Steven J. Burge is asked, "Do you heart or hate sports?"

Avenue Theater is the theater for everyone. We love inviting in people who love the theater to bring their partners who might not be so hot on it, and everyone will have a great time. For The Complete World of Sports (Abridged), we had the opportunity to have an entirely new demographic. We were able to pull in people who loved sports, and they could bring their partners who might not be so hot on sports. So, we've been asking people, "Do you hate or heart sports?"

We sprung this question on Steven J. Burge in front of a live audience, and here's what he had to say.

Maybe the question was a little unfair, and Steven definitely called us out on that, but we want to run with his idea of competitive Broadway belting. With Greco-Roman Wrestling's tenuous status in the Olympic Games, perhaps we could replace it with competitive Barbara Streisand-ing. Finally, Bernadette Peters can get the gold medal she deserves. Although Kristin Chenoweth may give her a run for her money.

Fringe Gets Strange with Lies We Tell

The next show we saw on our whirlwind trip to New York was at the intimate Players Theatre, and I was sure thankful for seats with a cushion. The show screamed Fringe Fest. Lies We Tell Ourselves (When Flamethrowers Aren't Enough) was a show that tried to be "out of the box." However, it felt like they kicked “the box” into the street and ran in the opposite direction.

Avenue Theater takes risk. We like thinking "out of the box," which is what drew us to this show. But this show was not a good fit for the theater that produced Girls Only, Smell of the Kill, Hedwig, Scriptprov and Murder Most Fowl. While pushing boundaries is important, we believe that unconventional shows can be genuinely entertaining and fun. There is a place for theater of the uncomfortable, but not here. However, Lies We Tell Ourselves was focused on convincing the audience that they may have unknowingly abused their loved ones.

There was nothing resembling a traditional storyline. At one point, one of the characters even broke the fourth wall to comment on how it would be ill-advised to have a show without a plot. Instead, we were thrown into a metaphysical dark comedy that took place inside the mind of a man, Gabe, who ran out of a wedding.

Gabe has to figure out why he's trapped in his own mind, and doesn't realize the other characters are figments of his imagination until about fifteen minutes into the show. The three other characters, besides being figments of Gabe's imagination, are his best friend and two former lovers. Through a series of vignettes, we learn whose wedding Gabe ran out of, how all of them are involved in his life, and why someone can't empathize with pain if they haven't truly experienced loss.

While the show is a dark comedy (and it certainly has some laughs throughout), it would be difficult to call it funny. In fact, after over an hour of mostly dialogue, one of the characters went into a lengthy solo scene about how she was raped as a child, and how it affected her relationship with Gabe. I found myself longing for some sort of structure or catharsis, but never really got it.

A play with four characters talking to the audience without any real action or resolution is certainly risky, and we appreciate the balls that it took to write and produce such a unique piece. However, I left the theater feeling ennervated, doubting every word I'd ever said to a lover. This is a good show that gets the audience outside of the comfort zone, but at Avenue Theater, when we challenge an audience, we like to throw them off-guard with a laugh or two.

Thankfully, we had one more show to see, and it turned out to be a funny one with potential for production back in Denver.

Pilot Fish: of Audiences and Industry Insiders

Bob Wells won the coveted Henry Award for Best Director this year for his work on The 39 Steps. Bob is the Artistic Director at Avenue Theater, and although The 39 Steps did not play at Avenue, it reflected the kind of play that Bob has mastered.

39 Steps was a comedy, funny and soulful, and yet still of such high quality that it won the Best Director award, which is normally reserved for dramas and experimental work. Bob has been known for this kind of work for at least 30 years. His production of Sweeny Todd was the best play ever produced at the Bonfils Memorial Theatre according to Henry Lowenstein, and Lowenstein ought to know because he managed the Bonfils for decades. Our next stop in New York was a show that reminded us why Bob's talent is so rare.

After a brilliant nap on the memory foam bed at the Hotel on Rivington, we reclined in the seats of the Living Theatre for Pilot Fish by Celebration of Whimsy Theater.  The show was an insider's look at the T.V. pilot making process in Hollywood.

