip.

00:00 — Introduction
 01:57 — Meet Nicole Hertvik
 02:57 — The Kennedy Center in normal times
 05:01 — The end of Shear Madness
06:31 — A community touchstone
09:18 — How we got here
13:40 — The name, the tarp and the shutdown
14:58 — Hands Around the Kennedy Center
16:31 — Pressures on DC theatre
18:43 — DC as a theatre destination
20:30 — Inside DC Theater Arts
24:06 — Political plays in a political town?
25:57 — Theatre road-trip picks
28:42 — The best-case outcome
31:01 — Wrap-up

Find DC Theater Arts at dctheaterarts.org, and OnStage Colorado at onstagecolorado.com.

This month, Alex and Toni tackle the question everyone's asking: what does AI mean for theatre? They dig into the Tilly Norwood "AI actress" controversy, SAG-AFTRA's pushback, and where companies should (and shouldn't) use AI tools in design, marketing, and criticism — plus a surprising listener story about ChatGPT quoting Toni's own review back at her. Along the way: recent reviews of Misery, The Outsiders, Les Misérables, Gypsy, and Brindlewood; news on Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company's sold-out streak and the Denver Center's community open house; and an interview with Anne Penner and Brian Pertl on DU's new Lamont School of Music and Theatre. Plus your Colorado Headliners for the weeks ahead.

In this episode:

• The Denver Center's community open house, with a clip from Mayor Mike Johnston
• Where OSC draws the line on AI in journalism and criticism
• Interview: Anne Penner & Brian Pertl on the Lamont School of Music and Theatre merger
• Colorado Headliners: The Weir, The Tempest, The Catastrophist, and more

In this episode of the Onstage Colorado Podcast, hosts Toni Tresca and Alex Miller dive into the upcoming fall theater season in Colorado with a look all around the state at the musicals, comedies, plays, world premieres, and more coming up. Later in the episode, Toni interviews Chris Collins-Pisano, who plays four different parts in the Broadway touring production of Spamelot, now on at the Denver Center Buell Theater. 

In a bonus episode recorded on location in Creede, OnStage Colorado sits down with the Creede Repertory Theatre's artistic director and a first-time ensemble member to talk localized theatre, repertory acting and more.

Chapter summary

• 00:01 — Intro: a bonus episode recorded on location in Creede for CRT's 61st summer season
• 01:18 — Meeting Emily Van Fleet and Noelia Antweiler (and Noelia's on-the-way baby)
• 04:09 — How the season's theme, All in a Day's Work, ties together Working, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Moriarty and Fully Committed
• 08:26 — Noelia on playing Schwartzy in Spelling Bee and Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson and Cartwright in Moriarty
• 11:36 — Casting adults as authentic kids, not caricatures
• 16:10 — Emily on her second season, doubling as managing director, and her dad Philip Sneed's parallel career at the Arvada Center
• 18:35 — How CRT casts nationally: EPAs, 800 video submissions and a monthslong callback process
• 19:45 — Why Noelia wanted to work at Creede for years
• 20:51 — The reward — and the trap — of repertory acting
• 22:26 — Life on Main Street during a Creede summer
• 24:13 — Beyond the mainstage: Boomtown Improv, the Kid Show program and the bilingual Young Audience Outreach Tour
• 27:12 — The Headwaters New Play program
• 28:17 — An update on the Creede USA documentary
• 29:22 — What's next for Noelia: motherhood, then Liberation at BETC
• 31:01 — Where to eat, hike and explore around Creede
• 34:58 — Alex and Toni's takeaways on all four shows
• 37:51 — First impressions of the town itself
• 43:05 — Wrap-up and what's ahead for the podcast

Summer camp for theatre critics, a community theatre showdown and our top 10 Colorado Headliners

Toni's back from two weeks at the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, where 14 working critics from around the country spent every day seeing shows, writing overnight reviews and having their work critiqued by peers and program director Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune. He shares what he learned about writing leaner reviews, leading with a clear opinion, staying "on the side of the art" and why the future of arts journalism looks a lot like what we're building here at OnStage Colorado.

Plus, Alex talks with Shane DeLavan, board president of the Colorado Community Theater Coalition, about the Colorado Theatre Festival coming to the Historic Elitch Theatre in Denver Aug. 14-16 — how adjudication works, why this cycle year could send two companies to regionals and how to attend or compete. Details at cctcfestival.org.

And as always: the best things we've seen lately, our top 10 Colorado headliners and a preview of our theatre road trip to Creede.

