COME TO THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19: Please join us Monday, October 19, for Miners Alley Playhouse’s Industry Night performance of “Good Night, Oscar,” a regional premiere of the recent Broadway hit starring Sean Hayes. Here, Denver’s own award-winning David Nehls plays as the legendary Oscar Levant. Broadway composer, Hollywood actor, concert pianist and witty wild card on-screen and off. He did it all, but it was never enough. Set over one unforgettable night in 1958, this deeply moving drama explores the cost of genius, and the fine line between brilliance and madness. Miners Alley has made an extraordinary commitment to designating one show of every run as a benefit for the DAF, generating an existential total of more than $100,000 just since 2021. We can’t make it any clearer than this: No Miners Alley, no Denver Actors Fund. Just astonishing. We are so grateful to Len Matheo, Lisa DeCaro, Jonathan Scott-McKean, (director!) Warren Sherrill, Heather Beasley, Amy Arpan, cast and crew, and the volunteers and audiences who make it so magical. Not to mention the bartending staff, who donate their tips to the cause. We love you all! Miners Alley Playhouse is located at 1100 Miners Alley in Golden. Tickets are only $25 this performance only MONDAY, OCT. 19 at 303-935-3044 or https://minersalley.com.
CAST
• David Nehls, Drew Horwitz, Lisa DeCaro, Matthew Murry, Matthew Combs, Cal Meakins and Jozeph Mykaels
And read John Moore’s column all about David Nehls and the show in The Denver Gazette at denvergazette.com.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26: “That Parenting Musical” is an Off-Broadway musical comedy that chronicles the chaotic, humorous and sleep-deprived reality of raising young children. It was created by Longmont’s own real-life husband-and-wife team of Graham and Kristina Fuller. The show made its New York premiere in 2024 and now has a studio cast album on Joy Machine Records. The album will be released on October 23, and you can join the Denver-based team that started it all with a listening party on Monday. October 26, at the Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 Main St., Littleton. It’s free, with a suggested $10-$20 donation to the Denver Actors Fund. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with a Happy Hour and concessions. The Listening Party begins at 7:30 p.m., including behind-the-scenes insights from The Fullers, music director Dan Graeber and Colorado cast members Scott Rathbun (a DAF Board Member!) and Vidushi Goyal. Additional voices on the recording include Christopher Jackson (George Washington in “𝐻𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛”), Kara Lindsay (“𝑊𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑”), Max Mendoza Crumm (“𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒”) and 2023 Tony Award winner Bonnie Milligan (“𝐾𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝐴𝑘𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑜”). No need to purchase tickets in advance. It’s free!
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4: Our friends at Shifted Lens Theatre Arts will present an Industry Night performance of the super-silly “Stranger Sings, the Parody Musical” to benefit the Denver Actors Fund! Tickets are $25-45 (with an industry discount to come) and are available at events.humanitix.com/stranger-sings. Fifty percent of proceeds will be donated to the Denver Actors Fund! Take a trip back to Hawkins, Indiana: 1983, when times were simpler, hair was bigger and unsupervised children were getting snatched by inter-dimensional creatures. “Stranger Sings” is “an upside-down” take on the hit Netflix series, and all its campy 1980s glory. Join Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Dustin, and the whole Hawkins gang for a night of adventure, thrills, pubescent angst, heavy synth, poor parenting, convoluted love triangles, cheap effects, dancing monsters and maybe, just maybe… justice for Barb. Showtime is 7 p.m. at the new Storyteller Theatre, 9905 E. Colfax Ave., in Aurora (next to the People’s Building). Remember to choose Wednesday, November 4. Thank you, Lexie Lazear, Matthew Rogers, cast and crew!