Pilot Fish fell into many of the comedy theater booby traps. At Avenue Theater, we are not know for producing prudish work, but we try to limit uses of the F-word to 10 times per minute. This show had no such limitations. There was a stand up comedian, who berated the audience multiple times throughout the show. The other four cast members took turns playing different actors in the pilot of a new T.V. show.  The audience was not denied any of the sordid details.

For the members of the entertainment industry in the audience, including we at Avenue, this show was a funny and personal look at the minutia of producing entertainment. Pilot Fish started off strong, funny, and engaging as we met characters, learned back stories, and were delighted by the derision of our fellow audience members.

Somewhere around the second staged sex scene, it became apparent that Pilot Fish was going for shock value. After the characters kicked boots for the umpteenth time, the character arcs found a nice resolution and many of them grew as people. And while often entertaining, this is not a show to take your grandmother to...unless she's Betty White.

And that's when it hit us. This is why Bob Wells deserves to have a theater dedicated to his talent. Bob finds the right mixture of silly humor and powerful theater. He is the kind of talent who transcends the comedy genre to earn himself accolades directing genuinely entertaining plays. If Pilot Fish was probably more poignant for people in the entertainment industry, Avenue Theater is probably better for people who want nothing to do with the industry and just want to be be enlightened, excited, and entertained.

But there was no time to sit and think about it, because this was Fringe, and we had two more shows to make before the evening was over...

Hotel On Rivington: A Fringe Benefit

"Oh my God, we're being robbed!"

That's a line from a movie (can you name it?), a comedy about a husband and wife who take a trip to New York City where EVERYTHING goes wrong.

I was beginning to believe I was living that movie as we lingered at Denver International Airport this Monday morning, bound for the New York City International Fringe Festival. We were traveling to scout some possible shows for production at Avenue Theater.

Our feelings of excitement slowly turned to exasperation as flights were delayed, canceled or just didn't have room for us. This happened all day until we finally caught a red-eye flight to Chicago, waited through a few more delays and then at long last made it to our destination, the Hotel on Rivington.

By this time I was fearing our travel travails might continue through the check-in process and believe you me, if they had, I was ready to give someone a piece of my mind! (I know, not too much, I've not got much to spare.)

But thankfully our sponsor for this 2013 trip to Fringe Fest, Hotel on Rivington was an ideal oasis at the end of a long caravan. With my mind only just intact, we turned our exasperation back to the excitement as we took in the stunning design of the hotel. We were greeted by a staff that seemed happy to see us and eager to please. These were wonderful people who were professional, kind, caring and thoughtful.

The hotel itself is stylish and unique in its modern design with mesmerizing artwork. Our room was the high-life living I have always dreamed of with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline through large, floor-to-ceiling windows, exquisitely appointed furniture, a wall-mounted flat screen TV which swings out in front of a plush memory foam bed, and an absolutely divine, deep-soaking Japanese-inspired bathtub.

I admit it, I am generally not one to order room service (yes, it's because I'm cheap). However, at the Hotel on Rivington I was pleasantly surprised to find the room service menu affordable. Not a single item on the breakfast menu was over $20 and some were under $10. I consider myself a breakfast burrito connoisseur. If it's on the menu, I must give one a try. I've not tasted any better than the delicious chorizo egg scramble burrito that was promptly delivered soon after my call.


The food comes from the CO-OP Food & Drink, the hotel restaurant with a deserved reputation as being among the finest in the Lower East Side. It's located in the lobby where you can also find Adam, the Chief Concierge and his friendly staff who are there to serve.

Probably the best thing on the Hotel on Rivington is the location. Smack dab in the Lower East Side, one of the most interesting neighborhoods in the world, it reminded me that I was here to find shows that fit in with Avenue Theater, and the Capitol Hill area. If we were able to bring back to Denver some of the eclectic excitement of Fringe Fest, the Lower East Side, and this beautiful hotel, I have no doubt that the short sleep in the Chicago concourse will have been worth it.

For the record, the quote above was uttered by Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis in Neil Simon’s movie, “The Out-of-Towners” (1970 version). Hopefully, we will stay a little longer at our hotel than they were able to in the film.

Addendum- BIG THANKS to MarcAnthony Crimi, the General Manager and his incredible staff for their insanely generous donation to Avenue Theater's mission. Exceptional service and a sincere caring for customers is the industry standard for luxury hotels. For us, Hotel on Rivington exceeded those standards.