The Rehydration of Edith Pilaf |
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| Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series | ||
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Anton Dudley |
Charlie Sohne |
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| Anton Dudley | ||
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| Sponsored by The Colorado Health Foundation | ||
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Presented by Juniper Circle Productions |
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The Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series is a cultural event in Paonia, Colorado, produced by Juniper Circle Productions in honor of the late Alan Espinoza – an extraordinary performer, educator, and advocate for the arts. Launching October 2025, during Mexican American Heritage Month, this series will commission solo plays, dance works, multimedia storytelling, and musical performances by underrepresented artists, with a focus on Latiné, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and working-class voices. The series culminates in a community Día de los Muertos altar and celebration (in collaboration with The Learning Council and North Fork Valley Creative Coalition), honoring ancestors and those we've lost, including Alan himself.
The Alan Espinoza Series is more than a collection of performances – it is a platform for healing, connection, resilience, and cultural affirmation. In a rural region where access to the arts is limited and cultural diversity is often marginalized, this event creates space for stories that are too often silenced.
These solo performances will remain accessible to all – offered by suggested donation, at no cost to the community – with 10% of all proceeds benefiting the DC Cares Scholarship Fund.
2025 Featured Solo Artists: Tanya Blacklight, Rose Costello, Anton Dudley, and Diane Sylvain
Who's Who
Cast
Creative Team
Charlie Sohne
Keith Dale Gordon
Faye Chiao
Daniel Be
Bodhi Gilroy
Juniper Circle Productions
The Learning Council
Delta County Coalition Advocating for Radically Equitable Spaces (DC CARES)
Meet the Company
Anton Dudley
Anton Dudley is a New York City-based Playwright, Librettist of Musical Theatre and Opera, and Performer. His Off-Broadway premieres include: Baba Yaga & the Firebird [music by Faye Chiao] (New Victory Theater); City Of and Substitution (Playwrights Realm); Getting Home (Second Stage Theater; published by Vintage); Slag Heap (Cherry Lane Theater; published by Playscripts); Honor and the River (Theater Row; published by Playscripts); Davy & Stu (Ensemble Studio Theater); 17 Orchard Point [co-written with Stephanie DiMaggio] (Theater Row); Letters to the End of the World (Theater Row; Finalist for Lambda Literary Award in LGBT Drama; published by Playscripts). Other credits include: Katie: The Strongest of the Strong [music by Faye Chiao] (Houston Grand Opera; Opera Saratoga; Lyric Opera Chicago); Girlstar (Signature Theater); A Dram of Drummhicit [co-written with Arthur Kopit] (LaJolla Playhouse; published by Samuel French); Cold Hard Cash (Williamstown Theater Festival); The Secret Code of Mary Bowser [music by Faye Chiao] (Houston Grand Opera; Pittsburgh Festival Opera); Marguerite [music by Michael Cooper] (Astoria Performing Arts Center; original cast recording released on Broadway Records); Banding Together [music by Faye Chiao] (Boston Chamber Symphony); Honor and the River (Walnut Street Theater); The Duchess Carpathia Bouffray: Coochie Coochie Coup D’Etat (The Brick). Anton has had commissions from Manhattan Theater Club, Williamstown Theater Festival, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Cherry Lane Theater, Houston Grand Opera, Prospect Theater Company, Musical Stage Company. His work is published by Concord Theatricals, Playscripts, Heinemann Press, Smith & Kraus, Backstage Books, Heuer Publishing, Meriwether Publishing, and Vintage. The award-winning film of Davy & Stu, directed by Soman Chainani, was released by Strand Releasing (U.S.A.) and Salzgeber (Europe).
Charlie Sohne
Charlie Sohne is a screenwriter, theater writer, journalist and podcaster. He has received the Jonathan Larson, Ed Kleban, ASCAP Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart, and San Diego Outer Critics Circle awards -- and his Off-Broadway musical was a TimeOut NY Critics' Pick. His song cycle was commissioned and premiered by the Oakland Symphony Orchestra -- and excerpted and performed by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Charlie has developed work at The O'Neill, Goodspeed's Writer's Grove, The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, NAMT, NYSAF, The Dramatists Guild Fellowship, Yale's Institute for Music Theatre, The Civilians' R&D group and The Lark. He has sold scripts to Netflix and Freeform, and has written about the intersection of music and politics in long-form pieces for Politico Magazine. Charlie has written songs for Grammy-winner India.Arie, and Grammy and Tony Award-winner Billy Porter-- and was the host of the Signal, Davey and w3 Award-winning Eurovision podcast Mysteries of the EuroVerse, which was featured on the Peabody Award-winning On The Media.
