Community to celebrate the late Rita Hunter

The community is invited to celebrate the life of longtime Aspen resident and local theater legend Rita Hunter at the Aspen District Theatre at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Hunter died from ALS on July 1, 2023. 

The celebration will include live music featuring Jan Garrett and a 45-person choir.

“My mom was the best,” Hunter’s daughter, Christy Garfield, said. “She made people feel seen, important, worthy, valuable, interesting, funny, talented. She invested deeply in relationships and in her community and our lives are richer for it. I’m looking forward to celebrating her inspiring life with our community this weekend.”

In addition to honoring Hunter, Sunday’s service will be a celebration of the community for which Hunter cared so deeply, Garfield said 

 “The service will be a beautiful moment for locals to be together and feel a sense of unity,” she said. 

Hunter is considered one of the driving forces behind Aspen Community Theatre, having produced dozens of shows in more than 40 years.

Hunter, who was born Rita Jo Marks and grew up in California and moved to Aspen in 1970 with her future husband, Pat Hunter, was inducted into the Aspen Hall of Fame in 2022. 

The hall’s website notes that Hunter “quickly became an integral part of the Aspen community. From her early years waitressing at The Red Onion and Dudley’s, to her 29 years at Pitkin County Dry Goods, Rita served her customers with openness, enthusiasm and kindness — and they all loved her for it!”

Hunter’s first local theater show in 1980 with Aspen Community Theatre’s production of the play “Nightwatch.” She auditioned for the cast, and when she didn’t land a part, the show’s producer, former Aspen mayor Herman Edel, encouraged her to get involved on the production side, according to the hall’s website. 

She immersed herself in ACT, serving on its board of directors for 41 years and producing or co-producing 52 ACT shows, many with Jody Hecht. She also procured or created thousands of costumes.

“ACT thrived because Rita excelled in recruitment,” says the Aspen HOF’s website. “If she learned you sewed, could swing a hammer, or liked to sing in the shower…she’d convince you that ACT needed you, and you needed ACT. Shows were made possible (and usually sensational!) and countless lives enriched because of her very compelling cajoling…as well as her superb organizational skills, copious hours of hard work, and relentless quest for excellence. Rita was a master at gathering the right people and inspiring them to turn the ‘impossible dream’ into a true theatrical masterpiece.”

Diagnosed with ALS in 2019, Hunter stepped back from the demands of solo or co-producing the annual musical. Instead, she was an advisor on the production committees. Some of her parting words were, “go see a wonderful show that takes you someplace, teaches you something and I want to sit next to you and hear you laugh and cry and enjoy yourself,” Garfield said.