WESTMINSTER — A long-running theater company has moved from Denver to a converted gas station in Westminster’s historic district.
Sitting in a seat overlooking a small stage in the new location at 7287 Lowell Blvd., Germinal Stage artistic director and co-founder Ed Baierlein, 70, took the occasional puff on a pipe and talked about the company’s 40-year run and recent move.
Watching actors trickle in to rehearse for “Animal Farm,” Baierlein said the theater’s former digs off West 44th Avenue and Alcott Street had too many maintenance issues and had to be sold.
Looking for a new location around Denver, the director and actor said he was drawn to the former gas station not only because of a sweet deal on the lease through the city and South Westminster Arts Group, but also because it’s in the heart of a burgeoning arts district.
“We wanted something a little bit smaller, and it’s just an absolutely great neighborhood with a lot of energy, some really nice galleries and the sculpture garden down the street,” Baierlein said.
Germinal Stage is a family affair: Baierlein’s wife, actress Sally Diamond, also does costumes and set decorations. Their son, Tad, 31, is a jack-of-all-trades and helps with lighting, stage construction and has dabbled in acting.
“Aside from folks like myself, my mom … this has been a one-man band for 40 years,” the younger Baierlein said. “It’s pretty impressive to be able to keep this going.”
Over the last four decades, Germinal Stage has received a long list of awards and developed a reputation for challenging both audiences and actors.
The company tends to stick to plays that have withstood the test of time, and Ed Baierlein describes his theater company as “the 40-year-old runt stepchild of small nonprofit theaters — a corner grocery of Thespis holding its own against the supermarkets.”
The repertoire includes postmodern reinterpretations of classic writers Molière and Shakespeare, recent masters George Bernard Shaw and Luigi Pirandello, modernists Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, and cutting-edge contemporaries such as David Rabe and David Mamet.
“Our motto is plays of substance in an exciting and intimate atmosphere,” he added.
Having a live theater company in the neighborhood will improve and bring new life to the arts district, said arts group board member and spokeswoman Debbie Teter.
“It says a lot that a well-run theater with such a great reputation would chose our neighborhood,” Teter said. “To me, it’s like when a shopping center gets an anchor store — they’ll really draw people that otherwise may not have come here.”
The former Shell gas station had been converted into a theater about six years ago, but it took six months to get it up to par. Beginning in February, new bathrooms were installed along with a box office and green room, dressing rooms were built and the stage redesigned.
Steve Kramer has been working with Germinal Stage for 29 years acting, directing and designing. He said the new location means not just learning new lighting and acting techniques — the new stage is significantly smaller than the previous one — but also comes with the opportunity to reach a new audience.
He added: “That’s what we’re most excited about.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com
