‘There is this major lack of empathy out there right now,’ says the bearded and burly Mike Waid, who plays three roles in controversial musical

Mike Waid wonders if this country might not be so divided if we just rallied more – and protested less. As in: More in support of the things we believe in than against the things we don’t.

Now, before you instinctively lash out (because that’s just what we do), hear him out.

“There just seems to be so much anger and division and hate out there in the world right now,” the former two-term mayor of Parker said.

Make that the former two-term Republican mayor of Parker. The proud, popular, gun-owning conservative maverick who stands out with his long facial hair, ear piercings and enough tattoos to scare the prim right out of all proper Parkerites.

Waid is a self-described “bearded fat dude who eats too much meat and drinks a lot of tequila.” Who not only regularly appears as an actor in the big musicals staged at the town’s two crown-jewel theaters (because, as prime ham goes, Waid is pure ​​Iberian), he is the politico largely responsible for the very existence of the 500-seat PACE Center itself. The place where he often donned the tutu and performed in the town’s annual holiday ballet in the years his sons were growing up.

Why? “Because my sons love ballet,” he says.

When it comes to the ideological wildfire that has swept over Parker last week over an unnecessarily controversial production of “Shrek, the Musical” that runs through Feb. 8, Waid is the guy to seek out for calm perspective. After all, he plays three of the story’s most essential roles: He is the Captain of the Guard, a dancing skeleton and a happy villager. (Talk about range.)

Waid hates the rancor that has broken out over the show’s inclusion of two Pride flags that are briefly waved during the climactic number, called “Freak Flag.”

It’s a song, and a show, that says it’s OK to be different. But now this call for one and all to proudly let their freak flags fly on stage has turned into more of a, well – freak show off stage.

“Listen, I just want to go out there and be the best damn captain of the guard I can be,” Waid said. “I want to be the best happy villager I can be. And I just want to be the best 6-foot-1, 265-pound dancing skeleton I can be. Because I love it.

“I’m not here to pay my mortgage or anything like that. I just love being around these people. I love being on stage, and I love making people dream.”

If only it were that simple.

READ MORE: Shrek’ flags to keep flying despite unspecified complaints

“Shrek the Musical” is the now 18-year-old, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the blockbuster 2001 DreamWorks film. It is now being produced by a local theater company called Sasquatch Productions at the PACE Center, a 500-seat venue administered by Parker Arts, which is essentially the cultural department of the Town of Parker.

After the opening weekend of performances Jan. 16-18, the Town of Parker says it received “an unspecified variety of complaints” regarding the inclusion of those Pride flags. And I’m pretty sure neither side will claim that what has followed could be called a healthy demonstration of conflict resolution. More on that later.

“There is this major lack of empathy out there right now,” Waid said. “People love to say they’re an empath, but I don’t think a lot of them really understand what the definition of that word is. In real simple terms, it’s just this: Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. It doesn’t mean you have to change your viewpoint to match theirs. You just have to try to understand that their perspective is different from yours.”

To put this in understandable terms, let’s consider … cilantro. (Well, why not?)

“I think cilantro is the most vile weed on the face of the earth,” Waid said. “To me, cilantro tastes like pure, stinky ass. There’s nothing good about it. But a couple of my best foodie friends are practically orgasmic anytime they talk about cilantro.

“Now, I can sit here and say, ‘Well, I think cilantro’s awful.’ But they don’t agree with me. That means they are different from me. These days, that means, ‘I must silence them. They must never be able to use cilantro on anything simply because I don’t like cilantro.’ Well, that’s just crazy, man. That’s just wrong.

“So, how about, instead, I try to put myself in their shoes and understand why they put cilantro in the (bleep) they cook. And suddenly, I realize, ‘Hey, just because they put that (bleep) in their food, that doesn’t negatively affect my life in any way. Because I don’t have to eat their food.’

“That being said, it seems to me there’s a lot of people out there protesting loud and proud that because you don’t have the same opinion as me, you’re not only different – you’re evil, you’re wrong, and you must be destroyed. Maybe instead, if we put all that energy into trying to be empathetic toward people who don’t look like you, or act like you, or talk like you, or think like you – maybe the world would be a better place.”

Not quite there yet, Mayor Mike.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

If the events of the past week in Parker have taught us anything, it’s that there’s no outrage like selective outrage. And selective outrage is an epidemic in this country. Toss a toxic dose of dueling misinformation into the burning Dumpster fire that is social media – with a side salad of moral indignation – and what briefly might have been a communal teachable moment last week quickly turned into a mini “Bonfire of the Vanities.”

In the halcyon days of seven days ago, I was catching up on Apple TV’s “The Lost Bus,” wondering like many others how that small mountain electrical spark in 2018 blew up into the largest wildfire in California history.

A few hours later, my phone, Facebook and email lit up with wildly varying reports that the Town of Parker was “demanding” that a local theater company called Sasquatch Productions remove the two Pride flags – or the show would be shut down. (Again: That’s not what happened.) 

