by Ruthy Wexler
The John Hand Theater in Lowry is a singular Cherry Creek Valley experience. Welcomed into a tiny lobby, you feel . . . instantly at home. Sipping a glass of wine in your seat, you feel . . . curiously content. Watching talented actors give their all, you are stimulated, moved and somehow, included. When you leave, you feel . . . the opposite of alone.
It’s exactly what John Hand had in mind.
Who is John Hand?
A charismatic guy with a million ideas, John left his revitalizing mark all over Denver. He ran an antique shop, owned a deli, bought and sold real estate, founded Colorado Free University . . . and that’s the short list. When the Lowry Air Force Base began its redevelopment in 1999, John, then 52, bought the base’s firehouse as a satellite building for CFU — but soon, he had another idea.
Love Of Theater
John loved the theater. He’d acted in plays, even written a musical, was especially drawn to how dramatic collaboration brought everyone more alive. The firehouse would be a community theater.
He hired an architect, drove to California to pick up a batch of old theater seats and soon, fellow enthusiasts joined him to sing and read plays. A core group emerged, an amateur acting troupe. John’s younger sister Helen, busy with her own career as a psychologist, came to watch productions. Of all his ventures, Helen saw, the theater was John’s center.
“I felt happy that John was living his dream,” she recalls. “And a
lways, amazed that he could do so much.”
By 2004, light and sound equipment still in a cubbyhole, John was excitedly planning his first big play. The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, an early work by Arthur Miller, concerns a bigamist who must explain his life choices when both wives arrive at his hospital bed.
“In some ways,” Helen muses, “that play was reflective of John’s life. So many balls in the air…”
The balls all came crashing down on March 28, 2004, when a total stranger — a 19-year-old girl with an angel face and demon hallucinations — entered his home and stabbed John Hand to death.
Brother’s Dream Brought To Life
Helen could not accept such a meaning
less end to her brother’s life. She wanted to honor him — but how? John had always been the one with ideas. “He was so articulate, so vibrant. I was a little more . . . retiring. I was dazzled by him. But he was a good big brother.” Helen laughs, remembering the time John taught her to fight back against a neighborhood bully. “Once we got outside, I sat on the ground and wouldn’t go any further. I let him down.”
She would not let him down now. Helen went outside her comfort zone to ask for contributions so John’s big play could be produced. “People loved him, they were inspired by him, and so they gave.” Six months after John’s death, Firehouse Theater Company presented The Ride Down Mt. Morgan with professional sound and lighting.
She’d held up her brother’s dream. Now Helen couldn’t bear to see it die. She cut back her private psychology practice to take over the reins of Colorado Free University and the theater as well.
“At first it was spotty,” she recalls. “We would lose people, lose energy. I had to rely on others to mount productions.” But soon, Helen discovered that she liked reading scripts, enjoyed the actors. She began to take a more active role. “I’d entered a field where I had no experience or expertise and I found . . . tremendous satisfaction. And joy.”
Second Theater Company
To keep the theater afloat, Helen rented it out to local groups. In 2007, Spotlight Theater Company came on board as a regular renter. The two groups sparked each other. Since Firehouse was producing only four plays a year, they arrived at the arrangement we see today: Spotlight and Firehouse present alternate productions at the John Hand Theater.
“The way the shows dovetail from company to company is seamless,” sa
ys Bernie Cardell, artistic director of Spotlight. “It’s a splendidly diverse program. Spotlight is more comfort food, makes you laugh, goes down easy. Firehouse explores the human heart.”
Pat Salas, a season subscriber to both companies, says, “When I take people to the John Hand, they’re like, ‘Who? Where are we going?’ But then when we see the play, they always want to go back.”
What makes the productions so special? For starters, the theater. At 89 seats, it’s an intimate — and well designed — setting. “It has enough height and depth that you don’t feel crowded as an actor,” says Emma Messenger. “The acoustics are exceptionally good, fantastic for subtle acting. But the best part about the John Hand is the supportive people who work there. You always feel so cared for — and that nurturing feeling translates to better performances.”
“Why is the acting so good?” muses Bernie Cardell. “You just do better work when you’re feeling part of a family, right?”
This family is purposely inclusive. In the casts of both companies’ shows, there’s often a wide range of experience — another of John’s legacies. “My brother wanted to stage good productions, but he also wanted to provide a place for people to develop their skills,” explains Helen. “So we give opportunities.”
Not just beginners, but veterans benefit. Lauded actor Andrew Uhlenhopp recalls his role as King Henry IV in The Lion in Winter as “a challenge, that I faced with Helen’s great support. She involves herself in the theater in such a way that one feels inspired to grow.”
Helen Rocks
Guiding board meetings, raising funds, attending rehearsals — Helen is now the one with lots of balls in the air. “I’ve even seen her up on the roof checking for leaks,” says actor and set-designer Jeff Jesmer. “Helen rocks!”
“In the process of keeping John’s dream alive,” Helen says simply, “I was transformed.”
So was this tiny spot in Denver.
John’s murder ripped a hole in Helen’s family. What she ended up doing was creating a new family, whose heart is a powerful combination of John’s inventive boldness and her own loving kindness.
On a recent evening, the house was full, the lights had dimmed, when a young couple entered the theater, obviously on a special date — and dismayed at the lack of two seats together. Immediately, three individuals stood, conferred, rearranged — then pointed the couple to a now empty pair. After a burst of affectionate laughter, everyone settled in to watch the show.
Upcoming Season
Theatergoers who want to enjoy the intimacy of the John Hand Theater can look forward to a rich menu in 2017. Helen is particularly proud of Firehouse’s January show: Becky’s New Car, by Stephen Dietz. “The playwright is local, the play is sharp, funny, yet touching and thought-provoking . . . exactly the sort of production John loved.”
In the spring, another sharp comedy, Crimes of the Heart will premiere. And in the summer, Helen is pleased to present an original work by Firehouse board member Debbie Montgomery, Rock of Aging, a parody of ’60s and ’70s bands, with familiar songs hilariously rewritten to address the humiliations of old age.
Alternating with the above is Spotlight’s run of funn
y, scary and heart warming. In February and March, Sabrina Fair (remember the movie with Audrey Hepburn?); in May, Scotland Yard by Jeffrey Hatcher; and that well-known gem On Golden Pond completes the season.
Looking to future seasons, Bernie Cardell sees Spotlight still offering its comfort fare of classics, mysteries, comedies and farces, but spiced with some more challenging works. Firehouse Theater Company will keep exploring the vagaries of human relationships, leaving audiences thinking and talking as they leave the theater. And they both intend to stay at the John Hand.
Visit www.johnhandtheater.com to find links to both company’s shows.