2025 DENVER GAZETTE TRUE WEST AWARDS: DAY 30

David Nehls created and debuted two original musicals in 2025; that and other stories from the year on the arts

Christmas in Golden is starting to look a lot like Christmas with David Nehls.

David Nehls is sort of like the Nikola Jokic of the Colorado theater community. He’s been here, doing what he does for so long and on such a consistently high level now that if you take your eye off the ball for half a second, you might start to take him for granted.

Nehls is a prominent and highly in-demand Denver-based composer and musical director who hit paydirt when he created the 2005 off-Broadway hit “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” and its holiday-themed sequel. Nehls and co-writer Betsy Kelso have a knack for creating fun, blue-collar theater that’s appealing to people who don’t typically go to the theater.

2025 was a spectacular and boundary-stretching year for Nehls, who introduced two original musicals this year, starting with his autobiographical “Do You Wanna Go?” – “a wildly fun, deeply personal, rock-and-blues odyssey about an unexpected ‘90s trip, a romance and a journey that changed everything,” said Nehls. It’s a true story, he added, “that starts in Greece and ends with your jaw on the floor.”

Not everyone knows Nehls as an actor, but he originated the role of Riff Raff in the European adaptation of “The Rocky Horror Show,” and it was during that adventure that this story played out in real life.

Nehls debuted the developing show last January at Denver’s Champagne Tiger, then took it to Key West, Fla., and is now bringing the show back for a full run from Jan. 15-24 at the new Ballyhoo Table & Stage. (Info at eventbrite.com)

And, just in time for the holidays, when theaters are desperate to offer audiences something, anything out of the ordinary, Nehls and Kelso rolled out a new, Colorado-themed musical comedy called “Stocking Stuffers” that “gleefully upends seasonal expectations,” according to its promotional lingo. Which means: It’s heartwarming … and naughty.

“‘Stocking Stuffers,’ it goes on to say, delivers razor-sharp humor, outrageous characters and a boldly irreverent original score — an ideal choice for audiences looking for a spirited holiday outing with an unconventional edge.”

“I think musical theater sometimes has a tendency to …” began “Stocking Stuffers” actor Leiney Rigg Johnson, “… take itself too seriously,” finished castmate Norrell Moore. Back to Rigg Johnson: “Well, David Nehls says, ‘(Bleep) that. I am going to create something for the sketch-comedy lovers; or for those who love ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

In a smart move to cover all bases, Miners Alley slated “Stocking Stuffers” to be performed in repertory with the well-known classic “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Show,” which gave Golden audiences a clear choice between traditional and edgy holiday programming. Nehls performed in both shows, sometimes on the same day.

“I believe that David really tapped into his capacity to be real this year, and being authentic in the stories that he wanted to tell,” said Moore.

His charming on-stage acting presence was on full display for “Wonderful Life,” playing the radio station’s in-house sound foley artist – and cajoler of the live studio audience.

“The two casts, the crews, musicians and a brilliant staff helped to not only keep the engine fine-tuned, but they also did it with kindness and joy,” said Nehls, who, not for nothing, also directed the music for Miners Alley’s impactful 2025 staging of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins.”

Nehls already has so much coming up for 2026, starting one day early. He’s providing live music for Ballyhoo’s New Year’s Eve party on Wednesday night. (Info at eventbrite.com). He’s hosting Dazzle Denver’s Throwback Friday Lunch Series by performing an 11 a.m. Jan. 9 tribute to Elton John. (Info at dazzledenver.com).

And he has (at least) two massive theater projects lined up. Nehls will be the music director for Give 5 Productions’ 30th anniversary staging of the iconic Broadway musical “Rent” opening sometime in July. According to many (many) social media posts, it will be directed by Rodney Hicks, a Denver resident and a member of the original Broadway cast. Nehls’ work “will bring  renewed energy and emotional depth to this legendary score,” according to the social announcements.

