Tens of thousands of “The Last of the Bugs” are expected at the Colorado stops of the on Saturday and Sunday night, according to the agency.

Coors Field has the capacity to host more than 50,000 people.

RTD plans to add cars to the both nights, officials said in a news release. All RTD services will run on regular schedules.

The A, B, C, E, G, N and W lines all stop at Union Station near the ballpark, which is about a half mile walk. Bus routes 120X, 38, 52, RX and 8 also stop near Coors Field.

Concertgoers should plan for large crowds and budget extra travel time. Service alerts and schedules are available through the or .

The performers were set to take the stage at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Thursday night, but the venue ultimately informed fans that right around 7:20 p.m., some ten minutes before the scheduled start time, ABC 7 reported. The band — with notable members including Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson — also shared a statement on Instagram, addressing the thousands of people who purchased tickets for the performance.

“We are unable to perform as scheduled tonight at Chase Center in San Francisco ,” the statement said. “As a result, tonight����ap show with Lionel Richie will be rescheduled, with a new date to be announced soon.”

Those who were supposed to attend the show should hold onto their tickets, the band added, vowing to make it up to them

“We sincerely apologize for the unexpected change and appreciate everyone’s understanding,” the statement concluded

Mariano Elias, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, told TMZ a fire engine and a private ambulance responded Thursday night to the Chase Center for A person was subsequently hospitalized and has since been listed in critical condition.

The band member who fell ill has not been identified.

The incident comes just weeks after Richie shows after becoming dizzy during a performance in Minnesota in June. The 77-year-old hitmaker was about 55 minutes into his concert at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul when he appeared to struggle to catch his breath while performing “Dancing on the Ceiling.” He sat down on the stage several times before ending the show.

Earth, Wind & Fire has with Richie in Palm Desert, California; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas, on August 8, 9, 11 and 14, respectively.

Saturday. The Bull & Bush Brewery will celebrate its 55th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 8, a milestone that makes it one of the oldest family-owned restaurants in Colorado. Founded in 1971, the brewpub is known for its classic English-style fare (with a few Colorado twists), and its award-winning beers. The festivities include beer releases, anniversary whiskey selections, brunch with DJ High Deaf and an evening concert by DeVotchKa.

“For 55 years, Bull & Bush Brewery has been more than a restaurant or brewery — a hub where friendships are made, milestones are celebrated, and traditions are passed from one generation to the next,” said co-owner Erik Peterson in a statement. The Bull & Bush is at 4700 Cherry Creek Drive South. Go to for more information. — Jonathan Shikes

Mimesis = reality

Tuesday-Aug. 16. Amid much larger events such as the Denver Film Festival or January’s Sundance Film Festival debut, sits Boulder’s artist-friendly Mimesis Documentary Festival. The event, with screenings at the Dairy Arts Center and Seidel City, Tuesday, Aug. 11-Sunday, Aug. 16, returns for its 7th year with another bevy of screenings that celebrate the experimental, boundary-pushing and poignant.

The event unites “six days of screenings, workshops, and conversations with some of the most dynamic voices in documentary media,” according to organizers. Titles include “To Use a Mountain” (opening night) and “Off Country” (closing night), with a focus on history, social justice and conservation, plus filmmaker Q&As and performances on tap. (There’s even an audio hike at Rocky Flats.)

Tickets are $12 per screening. At-home screenings are also available. Visit for more.

Nature Library blooms

Saturday. Anythink Libraries in Thornton is opening a unique new location, known as the Anythink Nature Library, on Saturday, Aug. 8, and as one might say, this isn’t your grandparents’ library. As visitors can see at the free, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. community celebration, the 33,000-square-foot building is located on 15 acres just next to the 140-acre Aylor Open Lands, and features “interactive nature labs and gardens to a one-mile trail loop, (a) café, sunroom and hands-on experiences that invite visitors of all ages to explore the outdoors in new ways,” leaders wrote.

