Live theater continues to bring entertainment, joy and social discourse to Aspen.
SoL Theatre Company’s 2024 summer season production
Perhaps more than any other rural area in America, Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley deliver world-class theater to audiences throughout the year. The risk-taking of live theatre rivals adventure sports in Aspen’s mountains—they bring out real emotions. Anything can happen and demand your full attention. Whether you enjoy thought-provoking drama or easygoing comedy, you’ll find a dynamic show starring Broadway actors or community performers of all ages.
THEATRE ASPEN
Recently celebrating its 40th anniversary, Theatre Aspen aims to produce world-class entertainment and arts programming and engage audiences intimately and personally. Its professional productions feature the best of Broadway talent, local performers, and an exceptional year-round roster of musicals, plays, new works and family-friendly shows. The esteemed cast and crew bring classic stories, contemporary comedies, and more to life. Proud of its excellent artistic reputation, committed board members, enthusiastic audiences, and year-round educational programming, Theatre Aspen’s award-winning shows are presented in the heart of Rio Grande Park, along the Rio Grande trail. Through its education program last summer, aspiring young actors in the Roaring Fork Valley trained with Broadway cast members during Theatre Aspen’s Broadway Bootcamp.
SOL THEATRE
Called “one of the strongest and most consistent youth theater groups on the Western Slope,” SoL Theatre, which stands for “stage of life,” wants to meet audiences and actors in whatever stage of life. The theatre company believes you can build a healthy community through the performing arts and nurture youth to their most significant potential. Through theatrical training and production in a fun, safe and supportive setting, SoL helps children and young adults expand their self-concept, inspires them to lead by example and educates them to build the social and emotional tools to live meaningful lives. During the 2023-24 school year, the program served over 150-200 children aged six to 18. Last summer, SoL launched Summer Stock Theatre with the production of the musical Spring Awakening.
ASPEN COMMUNITY THEATRE
Aspen Community Theatre was founded in 1975 by a small group of community members and remains the only organization to produce yearly musical productions that offer performance opportunities for non-equity adult local actors. For the past two years, ACT has performed Once Upon a Mattress and Mary Poppins. ACT also offers free workshops in vocal, dance and acting, which are open to the public. Since 1980, ACT has awarded over $70,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors who plan on pursuing their future in the performing arts.
SoL Theatre Company’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar
THUNDER RIVER THEATRE COMPANY
Driven by “a passion for exploring and illuminating the genuine heart of the human condition,” Carbondale-based Thunder River Theatre Company (TRTC) has staged works ranging from the beloved theatre classics to the most current and cutting-edge playwrights. TRTC’s audience comes from Aspen to Glenwood Springs throughout the Rocky Mountain Region and points beyond its purpose-built theatre in downtown Carbondale. Recognized as having some of the best theatrical talents in the state, OnStage Colorado (onstagecolorado.com) awarded three first-place prizes and one fourth-place prize for TRTC’s 2023 production of the play You Can’t Take It With You, as well as a Henry Award in 2023 (Colorado’s equivalent of Tony Awards presented by the Colorado Theatre Guild).
Photography by: PHOTO BY SAM FERGUSON
