Denver Actors Fund in Action: Jeff Butler

  NEW PACEMAKER REALLY GETS ACTOR’S BLOOD PUMPING Aid recipient: Jeff Butler has long appeared on local stages, most frequently participating in the annual Magic Moments musical revue. He also played the Governor in Performance Now’s “Man of La Mancha” in 2017 and is the lead singer in his jazz band, Jeff Butler and the […]

Introducing the DAF’s new Kindness Fund

Denver Actors Fund announces The KINDNESS Fund: An immediate source of relief for Colorado theatre artists – with a call to service $65,000 seed money includes record donation from Bonnie Cashin Foundation APPLY TO THE NEW KINDNESS FUND HERE DONATE TO THE NEW KINDNESS FUND HERE The Denver Actors Fund today announced an innovative new […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Caleb Reed

Young actor was getting a COVID test when doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his abdomen Aid recipient Caleb Reed: Caleb has been acting on various area stages since 2016, including twice playing Will in “American Idiot” (for Ignite Theatre and Town Hall Arts Center) and twice playing the lead role of Robbie Hart in […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Alicia K. Meyers

COVID took away her employment. Then came a breast-cancer diagnosis. Here’s how the community is supporting BDT Stage favorite Alicia K. Meyers. Aid recipient Alicia K. Meyers: Alicia has been an actor, director and choreographer at BDT Stage since 1995, winning a 2019 True West Ward as co-director and co-choreographer of “Beauty and the Beast” […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Andy Anderson

THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO HEAR IN A PANDEMIC: ‘YOU NEED SURGERY’ Aid recipient Andy Anderson: “I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and went to college at the University of Minnesota. While acting off and on, I was employed in various fields, including News Director for a radio station, Traffic Director […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Candice Andrews

Among Fort Collins Director Candice Andrews’ many credits has been “Bullshot Crummond” for OpenStage Theatre. The Denver Actors Fund’s overall support for Candice has since risen to $3,523. For Fort Collins director and single mom, the struggle is ongoing Aid recipient: Estes Park Director Candice Andrews has directed throughout Northern Colorado for the past 20 […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Robert Michael Sanders

COVID19 brought on the perfect dental storm: An infection, no money, no dental insurance and closed offices. Dr. Kelly to the rescue. Aid recipient: Actor, Producer and Director Robert Michael Sanders may be the best friend The Denver Actors Fund ever had. He’s given hundreds of volunteer hours producing and presenting fun, high-quality events on […]

Denver Actors Fund makes affordable health care available to theatre artists

New collaboration will pair Maria Droste Counseling Center’s 60 independent practitioners with qualifying artists By John Moore The Denver Actors Fund today announced a major new collaboration to help Colorado theatre artists struggling with anxiety, depression and prolonged stress as the unprecedented COVID19 shutdown drags on. Beginning today, The DAF is working with the Maria […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Dana Hart Wright

After a devastating miscarriage, a focus on healing Aid recipient: Evergreen actor Dana Hart Wright (formerly Lubeck) has performed throughout the metro area for years, most recently in Ovation West’s “Lend Me a Tenor”; a reading of Laurie Scalf Scoggins’ “Polished Pieces” for And Toto Too Theatre Company; and in Benchmark Theatre’s 2019 Fever Dream […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Becca Greer

A baby, a pandemic and a frightening complication Aid recipient: Local actor, choreographer and Littleton native Becca Greer, a graduate of Heritage High School and Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, moved back to Colorado five years ago and last appeared in Inspire Theater Company’s 2018 staging of “The Little Mermaid,” directed by Tanner Kelly. […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Peter Trinh

Actor runs out of medication, into expensive hospital stay Aid recipient: Peter Trinh is a longtime Denver-based actor, playwright and budding stand-up comedian who most recently appeared in Colorado Springs TheatreWorks’ “Around the World in Eighty Days” and The Catamounts’ “Everybody.” Before that, he was the Assistant Artistic Director for Theatre Esprit Asia, where he […]

Survey: Most Denver theatregoers aren’t coming back anytime soon

Audiences, and artists, express deep concerns over going on with the show By John Moore Senior Arts Journalist The spirit is ready and willing, but when it comes to returning to our local theatre stages during an ongoing pandemic, the flesh is weak. Local theatre companies are all wondering when they will be allowed to […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Tim Fishbaugh

‘Even with insurance, the bills were overwhelming‘ Denver Actors Fund aid recipient: Longtime local actor Tim Fishbaugh recently played bossman Mr. Hammerschmidt in Benchmark Theatre’s “Parfumerie.” OnStage Colorado‘s Lane Ware called Fishbaugh the anchor of the production, “deftly moving from the autocratic businessman at the start to a bewildered and broken-hearted man emerging from his […]

Costume Designer Kevin Brainerd was epitome of class and panache

  Death at age 58 has theatre community’s heart on its linen sleeve By John Moore, Senior Arts Journalist The clothes may not make the man, but under his meticulous eye, Kevin Brainerd’s clothes made hundreds of fictional characters come to vivid life on stages from Broadway to Boulder. Brainerd, an acclaimed theatrical costume designer […]

Back to Africa: My 2002 review of ‘The Lion King’ in Denver

A journey to the heart of Julie Taymor’s imagination By John Moore Denver Post Theater Critic Originally published April 28, 2002 It turns out “The Lion King” doesn’t bring Broadway’s most highly sought national tour to Denver after all. Instead, it transports the people of Denver nearly 10,000 miles away to the magical splendor of […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Melissa Lucero McCarl

