Redstone Inn debuts local’s novel, ‘The Middle World,’ performed by Marble Charter School students
“The Middle World” musical will premiere with its first-ever public reading of the novel written by Nikki Beinstein of Carbondale this weekend.
“A major goal for this reading is for it to become a full production one day at a professional theater,” she said. Call this an early step along the path.
The setting of the play is the actual Redstone, as in this one in Colorado.
Chelsea Self / Glenwood Springs Post Independent
When a young girl living in Redstone accepts that she can interact with spirits through her new friendship with a neighbor boy, they summon a ghost that helps them unravel the mystery behind Redstone’s most iconic female, Lady Bountiful.
A blend of historical fiction and magic realism, “The Middle World” is a local and universal story of the transformative and healing powers of love.
“All the stars seemed to align perfectly for my novel ‘The Middle World: Book One’ (published in 2016) to transform into a play. I absolutely love the collaborative process, and this project allowed for it to unfold organically.” Beinstein said. “Oriana Moebius of 13 Moons Ranch and the Redstone General Store graciously commissioned her friend Alexandria Basso to write the script during the fall of 2022.”
Basso and Beinstein connected immediately, and combined with Basso’s in-depth experience of reading scripts for a Hollywood production company, she was the ideal fit to reimagine the story for the stage, Beinstein said.
Nikki Beinstein/Courtesy photo
“Bringing The Middle World to the stage has been such an inspired and humbling collaboration of so many devoted, creative female minds,” Basso said. “I can’t wait to see the final product come to life in the community and backdrop that inspired it.”
“Another wonderful coincidence was meeting Jessa Young, who has lived intermittently in the Crystal Valley for over 20 years, but whom I only met this past summer,” Beinstein said.
Young wrote the songs for the production.
“When I read Beinstein’s novel, ‘The Middle World’, I found it to be a riveting read,” she said. “The story delves into local history, through the experiences of two middle-aged kids who are driven to solve the mysteries that surround the Redstone Castle.”
“For a long time, people have sensed spirits at the Redstone Castle,” she added.
Her family included. Twenty years prior, her parents, also musicians, were visiting her in the Crystal Valley and booked a room at the Redstone Castle.
“We were practicing for an upcoming show at Steve’s Guitars in the lobby of the castle, and I remember Dad, who plays the upright bass, stopped uncharacteristically in the middle of a song and exclaimed, ‘Boy, it sure feels spooky in here,'” she said. “While writing the songs for the Middle World musical/reader’s theatre, I definitely felt a spirit, a muse, or something beyond myself channeling the melodies for the songs, which came to me effortlessly and seemed to write themselves.”
Sxith-grader Ellamae Siemon said she was excited about the story.
“The reason I like the play is because I relate to my character, Rose,” she said. “It’s also an entertaining story and a fun way to learn about the history of Redstone.”
The show is Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Redstone Inn. Tickets can be purchased for $20/person: eventbrite.com/e/the-middle-world-musical-a-staged-reading-tickets-58405369933
