My husband and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last weekend and decided to have a “dinner-and-theatre” date night to celebrate.

After a speedy dinner (we knew there was construction, but didn’t allow for the giant punk-rock concert happening at the DCPA so arrived later than we planned), we headed to the Garner Galleria Theatre to see John Gray's Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus Live!

If you haven’t been to the Garner Galleria, it’s not a traditional stage – instead, it’s also a bar (with appetizers!) and you’re seated at tables of four with a stage at the front. Waitstaff will take your food or drink order even during the show. This makes for a much more casual, intimate experience than in a traditional theatre.

Like most people in a relationship in the early-mid-90s, I read John Gray’s book (although it had been around 20 years, so I was due for a refresher). I was intrigued to see how the show’s creators had morphed this relationship how-to into a comedy.

My husband thought it would be more geared towards women, so was surprised to learn that the sole cast member was a Martian (read: a guy). The director was a woman, lending an interesting balance. For all the guys out there, it’s not a chick show.

Amadeo Fusca, a Pittsburgh-born Italian-American from New York, single-handedly walked the audience through some of the content in Gray’s book using stories from his own life with his wife, Sarah, and their five-year-old son, Dominic. His comedic style was in-your-face and brash, but lots of fun. (He apologized to the first row several times for the large quantities of hip gyrating in their faces.) My husband laughed a ton through the entire show and really enjoyed it. I laughed equally hard, and we both also appreciated some of the nuggets of wisdom from the book.

For example, men’s and women’s brains work in reverse, so while men use all their go-go-go chemicals during the day (dopamine) and are ready to relax at night (serotonin), women run out of the calming chemicals during the day and are in busy mode at night. Two brief videos starring John Gray and using animation highlight some of these nuggets, and while the animation was weird and Gray reminded me of Varys from Game of Thrones, the information was actually helpful and presented in a funny way.

In short, we had a great time, and both men and women will really enjoy this show on several different levels. Several times we both laughed so hard we almost cried, and it was nice to have a night out together, enjoying a funny-yet-useful show about relationships (do not bring your kids!).


Show information
The Off-Broadway hit comedy Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus Live!, is a one-man fusion of theatre and stand-up, and is a light-hearted theatrical comedy based on the New York Times #1 best-selling book of the last decade by John Gray. Moving swiftly through a series of vignettes, the show covers everything from dating and marriage to the bedroom.

Now through August 27 at the Garner Galleria Theatre in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Complex.

Run time: 2 hours
Ticket price: $39+
Age recommendation: Adults




Guest post by Mindee Forman

Mindee is a freelance writer, editor, web designer, and social media consultant. She lives in Denver with her own Martian, two kids, and two crazy cats.