The first play David Siegel ever saw was a Theatreworks production of King Lear, which took place in a tent outside of Columbine Hall on the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs campus.
“It’s a heady play; I’m sure I missed most of it,” he says. “But I remember being transfixed by the story being told live on stage by the actors and their interactions with the audience. That was the thing that made me fall in love with theater.”
Siegel, now executive director of the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS, is at the helm for a broader theater milestone — the 50th anniversary of Theatreworks.
Founded in 1975 by artistic director Murray Ross, costume designer Betty Ross and an ensemble of passionate artists, the company has hosted more than 290 productions — the first of which took place in the basement of Penrose Hospital.
“Remarkably, Theatreworks and the arts generally at UCCS play much the same role as athletic departments do at other schools,” Siegel says. “Long before there was a basketball team, there was a professional theater company.”
Theatreworks’ Early History
When now-retired UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak first began teaching at UCCS, she and her husband started attending Theatreworks productions — just a few years after they began. Colleagues with Murray, she soon realized that UCCS was “punching above our weight class” when it came to theater.
“Theatreworks led the way in many respects,” she says. “Early on, it brought to UCCS a cultural richness that a small engineering and business focused school would not usually have. A group of very brilliant people came together to help achieve it, and Theatreworks’ impact has only grown.”
Time has also given Shockley-Zalabak perspective.
“It’s amazing to have had a continually producing theater with the resources we had initially,” she said. “To have that core ability to appeal to audiences and make high quality theater this long is really remarkable.”
The relationship between Theatreworks and UCCS, crafted in part by Murray Ross who was on the faculty in addition to his role with Theatreworks, remains “essential and symbiotic,” says Siegel.
“Chancellor Sobanet sees the value of the arts on campus and how arts bring innovation and help us understand each other,” he says. “Our arts program sets us apart from other universities in the region, and Theatreworks would not be here without the support of the university.”
UCCS students usher, sew costumes, run the box office and even serve as assistant stage managers. As a student, Siegel says, it’s possible to take a technical theater class to learn about lighting design, produce that lighting for a UCCS student production, and then do the same for Theatreworks.
“That gives students real experience on a resume working for an equity theater company,” he says. “Plus, it brings additional life and energy to Theatreworks.”
The Game-Changing Ent Center
January 2018 saw a game-changer for Theatreworks and the arts at UCCS: the opening of the state-of-the-art Ent Center for the Arts. (Read our interviews with Hastings and then-Artistic Director Caitlin Lowans from that time.)
Murray Ross did not live to see the new building open (Betty did attend). But Lynne Hastings — known to Theatreworks patrons as an actor, director and now chair of the Theatreworks Board of Directors — says he was there in spirit.
“It was such a moment,” she says of the opening gala. “My heart breaks that he didn’t live to see the building open. The energy was palpable, and it was just a wonderful evening. You could feel Murray there.”
The Ent Center would not have been built without the trust that came from the longstanding relationship with the university, says Hastings.
“It’s a wonderful partnership that has broadened the reach of both Theatreworks and UCCS,” she says. “Students work the front of house, backstage and more, and that creates a lifelong artistic and personal relationship with young people who work and support Theatreworks into adulthood.”
Nearly 4,800 creative industry professionals have been employed by Theatreworks over its 50 years. And on average, more than 85% of production cast and creative teams are Colorado residents. Recent seasons have seen 100% Coloradan directors and nearly 100% Coloradan cast members.
Until 2018, Theatreworks had found its home in academic buildings like Dwire Hall and University Hall. The Ent Center is critical for both artists and audience members, Siegel says.
“Artistic work is incredibly hard in ways that the general public never sees. That work deserves to have space that shows the work in the best possible light,” he says. “And audience members have decisions to make — disposable income and free nights are a precious resource. They deserve to experience arts in the best possible setting, and the Ent Center is that.”
Since the Ent Center opened, 83,000 patrons have attended Theatreworks events.
New Leadership for the Future
Max Shulman became the third artistic director in Theatreworks history earlier this year. He will soon be joined by a new general director, and a critical new time of Theatreworks leadership will begin.
“I’m in a privileged position to be walking in on year 50,” Shulman says. “And it’s a bit harrowing. Theatreworks has been full of so much dedication and love for art and what it means to be human.”
Murray Ross was on the committee that originally hired Shulman to the UCCS faculty. Since then, Shulman has directed several plays through the years, including Henry IV/V, where actors galivanted across catwalks and staircases and, yes, three Shakespeare plays morphed into one.
“It’s just an environment that I was ready to jump into, full of adventurous theater making. I always received a positive and supportive reception about what was possible,” he says.
As Shockley-Zalabak looks ahead to Theatreworks’ future, she thinks of goals surrounding innovation, creativity, relatability and impacting young people.
“Excellence is number one,” she says. “Without that, Theatreworks will not be successful, nor should it be.”
The wider community remains integral to Theatreworks’s success and trajectory, just as it was in 1975. It has helped bring UCCS to the community, and vice-versa.
“We have to continually build an audience that can come along for the ride,” says Shulman. “That means we think locally and ask really big questions about what theater looks like.”
Hastings first arrived on the Theatreworks stage in 1999 for that year’s production of A Rasin in the Sun. “I was a little young to play Mama,” she says. As she looks ahead now, she sees the company’s core values — including joy and imagination — as critical for the next iteration of Theatreworks and the new audiences it hopes to build.
“We should carry our history with us, but we can’t work in the past,” she says. “Creating experiences for everyone who walks through the doors means we have to make space for all stories to be told, not just with what’s on stage but with other events at the Ent Center.
“If we focus on storytelling and creating space for everybody, Theatreworks can be around another 50 years.”
One story sticks out to Siegel as an example of creating that space. Theatreworks produced Aubergine in 2023. The story is about a young Korean chef and how he reconnects with his estranged father through food. The Korean and English dialogue was subtitled so the show could be understood by speakers of both languages. The Korean mother of a UCCS employee attended — her first live theater performance since immigrating to the United States 40 years prior.
“To me,” he says, “that represents the very best of what Theatreworks, as a professional regional theater, can accomplish.”
See Live Theater at Theatreworks 50th Anniversary Season
The 50th season of Theatreworks opens with Cabaret Sept. 18 through Oct. 12. You can read here about all the upcoming productions. Find more details and tickets at entcenterforthearts.org.
