Buntport Theater

Last updated
Buntport Theater Company
Formation1990s
TypeTheatre group
Location
Membership
Brian Colonna
Hannah Duggan
Erik Edborg
Erin Rollman
Samantha Schmitz
Website buntport.com

Buntport Theater Company is a non-profit [1] professional theater group based in Denver, Colorado.

Contents

The troupe writes and produces both original work and adaptations. They work as a collaborative team without officially designated positions, including writers, directors, or designers. [2]

The core members are Brian Colonna, Hannah Duggan, Erik Edborg, Erin Rollman, and Samantha Schmitz. [3] Co-founder Evan Weissman stopped working and performing with the group full-time in 2013 so he could concentrate on a "civic health club" he founded called Warm Cookies of the Revolution. [4]

The Company hosts a variety of visual and performing artists and has attracted talent from Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle, and Australia to perform for Denver audiences. [ citation needed ]

History

Members of the company began collaborating while attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs, in the late 1990s. [5] Their first performance was entitled Quixote and staged in July 1998." [6]

Initially, Buntport had created a few productions together and toured theaters, schools, and fringe theatre festivals. Later, the company moved into a cement warehouse in 2000 and renovated it into a fully functioning black box theater with modular seating. As of 2022, Buntport has created 45 mainstage productions [6] and 100 episodes of two "live sit-coms" (Magnets on the Fridge and Starship Troy). They also have an all-ages live comic book show, tRUNks, which has produced over 40 installments.[ citation needed ]

Buntport has garnered more than 75 awards, including Denver's Mayor Award in 2010. [7]

Special Productions

Buntport has defined its mission as offering high-quality programming as often as possible, while keeping ticket prices low and keeping audience members engaged. To make people more regularly involved with their productions, Buntport created a live sit-com format. During six months of the year, they debuted a new episode of a "sit-com" every other Tuesday and Wednesday night, complete with commercial breaks and summer re-runs.

The writing of each episode was inspired by an audience suggestion from the previous episode. Each episode often featured guest stars from the Denver theater scene. Their first sit-com production, titled Magnets on the Fridge, became a cult hit, winning numerous awards from the media and critics, and attracting a loyal following. Magnets on the Fridge ran for five seasons before being replaced by Starship Troy, which ran for three seasons. Buntport finished their live sit-coms on December 31, 2008, with the 100th episode of the show.

tRUNks

Based on the format of their live sit-com, a team of the Buntport ensemble's friends and peers creates and performs a family-friendly live comic book called tRUNks. tRUNks runs every other Saturday. Produced by Buntport (and sometimes featuring the ensemble members as guest stars), tRUNks is written and performed by Jessica Robblee, Mitch Slevc, and Matt Zambrano. tRUNks has won awards for great children's theater from every major paper in Colorado as well as from the Colorado Theatre Guild.[ citation needed ]

Productions (chronological)

Buntport Theater Company creates at least two productions each year. The following is a list of original plays performed by the Buntport Theater with premiere dates. [6]

Awards

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References

  1. Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Brandon (2013-05-09). "Buntport Theater Company - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Archived from the original on 2022-12-19. Retrieved 2022-12-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Buntport Theater About Us". buntport.com. Buntport Theater. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023.
  3. Stephi Wild (5 Oct 2023). "EXTREMELY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Comes to Stories on Stage Next Month". broadwayworld.com. Broadway World. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023.
  4. Juliet Wittman (20 May 2019). "Buntport Brings Back Something Is Rotten, a Hilarious Take on Hamlet". westword.com. Denver Westword. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023. Former company member Evan Weissman, who stopped working full-time with the group in 2013 to devote his attention to Warm Cookies of the Revolution, the popular "civic health club" he founded, will return for Something Is Rotten, joining Edborg and Colonna.
  5. 1 2 Juliet Wittman (6 April 2022). "Buntport's 50th Production Takes on England's Murderous — or Innocent? — King Richard III". westword.com. Denver Westword. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Buntport Theater Archives". buntport.com. Buntport Theater. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023.
  7. "Video podcast: Buntport Theater wins 2010 Denver Mayor's Arts Award". The Denver Post. 2011-02-23. Archived from the original on 2022-12-19. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  8. Ryan Warner (25 April 2022). "Absurdity and intelligence take center stage at Buntport Theater". cpr.org. Colorado Public Radi. Retrieved 9 Oct 2023.
  9. "American Theatre Wing announces recipients of National Theater Company Grants". www.oandmco.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-01.