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Salida Theater Project

Quality, sustainable, and inspirational theater for our community.

Quality, sustainable, and inspirational professional theater for our community.

2nd Annual Salida Theater Festival
Sep. 23-Oct. 6

Salida Theater Project is proud to be producing three shows as part of this year's Salida Theater Festival.

The 2024 Salida Theater Festival will include 20 actors/singers, in 7 different shows, at different 5 venues, from 4 production companies, as well as your chance to take one of 6 acting workshops during the first weekend of the Festival. And the classes are free!


Devon Kasper is directing Mountain Octopus, by Beth Kander. A beautiful show that was commissioned by Creede Repertory Theater last year and feels like it could be taking place right here in Salida. This play features veteran STP actors as well as new faces and will be at A Church for seven performances.

STP also brings you a play written by Denver author, Mike Broemmel, called The Wind is Us: The Death that Killed Capote featuring actor Eddie Schumacher. This one man show centers on the life of writer Truman Capote during the time he was writing In Cold Blood. Two performances only also at A Church.

And last by not least, STP actor and director, Allen Lane is thrilled to be directing SongBirds. An old-style evening of cabaret with three beautiful talented singers performing Broadway songs: solos, duets and more! This show will be at TOPO and is first come, first serve. Pay at the door with a one drink minimum.

For showtimes, locations and to purchase tickets for these shows (and four more) please visit: salidatheaterfestival.com

You do not want to miss your chance to be part of this energetic, uplifting and exciting collaboration brought to you by the very best theatrical talent Salida has to offer.

Salida Songbirds

The Salida Songbirds are three childhood friends who grew up, left home and each followed a career on the stage. Every now and then they get together and have a good ole gabfest. As old friends are wont to do, they are not shy about calling each other out. In There’s a Song for That we follow the arc of their lives and loves through songs that capture each moment of surprise, or angst, or hope and how that changed them. And, of course, like all musicals, there’s a happy ending.

Mountain Octopus

“Mountain Octopus” chronicles a few days in Chance – a town very similar to Salida itself and to the mythical Grover’s Corners of Wilder’s OUR TOWN. A town where people live a quiet life, enjoying each other’s company, looking forward to tomorrow with few expectations. A town that accepts the inevitable pains of life as well as the hoped-for joy. A town that takes everyone’s problems seriously, but with a grain of salt. This is a new play written by Beth Kander that was commissioned by Creede Repertory Theater and produced during their 2023 season. Ms. Kander catches the essence of small-town life and gives each player an appropriate answer to their “what do I do now” questions. Thornton Wilder would approve of this script and so will you.

The Wind Is Us

“The Wind Is Us: The Death that Killed Capote” by Mike Broemmel chronicles the life of author Truman Capote from his days researching his iconic “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood until his death in 1984. The play combines pathos and comedy to reveal how and why Capote’s life collapsed because of his most-acclaimed work, resulting in his premature tragic death. Veteran actor Eddie Schumacher plays Truman Capote. “The Wind Is Us” is presented at the Salida Theatre Festival by the Salida Theater Project and is produced by Act One Productions and Theatrix USA.

Salida Songbirds

The Salida Songbirds are three childhood friends who grew up, left home and each followed a career on the stage. Every now and then they get together and have a good ole gabfest. As old friends are wont to do, they are not shy about calling each other out. In There’s a Song for That we follow the arc of their lives and loves through songs that capture each moment of surprise, or angst, or hope and how that changed them. And, of course, like all musicals, there’s a happy ending.

Mountain Octopus

“Mountain Octopus” chronicles a few days in Chance – a town very similar to Salida itself and to the mythical Grover’s Corners of Wilder’s OUR TOWN. A town where people live a quiet life, enjoying each other’s company, looking forward to tomorrow with few expectations. A town that accepts the inevitable pains of life as well as the hoped-for joy. A town that takes everyone’s problems seriously, but with a grain of salt. This is a new play written by Beth Kander that was commissioned by Creede Repertory Theater and produced during their 2023 season. Ms. Kander catches the essence of small-town life and gives each player an appropriate answer to their “what do I do now” questions. Thornton Wilder would approve of this script and so will you.

The Wind Is Us

“The Wind Is Us: The Death that Killed Capote” by Mike Broemmel chronicles the life of author Truman Capote from his days researching his iconic “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood until his death in 1984. The play combines pathos and comedy to reveal how and why Capote’s life collapsed because of his most-acclaimed work, resulting in his premature tragic death. Veteran actor Eddie Schumacher plays Truman Capote. “The Wind Is Us” is presented at the Salida Theatre Festival by the Salida Theater Project and is produced by Act One Productions and Theatrix USA.

Community Theater That Excites Us

SALIDA THEATER PROJECT came about after many conversations over coffee since the summer of 2020.

Brade Bradshaw, a professional actor/director from Chicago, was visiting his parents, who live in South Fork, and something came to mind while strolling through the streets of Salida, “Where is the theater?”  There wasn’t any. But it seemed to Brade this was a perfect town for theater.

