Burning Bluebeard at The Dairy Arts Center

The Catamounts Announce the Regional Premiere of Burning Bluebeard by Jay Torrence at the Dairy Arts Center

Boulder, Colorado — The Catamounts proudly announce the second production of their 15th season: the regional premiere of Burning Bluebeard by Jay Torrence, running January 31–February 21, 2026, at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. The production is directed by Artistic Director Amanda Berg Wilson.

Mixing comedy, vaudeville, clowning, and meta-theatricality, Burning Bluebeard retells the story of the tragic 1903 Chicago Iroquois Theatre fire from the perspective of the performers. A love letter from artists to audiences, Burning Bluebeard celebrates the way theater brings us together in moments of both joy and catastrophe.

Critical Acclaim

Newcity Stage said of the original Chicago production:

“Burning Bluebeard represents the cumulative potential of theater as an art form: a poetic, terrifying, gut-buster tour de force that tells the audience exactly what this show is going to be—a deconstructed retelling of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire from the eyes of the artists who worked on ‘Mr. Bluebeard,’ the production that sent the theater up in flames—even while building the sense that this time fate may be averted, that we might see the second act, and that the victims of that fire could be saved.”

Artistic Director Amanda Berg Wilson on the Production

“I have wanted to bring this show to Boulder for the better part of a decade, ever since first hearing about the original production by the Neo-Futurists in Chicago in 2016. The piece has all of the things that The Catamounts love best—fourth-wall breaking, the audience being central to the story, a wrestling with historical legacy, and a look toward redemption and hope.”

Cast

• Joan Bruemmer-Holden as Fancy Clown (most recently with The Catamounts in Impossible Things by Jessica Austgen)

• Sam Gilstrap as Henry Gilfoil (most recently in Downstate at Curious Theatre Company)

• Maggie Tisdale as Nellie Reed (most recently in The Thin Place at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company)

• Noelia Antweiler as Faerie Queen (most recently in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts)

• Mark Collins as Robert Murray (most recently in Trip to Bountiful at Bas Bleu Theatre Company)

• Rakeem Lawrence as Eddie Foy (most recently in The Importance of Being Earnest at TheatreWorks, Colorado Springs)

Creative & Production Team

• Artistic Director & Director: Amanda Berg Wilson

• Costume Designer: Mads Levin

• Lighting Designer: Jonathan Dunkle

• Scenic Designer: Hayley Delich

• Production & Stage Manager: Lara Maerz

• Assistant Stage Manager: Phi Lee

Ticket & Performance Information

Where:
Dairy Arts Center
2590 Walnut Street
Boulder, CO 80302

When:
January 31–February 21, 2026

• Thursdays–Saturdays at 7:30 PM (except Saturday, February 21 at 6:00 PM)
• Sundays at 4:00 PM (except Sunday, February 8 at 1:00 PM)
• Monday, February 16 at 7:30 PM

Tickets:
Tickets range from $26.45 to $55.20, including service fees. Performances on February 1 (Opening), February 15, and February 21 (Closing) include a post-show gathering with food and drink.

Sponsored tickets are available for those who require financial assistance. For more information, please email thecatamounts@gmail.com.