As We Bid You Farewell
We Thought You'd Like to See What We Were Planning
 for Our 2009 Season
 

We were very excited to be offering two exceptional international productions (from France, Aurélia’s Oratorio and from Spain, Noche Flamenca) as well as two American plays of the highest caliber (Beast on the Moon and Breath and Imagination: The Story of Roland Hayes) this year. All 4 productions as well as our many other 2009 programs would honor “THE FAMILY,” the theme of this year’s festival.

 

CELEBRATION IN MAY – SIBLING REVELRY

 In keeping with the family theme, we invited two extraordinarily talented Broadway sisters, Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway to perform their cabaret, Sibling Revelry at the Cornerstone Arts Center at Colorado College in May. A dinner at Gaylord Hall across the street was planned preceding the performance. This event was to serve as our annual fundraising celebration. Rich Schell and Greg Wragge were the committee chairs, so you know it was going to be a stunning evening. The end of May seemed like the perfect time to stimulate excitement about the Festival since it coincided with opening our ticket sales to the general public. This also allowed us more time to plan such a special event without the crush of so many other commitments in the weeks leading up to and during the Festival.

 

THE DONALD SEAWELL AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE

HONORS THE CHAPLIN-THIÉRRÉE FAMILY
 

As you know, each international festival year we honored one of the world’s greatest theatre luminaries with the Donald Seawell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Jacques LeCoq, Sir Peter Shaffer and Stephen Sondheim were past recipients. Since 2009 was to be dedicated to “family,” this year we planned to honor one of the greatest theatre families of our time, the Chaplin-Thiérrée family. The award was to be presented at the Donald Seawell Award Reception at the home of Jim and Alinda Wikert in September. 

AURÉLIA’S ORATORIO
To open the Festival, Aurélia Thiérrée would perform Aurélia’s Oratorio, a magnificent theatrical circus production directed by her mother, Victoria Chaplin. Victoria is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O’Neill who was the daughter of Eugene O’Neill. Today this family is one of Europe’s leading theatre families and the pride of France.    

 

 

NOCHE FLAMENCA
From Spain, we planned to present Noche Flamenca which is considered today to be Madrid’s premier flamenco company. The New York Times has said, “Noche Flamenca's illustrious Soledad Barrio—in intensely personal, passionate movements—dances as if possessed by the spirit of a Gypsy encampment…She breathes the essence of flamenco.” She has won awards from over a dozen countries for excellence in dance and is considered one of the greatest performers of our time. 

BEAST ON THE MOON
For the first the time in our history, we planned to produce a play in collaboration with Colorado College on the Colorado College campus. Beast on the Moon is an amazing play about a young Armenian immigrant and his young wife written by an American playwright, Richard Kalinoski. This play has garnered many prestigious awards around the world, including five Molière awards (the French equivalent of the Tony award.) Lena Georgas and Omar Metwally, two of our most promising American actors as well as Paul Greenwood from the United Kingdom would have starred in this production.   

BREATH AND IMAGINATION:
THE STORY OF ROLAND HAYES

Our own Daniel Beaty was returning by popular demand for the third time. Daniel has written a poignant new play with music about Roland Hayes, America’s first internationally famous African American tenor. His parents were slaves and Hayes, through determination and hard work, became the highest paid tenor of his time, singing to audiences, including royalty, throughout the world. Breath and Imagination follows Roland Hayes’ amazing relationship with his mother, Angel Moe – an inspiring tale of a man’s journey between two worlds of poverty and privilege. We would be co-producing this with the Hartford Stage Company, one of America’s most innovative award-winning non-profit professional theatres. The Hartford Stage Company’s productions have been recognized by the Tony Awards, the OBIEs, and the New York Critics Circle Awards.

THE WORLD THEATRE INSTITUTE
SINGING WITH THE STARS

Our second annual Singing with the Stars competition was planned for March and April. 50 talented local artists auditioned last year and we expected that to double this year! The winner would have had the opportunity to sing with Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway during their Sibling Revelry show in May.

 

THE WORLD THEATRE FESTIVAL GOES TO SCHOOL

Last, but far from least, The World Theatre Festival Goes to School was returning with a teacher workshop and overnight retreat at The Nature Place in Florissant in April. 60 teachers had registered and planned to each bring 20 students to at least 2 of this year’s festival productions. For a very nominal fee, teachers would also be eligible to earn up to 2 graduate credits for their participation which is a great incentive for high school teachers on very limited salaries. Like last year, an original production highlighting the Festival’s upcoming shows and starring local musical theatre artists was also planned. This production, written by Tim Muldrew, our Company Manager, would tour regional schools to promote the Festival’s programming and help teachers integrate that programming into their curricula. 1500 students saw last year’s production, Something Wonderful, a great way to stimulate younger audiences’ enthusiasm for the arts.

 

STREET THEATRE, INTERNSHIPS, WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS AND CONVERSATIONS

Street Theatre, internships, workshops, seminars and conversations with visiting theatre luminaries were planned to complete this year’s programming. We were also planning pre-show lectures by Marian Wright Edelman, a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), Robert Skloot, whose past seminars on “Theatre and the Holocaust” have been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Dr. Frances Pilch, USAFA International Politics Professor.
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We are very proud of our many accomplishments the past five years and thank you for your support, attendance and belief in our vision. We wish you all the very best.

The Board and Staff
of the Colorado Festival of World Theatre
2003-2009