The opening event includes free live performances, storytimes, guided nature walks, interactive art experiences, family-friendly activities, refreshments and “plenty of opportunities to experience Colorado’s newest cultural destination.” 6811 E. 136th Ave. in Thornton. Visit for more information. — John Wenzel

Telluride Jazz Festival

Friday-Saturday. There’s no shortage of high-country music fests this weekend, including the new Eagle River Jamboree (Aug. 8-9 at Eagle County Fairgrounds; ) and the 36th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival (Aug. 7-9 in Lyons; ). But the oldest is Telluride Jazz Festival, which since 1977 has brought diverse jazz, soul, funk and jam bands to the gorgeous ski town for a weekend of expansive concerts.

This year that includes Disco Biscuits and their discrete “Powered Down” acoustic set; Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble performing The Grateful Dead’s “Blues for Allah”; Lettuce celebrating the 100th birthday of Miles Davis; and many more. Single-day passes for the all-ages event are $164.46, while a two-day pass costs $281.54. Kids 11 and under are free. Telluride Town Park, 500 E. Colorado Ave. in Telluride. Visit for more details. — John Wenzel

From Aug. 12 to 16, mycology enthusiasts from around the world will gather in Telluride to talk about all things mushrooms, including psychedelics, and go foraging in the woods. The festival is billed as the largest of its kind in North America, welcoming an estimated 3,000 attendees each year.

Continued growth in attendance has enabled the Telluride Mushroom Festival to expand its programming. While scientific lectures and panels are still core to the lineup, the schedule now boasts yoga classes, outdoor cooking demonstrations, high-end chef dinners, concerts, film screenings, and even kids forays and workshops.

With expansion, however, comes additional operating costs. Those have largely been offset by ticket sales and sponsorships, said festival executive officer Ashley Coady Smith — until this year. Since March, ticket sales are down 40% compared to 2025 when the festival sold out, she said, forcing organizers to change their approach.

Since June, Coady Smith and her team have been soliciting donors to bridge the gap in this year’s festival operating budget. Now, they are launching the TMF Future Fund in hopes of raising an additional $100,000 safety net and building a mycelial network of passionate members to help sustain the event.

Of that $100,000, half will be invested in planning the 2027 festival and half will be kept on hand as “a minimum operating reserve” to ensure the festival does not cease to exist, Coady Smith said.

“This year has been an incredible challenge for the books,” she said. “I suppose if all fundraising and sales stopped today, yes, we’d be at a very big risk of that, but I’m staying completely optimistic.”

More broadly, the fund is a strategic move away from ticket sales as the festival’s primary revenue source, said programming director Britt Bunyard. While that has worked for many decades, pricey entry fees can be a hard sell to a community of folks who often look for free food growing in the forest. Host organization The Telluride Institute is a nonprofit, so Bunyard is now thinking about fundraising for the festival like an arts institution.

“We sort of need to change how we operate and be more like other, not necessarily mushroom-related events, but museums and music festivals and concert halls,” Bunyard said. “They rely on ticket sales, but when you look at what����ap really paying the bills, it����ap a lot of big-time donors.”

Members can support for as little as $100 in the fund’s inaugural year and, in return, lock in perks like discounts on future festival tickets and merch. Organizers are also looking for someone to contribute $25,000 to secure a matching donation from , which supports groups that advance “the diffusion of sovereignty,” including ecological stewardship, the website says.

In addition to the future fund, Telluride Mushroom Festival is exploring other creative avenues to bolster ticket sales. For example, it is offering camping for the first time ever and as cheaper alternatives to the $480 full festival pass.

The vast majority of Telluride Mushroom Festival attendees come from Colorado, with a sizable portion making the trek from Denver. Coady Smith hopes the opportunity to camp, especially, will inspire last-minute ticket buyers in the state who can now get lodging for a fraction of the cost of an Airbnb. (Camping costs $300 for six nights, before taxes and fees.)

The consumer costs associated with visiting Telluride were a concern for Bunyard even before the pandemic. But since then, it seems the prices of everything have skyrocketed, from food to gas to hotels. While that����ap true elsewhere around the country, Telluride is famously .

The ethos behind foraging wild mushrooms is one of finding free resources, something of an added challenge when trying to sell tickets, Bunyard said.

