A scene from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” performed by Stage of Life Theatre Company this summer at Thunder River Theatre. The play was part of the company’s new “summer stock” platform in which they involved adult actors for the first time in the company’s history. The summer stock program will be the beneficiary of Friday night’s benefit taking place at Thunder River Theatre at 6 p.m.
Carbondale has a population of 6,708 people according to the 2023 U.S. Census. The town is a mecca for artists from painters to sculptures, jewelers and more. It is also the home of two theater companies — Stage of Life Theatre Company and Thunder River Theatre Company, impressive for a town of its size.
Both entities are hosting end of the year events this coming weekend. On Friday, SoL presents its second annual winter fundraiser cabaret at 7 p.m. Saturday. Thunder River will host an ’80s movie dance party from 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
Since 2012, SoL has provided theater programs for children in the Roaring Fork Valley. During the 2023-24 school year, the program served over 150-200 children from ages 6 to 18.
This past summer, SoL expanded their platform beyond children’s theater and for the first time added a “summer stock,” which included a play with professional actors — “Spring Awakening.” The play raised the curtain in June and a community theater production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” ran in August.
Friday night’s event benefits the new SoL summer stock platform.
“We are fundraising specifically for our summer season — and when we say ‘summer season,’ we mean our high school/college aged production, a professional and college aged production, and a community theater production,” said Jennifer Austin Hughes, executive director of SoL. “All three of these meet not only our students, but all community members where they are, and we created them in response to this incredibly talented valley. We are blessed to be able to showcase so many people from right here — and are thrilled to welcome new voices into the mix. The fundraiser itself is a special opportunity for us to see our students and families again at the holidays.”
Friday night’s cabaret at Thunder River Theatre will be an all ages affair. There will also be a special performance by longtime local actress Nina Gabianelli, who performed as Yenta in the Aspen Music Festival’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” this past summer.
Tickets can be found at soltheatrecompany.org. The price of $50 includes cocktails/mocktails, desserts and a cabaret-style performance by local actors.
From left, Missy Moore, Toddy Walters and Jasmine Jackson in Thunder River Theatre Company’s production of the play “POTUS.” TRTC was the first company in Colorado to produce the play. TRTC is hosting an ’80s costume party Saturday night from 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
A totally tubular party
On Saturday, the Thunder River Theatre will be transformed into a 1980s shrine as they host a period dance party. When attendees enter the lobby, they will be greeted by iconic ’80s movie posters from “The Breakfast Club” to “Ghostbusters” to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
“We’re really encouraging people to dress up in ’80s costumes for the party,” said Missy Moore, executive director of TRTC. “We hope people will come and dress up as their favorite iconic ’80s character or pop star and just come and dance the night away.”
Moore is bringing in a DJ from Grand Junction for the festivities. She will be streaming snippets of iconic ’80s movie moments like the “Footloose” dance scene. There will be a costume contest and each of the costume winners will win a prize for other events in the community and gift cards to local restaurants. There will also be iconic 1980s snacks like Lunchables and Pop Rocks.
“We wanted to do something this year that was more family oriented so that Mom and Dad don’t have to hire a babysitter to have them stay with the kiddos while Mom and Dad go to the adult party,” Moore said.
Even though the event is on the 28th, it is a de facto New Years party with a countdown and champagne toast at midnight.
“We’re ringing the new year in a few days early,” Moore said.
Tickets can be purchased online at thunderrivertheatre.com or by calling 970-963-8200.
Saturday’s shindig caps a memorable year for TRTC. Halloween week, the company performed their immersive play “Ghostlight” in which they transformed the theatre into six different mini-sets that took place in different parts of the theatre. They sold out all thirteen of the performances.
TRTC performed the play “What The Constitution Means To Me,” the most-produced play in the country this year. In addition to screenings at Thunder River Theatre, the company performed the play in Ouray at the Wright Opera House.
“The fact that Thunder River was able to secure rights to that play was awesome,” Moore said.
TRTC’s 2024-2025 season continues with “Tiny, Beautiful Things,” Feb. 14-March 3 and “These Shining Lives” May 2-17.
TRTC is adding concerts for the first time in the new year. The Triptides will kick off the company’s concert series on Jan. 24 and more shows are planned in March and April.
“We’re never going to lose sight of the fact that we are a producing theater company and we will always have theater here, but the venue itself offers so much for the community as a performing arts space in the heart of the creative district and we’ve been asking, ‘How can you activate the actual venue in a myriad of different ways from an ’80s dance party to original theater to a concert series,’” Moore said. “The concerts are going to be a full scale immersive music experience where we’re actually going to use elements of the theatre to help the audience experience the music in different ways.”
While TRCC formed several valuable partnerships in 2024, Moore affirmed that the most valuable partnership is with SoL.
“Housing SoL and having all of the kiddos in the theater, and activating the next generation of theater makers is so important to us,” she said. “We invite the community to the theatre this weekend to support theater in our community and have a great time doing it.”