It’s Spring Time! With the warmer weather, longer days, and abundant pollen destroying my sinuses comes new life, new hope, and new opportunities for transformation and inspiration through the arts.

Last month, The Evergreen Chorale teamed up with the Denver Children’s Choir to give an inspiringly beautiful concert of hope and vision for a world in which we celebrate the wondrous diversity of human expression. 

Neither blizzards nor windstorms kept Ovation West Theatre Company from bringing the large-scale spectacle of “The Wizard of Oz” to over 1,300 people from all over Colorado. As one audience member posted: “My wife and I attended “The Wizard of Oz” performance yesterday. What talent, great props, wonderful costumes, awesome musicians, orchestrated perfectly…where we could simply watch a beautiful performance minutes from our home. We were “first-timers” after living here 3 ½ years, but it will definitely not be our last!”

It has already been a busy spring, to say the least, but there is no shortage of transformative and inspirational events on the horizon.

On Sunday, April 28th, Center Stage will be host to the 1st annual Art Song Colorado singing competition. An all-day competition will conclude with a public concert of the finalists representing the best up and coming classical singers in the state. General admission tickets are only $10 at www.artsongcolorado.org. 

Mark your calendars for Friday, May 3rd, as we hold the Center Stage Centennial Celebration Gala honoring 100 years of music and theatre at Center Stage. This 1920s-themed party will feature live performances by the stars of this year’s shows as well as local favorite John Erlandson. You’ll get an exclusive sneak peak at next season’s concerts and shows, and a chance to get 2024/2025 season tickets for only $99! You’ll also have the chance to win some incredible vacation getaway packages to South Africa, Mexico, and cozy mountain cabins, as well as music and acting lessons, spa treatments, restaurant gift cards, and much much more! Get all the details and tickets here. 

On May 11th, internationally renowned singer Douglas Webster closes out the Ovation Concert Series with “The Broadway

Baritone.” Doug is one of the most inspiring musical storytellers I have ever had the privilege to witness. He takes songs that are already barn-burners and tear-jerkers and infuses them with new life and personal meaning, weaving together an unforgettable evening of artistry. You definitely will not want to miss this one! 

And don’t forget about free Classic and Silent Film Nights every month at Center Stage. May 9th is “Classic Comedians” – a collection of some of the best comic actors of the silver screen, with the likes of The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. On June 6th Patrick Lee returns with a prodigal piano accompaniment of Buster Keaton’s masterpiece silent film, “The General.”

The Evergreen Chorale is already hard at work preparing their next big collaborative project – the transcendently beautiful Brahms Requiem. This concert will be with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra at the Colorado School of Mines Green Center for one day only on Sunday May 19th at 3 pm. Tickets available at https://www.jeffsymphony.org/season

And to cap off a transformative 2023/2024 season, we are returning to our collaboration with Mountain Youth Musicals for our annual Summer Musical Theatre Camp. If you are looking for a summer camp experience for your kids that will give them confidence and camaraderie though inspirational performing arts training (including options for theatre tech), then make sure to sign them up before space runs out! For teenagers 15-20, we are mounting a full performance of Stephen Sondheim’s classic tale “Sweeney Todd” through MYM’s new Apex company. All roles are open for consideration, and tuition for this new program is “pay what you can” to ensure that we can provide top notch performing arts training to any and all high schoolers. Apex registration is on the MYM website, https://www.mymusicals.org/apex-company.



Come be part of all the excitement, and see what Ovation West Performing Arts is doing to bring transformative and inspirational culture to our community. I can’t wait to see you at one (or all!) of these upcoming events.

Sincerely,
Graham Anduri
Executive Director of Ovation West Performing Arts