Theatre Aspen Office
Our administrative office is open Monday through Friday 10 am – 6 pm.
110 East Hallam Street
Suite 126
Aspen, Colorado 81611
Phone: 970.925.9313
Email: info@theatreaspen.org
Theatre Aspen’s Hurst Theatre
470 Rio Grande Place
Aspen, CO 81611
Sept 7
Sept 8
Sept 9
Sept 10
Sept 11
Sept 12
Sept 13
Sept 14
Beginning in 2022, Rachel and Rick Klausner have committed to funding a grant program, given to two Festival participants, in support of a future production of that work.
2023 grants will be for $10,000 each. The two projects worthy of advancement will be chosen by a panel of industry leaders.
2023 SELECTION PANEL
Peter Marks, Chief Drama Critic The Washington Post
Jonathan Silverstein, Artistic Director of Off Broadway’s Keen Company
Sarah Stiles, Two-time Tony Award Nominated Actor
2022 Prize winners
Avaaz by Michael Shayan & Sally: Solo Play by Sandra Seaton
Interested in underwriting Solo Flights? Contact Paul Gabbard at pgabbard@TheatreAspen.org.
Solo Flights is an annual week-long developmental festival of one-person shows presented in the beginning stages of their making. In addition to the performances, Solo Flights features signature events including talkbacks, creative discussions & panels, and special receptions. The fourth annual Solo Flights Festival will be held September 7 – 14, 2023 at Theatre Aspen’s Hurst Theatre.
This year we’re thrilled to bring six carefully curated new works to Aspen!
2023 Solo Flights Festival featuring works and performances starring Tony Award® nominee Bryce Pinkham, HBO’s Somebody Somewhere’s Jeff Hiller, two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey, principal American Ballet Theatre dancer James Whiteside, four-time Academy Award-nominated actress and director Marsha Mason, andGolden Globe® and NAACP Award-winning playwright, actor and director Regina Taylor.
Written by James Whiteside
Music & Lyrics by David Dabbon & James Whiteside
Directed by Lorin Latarro
Starring James Whiteside
Stage Manager Tyler Crow
September 12 at 4 PM | September 14 at 7 PM
James Whiteside is a thrilling multifaceted artist whose personal story is as unique as his artistic virtuosity as one of the world’s greatest ballet dancers. James uses dance, song, and high camp to process the death of his complicated and beloved mother, and the near death of his dance career after a brutal knee injury. He reminds us all that there is life after change and the only way through… is through. Join us for the most fun funeral you’ll ever attend.
Created by Zack Fine, Bryce Pinkham, Rona Siddiqui, and Kirya Traber
Book by Zack Fine in collaboration with Bryce Pinkham, Rona Siddiqui, and Kirya TraberMusic by Rona SiddiquiLyrics by Zack Fine and Rona SiddiquiDirected by Zack Fine
Performed by Bryce Pinkham
Dramaturgy by Kirya TraberSeptember 11 at 4 PM | September 13 at 7 PM
The lights come up to reveal a small island surrounded by water, at the center of which is a broken-down baby grand piano. Out of it crawls The Performer, a shaggy, 21st-century Buster Keaton-type fellow. He was a performer before he washed up on this island. At least he thinks he was. He’s been stranded longer than he can remember. His name is…well actually he can’t remember that either, but before all this, he was certain he was a star. His companion is an imaginary piano player named Bobby and an island of memories washed ashore that he must somehow use to put on one last show that’s sure to “fix it all” before the final curtain falls.
Dignity, Always, Dignity has been supported in part and developed by Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT; Jacob Padrón is the Artistic Director and Kit Ingui is the Managing Director, and the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Davis McCallum Artistic Director.
Written by & starring Regina Taylor
Directed by Phylicia Rashad
Associate Director/Dramaturgy by Regina Victor
September 8 at 7 PM | September 13 at 4 PM
An African-American woman, Iris, recalls pieces of her childhood as she integrated a school in Muskogee Oklahoma. Her personal recollections are flashes of a sharply polarized America in transition as the civil rights movement rolls forward. Iris’s memories of her martyred innocence for a cause are triggered by things she thought she’d never see again in her lifetime- the enactment of today’s roll back of the social tides of change.
Previously developed, in part, at the Hermitage Artist Retreat.
Written by James Hindman
Directed by Michael Rader
Stage Manager Nathan Aaron
Starring Jeff Hiller
September 7 at 7 PM OPENING PERFORMANCE (Opening Reception 6pm) | September 9 at 4 PM
Amidst the hushed buzz of anticipation, Justin strides confidently toward the McMillon Arts Museum’s audience gathered to witness the unveiling of a recently discovered painting by Vincent Van Gogh. Little do they know that, just one floor below, Justin – an intern at the museum – is under scrutiny as one of a hundred other aspiring artists competing to have his artwork chosen as the grand prize winner, thrusting him onto the career trajectory of his dreams. The Exhibitionist delves deep into the nuances of what it means to be an artist and the lengths we will go to define our worth and success.
Written by Kate Walbert
Directed by Sheryl Kaller
Starring Judith Ivey
Stage Manager Alicia M Thompson
September 12 at 7 PM | September 14 at 4 PM
It’s the winter of 1968, and in a dirt-floor kitchen in Watkinsville, Georgia, the country’s first congresswoman, now eighty-seven, prepares to head to Washington for the Women’s March against the Vietnam War. Inspired by the life and activism of Jeannette Rankin, First presents this complicated, irascible, and mostly forgotten character from history as she walks us through her story — beginning in 1916, before national suffrage, when she was elected to represent Montana in U.S. Congress: one woman swimming upstream in a sea of four-hundred and thirty-four men.
Written by Gary Dontzig
Directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull
Stage Manager Miranda Vazquez
Starring Masha Mason
September 7 at 4 PM | September 9 at 7 PM
Olga, Masha, and Irina, Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, have become some of the most beloved characters in theatre history. The last time we saw them, they were embracing outside their home in an unnamed little village near the Ural Mountains and the town of Perm. They were all going through major transitions, wondering what meaning they could find in their lives, while facing uncertain futures: the loss of a life, the loss of a love, and the possible end of their dream to return to Moscow. Decades have passed, a revolution has taken place, two world wars have been fought, it is now 1950. In Russia, Stalin has been in power for 28 years; in America, HUAC is investigating the existence of communists in Hollywood; Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are in the midst of a years-long feud, and we find that the three sisters are part of it all.