“You have all these people coming wanting to get stuff very cheap or free, or learn how to do that, but you’re also holding it in one of the most expensive places in North America. So there’s this weird scenario where it����ap going to cost a lot of money to do all this free stuff,” he said. “A lot of people that have been long-time members of the festival I think get that and they’re starting to respond with our pleas for them to step up and become a sustaining donor.”

Over the years, Telluride Mushroom Festival has tried to lower the barriers to entry for would-be attendees and locals with free activities at the local library and in Elks Park downtown. About 30% of programming does not require a ticket, Coady Smith said. That includes the Saturday afternoon parade down Colorado Avenue, a beloved tradition that sees dancing down the street.

The challenges facing Telluride Mushroom Festival are not unique, according to Coady Smith. Following a post-pandemic boom, other events have also experienced declining ticket sales, possibly signaling a change in the local marketplace. That recently inspired organizers from many major events, including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, to establish a so-called “festival alliance” that is actively working to bring more visitors to town.

“It seems like a lot of what����ap happening is this shift to a luxury traveler and destination wedding kind of environment,” said Coady Smith. “We’re all working together to help work with the town and work with the tourism board and work with our lodging partners, trying to figure out how to keep festivals part of Telluride’s fabric. Because it����ap been part of the fabric for so long and it����ap so important to so many people.”

More information about the TMF Future Fund is expected to be published on the festival website soon, Coady Smith said. In the meantime, people who are interested in donating can do so at . Organizers will also be fundraising in-person during the event next week. Tickets to attend are for sale at .

The 33-year-old popstar to emphasize her hiatus “was not a reactive or impulsive thing.” She added that she made the plan “quietly, a long time ago” from “a thoughtful and empowered place.”

“I want to share this because I that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the f–k opposite,” Grande continued. “Honestly, this is not what that is. And I just want to be very, very clear: Multiple things can be true at the same time. Yes, boundaries, they need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes. And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.”

Grande concluded: “No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or not as real to me ” adding “that felt good” before continuing onto her performance

Grande has been facing scrutiny over her appearance, her thin frame in particular, since the start of her “Wicked: For Good” press tour in 2025. But it reached a fever pitch last week upon the release of her latest off her new album of the same name. Days later, her rep confirmed to People that she “will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes” her tour.

The rep added that Grande looks forward “to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.” The Oscar nominee has also pulled out of the which would have been a reunion with her “Wicked” costar Jonathan Bailey.

The production was scheduled to open at London’s Barbican Centre next summer.

The Eternal Sunshine Tour, meanwhile, continues with two more shows in Chicago this week, followed by 10 shows at London’s O2 Arena through Sept. 1. She’s also starring in with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, which is set to hit theaters on Nov. 25.

The country superstar, who last played here in 2019, today added two more concerts to his Ball Arena stop in September. The previously announced shows on Friday, Sept. 4, and Saturday, Sept. 5, are already sold out, but are now joined by a pair of performances on Sunday, Sept. 6, with matinee and evening shows.

Tickets for Brooks’ “Blame It On My Roots” tour went on sale this morning via . The general on-sale, online or through the Ticketmaster App finds all tickets priced at $155.25 ($140 ticket price + $5.25 facility fee + $10 service charge) in every seat in the house, or “one fair price,” according to promoters.

Brooks last played Denver on June 8, 2019, at Empower Field at Mile High. His new approach is unusual in the concert world, where tickets are typically priced in tiers that get more expensive as seats near the stage. Setting a single price for all tickets ensures a better experience for all and disincentivizes scalpers, he wrote on his website.

The Denver show features both end-stage and in-the-round seating, with all seats reserved, promoters said. There are no pre-sales or advance box office sales, and all tickets go on sale simultaneously, with an 8-ticket limit per purchase.

It’s an emo wedding, and .

Jennifer Ortega, 31, and her husband Nick Santos, 30, are throwing an emo/metal rager for their wedding celebration in Golden this September. The Aurora couple is on the hunt for musical soulmates who want to crash their big day.

— short for “emotional” — is a musical genre that spun off from hardcore punk and features its own subculture characterized by angsty songs, black clothing, heavy eyeliner and side-swept bangs.

