Theatre Aspen Announces Lineup For SOLO FLIGHTS – Inaugural One-Person Show Festival

Theatre Aspen has announced the lineup for the organization's inaugural one-person show festival, Solo Flights, taking off this September, following the 2019 summer season in Aspen, Colorado. Solo Flights is an annual week-long festival of one-person shows presented in the beginning stages of their development. In addition to the performances, Solo Flights will feature signature events including talkbacks, creative discussions, and special receptions. This year's Solo Flights festival will be held September 18 - 21, 2019 at Theatre Aspen's Hurst Theatre.

Productions for the very first festival include Dr. Glas by Edgar Award-nominated playwright Jeffrey Hatcher starring Obie Award and Drama Desk Award winner Daniel Gerroll and directed by two-time Obie winner Lisa Peterson; What We Leave Behind, a new one-woman musical by Frederick Loewe Award winner Jenny Giering and writer of fiction, poetry, and theatre Sean Barry and directed by Connecticut Critics Circle Award winner Tracy Brigden; and When It's You by Courtney Baron (Eat Your Heart Out), directed by Kent Nicholson, Associate Producer of Musical Theater at Playwrights Horizons in New York.

"We are thrilled to have assembled this group of first-rate writers, directors, and actors to join us for our inaugural Solo Flights festival," says Bernstein. "Aspen has long been a creative home to artists of all disciplines. We look forward to introducing this new festival and to welcoming the theatre community at large to beautiful downtown Aspen in September."

Tickets are now on sale. Early Boarding Frequent Flyer Packages, which include one ticket to each show, are priced at $120 and Early Boarding Take Flight Sampler Packages, which include 4 tickets to any combination of shows, are $200. A limited number of $350 Premiere Class Packages, which include premium seating, festival opening and closing parties, and a special piece of Solo Flights inaugural merchandise, are also available. Single tickets go on sale July 15. Tickets can be purchased at the Theatre Aspen Box Office, now open at the Hurst Theatre, by calling 970.300.4474, Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm, or online at www.TheatreAspen.org

Additional casting and creative team information will be announced shortly.

SOLO FLIGHTS FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

FESTIVAL TAKE-OFF PARTY | Wednesday, September 18 @ 5 PM

DR. GLAS | Thursday, September 19 @ 4 PM (followed by a talk-back); Friday, September 20 @ 7 PM (followed by a creative discussion); Saturday, September 21 @ 10 AM

Dr. Glas, a new one-person play by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the classic Scandinavian mystery novel "Doktor Glas" by Hjalmer Söderberg and translated from Swedish by David Barrett, is the chilling, yet witty, love story of a 19th-century physician grappling with the decision of a lifetime. As told in first person account, the Doctor (Daniel Gerroll) finds himself madly in love with an unhappily married patient, who presses to see him regularly about her miserable state-pitting his passion against his morality. Ultimately, Dr. Glas is seduced into helping her in any way he can, even if it means murder.

WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND | Thursday, September 19 @ 7 PM (followed by a talk-back); Friday, September 20 @ 12 PM (followed by a creative discussion); Saturday, September 21 @ 1 PM

What We Leave Behind, with book, music, and lyrics by Jenny Giering and Sean Barry, is a courageous one-woman musical exploring what it means to live a life reshaped by illness. This story in two lives, follows a woman from her diagnosis of breast cancer, through treatment, and the onset of a mysterious new condition that robs her of her ability to function fully as a wife, mother and artist. Her journey is juxtaposed with the time before her struggles began, when life was full of daring and passion-when she and her husband together embarked on a relationship with another woman. The musical, with abundant heart and humor, acknowledges the loss that comes from serious illness, while declaring that one's existence can still be alive with wonder and hope-if we are brave enough to embrace it.

WHEN IT'S YOU | Thursday, September 19 @ 12 PM (followed by a talk-back); Friday, September 20 @ 4 PM (followed by a creative discussion); Saturday, September 21 @ 7 PM

In Courtney Baron's When It's You, Ginnifer Riggan has a fine life, but that's it, just fine. Unlucky in love and recently returned to her hometown after the death of her mother, an act of violence committed by an old boyfriend forces Ginnifer to ask: How are we all connected? Who are we responsible for? and How is it possible to move forward? This extremely personal, deeply moving, and often humorous story, is about the nature of loneliness, who we become in shifting times, and the courage of the human spirit to go on.

FESTIVAL LANDING PARTY | Saturday, September 21 @ 8:30 PM