  ‘I am a part of a community that takes care of its own in a profound way’ Aid recipient: Melissa Lucero McCarl is a prominent Denver playwright, director and actor. She is perhaps best known for writing the Denver Post Ovation Award-winning “Painted Bread,” about the fractured life of Frida Kahlo; “Poignant Irritations,” about […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Sean Cronan

Dr. Kelly comes to the aid of BDT Stage lighting designer Aid recipient: Sean Cronan of Lafayette (who also goes by Seann) recently served as the assistant lightning designer and light-board operator for BDT Stage’s production of “Mamma Mia.” Other credits include “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.” He also lends his talents to BDT’s youth […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Ashley Campbell

From training to trauma center: Life changes in an instant Aid recipient: Ashley Campbell got into sound design as a theatre major at the University of Denver and was hooked. “I really enjoyed the process of creating sounds,” she says. “It was one of the most exciting classes I took throughout all of college.” So, […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Chris Casketta

‘My appearance and speech are as vital to my profession as my singing’ Aid recipient: Glenwood Springs actor and baritone Chris Cascketta appeared as the opera singer Rafael Bellini in “The Last Romance” for Thunder River Theatre Company in Carbondale. He is also Choir Director at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glenwood Springs. He is originally […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Lindsay Fuller

For an actor who often plays princesses, a front tooth is an essential prop Aid recipient: Lindsay Fuller has appeared in many local productions including most recently as Cinderella in Town Hall Arts Center’s “Disenchanted” and in the Arvada Center’s children’s productions of “The Velveteen Rabbit” and “Ella Enchanted.” Other prominent roles in recent years […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Laura Jo Trexler

When Medicaid would not help a local actor with Medicaid, we did Aid recipient: Laura Jo Trexler, who grew up in Littleton and graduated from Heritage High School, last year performed her one-woman Shakespearean musical “Play On! A Musical Romp Through Shakespeare’s Women” for And Toto too Theatre Company at the Denver Performing Arts Complex’s […]

Denver Actors Fund: Sarah Grover

A move, a wedding … and an expensive medical diagnosis Aid recipient: Sarah Grover of Johnstown is a busy local actor who most recently  appeared in the ensemble of “Jekyll and Hyde” at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Before that, she played Esmerelda there in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” “Sarah Grover is everything you could […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Scott Hurst

Neither Jekyll, nor Hyde, nor the actors who played them were spared the flu Aid recipient: Windsor actor Scott Hurst recently shared the title roles in Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’ his eighth production as an actor at the Johnstown theatre. Other roles there have included Fred and Petruchio in ‘Kiss Me Kate’ and […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Mike Martinkus

‘When I learned that my application was approved, I started crying from relief’ Aid recipient: Mike Martinkus, a Fort Collins native now living in Lakewood, most recently appeared in the title role of Theatre Company of Lafayette’s “Pippin, as Rich in Equinox Theatre’s “Be More Chill” and in the ensemble of Town Hall Arts Center’s […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Kevin Ahl

DAF purchases portable respiratory equipment for Phamaly co-founder Aid recipient: Denver native Kevin Ahl, who has had cerebral palsy since birth, is one of the founders of Phamaly Theatre Company, which for more than 30 years has been a creative home for theatre artists with disabilities. He and fellow founders Kathleen Traylor, Gregg Vigil, Teri […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Damon Guerrasio

‘I might have had thousands of dollars worth of unnecessary and overpriced work done on my teeth’ Aid recipient: Busy actor Damon Guerrasio is currently playing Mark “Facebender” Lender in Benchmark Theatre’s regional premiere comedy “Airness,” a love letter to competitive air guitar running through February 29 in Lakewood. Other recent credits include the Arvada […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Brandon Palmer

‘I never could have imagined the immense feeling of gratitude and relief’ Aid recipient: Thornton actor Brandon Palmer has been performing for a variety of local theatre companies since 2011, most recently appearing as Liam in Firehouse Theater Company’s “Calendar Girls.” Other recent credits include playing Little Charlie Aiken in Vintage Theatre’s “August: Osage County,” […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Jodi Hogle

‘She was with us through everything life had to throw at us.’ Aid recipient: Educator and actor Jodi Hogle was the Director of the PREP Center for Denver Public Schools and a frequent performer for Phamaly Theatre Company, whose mission is to provide performance opportunities for actors with disabilities. Jodi, who impacted several generations of […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Justin Peterson

Trumpet player: Two surgeries, two casts, two massive bills Aid recipient: Justin Peterson is a trumpet player currently performing in the orchestra for Sasquatch Productions’ “Matilda,” through February 9 at the PACE Center. Over the past year two years, Justin also has played in musicals for BDT Stage, Inspire Creative, Vintage Theatre Company, Aurora Fox, […]

Denver Actors Fund in Action: Deb Flomberg-Rollins

  Latest complication from diverticulitis lands director in hospital Financial-aid recipient: Deb Flomberg-Rollins is a founding member and co-Executive Producer of the Equinox Theatre Company, now in its 12th season. She most recently directed “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” and “Heathers: The Musical” at the Bug Theatre and next will helm “Monty Python’s Spamalot” […]