Right after that, Nehls will take “Do You Wanna Go” to the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a two-week run at the Mint Theatre in August. And right after that, he will be home to star as Broadway composer, Hollywood actor, concert pianist and mad genius Oscar Levant in the Colorado premiere of “Good Night Oscar,” the Broadway tuner that recently won a Tony for Sean Hayes (of “Will & Grace.”) That will be at Miners Alley from Oct. 2-Nov. 8. (Info at minersalley.com)

Today is the final day of the 25th True West Awards before tomorrow’s announcement of the 2025 Colorado Theatre Person of the Year. Making today a good day to single out several notable accomplishments from the year that haven’t been covered so far this month. I call it “Attention Must Be Paid.” For example:

• Attention must be paid to: Jim Hunt, who was part of the original Arvada Center core acting company back in 1975. That means, yes, 50 years ago. And here, in 2025, Hunt played an unnervingly earnest and even charming wheelchair-bound halfway-house pedophile who is confronted by one of his grown victims in Curious Theatre Company’s deeply challenging play “Downstate.” And then came a milestone we’ve all waited a lifetime to see: Hunt was cast to make his long-awaited debut with the Denver Center Theatre  Company in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Hunt infused the Tennessee Williams drama with greatly appreciated humor in his brief  but delightful turn as the Reverend Tooker. At age 82.

“What a year he’s had,” said “Downstate” director Christy Montour-Larson. “What a year he’s had at 82.

“He is so inspiring in ‘Downstate,’ being at that age, and given the amount of text he had and also the physical things he had to do. He was joyful. He never complained. He loved the work. And he was fun to have around, especially given the serious topics we were dealing with. We actually all had a really good time, and a lot of that had to do with Jim’s open heart and his personality and his love of theater.”

• Attention must be paid to ongoing progress at Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, which just marked its second year of operation since moving “across the alley” into its 30,000 square-foot space in downtown Golden.

The married MAP executive team of Len Matheo and Lisa DeCaro raised $9 million to buy the building and open it as a 150-seat theater in 2023. Phase 2 will develop the other two-thirds of the former hardware store. That will expand the existing theater into a 300-seat space in the round, add an education center with classrooms, a piano bar and on-site artist housing. All it will take is the next $23 million, but Matheo said the plan, due for completion in three years, is on schedule.

Since opening, Miners Alley has grown from 28,000 bodies through the door per year to 32,000. “Our hope for the future is that we become more like a true performing-arts center offering other kinds of programming, not just theater,” he said.

• Attention must be paid to Julia Tobey, who said back in April that she was going to open a swank new coffee shop, performance venue and event space on the hot corner of 3300 Pecos St. in Northwest Denver. And by God and Nov. 1, after overcoming all manner of financial and logistical challenges, she did.

Ballyhoo is a vibrant and inclusive community hub, cocktail bar and café with two stages for live entertainment spanning theater (see “Rent” above), drag, stand-up comedy, cabaret and concerts. Regular events include themed karaoke and drag brunches.

“I have been very impressed with the year that Julia has had bringing Ballyhoo to life,” freelance arts journalist Toni Tresca said on his Onstage Colorado podcast. “To be in that space for her grand opening and to feel the energy was just incredible. It was even more impressive and well-realized than I expected. It is an absolutely sick-looking space. (Note for those of us over 30: In slang, “sick” means awesome, amazing, cool or excellent.) Info at ballyhoodenver.com)

• Attention must be paid to: Speaking of … the Onstage Colorado website, which turned 7 years old and has firmly established itself as the most authoritative and comprehensive online repository for Colorado news, reviews and calendar listings for local theater and, to a growing degree, dance, film and comedy.

“I think the greatest sign of growth in the past year is the sense that it’s legit,” editor Alex Miller said of his labor of love, if not sustenance. “It’s the place people turn to find out where to find a show, as well as get a perspective on what’s out there.

Miller and Tresca, his freelance contributor, produce (mostly) weekly podcast episodes and email newsletters. “I don’t think anybody else is really doing what we are doing,” said Miller, whose team produced about 165 play reviews in 2025, which he says is down from about 200 the year before. But what he’s lost in volume, he said, he is making up for in quality. Thanks in large part to Tresca. 

“I am so amazed by the quality of the reviews Toni is producing,” Miller said. “I could read his words in the New York Times and not know the difference because of the level of detail and the amount of care that he puts into it – especially when he is writing something that falls on the negative side. He takes so much pain to explain why.

“For someone who has not spent a second in any kind of journalism class, what Toni has brought to Onstage Colorado, to Westword and to other publications, I just think is amazing.”

