Karen Zacarías’ fast-paced comedy blends outrageous melodrama with surprising heart.

1. Bring your appetite for drama

If you’ve never watched a telenovela, think soap opera turned up to 11. Secret identities. Switched babies. Love triangles. Family feuds. Sudden reversals. Shocking revelations. 

Playwright Karen Zacarías doesn’t just tell a telenovela story. She celebrates every convention of the genre while inviting audiences to laugh along with it. The result is both a wildly entertaining comedy and a genuine love letter to one of the world’s most popular storytelling traditions.  

Insider Information: Karen Zacarías is the most produced female playwright in Denver Center Theatre Company history with four productions: Destiny of Desire, Just Like Us, Mariela in the Desert, and Native Gardens. 

2. The story begins with one life-changing decision

On a stormy night in Bellarica, Mexico, two baby girls are born: one to a wealthy family and one to a struggling farming family. When the newborns are secretly switched, their destinies are changed forever.  

Eighteen years later, the consequences of that choice ripple through every relationship in the play, creating a tangled web of family secrets, mistaken identities, romance, and heartbreak. 

No spoilers: Unlike the typical American soap opera, telenovelas have a beginning, middle, and end, and in this story, let’s just say the truth has a way of catching up with everyone. 

3. Underneath the comedy is sharp social commentary

One of the clever things about Destiny of Desire is how it balances outrageous entertainment with real-world issues. 

Throughout the show, actors break the fourth wall to share statistics and observations about healthcare, class, labor, identity, family, and Latiné life in America. The play affectionately pays homage to telenovelas while also exploring the very real issues that often inspire them. As the script puts it, these are “truths about the United States disguised as fiction set in Mexico.”  

What to watch for: Moments when the audience is laughing one second and reflecting the next. 

4. It’s a musical…but not the way you might expect 

The title includes “A Telenovela Play with Music” for a reason. 

The production features live music woven throughout the story, including passionate love songs, heartbreaking ballads, ranchera-inspired numbers, and full-company musical moments. Songs like “Mi Corazón Herido,” “Pain Makes Me Beautiful,” and “El Destino del Deseo” don’t just accompany the action. They amplify the emotional stakes in true telenovela fashion.  

What to listen for: The music often arrives right when emotions can no longer be contained by words alone. 

5. At its heart, this is a story about family

Yes, there are villains. Yes, there are forbidden romances and long-buried secrets. 

But the emotional core of Destiny of Desire belongs to its mothers and daughters, fathers and children, and the complicated ways families shape who we become. Questions of identity, belonging, sacrifice, and forgiveness drive the story from beginning to end. 

Whether you’re a lifelong telenovela fan or completely new to the genre, you’ll likely recognize something universal beneath all the melodrama. 

Come for: the outrageous twists.
Stay for: the surprisingly big heart. 

Bonus Item 

Don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish…or English
The show joyfully mixes English and Spanish, just as many telenovelas do. The storytelling, music, and performances make the emotional journey easy to follow, regardless of your Spanish fluency.  

Extra opportunity: The DCPA is offering two Spanish interpreted performances: Sep 17 at 7pm and Oct 1 at 1:30pm. 

Related Reading

• Applause feature: Zacarías Returns with Destiny of Desire — Delivering Guilty Pleasures Smartly

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) NewsCenter is the organization’s editorial platform for stories, announcements, interviews, and coverage of theatre and cultural programming in Colorado. We are committed to producing accurate, trustworthy, clearly sourced journalism that reflects our mission and serves our community. This summary used AI to optimize search results and structure; newsroom-reviewed.