2019 – 2020 marked the beginning of our 90th season and ALT was at the top of its game. We packed the house and sold out many performances. The historic season was set to feature Amadeus, Mamma Mia!, Miracle on 34th Street, Murder on the Orient Express (regional premiere), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Odd Couple, and The Music Man.
ALT favorites Mario Cabrera, Abby Van Gerpen, and Nicholas Laemmer opened our season as the central trio in Amadeus, garnering praise from critics and audiences alike. In fall 2019, ALT produced Mamma Mia!, which became the feel-good, record-breaking hit of the season. Miracle on 34th Street closed out the 2019 calendar year, confirming that our holiday show is among the most sought-after productions we produce from year to year. As a tradition, we closed the show on Christmas Eve with a special 1:00 p.m. matinee.
A special holiday tradition at ALT is placing a small Christmas tree in one of our bay windows in honor of Manny Jaramillo, ALT’s beloved former custodian and master carpenter. Manny’s legacy lives on, and his family drives by every Christmas Eve to see “Manny’s Tree.” Manny is also one of the theatre’s legendary “ghosts,” and we believe him to be the most mischievous. The antics that happen here seemingly out of nowhere could fill an entire article!
As 2019 was coming to a close, we began hearing rumblings of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. At that time, it seemed distant, something we didn’t think would impact us. 2020 began, and ALT proceeded with its season as scheduled and produced the regional premiere of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Known for our crime thrillers, we wowed audiences with this technical challenge. But as COVID-19 concerns grew, ALT made tentative plans for a possible temporary closure. With rehearsals underway for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, ALT administration hoped we could make it to opening night. We did—and managed three performances—before COVID-19 hit New Mexico. With over 1,600 patrons scheduled to attend this beloved family musical over the next three (3) weekends, we made the difficult decision to cancel. Little did we know that this would be the beginning of a very long shutdown. ALT remained closed for over a year, prioritizing the health and safety of our staff, patrons, and volunteers.
After canceling the remainder of Beauty and the Beast, The Odd Couple, and The Music Man, we had to regroup. We dubbed the 2020-2021 season “The Virtual Season,” as we, like many theaters, decided to produce a season of shows that were recorded and streamed online. We offered original programming like The Gariety Family Music Hall as well as published titles like Vanities, Songs for a New World, The Gin Game, and the pandemic-themed A Killer Party. This unique show was filmed independently by each actor in their homes, then edited together to create a full production. The season taught us much about building a makeshift film and recording studio, and we were fortunate to have Ron Tomaino and Amy Mershawn, who guided us through the filming and editing process.
As we planned the 2021-2022 season, we decided to cautiously re-open with a special summer series in 2021. This season included three smaller shows that allowed us to safely welcome patrons back. It opened with Barrymore, followed by The Belle of Amherst, and closed with Barefoot in the Park. With a successful soft opening and a strict masking policy, the official season began, featuring Father of the Bride, The Odd Couple, A Christmas Carol, A Murder is Announced, and Grease. Though some patrons were hesitant, we were able to produce a full season, featuring guest directors such as Nancy Sellin, James Cady, Laura Cummins-Wright and Hollywood actor Frances McCain. Grease presented new challenges, including the decision to double-cast the show to ensure continuity if any actors became ill. Despite the logistical challenges, Grease was a rousing success.
The 2022-2023 season included smaller-cast shows like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Deathtrap, Vanities, and Nunsense, plus a holiday run of A Tuna Christmas. We ended with The Wizard of Oz, marking our first large-scale musical post-pandemic. This season also featured guest directors Marc Comstock, Ryan Jason Cook, and Laura Cummins-Wright. Initially, Kinky Boots was slated to open the season, but it was replaced by Complete Works dueto concerns of cold and flu season and the lingering pandemic. The Play That Goes Wrong was to be the show that opened the 2023 calendar year, but with mounting concerns of health and safety, it was switched out with Vanities because it was more manageable. Wizard of Oz was a financial success, affirming our confidence that audiences were ready for larger shows again.
This brings us to the 2023-2024 season, which marked the departures of longtime business manager Dehron Foster and executive director Henry Avery. The season opened with The Play That Goes Wrong, directed by Avery, featuring an ambitious set that fully collapsed by the end of the show. ALT favorite Westin Huffman not only played the lead but also served as stunt coordinator, ensuring the safety of the cast in a technically demanding production. The fall show, a new adaptation of Camelot, offered a fresh take on the story, with a condensed cast and intimate staging. For the holiday season, ALT produced The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a heartwarming family show.
In early 2024, we presented The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by frequent ALT collaborator Laura Cummins-Wright and music directed by Cameron Illidge-Welch. The next production, The 39 Steps, was a comedic adaptation of the Hitchcock film, featuring the ALT debut of Brian Schaeffer and a return to the stage for Rob Armstrong Martin, who was also recently hired as ALT’s new executive director. The season closed with the musical Head Over Heels, featuring music by The Go-Go’s—a bold choice for ALT, directed by Brian Clifton, music directed by Shelly Andes and Choreographed by Devon Frieder.
This “decade” at ALT has been marked by both incredibly high highs and lows we weren’t sure we’d recover from. Thanks to the generosity of our patrons, both financially and artistically, we are rebuilding and striving to honor the great legacy of this incredible theater in the middle of the desert.