Boy meets and falls in love with girl, boy loses girl, villain tries to get girl, boy wins girl and triumphs over evil. The Butte Theater in Cripple Creek will reignite the classic melodrama formula with its latest production, “Darling of the Donkey Derby,” followed by the olio, “Blame it on the Boogie: Songs of the Decade,” featuring music from the ’70s. It opens Friday and runs through July 14.
The show is based on an old book somebody found years ago at the Cripple Creek library and turned into a melodrama for the theater, which has staged the production at least once. This year’s version was adapted by playwright Chris Sorenson. “It recaptures the early days of Donkey Derby Days and the history of how the derby got started,” said director Betsy McClenahan.
“It brings into play the mines and a lot of local references. It’s lots of fun.” Set in old Cripple Creek, Tom Moffatt, the prospector and hero (cheer!) vies with a bad guy (boo!) for the heart of heroine Katy Darling (sigh!) and a huge estate left by the bad guy’s rich uncle who’s about to meet his maker.
It’s all set against the backdrop of the first Cripple Creek Donkey Derby Days, which started more than 90 years ago by Cripple Creek businessmen who wanted a way to attract more people to town during the summer. The first festivals featured donkey races with participants riding the animals 5 miles from Victor to Cripple Creek. In the ’70s, the race changed into teams leading the animals .