The wedding’s dress code is strict — black-and-green attire only. Ortega will be outfitted in a black, lacy dress with black-and-green custom Vans shoes branded with her wedding date. The table centerpieces will be ghosts encircling black candles. The floral scheme? Black-and-green roses, of course.

What begins as a more traditional wedding reception will transform into a rollicking, angst-filled, scream-singing concert of sorts, sure to have attendees channeling their inner by professing

The couple already eloped last year while overlooking Saint Mary Lake at in Montana, but their family said they needed a reception for everyone to celebrate.

“I said, ‘OK, well if we’re going to do a reception, it’s going to be exactly how I want it,'” Ortega said.

And Ortega wants it non-traditional. Even the guest list is a bit shocking.

In addition to Ortega and Santos’ friends and family, the couple is welcoming more than 30 complete strangers to their celebration.

The newly launched company  allows engaged couples a platform to sell seats to their wedding to guests looking for a good time.

San Diego-based co-founder Jeff Besen dreamed up the idea when he and his wife were concocting a fun date night and wished they could find a wedding to crash.

“The interest from people wanting to attend weddings has been amazing across the country in all different demographics from ages, genders, relationship status, you name it,” Besen said. “Everybody is interested in attending a wedding. People are willing to make a monetary contribution because there’s dinner, open bar, dancing, socializing. It’s a no-brainer.”

The company launched in March and has worked with about 10 weddings across the country so far. It’s had success going viral on social media and Besen hopes that continues to spread by word of mouth.

“It’s been awesome,” he said. “People go in as strangers and leave as friends.”

And the happy couple can turn declined wedding invitation RSVP’s into income by charging random people for attendance to one of the most important days of their lives.

For Ortega, it’s not about the money, though.

“As an adult, it’s hard to make friends,” she said. “This just seemed like a great way to meet people. I get to bring in people I’ve never met but probably will have the best time with. Meeting friends through music is very important to me.”

Ortega grew up an emo kid in Brighton. She dressed in all black, listened to bands like and , and was constantly coming into Denver for concerts. She spent most of her 20s following her favorite band, , across the country and got involved in photographing the local metal scene, too, which led to her career in marketing.

“The music basically lit the path for my future,” Ortega said.

She met her best friend at the music festival 10 years ago. Now, she’s hoping to meet some new emo fanatics to usher in her love story.

Ortega and Santos met on the dating app in 2022.

“We started talking and never stopped,” Ortega said.

Santos was more into “dad rock” like , but his interest in emo music intensified when they started dating, she said.

When the couple saw a TikTok video of a Not a Wedding Crasher attendee at someone’s wedding, they wanted to be a part of the fun, too.

The couple signed up and posted their Sept. 11 wedding on the platform about two weeks ago, selling invitations for $50 each (Not a Wedding Crasher pockets about $10 of that). They’ve opened up 35 seats for the taking and, so far, 22 of those spots have been filled, Ortega said.

Prospective attendees fill out a little information about themselves, and the couple chooses who gets a seat at the table.

Ortega said she and her husband are enjoying reading about everyone and seeing who fits the vibe. Ortega’s coworkers have volunteered to sit with the strangers to show them a good time, she said.

“I have a lot of people who are excited to meet the strangers,” she said. “It gives an extra value to the wedding.”

The wedding reception will start more traditionally so the couple’s family members can enjoy themselves at the venue in Golden.

“Once it hits 9 p.m., our DJ is planning to make an announcement letting people know if they want to leave, now is the time,” Ortega said. “It’s the best of both worlds. It pleases the older crowd, and it pleases me and my friends.”

The celebrated vocalist Gregory Porter takes to the stage as part of the Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series on Saturday, August 8. Porter is as well-versed in performing standards and R&B-flavored numbers as anyone in 2026. His friendly, gentle voice has always reminded me a bit of the late Bill Withers, and if you’re unfamiliar with his work, take a listen to his “Liquid Spirit” and “Take Me to the Alley” albums, both of which picked up “Best Jazz Vocal Album” Grammys in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

Denver electric bassist and bandleader Matt Skellenger’s Group will open for Porter. Skellenger’s excellent 2009 album, “Parentheticals,” has recently been remastered and rereleased. Get tickets at .

