The Aurora Fox theater’s twenty-ninth season will feature a spin on classical Greek mythology, a horror story about a headless horseman and a look at the life of painter Frida Kahlo.
Aurora Fox Executive Producer Charles Packard led the theater’s annual season announcement ceremony on Feb.12, revealing a lineup for 2013-14 that only includes four shows produced by the Aurora Fox. Those shows will include “Metamorphoses” by Mary Zimmerman in August, the regional premiere of “Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in October and a production of “Painted Bread” by Melissa Lucero McCarl in January, 2014.
The season will also include an unnamed musical comedy in April. Packard said the title couldn’t be revealed until next year because of issues regarding rights to the show and a national touring production.
Packard said that although the season only includes four shows produced by the Fox, the coming year will see constant activity at the theater. That’s in part because of a revolving slate of shows by guest companies, including productions by the Phamaly Theatre and Ignite Theatre troupes.
Phamaly will present a production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” as the holiday show in December, and Ignite’s lineup includes productions of “Avenue Q,” “Lysistrata Jones” and “Aida.”
“We try to coordinate what we’re doing with what they’re doing,” Packard said. “Other producers … need more space than we have.”
He added that the theme of the coming season will be “style,” and that the shows will be rooted in cues pulled literature, painting and myth.
For example, “Metamorphoses” by Mary Zimmerman explores nine stories based on ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The show will be produced in the studio theater and will follow the kind of ambitious set design the Fox pulled off for their production of “K2.” Instead of the sheer face of a mountain, the set will include a full pool of water on the stage floor, Packard said. The show will be directed by Geoffrey Kent, an award-winning theatrical fight coordinator and a troupe member with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a “traditional telling of Washington Irving’s classic ghost story.” Directed by Packard, the main stage production will include complex costumes and production cues.
“Painted Bread” by Denver actress and playwright Melissa Lucero McCarly is a surreal exploration of the life of painter Frida Kahlo. According to Packard, the show follows the interactions after Kahlo emerges from a painting to explain her life to a museum tour guide.
As for the unnamed musical bound for the Fox in April, 2014, Packard offered few substantial hints, simply stating that it will not be “Camelot.” The show is set to be directed by Piper Arpan, a Fox veteran who starred in the production of “The Wedding Singer” and co-directed “Xanadu.”
Aurora Fox Productions
“Metamorphoses” by Mary Zimmerman
Directed by Geoffrey Kent
Aurora Fox Studio Theater, 9900 E. Colfax Ave.
Aug. 16 to Sep. 22, 2013
Nine inter-related tales based on ancient Greek and Roman mythology.
“Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” adapted by Christopher Cook
Regional Premiere
Directed by Charles Packard
Aurora Fox main stage
Oct. 4 to Nov. 3, 2013
A traditional telling of Washington Irving’s classic ghost story.
“Painted Bread” by Melissa Lucero McCarl
Aurora Fox main stage
Jan. 31 to Feb. 23, 2014
Denver actress and playwright Melissa McCarl’s exploration of the life and legacy of Mexican painter Frida Khalo.
Musical
April 11 to April 27, 2014
Aurora Fox main stage
A new musical comedy that’s not “Camelot.”
Phamaly Theatre production
“It’s a Wonderful Life”
Adapted from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra and Jo Swerling
Aurora Fox main stage
Dec. 7 to Dec. 22
Ignite Theatre Productions
“Lysistrata Jones”
Regional Premiere
Book by Douglas Carter Beane; Music and Lyrics by Lewis Flinn
Directed by Keith Rabin Jr.
Aug. 2 to Aug. 26
Aurora Fox main stage
A modern spin on Aristophanes’ bawdy comedy about the women of Ancient Greece withholding sex in order to get their men to end the war.
“Avenue Q”
By Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Directed by Bernie Cardell
Oct. 4 to Nov. 3
Aurora Fox Studio Theater
A production of the musical puppet comedy featuring the same cast and the same director from the 2010 Vintage Theatre show.
“Aida”
By Elton John, Tim Rice, Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang
Dec. 27 to Jan. 19
Aurora Fox main stage
A musical in two acts based on Giuseppe Verdi’s Italian-language opera by the same name.
For more information, call 303-739-1970 or log on to aurorafoxartscenter.org.