Arts news: Recovered Veritas Productions founder Nancy Evans Begley is bringing Jerry Herman musical revue to Mizel Arts and Culture Center

I called Nancy Evans Begley a few weeks ago, but she couldn’t talk much. She was on her way back to the E.R. with complications from a life-saving emergency appendectomy.

But, hey, she was polite enough to pick up the phone and say hello.

In 2021, Begley created a theater company called Veritas Productions and earlier this year, she decided to open a nonprofit wing of that company. Its first independently produced show was to be “Jerry’s Girls,” a musical revue that showcases the songs of Broadway composer Jerry Herman, of “Hello, Dolly!,” “Mame” and “La Cage aux Folles” fame. It was to run in September as part of the Mizel Arts and Culture Center’s Neustadt JAAMM Festival.

Till the appendix demanded its own solo time in the spotlight.

If only Herman had written “I’m Still Here,” Broadway’s ultimate, angry ode to surviving adversity. (But alas, that was Stephen Sondheim.)

But she is. “Still standing. Still fighting. Still singing.” she said. “Even though I wasn’t able to stand for more than 10 minutes six weeks ago. Now I’m able to perform a two and a half minute dance solo” – which is its own testament to the power of resilience.

Begley is now just upright enough to stage her rescheduled, three-person musical from Nov. 13-23 in the Mizel Center’s Pluss Theatre.

“2025 came in hot — and just kept swinging,” Begley said. There was a concussion in a paddle-board accident, the murder of a family friend, the death of the family dog, a breast-cancer scare, the onset of Vertigo, the diagnosis of a congenital spine condition, the emergency appendectomy and its resulting complications (she calls them “the appendectomy remix.” Now she’s on the verge of staging a show she knows will lose money.

The initial budget to stage “Jerry’s Girls” was $25,000, but she has accepted that her initial path to potential profitability went up in smoke with the original cancelation because the Mizel had five fewer performance dates available for Round 2. “That’s $17,000 in ticket revenue that we’re saying goodbye to right off the top,” said Begley.

But she’s in this for the long haul, which means this shortened upcoming run just became what business types call “a loss leader.” That’s when you go into a venture knowing the math doesn’t add up to break even in the hope that building up a loyal audience now will pay off down the road.

Making art is hard, and the margins are impossibly thin even in the best of circumstances. So why is it worth it?

“It’s always worth it to create art,” she said. “I don’t do this exclusively to make money. We are hoping to pay it forward. Why? We want to keep going. We want to keep doing amazing work. We want to keep celebrating art and culture in our community, and we have to rally the community to do that.”

“Jerry’s Girls” is about as small as musicals get. Begley, Dana Hart Wright and Ali Chung make up the cast. The theater only fits 92 seats. Still, Begley promises “a night of golden age art-deco nostalgia, sparkle charm, pizazz, song, dance spectacle and classic tunes that either a novice or the most seasoned theatergoer can appreciate.

“We consider this an extension of the Mizel Center’s recent JAAMM festival,” which highlights Jewish arts and culture through a variety of performances, exhibitions and events.

“We are celebrating our Jewish heritage and our Jewish artists, authors and composers,” Begley said. “And I think that carries a lot of weight, particularly now.”

Begley has had her time in the desert. And now?

“Now I just want to produce theater that’s going to take people away from the worries of our world for two hours.”

‘Jerry’s Girls’

• What: Musical revue of Jerry Herman showtunes

• Presented by: Veritas Productions

• Directed by: Katie Reid Milazzo

• Starring: Nancy Evans Begley, Dana Hart Wright and Ali Chung

• Where: Mizel Arts and Culture Center, 350 S. Dahlia St.

• Tickets: $42 ($25 with code JG RELOADED)

• Info: tickets.jccdenver.org

Ballyhoo for Ballyhoo Stage

We’ve been telling you this has been coming since April, and now the time is here: The grand opening of Julia Tobey’s Ballyhoo Table & Stage at 3300 Tejon St. is coming at 10 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 1). It’s a swank new all-day coffee shop, performance venue and event space on a hot corner of Northwest Denver.

The marquee opening events include four audience-participation screenings of “The Rocky Horror Movie” Thursday and Friday. The Henry Award-winning “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” which made Clark Destin Jones an underground star last year, returns in the much grittier climes of Ballyhoo from Nov. 6-23. Tickets at ballyhoodenver.com.

‘Breaking Bad’ star in Boulder

Giancarlo Esposito, the Emmy-nominated actor, director and producer known for “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul” and more, is coming to the University of Colorado Boulder campus to talk about storytelling, identity and perseverance from his four-decade career. 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at  Macky Auditorium. Tickets $2 (students) and $15 (public) at eventbrite.com.

Seven new Creative Districts

Governor Jared Polis and the state’s official arts office (Colorado Creative Industries) have designated seven new “Creative Districts” across the state, including six rural communities. The intent of the program is to identify and certify communities that boost jobs, incomes and investments through arts and culture. Colorado now has 37 certified Creative Districts.

The new ones include: Estes Arts District, Evergreen Creative District, Ignacio Creative District, Lyons Creative District, North Boulder Art District, Silverthorne Creative District and Silverton Creative District. Those span Boulder, Jefferson, La Plata, San Juan and Summit counties. Polis said the designations “will create jobs, strengthen local economies and provide spaces for innovation and creativity to flourish across our state.”

Arts and culture contribute $19.7 billion, or 3.7% of the state’s economy, and support more than 121,000 jobs across Colorado.

Briefly …

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival has announced that its 2026 “Return to the Rippon” season will consist of “Twelfth Night” and “Shakespeare in Love” outdoors, and “Julius Caesar” and the commissioned world premiere of a new play called “Friends/Romans/Countrymen” by David Davalos indoors. The glorious Mary Rippon Amphitheatre has been closed for renovations the past two summers. …

Tickets for the Denver premiere of the six-time Tony Award-winning “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. The Broadway phenomenon will play the Buell Theatre from May 30 to June 21. When tickets go on sale, prices will range from $58 to $223 – and they are only going up from there. Info at denvercenter.org.