Also at the Botanic Gardens, the endlessly joyous Trombone Shorty and his group Orleans Avenue returns on Wednesday, August 12.

The joyous free shows at Denver’s City Park wrap up for this season on Sunday, August 9, with the JAKARTA Band. The City Park Jazz website says they are “without question, the most popular party dance band in the country.” Who’d willingly miss such an event?  The music begins at 6 p.m., and details are at .

Telluride surrenders to the music this week with the annual Telluride Jazz Festival. Much of the action takes place in Town Park, with performances from Don Was & the Pan Detroit Ensemble, The Disco Biscuits, Robert Randolph, Theo Croker and Lettuce, who will be celebrating the 100th birthday of trumpeter Miles Davis. And here’s a tip: Many of the headliners will perform separate, late-night shows in Telluride locales like the Sheridan Opera House and The Alibi. Tickets and lodging at .

Back indoors, anyone longing for that mythic organ-based soul jazz will delight in veteran keyboardist Ronnie Foster making a rare appearance at Denver’s Dazzle on August 27. Foster released numerous soaring albums for the Blue Note label in the 1970s (anyone remember the exciting “Two Headed Freap” LP from ’72?), but stopped releasing titles as a leader in 1986. Then in 2022, he rose like a Phoenix from the ashes with the spirited “Reboot” album, returning to the Blue Note fold. The Ronnie Foster Organ Trio plays two all-ages sets at 6:30 p.m.and 9 p.m. Find out more at .

Also at Dazzle in August: pianist-vocalist Camilla Vaitaitis brings her quartet to the stage August 2, the Lao Tizer Band performs August 7, and the Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Organ Trio plays August 13-14…keyboard pioneer Herbie Hancock appears at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium on August 11-12…the Rebirth Brass Band brings their traveling party to Levitt Pavilion on August 14…the Adam Bodine Quintet plays the Muse Performance Space in Lafayette on August 29…at Denver’s Nocturne, Wil Swindler’s Post Bop Quartet is performing every Saturday in August, and the Julie Koenig Trio plays every Thursday…the 32nd Annual Vail Jazz Festival takes place Labor Day weekend at the Manor Vail Lodge featuring Niki Haris, Sean Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, Terel Stafford, Lewis Nash and Camille Thurman…

Bret Saunders is a freelance writer and radio DJ.

Saturday. Woof! Dog Days of Summer premiered last year at Larimer Square, and it was so much frisky-fun it’s back for another bite. The 2-6 p.m. event invites pups and their humans to Lower Downtown for “a fun afternoon of dog-friendly activations on Denver’s most historic block.”

Those include not just business pop-ups, but professional pet portraits, dog treat giveaways for the first 100 dogs, bandanas, doggie cooling zones (courtesy Sploot Veterinary Care, who’s handing out frozen bone treats), misting tents, and free live music from Michael Cec, Before the Sun, and Damn Tall Buildings. All of it’s free.

“Sip craft beverages from Larimer Square establishments Garage Sale Vintage, NADC Burger: Denver, Tamayo and Osteria Marco,” they wrote, adding “all partners will be handing out free canned water to attendees.” All pups are welcome, of course. 1430 Larimer St. in Denver. Visit for more information. — John Wenzel

Boat beers

Saturday. Grab your captain’s hat and set a course for the Yacht Rock Beer Festival, which takes place in the upstairs space above Full Frame Beer Company, 2000 Lawrence St. in Denver, on Saturday, Aug. 1 from 2 to 6 p.m.

More than 15 Colorado breweries brewed a beer using Yacht Rock Malt from Troubadour Maltings; “this hyper pale, Colorado-grown base malt creates a clean, crisp foundation that allows each brewery’s recipe and creative approach to stand out,” Full Frame said. You can try unlimited pours for $55. Attendees also get a commemorative tasting glass. There will be yacht-themed games as well as soft-rock classics from DJ Skinny Rabbits. Get tickets at . — Jonathan Shikes

Colorado Day celebrations

Saturday. The annual statewide celebration known as Colorado Day returns Saturday, Aug. 1, this time with the extra oomph of the state’s sesquicentennial (150th anniversary). And what better way to celebrate than with local artisans, creatives and businesses?

