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‘All That Jazz’

LESLIE BREFELD
summit daily news
Summit Daily/Mark Fox
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DILLON ” The Lake Dillon Theatre begins its third Mountain Summer Stock season tonight, again garnering fresh talent for its busy schedule. According to the company’s artistic director Chris Alleman, the young actors and actresses they bring in (especially the male dancers) allow them to put on shows they otherwise couldn’t.

The performers have got roles for four different shows running through their minds, but luckily (for us anyway) they’ve been rehearsing 14 hours a day since they arrived in early June.

Ellen Kaye, out of Boulder, plays Roxie in the kickoff production “Chicago.” A recent graduate, she said she enjoys coming out of the safety of academia. On her character, she’s taken on the challenge of balancing the sometimes “sweet and innocent,” sometimes “bitch and seductress” role.



Set in the 1920s, Candace Neal (who’s participating in her second season in Dillon’s summer stock) describes the show as an “off-color, very dark and sexy gangster, bad guy kind of show.”

And indeed sexy was what the director was going for in costumes. Originally considered a vaudeville musical, he said he wanted to make it as sexy as possible ” but notes that it’s not uncomfortable. As Kaye said, “It’s so gritty and sexual and honest, but it still has a historical aspect, so you can get into it without it pushing the comfort level.”



Of course, criminals and celebrity are also delved into in this high-energy production. (Summer stock performances all tend to get that description partly due to the number of people on the stage ” there are 20 in the cast of “Chicago.”)

“There’s a fantastic satirical commentary on the criminal world,” Neal said.

And that’s where characters like Mama Morton, who looks after the women in this block, played by Faith Boles, and criminal attorney Billy Flynn, played by Ben Whitmore, (both in their second season of Dillon summer stock) come into play. They both describe their characters as con artists.

“He’s (Flynn) out for all the money he can steal … but he puts on the front of doing if for the goodness of his heart,” Whitmore said.

“Chicago” opens today at the Lake Dillon Theatre.

Leslie Brefeld can be reached at (970) 668-4626 or lbrefeld@summitdaily.com.

– What: Musical presented by the Lake Dillon Theatre and performed by summer stock actors.

– When: June 29 through July 1, July 13-15, July 27-29 and Aug. 10-12. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

– Where: Lake Dillon Theatre

– Tickets: $22 for adults and $18 for students. (970) 513-9386.

Lake Dillon Theatre’s Mountain Summer Stock, Pavilion at Keystone, July 5, 12, 19, 26; Aug. 2, 9, 16.

A musical comedy about close-harmony guy groups that were popular during the 1950s. The play begins with a quartet of high schools boys who died in a collision with Catholic schoolgirls, then return from the afterlife for one last chance at success. Tickets are $22 for adults and $18 or students. Tickets are $18. (970) 496-4FUN.

Lake Dillon Theatre’s Mountain Summer Stock, Quaking Aspen Theatre in Keystone at 10 a.m. on July 6, 13, 20, 27; Aug. 3, 10.

This is a fun-filled stage adaptation of the famous “School House Rock” educational series. A school teacher, nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching television. He sees various characters emerge and show him how to win his students over with imagination, singing and dancing through such beloved songs as “Just a Bill,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” and “Conjunction Junction.” Tickets are $4. (970) 496-4FUN.

Lake Dillon Theatre’s Mountain Summer Stock, Lake Dillon Theatre, July 6-8, 20-22; August 3-5, 17-19. Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 and 11:59 p.m.; and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.

That sweet transvestite and his motley crew did the time warp on Broadway in the 25th anniversary revival. Complete with sass from the audience, cascading toilet paper and an array of other audience participation props this is a deliberately kitschy rock ‘n’ roll sci-fi gothic show. Directed by Christopher Alleman. Tickets are $22 for adults and $18 for students. (970) 513-9386.


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