STAGE
Jonathan Farwell’s wife is a dog. No, wait. … Farwell is in love with his dog. … No, wait … Farwell is cheating on his real wife, who’s a dog, with his stage wife, who’s not a dog. … It’s confusing when the stars of the canine comedy “Sylvia” are married in real life. This touching relationship comedy follows the midlife crisis of husband Greg (Farwell), whose emotional bond with his dog, Sylvia (Deb Note-Farwell), makes his alienated wife (Deborah Persoff) feel like “the other woman.” Jonathan Farwell, now 75 and also the director, is a few decades too old to be playing Greg, but as lineages go, he and his castmates have impeccable pedigrees. Final performances 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at 401 Pine St., Fort Collins. $10-$19 (970-498-8949 or
).|John Moore
MOVIES
In “Transformers,” director Michael Bay’s hurtling summertime ride, cars and fighter jets, cellphones and boom boxes shape-shift with dizzying efficiency into robots, good or malicious. The film is bold, fluffy, kerneled fun. And thanks to Industrial Light & Magic wizardry, the intimacy between actors and digital wonders has seldom been so believable. But this PG-13, humor-loaded action flick about battling alien beings called Autobots and Decepticons would never have pulled off its mouth-agape, teen pleasures were we not taken with the souls of the Autobots (the ethical machines) and the chemistry between a young man named Sam (Shia LaBeouf) and his first car, a yellow-and-black striped Camaro named Bumblebee.|Lisa Kennedy
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Classical music was not just written by composers who lived in centuries past. It is a vibrant art form with fresh works being written every day. Colorado College will celebrate that vitality this week with its 11th Annual New Music Symposium. The four-day event will include three free chamber concerts, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, featuring works by such participating composers as Daniel Kellogg, Max Lifchitz and Doug Ovens. All performances will take place in Packard Hall, 5 W. Cache La Poudre St., in Colorado Springs. 719-389-6098 or artsfestival.coloradocollege.edu.|Kyle MacMillan
VISUAL ARTS
In a summer with nothing approaching blockbuster status, “Clyfford Still Unveiled: Selections from the Estate” ranks as one of the season’s most anticipated exhibitions. The compact show of 13 works at the Denver Art Museum offers viewers a preview of what they might see at the Clyfford Still Museum, which is tentatively set to open in 2010. The show’s opening is part of a weekend celebration Saturday and July 15 at the museum, West 13th Avenue between Bannock Street and Broadway, with extended hours to midnight Saturday and free admission. 720-865-5000 or
.|Kyle MacMillan
POPULAR MUSIC
It’s Warped Tour Sunday in the Mile High City, which means that the parking lots and grounds surrounding Invesco Field at Mile High will be flooded with bands, kids and merchandisers all day. The gates open at 11 a.m., the music starts immediately and there’s a lot to be excited about as a fan of pop-punk music in Denver. One, multiple Denver bands are playing the festival, including the Photo Atlas and Single File. Two, some of the subgenre’s biggest names are also playing, including Bad Religion, New Found Glory, Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Cute Is What We Aim For and others. Tickets are available at. or 303-830-8497.
|Ricardo Baca
TELEVISION
During TV’s summer doldrums you could do worse than watch a repeat of last month’s 2007 BET Awards, 6-9 tonight on BET, with performances by Beyoncé, 50 Cent, above, T.I., Ciara, Yolanda Adams and Ne-Yo. Plus, a show-stopping duet by the Jennifers – Hudson and Holliday – on “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”|Joanne Ostrow
DVDS
You won’t hear us claiming “Pride” is an all-time great. It may not even qualify as an all-time “good.” But the past few weeks have been the doldrums for DVD releases, and if your kids are lounging on the couch away from the summer heat, then they can do a lot worse than this overlooked film about sports and racism. “Pride” features Terrence Howard in the mostly true story of a Philadelphia rec center coach who starts a swim team for local black kids and molds them into winners. There are multiple sports-movie clichés, but the material is fresh, and Howard is not your typical jock presence. “Pride” can offer some dog-day inspiration. |Michael Booth
NIGHT LIFE
Naming your blog Elitist Hipster Snob is no way to attract the unwashed masses, but the truth is the Denver-based publication has something for everyone. Music, fashion, food, sex, graffiti and film populate the daily blog, penned by an anonymous group of young, beautiful types. The blog celebrates Bastille Day on Saturday at the Meadowlark with tunes from indie torchbearers Everything Absent or Distorted and the Chain Gang of 1974. DJs Daisy St. Patience and Charlie Bangs will spin hip-hop, Serge Gainsbourg, Justice and other “Frenchy music.” Champagne will flow and attendees are encouraged to wear stripes, berets and fake mustaches. “Any French stereotypes are welcome,” they say. Go figure. Free, 9 p.m. 2701 Larimer St. 303-293-0251.|John Wenzel