Denver BAZAAR has a worthy event from noon-6 p.m. Saturday that should check all those boxes. Nearly 150 vendors, a “homegrown music stage,” and more (acts include Los Mocochetes, Brothers of Brass, May Be Fern, and School of Rock). “Start on the 16th Street walkway, the stretch between Commons Park West and the bridge. Food trucks the whole way, cold drinks, plenty of Colorado-made. Eat, grab a beer, then head for the water,” organizer Gum Pop Presents wrote.

The event is free and all-ages near 2101 15th St. in Denver. Visit for more information. — John Wenzel

Table tops

Saturday. The Mile Long Table is back in Denver on Saturday, Aug. 1, for its second year as a way “to enjoy a shared meal, foster meaningful conversation, and celebrate the values that have shaped the state and city for generations,” according to Longer Tables, the nonprofit that hosts the event.

This year’s event will take on special significance as it honors the state’s 150th birthday (also on Aug. 1); there will be 5,280 seats available, and tickets cost $5.28. The dinner begins at 5 p.m. on the Main Campus Plaza at the National Western Center, 4850 National Western Drive in Denver. Get tickets and more information at . — Jonathan Shikes

As a disabled person who uses a wheelchair, that’s something she doesn’t take for granted.

“I hadn’t acted in a long time just due to my chronic illnesses, and I didn’t think it would even be possible to perform again,” she said. “But a couple of years ago I saw Phamaly do ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ which was my first time seeing one of their productions, and everyone on stage being disabled made me so happy and excited and fulfilled. It blew my mind open to the possibilities of accessible theater.”

Now Harston is playing June, the tuneful lead in Phamaly’s production of “504: The Musical,” which runs at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. With a book and lyrics by Abbie Goldberg, and music by Mason McDowell, the show reimagines the events of a 1977 San Francisco sit-in that forced passage of disability laws in California, and set the stage for revolutions to come.

The “504” in the title refers to , as they’re known, from section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. It “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education,” the agency’s website reads. The 504 Plans range from wheelchair access for school bathrooms to daily treatment plans for kids with Type 1 diabetes.

And yet, the federal government is retreating from those protections, with the Justice Department last week Legalese is once again threatening the civil rights of disabled people, activists say, and potentially erasing five decades of hard-won progress. “504: The Musical” is meant to bring that into stark relief, even as 504 Plans remain generally invisible to most people, Raanan said.

Breaking ground, again

At Phamaly’s headquarters in north Denver’s Tramway Nonprofit Center, actors funnel past rooms of costumes and props and choreographers rehearsing complicated moves. In these halls, the overall nature of the company is clear: this is a safe space, physically and mentally, for all sorts of disabled people, but also one that pushes for artistic excellence at every turn.

That makes Phamaly the ideal place to debut said AJ Watson, production accessibility manager. After leaving a 17-year job at ESPN and moving from his home state of Connecticut to Colorado, the avowed theater fan caught a Phamaly show and immediately wanted to volunteer.

Now he serves the artists’ needs at the longest-running disability theater in the U.S., making accommodations and providing services for diverse creatives who are blind, deaf, in wheelchairs, and using canes, and some living with invisible disabilities. It’s not just about safety and human dignity, but also basic production logistics, he said.

“We have two members of our cast who are seizure-prone, so when that happens — and today could be one of those days — I’m the person who takes care of that,” he said. “I control the (rehearsal) room, we exit people if they need to be exited, I hold the person often, and I get them the resources that they need.”

Phamaly is a known quantity in Denver’s arts scene, having collected for its groundbreaking productions over its 37 years, and continually asking audiences to reconsider who gets to dance, sing and act on stage — and why.

But even amid past, original shows and their refreshing takes on “A Chorus Line” and “Little Women,” “504” is a unique recipe, with an all-disabled cast bringing to life a narrative that’s more about funny, weird, heart-rending details than political legacy.

