BUYER AND CELLAR Comes to Breckenridge Backstage Theatre

The behind-the-scenes celebrity comedy Buyer and Cellar adds onto the award-winning Breckenridge Backstage Theatre's 2017 Summer Season when it opens with its Champagne Evening this Thursday and plays alternating dates through August 12.

An uproarious evening with a friend who's got a great story to tell, Buyer and Cellar is an elegant, funny, and intimate experience between actor and audience. Winner of the Outer Circle Critics Award for Best Play, the show asks the important question: What's a renowned diva to do with decades of memories that light the corners of her mind? And where to put the acres of memorabilia bursting the seams of her Malibu estate? If you're Barbra Streisand, you enshrine them in a mini-mall in your basement (true story) where you can pretend to go shopping! Out-of-work actor Alex More can't pass up the oddest of odd jobs - an offer to play shopkeeper for one tough customer who doesn't let anyone rain on her parade. Soon it begins to take a toll on his patience, his love life, and his view of people (who need people). Jonathan Tolins's "totally fictional" Off Broadway hit will have you rolling in the aisles and realizing why The New York Times called it "seriously funny - a remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy," and the New York Daily News declared, "This play deserves a hearty 'Hello, gorgeous!'"

Josh Rigo, who is currently featured as Carmen Ghia in BBT's The Producers, gives a tour de force performance as Alex. Imminently likeable, Rigo's Alex is chatty and engaging, able to poke fun at himself and this odd job situation - but also appealingly wide-eyed at an unusual chance to get to know (or so he thinks) one of the most famous, admired, private, and potentially lonely stars on the planet. Rigo returns to BBT after being part of last summer's Hairspray at the Riverwalk Center. He is an award-winning, up-and-coming actor whose work has been seen across the Front Range in shows that range from The Last Five Years to Hair.

The production for Buyer and Cellar is helmed by BBT artistic director Christopher Willard, no stranger to one-person shows, who has directed past BBT productions of Bully, Fully Committed, and The Syringa Tree. Lighting design is by summer production designer Jessica Buttery (The Producers). Willard handles the sound and projection design. Stage management is by Lexi Holtzer (The Witches).

Buyer and Cellar opens July 6 and plays in rep with BBT's other summer shows, closing August 12. There is a special Champagne Opening on July 6 with doors opening at 6:30 PM and performance at 7:30 PM. Special pricing applies. All shows are at the new Breckenridge Theater, located at 121 S. Ridge Street in Breckenridge. Please consult our website for a show calendar of performances during our 2017 Summer Rep Season. Group Discounts are available.

For tickets, call Breckenridge Creative Arts at 970.547.3100, via website at breckcreate.org, or in person at the Riverwalk Center, Breckenridge Welcome Center, or Breckenridge Theater, one hour before showtime.

Buyer and Cellar is sponsored by Stella Artois and produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Please note that this production contains mature language and situations.

For information and to learn more about Breckenridge Backstage Theatre's Summer Season (including The Producers, The Witches, and Billy Elliot), call Kim at 970.485.2164 or visit backstagetheatre.org.