CREEDE — The Creede Repertory Theatre rolled back the curtain on its 57th season of productions.

CRT has spent the last two years revamping how the theatre runs at CRT through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our only option last year was to go outside and though it turned out to be a magical experience, Colorado weather at 9,000 feet is no joke,” said CRT Director John DiAntonio.

Now, with less stringent COVID requirements in place, the theatre recently announced that the main stage and Ruth Humphreys Brown Theatre will be open to the public again.

Though the 2021 season received great reviews for their outdoor venue, CRT is ready to bring it back indoors.

“When the weather was kind, it was magical. Watching the sunset up there was breathtaking. This year though it just makes more sense to have everything back indoors. We don’t count on anything anymore so if for some reason things got crazy, we have the ability and the experience to go back to outdoor theatre. We just did 'Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol' indoors and the turnout was really great,” said DiAntonio.

In addition to the full season this summer, the theatre is also celebrating 20 years of its unique and fantastic summer child program The Kid Show.

“We have some ideas in place on what we are going to do to celebrate 20 years of this wonderful show and we will be bringing back some of the original writers and alumni, so we are really looking forward to that,” he said.

The Kid Show is an opportunity for interested youth to come and learn about theatre. Participants ages 10 years and older learn what it takes to put a production together from beginning to end and can share their experience with family, friends and peers. The Kid Show production received national attention when a photo from 2021 was published in the New York Times.

“It is such a unique and wonderful program so we will definitely be doing something fun to celebrate its success. It is just a blast and it’s great to watch the students grow as artists,” DiAntonio said.

The theatre will also be bringing back its gala event that will take place at the Rio Grande Club on Aug. 5 and gives people the opportunity to support CRT for coming seasons.

“We haven’t been able to host this event for four years and we are excited to be bringing it back this year. We will have more details to come as the time gets closer,” he said.

Another change that the theatre will be making this year will allow their shows to run for longer periods.

“We are trying something new this year and will be trying to open four shows before July 3. We usually open three shows before July and then one in August. We will see how it goes but it will allow the shows to actually run throughout the summer,” DiAntonio said. “Really, we are all just excited to be doing theatre again. Doing theatre outdoors last year was really great but getting back to gathering indoors safely is going to be great. The past two years have been hard, it's been hard on everyone, and we are waiting to see what the requirements for COVID will be for us this year, we still feel that we will have a great season no matter what and we appreciate all of the support.”

This year’s lineup includes plays that bring a nostalgic and fantastical feeling to the CRT stage. Titles include "Always…Patsy Cline," created and originally directed by Ted Swindley, "Steel Magnolias" by Robert Harling and directed by Amanda Berg Wilson, "Native Gardens" by Karen Zacarías and directed by Julia Rosa Sosa Chaparro, "The Royale" by Marco Ramirez and directed by Kyle Haden, "Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood" by Ken Ludwig and directed by John DiAntonio and The Kid Show production of "Music Box" by Allison Quiller and directed by Renee Prince. Boomtown productions and some fun events are also on the schedule.

For more information or to book tickets, visit www.creederep.org.