Abortion news summons spirit of Ann Richards in local play

Sometimes, when you just don’t know what to do with all your unhealthy energy … you can go see a play for some purging and catharsis.

Cherry Creek Theatre’s current staging of the play “Ann,” a retrospective on the trailblazing life of one-term Texas Gov. Ann Richards, took on an unexpected urgency this week with the leaked news that the Supreme Court is poised to end a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

There on the tiny stage at the Mizel Center stands seasoned Denver actor Martha Harmon Pardee as Richards, issuing a statement to a journalist about Roe v. Wade:

“I think it is really important, not only that we talk about a women’s right to choose – but what about this current attitude toward children who are already on this Earth?” Harmon Pardee says as Richards. “They say, ‘There’s no money to help the children you already have, but we’re gonna force you to have some more you can’t afford.’”

That scene was set … in 1993.

“Ann Richards was frustrated and angry about abortion rights and reproductive choice all the way back then – and here we are 30 years later going backward,” said Harmon Pardee.       

Richards’ life in state politics began when she helped get Sarah Weddington elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1973 – the same year Weddington successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court.

In 1991, Richards became the first woman elected governor of Texas since Ma Ferguson in 1933 – aided, in large part by opponent and millionaire oilman Clayton Williams, who infamously said on the campaign trail: "If one is to be raped, she should simply lay back and enjoy it." 

“Getting more women and minorities actively involved in government that was and remains enmeshed in white male patriarchy was Ann Richards’ crowning glory,” said Harmon Pardee, who is interpreting the news of the week as a call to action from Richards herself:

“We have to stop whining and start participating,” the actor says as Richards in the play. “My Lord, half the country doesn’t even vote. Listen. It's not that good things always happen when good people vote. But it is darn sure that bad things happen when they don't vote.”

“Ann,” written by veteran stage actor Holland Taylor (perhaps best known as Charlie’s mom on the sit-com “Two and a Half Men”) plays through May 15 in the Pluss Theatre at the Mizel Center.

Heeeeere’s … Johnny’s ax!

The iconic ax that Jack Nicholson wielded in chilly pursuit of his family in Stephen King’s “The Shining” was purchased at auction last week for a reported $175,000 — and the anonymous bidder promptly donated it to be the centerpiece of the new Stanley Film Center in Estes Park. The Film Center will be a major film and music entertainment complex on the grounds of the iconic Stanley Hotel, which inspired King to write “The Shining.” Plans call for a museum that will celebrate the horror film genre.

Hometown report

Something kind of phantastic happened at Saturday’s matinee performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway: All three of the enduring musical’s leading ladies were from metro Denver: Elizabeth Welch (Rangeview High School and the University of Colorado Boulder) as Christine, Rebecca Eichenberger (Denver East High School) as Madame Giry and Patricia Phillips (George Washington High School) as Carlotta. (She made earlier history as the first woman of color to ever play that role.) …

Greeley West grad Alex Esola, who performed with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in the summers of 2013 and ‘14, plays Hank in the new movie “Tankhouse,” which will be released May 13. It’s a comedy about a hardcore, hopelessly pretentious thespian couple who get blackballed from the New York theater scene and move to Fargo, N.D., “to start a theatrical revolution.” The cast includes Richard Kind and Christopher Lloyd.

Tucker Shaw’s new novel

Tucker Shaw, who grew up in Denver and served as Dining Critic, Food Editor and Arts Editor at The Denver Post from 2006-14, has released his eagerly awaited book “When You Call My Name,” a heartrending novel about two gay teens coming of age in New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1990. Says one review: “It’s a book for anyone who cherishes unforgettable books.”

Bobby G Awards are back

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ eighth annual Bobby G Awards – a Colorado high-school variation on the Tony Awards, returns May 26 to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Judges have adjudicated musicals at 41 Colorado high schools, and winners of the top two individual categories – Outstanding Actor and Actress – will move on to the national Jimmy Awards in New York. The host of the Bobby G’s will be Abby Lehrer, who won the Outstanding Lead Actress award in 2018 and most recently competed on “American Idol.” View the full nominee list at denvercenter.org.

The problem with ‘The Northman’

Mathias Nordvig, a professor of Nordic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, is not a fan of Robert Egger’s new Hollywood blockbuster “The Northman,” starring Nicole Kidman and at least two of the many, many Skarsgård brothers. It’s the story of a young Viking prince’s quest to avenge his father's murder. Nordvig says the film and its all-white cast plays into the stereotype of Scandinavians as “bloodthirsty barbarians,” and that the continuing misappropriation of Viking culture fuels nationalism among white supremacy groups. “The idea that Scandinavians represent some kind of superiority – that is, of course, problematic,” Nordvig says. 

Briefly …

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s spring concert, titled "Equinox," will include an a cappella tribute to late co-founder Tom Robinson by Grammy Award-winning Denver jazz artist Dianne Reeves, Friday through Sunday (May 6-8) at cleoparkerdance.org …

The Aurora Fox has announced its 38th season of theater will include the one-woman stage adaptation of Joan Didion’s memoir, “The Year of Magical Thinking” and a new indie-rock musical called  “Futurity” by César Alvarez and his New York-based band, The Lisps. Also: “The Jedi Handbook” by Stephen Massciotte; “Toni Stone” by Lydia R. Diamond; a new musical adaptation of “Treasure Island” and the U.S. premiere of an intentionally lower-cased play called “acts of faith” by David Yee. Information at aurorafox.org.…

It’s been pretty well-chronicled that Denver singer-songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff is living his best life right now. But it can’t possibly get much better than April 28, when Mavis Staples joined The Night Sweats for a set at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans …

There will be a kickoff-party tonight (Thursday) for Denver’s 2022 Cinco De Mayo Festival from 4-11 p.m. at Number Thirty Eight, 3560 Chestnut Place. The lineup includes Los Mocochettes, Voz de la Clave, Colorado Poet Laureate and spoken-word artist Bobby LeFebre and more. The $10 proceeds will benefit the NEWSED Community Foundation …

Fox TV’s  competitive singing show “The Masked Singer” will bring its national tour to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on July 18. A different mystery celebrity, it has been promised, will also be unmasked in every city. Now through Sunday (May 8) you can buy one ticket and get a second free at axs.com.

In Memoriam

Gene GeBauer, who performed in six Broadway musicals including “Hello Dolly!” with Carol Channing, died Sunday at age 87. The husband of local playwright Judy GeBauer was a legend at Destination Dance in Arvada, where he taught five classes a week well into his 80s …

Walter Newton, a key figure for the Morrison Theatre Company and its 2003 transition into Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden, died April 20. Newton wrote the company’s 2004 adaptation of “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden'' and its 2006 adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984,” sometimes playing small roles himself. At the time, I wrote that “Rose Garden” was perhaps the most significant undertaking – and accomplishment – in the company’s 15-year history. Most recently, Newton worked as a writer and editor at The Flume newspaper in Bailey until his retirement in 2020. A memorial gathering is planned for May 15 at his home in Conifer.