Tickets to First Annual Aspen Theatre Festival Now on Sale

Theatre Aspen announced that tickets are on sale for the first annual Aspen Theatre Festival, held at the Hurst Theatre during the final week of the summer, on August 25th and 28th. The Agent and Finn the Fearless are the two new works being developed as part of the organization's new festival. Tickets range from $20-30 and can be purchased at www.theatreaspen.org.

The Aspen Theatre Festival, launched with the generous support of Barbara and Franklin Carson, originated in 2014 with a workshop presentation of Alice By Heart, by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, the creative team behind Spring Awakening. The National Alliance of Musical Theatre (NAMT), of which Theatre Aspen is a member, awarded a Writer's Residency Grant to Finn the Fearless for this summer's workshop.

The first-ever public reading of The Agent will be held Tuesday, August 25th at 7 pm. The new play, written by Scott Martin, will be directed by Jay Sandrich, the Emmy-winning television and film director, whose work has been seen at Theatre Aspen (Same Time, Next Year, Rounding Third, Chapter Two). Martin says of the play: "What if the key to unlocking your dreams of Hollywood fame is a powerful agent who never returns phone calls and never bothers to learn the names of his assistants? And what if you were one of those nameless assistants with Hollywood dreams of your own? The Agent is a new romantic comedy about the romance and disillusion of trying to break through to fame in Hollywood." The reading stars Allen E. Read (CABARET, Peter & the Starcatcher) and Amanda Paige (CABARET and Junie B. Jones the Musical).

The new musical Finn the Fearless will be presented Friday, August 28th at 7 pm. With a book by Andrew Farmer and music and lyrics by Andrew R. Butler, the musical introduces Finn, a boy with an unusual gift. "Nothing scares him. In fact, he's never felt his heart move in his chest. He sets out [on] a quest that takes him to meet the devil on a plantation surrounded by hellish golf-courses and pristine peanut fields in a land known only as...Florida. Finn the Fearless is an exploration of love, difference, sacrifice and our country's fascination with the admittedly bizarre state of Florida." The presentation will be the culmination of a two-week workshop period, directed by Kent Nicholson.

Finn will feature the writers, Andrew Farmer and Andrew Butler, as well as Alex Thrailkill (as Finn) and Jeanna Phillips. Aspen audiences will also be able to see actors from this season, including Lori Wilner, Mark Campbell and Curran Connor. Local musicians Amy Hawes and David Harding will be part of the on-stage band.

Broadway husband and wife team of Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe (Legally Blonde the Musical, Bat Boy, Heathers, Sarah, Plain and Tall) were recently in residence in Aspen to work on their new show Huzzah! and took part in TAAP on TAP, a showcase featuring this year's Theatre Aspen Apprentices. The apprentice program is a competitive program, accepting only twelve of over 500 applicants to participate in the main stage productions, Aspen Theatre Festival new work development, and with the Theatre Aspen School summer programming.

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