“The Whale,” which is sure to be one of the most talked-about films of the fall, was born as a minnow right here in Denver. (I know, I know … but “minnow” just sounded more clever, if less accurate, than “calf.”)

The film received a six-minute standing ovation at last week’s Venice Film Festival and is already being hailed as a comeback Oscar contender for star Brendan Fraser. It’s based on a Samuel D. Hunter play that was first staged by the DCPA Theatre Company under the direction of Hal Brooks in 2012, one year after it was developed at the company’s annual Colorado New Play Summit.

The story is about a dying, reclusive 600-pound online English professor who is hoping to reconnect with his teenage daughter (Sadie Sink of “Stranger Things”) before it is too late. Along the way, the man, who is also mourning the death of his partner, is befriended by a young man who may or may not be a Mormon missionary.

Hollywood loves a good comeback story, and “it’s almost like the public was just waiting for Fraser’s,” film historian Chris Yogerst told NPR. The goofy, laid-back star of “George of the Jungle” and “The Mummy” franchise revealed many deeply personal struggles in a 2018 interview with GQ Magazine that has had millions rooting for his return all the more.

But for aspiring writers, what makes the journey of “The Whale” from page to stage to screen so remarkable is the fact that it came to the Denver Center as a blind submission. Meaning the relatively unknown Hunter, who went on to write the Denver-centric Louie Anderson vehicle “Baskets,” had no agent at the time. He had no way in – so he mailed it in with crossed fingers from his home in Idaho.

The real miracle of this story might be that the late DCPA Literary Manager Douglas Langworthy opened his mail and read the script at all. In the weeks leading up to the play’s premiere in Denver, “a big-time New York theater tried to steal it out from under us,” then-Artistic Director Kent Thompson said at the time. “I think we’ve entered into a different territory.”

After the play opened, he added: “‘The Whale’ is generating more excitement within the industry than any play we’ve ever done here.”

“The Whale” made its New York debut nearly a year later at Playwright’s Horizons, where it caught the eye of director Darren Aronofsky.

https://youtu.be/R8sJGcDIcqY

The film does not open for general release until Dec. 9, and Denver Film Festival officials say it is too soon to know whether it will be a featured selection at its own 45th annual gathering to be held the month before. But Denver Film has a long history of grabbing big-buzz films like “La La Land,” “Knives Out” and “Spencer” for Denver audiences a few weeks before they go out to the general public.

No matter when it arrives, this film is just one of hundreds of cultural offerings I’m looking forward to in the coming months. And while it would be impossible to do justice to everything today, here’s a bite-sized first look at 10 intriguing arts happenings I have circled on my fall calendar (in chronological order). We’ll be telling you more about these and dozens of other events as they come up:

2. David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar’s ‘Theatre of the Mind’

Four years in the works and much head-scratching speculation later, it’s time to finally answer the question: What the (bleep) is going on in David Byrne’s head – and what does he plan to do to mine? In this freaky immersive one-hour play, you and just 15 others will be guided by one actor through 12 rooms in what is being described as “an interactive deep-dive into the science of the human brain.” One thing we know for certain: “Theater of the Mind” is the largest immersive theatrical adventure ever attempted in Denver. Presented by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts from Sept. 13-Dec. 18 at the York Street Yards, 3887 Steele St.

3. Pick a concert, any concert

Picking a fall concert to recommend in Denver is like choosing between drops in the ocean: L7, a gender-neutral band that formed Rock for Choice in 1991, comes to the Summit Music Hall on Oct. 19 to mark the 30th anniversary of its “Bricks are Heavy” album. (The band name is slang for “square.” My personal wish list also includes: The National on Sept. 12 and Wilco on Sept. 14 at Red Rocks … Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü) goes solo electric on Sept. 18 at the Oriental Theater … Of Montreal on Sept. 21 at the Gothic Theatre … Built to Spill on Sept. 23 at the Bluebird. And so on.

4. Rajdulari Presents ‘Chaka! A Jazz Introspective’

The beat goes on at the legendary jazz club Dazzle, which will be moving in a few months from its present location at 1512 Curtis St. into the former Onyx space in the Denver Performing  Arts Complex at 14th and Arapahoe streets. Meantime, local actor and vocalist Rajdulari Landell (Town Hall’s “Little Shop of Horrors”) will be celebrating the music of the indefatigable Chaka Khan (“I Feel for You”) from a jazz perspective on Sept. 15. There are cabaret concerts galore to be found at local theaters including Vintage Theatre, BDT Stage and Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. In fact, also on Sept. 15, you can catch Mary Louise Lee (Vintage’s ‘Gypsy’) and her band performing “A Night of Whitney Houston” at BDT Stage in Boulder. Candlelight hosts a series of Eagles tribute concerts Oct. 3-5 in Johnstown.

