UPDATE: Alas! Sopris Theatre Company’s production of Frankenstein will premier on April 14 instead of April 7 due to COVID.
Sopris Theatre Company, a community theater operated through Colorado Mountain College (CMC), will bring to life an original musical based on the life of Mary Shelley and her famous tale of fiction. “Frankenstein: The Monster/The Man?” premieres on April 14 and continues through April 23 at the Spring Valley campus’ New Space Theatre. This will be Sopris Theatre Company’s first musical production since 2018.
The show was created by Carol Weiss in 1993 and was performed for the first time by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera’s teen program where director Brad Moore, now theatre operations manager at CMC, was teaching the young thespians. It was then performed as a staged reading with Moore, Weiss, and Scott Harlan at Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House in 1995. Weiss will attend this latest premier, which Moore said is something to look forward to.
The performance will feature an operatic soundtrack, directed musically by Dori Light, and will follow a band of characters digging into themes of human nature, grief, prejudice, isolation and despair, all from the perspectives of Mary and Percy Shelley, Dr. Polidori, Mary’s sister Claire, and other titular characters from the classic novel. It will also be “visually interesting,” said Moore, with works by Tom Ward, who has taken on student Alexis Rehorst as a protege to help design the minimalist set.
The ensemble includes veteran talents from the Valley as well as theater newcomers. The Sopris Sun’s very own Hattie Rensberry will play Mary Shelley/Elizabeth Lavenza, Travis Wilson portrays Percy Shelley/Victor Frankenstein, Gerald DeLisser is The Monster, Mitch Kucera is Dr. Polidori/Henry Clerval and Morgan Walsh plays The Blind Woman. The remaining cast includes Michael Banks, Jess Bowler, Courtney Lindgren, Jay Edmonds, Bostyn Elswick, Lindsey Hamilton, Lydia Mitchell, Ashley Sprenger, Christopher Wheatley, Pax Wild, and Ben Williams.
Moore and cast members sat down to discuss what they are most excited about for this production and why its messages are prevalent to human nature and society. Moore stated that working with the cast and the crew has been “beneficial, energetic and giving” as they bring this show to life.
“There is a certain sense of awe of working on a new piece,” he said. “Several people that are in the show have done musicals in high school or have done musicals with a community theater or whatever, but they have done things that they know, the music, the storyline, they know the characters and now they’re having to start from ground zero.”
The cast had much to say about building a new story from the ground up, all statements seeping with nervous excitement. Kucera revealed that this is his first time doing theater as an adult. He said that it is exciting to see how a production like this differs from what he experienced in high school.
“It’s less silly than the things I have seen done, and I appreciate that,” he said. “It’s a whole new experience. The worst case is you come away from it saying, ‘I don’t want to do that again.’ But so far, it has been nice. I’ve been able to meet several nice and talented people and learn something new from them with each rehearsal.”
The rest of the cast shared the sentiment of hoping that audiences resonate with the themes of companionship, community, acceptance and recognizing and unlearning prejudices. Elswick told us, “Everybody is just on it, developing their characters and actively making such strong choices. It’s just really coming alive.”
Walsh chimed in, “The obvious thing about prejudice is about how you look, whether in regards to color, disability, clothing style or whatever you can think of. That is all exterior stuff, and what matters is what’s going on inside.”
DeLisser stated, “I think there are a lot of people right now who feel, even if they aren’t monsters, rejected by society, like outcasts. There haven’t been a lot of adaptations I’ve seen where my character is an intelligent being, which is how he’s portrayed in the original. Hopefully, people can see themselves a little bit in there.”
Rensberry shared that sentiment, stating, “Whatever is bothering you, whatever you want, you’ll find that in these characters. It won’t solve your problems, but you’ll find companionship in them. Which is what art is about and what theater is for. We like reflections of ourselves and reflections of the people we love and respect.”
Wilson piggybacked on that statement, saying that folks should see the show if they want “a good examination and explanation of the human mind and how we can be so loving, selfless and resilient” while, at the same time, “so shallow, cavalier and cruel.”
Tickets for “Frankenstein: The Man/The Monster?” and updates about upcoming productions can be found at www.coloradomtn.edu or calling the box office at 970-947-8177.