My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. The Denver Center production of My Way features four attractive, energetic performers with strong and differing voices; 53 of the best twentieth-century songs; a set that's beautifully designed both to please the contemporary eye and to evoke the period, with softened Formica colors flowing into each other and elegant forms; witty, attractive costumes; and three excellent musicians. So if you're entertaining a business client or out on a date, this is the show for you. But it's essentially a commercial enterprise rather than an evening of theater. The performers don't just sing the songs, they sell them. They're full of energy. They bounce. They emote. They never allow a moment of reflection or understatement. Sinatra was the guy sitting alone on a barstool in a pool of light, shadows pressing in on him, the rakish angle of his hat belying the world-weariness of his soul. This seems an odd way to pay him homage. Presented by Denver Center Attractions in an open-ended run, Galleria Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 303-893-4100, www.denvercenter.org. Reviewed June 9.
Oil. Gary Austin is a skilled and appealing performer, and this one-man show contains lots of good material: Austin's personal story of growing up in an oil camp, the lives of his parents, pithy insights into the politics of oil and observations about how the substance has shaped the presidency of George W. Bush. Austin knows a lot about Halliburton's practices -- then and now -- and the lives of the company's workers. But fascinating as the pieces may be, the whole doesn't hang together. You'd like to learn more about Austin's parents and the texture of his life as a child, but you never do. The political thoughts seem like interpolations, rather than rising from the facts of his autobiography. It's hard to find a sequence to the ideas and anecdotes. Austin knows how to hold a stage, and musician Matt Cartsonis contributes a couple of terrific cowboy songs. If the material were cut by half an hour and the focus sharpened, Oil would be fine entertainment. Presented by Bas Bleu Theatre Company through September 3, 401 Pine Street, Fort Collins, 970-498-8949, www.basblue.org. Reviewed August 25.
Rocky Horror Show. Rocky is a pastiche of clichés from science fiction, horror movies and pop culture. It's an uninhibited celebration of camp, aided by three decades of film and stage audiences who have clapped and sung along to the songs, flung various and specific objects on stage, lit flickering lights and offered randy verbal prompts. The action begins when innocent young Brad and Janet, who have just attended the wedding of a friend, get engaged. Within minutes -- naturally -- they find themselves stranded on a dark road in a pelting rainstorm. They seek shelter and a phone in the sinister castle of Frank-N-Furter, who's a mad alien scientist visiting Earth from the Planet Transsexual. The actors are never very far from you on the Avenue's tiny stage, and their hypnotically glazed eyes help make the production a total immersion experience. Should your attention falter for a moment, you'll find everything crashing back into focus when Sugar stalks onto the stage with his sinuously sweeping moves and crimson-lipped, lemon-wedge-shaped smile. This is Rocky Horror as it's meant to be -- a lewd and lurid midnight fantasy. Presented by the Avenue Theater through October 1, 417 East 17th Avenue, 303-321-5925, www.avenuetheater.com. Reviewed July 14.
Summer Lovin'. Summer Lovin' is a string of songs held together with a thin thread of plot. A traveling troupe arrives at an old theater planning to stage a play, only to discover that the place is closed while its board contemplates converting it into an art-movie house. The photographs on the walls and the props and wigs in an old trunk inspire the actors to an outpouring of tribute and impersonation. It's difficult to square the simplicity and straightforwardness of the concept with the depth of pleasure the performance provides. A high level of musical skill is offered: All the performers sing and move well, and some of them play an instrument or two. The band, too, is terrific. The show's premise allows the cast to hop around through time and pick almost any number in any genre that they wish -- from an old music-hall routine to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Time Warp." It's hard not to enjoy a cast that's having such a good time and is so eager share it with you. Heritage Square Music Hall is more than a performance venue: It's a Colorado community. Presented by Heritage Square Music Hall through September 11, 18301 West Colfax Avenue, D-103, Golden, 303-279-7800, www.hsmusichall.com. Reviewed June 16.
The Wizard of Oz. The Boulder's Dinner Theatre production of The Wizard of Oz, under artistic director Michael J. Duran, hews very closely to the 1939 movie version, but it's done with such élan that the show never feels old. With bright, inventive sets, clever costumes, lively choreography and hyper-energetic performances, it's like a carnival ride that whisks you away in a swirl of color, movement, sound and simple nostalgia. As Dorothy, Emily Van Fleet faithfully channels Judy Garland, though she lacks the latter's sense of wonder. Her voice is a marvel, however, shading richly through melting variations in tone and color, and her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" had the audience spellbound. Several BDT stalwarts turn in riveting performances in other roles. Add inventive bits of direction, an excellent small orchestra, an adorable small dog and an ensemble full of fine voices and interesting personalities, and you have an extended frolic that both kids and adults can enjoy. Best of all, the production does full justice to Harold Arlen's wonderful songs. Presented by Boulder's Dinner Theatre through September 4, 5501 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, 303-449-6000, www.theatreinboulder.com. Reviewed May 26.