Never forget: “You can’t spell America without ‘Erica.’”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30: Our great friends at Firehouse Theater Company have designated their Industry Night performance of “Chicken & Biscuits” as a benefit, with 100 percent of all proceeds donated to the Denver Actors Fund! Douglas Lyons’ regional-premiere play follows an extended, high-spirited Black family coming together to grieve, heal and try not to tear each other apart over family drama and surprises. It’s directed by Adrienne Martin-Fullwood. This continues Firehouse Producing Artistic Director Helen Hand’s steadfast commitment to designate one performance of every run with 100 PERCENT of proceeds donated to the DAF. Thank you to all involved, including Helen, Megan Davis, Julie Wolf, cast, crew, creatives and staff for helping the DAF continue to help Colorado theater artists! Tickets ($21 this night only) at firehousetheatercompany.ticketspice.com/chicken-biscuits – and be sure to choose MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30! Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. at the John Hand Theater (located in the Colorado Free University building in Lowry) — 7653 E. 1st Place.And If you can’t join us on DAF Night, please support the companies that support us by taking in this fun new play anytime between November 21 and December 20.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7: The new Other Road Theater Project has designated its very first Industry Night as a benefit for the Denver Actors Fund! This special performance of “Venus in Fur” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7, at the new Storyteller Theater, 9905 E. Colfax Ave in Aurora. Other Road will donate 20% of ticket sales from this performance to the DAF. David Ives’ two-person play follows a frustrated playwright who is auditioning actresses for his adaptation of a 19th-century sadomasochistic novel. As a seemingly unqualified Vanda begins to read for the part, the boundary between reality and the play-within-a-play dissolves into a seductive power struggle over dominance and gender roles. Show information and tickets (pay what you can, $20-$42) are available at https://www.theotherroadtheater.com/upcomingproductions/venusinfurMONDAY, DECEMBER 21: Please join us for Town Hall Arts Center’s Industry Night performance of “BIG the Musical,” based on the hit Tom Hanks film. Our friends at Town Hall are continuing their incredible commitment to designate one performance per run with 100 percent of all proceeds from ticket and concession sales to be donated to The Denver Actors Fund. Little Josh Baskin discovers there is truth to the adage “Be careful what you wish for…” when he finds an enchanted Zoltar machine at his hometown carnival. That night, after wishing to be big, he goes to bed a 12-year-old boy and wakes up a 30-year-old man! Overnight, Josh is thrust into adulthood, complete with a full-time job, office shenanigans, backstabbing business partners, and the devastating realization that awkward romantic misunderstandings are ageless. Town Hall is located at 2450 Main St. in Littleton. Tickets are only $22 (normally as much as $52). Reserve your seats at 303-794-2787 or townhallartscenter.org/event/daf-performance-big-the-musical. Thank you to Robert Michael Sanders, Matthew Kepler, Steven J. Burge, the Town Hall Board of Directors, cast, crew, and all of you who attend. You are helping Town Hall top help the DAF help Colorado theater artists in medical need. That’s BIG! THANK YOU ALL!
FOR YOUR PLANNING: Here are some future dates planned in support of the Denver Actors Fund:
- February 1, 2027: Town Hall Arts Center’s “Once Upon a One More Time”
- Monday, February 15, 2027: Firehouse Theater’s “Hollywood, Nebraska”
- April 5, 2027: Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Addams Family”
- Monday, April 12, 2027: Firehouse Theater’s “Alabaster”
- May 17, 2027: Town Hall Arts Center’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”
- Monday, June 7, 2027: Firehouse Theater’s “”Spirit Level”
ONGOING: “Waiting for Obama,” the audio version of DAF Founder John Moore’s play that was an official selection at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, has been released as way of raising funds for The Denver Actors Fund. A Colorado Springs family is convinced that Barack Obama is coming for their guns in the final weeks of his presidency – and they’re right. Featuring Laurence Curry, Drew Horwitz, Chris Kendall, Leslie O’Carroll, Jenna Moll Reyes, Jessica Robblee, Luke Sorge and Mare Trevathan. It was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center as an in-kind donation to The Denver Actors Fund. Listen for FREE on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean. Just by listening, you will be raising revenue for The DAF! Or, WATCH the recording as a pay-per-view video for $9.95 on Broadway on Demand. ‘Waiting for Obama’ was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center and edited by Ray Bailey TV as in-kind donations to The Denver Actors Fund. The actors also donated their services.