Season calendars, 2005–2011

The Vic published a rolling calendar of announced productions with a short description of each. What follows is that calendar reassembled from the theatre’s own listings across its six operating years, together with the descriptions it wrote for them. Dates are as advertised; where a run was extended or an announced production never opened, that is noted.

The house reopened in September 2005 after five dark years, under new management, with a storytelling play, a visiting company’s world premiere and a Christmas parody. Three productions in four months set the pattern for everything that followed.

The first full season, and the one that made the theatre’s reputation. Westword named the Vic Best Theatrical Resurrection in its Best of Denver awards for 2006 and gave Dead Man Walking its Best Production Based On Principle award in the same year. Eight productions ran between January and Christmas.

How the house described its 2006 season

Steel Magnolias — “Back by popular demand, the story of a close-knit group of witty and diverse women. Featuring the cast and crew from the critically acclaimed production at another Denver playhouse, it’s the funniest story to ever make you cry.”

Lysistrata — “This bawdy satire about marriage and other armed conflicts revolves around a group of women determined to end the war by withholding sex until their warring men come to their senses.” Directed by Marta Barnard.

The Weir — “A bar in a remote part of Ireland: the local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman from Dublin newly moved to the area. But she turns the tables on them… When was the last time you were afraid?”

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge — “She’s baaaack. And we can’t get rid of her. Back by popular demand, Mrs. Bob Cratchit takes on the holidays with a vengeance. This satirical spoof of the Dickens classic is a semi-musical sleigh ride on the wild side.”

Eight productions, opening with Shakespeare and closing with Dickens. The house’s own descriptions survive for four of them. Twelfth Night: “In a plot thick with endearing characters, mistaken identities, tantalizing trickery, and often-confused passions, Shakespeare’s language and humor come alive in his most popular comedy.” No Sex Please, We’re British: “A hilarious evening of slamming doors.” Barefoot in the Park: “Throw in her meddling mother, an eccentric neighbor, a sequence of misunderstandings and you’ve got the perfect recipe for laughter.” And Dead Man Walking, returning after its Best of Denver award for a run seven weeks long.

Ten productions, the busiest year in the archive, including the theatre’s first children’s musical and its first ten-actor farce. The Lion in Winter was held over to mid-February.

Seven productions. The season brought the theatre three finalist places in The Denver Post’s Ovation Awards — two for The Fantasticks and one for Educating Rita.

Seven productions, and the last complete season. Two Henry Award nominations from the Colorado Theatre Guild followed, for supporting performance in London Suite and sound design in Voices in the Dark.

The Field closed on 2 April 2011 and the staged reading of The Seagull King on 7 and 8 April was the last performance given in the room. Two further productions had been announced — The Irish… and How They Got That Way for April and May, and a revival of Tomfoolery for June and July — but the house was sold and neither opened. The last bill has the detail.

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Individual production pages, with synopses, casts and press notices, are indexed in the production archive.