%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Denver Center for the Performing Arts http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-center-performing-arts <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2022-02-15T15:25:48-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 15, 2022 - 15:25" class="datetime">Tue, 02/15/2022 - 15:25</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-center-performing-arts" data-a2a-title="Denver Center for the Performing Arts"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fdenver-center-performing-arts&amp;title=Denver%20Center%20for%20the%20Performing%20Arts"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is a theatrical organization that puts on professional productions, brings Broadway shows to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, and offers educational programming. Established in 1979, DCPA grew out of a Denver theatrical legacy that included the University Civic Theatre and <strong>Denver Civic Theatre</strong>. Under its founder, <strong>Donald Seawell</strong>, DCPA originally managed what is now known as the <strong>Denver Performing Arts Complex</strong> (DPAC), but in the 1980s, the city took over the venues, and DCPA narrowed its focus to theater.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Today DCPA still operates out of its Arts Complex home, which includes the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex and Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre. Together the group’s performances attract nearly a million patrons a year. Currently, under the leadership of president and CEO Janice Sinden, DCPA has an operating budget of around $65 million, with 300 employees.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early History</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>DCPA owes its existence to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/helen-g-bonfils"><strong>Helen Bonfils</strong></a>, the millionaire owner of <strong><em>The Denver Post</em></strong> from 1933 until her death in 1972. Her greatest love, however, was not the newspaper but the theatre (she insisted upon the English spelling). As a little girl, she turned her dollhouse into a stage set. As a young woman, she acted in Denver’s famous, long-lived summer theater, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/elitch-gardens"><strong>Elitch’s</strong></a>, for which she came to be a major financial angel. Next, she moved to New York and Broadway, where she acted in and produced big-league plays.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In Denver, Bonfils also supported the University Civic Theatre, an amateur company established in 1929 at the <strong>University of Denver</strong>. After <strong>World War II</strong>, Bonfils built the Civic Theatre, a new theater on East Colfax Avenue at Elizabeth Street. The building was named the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bonfils-memorial-theatre"><strong>Bonfils Memorial Theatre</strong></a>, and the organization changed its name to Denver Civic Theatre.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Bonfils long dreamed of starting a professional theater company in Denver. When she died in 1972, her attorney/confidante Donald Seawell worked to make that happen. Then chairman and publisher of the <em>Post</em> as well as head of the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation, he sold the newspaper, put the proceeds into the foundation, and pumped the funding into his vision for a downtown performing arts complex anchored by a professional theater company. After the professional Denver Center Theatre Company started in 1979, the old Bonfils Memorial Theatre on Colfax was used for the community theater and renamed for <strong>Henry Lowenstein</strong>, long a local champion of a wide variety of community productions. The Lowenstein Theatre closed in the mid-1980s and has been home since 2006 to <strong>Tattered Cover Book Store</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Programming</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Denver Center Theatre Company (DCTC) fulfilled Helen Bonfils’s dream of a professional theater company. Its headquarters is in the back of the former <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tramway-building-hotel-teatro"><strong>Tramway Building</strong></a> (now Hotel Teatro), located just across Arapahoe Street from the Arts Complex. The basement; car barn; streetcar service shops; and lower floors have been converted into administrative offices; six large rehearsal rooms; production studios’ staging areas; and paint, set making, costume, and wig shops, as well as the Tramway Theatre. The DCTC sponsors the New Play Summit, which attracts actors, actresses, and theater people from across the country.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>DCPA is heavily involved in the general community. The Denver Center Theatre Academy annually serves some 70,000 students, from three-year-olds to aspiring actors, with programs for students, teachers, professionals, and other interested parties. DCPA also puts on regular student matinees and provides study guides to help teachers incorporate the performance into the classroom.