In both cases – ill winds blew.

You can imagine how all this was going over on social media. Cheers of righteous approval from one side; calls for a righteous boycott of Parker Arts from the other. Both sides calling for a pound of administrative flesh. Parker Arts Cultural Director Carrie Glassburn was suddenly surrounded by fire with no way out and no Matthew McConaughey school bus in sight.

The Town issued a cowardly statement of neutrality saying that, as the presenter, “The Town is not involved in the creative aspects or visions of the show … as such, the Town does not take a position on either the creative expression or the concerns that were raised.”

That was a disastrous PR move that both sides pounced on.

While (again) no threat of shutdown was ever issued by anyone, the public narrative spreading all over social media only vaguely resembled the truth. And because this is 2026, a time of worsening political polarization and a profound mistrust of “the other side,” it was “Burn, baby, burn.”

While many key details are still being kept under a Draconian informational blackout, this much we think we know:  

The show opened Jan. 16 to enthusiastic audience response. Lutheran High School, a private Christian school that moved from Denver to Parker in 2011, is an ongoing sponsor of Parker Arts’ theatrical programming. The amount and scope of that sponsorship is still being kept under wraps, but Waid suggested “it is a significant amount of money.”

On Tuesday (Jan. 20), Glassburn contacted Director Kelly McAllister to say that “a variety of complaints” had been received by the Town about the Pride flags, and from several different community interests. She asked whether some accommodation could be made – perhaps by replacing the Pride flags, an international symbol of LGBTQ+ support for 50 years, with less identifiable flags.

Playwright David Lindsey Abaire, a straight, married man, has said he wrote his adaptation of “Shrek” to convey themes of self-acceptance and the importance of embracing one’s individuality. The song “Freak Flag” has long been embraced by the queer community as an empowering anthem, but Lindsey Abaire did not specifically write the use of Pride flags into his script. That was McAllister’s creative decision.

The cast not only declined Glassburn’s request to consider removing the flags, they took the almost unheard-of step of stopping that Jan. 23 performance just as the show got to the disputed song. Actor Bekah-Lynn Broas told the crowd some of what was transpiring behind the scenes but that the cast would not remove the flags, proclaiming to cheers, “We resist.”

That brazen act sent social media into orbit over the next few days, with hundreds sharing the video of Brojas’ speech. And according to confidential sources, it was that act publicly tying the flags to a rallying cry for the queer community that prompted Lutheran High School to tell Glassburn the school was pulling its fiscal sponsorship. By 6 p.m. on Jan. 24, all references to Lutheran had been removed from the Parker Arts web site.

While the controversy gained strength on social, almost no one fanning the flames was accurately communicating that Parker Arts never threatened to close the show. Only that it was communicating the problem to the cast and leaving the decision in their hands. Which tracks, because, obviously, if removing the Pride flags was, in fact, a demand, then the show would have been shut down on Jan. 23, and the Pride flags continue to fly freely and proudly.

Meanwhile, the torchbearers on Facebook have adopted contradictory ways of showing their support, with some calling for every remaining seat to “Shrek” to be sold, while others are calling for a full boycott of Parker Arts until its regrettable statement of neutrality is rescinded. Several significant members of the local theater community have publicly stated their pledge to never again accept employment at Parker Arts, which is risky business when all the facts still aren’t yet clearly known.

Glassburn, meanwhile, finds herself thrown under a bus and involuntarily muzzled. Yes, the Town’s statement of neutrality (almost certainly not written by Glassburn) failed to meet the moment. But Glassburn has a stellar 13-year record at Parker Arts as an enormous ally of the Colorado theater community. Some who know nothing of Glassburn or her contributions are recklessly lashing out in all the ways that make social media the cesspool it is. She deserves better – including her own voice in all of this.

“As a mother invested in bettering my town, I am deeply concerned about the fallout of this situation,” said Katie Reid Milazzo, a Parker director and educator. “I am continually blown away by how the Parker Arts staff manages to serve the community. I worry that if we chase away talent, patrons and support, what will be left? I fear this is all in jeopardy.”

For Waid, the real tragedy of this whole kerfuffle, which by now has been reported around the world, is that he believes both “the performance community and the town are doing the best they can in a tough and confusing situation.”

So maybe we take a breath and rally for, not protest against. For more calm, for better communication, and for more courage to stand up to those intolerant letter-writers, whoever they are and in whatever numbers.

Sort of like what “Shrek” is all about.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com

‘Shrek the Musical’

• Presented by: Sasquatch Productions and Parker Arts
• Where: PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker*
• When: Through Feb. 8
• Info: parkerarts.org

CORRECTION: Because of an error in a press release provided to the Denver Gazette, the location of this musical was incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this column. It is taking place at the PACE Center, not the Parker Schoolhouse Theatre.