Buntport Theater Revives an Audience Favorite About Tommy Lee Jones

By popular demand, Buntport Theater Company is bringing back Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone after two years off the stage. Like every Buntport production, this show was a collaborative creation by all six members of the company. The idea for the show was inspired by a sighting of...

By Jamie Swinnerton

January 5, 2015

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

By popular demand, Buntport Theater Company is bringing back Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone after two years off the stage. Like every Buntport production, this show was a collaborative creation by all six members of the company. The idea for the show was inspired by a sighting of Jones standing alone in the ticket line of the Santa Fe Opera.

The set will be extremely minimal, just a puppet version of the actor sitting on a chair in a diner. Hannah Duggan will play his waitress, Jane. She is the only live actor on stage. Three other company members will be operating the puppet, while a fourth voices him.

But the company wasn't alone in creating Jones's puppet doppelganger. Local puzzle box and woodworker extraordinaire, Kagen Sound, carved out Tommy Lee's hands. In order to bring them more to life; robotics expert Corey Milner mechanized them.

The production is kept simple. Jones is content to sit and discuss the various aspects of his life we can all recognize: his cowboy boots, his life as a movie star, and his love of opera, particularly Puccini's "Turandot."

You can find a ninety-second clip of the show on Vimeo, complete with Tommy Lee twiddling his mechanical thumbs as he ponders what kind of pie he would like.

The show starts January 9, and will continue until January 31 on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. It also runs Sundays, January 18 and 25, at 3 p.m., and Monday, January 26 at 8 p.m.

The 8 p.m. shows on Thursday, January 15 and Monday, January 26, are pay-what you-can.

Follow @WestwordCulture

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.