MOVIES
This week brings two very different, wholly entertaining movies. “Tsotsi” offers emotional punch, sending audiences out of the theater in a dreamy, contemplative mood – the sign of a powerful film. Writer-director Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Athol Fugard’s story is set in Soweto in South Africa. A murderous young thug unlocks his emotions as he struggles to care for a baby he “acquired” in a carjacking. No cheap endings here, just the right amount of heart and soul. For the popcorn-addicted, there’s Spike Lee’s taut, smart bank-heist thriller, “Inside Man.” With Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster’s muscular assist, Lee takes a great leap forward even as he returns to terrific form.
– MICHAEL BOOTH and LISA KENNEDY
DANCE
In what is going to be a big dance week, a new program by the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble should not be overlooked. Titled “Breakin’ the Rules,” it pays homage to Five Points, Denver’s historically African-American neighborhood, with its rich cultural and social history. Included will be the premiere of the evening’s namesake by dance innovator Chester Whitmore and works by such veteran choreographers as Katherine Dunham and Donald McKayle. Performances at 8 p.m. Saturday and April 7 and 8, and 2 p.m. April 2 and 9, in the Kay Schomp Theatre, 7111 Montview Blvd., at the Denver School of the Arts. Tickets $25-$35. 720-424-1713 or cleoparkerdance.org or ticketswest.com.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
STAGE
There’s plenty to argue about after experiencing “The War Anthology” at the Curious Theatre Company through April 29. Tony Kushner’s (“Angels in America”) piece is the most compelling in this uneven collaboration, but there are certainly other evocative moments. Grist for argument is always a recommendation.
– JOANNE OSTROW
POPULAR MUSIC
Indie kids already know Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the Bluebird is already sold out, and lovers of top-40 radio are more than aware that James Blunt at the Paramount is sold out – and so we call for a convergence of the indie and the mainstream Wednesday night at the Climax Lounge for Tilly and the Wall. The Omaha band’s rhythm section is a tap dancer, and its melodic superhero-pop harmonies are more infectious than the office cold. The closer: Tilly’s buddies, Denver’s very own Hot IQs, are opening the show with Vulpes.
– RICARDO BACA
CLASSICAL MUSIC
A protégé of famed cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Wendy Warner never has received the kind of recognition her first-rate artistry deserves. Denver audiences can judge for themselves this week when she joins the Colorado Symphony for Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme.” Also included are works by Verdi, Respighi and Mendelssohn. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Tickets are $15-$65. Call 303-623-7876 or go to coloradosymphony.org.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
TELEVISION
The story of Margo Jones, the woman who literally wrote the book on nonprofit resident theater, is the subject of a documentary-drama hybrid at 7 tonight on KBDI-Channel 12. “Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater,” features Judith Ivey in the Jones role and Richard Thomas as Tennessee Williams. Jones, who died at 43 in 1955, had success on Broadway as co-director of “The Glass Menagerie,” and then went to Dallas, where she helped launch the career of playwright William Inge and put on the world premiere of Williams’ “Summer and Smoke.”
– EDWARD P. SMITH
