Many thanks to all of our patrons for making Beauty and the Beast the most successful show in our 21 year history!
Auditions for “The Diviners” directed by Christy Montour Larson will be held on September 20th - email info@phamaly.org for more details
PHAMALY News:
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Review: Phamaly's Beauty and the Beast enchants
And there I was, ten minutes into the performance, in that state of tranced enjoyment that this company — made up entirely of disabled professional actors — almost always induces, and trying to figure out yet again how Phamaly does it.
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Review: PHAMALy reveals the beauty of the human "Beast"
To be seen as human again is all anyone who has ever walked, wheeled or been led onto a PHAMALy stage has ever really wanted. And year after amazing year, this remarkable handicapped theater company just keeps making the kind of stage miracles that eradicate misperceptions.
And “Beauty and the Beast” may be the most realized work in its 21 years. Not only for the relevance of the material, but in its execution. This staging is artful, confident and at times downright giddy. It drips with love like petals free-falling off a rose.
Disney’s megamusical may be a tale as old as time, but you haven’t seen it till you’ve seen it this time.
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Press: PHAMALY announces Beauty and the Beast Cast
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News: PHAMALY found right formula for "Barefoot in the Park"
Sometimes acting with your romantic partner leads to magic. (See: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor). Sometimes it creates a dud. (See: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez).
For Lindsay Giraldi-Palmer and Jeremy Palmer, it’s the former. The two, married in 2006, have something onstage you can’t direct: chemistry.
As Corrie and Paul, newlyweds in the Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League’s production of Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park,” the couple sparkles like two opposite stars attracting each other.
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News: 'Barefoot' climbs the stairs of marital challenges with poise
Chemistry sure isn’t an issue with the local handicapped theater company’s breezy new staging of “Barefoot in the Park.”
Neil Simon’s 1963 chestnut about young newlyweds in New York stars married couple Lyndsay Giraldi-Palmer and Jeremy Palmer. And their obvious familiarity pays off in rapid-fire zingers, great physical comedy and, most sweetly, in the obvious affection they share for one another.
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News: Regan Linton Awarded "Ovation" for Best Actress
Actress, musical role: Regan Linton
Role: Aldonza, PHAMALy’s “Man of La Mancha”
Representative quote: Moore: “Talk about leaving it all on the floor. Regan Linton, playing the medieval whore Aldonza, crawls back onto the stage after having been ravaged by a gang of brutes. Raging with spite and vulnerability, she berates the delusional old fool Don Quixote for filling her head with the fantasy of possible civility in the world. It’s in the script. … But this actress is paralyzed below the chest. Her character’s wheelchair having been stolen during the staged assault, Linton is now writhing across the floor in the only way she physically can. As she sings the bitter lament ‘Aldonza,’ it takes every ounce of restraint not to leap from your seat and help her up.It’s just the kind of stage moment that makes Denver’s professional handicapped theater company different from all others.”
Readers’ choice voting (bold indicates official winner):
- Regan Linton, PHAMALy’s “Man of La Mancha,” 30.6 percent
- E.J. Zimmerman, Arvada Center’s “Miss Saigon,” 28.4 percent
- Mildred Ruiz, Curious’ “Ameriville,” 13.6 percent
- Alisa Metcalf-Vaughters, Performance Now’s “Evita,” 12.7 percent
- Kelly Twedt, Victorian Playhouse’s “The Fantasticks,” 10.7 percent Others, 4.0 percent
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News: PHAMALY is In the News
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News: PHAMALY's comic revue pops a wheelie
Edith Weiss says working with the handicapped has been a freeing experience. “I never thought I’d be yelling at disabled people,” the comedian, playwright and director said with a laugh.“Now I feel like I can yell at anybody!”
Weiss worked with 10 members of the Denver handicapped theater company known as PHAMALy over four months to create “Vox Phamalia: Re-Dux,” the group’s second annual night of collaborative comedy sketches about living with disabilities — written and performed by people who do.
