Whenever Amber Bryant lost her way, her ever-supportive mother was always there with some gentle Buddhist advice.

“Just ride the horse in the direction it’s going,” Judy GeBauer would tell her daughter. “You might be pleasantly surprised where you end up.”

That quote actually originates with the father of self-help, Werner Erhard. But the sentiment is pure Judy, a prominent local playwright who died Oct. 28 at age 77.

Hard to believe Zen Judy was the same woman who, as a girl in Long Beach, Calif., was drafted by authorities at the height of the Red Scare to write down license-plate numbers – without being told the consequences of her actions.

“As a writer, my mother was an original thinker – and as a mother, she was unconditionally loving,” Bryant said.

GeBauer was a prolific writer of poetry, novels and more than 30 full-length plays, several of them staged around the country. She was known for creating knowable characters that she put into impossible situations. Like “Good Night Valsetz,” about a damaged family that’s pulling up stakes from a soon-to-be-bulldozed logging town.

And “Every Secret Thing,” based on GeBauer’s memories of a high-school civics teacher who was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee – never to be seen again. “Bobby Sands MP” was based on the IRA leader whose deadly 1981 hunger strike changed the course of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The play that changed GeBauer’s trajectory was “Reclaimed,” which was chosen by the O’Neill Playwrights Conference – one of the most prestigious new-play festivals in the country. That was the true story of a woman who is never accepted back into her White community after being captured by the Sioux in 1864.

“Her passion was looking into history,” said Denver’s Gabriella Gavallero, who staged “Every Secret Thing” in 2007 with her Modern Muse Theatre Company. GeBauer’s sublime writing invention was Maxine Holt, a 14-year-old overachieving saboteur described by her teacher as “an evil little (bleep)” – one based on GeBauer herself.

Judy Hink was born Dec. 20, 1945, in Long Beach. She moved with her family to Denmark and attended a private girls high school in Copenhagen. She settled in the Bay Area and for several years performed as an actor with the California Shakespeare Festival and the National Shakespeare Company of New York.

In 1976, 31-year-old Judy was invited to a Buddhist meeting hosted by 42-year-old actor Gene GeBauer, who had performed in six Broadway musicals, including the original “Hello, Dolly!”

Their connection was quick and deep. They married that same year and five years later welcomed daughter Amber. They all moved together to Oregon and then Iowa City, where Judy landed a spot in the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop master’s program.

It was an unusual arrangement: “The University of Iowa wanted my mother in their program so badly, they agreed to give dad a free college education in exchange for teaching tap classes at the university,” Bryant said.

The family moved to Colorado in 1991 and settled in Northglenn. In 2001, Judy was named to the Denver Center Theatre Company’s prestigious local playwrights unit.

Judy GeBauer was a longtime audio technician at Books to Life, a woman-owned recording studio in Englewood that specializes in audio books, podcasts and more. Gene died May 1, 2022.

A celebration will be held from 1-4 p.m. Nov. 18 at Books to Life, 3396 S. Sherman St., in Englewood.

‘The Last Session’ back in session

It’s hard to say which is more incredible: “The Last Session,” or the story of the man who wrote it.

The year was 1996, and Steve Schalchlin’s deathwatch had begun. Ravaged by AIDS, half-blind and strapped to tubes, he could barely hold his head up. But Schalchlin summoned all his energy to write a musical love letter to his life partner, Jim Brochu. That turned into “The Last Session,” the story of a dying songwriter named Gideon who gathers up his best singer pals for, yes, one last recording session. But they’re unaware of his plan to commit suicide the next day.

But guess what? The (real) dying composer never died. Schalchlin lives, as does his contemporary-gospel musical, which was warmly received off-Broadway in 1998 and was last staged in Denver in 2008.

Fifteen years later, it’s notable that the Littleton Town Hall Arts Center, which doesn’t do plays, is doing this play – for a limited run of Nov. 3-12 only.

“On Oct. 4, I turned 70, and this Littleton production is my birthday present for a birthday I wasn’t supposed to have,” Schalchlin said. “The way you get through things is, first you deal with the heavy stuff, and then you learn to live with it and laugh about it.”

“The Last Session” is clearly more than just a musical. It’s life-affirming and potentially life-changing theater. The cast includes True West Award-winning actor Natalie Oliver-Atherton – the reigning Mrs. Colorado American – making her return to the stage.

“It’s shaping up to be a healing and impactful evening of entertainment for all,” she said.

Speaking of firsts …

Denver’s disability-affirmative Phamaly Theatre Company is presenting its first-ever fully produced dance show, in partnership with “America’s Got Talent” Season 6 runners-up The Silhouettes. “Indescribable” is about two friends who become separated and go on a magical journey to reconnect. Nov. 3-5 only at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Tickets at phamaly.org …

Chris Noth in Denver as George Bailey

Chris Noth, Big on “Sex and the City,” will star as George Bailey in a one-night benefit performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” for Visionbox on Dec. 6 at the Studio Loft above the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Tickets are $125, and you have to email [email protected] to have a shot at a ticket.