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Last May, a woman called 911, reporting male nudity at the Lake Dillon Theatre. The nudity she was referring to occurred in “The Little Dog Laughed,” when actor Reymundo Santiago pulled up his pants and underwear about as fast as he pulled them down, and if you blinked, you might have missed it.
Another woman fired out three e-mails and two voice mails to artistic director Chris Alleman over a four-day period, asking if “Hair” had “gays” in it and demanding her season pass money back because she was offended by the “lewd and immoral” cross-dresser in “Rent.”
Yet another contacted the Lake Dillon Theatre Company's board of directors, asking that Alleman alert people in his newspaper ads that a particular show, such as “The Little Dog Laughed,” contains gay material. Alleman's response to the board:
“Sure, maybe we should do that. Maybe we should also warn people that this show has African Americans in it, for all the racists — and strong women, to warn the sexists. All of this said, I think it's ludicrous for me to put that this show has gay content to warn the homophobe.”
The Lake Dillon Theatre has presented a few shows that include adult themes, language and nudity. Most people have reacted positively — so much so that “Hair” sold out every date more than a month before the last production on Aug. 27, and audiences reserved every seat for additional presentations Alleman offered almost immediately. And Alleman had plenty of other great feedback.
While some people walked out on “The Little Dog Laughed” — a touching and intimate story about the conflict of staying true to one's heart or conforming to societal standards, which happened to feature two men falling in love with each other — four times as many people thanked Alleman “for bringing this material to them,” for “challenging them” and for producing “a strong piece of theater.”
Alleman wasn't exactly sure why people walked out on “Little Dog,” but when he didn't receive one single complaint about an entire wall of naked men and women facing the audience in “Hair,” and also saw a few walk-outs on “Rent,” which highlights a cross-dresser in an intimate relationship with a man, he began to think the trigger certainly wasn't the nudity.
“Little Dog pushed buttons ... with two men kissing on stage,” Alleman said.
While the Lake Dillon Theatre has presented shows where characters have been homosexual, such as “The Baltimore Waltz,” the story didn't feature a gay relationship — the character just happened to be gay.
“It blows my mind that the public had a problem with this gay relationship, but in the same season, we had ‘Same Time, Next Year,' (about an) adulteress affair for 20-plus years,” Alleman said. “That sold out, and no one complained. In ‘Moon Over Buffalo,' a 65-year-old-man impregnated a 20-year-old woman, and that sold out, and nobody said a thing. So I think, as a society — and I'm speaking in very general terms — that maybe our values are a little mixed up.”
“I'm always astounded that the caliber of people — and there is a caliber of people — that go to the theater that are traditionally intellectual people, educated people, those individuals whose income is definitely running above the poverty level ... that there are still people out there that are shocked and offended by things that are in their newspaper every day,” said Gloria Shanstrom, executive director of the Colorado Theatre Guild.
But despite complaints, which made up a small percentage of audience response anyway, Alleman isn't going to let outrage sway his decisions.
“We don't choose plays because of their content,” he said. “We choose them because we feel they're strong pieces of art. In our mind, the sexual preference of the character is irrelevant, just as the color of the skin and the sex of the character is irrelevant.”
And though he'll warn people of adult language, adult situations and nudity in ads, he will not alert them to details he feels are irrelevant. The Backstage Theatre has a similar policy.
“We've received complaints about language or subject matter on shows whose marketing clearly bears these warnings,” said Backstage director Christopher Willard. “Ultimately, the onus is on the theatergoer to gather information about a show before they see it.”
Alleman agrees, and his upcoming season pushes the boundaries a bit, with “[Title of Show]” and “Doubt.” Both Alleman and Willard aim to please audiences, obviously, but they also feel a responsibility to bring strong pieces into the community.
“As theater artists, we like to push the envelope every now and then, to challenge ourselves and our audiences,” Willard said. “If patrons aren't up for that, then they have a choice not to attend. But they may be missing out on really interesting theater that might broaden their horizons a bit and show them a different perspective on the human condition.”
Another woman fired out three e-mails and two voice mails to artistic director Chris Alleman over a four-day period, asking if “Hair” had “gays” in it and demanding her season pass money back because she was offended by the “lewd and immoral” cross-dresser in “Rent.”
Yet another contacted the Lake Dillon Theatre Company's board of directors, asking that Alleman alert people in his newspaper ads that a particular show, such as “The Little Dog Laughed,” contains gay material. Alleman's response to the board:
“Sure, maybe we should do that. Maybe we should also warn people that this show has African Americans in it, for all the racists — and strong women, to warn the sexists. All of this said, I think it's ludicrous for me to put that this show has gay content to warn the homophobe.”
The Lake Dillon Theatre has presented a few shows that include adult themes, language and nudity. Most people have reacted positively — so much so that “Hair” sold out every date more than a month before the last production on Aug. 27, and audiences reserved every seat for additional presentations Alleman offered almost immediately. And Alleman had plenty of other great feedback.
While some people walked out on “The Little Dog Laughed” — a touching and intimate story about the conflict of staying true to one's heart or conforming to societal standards, which happened to feature two men falling in love with each other — four times as many people thanked Alleman “for bringing this material to them,” for “challenging them” and for producing “a strong piece of theater.”
Alleman wasn't exactly sure why people walked out on “Little Dog,” but when he didn't receive one single complaint about an entire wall of naked men and women facing the audience in “Hair,” and also saw a few walk-outs on “Rent,” which highlights a cross-dresser in an intimate relationship with a man, he began to think the trigger certainly wasn't the nudity.
“Little Dog pushed buttons ... with two men kissing on stage,” Alleman said.
While the Lake Dillon Theatre has presented shows where characters have been homosexual, such as “The Baltimore Waltz,” the story didn't feature a gay relationship — the character just happened to be gay.
“It blows my mind that the public had a problem with this gay relationship, but in the same season, we had ‘Same Time, Next Year,' (about an) adulteress affair for 20-plus years,” Alleman said. “That sold out, and no one complained. In ‘Moon Over Buffalo,' a 65-year-old-man impregnated a 20-year-old woman, and that sold out, and nobody said a thing. So I think, as a society — and I'm speaking in very general terms — that maybe our values are a little mixed up.”
“I'm always astounded that the caliber of people — and there is a caliber of people — that go to the theater that are traditionally intellectual people, educated people, those individuals whose income is definitely running above the poverty level ... that there are still people out there that are shocked and offended by things that are in their newspaper every day,” said Gloria Shanstrom, executive director of the Colorado Theatre Guild.
But despite complaints, which made up a small percentage of audience response anyway, Alleman isn't going to let outrage sway his decisions.
“We don't choose plays because of their content,” he said. “We choose them because we feel they're strong pieces of art. In our mind, the sexual preference of the character is irrelevant, just as the color of the skin and the sex of the character is irrelevant.”
And though he'll warn people of adult language, adult situations and nudity in ads, he will not alert them to details he feels are irrelevant. The Backstage Theatre has a similar policy.
“We've received complaints about language or subject matter on shows whose marketing clearly bears these warnings,” said Backstage director Christopher Willard. “Ultimately, the onus is on the theatergoer to gather information about a show before they see it.”
Alleman agrees, and his upcoming season pushes the boundaries a bit, with “[Title of Show]” and “Doubt.” Both Alleman and Willard aim to please audiences, obviously, but they also feel a responsibility to bring strong pieces into the community.
“As theater artists, we like to push the envelope every now and then, to challenge ourselves and our audiences,” Willard said. “If patrons aren't up for that, then they have a choice not to attend. But they may be missing out on really interesting theater that might broaden their horizons a bit and show them a different perspective on the human condition.”
