Theatre Aspen Education students take to the stage this weekend

Drama comes to the valley this weekend, with students performing in Basalt and Aspen Thursday through Sunday in renditions of two broadway musicals.

Seventh through 12th graders will perform “Anastasia,” at the Aspen District Theater, 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Second through seventh graders will perform “Encanto,” at the Basalt Middle School Auditorium 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

“Anastasia” Director Vanessa Strahan said the two musicals carry similar themes. 

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“Funnily enough, similar to ‘Encanto’ the tagline of this show,” Strahan said, referring to Anastasia, “… is home, love, family, and the search for that.”

“Anastasia” is presented by Theatre Aspen, an Aspen organization approaching its 40th year in show production.

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Aspen High School senior Clare Williams, who plays the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in “Anastasia,” said the musical is thematically heavier than other musicals she’s performed with Theatre Aspen. 

The musical follows a young Russian woman, Anya, as she searches for clues about her royal past, and her connection with the disappeared grand duchess, Anastasia, who is presumed dead along with the rest of the royal Romanov family. 

Anya unites with Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the grandmother of the disappeared grand duchess, and discovers unexpected truths about her past. 

“I’m excited for people to see it,” Williams said. “An audience is always the most exciting part about theater for me, because it’s what we work towards … it’s to give messages to people and communicate experience and feeling.”

Strahan said with “Anastasia” they will have produced a show during the fall around this time for at least a decade.

“This is sort of a hallmark in the year that actors look forward to,” Strahan said. 

Set in the mountains of Colombia, “Encanto” follows the protagonist, Mirabel, a member of the Madrigal family, members of which have their own magical powers. When Mirabel came of age to receive her powers, she never did. Mirabel, however, becomes the Madrigal’s final hope as their powers fall under threat. 

Alicia Millerson, creative team member of Curtain Up, which produced “Encanto” and is a Theatre Aspen Education program, said one of the goals of Curtain Up is to spread the quality of theater across the valley, as they identified a lack of theater opportunities for elementary and middle school students outside of Aspen.

“(Our goal) is to bring our caliber of programming that we have in Aspen and bring it down valley to Basalt and Rifle and Parachute,” Millerson said. 

They remove the financial barrier for theater students, making it free to participate, apart from a $35 supply fee. 

A bilingual production, “Encanto” helps foster language learning for both English and Spanish speakers, Millerson said. 

“It provides a learning opportunity for students who speak predominantly English,” Millerson said. “But it also celebrates our very vibrant Latinx community downvalley.”

Basalt eighth grade student Isabel Malik, who plays Luisa, “the strong one” in “Encanto,” said she’s developed new skills while rehearsing for the musical. 

“I feel as if I’ve grown in my acting, singing and dancing,” Malik said. “I definitely think I’ve grown in my Spanish learning.”

Aspen High School junior Eleanor Carroll, who plays Anya in “Anastasia,” said theater gives kids confidence. 

“It’s a way to learn and grow. It helps a lot with social skills and public speaking,” Carroll said. “But it also just gives you the chance to go out on stage and learn something new about yourself.”

Millerson added that the lessons students learn by participating in the musicals will go beyond the theater. 

“Theater gives you the skills to succeed in life,” Millerson said. “Even if a student of ours never does theater ever again, they worked in a team towards a huge, ambitious goal to do theater.”

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.