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>DCPA’s other arms include DCPA Broadway, which brings Broadway tours to Denver; DCPA Cabaret, which has put on comedies and musicals at the Garner Galleria since 1992; and DCPA Off-Center, which has offered experimental and immersive theatrical experiences since 2010.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Venues</h2>&#13; &#13; <p><em>Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p>DCPA has developed several venues to serve its multiple roles, beginning with the</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. The Bonfils Theatres were the first DCPA venues to open in 1979. The building features raw concrete walls, banded windows, and a sixty-six-foot-high glazed canopy soaring over the entry and lobby. On the south side of the complex, a broad pedestrian ramp called the Crescent curves inside and outside under a canopy with a sweeping view of the city and its <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountain</strong></a> setting. The Crescent ends in the Directors Room, with entry portraits of Bonfils and her father, <em>The Denver Post</em> cofounder <strong>Frederick G. Bonfils</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Bonfils Complex houses four theaters where Denver Center Theatre Company presents its work. The largest, the 600-seat Stage, is a proscenium-style theater that invites audiences to sit in a fan shape in front of the stage. It is now heavily remodeled and known as the Marvin and Judi Wolf Theatre after two major benefactors. The Space Theatre is a smaller, more flexible, 380-seat pentagonal venue. It is now known as the Dorota <a href="#_msocom_2" id="_anchor_2" name="_msoanchor_2" uage="JavaScript">[SM2]</a> &amp; Kevin Kilstrom Theatre after two principal donors. The Lab Theatre opened as a 200-seat “black box” that was renamed the Source after a thrust stage was added in the 1980s. It is now known as the Glenn R. Jones Theatre after the former DCPA board member and cable television magnate. The fourth theatre in the complex, a 200-seat venue, was initially named for Denver movie theater magnate Frank H. Ricketson and focused on cinema. It has been renamed the William Dean Singleton Theatre after the former <em>Denver Post</em> publisher, who has been a longtime board member and major donor.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The most notable addition to the Bonfils Complex came in 1998, when the Donald R. Seawell Ballroom was built on top of it. Designed by Kevin Roche, this $10 million glass-and-steel structure provides a 10,000-square-foot space with city and mountain views. As a premier venue in downtown Denver, the ballroom annually hosts more than 100 events and performances of all kinds.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The 2,884-seat Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre, named for <strong>a prominent Denver architect, developer, and philanthropist</strong> whose foundation helped fund it, is the largest venue at the Arts Complex. As the city’s old Auditorium Arena became less and less capable of showcasing big-time Broadway productions in the 1980s, Denver mayor <strong>Federico Peña</strong> and Colorado governor <strong>Roy Romer</strong> spearheaded a campaign for a state-of-the-art theater. To build the $35 million theater, the old Auditorium Arena was gutted for a modern showplace that includes the Marvin and Judi Wolf Room for receptions, parties, and special events. Actors’ Alley connects the Buell to the adjacent Ellie Caulkins Opera House and is a popular stop on public tours because of the large hand-painted replicas of show posters signed by touring casts that adorn the walls.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Buell opened in 1991 with a sold-out ten-week run of <em>The Phantom of the Opera</em> and has since hosted many big-time Broadway hits. Besides launching the national tour of Disney’s <em>T</em><em>he Lion King, </em>the Buell has launched other tours, including<em> The Book of Mormon, Sunset Boulevard</em>, and the revival of <em>Hello Dolly! </em>starring Carol Channing<em>.</em> The theater also hosts concerts and comedy acts.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Leadership</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Donald Seawell retired as chairman of the DCPA board in 2006, at age ninety-four. He was replaced by his handpicked successor, <strong>Daniel Lee Ritchie</strong>, another noted philanthropist, business executive, and civic leader. Ritchie had just stepped down as chancellor at the University of Denver, where his prodigious fundraising took the school out of bankruptcy and paid for many stone and copper buildings that distinguished what had been a hodgepodge campus. At DCPA, Ritchie continued to bring in blockbuster shows and encouraged the company to stage Colorado-centric productions about figures such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clara-brown"><strong>Aunt Clara Brown</strong></a>, an early Black immigrant, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/elizabeth-%E2%80%9Cbaby-doe%E2%80%9D-tabor"><strong>Baby Doe Tabor</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p> In 2016 Janice Sinden followed Ritchie as president and CEO. Previously she held various executive positions, including chief of staff for Denver mayor <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/michael-hancock"><strong>Michael B. Hancock</strong></a>. “Politics is public theater,” she reflected in 2021, “with its large cast of clashing characters.” At the DCPA helm, Sinden oversaw a $54 million renovation of the Bonfils venues to enhance theaters, upgrade accessibility, and improve audience experience, as well as a major face lift and updating of the Buell Theatre.