RAGTIME to Launch Theatre Aspen's 35th Season

Jed Bernstein, Producing Director of Theatre Aspen, announced today that the Tony Award winning musical Ragtime will kick of the 2018 summer production slate. Mark Martino, Carbonell Award winner, will return to Theatre Aspen for his tenth season to direct.

With a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, Ragtimepremiered in Toronto in 1996 and opened on Broadway in 1998. The musical was critically lauded, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score. It featured career making performances by both Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald.

Based on the bestselling novel by E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three distinct groups of Americans in the earliest part of the 20th Century. Their lives intersect in surprising and moving ways.

Bernstein commented, "With a fantastic score, Ragtime reminds us that we all have own stories to tell-no matter where we come from-and that only together, do we represent what the "Great American Experiment" is all about."

All Theatre Aspen productions take place in the Hurst Theatre in Rio Grande Park. Theatre Aspen will announce the rest of its 2018 summer season in the coming weeks. Passes and tickets will be available for purchase early in 2018.

For the past 34 years, Theatre Aspen has been rekindling a sense of discovery in audiences who live in and visit the Roaring Fork Valley by producing big theatre in a small space with intimate storytelling. Tomorrow's theatre artists and enthusiasts grow and learn in our year-round education programs, and we expand the American theatre canon by supporting the creation of new works. The 35th anniversary season promises even more ambitious and excellent theatre right in the heart of Aspen. To learn more about Theatre Aspen or register for school season educational programs, visit www.TheatreAspen.org.