SoL Theatre Company is preparing to showcase a slew of summer productions. The youth theater nonprofit, which hosts multiple camps and other programming throughout the year, will produce Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “Cabaret” and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “The Sound of Music,” all of which involve themes of resistance in the face of oppression, societal unrest, freedom and the condition of the human spirit when faced with threats to life and human rights.
According to Jennifer Austin Hughes, executive director of SoL, these production choices were made at the end of the 2024 summer stock season. Though all the shows have very charged themes surrounding political topics — with “Assassins” telling the stories of six infamous assassins and the motivations behind their actions, and “Cabaret,” and “The Sound of Music” playing out the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany — the productions were already on the company’s radar well before the current political climate.
“We’re really excited about everything we’ve selected,” affirmed Hughes, “but it ended up feeling like we were choosing these pieces in response to the political climate. It’s not beneficial or bad, it’s just what happened.”
“Cabaret,” she said, has been a dream show to direct for SoL’s summer artistic director, Luke Ryan, who will be choreographing in addition to directing. “The Sound of Music” has been a highly requested show from past and current participants which also brings together adult and youth performers.
“[It’s] a show that my kids and even some of my adults have been asking to do for years,” Hughes explained. “We’re not displeased with the fact that we’ve got a summer that is responding a little bit to the temperature of things right now, which is something I believe theater has a responsibility to do.”
Hughes maintains that theaters have a responsibility not only to storytelling but to use storytelling as a vehicle to shine light on current issues, enlightening new perspectives and delivering those messages in a safe environment.
“I don’t think it is only the responsibility of a theater company, and I don’t think it’s a theater company’s only responsibility, but I do think in the world that we’re living in currently, it is the responsibility of theater to educate, to enlighten and to show maybe a perspective that you hadn’t thought of before,” Hughes continued. “Also, to humanize issues that have been dehumanized in the public eye. Maybe giving an opportunity for someone in a dark theater to hear an opinion that is different than theirs, and safely absorb that information.”
Each of these productions has had separate runs in different theaters in the Roaring Fork Valley. Discussing what SoL intends to do to make their renditions of these classics stand out, Hughes said it is by bringing a sense of community to the stage and inviting audiences to share in that.
“The sense of community that ends up happening within our casts is so integral to what we do,” she said. “I think the thing that I am most proud about is that we still primarily cast our entire summer from local actors, which is our goal. This includes local former students who have gone away and are now working in this industry.”
One of these local talents is Maura Fawley, who now lives in Chicago and recently wrapped up filming for Northrup Studio’s “Aspen Christmas Conspiracy.” She will join the cast of “Cabaret” as the leading lady, Sally Bowles.
Hughes looks forward to challenging and empowering her casts and students with these shows and continuing the work of SoL’s junior programs. The elementary performance, costume and tech camps for “Peter Pan Jr.” take place June 9-27 and are all already sold out, but slots are still available for the middle/high school camps for “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” taking place July 14 to Aug. 3.
“Those who come out to audition are doing it because they want to make a difference, and if being in a show, even with a small part, and performing is how they can do that, then that’s the peak,” Hughes shared.
For show dates, to donate or to get involved, visit www.soltheatrecompany.org