It’s a celebration of the love and joy that disabled people experience when working together, said the musical’s director Ben Raanan. Snappy dialogue and earworm songs such as are rooted firmly in their late-’70s period, even as the subject remains immediate and deeply personal for the artists, added Raanan, who also serves as

“Even now we’re still questioning laws and ideas that impact the disabled community,” he said. “How can you change a building that’s been there for 100 years? When is enough enough? So many questions come out of the situation that inspired ‘504: The Musical,’ which is basically a bunch of disabled in people trapped in a building in 1977 for 25 days straight.”

Painful relevance

The issue is especially relevant in Denver because of the city’s pioneering disability-rights activists, whose Gang of 19 forced RTD to add lifts to its buses in 1978, helping kick off the Americans with Disabilities Act movement. They’ll soon be commemorated with at downtown’s Civic Center as part of the renovation of the sprawling public space.

“Despite being arguably the most important single event to occur in the Civic Center district, the Gang of 19 protest remains largely unknown to the broader public,” wrote online in April. The project received $1.8 million from the Mellon Foundation for a bold design that “transforms the south side of the Greek Theatre into a memorial, a new grand entry, and a model of inclusive public space,” the conservancy wrote.

The message people will see on the pavement is “WE WILL RIDE,” the Gang of 19’s rallying cry, surrounded by the names of all 19 activists, according to the conservancy.

Since the late ’70s, Colorado and California’s disability-rights activists have continued to lead the fight for which “504: The Musical’s” activists risked everything, from imprisonment to their own physical and mental health (the song “All We Need to Do” asserts they can “turn the A/C into a fridge” to keep safe their lifesaving medications cold).

It’s an analog for the at-times contradictory process of depicting those events, Raanan said.

“The cast has so many different disabilities and needs, and sometimes those are in conflict with one another,” he said. “But I’m directing the person, not the play. … The best practice is that you talk to the person and figure out what they need to be successful in their own bodies, and you do everything you can to accommodate that.

“Sometimes we can,” he continued. “Sometimes we can’t.”

DOJ backs off 504 enforcement

The federal government under President Trump has directed agencies to loosen enforcement of 1999’s Olmstead Act, which underpins the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities. It compels public and private organizations to provide full and equal access to education, according to nonprofit civil rights organization (formerly Disability Law Colorado).

“Until now, the Department of Justice advised state and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the community and to avoid unnecessary institutionalization,” leaders wrote in a statement. “On July 20, the Department announced that it would no longer follow that guidance when enforcing the ADA.”

Local and national disability leaders have strongly condemned the federal government’s new approach, which would re-segregate people with disabilities, according to Disability Justice.

“That means more people with disabilities could face longer waits for home- and community-based services, or lose such services altogether,” said executive director Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House, in the statement. “And it means more people could be forced into nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, and jails — not because they need institutional care but because they have nowhere else to go.”

Stories worth telling

“Accessibility should not be an afterthought,” said “504” actor Harston, who also performs in the local, long-running “Rocky Horror Picture Show” . “And that’s what makes ‘504: The Musical’ such an incredible story, because it’s all about that. To bring it to life with these wonderful people just feels like a family (experience). I’ve never felt so taken care of in a workspace.”

Raanan begins each rehearsal with a gut-check for actors, who share what they’re bringing into the space, and what they’re needing to thrive in that moment. He doesn’t do his job out of charity, he said, but rather because disabled artists are some of the most fascinating and talented people in the world. They deal every day with issues that most people can’t even imagine — such as the constant difficulty of using public transportation to travel to rehearsals (a popular topic at a recent gathering).

“I’m obsessed with the details, and I am told that is because I am neurodivergent,” Raanan said with a laugh. “But being your authentic, vulnerable self in an artificial space is how I define theater. There’s a reason why Jolee is playing the lead, and it’s not just because she’s great at putting on a character.

“It’s because she brings all of herself to June, who is a leader in the history of disability rights,” he continued, referring to late activist “It’s up to me as a director to have high standards, because nothing in this room is just going to be OK because it’s easier. It has to be artistically rigorous. And so how do we channel our intense joy and experiences into it? This musical challenges all of us to be our best selves.”

If you go

“504: The Musical.” World-premiere musical dramedy with book and lyrics by Abbie Goldberg and music by Mason McDowell. Directed by Ben Raanan. Aug. 6-23 at Kilstrom Theatre at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street in Denver. Tickets: $30-$47 via