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The Buell Theatre Information and Schedule

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    The history of the DCPA intertwines with that of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Both were ideas that blossomed from an authentic dream shared by philanthropist, Denver Post owner and occasional-actress Helen G. Bonfils and Wall Street lawyer and Broadway producer Donald R. Seawell.

    1950s

    Miss Helen, as she was fondly known, built the Bonfils Theatre on Colfax Avenue, a community theatre in which she and her friends performed. At the time, she was co-owner of The Denver Post and one of the City's leading philanthropists.

    Later that decade, she and Mr. Seawell formed a flourishing partnership to produce plays on Broadway and in London. Soon, Miss Helen felt that Denver deserved more than community theatre and asked him to create a professional acting company to perform at the Bonfils.

    1960s

    Seawell got Tyrone Guthrie who had created Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre to move to Denver, create the company and be its director. Plans for building another theatre alongside the old Bonfils were well underway when Guthrie suddenly died.

    By this time, Miss Helen's health had deteriorated and she was a permanent hospital resident. Moreover, an effort was underway by a hostile stockholder to gain control of The Denver Post, and Miss Helen asked Seawell to lead the legal battle for Post ownership. The plan for a professional theatre was postponed. Miss Helen never dreamed it would develop into a full-scale performing arts center.

    1972

    By the time the battle for ownership of The Post was won, Miss Helen had died and Seawell was Chairman and Publisher of the paper. He had also created the Bonfils Foundation primarily as a depository for all of The Denver Post stock.

    Seawell found himself at 14th & Curtis streets looking at the 1908 Denver Municipal Auditorium and the all-but abandoned surrounding blocks. He was struck with an idea, sat down on the curb, took an envelope from his pocket, and sketched what would become the largest performing arts facility in the world under one roof. Before the day was over, he had changed the charter of the old Bonfils Theatre into the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, reached an agreement with the City and hired Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kevin Roche FAIA as the overall architect to put the plan into reality. He also made the Bonfils Foundation a subsidiary of the DCPA and it continues to provide funding to the organization today.

    1978

    The first pieces of the puzzle were put in place in 1978 with the opening of the 2,700-seat Boettcher Concert Hall and an eight-story, 1,700-space parking garage.

    1979

    By 1979, the Denver Municipal Auditorium had been renovated, two cabaret spaces had been added and the Helen G. Bonfils Theatre Complex opened with its four theatres:

    The Stage Theatre - 778 seats
    The Space Theatre - 550 seats
    The Jones- 200 seats
    The Ricketson Theatre - 250 seats (originally opened as a cinema)

    The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Theatre Company found a home in the Bonfils Complex and opened under the artistic leadership of Edward Payson Call on New Year’s Eve with three simultaneous productions -The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Moby Dick Rehearsed and The Learned Ladies.

    Also in this year, the DCPA paired with local Broadway presenter Robert Garner. The combination of locally-produced theatrical productions with Broadway’s best touring shows made the Denver Center for the Performing Arts the epicenter for theatre in the West.

    1980s

    In its first several years, both the physical structure and the theatrical entity bore the name of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. In the 1980s, the site was renamed the Denver Performing Arts Complex under an agreement wherein the City would manage the biggest venues. This left the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as the theatrical tenant, managing its administrative offices and the spaces in which its Theatre Company performed.

    Venue Location
    The Buell Theatre
    1350 Curtis Street Denver, CO
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