{"id":2450007,"date":"2019-10-17T17:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/going-up-hope-and-gravity-takes-a-look-at-life-in-an-elevator\/"},"modified":"2019-10-17T17:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:28:00","slug":"going-up-hope-and-gravity-takes-a-look-at-life-in-an-elevator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/going-up-hope-and-gravity-takes-a-look-at-life-in-an-elevator\/","title":{"rendered":"Going up? \u2018Hope and Gravity\u2019 takes a look at life in an elevator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
From left, Michael Banks, Bostyn Elswick, Christina Cappelli and James Steindler in a scene from \u201cHope and Gravity,\u201d Sopris Theatre Company\u2019s first production of the season, which opens Oct. 18 at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley. Most of the actors play multiple roles in this comic drama centered around an elevator dislodging and crashing inside a big-city building.<\/strong>
Scot Gerdes<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A dislodged elevator falling multiple stories turns out to be a ripe setting for studying human relationships. That\u2019s what playwright Michael Hollinger discovered when he wrote \u201cHope and Gravity,\u201d the comedic drama that opens Sopris Theatre Company\u2019s season Friday at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare for a theater company to produce a play that it has closely followed since its inception. However, that\u2019s what happened with \u201cHope and Gravity.\u201d In 2012, Hollinger came to Aspen with his new play, which was performed as a staged reading during the Aspen Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke with Michael at that point about my interest in the show,\u201d said director Brad Moore, Sopris Theatre Company\u2019s theater operations manager in a statement. \u201cWe stayed in contact and he let me know when the piece would actually be published. Gary (Ketzenbarger, Sopris Theatre Company\u2019s program director) read the script and thought it would play well in this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sopris Theatre Company, being one of the first companies to produce the play is gratifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe play was just published,\u201d Moore said. \u201cIt has had many workshop productions and readings in development, but is now in its final form. It\u2019s exciting to present newer works. Michael is a terrific playwright and an important voice in the American theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students and community members<\/p>\n

The cast of \u201cHope and Gravity\u201d is comprised of both Colorado Mountain College students and Roaring Fork Valley actors.<\/p>\n

Five cast members play nine roles, doubling up per the playwright\u2019s instructions as they weave in and out of one another\u2019s lives. Three of the cast members are CMC students and two are community members, one of whom is a CMC graduate. All of the stage crew are CMC students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe setting is in a contemporary urban environment,\u201d Moore said in a statement. \u201cWe felt this script offered a diverse and wonderful collection of characters for our students and community members to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore said the play is composed of nine scenes, which originally were a series of short plays. As a play they\u2019re tied together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe additional challenge is that the scenes are out of order,\u201d he said. \u201cThe show opens with scene six and closes with scene three. That is very much in keeping with the themes in the play. The idea that there is a random nature to how our lives play out. We can make plans and set goals. Sometimes life doesn\u2019t follow a predictable path.\u201d<\/p>\n

First in the season<\/p>\n

\u201cHope and Gravity\u201d opens Sopris Theatre Company at Colorado Mountain College\u2019s 2019-20 season; three more productions will follow. \u201cThe Veil,\u201d written by Conor McPherson and directed by G. Thomas Cochran, runs Nov. 30 to Dec. 8. \u201cAmerican La Ronde\u201d by written Steven Dietz and directed by Gary Ketzenbarger runs Feb. 14 to 23, and \u201cKiss Me, Kate\u201d with book by Sam and Bella Spewack, music by Cole Porter and directed by Brad Moore runs April 3 to 19. Tickets are available at Eventbrite.com and more information is at coloradmtn.edu\/theatre.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From left, Michael Banks, Bostyn Elswick, Christina Cappelli and James Steindler in a scene from \u201cHope and Gravity,\u201d Sopris Theatre Company\u2019s first production of the season, which opens Oct. 18 at Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley. Most of the actors play multiple roles in this comic drama centered around an elevator dislodging and crashing inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2450007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 13:30:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}