“I’m having a wonderful ride on the one-trick pony that I’m on,” says actor Lucy Roucis.
She attended the Los Angeles premiere of her new movie, “Love and Other Drugs,” on Nov. 4. It’s a romantic comedy starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway opening in Denver on Nov. 24.
Roucis has performed for 20 years with Denver’s handicapped theater company PHAMALy. It was odd to see herself on the big screen, she admitted, “and you can’t get a bigger screen than the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.”
In the film, Gyllenhaal’s character falls for Hathaway’s character, recently diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease.
Roucis, who got that same diagnosis in 1985, said it was like watching bits of her own life play out on celluloid.
“I remember being told by a doctor that I had Parkinson’s, and the first thing I said was, ‘Who’s going to love me?’ Roucis said. “That was a big question then — and it still is.”
In the movie, Hathaway attends an unconventional support group where Roucis and others deliver jokes about the disease, which brings Hathaway’s character some much-needed levity.
Hathaway consulted with Roucis during filming, and the two had a good, long chat at the L.A. screening. “She’s really nice,” said Roucis. “She said one her favorite moments in the film was my scene because it showed such grace. That meant the world to me.”
Early reviews have been mixed, but not Roucis’: “I think the movie rocks,” she said. “I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.”
The screening was one day before the death of cast member Jill Clayburgh, best known for iconic film roles like “An Unmarried Woman.”
“But she’s a theater icon as far as I am concerned,” Roucis said, recalling Clayburgh as Catherine in Broadway’s “Pippin” back in 1972. Clayburgh was married to playwright David Rabe (“Hurlyburly”).
Back to the beginning
When Boulder’s Dinner Theatre opens “Hello Dolly!” on Friday, it’ll mean a little more than usual to director Michael J. Duran.
“It was ‘the first’ of so many firsts in my career,” he said.
Duran performed with the iconic Dolly, Carol Channing, on a summer-stock production in 1981. Duran, who graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in physical therapy, also helped Channing with a knee problem.
So when Channing took “Dolly” out on national tour for almost two years ending in 1983, “she called the producers and said she had to have me with her,” said Duran, who was cast as one of the 12 “working stiffs” — otherwise known as Dolly’s Boys.
“She taught me so much about work ethic and the responsibility of being a professional performer,” said Duran, who reunited with Channing last month when she spoke at Colorado State University. She called him, as always — “Doctor Michael.”
BDT hasn’t staged “Hello Dolly!” since 1984. It stars Alicia Dunfee through Feb. 26 (03-449-6000).
Cover that dog!
Art imitates life in Manitou Springs with “Art Dogs,’ Jim Jackson’s fictionalized, farcical look at one of the sillier public scandals in recent memory.
Several years ago, a local artist was commissioned by the Manitou Arts Council to create a statue of a Great Dane. And when it went up on its pedestal, shall we say, anatomically correct, it was removed in short order by the mayor’s office. “Art Dogs” looks at the absurdity of small-town censorship colliding with . . . naked dogs. Through Nov. 28 at the Manitou Art Theatre, 1367 Pecan St. (719-685-4729).
And finally…
Eww: The Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington D.C. is staging Gregory Moss’ “House of Gold,” an exploitation of the exploitation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder. The Washington Post calls it “a morbid intrusion on an exhausted subject.”
This week’s theater openings
Opening Tuesday, Nov. 16, through Nov. 28: Denver Center Attractions’ “Shrek, the Musical” at the Buell Theatre
Opening Thursday, Nov. 18, through Dec. 18: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Reckless,” at the Space Theatre
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Dec. 19: Vintage Theatre’s “You Can’t Take it With You”
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Dec. 19: Lake Dillon’s “[Title of Show]”
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Jan. 23: Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Greeley
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Feb. 26: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Hello, Dolly!”