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>When the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coronavirus-colorado"><strong>COVID-19 pandemic</strong></a> hit in March 2020, the DCPA shut down for seventeen months. All performances were postponed until fall 2021, when <em>The Lion King</em> reopened the Buell, followed by <em>A Christmas Carol</em> and <em>Hamilton</em>. A full range of other productions reawakened the DCPA’s many venues with hopes to return to an average year, when the DCPA stages around forty different shows with about 2,500 performances that draw more than 950,000 visitors.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/noel-thomas-j" hreflang="und">Noel, Thomas J.</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-center-performing-arts" hreflang="en">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-performing-arts-complex" hreflang="en">Denver Performing Arts Complex</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/helen-bonfils" hreflang="en">Helen Bonfils</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/donald-seawell" hreflang="en">Donald Seawell</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Denver Center for the Performing Arts, <a href="https://issuu.com/denvercenter">Annual Reports</a>, various dates.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Denver Center Theatre, <em>Twenty-Five Years of Sterling Theatre</em> (Denver: Denver Center Theatre Company, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel and Amy B. Zimmer, <em>Showtime: Denver’s Performing Arts, Convention Centers and Theatre District</em> (Denver: Denver’s Division of Theaters and Arenas, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Daniel Lee Ritchie, interviews by Thomas J. Noel, February 28, and March 13, 2007.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Donald Ray Seawell, interviews by Thomas J. Noel, March 13, 2006; April 3, 2006; and July 9, 2007.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Janice Sinton, interview and DCPA tour with Thomas J. Noel, July 29, 2021.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Eva Hodges Watt, <em>Papa’s Girl: The Fascinating World of Helen Bonfils</em> (Lake City, CO: Western Reflections, 2007).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://www.denvercenter.org/">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a>.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:25:48 +0000 yongli 3670 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Denver Performing Arts Complex http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-performing-arts-complex <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Denver Performing Arts Complex</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-12-02T11:17:11-07:00" title="Thursday, December 2, 2021 - 11:17" class="datetime">Thu, 12/02/2021 - 11:17</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-performing-arts-complex" data-a2a-title="Denver Performing Arts Complex"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fdenver-performing-arts-complex&amp;title=Denver%20Performing%20Arts%20Complex"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Denver Performing Arts Complex (DPAC) is a four-block, twelve-acre site that features nearly 10,600 seats across the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex, Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre, Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Boettcher Concert Hall, Garner Galleria Theatre, and several smaller facilities. It is one of the top three performing arts complexes in the United States in terms of seats, patronage, and ticket sales, along with Lincoln Center in New York City and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The brainchild of <strong>Donald Seawell</strong>, the complex was built around <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>’s historic <strong>Municipal Auditorium</strong>, with the first new venues opening in 1978. Managed by the City of Denver’s Arts &amp; Venues division, DPAC is home to four resident companies: <strong>Colorado Ballet</strong>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-symphony"><strong>Colorado Symphony</strong></a>, <strong>Opera Colorado</strong>, and the <strong>Denver Center for the Performing Arts </strong>(DCPA), which presents and produces live theater.