The Denver Center Theater Company’s 2014/15 season will kick off in September with The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a new adaptation of Meredith Willson’s musical that premiered during the 2009 Colorado New Play Summit.
The show details the life of Titanic survivor and Denver aristocrat Molly Brown, who earned her fortune in the heady days of the Gold Rush in the 19th century. The new adaptation at the DCTC will draw on input from some of Broadway’s biggest names. Tony Award nominee Dick Scanlan wrote the book for the show and Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall will serve as director and choreographer for the Denver production scheduled to debut in September.
The revamped show will include previously unpublished songs by Willson, creator of classic shows like The Music Man. Molly Brown debuted as a Broadway musical in 1960. A film adaptation starring Debbie Reynolds followed in 1964.
The announcement comes on the heels of the ninth annual Colorado New Play Summit, an event that’s become an important regional forum for premiering new works. The new take on Molly Brown is part of the company’s commitment to new work, according to DCTC staff.
“We are thrilled to produce this new adaptation of The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” DCTC Artistic Director Kent Thompson said in a release. “With a first-class Broadway creative team and featuring the story of one of Colorado’s most famous and successful women, I couldn’t imagine the show premiering elsewhere.”
The show is set to run from Sept. 12 to Oct. 26 at the Stage Theater at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Further details about the production and special events tied to the show will be announced in partnership with the Molly Brown House in Denver. Information: 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org