New Immersive Ball Brings Labyrinth to Life at the Savoy

Colorado native Amber Blais wants to take audiences out of this mundane world. Blais is the director and owner of Starry Night Productions, which grew from her former group, Rainbow Militia, a collective of musicians and circus performers that did immersive events over Zoom during the pandemic. It even had a traveling circus wagon that would visit low-income neighborhoods around Denver, bringing performance to the people. But two years ago, Rainbow Militia disbanded, and Blais established Starry Night to carry on with the show — which, as we all know, must go on.

Then Blais got distracted by what she calls a "dream come true." A couple of years ago, the revamped Casa Bonita invited her to redevelop its entertainment offerings as Trey Parker and Matt Stone rebooted the pink palace. "I had all the weird skills they needed," laughs Blais. "I'd worked with acrobats and puppets and magic and all of that. It was an amazing experience." When her time there ended, she returned to producing immersive shows, to "dip my toes back in the world." 

All of those experiences led to her upcoming production, Masque of the Goblin King, a tribute to David Bowie in the Jim Henson film Labyrinth. The immersive event will include a custom-built labyrinth; performances by goblin band Catharsonist; and the opportunity to dance alongside fairies, goblins, the fireys and other mystical creatures as DJ Reed Fox spins his mystical tunes and stand before the Goblin King himself in a costume and mask contest. The fantasy bacchanal will take place at the Savoy Denver from 7 p.m. to midnight on Friday, October 25, and again on Saturday, October 26.

This will be the second time that Blais has partnered with music director Cassidy Bacon, a Fort Collins native and former member of the local band Sinkra. "I've always been into music," says Bacon, who studied classical voice at the University of Northern Colorado, "but this project with Amber seemed like a perfect fit. We've always been a little more playful, a little more weird than typical late-night Denver rock bands."

Blais and Bacon's first collaboration was an immersive show last year that riffed on Alice in Wonderland. Bacon's band, the Whimsy of Things, "developed some demos for that show that turned into an album," she says.

That album, Gravity Dance, will be available on October 25, which also makes Masque of the Goblin King a release party on top of the other festivities.
The inspiration for Masque of the Goblin King might be the movie, but it's also David Bowie, whose codpiece alone may be the key to the film's massive fandom and enduring legacy. "We love everything about that movie, but we're really only giving a nod to it. It was a connection made on a whim," says Blaise. "We wanted something weird and crazy, and I was tossing around ideas with another of my business partners, Tom Varani. He was like, 'You know what I love? Goblins, and mazes.' And that was it. We were off in the land of the Goblin King."

Hosting the intimate celebration of the weird, the beautiful and the fantastic at the Savoy is no accident of scheduling. "We've seen larger, trendier things taking over smaller art spaces," says Bacon. "It feels important to be building communities in those locally owned places that still exist and still support local artists. It feels really good to be in that space."

Blais says the event is also about outreach. "We feel it is super important to make all of our shows accessible to people of any income level while still paying our artists a living wage," says Blais. "We're able to do that with this show thanks to our 'Friends of Sarah' ticket level, which allows people to donate an extra 10 percent of their ticket price to subsidizing tickets for someone who can't afford them. We're also playing with a new transparent ticketing model that asks people to pay at the level they are able, knowing that all money goes right back into their community. People have been incredibly generous, and we're so grateful that we are able to make access to our shows as affordable as possible."

Blais says she hopes that this event will be an antidote to the usual "big boring Halloween events," especially those "produced by people outside of Denver" that underpay local talent and charge big ticket prices.

"This is a way to celebrate the season and really get immersive," she concludes. "Hopefully everyone will be dressed to the nines and ready to enjoy the party — and at the same time, support Colorado's local artists."

The Masque of the Goblin King, 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, October 25, and Sunday, October 26, Savoy Denver, 2700 Arapahoe Street. For tickets and more information, see the Starry Night Productions website.