Remaining run of "Nina" at the Aurora Fox canceled

Photo by Gabriel Christus/The Aurora Sentinel

AURORA | The Shadow Theatre Company has canceled the extended January run of its musical “An Evening With Nina” at the Aurora Fox theater, according the troupe’s artistic director.

Shadow creative director Hugo Jon Sayles said that low audience attendance spurred the decision to pull the plug on the extended run of the musical at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Productions of “An Evening With Nina,” written by Sayles, moved to the Aurora Fox earlier this month, after the investment company that owns the Shadow Theatre Company building at 1468 Dayton St. started formal eviction proceedings against the company.

Formal eviction proceedings started for Shadow Theatre

AURORA | The investment company that owns the Shadow Theatre Company building at 1468 Dayton St. has started formal eviction proceedings to vacate the troupe from the facility.

In a statement released Monday, representatives from Cornerstone Equity announced they were going through the proper legal channels to evict the Shadow Theatre from the building, following a lack of communication from the company regarding its exit.

Shadow landlord would like to see company vacate by Jan. 5

AURORA | Officials from the investment company that manages the Shadow Theatre Company building on Dayton Street say they'd like to see the troupe vacate by Jan. 5.
Cornerstone Equity LLC Partner Michael Rasser said a final agreement with the company on the specific terms of the exit would be finalized by Friday, but he added that he would like to see the property vacated by Wednesday, Jan. 5.

Shadow board members meet with landlord

AURORA | Cornerstone Equity Partners met with Shadow Theatre board members Wednesday to discuss the terms of the theater’s looming eviction from their current building on Dayton Street.

The meeting included Cornerstone partners Doug Adams and Michael Rasser, as well as Shadow Board President Herman Malone and board members Michael Hancock, Peter Cukale and Jim Wheeler. The meeting came two days after the investment company formally announced they were beginning eviction proceedings for the theater located at 1468 Dayton St., after their continued failure to pay the $7,500 monthly rent on the building.

“I would say the meeting went well,” Rasser said. “Both parties discussed how we can move forward and we are striving by the end of Friday to have an agreement between us signed, sealed and delivered which would work for everyone.”

Rasser added that there was no discussion of the Shadow Theatre trying to stay in its current space.

Shadow landlord: Company must vacate building on Dayton Street

AURORA | The investment company that owns the Shadow Theatre Company’s building on Dayton Street in Aurora has demanded the company vacate, officials announced Monday.

According to Michael Rasser, a principal and managing partner at Cornerstone Equity LLC, the decision to evict the Shadow Theatre from the 9,400-square-foot building off East Colfax Avenue came after the company continually failed to pay its $7,500 monthly rent. The financial problems began in earnest in 2009, after the company’s founder and creative director Jeffrey Nickelson resigned from his position, citing exhaustion and later massive debt. Nickelson founded the Shadow in 1997; it's the region's oldest black theater company.

CCA Department Chair hints at possible renewed run for "Romeo & Juliet"

Stacey D'Angelo, far right, director of theater at the Community College of Aurora, joined cast members from the school's production of "Romeo and Juliet" during a preview performance on Nov. 12. In CCA's staging, the Montagues were played by hearing actors and the Capulets were played by deaf actors. 

The Community College of Aurora drew attention from around the metro area last month for its new twist on an old tragedy.
CCA theater director Stacey D'Angelo reimagined the feud underlying William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as a conflict between the deaf and the hearing. Juliet and her Capulet brethren were played by deaf actors, while Romeo and the Montagues were all hearing.
The show drew sold-out audiences for its two-week run in November, and according to Performing Arts and Humanities Chair Ruthanne Oriheula, the popularity could result in a revival.

"An Evening With Nina" reviewed

Nina Simone’s life encompassed much more than musical innovation.

The singer used her career as a jazz, blues, soul and protest singer as a springboard, offering messages about justice and equality through her music. By the time Simone died in 2003 at the age of 70, she’d carved out a significant place in both popular music and the American civil rights movement.

Unfortunately, the Shadow Theatre Company’s original production “An Evening With Nina” fails to fully meet its ambitious mission: To explore Simone’s life in a deep, comprehensive way. Playwright Hugo Jon Sayles wrote the piece as a deeper examination of the singer’s life, a drama that fuses contemporary action with biographical perspective.