• Attention must be paid to: Nancy Begley. How the musical “Jerry’s Girls” made it from a personal passion project to a delayed life on the JCC Denver’s Pluss Theatre stage is not the way anyone wants theater to get done. But at the core of this story, you have Begley, the producer and star, singularly (and financially) willing this 1984 celebration of composer Jerry Herman back to life after having survived, as she describes it, two near-death medical experiences. We’re at a point in our history where the words “the show must go on” have come to represent all that is wrong with the way theater has been made for the past century. Still, you  can’t help but tip the cap to a woman who has faced what Begley has faced in the past year and come out of it standing (if significantly poorer).    

• And before I run out of time and space: Attention must be paid to the underdog play of the year, Platte Valley Theatre Arts of Brighton’s “Frankenstein,” the one the Denver Center first introduced a few years back that gives voice to the monster. Platte Valley did not try on the central conceit of Nick Dear’s adaptation, which was to have the two lead actors switch parts each night between The Creature and The Creator. But still, Jeff Parker (as The Creature), Bill Diggle (as Dr. Frankenstein) and the aforementioned Rachel Graham (yes, the photographer, as The Bride), accomplished something monumental. …

• As did Ellen McLaughlin in likely her final festival appearance. The accomplished actor (the very first to ever play The Angel in “Angels in America”) was here two years ago to play King Lear for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. She was back last summer to play Prospera (as in, yes, a woman) in “The Tempest”). I hope Boulder audiences truly appreciate what a gift we’ve had to just sit back and watch her work these past few summers …

• And finally, a salute to 2024 True West Award winner Ami Dayan for continuing “The Conversation” into 2025. Dayan is a playwright who in May launched a remarkable series of semi-scripted evenings intended to model constructive conversations about contentious topics like, say,  Israel-Palestine. It was kind of a mind-blowing, meta theatergoing experience ending not with answers but with flowers, hugs and the rare satisfaction of feeling heard – no matter your background.

gan as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community throughout December by revisiting 30 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.

• And finally: Attention must be paid to Rachel Graham: Over the past month of presenting these daily True West Awards, I have posted about 50 photos provided by Graham’s RDG Photography. Other photographers generously and kindly make companies’ production photos available to the media – among them Amanda Tipton Photography, Soular Radiant Photography, Jennifer Koskinen, Jamie Kraus and so many more, but no one shoots more productions, and makes the resulting photos so easily available to the press, than RDG, which is to the betterment of all involved, mostly you, the readership. A tip of the cap to you all.

More True West Awards coverage

• 2025 True West Awards, Day 1: Matt Zambrano

• Day 2: Rattlebrain is tying up ‘Santa’s Big Red Sack’

• Day 3: Mission Possible: Phamaly alumni make national impact

• Day 4: Jeff Campbell invites you to join him on the dark side

• Day 5: Cleo Parker Robinson is flying high at 77

• Day 6: Mirror images: Leslie O’Carroll and Olivia Wilson

• Day 7: Philip Sneed will exit Arvada Center on a high

• Day 8: Ed Reinhardt’s magic stage run ends after 27 years

• Day 9: Costume Designer Nikki Harrison

• Day 10: DU’s tech interns getting the job done

• Day 11: Husbands, wives keep home fire burning

• Day 12: Denver School of the Arts’ Drama Dash

• Day 13: Theater as a powerful response to violence

• Day 14: Elitch Theatre no longer a ghost town

• Day 15: A double play for playwright Luke Sorge

• Day 16: ‘Legally Blonde’ at the Air Force Academy? Elle, yes!

• Day 17: Kelly Van Oosbree is the cat in the hats

• Day 18: Phamaly presents a ‘Pericles’ for the neurodivergent

• Day 19: Justine Lupe and Coloradans on the national stage

• Day 20: Immersive Theatre after the end of Off-Center

• Day 21: Matt Radcliffe and theater as therapy for trauma

• Day 22: Pure ‘Follies’ at Vintage Theatre

• Day 23: The play is the everything

• Day 24: ‘Assassins,’ Frozen’ lead list of impact musicals

• Day 25: Unsung heroes of the invisible arts

• Day 26: Can tiny Creede lead the country out of the divide?

• Day 27: All in the Sandvold/Harmon Pardee family

• Day 28: The breakout performers of 2025

• Day 29: Super seasons by local actors in 2025