Bridgerton Gets the Royal Treatment From Non Plus Ultra at the Brighton

An empty, 37,000-square-foot space at 3403 Brighton Boulevard is about to get the royal treatment. It's being turned into Regency England for The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, an immersive installation produced by Shonda Rhimes, Netflix and Feverup that will let fans of the Netflix show step inside the world of Lady Whistledown, Eloise, Francesca, Benedict and Colin Bridgerton, where they can dress in period costumes, listen to a string quartet, sip on Bridgerton-themed cocktails and enjoy some great photo opportunities.

The space is being brought to early 1800s life by Non Plus Ultra, A San Francisco-based company that expanded into Denver last year. Non Plus Ultra partners with real estate developers to activate empty properties until they are ready to be fully developed. It finds events like A Bridgerton Experience and brings them into the spaces, while also renting out facilities for corporate events and parties.

The Bridgerton Experience has already been to Atlanta, San Francisco, Montreal, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles; Non Plus Ultra booked it for Denver. "This show, in particular, is a level above anything else that we’ve done," says Jordan Langer, founder of Non Plus Ultra. "There’s such an amazing integration of artists and actors, and also being able to tie it to an actual television show, it’s like you’re in it. You’re at the queen's balls. It really is that transportation to a different world."

Non Plus Ultra got its start in San Francisco in 2014, when Langer owned a few brick-and-mortar businesses. He hosted a Halloween party in a large space slated for development, and after the bash was a hit, asked the developer if he could continue holding events in the spot. When the developer agreed, Langer formed Non Plus Ultra and began partnering with other properties to host more events. In the beginning, Non Plus Ultra would create those events, coming up with the concepts and creating the experiences; today it books already established concepts. "Now we focus on the real estate, permitting and production," Langer says. "The hardest thing is finding the location, getting the permit and making sure you have the right permits in place."

The Brighton location, which was formerly the Great Divide Brewery's Barrel Bar Taproom, was "the unicorn of Denver," Langer says. "Everyone has driven past the Great Divide Brewery hundreds of times. Now people will start looking at it as an event space. It made all the sense in the world to take this one on. We know we’ll be in this project for a number of years."

But the Brighton is just the latest location that Non Plus Ultra has found in Denver. The first was the 35,000-square-foot Sports Castle, at 1000 Broadway; it had been empty since Sports Authority closed its store there years ago. That building was enough to persuade Langer to expand to Denver last year. "The ownership group is still figuring out the direction they want to go," Langer says of the building. "If we weren’t in there, they’d have to make these decisions a lot faster."

Earlier this year, Non Plus Ultra filled the Sports Castle with The Art of Banksy, an exhibit with more than eighty pieces by street artist Banksy; it will host Denver Fashion Week there in November. Non Plus Ultra  has also partnered with Denver Rock Drill, a group of warehouses built in 1910 in Globeville; in addition to the Sports Castle and the Brighton, it's now working with the old Denver Post Printing Plant at 4400 Fox Street; the Broadway, a 12,000-square-foot space in Golden Triangle; and Suite 320 at the Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall, which was previously Jazz @ Jacks.

Real estate developers with space often reach out to Non Plus Ultra with their properties, Langer says. He tours them, and if he gets a vision for a space, he might decide to partner with the developer. Activating the spaces "helps the city as a whole by not having them boarded up while they’re sitting there," Langer says

Langer calls what Non Plus Ultra does "adaptive reuse. We’re utilizing them in this way that they’re not necessarily meant or built to be utilized as," Langer says. "Taking an old warehouse that may not have power or running water and putting 4,000 people inside of it takes a lot of doing; that’s really what makes us different and unique." The Denver Post Printing Plant was in particularly rough shape when Non Plus Ultra took it on, with no water or power; it was transformed into the setting for the Museum of Contemporary Art's annual fundraising gala. "History was literally printed in that building for Denver for decades," he says.

Non Plus Ultra will likely put another large, experiential show in the Brighton after Bridgerton, since the space is perfect for such an immersive event. "The reason I do any of this is because it makes people happy," Langer says. "Watching people's faces on this show, in particular, and how happy and excited that they get to be a part of this cultural experience."

The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience opens at The Brighton, 3403 Brighton Boulevard, on  October 30 and will run through December 18. Tickets range from $39 to $134 per person; purchase yours here.