Current Productions

Parallel Lives "Peggy Mundinger and Wendy Perkins have gotten in the habit, at less than a moment's notice, of slipping into character, affecting accents and hand gestures, and uttering bits of non-sequitur dialogue: "Shells and sauce." "Yew look ver' ver' purty t'night." "Just thiiink about it." Actors are known, of course, for taking their roles offstage with them. But the case of locals Mundinger and Perkins is an extreme one. Since May, the two have been preparing to star in "Parallel Lives," a two-woman play whose 11 comedic sketches involve 27 characters. So when a thought or a conversation sparks one of them to leap into character, it is not just one persona that is taken on. It can be the 60ish Jewish New York widow Madeleine - Mad, for short. Or a New Jersey teen crying as she sees how "West Side Story" relates to her own life. Or it could be Hank, who has a rendezvous with Karen Sue at the same cowboy bar night after night after night. "Parallel Lives" was spun out of "The Kathy and Mo Show," Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney's off-Broadway hit that ran for six years beginning in the mid-'80s. The original stage play also became the televised HBO production "Kathy and Mo: Parallel Lives," which aired in 1991. "The theme, as we've decided, is you can do anything you want to do," said Mundinger. "As long as you're willing to get up and do it." For Mundinger and Perkins, the joy has come as much in collaborating as in stretching their acting limits. Like Mundinger, Perkins has done plenty of acting: Crystal Palace, Aspen Community Theatre. But lately they have found themselves making and putting up posters, arranging rehearsal schedules, and enlisting local talent like set designer Tom Ward, sound designer Gordon Wilder and lighting designer Loren Wilder to help them with the production. "I always appreciated the people who did sets and lights," said Mundinger. "But now I really know - without all that stuff, it's just acting class."" (Stewart Oksenhorn August 20, 2005 Aspen Times Weekly) (Click on a thumbnail to view the full picture)

Past Productions

THE ELEPHANT MAN – June 1984, Wheeler Opera House YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN – Summer 1984, Sunlight Dinner Theatre THE FANTASTICKS – Summer 1984, Sunlight Dinner Theatre INDIANS – September 1984, Wheeler Opera House A CHRISTMAS CAROL; SCROOGE AND MARLEY – December 1984, Wheeler Opera House A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES – December 1985 (?) – 1997 (?), Wheeler Opera House TALES FOR THE HOLIDAYS – December, 1994-2005, Wheeler Opera House KRAPP’S LAST TAPE – June 1993, Wheeler Opera House KRAPP’S LAST TAPE – Summer 1993, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland THE ARKANSAW BEAR (with ACT) – June 1994, Wheeler Opera House THE ARKANSAW BEAR (with ACT) – June 1994, Colorado Theatre Festival, Avon, Colorado ROARING FORK REFLECTIONS – September 1994, Wheeler Opera House THE DIARY OF ADAM AND EVE (with ACT) – June 1996 (?), Colorado Theatre Festival, Breckenridge, Colorado THE DIARY OF ADAM AND EVE (with ACT) – June 1996 (?), Aspen Art Museum FIVE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL – August 1997 (?), Aspen Art Museum THE WATER ENGINE – May 1999, District Theatre THE WATER ENGINE – June 1999, Colorado Theatre Festival MR BUNDY – May 2001, District Theatre MR BUNDY – June 2001, Colorado Theatre Festival, Aspen, Colorado SUMMERTREE – May 2002, District Theatre SUMMERTREE – June 2002, Colorado Theatre Festival, Fort Collins, Colorado WITH THEIR EYES – May 2003, Black Box Theatre WITH THEIR EYES – June 2003, Colorado Theatre Festival, Littleton, Colorado THE SIREN SONG OF STEPHEN JAY GOULD, June 2004, District Theatre THE SIREN SONG OF STEPHEN JAY GOULD, June 2004, Colorado Theatre Festival, Aspen, Colorado THE LARAMIE PROJECT (with CMC Theatre) – June 2005, Colorado Theatre Festival, Fort Morgan, Colorado PARALLEL LIVES – August 2005, Black Box Theatre PARALLEL LIVES – February 2006, Black Box Theatre PARALLEL LIVES – February 14, 2006, Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado PARALLEL LIVES – June 2006, Colorado Theatre Festival, Idaho Springs, Colorado PARALLEL LIVES – September/October 2006, Dairy Center, Boulder, Colorado PARALLEL LIVES – November 2006, Thunder River Theatre, Carbondale, Colorado PARALLEL LIVES – April 2007, AACT Region VII Festival, Cheyenne, Wyoming PARALLEL LIVES – April 2007, Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, Colorado ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT – June 2007, Colorado Theatre Festival, Idaho Springs, Colorado