MOVIES
What if the South had won? That premise is the amazing trick Kevin Willmott pulls off with his fake documentary “CSA: The Confederate States of America.” On the lowest of budgets, he rewrites history on the grandest scale. In Willmott’s vision, British and French troops helped the South win at Gettysburg, turning the tide of the war. Lincoln fled the White House, making room for Jefferson Davis to take up residence as the new president. Willmott lets no one off the hook, from African leaders who profited from the slave trade to Lincoln himself.
– MICHAEL BOOTH
POPULAR MUSIC
Only one band could morph “I wanna take you to a gay bar!” into a war call for electro-disco-lovers everywhere, no matter their sexual orientation. Electric Six, Detroit’s KISS-meets-Peaches rebirth, returns to Colorado for a Saturday show at the Larimer Lounge. The band, known for “Gay Bar” and “Danger! High Voltage,” is touring in support of its “Senor Smoke.” And while the new combo is more about the dirty rock than it is the perverse disco, it’s still bedlam inside these shows. Opening are Every Move a Picture and Rock Kills Kid with an after-party rocked by DJ Avery (Mr. Pacman) and DJ Michael Trundle (Lipgloss).
– RICARDO BACA
DANCE
CU-Boulder’s DanceWorks 2006 promises to dish out a slice of nearly every modern dance form. The annual event, choreographed by CU dance faculty and guest artists, features seven works, including pieces by internationally known artists Susan Marshall and Hsing-Ay Hsu. Among the more provocative works is “Voiced,” a solo performance conceived by CU professor emerita Nancy Spanier and danced by current CU professor Toby Hankin. The two created the structure via e-mail collaborations and polished it during a brief stint in France. Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at CU’s Mainstage Theatre. $9.25-$16.25, 303-492-8181 or cutheatre.org.
– JOHN WENZEL
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Music-lovers can just never get enough of Johann Sebastian Bach, which helps explain the motivation behind Englewood Arts’ next offering – “Back to Bach.” The fifth annual chamber presentation features Up Close and Musical, a group of Colorado Symphony musicians, and such guests as harpsichordist Frank Nowell and soprano Elizabeth Weigle. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the new Hampden Hall in the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. 303-806-0444, ext 350.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
STAGE
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Ami Dayan’s ‘The Man Himself”‘ runs through Saturday. Written by Alan Drury and adapted, directed and performed by Dayan, the monologue charts a man’s drift to religious extremism. A film adaptation is in development, to be released next year. Tickets $15 (student and senior discounts available). 303-443-2122.
– JOANNE OSTROW
VISUAL ART
A fascinating subcategory of contemporary art is so-called artist books, in which artists rethink the possibilities of what a book can be and stretch their own creative expression at the same time. The CU Art Museum at the University of Colorado at Boulder is presenting an exhibition of artist books from the Polly and Mark Addison Collection through March 24. It includes 1960s-90s examples by such major figures as Laylah Ali, Chuck Close, Damien Hirst and Barbara Kruger. 303-492-8300 or colorado.edu/cuartmuseum.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
TELEVISION
It’s not all about “The Sopranos” tonight on HBO. It is also about “Big Love,” the polygamy drama starring Bill Paxton and his three wives. It’s also not about Mormons, even though the show is set in a suburb of Salt Lake City. Just ask church officials, who insisted a disclaimer to that effect run at the beginning of each episode. But it is about the crazy dynamics of trying to keep three families happy and deal with a menacing Harry Dean Stanton as the leader of a polygamy sect who wants his tribute from Paxton.
– EDWARD P. SMITH
