Celebrate our 35th Season!

PRESS RELEASE...

			     THE BACKSTAGE THEATRE IN BRECKENRIDGE
 	                       ANNOUNCES A SEASON OF CELEBRATION

The Backstage Theatre turns thirty five next year.  And baby, we never looked so good!
The 2008-2009 Season will be an anniversary full of reminiscences, new favorites,
and world premieres to help us celebrate in style...and pave the way for our next, thrilling thirty
five years of entertaining the good people of Summit County!

	Playing September 19th thru 28th is Shirley Valentine starring Pamela Clifton (The Search
for Sign of Intelligent Life in the Universe) and written by Willy Russell (Blood Brothers). 
Shirley Valentine, originally presented by the Backstage Theatre in 1994, is the story of an
unfulfilled middle age housewife from Liverpool lamenting her mundane existence and her 
stagnate marriage.  Shirley offers wry observations on the realities of life as she gets up enough 
nerve to leave the claustrophobic confines of her kitchen for the romance and adventure of
Greece.   Winner of the coveted Tony Award, this is a beautifully written story in which the 
audience lives vicariously through Shirley, all the while rooting for her transformation.  
Contains adult language.

Just in time for Halloween, we present one of the most-produced comedies in American 
History, and one the Backstage premiered in 1991, The Mystery of Irma Vep.   An outrageous
spoof by Charles Ludlam, the late founder of New York City's Ridiculous Theatrical Company,
Irma Vep is a campy tribute to Gothic horror films, liberally stealing from well-known film
classics like Wuthering Heights, The Mummy's Curse, and Alfred Hitchcock's Academy Award-
winning Rebecca.  Two actors play all of the play's eight characters, racing through a literal
quick-change marathon complete with werewolves, vampires and damsels in distress.  Combine
all that with crazy plot twists (two characters travel from England to Egypt to inspect a mummy),
and The Mystery of Irma Vep guarantees fun for everyone.  Runs October 17th thru November 1st.
	
	A classic holiday favorite makes its way to the stage in It’s A Wonderful Life – 
A Radio Play, adapted by Joe Landry.  Opening November 28th  and playing through December 
28th, this new production takes a cue from the classic dramas of radio's golden age, presenting
the story live on stage, as if it were an actual 1940's radio show.  The actors, dressed in 1940's
era costumes, read from scripts in front of period microphones, while a sound man provides all
of the appropriate sound effects.  This perfect holiday show brings the beloved Frank Capra
film to life before your very eyes (and ears) via the magic of stage (and radio).  This is a 
premiere production at the Backstage Theatre.

	Have you ever wondered what might happen if Aladdin and Cinderella met?  Well,
wonder no more.  The Backstage Children’s Theatre presents Aladdin and the Glass Slipper, 
a whimsical musical tale written by David and Julie Payne (Monster Under the Bed).  A 
mysterious peddler befriends a street urchin on the run from a pesky genie who is desperately
trying to retrieve his magic lamp.  Add to the chase a young girl of the cinders and her addled
fairy godmother, and you have the makings for a comic, musical treat perfect for the entire
family.  Playing throughout the month of December, dates and times to be announced.

	Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie (adapted with Jeffrey Hatcher) – one of the most
touching, life-affirming plays to come along in years – premieres at the Backstage Theatre on
January 16th, 2009 and runs through February 16th.   Based on the New York Times best selling
book and the Emmy award-winning television movie starring Jack Lemmon, Tuesdays With 
Morrie is an autobiographical story of an accomplished journalist who reunites with his old 
professor who is battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  What starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly
pilgrimage and a final lesson in the meaning of life.  Mature Content.

	Opening March 6th, the Backstage Theatre is proud to present the World Premiere of 
Office Space, the Musical by Jamie Bruss, Christopher Willard, and Keith Ewer.   The annual
talent show put on by the second floor number crunchers at Dynacorp starts out as a sly musical
parody of the cult movie, Office Space.  But as the evening progresses, the accountants soon
find their own lives taking center stage.  Mature Content and Adult Language.  Playing until
April 19th.  

	In Lee Blessing's one-man show, Chesapeake, the world is going to the dogs...and that's
a good thing.  Christopher Willard (Greater Tuna, The Housekeeper) stars as performance
artist Kerr who gets into the fight of his life when he chooses to retaliate against an outspoken 
conservative U.S. Congressman – by stealing his dog!  But a metaphysical twist of fate sends 
Kerr down a surprising road he never imagined he’d tread.  Insightful, funny, and a fine modern 
fable.  Performed one weekend only, May 8th thru 10th.  Mature Content.


	Award-winning actress Karen Slack brings her stunning version of Pamela Gien’s
The Syringa Tree to the Backstage Theatre May 22nd thru 31st.  Winner of several Denver Post 
Ovation awards including Best Actress and Best Revival, The Syringa Tree is a deeply personal 
story of an abiding love between two families – one white, one black – and the two children that 
are born into their shared South African household in the early 1960s – during the stanglehold of 
apartheid.  Spanning four generations, the story is told first by six-year-old Elizabeth Grace (Ms. 
Slack plays all twenty four characters), as she tries to make sense of the chaos, magic, and
darkness of Africa.  Not to be missed!  Mature Content and Some Adult Language.


	The Fantasticks (originally presented by the Backstage in 1978) opens June 26th and runs
alternating weekends thru August 23rd.  "Try To Remember" a time when this romantic charmer
by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt wasn't enchanting audiences the world over.  At the heart of
its breathtaking poetry and subtle theatrical sophistication is a purity and simplicity that
transcends cultural barriers.  The Fantasticks is a timeless story of love (and the tests of love)
that manages to be nostalgic and universal at once.  Includes such hits as “Soon It’s Gonna
Rain,” “Never Say No”, and the classic “Try to Remember”. 


	The Backstage Children’s Theatre is pleased to present a delightful new version of Hans 
and Margret Rey’s Curious George.  Everyone’s favorite monkey and the Man in the Yellow
Hat get caught up in a series of  mad-cap adventures that takes George from the zoo, to the
hospital, and all the way up into space!  Opens July 3rd and plays alternating weekends thru
September 6th. 

	Return to the formative years of the Backstage Theatre when melodramas were our
stock and trade.   The Drunkard (presented in 1980) is one of our most produced plays – and for 
good reason.  This story of a temperance leader fallen from grace is hysterically goofy, sweetly 
affecting, and pure, unabashed entertainment.  Cheer the hero!  Hiss the villain!  Buy tickets 
today!  Plays alternating weeks starting July 16th thru August 16th. 

	And finally, we are pleased to announce our annual Labor Day musical presented at the
Riverwalk Amphitheater will be the delightful musical comedy, Little Me, with music 
by Cy Coleman and a book by Neil Simon.  Based on a novel by Patrick Dennis (Auntie Mame),
the story follows the many lives and loves of Belle Schlumpfurt who survives a sensational 
murder trial, the sinking of a great ocean liner, and the fickle fame of filmdom.  September 4th 
thru 7th. 

	The Backstage Theatre will kick-off its 35th Season with a retrospective in pictures on 
display at the Breckenridge Theatre Gallery for the month of September.   Look for many
more special events to be offered during the course of the year in conjunction with our
anniversary.  Details to be announced soon!  For donor, sponsorship, and ticket information,
please contact the Backstage Theatre at 970-453-0199, or log onto our website at 
www.backstagetheatre.org.