We recently connected with David Flora and have shared our conversation below.

Hi David, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My wife, Annie, and I helped start a theatre company in the small ski town of Crested Butte, Colorado in May of 2023. After moving here once the pandemic settled down, we found a group of theatre enthusiasts who shared our passion for the craft, but had very few outlets or opportunities to practice it. Annie and I have about 50 years’ combined experience in the artform, so we decided to put our experience and knowledge into action and create opportunities and entertainment for our community.

The project has meant a lot to us, being able to provide performance outlets and chances to learn new skills and knowledge. We began our journey with a production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” a comedy with a large cast and a fun story. We chose a local venue with an outdoor stage that, in the past, was used for theatrical productions, but hadn’t been used as such for many years. It was an amazing experience to bring a Shakespeare in the Park experience back to the community, and audiences loved the show!

This kicked off our new theatre’s journey with a bang, and our 2024 season has been going strong ever since. We’re especially proud of our children’s theatre program, as giving opportunities to the local youths was a big goal. So far, 4 children’s shows have been produced, with many eager and talented kids joining the program and learning the ins-and-outs of stagecraft. It’s been such a rewarding experience to help so many great people achieve their ambitions and explore their curiosity of the stage.

David, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Kentucky-born, Colorado-based actor, director, and podcaster. I have a B.A. in Dramatic Arts and Music from Centre College, and have been involved with theatrical pursuits for almost 30 years. I studied improv in Chicago at The Second City, iO, ComedySportz, and The Annoyance theatres, and was a mainstage member at ComedySportz. In Chicago, I directed “Yo Joe! A G.I. Joe hip-hop musical”, “The Improvised Wrestling Federation,” the sketch comedy group CornMan Productions, and several shows in the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival and Chicago Podcast Festival, among others. Most recently I directed Firebird’s productions of “Twelfth Night,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Murder Well Done.” A 12-year podcast veteran, I host the award-winning paranormal podcast “Blurry Photos,” co-host another paranormal podcast called “Hysteria 51” (featured on Fox 32 Chicago), co-host a trivia podcast “Quiz Quiz Bang Bang” (with my wife Annie), and narrate a short story pod, “5-Minute Frights.” You can also see me in a newly-released paranormal documentary called “Shadows in the Desert: High Strangeness in the Borrego Triangle” and on an episode of the History Channel show “Beyond Skinwalker Ranch.” You can hear more of my narration on Audible or Amazon, where I have numerous audiobooks as well.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society can definitely invest more funds into the Arts. Money drives everything, unfortunately, and from our experience, starting and running a new theatre is an expensive endeavor. While it’s true theatre can happen anywhere and with little more than the clothes on your back, if you want to grow and make an impression, you need funding. More grants would be a wonderful asset for non-profits in the Arts. If you’re in a position to support, donations to local theatres are always worthwhile.

More participants in the Arts would also go a long way. Encouraging society to engage in theatre would help foster more empathy and understanding of society as a whole. Theatre has a way of teaching good habits that can carry over to everyday life, including punctuality, listening, communication, collaboration, and a host of others. Theatre can also hold a mirror up to society, showing the ugliness the world is capable of in order to better understand and appreciate our collective humanity, and strive to better ourselves as a whole.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The main goal that drives my journey with Firebird Theatre Co. is the desire to give folks in the Gunnison Valley more theatrical opportunities and help foster creativity and learning in the community. While it’s a relatively small community, there are many creative people and those curious about the stage here. Annie grew up here, and didn’t have many opportunities for participating in theatre; we feel it’s very important to give experience and chances to learn stagecraft to the local youth. With Firebird, the kids around here have multiple opportunities to perform, learn tech, learn writing, and participate in productions throughout the year. It has been a wonderful experience seeing these kids learn and grow creatively!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firebirdcb.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firebirdtheatrecb/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firebirdtheatrecb