The Denver Center is the behemoth of the performing arts scene. When there's excitement and genuine artistry happening there, it vitalizes the entire community. When the offerings feel stale, hackneyed or half-hearted, a lot of energy leaches away. Chris Coleman, longtime artistic director for Portland Center Stage, has been hired to head the DCPA Theatre Company and will start his job in May. We can't predict what he'll do — he's currently feeling out both the city and the organization — but interviews indicate that he's smart, eclectic, confident and energetic, likes both classic and contemporary plays, finds the center's immersive pieces of the past two years impressive, and is fond of musicals. "I think what television and film do well is photographic, super-naturalistic," he told us. "What I want is something more theatrical or imaginative, something that asks the audience to finish the story."
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