“Nothing is off-limits,” Weiss said. “It’s edgy, inspiring, brutally honest and kick-(butt) funny.”
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News: Finding her voice on stage
When Regan Linton was a junior in college, she was in a car accident that caused an upper-chest-level spinal cord injury; she will have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. The experience ultimately led her to star in a wildly successful local production of Man of La Mancha and gave her a passion for social justice that has sparked a new career.Though people sometimes find her perspective hard to understand, Regan says the injury “enhanced my life in so many ways. The challenges I’ve experienced have been nothing compared to what I’ve gained.”
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News: PHAMALY Scores Another Hit with Innovative Man of La Mancha
Director Steve Wilson has again taken an established musical, captured its core meaning, added depth and dimension through the uniqueness that is PHAMALY, and created another gem. He does not hold back on either the comedy or the harshness of this musical. Wilson is unafraid to modify things and break with tradition, nearly always improving things. His casting and directorial choice to make Sancho the opposite of the usual physical “type” works very well. His innovative staging of the rape scene takes things to a whole new level without being inappropriate, and the staging of Aldonza’s entrance following that scene is a transcendent moment. Wilson has the confidence in his exceptional actors to make bold choices, and they come through for him.
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News: PHAMALy true to its glorious quest ***1/2
Talk about leaving it all on the floor.
Regan Linton, playing the medieval whore Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha,” crawls back onto the stage after having been ravaged by a gang of brutes. Raging with spite and vulnerability, she berates the delusional old fool Don Quixote for filling her head with the fantasy of civility in the world.
It’s in the script.
But this actress has a complete spinal-cord break, leaving her paralyzed below the waist. Her wheelchair having been stolen during the staged assault, she’s now writhing across the floor in the only way she physically can. As she sings the bitter lament “Aldonza,” it takes every ounce of restraint not to leap from your seat and help her up.
It’s just the kind of stage moment that makes Denver’s professional handicapped theater company different from all others.
PHAMALy, and director Steve Wilson, have done it again.
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News: There is no “Impossible Dream.” PHAMALY eats impossible dreams for breakfast.
With their magnificent production of “The Man of La Mancha” PHAMALY (The Physically Handicapped Musical Actors League) demonstrates that there is no “Impossible Dream.” PHAMALY eats impossible dreams for breakfast. This reviewer’s hat is off to Steve Wilson and PHAMALY for a fantastically well mounted production of “The Man of La Mancha.” Now on view in The Space Theatre of the DCPA, the show sports a brilliant performance by Regan Linton, 2008 Henry Award Winner for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Ms. Linton delivers superb vocal work and a heart-wrenching performance as Aldonza/Dulcinea. Leonard E. Barrett, Jr. (Don Quixote) leads the cast in a tour de force as the knight who is misperceived by one and all as a lunatic. His belief that facts (of experience) are the enemies of Truth causes him to see the Divine in what others see as mundane or even bestial. Consequently Aldonza is rechristened Dulcinea, and a barber’s shaving bowl, “The Golden Helmet of Mambrino.” There is grandeur in Mr. Barrett’s performance both in the acting and the singing of such memorable songs as “The Impossible Dream.” Daniel Traylor gives a superb portrayal of Anselmo, breaking our hearts first with his humiliating mocking of Aldonza, and finally his leading the muleteers to rape her. These scenes are invested with a slow motion and stop action precision which accentuates the horror. The lighting by Stephen D. Mazzeno here and throughout the entire production is dynamite. Jeremy Palmer turns in an affectionate portrayal of Quixote’s sidekick, Sancho Panza. Perhaps the most slender actor to have undertaken the role, he succeeds brilliantly. Mark Dissette’s Inn Keeper is hilarious! Superb work. The trio singing and worrying about their uncle in the confessional succeeds as well. The actors playing the niece, the housekeeper and the priest are Jenna Bainbridge, Amber Marsh and Don Mauck respectively. Tina Anderson has provided a minimal set evocative of a dungeon at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Linda Morken provides the mostly tatterdemalion costumes for these prisoners. The transformation of Cervantes into his character Don Quixote de La Mancha is facilitated by the makeup magic of Todd Debreceni. There are moments of stage magic such as the one in which two horses comprised of an actor in a wheel chair and an ambulatory actor enter to whinny and prance around the acting space. Donna Debreceni and her stage band give us auditory heaven throughout. Director Steve Wilson gives the proceedings an edge which leans into the actual truth of the matter. When Inquisition detainees are led off to torture and death by cowled executioners’ the screams are blood curdling. Not for the very young or the faint of heart.
