PHAMALY History
HISTORY TIMELINE
1989 • PHAMALY is founded by five graduates of The Boettcher School.
1992 • PHAMALY moves to the Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex; Denver Center Media, a division of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, produces PHAMALY’s first short documentary, PHAMALY One by One.
1994 • PHAMALY presents Fiddler on the Roof for its fifth anniversary. It is the first year the company receives critical acclaim resulting in its first Denver Drama Critics Circle nominations.
1999 • PHAMALY’s tenth anniversary produces the regional premiere of Side Show. The story about real life conjoined twins startles audiences with the opening number “Come Look at the Freaks.” The production sets a new standard for PHAMALY and results in critical and audience acclaim for the company.
2000 • Steve Wilson joins the company as Grand Hotel director.
2002 • Once Upon a Mattress wins its first Denver Post Ovation Award for Best Choreography
(Debbie Stark).
• Respected Colorado filmmakers, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher (Just Media), produce the short documentary We Are PHAMALY. The film premieres at the Starz Denver International Film Festival before going on to other fi lm festivals around the country.
2004 • PHAMALY remounts Guys & Dolls in celebration of its fifteenth season. PHAMALY wins Ovation Awards for Best Actor (Leonard Barrett, Jr.) and Best Lighting (Dave Mazzeno).
• Steve Wilson is named the company’s Artistic Director.
2005 • PHAMALY stages a ground-breaking version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, enjoying capacity crowds and receiving numerous awards.
• Co-founder Teri Westerman nominated Volvo Hero of the Year.
2006 • PHAMALY’s The Wiz opens to critical acclaim, running for ten sold out performances and receiving numerous awards.
• The company receives its first national exposure with a 12-minute feature on the respected PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
2007 • PHAMALY explores new territory when it produces its first non-musical, Our Town, at the Aurora Fox Arts Center. The show positions PHAMALY as a respected theatre company that presents both musical and non-musical professionally produced shows.
• PHAMALY presents the Tony Award winning musical satire Urinetown - The Musical, adding
performances over four weekends instead of its traditional three.
• PHAMALY presents one week of short plays by national playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. 365days
365plays is a national effort of 600 theatre companies to present a play a day for 365 days from
November 2006 – November 2007. The project is led in Denver by the highly respected Curious
Theatre Company in association with the Public Theatre in New York City.
2008 • PHAMALY mounts its second non-musical, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, earning actor Lucy Roucis, a Denver Post Ovation nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
• PHAMALY remounts Side Show for its annual summer musical. Presented concurrently with the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver, PHAMALY is able to showcase its talents to a national audience. Side Show is nominated for seven Denver Post Ovation Awards.
• PHAMALY’s original one-act musical Show Up For Democracy, is performed all over the Denver Metro area.
• PHAMALY sings The National Anthem at the Democratic National Convention.
• PHAMALY’s writing workshop creates VOX PHAMALIA:Tales from the Crips, an engaging piece written by members of PHAMALY highlighting their personal triumphs in life.
