After the pandemic paused production for two seasons, the Little Theatre of the Rockies (LTR) — the oldest professional theatre company in Colorado — jumped back on the boards with an outdoor benefit concert at UNC’s Garden Theatre on June 25. “Best of Broadway” served as a fundraiser to help bring the Little Theatre of the Rockies back to the community, with UNC students, faculty, alumni and featured guest artists performing and producing numbers from Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, Into the Woods and dozens more Broadway favorites.
UNC and LTR alumni Jason Veasey ’04 and Megan Van De Hey ’99 returned to star alongside a supporting cast of UNC musical theatre students, directed by John Leonard and Ryan Driscoll.
Both Veasey and Van De Hey are veteran award-winning performers. Veasey’s projects have included the acclaimed A Strange Loop at Playwrights Horizon, which won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2020; and The Lion King on Broadway. He’ll be directing UNC’s fall main stage musical, Rent, which will run October 21 through 24.
Van De Hey was nominated for the prestigious Jeff Award numerous times for her work in A New Brain, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Spitfire Grill. She is also a multiple Henry Award winner for her performances throughout Colorado.
The performance sold 418 tickets and raised $11,980 for the Little Theatre of the Rockies.
“It was such a magical night,” says Shelly Gaza, Interim Producing Artistic Director of LTR. “It’s hard to put into words just how grateful we are to all the community members who attended the concert and expressed their love and support for Little Theatre of the Rockies. It gives me so much hope for LTR’s future, and I know that we’ll be back in 2022 better than ever!”
–Debbie Pitner Moors
