The Belle of Amherst by William Luce
Season 18
November 2-12 at Millibo Art Theatre (Colorado Springs)
November 22-26 at the Dairy Arts Center
* Seven Shows Only – A Special Engagement *
2023 Henry Award Winner, Best Actress – Jessica Robblee
BETC sheds new light on the radiant rebel that was and is the poet Emily Dickinson.
About the Play
She rarely left her bedroom.
She requested her papers be burned.
And yet, Emily Dickinson is widely considered one of the English-speaking world’s greatest poets.
BETC’s production of the one-woman show The Belle of Amherst invites you into the mystery of the reclusive woman who wrote those poems you read in high school. She is a woman of magnitude, humor, and feeling– a woman who defied conventional society’s mores in order to find freedom through her pen.
Award-winning Playwright Luce writes in his 1976 Author’s Notes for The Belle of Amherst:
“The essential Emily of my play is secretly saying to the audience:
‘Pardon my insanity,
Pardon my jubilation to Nature, my terror of midnight,
my childlike wonder at love, my white renunciation.
Nothing more do I ask than to share with you the ecstasy and sacrament of my life.’
Performance Details
Venue
Millibo Art Theatre, Colorado Springs
Grace Gamm Theater, Dairy Arts Center, Boulder
COVID Precautions
BETC follows CDC, federal, state, and local guidelines with regards to COVID safety. At this time, patrons will not be required to be masked or to show proof of vaccination at the theater.
If a performance is canceled due to COVID, ticketholders will be able to exchange, refund, or donate their ticket(s) to BETC through the Dairy Arts Center at 303-444-7328.
Content Considerations
The Belle of Amherst runs approximately 85 minutes without intermission.
The Belle of Amherst is best suited for audiences aged 12 and above. BETC does not offer more specific advisories about the subject matter, as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have any questions about content or age-appropriateness, please call the BETC Office at 303-351-BETC.
Please note that we do not permit children under the age of six into the theater, and we do not permit babes-in-arms.
Schedule
Millibo Art Theatre, Colorado Springs
Thursday, November 2
Friday, November 3
Saturday, November 4
Sunday, November 5
Thursday, November 9
Friday, November 10
Saturday, November 11
Sunday, November 12
Dairy Arts Center, Boulder
Wednesday, November 22, 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 22, 7:30 p.m. (Opening Night)
Friday, November 24, 7:30 p.m
Saturday, November 25, 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 25, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 26, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 26, 7:30 p.m.
We invite you to stay for post-show conversations with the production artists on Opening Night 11/22, and the Sunday matinee 11/26!
Tickets & Discounts
Season Subscriptions
Become a BETC season subscriber today, and you’ll get a discount subscription to BETC productions at the Dairy Arts Center and VIP access to other BETC events and parties.
Single Tickets
Single tickets for the 11/22-11/26 run in Boulder are on sale through the Dairy Arts Center.
Tickets for the 11/2-11/12 run at the Millibo Art Theatre and will go on sale closer to the event, and will be available through the venue directly.
Student Tickets
Students can get $15 tickets online or by phone (303-444-7328) for all performances except opening nights and closing weeks. Must show a valid student ID with a ticket at the theatre.
Arts and Cultural Industries
Are you a member of a not-for-profit arts and cultural organization? Sign up for our mailing list to get exclusive discounts for arts and cultural workers. Not available for opening nights or closing weeks.
Group Sales
Looking to purchase tickets to a show for a group of 10 or more? BETC offers generous discounts for groups of 10+. If you are seeking special group arrangements, please call us at 303-351-2382.
Purchase tickets for your group online
Due to the licensing agreement for this particular production, the group sales discount for 10+ tickets will be 8%.
A standard order fee of 13% per ticket applies to all orders.
Once you have added more than 9 tickets to your cart, the appropriate discount will be applied at checkout. All tickets will be reserved under your account for you to pick up at will-call, or mailed to you in advance. Communications about pre-event information or cancellations will be sent to you, to be forwarded to your guests.
CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
Jessica Robblee (Emily Dickinson / Producing Artistic Director) is a director, writer, teacher, producer, and Equity actor who has created theatre in Colorado for over twenty years. She’s proud to have acted with Buntport Theater, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the Arvada Center Black Box Repertory Company, UpstART Theatre, Theatre Aspen, Miner’s Alley Playhouse, the Butterfly Effect Theatre Company, Curious Theatre, SisTryst Productions, Square Product Theatre, Wonderbound, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
For twelve seasons, her heart grew bigger and bigger as she co-directed and co-produced Buntport Theater for All Ages—collaboratively creating and performing in several live comedy series and touring productions, plus designing and teaching arts-integrated programs for children throughout the Denver metro area. She has partnered with the Denver Art Museum, Warm Cookies of the Revolution, the Arts Students League, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Black Ink Presents, and East High School– helping to deliver 8 seasons of a site-specific theatrical series inspired by visual art, four audio tours, multiple superhero drawing contests, one game show of rock band contestants, and an original play based on teens’ lives and the Civil Rights movement. She holds a BA in Theatre and English from Davidson College, an MA in Theatre Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and her work has been honored by True West Awards, the Henry Awards Committee, Westword, The Denver Post, and a kindergartener with a drawn-on moustache who said the play he’d just seen her in “sure was a long movie.”
She enjoys volunteering when she can at Project Worthmore, getting to know people far braver and more worldly than she is.
Mark Ragan (Director / Managing Director) is an actor, director and producer working in the Denver and Boulder theater scene. Mark’s last directing credit was the 2021 Christmas show, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which was nominated for six Henry Awards and won three.
In 2019, Mark directed William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet“ at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. John Moore described the production as a “refreshing change for those who don’t cling to their Shakespeare with too much reverence.”
As an actor, Mark performed the role of Scrooge in the 2021 production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Breckenridge Backstage Theater and was last scene as Laertes in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of Mary Zimmerman’s the “Odyssey.”
Shakespeare has been at the heart of Mark’s theater career, having performed the roles of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet; Lord Capulet at Chicago’s First Folio Shakespeare Festival; Lysander, Bottom and Peter Quince in productions of Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Rude Mechanicals in Washington D.C., where he was also seen as Angelo in Measure for Measure and Hotspur in Henry V.
Mark was a co-founder of Peak to Peak Players based in Gilpin County, which produced both professional and children’s theater.
Mark received his classical theater training at the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C., studying with Floyd King and Edward Gero.
A former national political reporter who covered the White House and Congress in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Mark is also the owner of a nationally recognized content and communications company based in Chicago.
He lives in Highlands Ranch with his wife Jamie, a Juilliard-trained classical pianist. He has three daughters, all named after Shakespeare heroines: Juliet, Kate and Olivia.
“O they doth teach the torches to burn bright.”
Show Supporters
Season Production Sponsor: Karen Steward Memorial Fund
Production Partner: Diana & Mike Kinsey
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