Gay Theater in Denver, Part II

Bingo!

I will explain that remark in a later post on this subject, but the most long-lived and consistently entertaining Denver gay theater company was Theater on Broadway (TOB).

Located at 13 S. Broadway from approximately 1991 until 2006, it was awarded the "Best Season for a Theatre Company" for three different seasons. It was presented with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1998.

Theater on Broadway did not start out quite so grandly nor at all gay. It had its humbler beginnings in Lakewood, of all places, as the Lakewood Players from 1972-1978, performing in several venues all over Lakewood. Steve Tangedal, my source for much of this information, joined the company in 1979. They were then performing at the Green Mountain Recreation Center up until 1988, with support from the city of Lakewood that, unfortunately, diminished as the Greed Decade continued.

With financial support from the city of Lakewood all but gone, the company moved to the DU Studio Theatre until 1989, when they actually became The Theater on Broadway by relocating to 135 S. Broadway for two years. In 1991, they moved one day, in the middle of a successful production, to what would become their most successful location, the one depicted above and mentioned earlier, 13 S. Broadway.

It was there that I became aware of TOB from the very beginning of its gay phase, after the passage of Amendment 2 in 1992, an event that injected an unintended, though serious, dose of reality and gay pride into many aspects of Denver gay life.

Not only did several gay organizations rally to successfully fight Amendment 2 on the streets and in the courts, mentioned as a backdrop and additional motivation for my writing the Rainbow Arc of Fire series, it energized Steve Tangedal to evolve TOB into a venue for gay plays and musicals almost exclusively. The Denver annual pride parade and festival in 1993 expanded significantly in length and size and attendance. It was the first time I actually marched in the parade.

TOB was already performing Six Degrees of Separation, a play with a significant gay character and a hilarious nude scene, so it became an easier transition to All Gay All The Time!

Many of the original players and participants from the Lakewood days had already left the company. Now, located in Denver, it was easier for Steve to recruit gay and gay-friendly actors and assistants to help with the transition.

 

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