On April 4 — and continuing through April 20 — Sopris Theatre Company (STC) will premier its final 2024-25 season show at Colorado Mountain College’s New Space Theatre at the Spring Valley campus. The show is none other than Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s folk-bluegrass musical, “Bright Star.” STC does a musical every other season, with 2023’s “Frankenstein” being the last one staged by the student-community troupe in collaboration with Dory Light, who is returning as musical director for this production.
Inspired by the true story of the Iron Mountain Baby, which later became a folk tale, this show explores themes of love, loss, autonomy and the countless scenarios that result from choices, whether we make them ourselves or have them made for us. It runs for two hours and twenty minutes with an intermission, and will feature live accompaniment by local musicians.
“I’ve been purposeful in looking at the theme of the choices that we make, or the things that happen in our lives and how we either move through them or come up against them,” explained Brad Moore, STC producing artistic director and the director of this production. “There’s been a thread throughout the season of trying to come to terms with how we make those decisions and with how the decisions of others impact us and vice-versa. This show is certainly within that framework.”
This musical takes place in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1940s and jumps back to scenes from the 1920s. During all this, the audience follows Alice Murphy, portrayed by Paige Ulmer, who recalls and laments significant moments from her life and love with Jimmy Ray Dobbs, portrayed by Joshua Adamson.
Adamson shared the themes that jumped out for him while working on this show: perseverance and following your dreams. He hopes audiences can learn from the choices made by the show’s characters. “I think this musical points to how the past shouldn’t be repeated,” he said. “Instead, you should look to the future, to what or who else you can be, and change with what happens.”
Ulmer stated that audiences are in for a show with good storytelling that is not limited to one genre. She described a throughline in this production, “a woman living in a man’s world,” which falls in line with Adamson’s observations on perseverance.
“[Alice] is constantly battling struggles, not only with what happens to her character but also being a woman in a man’s world. The major thing, however, is that she always picks herself back up and keeps going,” Ulmer said. “It’s fun to play with a variety of emotions. [‘Bright Star’] is not limited to just drama or comedy, and we get to do a little bit of everything on stage. If [audiences] want to see good storytelling, this is the show for that.”
Also appearing in this production is Johnny Berry as Billy Cane, Willie Moseley as Daddy Cane, Courtney Williams as Margo, Scott Elmore as Max and Dr. Norquist, Dayra Palacios as Florence and Government Clerk, Jess Bowler as Edna, Calvin Parrish as Daryl, Alexa Stanley as Lucy, Lisa Langer as Mama Murphy, JD Edmonds as Daddy Murphy, Mike Banks as Mayor Dobbs and Ben Williams as Stanford Adams. All cast members will also be lending their voices collectively to the ensemble, which will be accompanied by live instruments.
In a nutshell
What: “Bright Star”
Where: New Space Theatre, 3000 County Road 114
When: April 4-20, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm
Tickets: www.bit.ly/BrightStarCMC or 970-947-8177