In 1974, Shirley Martin staged the melodrama 'Poor Pitiful Pearl' in Singin' Sadie's Saloon, a Breckenridge bar, casting a newcomer named Allyn Mosher as the villain. The pair went on to form a year-round company, and in 1976 the Backstage Theatre incorporated as Summit County's very first nonprofit — a distinction it still holds as the county's longest-serving one. It is also the oldest year-round theatre company on Colorado's Western Slope.

Today the company performs in the Breckenridge Theater, an intimate 137-seat venue on Ridge Street in the historic district that completed a $2.55 million renovation in 2016. The season mixes plays, musicals, comedies and family programming.

Tickets are handled through Breck Create's box office, and the theater's location makes for an easy walk from Main Street restaurants — a proper dinner-and-a-show evening, mountain style.