Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex turns blue: Why?

Imagine this blue

At night, as you drive north along Speer Boulevard through downtown, you catch sight of an eerie glow to the right -- and no, it's not the soon-to-be-extinguished Qwest sign.The Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex, that massive building at the edge of the Denver Performing Arts Complex, has suddenly turned blue. It looks like the mother ship has landed. What's up?

"I turned it blue for a reason," says Randy Weeks, president of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which oversees the Bonfils. "So people would ask why it's blue."

And why is it blue? New technology made it possible to light the entire outside of the building, turning it a different color. "Technology has marched along," Weeks notes. "The computer that runs these things, you could make this look like the dancing waterfalls at the Bellagio."

And the company that owns this LED system was willing to let the DCPA give it a test drive for a reasonable price. "It would be a bigger investment to actually buy the program," notes Weeks. "I'd need to convince people it's worth buying the equipment."

Want to help the DCPA decide if it's worth it? Head over to the Speer side of the complex any time between dusk and 2 a.m., when the lights go out for the night. Ideally, head over when you have reservations to see Traces, the show that got a rave from Juliet Wittman, and helped provide some of the inspiration for this blue period. It runs through May 11.

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