Union Colony Civic Center’s spring season will look a little different this year as it works to reach a broader audience

By Dan England

A quick glance at the Union Colony Civic Center’s brochure for the upcoming spring season wouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the city-run entertainment venue. There’s a couple kids shows, including “Madagascar,” a Christian rock group, and Air Supply, the band your mom sang to 30 years ago while she drove you to soccer. 

But then Jason Evenson, who puts these shows together, mentions the Latino rap artist. 

You won’t find information on the artist in the brochure, and Evenson wasn’t quite ready to give details about the act just yet. But it’s the starkest example of the different approaches the UCCC will take this spring to try to get everyone to at least one show.. 

“The rap artist is for such a targeted audience that they won’t look at a brochure,” said Evenson, cultural affairs manager. “We are doing things entirely differently on some acts.” 

The act, Evenson said, would be promoted by someone who’s worked with the Moxi Theater and understands the younger crowd and how they find out about acts, Evenson said. The UCCC, though, is backing the act and taking some share in the risk. 

“We are saying to this person that we have some brand standards,” Evenson said, “but you know how to reach a different audience. We will provide the stage and crew, but you will help by reaching that audience. This isn’t just renting us.” 

There are other changes as well. This season will be called a spring semester, and the one that follows will be a fall semester. Tickets for the spring shows go on sale Friday. 

If this sounds like school, well, that’s not unintentional, as there will be a summer break as well. 

“Most of your lives revolve around the morning school schedules,” Evenson said, “and the Colorado community takes time to do things in the summer.”

That includes the Greeley Stampede, and the UCCC doesn’t want to compete. 

Performance schedules are tightening up to accommodate the finicky world of social media, Evenson said. These days, if a pug can go viral for waking up with no bones, it’s conceivable that anyone else can too. If an act does, say, land a popular song on TikTok, they can charge more for the next few months. This leaves managers hesitant to book out too far in advance. 

“They don’t want to make deals 15 months ahead,” Evenson said. “We can raise the quality of the acts by dividing up the seasons. In fact, we could add events later, so pay attention to social media or get on our e-mail mailing list.” 

This, of course, changes the way the UCCC does business, including the way it will offer ticket packages. Season ticket packages are transitioning into memberships, much like those sold by the Denver Performing Arts Center. The UCCC will sell five tiers of memberships, but all tiers include early access and discounts to tickets. The top includes free tickets and drinks, valet parking and signed posters from the acts. 

“We want to retain our longtime, loyal patrons, but membership will do that,” Evenson said. 

For more information

For more information on the upcoming spring semester and to buy tickets or a membership, go to ucstars.com or call (970) 356-5000.