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Dec. 19: OpenStage’s “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol,” at Art Lab : Gallery Fort Collins
Opening Friday, Nov. 19, through Dec. 30: Backstage’s “A Tuna Christmas” Breckenridge
Friday, Nov. 19 only: Lakewood Cultural Center’s “An Evening with Groucho”
This week’s theater closings
Today, Nov. 14: “The Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” at the Pepsi Center
Today, Nov. 14: Robert Dubac’s “Free Range Thinking,” at the Galleria Theatre
Today, Nov. 14: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Shout”
Today, Nov. 14: PHAMALy’s “Vox Phamalia: Triage,” at the Avenue Theater
Today, Nov. 14: Evergreen Players’ “The Cripple of Inishmaan”
Today, Nov. 14: OpenStage’s “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure,” at the Masonic Temple Fort Collins
Today, Nov. 14: Red Rocks Community College’s “Feydeau & Buffalo Bill’s Imaginarium” Lakewood
Saturday, Nov. 20: Band of Toughs’ “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers,” at the Denver Civic Theatre
Saturday, Nov. 20: Buntport’s “Seal. Stamp. Send. Bang.”
Saturday, Nov. 20: Carousel Dinner Theatre’s “Aida” Fort Collins
Saturday, Nov. 20: Nonesuch’s “My First Time” Fort Collins
Saturday, Nov. 20: Dangerous Theatre’s “London After Midnight: Tales of the Supernatural”
Saturday, Nov. 20: Theatre Company of Lafayette’s “Sherlock Holmes and the Spinsters of Blackmeade”
Sunday, Nov. 21: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The 39 Steps,” at the Ricketson Theatre
Sunday, Nov. 21: Afterthought Theatre’s “The Vagina Monologues,” at the Crossroads Theatre
Sunday, Nov. 21: Theatre Or’s “The Chosen,” at the Mizel Center
Sunday, Nov. 21: Gravity Defied’s “[Title of Show],” at the Aurora Fox
Audio podcast: Running Lines with Denny Paschall of “Shrek”
Actor Denny Paschall, who graduated from Pomona High School in 1996, returns home this week to perform in the national touring production of “Shrek,” the musical stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning animated tale of the ogre and his beloved ogress. Paschall began taking dance lessons at the Arvada Center when he was 8 and has performed all over the metro area, including the Country Dinner Playhouse and Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, before breaking for Broadway in 2001 and never looking back. We caught up with him on his last pre-homecoming stop, in Oklahoma City. Listen to our “Running Lines” audio podcast by clicking here
Most recent theater openings
“Art Dog” In this small-town farce, a local arts council gets into hot water when they inadvertently place the wrong statue on the town pedestal, causing a comic uproar that culminates in the mandated clothing of all male dogs. Through Nov. 28. Manitou Art Theatre, 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs, 719-685-4729 or themat.org
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” On Christmas Eve 1953 in Korea, a close-knit troupe of USO performers performs songs and comedy of the late 1940s and early ’50s. Through Dec. 31. Heritage Square Music Hall, 18301 W. Colfax Ave., Golden, 303-279-7800 or hsmusichall.com
“Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” The Vic presents its “defiantly funny” alternative to “A Christmas Carol,” told from the perspective of Scrooge’s curmudgeonly business partner. Starring Chris Kendall. Through Dec. 19. Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St., 303-433-4343 or denvervic.com
“King John” Shakespeare’s play, centered on the weak son of King Henry II and brother of the late King Richard the Lion Heart, is filled with unresolved disputes involving family members, often resulting in murder. Through Nov. 27. Presented by Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or theupstartcrow.org
“The Radio City Christmas Spectacular” Radio City Music Hall’s 77-year-old “Christmas Spectacular” visits the Pepsi Center for five shows Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 13-14) as part of its 25-city holiday tour. It returns for four shows at Colorado Springs’ World Arena from Nov. 23-24.
See our feature story right here
“The Vagina Monologues” Eve Ensler’s landmark 1996 collection of interviews with women about their bodies is told here by four female actors bringing to life real characters including a 6-year-old girl, a septuagenarian New Yorker, a woman who witnesses the birth of her granddaughter and a Bosnian survivor of rape. Through Nov. 19. Presented by Afterthought Theatre at the Crossroads Theatre, 2590 Washington St., 720-365-7754 or afterthoughttheatre.com
“White Christmas” Christmas classic about two Army veterans who have a successful song-and-dance act after World War II — and they have romance on their minds. The score has 17 Irving Berlin songs including “Blue Skies,” “I Love a Piano” and the title song. Appropriate for all ages. Through Dec. 26. Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 W. Main St., Littleton, 303-794-2787 or townhallartscenter.com
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings by company or by opening date
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue. denverpost.com/runninglines
