Afterthought Theatre Company bound for Dayton Street theater

Photo courtesy of the Afterthought Theatre Company

A new theater troupe will take the stage at the former Shadow Theatre building in the coming months, hoping to reinvent the Dayton Street facility as a thriving community arts center.

Representatives from Cornerstone Equity, the investment company that owns the 9,400-square-foot building off East Colfax Avenue, announced this weekend that the Afterthought Theatre Company will stage three or four productions at the theater in the next six months. Founded last year by Reynelda Snell and Cris Davenport, the Afterthought has received critical acclaim for their stagings of dramas like “The Meeting” by Jeff Stetson and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” by Ntozake Shange.

K2 cast and crew prepping to scale the summit

I had the chance to sit in on tech rehearsals for the Aurora Fox's upcoming production of Patrick Meyers' "K2," a cliffhanger in the truest sense of the word. The play's two lead actors divide their stage time between scaling a 17-foot wall and sharing a cramped wooden platform in the Aurora Fox's black box theater, set pieces designed to summon the perilous feel of a mountain that towers about 28,251 feet.
Watching actors William Hahn and Jude Moran prep for the technical challenges of the production was nerve-wracking enough; hooking up to the harness and scaling the massive set piece myself only added adrenaline to the experience.
Here are a few shots of the weekend rehearsals; look for a longer story about the show and its technical challenges in next week's Sentinel.

"Rent" at Rangeview

A weekend run of the Broadway musical "Rent" at Rangeview High School inspired some conflicting input from Sentinel readers earlier this week. One commenter thought the choice was inappropriate for a high school production, specifically because of the musical's adult subjects like drug abuse, promiscuity and AIDS. Another applauded the selection, pointing out that the content fit in with the school's "Diversity Week," a yearly event aimed at encouraging tolerance and acceptance.
What do you think?

Top Five ToDos in Aurora — Feb. 11 to Feb. 18

Johanna Mueller and her fantastical creatures. (Heather L. Smith / The Aurora Sentinel)

From heartwarming musicals to fantastical creatures to kung-fu demonstrations, there's plenty of fun stuff going on in Aurora this week.

Aurora Fox 2011/12 season ranges from folksy comedy to musicals on skates

The wait is over. The Aurora Fox unveiled the lineup for its 2011/12 season, and the roster ranges from the familiar to the bold.
The upcoming season boasts a wide thematic range, from a return to Jeff Daniels' folksy characters in "Escanaba" to a staging of the 2007 musical "Xanadu," a campy production on roller skates that's based on the cult 1980 film of the same title. The five-production season also includes three regional premieres.
The Aurora Fox's 27th season includes "Roshomon" by Fay and Michael Kanin, the regional premiere of "Escanaba" by Jeff Daniels, the regional premiere of "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" by Lynn Nottage, the regional premiere of the musical "Xanadu" by Douglas Carter Beane, Jeff Lynne and John Farrar and "Amateur Night at the Big Heart" by Terry Dodd.
Guest productions of "The Elephant Man" by PHAMALy and "A Chorus Line" by the Gravity Defied Theatre Company will round out the season.
Look for further input from Aurora Fox Executive Producer Charles Packard in the next couple of days. In the meantime, here's the press release from the Fox and some related video clips.

Gravity Defied announces deal for Fox subscribers

Photo by Gabriel Christus / The Aurora Sentinel

Here's some news to tide you over until the Aurora Fox announces titles for its 2011-12 season: Gravity Defied co-founder Keith Rabin Jr. says subscribers who buy their tickets before May 8 will get a free pass to the company's production of the musical "A Chorus Line" scheduled for October.

Shadow Theatre Company declares bankruptcy

AURORA | The Shadow Theatre Company is seeking Chapter 11 protection to deal with thousands of dollars worth of debt, according to a statement from Board President Herman Malone.
By declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 11 protection, the Shadow is seeking to free itself from massive amounts of debt and reorganize its finances.

Overland grad Reid Belstock: "The Juggling Guy"

This week's home edition of the Sentinel will feature a piece about Reid Belstock, an Overland High School graduate who has made a career out of juggling, acrobatics and comedy during the past 20 years. Belstock, who's performed everywhere from Disney World to Tokyo, talked about his career so far and his future goals following a performance at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret with his current partner, Warren Hammond.

Here are some pics from the weekend performance snapped by Heather L. Smith. Look for the feature story on the racks on Friday.

OAR Looking for Found Object Artists

Photo by Heather L. Smith / The Aurora Sentinel

The city's Original Aurora Renewal division wants residents to make creative use of junk. As part of a long-term project, OAR is encouraging teams to contribute to "The Collection," a found object art project spearheaded by Denver artist Phil Bender.