Josh Hartwell feels badly for those who are just starting out in the performing arts when it comes to getting the word out about their projects.
“I think we forget the kind of media coverage that we could rely on for decades from the daily and weekly newspapers. That doesn’t exist anymore,” said the actor and playwright whose popular adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” is currently being performed at the Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden and at the Funky Little Theatre in Colorado Springs.
“When I was starting out, I took it for granted that we had two daily newspapers that covered pretty much every play,” Hartwell said. “Every Friday, we would rush to get both papers. It was nerve-wracking to turn through the pages looking for the review and to see how many stars it got. And even if you got a bad review in one daily, you still had hope for a good review in the other – or in the weekly.
“That’s something this new theater generation doesn’t get to experience, and I’m sad for them that they don’t. It’s like not getting the full Christmas experience.”
Without the muscle of powerful daily and weekly newspapers that could reach hundreds of thousands at a time, “you really have to hustle as much as you can now,” Hartwell said.
Today, Colorado theater companies rely mostly on subscriptions, word of mouth, the unreliable noise of social media – and, like a gift out of nowhere: OnStage Colorado, which has become a robust and essential online resource for local theatermakers and theatergoers alike to engage with all things local theater.
“It’s just so refreshing to have actual coverage and reviews from a site like OnStage Colorado,” Hartwell said.
Founder Alex Miller and his team of 10 volunteer editorial contributors turned out about 200 generally encouraging reviews of Colorado theater productions in 2024 – which, he accurately states, “is about a bazillion more than anybody else does.”
Think about that: Two hundred theater reviews, all in one place.
“It’s extraordinary,” said Colorado Theatre Guild President Betty Hart. “And that says a few things. One, that theater matters. Two, that people convening together is still a vital part of society. And three, that theater is still one of the greatest forms of entertainment that’s ever existed.”
Alex Miller and Toni Tresca recording a recemt episode of their OnStage Colorado Podcast.
OnStage Colorado also offers a weekly podcast that has now passed 100 episodes, an email newsletter with 900 subscribers, a comprehensive and remarkably handy calendar of theater performances, and occasional breaking news. The still fully free service is presently drawing about 10,000 visitors a month, up 6% just since August. Miller puts in about 30 hours a week keeping it all going. And even though the site is starting to attract advertisers, no one is getting paid yet.
Journalist and theater fan’s startup website offers comprehensive guide and raises questions
But, together, the OnStage team stands forth like gladiators coming to the benevolent aid of beleaguered theater companies large and small as they struggle in the largely vain pursuit of building attendance figures back up to pre-COVID levels.
“Word of mouth is still a somewhat viable marketing force,” said Missy Moore, artistic director of the Thunder River Theatre Company in Carbondale. “But our donor bases are literally dying off. So it matters that Alex is raising awareness about the art form throughout our state.”
Miller, a once and still pretty much present journalist, freely admits that OnStage Colorado blurs the line between advocacy and true journalism – and he’s well aware of the landmines and the opportunities that come with both. Still, he makes no bones about his intentions.
“I definitely want to support theaters,” he said. “That is my main reason for doing this.”
Journalist and sometimes actor Alex Miller appearing in a in 2012 fundraiser for the Lake Dillon Theatre Company at Colorado Mountain College.
Miller has assembled a team of mostly tenderfoots with varying degrees of writing experience. “I’ve just added a really good writer up in Fort Collins; I have two good ones in Colorado Springs; and the Denver area is pretty well covered,” said Miller, who also has a contributor in Summit County and is looking to move into other parts of the state. One of his writers is expanding OnStage’s coverage into dance, opera and classical music. He plans to move into live music and comedy next.
His primary contributor and creative partner is rising star Toni Tresca, a prolific young writer who freelances for multiple legit local news outlets (that pay), and he co-hosts the OnStage Colorado Podcast with Miller.
Tresca is a self-starting, self-taught writer who has emerged as the most promising counter to declining arts journalism in Denver in years. Tresca has fully rewritten the entrenched rules of arts journalism, which for decades dictated that freelancers must write exclusively for one media outlet – typically for pennies per word. Media outlets don’t pay enough anymore to be so picky.
Tresca came out of nowhere in 2022 and took it upon himself to start producing smart, thoughtful theater, dance and comedy features that multiple outlets are now eagerly publishing including Westword, Boulder Weekly and the Denver North Star. All told, Tresca is turning around a superhuman number of stories. Problem is, freelance pays for squat, the workload is unsustainable, and Denver is an expensive place to live. None of this work comes with health insurance. Tresca has done all this, by the way, while pursuing his MBA at the University of Colorado Boulder, which he should complete in May.
“Toni has definitely become a strong partner, especially for the podcast,” Miller said. “He brings a whole new perspective from someone who is younger and newer to the community. And he’s so knowledgeable. He has learned so much about Colorado theater so quickly. Usually someone producing that much content is always running around with their hair on fire. But Toni’s super chill, which matches my personality – so we get along really well.”
Journalist Alex Miller, second from left, with the staff of the Vail Daily in 2005.
Miller is most pleased with the evolution of the podcast, which offers listeners a weekly snapshot of what’s on stage, what’s in the news, and what people are talking about. “I think Toni and I have gotten better and better at our rapport,” Miller said. “I think we’re getting a little funnier and more entertaining and less boring.” It certainly wasn’t boring when he landed an interview with Emmy Award winner (and Summit County-born) Mandy Moore to talk about her choreography for the Oscars “Kens” bit, and on the Taylor Swift Eras tour.
Hart, herself a frequent guest, says the podcast “has become a central part of further building community in the Colorado theater scene.
“It’s also a lot of fun to hear about shows that maybe weren’t on your radar, but when you hear their takes on the podcast, it causes you to lean in and perhaps go and buy a ticket.”
Miners Alley Playhouse presents Josh Hartwell’s “A Christmas Carol” every December in Golden (2024, with Jim Hunt, shown above). OnStage Colorado has reviewed it there three times. This year, OnStage reviewed a new production of the same play by the Funky Little Theatre in Colorado Springs.
Miller, whose wild career path has included stints as editor of the Vail Daily and Summit Daily News – twice – is rightly proud of what he started in 2018 right out of thin (Summit County) air.
“It’s obvious that we cover shows that would not be covered otherwise,” Miller said. “And even shows you would think would get covered by The Denver Post or Westword are not always getting covered. There are just not a lot of options out there.
“So, I’m really proud of what OnStage Colorado has done. No, we don’t have entirely professional journalists. But we do have people who are really passionate about theater.”
Note: The True West Awards, now in their 24th year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community by revisiting 30 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.
Unsung hero of the day
Beki Pineda calls herself “one of the elders in the community,” and why not? She’s a still-vital 86. Pineda, who got her start at the old Bonfils Theatre (now the Tattered Cover Book Store), ran a properties rental house called All Propped Up for nearly 40 years, providing theater companies with all manner of items to populate their stages.
Today, she runs the box office for the Denver School of the Arts; she teaches an adult theater appreciation class through Colorado Free University; she serves on the boards of the Firehouse Theatre Company and the Historic Elitch Theatre; and she is a self-appointed citizen journalist with a theater blog called Front Row Center Denver. She describes herself not as a critic but rather as a passionate playgoer.
“I rejoice in spreading the word about the really inspiring theater being done all over Colorado,” Pineda said. “I am someone who appreciates a good theater evening, sees a lot of plays, can write semi-intelligently about them, and wants everyone to know what to expect when they see them.”
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