It’s a little too late to say “Happy New Year,” so I’ll just welcome you to the second half of our 2015-16 theatre season. Although the ball has dropped and we’ve all moved on, every new calendar is like a blank slate. What did I learn from the last year? Can I dream a little bigger this year? These are all probably questions we should ask ourselves more than once a year. But who’s counting?

Our city has been dreaming bigger lately. Recently, Mayor Hancock asked for a pie-in-the-sky vision of what the Denver Performing Arts Complex could be. (Reminder: the City of Denver manages the physical Complex and we, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, present and produce the live theatre within it.) The mayor wanted to look past the current and short-term challenges the Complex faces and just dream. Not to dismiss today’s challenges but to reconsider the Complex’s place in our shared history — and in our shared future.

So Denver’s Arts & Venues, in partnership with other city agencies and the community, launched a master planning process to generate a vision and plan for the 12-acre campus. Experts in the arts, urban planning and development have been working together ever since to imagine the “Next Stage” for the Complex. See the progress for yourself at artsandvenues.com/nextstage.
 
Imagine a multi-level parking structure beneath the Complex and the current garage replaced with a completely new music hall. Imagine a School for the Arts on campus, where the next generation of artists and professionals can train and perform. Imagine a renewed galleria lined with stores and restaurants to make it feel as dynamic as any downtown street. Imagine a Bike House. To find out what that is, you’ll have to visit the link above.

Along with the Mayor and the executive leadership team, I invite you to offer your ideas for the Complex. What’s important to you and your family in a cultural facility? What amenities and/or activities would you enjoy before and after a show? As the theatre organization with a lot riding on the success of the Complex, we have opinions. But you’re the reason we do what we do.

So go wild and dream a little bigger about what’s all around you. We’re listening.

Let us know your thoughts by commenting at the bottom of this story.

About our Guest Columnist:
Scott Shiller, a nationally recognized Producer, Presenter and Entertainment Executive, was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in February, 2015. As President & CEO, Shiller has overall responsibility for the DCPA’s programmatic, operating, revenue, marketing, development and administrative functions. He comes to the DCPA from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, where he served as Executive Vice President from 2007 to 2015. With direct oversight of programming and marketing initiatives, Shiller’s first season at the Center resulted in a $3.3 million turnaround, more than 100 sold-out performances, and a 76 percent increase in attendance. Shiller began his career working with Tony Award-winning producer Jon B. Platt on productions including Wicked (Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Joel Grey), Man of La Mancha (Brian Stokes Mitchell), Sly Fox (Richard Dreyfuss), The Graduate (Kathleen Turner, Alicia Silverstone, Jason Biggs), Blue Man Group: Tubes, Cabaret (Teri Hatcher, Norbert Leo Butz), Master Class (Faye Dunaway), Wait Until Dark (Quentin Tarantino, Marisa Tomei), Taller than a Dwarf (Matthew Broderick, Parker Posey), Macbeth (Kelsey Grammer), The Diary of Anne Frank (Natalie Portman), and The Vagina Monologues (Eve Ensler).

Previous conversations with Scott Shiller:
Previously, Scott Shiller posed these questions for NewsCenter readers:

*Making Cents of Arts Funding:  “Should the federal government allocate more funding to the National Endowment for the Arts?” To read his essay – and reader responses, please visit our NewsCenter here

*Declining arts coverage: How to respond to declining arts coverage? To read his essay – and reader responses, please visit our NewsCenter here

*Social media in the theatre: How will we, as theatre professionals and audiences, find common ground for mobile devices in theatres? To read his essay – and reader responses, please visit our NewsCenter here