</p> <h2>Vision</h2> <p>Donald Seawell loved to tell the story of DPAC’s conception. After lunch at the Café Promenade in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/larimer-square"><strong>Larimer Square</strong></a> one day in July 1972, he walked back along Fourteenth Street to the offices of <strong><em>The Denver Post</em></strong>, where he was publisher. He stopped at the corner of Curtis Street, where the 1908 Municipal Auditorium stood, then in poor shape and surrounded by cheap residences and bars. Seawell, formerly a New York lawyer and theatrical producer, was struck with an idea and sketched on an envelope an ambitious plan for a new performing arts campus to rival the nation’s best.</p> <h2>Design and Venues</h2> <p>Seawell filed plans with the city that same day and got to work. He recruited Denver mayor <strong>William H. McNichols Jr.</strong>, who was known to burst into bits of opera, to help pave the way. First came funding. Seawell sold <em>The Denver Post</em>, which he controlled after <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/helen-g-bonfils"><strong>Helen Bonfils</strong></a>’s death in 1972, to the Times Mirror Company for $95 million. Most of the proceeds went into the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation. Seawell then pumped money from the foundation into the construction of the arts complex. He maintained that he was carrying out Helen’s dying wish, but critics claimed he drained the <em>Post</em> dry to build his own dream.</p> <p>Seawell hired one of the world’s leading architectural firms, Roche, Dinkeloo &amp; Associates, LLC, of Camden, Connecticut, to furnish the masterplan. Roche’s centerpiece was a glass cornucopia-shaped galleria providing a pedestrian extension of Curtis Street. An evocation of the great galleria in Milan, it connected and sheltered the complex’s various venues and restaurants with a covered pedestrian arcade under a barrel vault seventy-six feet high and sixty feet wide.</p> <p>The cornerstone of the complex is the Denver Municipal Auditorium, which originally sparked Seawell’s vision. Built in 1908 to host Colorado’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/1908-democratic-national-convention"><strong>first national presidential convention</strong></a>, the space became Denver’s only Broadway roadhouse until the Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre was created within the adjacent Auditorium Arena in 1991. That arena had been added to the auditorium in the early 1940s, expanding the structure to fill the whole block bounded by Curtis, Champa, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Streets. The ornate neoclassical exterior of the auditorium was restored in 2003 and renamed to honor former Denver mayor <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/j-quigg-newton"><strong>Quigg Newton</strong></a>. Two years later, the auditorium interior was gutted to build the state-of-the-art Ellie Caulkins Opera House and intimate Studio Loft.</p> <p>The first new pieces of the complex to open were the galleria, an eight-story parking garage, and Boettcher Concert Hall. They were financed by a $6 million Denver bond issue, $7 million from private sources, $3 million from the Helen G. Bonfils Foundation, and $2 million from the Boettcher Foundation. Architects George Hoover and Karl Berg of Denver’s Muchow Associates helped design the garage and the galleria. On the ground floor of the garage is Garner Galleria Theatre, named for Denver’s longtime theater impresario <strong>Robert Garner</strong>, as well as other retail and dining spaces. Boettcher Concert Hall, named for Denver philanthropist <strong>Claude K. Boettcher</strong>, opened in 1978 as the nation’s first symphony hall in the round, with 80 percent of the seats within sixty-five feet of the stage. The hall was a major upgrade for the Denver Symphony Orchestra (now the Colorado Symphony), which previously played at the inadequate Auditorium Arena, a venue originally intended for sports, not music. At the southwest corner of the site, Seawell built the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. Completed in 1979, it is home to the DCPA’s professional Theatre Company. The building contains four distinctive theaters, on top of which the Seawell Ballroom was added in 1998.</p> <p>At its far west end, the complex includes the grassy Sculpture Park (1978), which is used for large outdoor concerts, festivals, and private receptions. Sculpture Park is best known for its sixty-foot-high sculpture, “The Dancers” by Jonathan Borofsky, a twirling couple prominent to travelers along Speer Boulevard.</p> <h2>Recent History</h2> <p>The Denver Performing Arts Complex helped transform a declining downtown Denver neighborhood. Fourteenth Street started out in the 1870s as Denver’s first millionaires’ row before becoming blighted a century later. DPAC started a revival. It inspired the reincarnation of the former <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-tramway-company"><strong>Denver Tramway Company</strong></a> headquarters next door, which now has a dual use: the upscale <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tramway-building-hotel-teatro"><strong>Hotel Teatro</strong></a> and the administrative offices and production facility for DCPA’s plays and theater-education programs. Across Fourteenth Street from Hotel Teatro, construction of the forty-five-story Four Seasons Hotel and Residences (2009) inspired other new high-rise hotels and residences along Fourteenth, making the street once again a center of luxury real estate.