5. Museum of Contemporary Art Denver’s ‘The Dirty South’

Even if you’ve been to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, you’ve never seen anything like this. “The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture and the Sonic Impulse” is MCA Denver’s first deep-dive exhibition, and it will take over the entire building – every gallery over all three floors. This exhibition, employing more than 80 artists from multiple genres, asserts that exploring the legacies and traditions of Black culture in the South through a contemporary lens is critical to our understanding of America’s past, present and future. “There has never been anything like this in Denver or the Mountain West before,” said publicist Holly Shrewsbury. Sept. 16-Feb. 5 at 1485 Delgany St.

6. Meow Wolf’s 1-year ‘Convergiversary’

I can’t claim to understand Meow Wolf any more today than I did a year ago, but after having attended concerts, art openings and a crazy weirdo outdoor festival, there is no denying two things: 1. Meow Wolf has made a significant impact on the local cultural scene, and 2. Meow Wolf knows how to throw a party. Meow Wolf drew 1 million visitors in its first nine months in Denver, including Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa, Reggie Watts, Lance Armstrong, Bob Weir and Halsey. (Name-drop much? Yup, I do.) On Sept. 17, the savvy entrepreneurial art hipsters will be celebrating their first birthday with something called “Convergiversary,” a daytime block party with $15 tickets and a nighttime blowout throughout the exhibition with guest DJs Jungle, The Juan Maclean and others (costing significantly more). It’ll be more fun than most 1-year-olds’ birthday parties, I’m guessing. Directly south of Mile High Stadium.

7. ‘The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays Music of Prince for Kids’

OK, this might turn out to be stupid, but it also sounds like it could be awesome. This is a family concert series that allows kids to move, play and sing while listening to the music of Prince. Which is just darned good parenting. The show promises a live cover band and says its core audience is families with children under 10. They will play games, jump around and be told stories of raspberry berets. Let’s go crazy on Sept. 25 at the Bluebird Theater.

8. Wonderbound’s ‘Penny’s Dreadful’

It just wasn’t right when the seductive Wonderbound dancers had to debut Garrett Ammon’s dark and tantalizing vampire tale “Penny’s Dreadful” amid the hollowing Halloween restrictions of 2021 social distancing. Set in Paris to pop music from the 1980s, the story follows a woman (named Penny, natch) who is thrown into a vampire realm where she must learn to navigate friendships, romance and (good luck) – daylight. “All before her thirst for blood becomes all-consuming,” Ammon says. Oct. 20-30 at 3865 Grape St.

9. Local Theater Company’s ‘Raised on Ronstadt’

GerRee Hinshaw, host of the Bug Theatre’s monthly “Freak Train,” premieres her own deeply personal exploration of her childhood through the seminal sounds of Linda Ronstadt in this one-woman theatrical memoir, bio musical and tribute concert all in one. Ronstadt’s disregard for convention and categorization inspired more in Hinshaw than just her taste in music. Presented by Local Theater Company from Oct. 20-Nov. 6 at Boulder’s e-Town Hall, 1535 Spruce St.

10. ‘Apollo: When We Went to the Moon’

Try not to hear Peter Schilling’s voice when the ignition sequence starts and your seat begins to tremble: “4, 3, 2, 1: Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating weightless.” … OK, so you don’t really get to sit in for Neil Armstrong aboard the 363-foot-tall Apollo 11 rocket in Cape Kennedy, but this new multi-sensory exhibition will let you make footprints on a virtual moon, climb aboard a lunar rover and rifle through some space-race artifacts from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s archives. Oct. 21-Jan. 22 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Bonus. ‘The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience’

OK, I lied. This one is NOT on my personal wish list, as I have not seen a single episode of the Netflix historical romance TV series based on Julia Quinn’s novels. But I was threatened by a certain young woman who shares my last name if I did not include this: Just in time for Halloween comes “The Queen’s Ball,” an immersive Regency-era ball with period costumes, decor and music inspired by the “Bridgerton” soundtrack. And here’s what I DO know about the show: It is produced by Shonda Rhimes, and for three weeks, its second season was the most-watched show in 92 countries. So I’m guessing its take is fresh.