That’s when Brade hooked up with Devon, former SHS High School Drama coach and Director of Shakespeare in the Park, and they had their first cup of coffee together at Bunny and Clyde’s.

Since Stage Left Theatre Company dissolving in 2016, then the pandemic, which kept many of us from attending large indoor events, the stars have finally aligned.

Thanks to a kick in the pants & master organizational skills from Founding Board Member Leslie Matthews, the light-hearted infectious energy from professional actor Brade Bradshaw, and the established, trusted skills of Devon Kasper (and a shared vision amongst us), we are excited to present to you Salida’s newest theater company, which we hope will be around a long time.

Salida Theater project is dedicated to the following core values: Community, relevance, accessibility, quality, sustainability, and inclusivity.

We will strive to collaborate with artists based locally and beyond to foster a safe artistic platform for growth, conversation, and innovation. Bringing quality, sustainable, and inspirational professional theatre to our community that celebrates the humanity in us all, through intentionally curated seasons, engaging educational programing, and hand-on community engagement. 

For now, we plan to bring our community theater that excites us and go project to project. We won’t necessarily bring you a play the same time each year, nor will the show be in the same space each time.  

Our long-term goal is to pique the interest of a benefactor out there, or raise the money over time, to have a home and unite community and professional artists alike in a true repertory theater environment.  But until then, we hope you come out to support our projects, whether you audition, volunteer or donate!  

We will see you at the Theater!

Salida Theater Project Sponsors

“Every Brilliant Thing”
Directed by Brade Bradshaw
Starring Kelsey Elyse Rodriquez (from Chicago)
Produced by Salida Theater Project

You're six years old. Mom's in the hospital. Dad says “she’s done something stupid”. She finds it hard to be happy. So you start to make a list of everything that's brilliant about the world. 1. Ice cream. 2. Kung Fu movies. 3. Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV. 4. The color yellow. These are the first four items on a list of every brilliant thing in the world worth living for. Every Brilliant Thing is a life-affirming story of how to achieve hope through focusing on the smallest miracles of life.

"Every Brilliant Thing" and "2 Across" are one act plays (80-90 minutes each) with an intermission in between.

SHOW DATES: July 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30
LOCATION: A Church

Buy TIckets
“2 Across”
By Jerry Mayer
Directed by Allen Lane, Assistant Director Leslie Matthews
Staring Justin Critelli and Devon Jencks (from Salida)
Produced by Salida Theater Project

Two strangers, a man and a woman, board a San Francisco BART train at 4:30am. They're alone in the car, each is married, both are doing the New York Times crossword. She's an organized, sensible psychologist. He's a free-spirited, unemployed ad exec. She is a crossword pro, he always quits. When he tosses the puzzle away, she snaps, "Crosswords are a metaphor for life, those who finish, succeed, those who don't fail." now he vows to finish. Described by critics as "Hilarious", "Witty", "Romantic" and "Wonderfully entertaining".

"Every Brilliant Thing" and "2 Across" are one act plays (80-90 minutes each) with an intermission in between.

SHOW DATES: July 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30
LOCATION: A Church

Buy TIckets
“A Destination of My Own”
By Mike Broemmel
Directed by Mike Broemmel
Staring Denver actor TGKAFG
Produced by TINTS

Colorado TINTS is proud to present "A Destination of My Own, the story of Richard Durham." A one man show about the life of an African American radio journalist who, in the 1940s, broke through the racial barriers of the "lily white industry of radio." Richard Durham was the creator and writer of Destination Freedom, a weekly radio drama that aired for two years in the 1940s. The radio serial dramatized the lives of important Black American historical figures and is described as “nothing ever before heard on radio.” The radio program strove to defeat commonplace stereotypes routinely attached to Black Americans. Richard Durham’s work has been described as an important precursor to the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements.

SHOW DATES: July 21, 22
LOCATION: Box of Bubbles

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“I'm Harvey Milk”
By Mike Broemmel
Directed by Greg West
Starring Ben Beasely
Produced by TINTS

"I'm Harvey Milk" tells the story of the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. Called "the most famous and most significant openly LGBT official ever elected in the United States,” Harvey Milk was described as a “visionary (who) imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Milk battled against anti-gay initiatives and was elected San Francisco city supervisor in 1977, sponsoring bills banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

SHOW DATES: July 20, 27, 28
LOCATION: Box of Bubbles

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“Into the Woods”
By James Lapine
Music by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Kyria Stange
Vocal Director Jordan Gonzalez
Produced by Sventastik Productions

Join Sventastik Productions for the incredible production of “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim! Follow some beloved fairytale characters through the woods and discover that sometimes wishes are not all that they appear to be. Directed by Kyria Stange and Vocal Director Jordan Gonzalez, this all adult cast production promises to be Sventastik’s best show yet!

SHOW DATES: July 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23
LOCATION: The SteamPlant Theater and Event Center

Buy TIckets
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