Control Group Productions performed its first experiential theater production ten years ago, and has consistently banged out two shows a year since then, even keeping the arts alive during the pandemic with live performances you could watch from your car. And last year, the troupe put audiences on wheels again for its production of The End, in which participants rode on a bus and visited post-apocalyptic sites. Control Group never fails to put the audience straight into the story, immersing everyone in its plotlines and guiding them through its always-entertaining narratives.

While most immersive experiences fail to engage all five senses, OddKnock Productions hit every mark over the summer with its sophomore immersive theater production, From On High. It took place in an abandoned warehouse in RiNo, where audiences were immediately immersed in the '80s office environment of a corporation called BANR, whose ultimate goal is world domination. A satire that produced as many laughs as it did deeply moving moments, From On High was a unique take on capitalism that beckoned audiences to return for repeat viewings. The group hasn't put on a production since then, but we're hoping to see more this year.

Whether partnering with Aurora's 5280 Artist Co-Op to tell a story about Black female homesteaders in Flyin' West or bringing Kate Hamill's edgy adaptation of Pride & Prejudice to the stage last year, Firehouse Theater Company regularly offers a mix of classic theater and newer productions, many of which center on the stories of marginalized communities. Operating out of the John Hand Theater (and former firehouse) on the Colorado Free University campus in Lowry, the space feels intimate and accessible for budding actors in a way few theaters do, while still offering a mesmerizing live experience. It all started with John Hand, but after his death in 2004, his sister, Helen, stepped in to lead this still-fledgling organization — and the rest, as they say, is history.

On the wings of a fifty-year anniversary, Tony Garcia and his intrepid crew at the Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center were able to accomplish a miracle: The company, which began by performing in the streets of Auraria and the Westside, was able to pay off the mortgage on the old Denver Civic Theatre, a venue it had been working out of since 2010. With Su Teatro's typically humorous touch, the theater invited the public to a toast and a mortgage-burning — or at least the acting out of one — in January.

Flamboyán Theater founder Jon Marcantoni, who is a playwright, fiction writer, editor and all-around theater honcho, knows firsthand how hard it is for playwrights of color to get their plays read, let alone produced and staged before an audience. Articulate and resourceful, Marcantoni knew he had the chops to help. The result is the Emerging BIPOC Playwrights Project, a fully realized program in collaboration with Control Group Productions. Now in session, the project explores basic training in theater and is trailblazing new ideas about staging a play.

Comprising only disabled performers, Phamaly Theatre Company produces stirring plays that allow people traditionally shunned from the industry to collaborate and share their talents. It was the subject of the 2021 documentary Imperfect, which followed director Regan Linton as she endeavored to put on Phamaly's production of Chicago during its thirtieth season in 2019. And in 2022, Phamaly was recognized at the Colorado Theatre Guild's annual Henry Awards, where the company's five founders were given Lifetime Achievement Awards. The theater partnered with Su Teatro last fall for a riveting, immersive performance of The Rocky Horror Show, and is currently presenting Spring Awakening at Northglenn Arts until April 8.

The Denver Fringe Festival has done well for itself, especially considering that its first two iterations, in 2020 and 2021, occurred during the pandemic. The four-day celebration of the performing arts hosted its first fully in-person festival in 2022, at venues scattered across RiNo and Five Points, with forty unique shows produced by local creatives. Attendees get to see everything from cabaret and burlesque to aerial and circus arts, musical theater, magic shows and more. Endeavoring to be as inclusive and fair as possible, the curation process is open-access, meaning nearly every submission is accepted, and if there is not enough space for all applicants, a lottery, rather than a jury, is used to approve works. Even better, 70 percent of the festival's proceeds goes to the artists themselves.

Each year in April, the much-esteemed Aspen Film Shortsfest is one of just four Oscar-qualifying short-film festivals in the country. In 2022, Shortsfest selected 77 films to screen out of 3,000 applicants from around the world, and winners included director Joanna Quinn's Affairs of Art, which went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. This is far from the only Shortsfest film to be nominated for an Oscar, proving that its jury is dedicated to showcasing high-quality and moving works year after year.

You might think there are fewer and fewer reasons to go to the Pavilions anymore, but the Regal theaters up on the third floor have kept us going back, even as other tenants of the 16th Street Mall fixture come and go. Between the free underground parking, the comfy state-of-the-art seating and two floors of theaters — ranging from standard digital to RPX to the sense-shattering 4DX (don't ever see a summer blockbuster again without it) — this place should be a lot more crowded than it usually is. Until it gets rediscovered by Denver (unlikely until the 16th Street Mall renovations are done), take advantage of the light crowds and the amazing experiences to be had. Let's all go to the movies!

Where else? The Mayan has everything you'd want in an art-house cinema: landmark status, a rich local history, a surviving original design, a neon marquee and the smell of nearly a century's worth of buttered popcorn. All of this legacy plus three screens of DLP digital projection and sound sits smack on Broadway in the center of Denver. The Mayan screens some of the finest little-movies-that-could, many of which too often get lost in the shadows of Hollywood blockbusters. Everything in us loves the Mayan: our eyes, our hearts, our minds. Long live all the Landmark theaters — but especially the Mayan.