&nbsp;</p> <p>When the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coronavirus-colorado"><strong>COVID-19 pandemic</strong></a> hit in March 2020, all DPAC venues closed. Live indoor performances resumed in September 2021, with the Colorado Symphony performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, followed by major performances by DPAC’s other resident companies throughout the fall. Other productions reawakened the complex’s many venues with hopes to return to an average year, when, collectively, the resident companies offer more than 2,700 different performances, attract more than 1.3 million guests, and generate some $300 million in economic activity.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/noel-thomas-j" hreflang="und">Noel, Thomas J.</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-performing-arts-complex" hreflang="en">Denver Performing Arts Complex</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/donald-seawell" hreflang="en">Donald Seawell</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-symphony" hreflang="en">Denver Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-symphony" hreflang="en">Colorado Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-ballet" hreflang="en">Colorado Ballet</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/opera-colorado" hreflang="en">Opera Colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-center-performing-arts" hreflang="en">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/municipal-auditorium" hreflang="en">Municipal Auditorium</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boettcher-concert-hall" hreflang="en">Boettcher Concert Hall</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/buell-theatre" hreflang="en">Buell Theatre</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Denver Center for the Performing Arts, <a href="https://issuu.com/denvercenter">Annual Reports</a>, various dates.</p> <p>Denver Center Theatre, <em>Twenty-Five Years of Sterling Theatre</em> (Denver: Denver Center Theatre Company, 2004).</p> <p>Thomas J. Noel and Amy B. Zimmer, <em>Showtime: Denver’s Performing Arts, Convention Centers and Theatre District</em> (Denver: Denver’s Division of Theaters and Arenas, 2008).</p> <p>Daniel Lee Ritchie, interviews by Thomas J. Noel, February 28 and March 13, 2007.</p> <p>Donald Ray Seawell, interviews by Thomas J. Noel, March 13, 2006; April 3, 2006; and July 9, 2007.</p> <p>Janice Sinton, interview and DCPA tour with Thomas J. Noel, July 29, 2021.</p> <p>Eva Hodges Watt, <em>Papa’s Girl: The Fascinating World of Helen Bonfils</em> (Lake City, CO: Western Reflections, 2007).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://coloradoballet.org/">Colorado Ballet</a></p> <p><a href="https://coloradosymphony.org/">Colorado Symphony</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.denvercenter.org/">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.operacolorado.org/">Opera Colorado</a></p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 02 Dec 2021 18:17:11 +0000 yongli 3649 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Bonfils Memorial Theatre http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bonfils-memorial-theatre <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bonfils Memorial Theatre</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-10-07T16:34:33-06:00" title="Friday, October 7, 2016 - 16:34" class="datetime">Fri, 10/07/2016 - 16:34</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bonfils-memorial-theatre" data-a2a-title="Bonfils Memorial Theatre"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fbonfils-memorial-theatre&amp;title=Bonfils%20Memorial%20Theatre"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Bonfils Memorial Theatre on East Colfax Avenue was built by <strong>Helen Bonfils</strong> for the <strong>Denver Civic Theatre</strong> in 1953. As the first theater for live performances built in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> in forty years, the cream-colored building staged more than 400 productions before it closed in 1986. It sat mostly unoccupied for two decades before the St. Charles Town Company converted it into a new home for the <strong>Tattered Cover Book Store</strong> in 2006.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>A New Home for the Civic Theatre</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Established in 1929, the University Civic Theatre was an amateur theater company that drew support from wealthy local arts patrons such as <strong>Margery Reed</strong>, Florence Martin, and Helen Bonfils, the publisher of the <strong><em>Denver Post</em></strong>. Originally based out of Margery Reed Hall on the <strong>University of Denver </strong>(DU) campus, the Civic Theatre functioned in its early years as an intimate club with only a few hundred members.