Keith Dale Gordon
Keith Dale Gordon is a composer, lyricist, and writer whose musical Saint Heaven (book by Martin Casella) was produced at Stamford Center for the Performing Arts (CT) and Village Theatre (WA), receiving the NYMF Director’s Choice Award and TRU Festival Best of Festival. His credits include The Wedding Night (lyrics; book by Jana Hejduková, music by Stephen Coleman, Pick of the Fringe, Hollywood Fringe), Sadako & Floyd (book, music & lyrics; Johnny Mercer Colony at Goodspeed Opera House), Girl Powers (music & lyrics; book by Michele Aldin Kushner; Santa Fe Musical Theatre Festival, Dixon Place Festival NYC;), and The Shadow Sparrow (music; book by Anton Dudley, lyrics by Charlie Sohne; O’Neill National Musical Theater Conference, Momentum Festival at City Theatre). He is developing Mary Modern with Martin Casella. His songs, jingles, and choral works have been widely performed. www.keithgordonmusic.com
Faye Chiao
Faye Chiao is composer and performer of musical theater, opera, concert music, and film. Chiao has been honored with The Presser Music Award from The Presser Foundation, the Libby Larsen Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music, and grants from The Puffin Foundation and OPERA America. Recent Performances Include: Matter of Moments (book and lyrics by Anton Dudley) [Kenyon College]; The Secret Code of Mary Bowser (book and lyrics by Anton Dudley) [Pittsburgh Festival Opera, PA]; Banding Together (book and lyrics by Anton Dudely) [Boston Chamber Symphony, MA]; Rhyme & Punishment (book and lyrics by Anton Dudley) [Playwrights Realm, NY and American Dream Theater, VA]; The Clinic (book & lyrics by Anton Dudley) [Prospect Theater, NY]; Dotty, a ten-minute musical, (book and lyrics by Mark Chmiel) [BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop]; To See the Stars, a multi-media song cycle celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Hubble Space Telescope [The National Air & Space Museum, DC, and The Maryland Science Center, MD]. Chiao has been an artist in residence with New Victory Theater Labworks Artist, the Boston Chamber Symphony and St. David’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore. With playwright Tasha Gordon-Solmon, Chiao is currently working on FOUNTAIN OF YOU a darkly comedic feminist chamber musical and THE LONELY DOLL, based on the real-life of photographer Dare Wright. With playwright Anton Dudley, Chiao recently completed a family opera, KATIE: THE STRONGEST OF THE STRONG, for Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go! as well as an original family musical, BABA YAGA AND THE FIREBIRD, and a chamber opera, ISLAND OF THE MOON. Chiao is a proud member of Maestra, a member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, participated in BMI’s Composing for the Screen Film Scoring Mentorship Program, and holds degrees from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.
Daniel Be
Daniel Be is a musician and audio engineer who has been living in the North Fork for 25 years. He is very grateful to be involved in many creative projects over the years.
Bodhi Gilroy
Bodhi is a freelance cinematographer & photographer based in Paonia Colorado. His films have been featured in the film festivals across the west and internationally, including, Paonia Film Festival, Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Colorado High School Film Festival, & an award winning film at Shakespeare Shorts in the UK.
Juniper Circle Productions
Juniper Circle Productions facilitates the arts by exposing rural culture and communities to urban artists, and rural artists to urban culture and communities, providing an educational, circular forum by which artists can present their productions and receive creative feedback.
The Learning Council
Enriching community through education, art, advocacy, food, agriculture and wellness for all.
Delta County Coalition Advocating for Radically Equitable Spaces (DC CARES)
Our coalition seeks to take direct action within our County to create equity and make safe spaces for historically excluded and marginalized communities.
As part of our initiative to bring equity, justice and equality to Delta County, DC CARES offers scholarships for high school seniors in Delta County Identifying as Black, Indigenous, Latiné, AAPI, or other person of color, or as member of the LGBTQIA+ community looking to pursue post-high school education or training (technical school, community college, 4 year college, culinary school, apprenticeship).
Photos
Alan Espinoza, photo credit: Kayla Von der Heide
The Colorado Health Foundation
Articles
THE REHYDRATION OF EDITH PILAF is Coming to Juniper Circle Productions
Juniper Circle Productions will present The Rehydration of Edith Pilaf on Saturday, October 25th, 7pm, at The Learning Council - The Hearth, Paonia, Colorado.
