By Lisa Bornstein * Rocky Mountain News

Henry Lowenstein has become a more commanding presence as he's aged. Fifty years at the heart of Denver theater are now expressed in the leonine mane and beard of an 83-year-old man.

Born in Berlin shortly before the rise of the Nazis and evacuated to England, Lowenstein arrived in the United States in 1947 a young man, serving in the Air Force before he was even a citizen.

Without a college degree, he went on to study theater design at the Yale School of Drama, where the heiress and Denver Post publisher Helen Bonfils met him, inviting him to come work at her new Bonfils Theatre.

Lowenstein spent the next 25 years at that theater, becoming its artistic director and designing most of its sets. His work, stored for years in his home, is the subject of "The Art of Henry: 25 Years of Scenery and Costume Design by Henry Lowenstein." Walking through recently, Lowenstein recalled some of the stories behind the work.

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

The Three Bears

1974-75, Bonfils Theatre

"We did it three or four times. With theater for children you can always repeat, because in five years, the children are grown up and another group would come in. We couldn't keep the sets. There was never enough storage. In those days, we did two or three children's performances in the day and one adult show in the evening. I would plan the children's show so it would dovetail with the adult show. It was basically the same set."

Around the World in 80 Days

1970-71

"It was done by Orson Welles, in the '40s. The problem was, it wasn't terribly good.

"My time in the theater straddled situation comedy and drawing room stuff to the more swift things that are nowadays standard fare. The older audiences wanted the old stuff, and I had to find a way to bridge the gap through the transition. The problem is, they get around the world in 80 days, but the show only runs 11/2 to 2 hours.

"I had inherited a treadmill kind of thing that we put across the stage and then the scenery in back would shift. I painted probably 30 or 40 feet that ran past the projector. Because of that, I had to really bust myself and make really good drawings."

You Can Get It If You Want It

1965

"It was a show written by (local director) Bob Bannister. He had great hopes for it, but it really wasn't up to snuff. It was an OK show; it was not anything that was ever going to set the world on fire."

I Do Not Give Up Hope; Nothing Escapes My Notice

1959, Colorado Concert Ballet

"They were just cut-out pieces of wallboard. They (the ballet) never had any money, so it was whatever you could do cheaply."

Photos by Linda McConnell/Special to the Rocky

Sleeping Beauty

1964, Colorado Concert Ballet

"This stuff was never intended to be works of art. These were intended to be working drawings from which the sets were constructed."

The Art of Henry: 25 Years of Scenery and Costume Design by Henry Lowenstein

* When and where: Gates Reading Room, Denver Central Library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, through March 29

* Cost: Free

* Information: 720-865-1111

Costume designs Unknown show

"I never claimed to be a good costume designer, but when I first came out, I was better than what was here. Once I had good designers, I stopped doing it. Over time, I had some wonderful costume designers who were much better than I was."

Lowenstein tried to convince Bonfils that she could save money by purchasing costumes from New York instead of locally. "She chewed me out but good: 'My money comes from Denver, I'm going to spend my money in Denver.' "

Street Scene 1953, graduate school application

"I was in the Air Force as an artist-illustrator. You know (actor and director) Ron Howard? His daddy was in the Air Force, too. He had been in a show on Broadway with Henry Fonda, Mr. Roberts. I helped him put a few shows on (at Chanute Air Force Base). When Eisenhower came in, he decided to get rid of all the unnecessary people - and I was definitely unnecessary.

"Rance Howard said: 'Why don't you try Yale?' I said, 'I don't have an undergraduate degree. What's the point?'

"I knew Kurt Weill as a child and I thought, what the heck, I'll design one of his shows (for the application), so I did Street Scene here."

Hello, Dolly 1970, Denver Post Opera

"We borrowed an elephant for the parade scene, but she was too heavy for the stage, so she had to walk in front. Helen had given the elephant to the zoo, and I had worked with elephants in my very younger days at the zoo in England.

"It was called the Denver Post Opera which, of course, was a total misnomer because they were not operas and The Denver Post had nothing to do with it. It was all Helen. By the time I took over she was paying $120,000 out of her own pocket each year. The public service would string a line (into Cheesman Park) so they'd have power for the lighting."

Back to Top