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1940s Civic Theatre membership rapidly expanded into the thousands, making a new home necessary. Plans for a new building were first drawn up during World War II. In 1942 Helen Bonfils gave a building at 1425 Cleveland Place to DU as the site for the Civic Theatre’s new home. Wartime restrictions made it illegal to build or remodel theaters, however, so in the meantime the university remodeled the building for other uses.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the war, Bonfils and the Civic Theatre allowed DU to keep 1425 Cleveland Place and started to search for a new site. By 1948 they had found one at East Colfax Avenue and Elizabeth Street, across from the <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/city-park">City Park</a> Esplanade</strong> and <strong>East High School</strong>. Soon a ten-room house at the site was moved to a different location, and construction on the new theater began.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Bonfils Memorial Theatre</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At first the Civic Theatre hoped to have its new home ready in time for the 1950–51 season, but building restrictions during the Korean War delayed the project for several years. The new theater finally opened on October 14, 1953, with a production of <em>Green Grow the Lilacs</em> for 500 guests to kick off the Civic Theatre’s twenty-fifth season. At the same time, the Civic Theatre changed its name from University Civic Theatre to Denver Civic Theatre to mark its move away from the university campus.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent Helen Bonfils a telegram of congratulations on opening night. She had bankrolled the $1.25 million building using funds from her father’s <strong>Frederick G. Bonfils</strong> Foundation, which he established to support educational and cultural organizations. She named the building the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, in memory of her parents, and rented it to the Civic Theatre for one dollar a year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The building’s architect was <strong>John K. Monroe</strong>, whom Helen Bonfils knew from his work for the <strong>Archdiocese of Denver</strong>, particularly the Bonfils-funded <a href="/article/holy-ghost-catholic-church"><strong>Holy Ghost Catholic Church </strong></a>downtown. For the Civic Theatre, Monroe designed a one-story Art Moderne building with a tall, rectangular stage fly loft structure at the rear. Encased in cream-colored brick and buff-colored terra cotta trim, the building’s exterior was characterized by a clean, almost classical look that was balanced by the curve of the aluminum entrance canopy on Elizabeth Street.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The audience entered the theater under the Elizabeth Street canopy and passed through a travertine lobby with a Prussian blue rug, wood-paneled walls, pumpkin-colored plaster, and tall windows facing Colfax. The west side of the lobby had a shrine to London’s Abbey Theater. A grand staircase led down from the main lobby to the lower lobby, which had a bar and restrooms.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The theater itself sat 550 people and featured gray walls, red carpet, and a Prussian blue curtain that came down behind its proscenium arch. It was the best-equipped amateur theater in the country, complete with nine dressing rooms and an electronic lighting switchboard that was a smaller version of the system used in New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. Monroe designed it to be used for a variety of productions, including plays, operas, movies, concerts, and lectures. It could also be used as a television studio, making it perhaps the oldest building in Denver designed with television production in mind.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The main artistic force behind the Civic Theatre during its years in the Bonfils Memorial Theatre was <strong>Henry Lowenstein</strong>. Initially hired in 1956 as a stage designer, he later became a producer and influenced a generation of Denver actors, stagehands, and theatergoers.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Changes</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>When Helen Bonfils died in 1972, the theater became part of the <strong>Bonfils Foundation</strong>. <em>Denver Post</em> chairman and publisher <strong>Donald Seawell</strong> controlled the foundation, and in 1974 he pushed for the creation of the <strong>Denver Center for the Performing Arts</strong> (DCPA), a massive complex of theaters and concert halls on Fourteenth Street downtown (now known as the Denver Performing Arts Complex). The Bonfils Memorial Theatre came under the umbrella of the DCPA governing board, which started the professional Denver Center Theatre Company at its downtown complex and kept the Bonfils building as a community theater.