‘The magic is community, and it is bringing people of all ages and abilities together to work toward a common goal’

College basketball has March Madness. For 42 years, Colorado has had March Magic.

Magic Moments is a massive annual pop-music revue that this week will again afford 125 hams and Hamlets of all ages and abilities the chance to perform together on the same stage. Some with disabilities, some not. 

“The magic of Magic Moments is community, and it is bringing people of all ages and abilities together to work toward a common goal,” said Rachael Lessard. “We truly believe everybody is capable of being part of the story.”

Lessard is the associate director of “Another Night at Nick’s.” That’s the title of the 2026 revue. Magic Moments is sort of like a jukebox musical – like, say, “Rock of Ages” – only the stories and songs change each year. There is a story with a throughline and recognizable characters. The songs, often altered to suit the story, span showtunes to classic rock to whatever pop tunes have TikTok abuzz in any given year.

It’s fun. And inspiring. And, at times, incredibly moving.

“It’s a lot of people of varying degrees of abilities, all doing the best that they can, pulling off things they didn’t even know they could do,” said Kamala Quintana. She’s the longtime production manager and the wife of the director, who goes only by the initials KQ.

He’s a bit enigmatic, but he’s no Banksy. This year marks KQ’s 40th year at the creative helm, and last summer he was honored with the Colorado Theatre Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless efforts at both storytelling and stage traffic control. He’s having his moment.

“KQ is truly the legacy of Magic Moments,” said Lessard. “Nobody really knows what it would look like without him because he’s the heart and soul of it.”

Magic Moments gives all comers a place on the stage, even those with profound disabilities like crowd favorites Dennis Carbrey and Sharon Dawson, a couple who have been assigned their own duet for more than 20 years, “and we always bring the house down,” Carbrey said.

When all of the crew, special-needs handlers and volunteers are considered, it takes about 160 to pull off a show that leaves no one unchanged.

“Another Night at Nick’s” is not exactly a sequel, but rather a continuation of one of the group’s favorite shows, “A Night at Nick’s,” from back in 2012. The story returns to a popular seaside bar which its denizens are unaware is about to get a visit from a piano man who might (or might not) be Billy Joel himself. Last time, this lark featured songs ranging from Bon Jovi to “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” What’s in store for this year? Prepare for anything.

‘Another Night at Nick’s’

• Presented by: Magic Moments
• When: March 26-29
• Where: Anschutz Family Theater at Kent Denver School, 4000 E Quincy Ave., Englewood
• Showtimes: 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday; 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
• Tickets: $35
• Info: https://app.arts-people.com/?show=30699

I will ‘Survivor’

You might say country-music superstar Zac Brown jumped the shark, so to speak, when he appeared on last week’s episode of “Survivor.” The self-admitted superfan of the show swam out, stabbed a shark, cooked it up and then performed a few acoustic songs for a few contestants on the beach in Fiji.

He opened with “Colder Weather,” a 2010 song that specifically mentions Colorado twice: “She’d trade Colorado if he’d take her with him” and, “He thinks of Colorado and the girl he left behind him.”

To which I say: Point of order! In real life, that song was written by frequent Brown collaborator Wyatt Durrette about a woman living in Kansas City. Not sure how we got dragged into their breakup but, in real life, the woman in question would trade “Kansas City” if he’d take her with him. Who would ever leave Colorado for a partner? As if.

A way forward for Charlie Miller

We told you back in October that the Denver Center for the Performing Arts was ending its commitment to the development of new immersive experiences (a programming wing called Off-Center) for financial reasons. That meant Charlie Miller would be leaving the DCPA at the end of March, and that time has come … today.

His unemployment will last exactly one week. Hope he enjoys the break.

As of April 6, Miller is the new executive producer of Culture House Immersive, a creative studio co-founded by Mikhael Tara Garver that is focused on incubating immersive, collaborative stories and their worlds in diverse physical locations.

“In this role, I’ll be helping Mikhael and the team develop, prototype and produce tourable narrative immersive experiences,” said Miller, who will also be available to help other arts organizations to develop their own immersive projects.

And that is what you call a perfect fit.

Miller’s final act of service was to get David Byrne’s Denver Center-born “Theater of the Mind” up and running at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. That freaky little trip into theatrical neuroscience, originally scheduled to run through May, already has been extended through July 12.

Vintage puts off ‘A Strange Loop’

Many in the theater community were eagerly anticipating Vintage Theatre’s long-awaited regional premiere of the barrier-busting Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Best Musical “A Strange Loop,” but the production has been postponed indefinitely.

True West Award winner Christopher Page-Sanders “was going to direct ‘A Strange Loop,’ but then had a conflict with the dates,” said Artistic Director Bernie Cardell. “It was partially picked for him to direct, so we’ll just be doing it at another time.”

Opening in its place on May 23 will be “It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues,” directed by Johnathan Underwood, who is performing as an actor as Belize in Vintage’s “Angels in America,” opening Friday.

“A Strange Loop,” which featured Colorado Springs’ Jason Veasey on Broadway, is Michael R. Jackson’s blistering musical about the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes.

“It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues,” written in part by longtime Denverite Randal Myler, is a celebrated 1999 musical revue that explores the history and profound influence of blues music from African spirituals to modern genres like rock and jazz. Info at vintagetheatre.org.

Bluebird Music Fest has a home

After 12 years as a nonprofit organization, the Future Arts Foundation (which presents the Bluebird Music Festival), is opening an actual brick-and-mortar location called The Lost Bluebird. It will host Colorado artists, local musicians, monthly dinners and offer an in-house espresso bar. It will also be the new home of The Bluebird School, a 100% admission-free music school for students wanting to learn songwriting and performing.

The exact location somewhere in Boulder County will remain a mystery until June, “but it will open its doors this summer,” organizers announced. Info and a fundraising auction at go.rallyup.com/thelostbluebird.

Briefly …

Denver’s North High School is one of only 12 schools nationwide selected to stage the musical “Suffs,” which tells the history of the American women’s suffrage movement. It was performed by the Black Masque Theatre troupe last weekend with a grant from the Educational Theatre Foundation. The expansion into heartland high schools was championed by the recent Broadway production, which included Douglas County’s Jenna Bainbridge in the original cast …

Presale for the 26th Underground Music Showcase (and first since its move to RiNo, goes live April 2 at undergroundmusicshowcase.com …

You can read more about this in Sunday’s upcoming column, but few shows ever have the buzz that the Arvada Center has right now for its upcoming staging of the Broadway musical “Come From Away.” This production, directed by Kenny Moten, is a major event because this is a prestigious new musical that showcases the powerful, true story of the 7,000 airline passengers who were stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, on 9/11, and the kindness and humanity they received there in a time of global crisis. It is the theater event of the season. Info at arvadacenter.org

And finally …

You’ can read here the awful news of the possible arson fire at the City Park bandshell and how it might impact City Park Jazz this summer. The nonprofit, which subsists entirely on donations, grants and sponsorships, is seeking donations at https://cityparkjazz.org/united4jazz.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at [email protected].