Playbill: Four New Shows and Theater Events in Denver, September 10-13

This season Denver stages offer theatrical fare from our own back yard and across the nation on levels both intimate and brashly big-budget. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the best local openings this weekend.
Colorado Theatre Festival
Robert and  Judi Newman Center for Theatre Education
1101 13th Street
Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13
Tickets: $50 to $65 full festival pass, $10 to $15 individual performance or workshop 
The Colorado Community Theatre Coalition, a network of companies from across the state, invades downtown Denver this weekend for a lighter, tighter Colorado Theatre Festival that’s designed to appeal to theater-goers and theater people alike. The weekend packs in five performances, six professional workshops and some extras, like a tour of the Denver Performing Arts Complex; participants can choose to spring for a $65 festival pass for universal entry or pay as they go. And it goes without saying that the nightlife will be raging right beyond the stage door.

Matilda The Musical
Buell Theatre
Through September 20
Tickets: Starting at $30
303-893-4100
School’s back in session, and so is DCPA Broadway, as it ships in Matilda The Musical, staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, to the Buell for a two-week run. Based on the children’s classic by Roald Dahl, the family-friendly Tony Award-winner is a big musical about a girl with a remarkable imagination. Thursday, September 10 is Kids’ Night on Broadway (arrive at 6:30 p.m. for family activities and receive a copy Dahl’s beloved novel Matilda), or celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday on Sunday, September 13 with a special $149 family four-pack deal.

Lookingglass Alice
Stage Theatre
Friday, September 11 through October 11
Tickets: Starting at $35
303-893-4100
The Denver Center Theatre Company is also importing a family-friendly show to kick off the 2015-2016 season; in this case, it’s Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company and Lookingglass Alice, an acrobatic take on Lewis Carroll’s trip down the rabbit hole. This is a great opportunity to try out the DCPA’s new ticketing programs for theater-lovers on a budget: DCPAccess offers prices as low as $10 for Tuesday and Wednesday evening performances during the first two weeks of a show's run, while the RADvantage membership program allows patrons ages eighteen to thirty o purchase two specially-priced tickets to participating Broadway, Theatre Company or Cabaret shows. Such a deal!

Timothy Mooney
Denver’s Dangerous Theatre
Breakneck Hamlet
7 p.m. Saturday, September 12
7:30 p.m. Friday, September 18
7 p.m. Sunday, September 20
Criteria
7 p.m. Sunday, September 13
7 p.m. Saturday, September 19
7:30 p.m. Monday, September 21
Tickets: $15 to $20 per show
Even Denver’s Dangerous Theatre is bringing in shows from Chicago — in this case, it’s the fringey fare of performance artist Tim Mooney, who will alternate two one-man shows over two weeks on the local independent’s warehouse-district stage. Breakneck Hamlet is just that: Mooney’s unique synopsis of the Shakespearean drama. Criteria does the same for sci-fi fiction.

Find a stage near you: Check out Westword's online listings for more theater events for this week. And watch for our Winter Arts Guide, coming out on October 1.