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the rise of professional theater at the DCPA, interest in community theater at the Bonfils building waned. In 1984 the DCPA governing board, concerned about the Bonfils Theatre’s operating deficit, decided to close the main stage. Cabaret and children’s theater performances continued for a few more years, but without the main stage it had even less hope of balancing its operating budget. In 1986 the theater was renamed in honor of longtime producer Lowenstein, but six months later the DCPA board voted unanimously to close it for good. Lowenstein and the Denver Civic Theatre moved to a former silent movie theater on Santa Fe Drive.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Rebirth as Tattered Cover</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Bonfils Theatre closed, it sat mostly unused for nearly twenty years. Local residents wanted to save the building, but it proved impossible to find a tenant. The building was occasionally used for filming and other short-term projects. When the 1950s television show <em>Perry Mason</em> was revived in the 1980s, for example, it briefly filmed at the theater and other Denver locations.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In May 2005, Charles Woolley of the St. Charles Town Company bought the theater and adjacent parking lot from the Bonfils Foundation for $1.9 million. He got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places the next year. Meanwhile, with the help of preservationists from the Colorado Historical Society (now <strong>History Colorado</strong>) and the National Park Service and financing from the <strong>Denver Urban Renewal Authority</strong>, the company embarked on a $14 million project to preserve the theater as part of a redevelopment that would include a bookstore, record store, and art cinema in one large complex called the Lowenstein Cultureplex.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 2006 the St. Charles Town Company started to convert the theater into a new home for Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store. The exterior was cleaned, repaired, and slightly reconfigured for retail use. The interior saw more significant changes—it was, after all, being converted from a theater to a book store—but many historic details and finishes were retained. It is still possible to see the building’s theatre heritage in the book store’s recessed reading area at the foot of the former stage. Offices, dressing rooms, and rehearsal space on the east and west sides of the theater were converted into a restaurant and a coffee shop, respectively. Historic Denver awarded the St. Charles Town Company a Community Preservation Award for its work on the theater.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the site of the former parking lot just west of the theater, the company built a new structure that housed the Twist and Shout music store, Neighborhood Flix Cinema and Café, and a 230-space parking garage. Neighborhood Flix closed in 2008 but reopened two years later as the Sie FilmCenter, home of the <strong>Denver Film Society</strong>.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/helen-bonfils" hreflang="en">Helen Bonfils</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tattered-cover-book-store" hreflang="en">Tattered Cover Book Store</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-civic-theatre" hreflang="en">Denver Civic Theatre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-center-performing-arts" hreflang="en">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-k-monroe" hreflang="en">John K. Monroe</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/henry-lowenstein" hreflang="en">Henry Lowenstein</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/donald-seawell" hreflang="en">Donald Seawell</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bonfils-foundation" hreflang="en">Bonfils Foundation</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“<a href="https://renewdenver.org/projects/lowenstein-theatre/">Lowenstein Theater</a>,” Denver Urban Renewal Authority.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Moore, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2009/06/26/a-history-of-the-bonfils-theatre/">“A History of the Bonfils Theatre,”</a> <em>The Denver Post</em>, March 20, 2005.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Elizabeth J. K. Morris, “A History of the Denver Civic Theatre, 1929–1968” (master’s thesis, University of Colorado–Boulder, 1968).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>Presenting the Bonfils Memorial Theatre on the Occasion of the Dedication, October, Nineteen-Hundred Fifty-Three</em> (Denver: Bonfils Memorial Theatre, 1953).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Rodd L. Wheaton, Michael Paglia, and Diane Wray, “Bonfils Memorial Theater,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (March 10, 1995).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Eva Hodges Watt, <em>Papa’s Girl: The Fascinating World of Helen Bonfils</em> (Lake City, CO: Western Reflections, 2007).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Fri, 07 Oct 2016 22:34:33 +0000 yongli 1933 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org