You don't need any hardware from MA to use their software with their visualizer, it's all free and ready to download and learn from the MA site. Version 3 is the newest, but you might have better luck learning for version 2.

It kind of looks like you know what you want in some lighting fixtures, Amazon has some good cheapy moving heads, I suggest looking for ones with gobo, look at ebay too. Maybe get some LED bars, a tiny hazer? I don't know if showxpress uses the common tools I use in every lighting software (groups, presets, effects, cues, list, and masters) each one gives me control of how fast I can program or make changes to my show. I can suggest DMXcontrol3 as a Windows user for freeware, you might be able to use it with your current DMX interface.
You can also use MA's visualizer with DC3 or any software that allows for Artnet or sACN output.