“One never understands airness. One achieves airness.”
Bas Bleu Theatre Company of Fort Collins is excited to announce the second mainstage production of its 32nd season, the bouncing-off-the-walls rock and roll comedy, “AIRNESS,” by Chelsea Marcantel, one of the most popular and widely produced plays this season in the U.S.
When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds committed to becoming the next champion, she discovers that there’s more to this art form than playing pretend; it’s about finding yourself in your favorite songs and performing with raw joy.
Following her mission to shred or be shredded, “AIRNESS” is an exuberant reminder that everything we need to rock is already inside us—a comedy about competition, completion and finding the “airness” inside yourself.
Representing the pillars of air guitar are Jordan Hull as Golden Thunder, Austin Jackson as the aptly named Shreddy Eddie and Dan Muth as the grand master of feeling, Facebender.
Also featured are Elisabeth Sells as The Nina and Miles Horne as Vicious D, both recently seen to hilarious effect in “The School for Lies,” Trisha Gillin as Cannibal Queen, mistress of charisma and technical ability and Heath Howes as The Hooded Figure.
The production is directed by Cheyenne’s Nathaniel Quinn, fresh off his work on “Hello, Dolly!” at Cheyenne Little Theatre Players, working with Colorado State University’s inventive costume designer, Zhanna Gurvich. Continuing the CSU production team involvement are lighting designer Meredith Hendrix and props designer Rachel Ross.
Award-winning set designer Casey Kearns created the ultimate dive bar onstage at Bas Bleu, and Kyle Harper dialed up a glorious mix of melt-your-face sound design. Join Bas Bleu this holiday season for what the Washington DCist called, “the best possible combination of a rock concert, comedy show and theater performance.”
AIRNESS will be presented Nov. 29-Dec. 22 at Bas Bleu Theatre, 401 Pine St. in Fort Collins. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2:30 p.m. for the Sunday matinees.
The lobby opens half an hour before curtain. Concessions, nonalcoholic beverages, beer and wine are available for purchase to enjoy beforehand or during the performance. ID is required for alcohol purchases.
Tickets: $30 per adult, $25 per senior, $8 per student, $6 per low income individual (contact the box office for details about this rate). There will be a pay-what-you-will/preview performance on Nov. 29. Tickets can be purchased at basbleu.org, or by calling the box office at 970.498.8949.