To find the mother he never knew, a man retraces his starstruck mother's exhilarating journey across Europe, with only her music as his guide. The Rehydration of Edith Pilaf is a funny yet heart-wrenching one-person musical that uses the cabaret stage to move through memory, fantasy, and reality. It is a show about the power of invention, showing that, in order to move forward, one must settle the past.
The play is written and performed by Anton Dudley, with music and lyrics by Keith Gordon + Charlie Sohne.
A staged reading of a new work in progress, presented on the gift model, suggested $15 donation. 10% of all donations support DC Cares Scholarship Fund
Juniper Circle Productions Receives Colorado Health Foundation Grant for Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series
Juniper Circle Productions has received a $2,000 sponsorship from The Colorado Health Foundation to support the Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series, a fall 2025 initiative focused on amplifying underrepresented voices through solo performance. The series will take place October 3–19, 2025, in Paonia and Hotchkiss, Colorado, and will honor the legacy of artist and advocate Alan Espinoza through bold, original storytelling.
The Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series will feature a lineup of theater, dance, and multimedia solo works created and performed by artists from historically marginalized communities, including artists of color, LGBTQ+ creators, and emerging voices from the North Fork Valley and beyond. Programming includes community workshops, artist talkbacks, and pop-up collaborations, all offered by suggested donation to ensure accessibility. Ten percent of proceeds will benefit the DC Cares Scholarship Fund.
"Juniper Circle is incredibly honored to receive this funding in support of the Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series, which is one of the most urgent and emotionally resonant programs of our season," said Michael Cooper, Executive Artistic Director of Juniper Circle Productions. "Alan's legacy reminds us of the importance of bold, unflinching expression – and this support helps us uplift artists who are too often left out of the cultural conversation."
The Colorado Health Foundation sponsorship will help fund artist honorariums and production expenses, strengthening Juniper Circle’s mission to bridge rural and urban creative communities through immersive, interdisciplinary performance. “At a time when cultural division and censorship threaten artistic freedom, programs like this are vital for building empathy, equity, and healing,” Cooper added. “We believe that sharing personal stories onstage is one of the most powerful ways to cultivate connection and social change.”
For more information, visit www.junipercircleproductions.org.
Donors
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JUNIPER SUPPORTERS Jess Dervin-Ackerman Tony Ball Barbara Balock Lizette Cruz-Barrera Bronwen Barry Julie Bennett Elaine & Jim Brett Dev Bondarin Thesa Callinicos Felice Capin David & Liane Cooper Lindsay Cusak Christy Zarley Eller Debbie Fechter Roberta Greene Howard Grier Tanya Henderson Asa Hoffman Stacey Hopner & Brian Callahan Read Hunker Betsy Johnson Kurt Johnson Michelle Kafel-Citron Elisa Kang Patti Keach Hyeyoung Kim Carol Littell Emily Little Gabrielle Louise Mirise LuBell Lucille Lucas Gallery Kit Masaracchia Darin May Stephen Maples Lynn Mattingly Alex Mikaloff Brian Miller Megan Miller Elizabeth Joy Mueller James & Rebecca Norris-Weyers Melissa Orion Amy Porter Margaret Rathmann Dawn and Karen Reeder Cara Reichel Robin Reindle Eileen Retzloff Karen Rodriguez Shannon Shipitalo Sarah Shpall Jesse Smith Lindsay Stuart Merrily Talbott Ric Teller Janice Thorup Betsy Topper Jake Torrens Lauren Tucker Bonnie Uger Mia Upton Elena Walsh Rachel Wagoner Jon Wick Daniel Ziskin |
THE JUNIPER CIRCLE Annonymous Alpine Bank The Colorado Health Foundation Bette Cooper Diana Cruz-Toro The Goode Family Calla Rose Ostrander Emily Sinclair Bruce Shelton Danielle Vacanti
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Special Thanks:
Alpine Bank
Stu Carlson, The High Country Shopper
The Blue Sage Center for the Arts
The Learning Council
Sally Kane
KVNF
Merrily Talbott, Paonia Players
Erin Jameson & Art Wisehart
Juniper Circle Board of Directors
Michael Cooper, Executive Artistic Director
Dino Hainline, President
Lizette Cruz Barrera, Secretary
Asa Hoffman, Treasurer
Tonight's presentation is dedicated in loving memory of Jeffrey Holmes-Hunter
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