For all of the rest of us, this show must be seen.
Not to be missed.
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News: PHAMALY Earns Henry Awards
2008 - 2009 Season Henry Awards
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical…Regan Linton
Outstanding Stage Management…Paul Behrhorst
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News: Phamaly's Man of La Mancha is impossibly good
PHAMALY’s production of Man of La Mancha is a triumph. Not because the vitality and momentum of this very fine musical make you forget that all the performers in the PHAMALY company are disabled — some in wheelchairs, some stumbling, some unable to see. And not because these actors are so good that after a while their handicaps become invisible. It’s because everyone involved — actors, director Steve Wilson, set and costume designers, choreographers and musical director Donna Debrecini — understands the artistic possibilities of the human body, damaged or not. They know how to transcend a physical problem, how to minimize it, and when it can be used to add drama or authenticity. -
Press: Man of La Mancha Now Playing
PHAMALY proudly presents
MAN OF LA MANCHADirected by Steve Wilson
Musical Direction by Donna ...
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News: They dream the impossible dream
The tale of a mad Spaniard who believes he’s a knight on a quest for the unattainable, has engaged and entertained readers and audiences since the early 17th century and seems an especially appropriate choice for a troupe of players who perform wonderfully despite a multitude of challenges.
The cast includes performers from throughout the metro area, including a number from the south suburbs. Among them:
Leonard E. Barrett Jr. of Littleton will play the lead Cervantes/Don Quixote character. He appears each year with PHAMALy and with other area theaters and has a list of CDs to his credit. Makeup and special effects wizard Todd Debrecini, author of “Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen: Making and Applying Prosthetics,” worked his magic on Barrett.
Two new cast members from Littleton are very much enjoying the camaraderie they find in this unique company as they rehearse ensemble roles.
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News: Bare
Gravity Defied Theatre, a project of Rocky Mountain Arts Association presents bare a musical with a book by Jon Hartmere, Jr. and Damon Intrabartolo, lyrics by Hartmere and music by Intrabartolo. The story focuses on two homosexual high school students and their struggles at their private, Catholic boarding school.
Gravity Defied Theatre is Colorado’s first charitably focused community theatre. Our mission is simple: Making the Difference and Giving it Back How? It’s a simple magic that we call love. Love for theatre and love for our community. We at Rocky Mountain Arts Association and Gravity Defied Theatre are proud that we will take a portion of the proceeds generated from bare and “give it back” to PHAMALY, at this gravity defying organization!
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Press: PHAMALY Announces Cast for “Man of La Mancha”
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Press: Man of La Mancha Cast List
MAN OF LA MANCHA - Cast List
Cervantes/ Don Quixote - LEONARD E. BARRETT JR.
Manservant/ Sancho ...
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News: Westword Best of Denver
Best Musical Number
"Come Look at the Freaks," - Side Show
Amid the thunderous chords of "Come Look at the Freaks," the first number in Side Show, the cast formed a ragged circle at the perimeter of the stage. Although their expressions varied — blank or determined, resigned or defiant — they were all looking at us, the audience.
Best Return to the Stage
Lucy Roucis
Known for her luminous performances with Phamaly (Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League)