Theatre Aspen Tickets Go on Sale 4/16 for Summer Season

Theatre Aspen today announced that single tickets and passes for the summer season will go on sale April 16th. Deals include customizable season passes for both two or three shows, discounted preview passes and the popular Local's Pass ($20 off 2- and 3-show passes), for valley residents willing to attend within a specific date range.

The new Hurst Theatre is the setting for the upcoming season, which opens with the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Avenue Q, on June 25th. The summer also includes the new musical How I Became a Pirate, based on the beloved children's book by Melinda Long (July 10th – Aug 18th) and the film noir thriller The 39 Steps (July 25th – Aug 18th).

Avenue Q, with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a book by Jeff Whitty, won the 2004 Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score Tony Awards, over the highly popular WICKED. Another award winner, Mark Martino, will direct and choreograph. Martino won the Carbonell Award for Best Director for his production of Crazy For You at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre this season.

TA will also offer the family musical How I Became a Pirate (book, music and lyrics by Janet Yates Vogt & Mark Friedman), directed by Marjorie Mae Treger, who returns to TA on the heels of last year's successful production of Annie. The 60-minute musical features a wide variety of musical styles and while the book targets young audiences, the show appeals to grownups as well.

The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow, from the novel by John Buchan, is a fast-paced whodunit that is part Hitchcock, part Monty Python and offers a virtuosic display of 150 characters in the story, enacted by only four actors. David Hess will direct.

Artistic Director Paige Price said, "This year we really went for variety in our programming – from the saucy Avenue Q to the sweet How I Became a Pirate. The 39 Steps has been a hit everywhere it's played and I think it's a perfect show for our summer audience. It's both silly and smart and we have an expert cast to put it over."

Theatre Aspen was awarded the "Outstanding Regional Theatre" Henry Award in Denver in 2009 and Alison Luff won a Best Supporting Actress Denver Post Ovation Award for her work as Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Recent Ovation nominees included Joan Hess, Beth Malone, Aaron Rhyne, Julia Foran and Sandy Duncan.

Productions take place in the new Hurst Theatre in Rio Grande Park and will be underwritten by season sponsor ANB Bank, with the generous support of The City of Aspen, Hays Private Client, Soledad and Bob Hurst, Mandy Gray and Randy Work, Dan and Maureen Holman, The Aspen Club and Spa and Les Dames d'Aspen.

Registration for Theatre Aspen School summer classes and theatre workshops is underway.
For further information contact Theatre Aspen at 970-925-9313 x2. www.theatreaspen.org.