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome and episode preview

01:26 – Best things we've seen: 'Shakespeare in Love' at CSF, 'Sinners' at Red Rocks, plus review crew reports from Aspen, Breckenridge and Central City Opera

06:04 – Main topic: Inside the National Critics Institute — daily reviews, peer critiques and the three audiences every critic writes for

14:09 – "On the side of the art": cheerleaders, haters and how to assign blame (hint: it's usually the director)

25:02 – First time in a newsroom, plus lessons from film, food and dance critics

30:58 – The state of arts journalism and why local platforms are the answer

36:59 – Interview: Shane Delavan on the CCTC's Colorado Theatre Festival, Aug. 14-16 at the Historic Elitch Theatre

59:22 – Top 10 headliners: 'Around the World in 80 Days' (Buntport), 'Grease' (Theatre Aspen), 'The Yeomen of the Guard' (Empire Lyric Players), 'Henry V' (Telluride Theatre), 'Dames at Sea' (Butte Theater), 'Honky Tonk Angels' (Little Theatre of the Rockies), 'Matilda' (Candlelight), 'The Witch' (BETC), Thingamajig Theatre's summer season and 'Dear Jack, Dear Louise' (Vintage Theatre)

1:11:12 – Upcoming reviews and our Creede road trip, July 17-19

1:14:45 – Offstage: 'Bridesmaids' at Red Rocks, Nolan's 'The Odyssey,' 'Silo' season 4 and 'The Invite'

Subscribe to the OnStage Colorado Weekly Blast newsletter at onstagecolorado.com for reviews, news and detailed calendar listings every Thursday.

Alex and Toni dig into the 20th annual Henry Award nominations from the Colorado Theatre Guild — 168 nominations across 24 categories, with the ceremony set for July 20 at the Arvada Center. 

The Denver Center combined for 26 nominations across DCTC and the DCPA Cabaret, Lone Tree Arts Center hauled 17 for Nice Work If You Can Get It alone, and Firehouse Theatre landed 14, largely driven by Alabama Story. The guys break down the dominant productions, the geographic spread, the repeat nominees and the notable snubs. They also run through what the review crew has been seeing, share their top 10 Colorado headliners for the coming weeks and catch up on what they've been watching offstage. 

OnStage Colorado is growing. In this monthly episode, Alex Miller and Toni Tresca announce the launch of On Screen Colorado, a new sister site dedicated to covering Colorado's film and TV landscape — from Sundance's arrival in Boulder in January 2027 to the 20+ festivals already happening across the state each year.

The guys also catch up on recent reviews from the OSC crew — including Much Ado About Nothing at Platte Valley Players, English and Somewhere at the DCPA, Mary Jane, Furlough's Paradise, Jagged Little Pill and We Are the Tigers. Plus, Alex sits down with playwright Mia Burnett and Veritas Productions founding artistic director Nancy Evans Begley to talk about Burnett's new play Divine Bull Transformation, opening May 15 at Denver's Mizel Center. And as always, the episode wraps with the top 10 Colorado headliners worth checking out in the coming weeks.

For more Colorado theatre coverage, subscribe to the Theatre Blast newsletter at onstagecolorado.com.

On the first episode of our newly monthly format, Alex and Toni dig into Curious Theatre's sale of its Acoma Street home and temporary move to Cleo Parker Robinson Dance for season 29. Artistic Director Jada Suzanne Dixon joins Alex to walk through what's next for the building, the company and its new lineup. Plus: Buntport's $2.65M capital campaign, season announcements from DCPA, Theatreworks, Upstart Crow and the Colorado New Play Festival, and the shows — from Furlough's Paradise to Madame Butterfly — to put on your calendar this month.

Subscribe to the Theatre Blast newsletter at onstagecolorado.com for weekly Colorado theatre coverage.

A look-ahead to the shows popping up around the state for summer, plus the week’s Top 10 Colorado Headliners

In this episode of the OnStage Colorado Podcast, hosts Alex Miller and Toni Tresca run down some of the latest Colorado theatre news, take a look at what’s ahead for the summer season around the state and also dive into the week’s Top 10 Colorado Headliners. This week’s list:

·      Come From Away, Arvada Center, through May 10

 ·      Ballet Masterworks, Colorado Ballet at Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Center, April 10-18

 ·      Romeo & Juliet, ENT Center, Colorado Springs, April 9-May 3

 ·      White, Firehouse Theater, Denver, April 4-May 3

 ·      The Old Man and the Old Moon], Fort Lewis College, Durango, through April 4

 ·      Shush, Now, Theatre Artibus, The Savoy Denver, March 26-April 12

 ·      Frozen, Springs Ensemble Theatre, Colorado Springs, April 2-19

 ·      the Light vs the Dark, The Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, April 3-5

 ·      The Secret Circus Musical, RISE Comedy, Denver, April 4-5

 ·      Angels in America Part Two, Vintage Theatre, Aurora, April 4-May 10