{"id":22695,"date":"2025-04-14T18:08:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T00:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sunflower-theatre-galas-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:16:25","slug":"sunflower-theatre-galas-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sunflower-theatre-galas-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunflower Theatre galas to celebrate 10th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The city of Cortez is seeking artists to submit their artwork of historical sites in Cortez, such as the Sunflower Theatre, for consideration for a coloring book. (Journal file photo)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Sunflower Theatre is gearing up for its 10th anniversary, with galas and live performances Friday and Saturday that will bookend the KSJD Fund Drive, which runs until Friday.<\/p>\n

The Sunflower Theatre said the galas are a testament to the \u201cunity, connection and diversity\u201d in Cortez and the surrounding community.<\/p>\n

For 10 years, the Sunflower Theatre has brought together volunteers, artists, administrator, and audiences who connect through comedy, dance, music, singing, film, theater and spoken word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sunflower Theatre wouldn\u2019t be possible without the community that surrounds it,\u201d said theater Director Sarah Syverson. \u201cLive performance makes us feel more alive, more human and more connected to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sunflower
Sunflower Theatre Director Sarah Syverson (left) and the founding director Kim Welty. (Sarah Syverson\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Festivities kick off Friday with an Informal Variety Show Gala, where attendees are encouraged to pay homage to sunflowers or wear their favorite jean jacket. The following evening, the theater will host the Formal Variety Show Gala in honor of founding theater director Kim Welty.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did everything from managing construction of the theater, making sure the bar got built and the stage got built and seats got bought \u2026 all those sorts of things, not to mention booking talent and marketing for the theater and developing systems from the ground up,\u201d Syverson said. \u201cThese are all really powerful things, and she tends to be a quieter individual. She\u2019s often behind the scenes making it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carol
Carol Stout, the Sunflower Theatre\u2019s Volunteer of the Year. (Sarah Syverson\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The night will also recognize Volunteer of the Year Carol Stout for her contributions. The formal gala will feature catering by Kelly\u2019s Kitchen and drinks at the bar.<\/p>\n

Both nights promise an eclectic lineup of performances that highlight the talent featured at the Sunflower Theatre. Marilyn Kroeker, the first musician to perform on the Sunflower stage, will return with her (mostly) a cappella trio, featuring Chris Rasmussen and Jen Paschal. Poets Kirbie Bennett and L.K., both featured in the Four Corners Voices Anthology, will share poetry from their personal experiences.<\/p>\n

The Sunflower Theatre Troupe, including Josie Loner, Cap Allen, Heidi Brugger and Elizabeth Dickey, will perform a radio play scene, while Cruz Hernandez and LP McKay share true stories from their lives through \u201cRaven Narratives.\u201d Young poets Athena Cabauatan and Elijah American Horse, eighth-graders who have performed at the theater in the past, will perform their spoken word poetry.<\/p>\n

Comedy fans will have their moment with Laura Ripple\u2019s stand-up set, filled with self-deprecating humor and quirky anecdotes inspired by her husband, Martin. Ripple will also team up with Jenn Morris for improv. The evening will open and close with Geneva Toland and Rebecca Favarro leading the audience in song.<\/p>\n

Sunflower Theatre film shorts will also offer a sneak peek into creative projects involving cellos, the Delbert Anderson Trio\u2019s 2016 Tiny Desk performance and the moon. Tom Yoder will be the emcee, and could possibly be sporting a few quirky outfits.<\/p>\n

Tickets and more information are available online<\/a> at www.sunflowertheatre.org.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Sunflower Theatre is celebrating its 10th anniversary with two galas on Friday and Saturday. (Journal file photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

will feature live performances from the community\u2019s creatives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1060,364,21,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77814,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22695\/revisions\/77814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22695"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}