Going, going…
Catch these events before they disappear after this weekend:
Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region
PLAY READINGS|Four days of staged readings culminate in all-day (and night) sessions beginning at 9:30 a.m. today and Saturday at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. Saturday’s main event is a 7:30 p.m. fully staged presentation of Montrose playwright Mark A. Smith’s “A Lesser Life,” about the ethical decisions that come with having conjoined twins.|ENDS SATURDAY|$30 per day or $15 per three-hour session ($5 for under 12); 720-898-7200 or rrcc.edu/playwright showcase.
“A Year With Frog and Toad”
CHILDREN’S THEATER|The Aurora Fox presents the hit Broadway musical about the charming Frog and the worrywart Toad, who wake from a long winter hibernation and enjoy a fun-filled year. |ENDS SUNDAY|Final performances 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday at 9900 E. Colfax Ave. $22-$26 (303-739-1970,).
Friday
Break out!
DANCE & DISCUSSION|If you’re tired of spending lunch breaks in windowless rooms, check out the Cultural Sharing and Artist Talk Back series at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Nationally renowned company founder Robinson will teach her signature dance class from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., then give a free talk on her uniquely multicultural spirit and philosophy.|Today| Shorter AMC Church, 119 W. Park Ave., free, 303-295-1759.
Saturday
Municipal Band
FREE JAZZ|City’s Park long-running Sunday jazz series isn’t the only game in town. Catch the cool outdoor sounds a day earlier when the Denver Municipal Band plays early at Martin Luther King Park, then at the Wind Festival at Clement Park, with three additional bands and Civil War cannons concluding with a performance of “1812 Overture.” Founded in the 1860s, the DMB is the oldest professional concert band playing in the U.S.|4 p.m. and 6 p.m., Saturday|MLK Park, East 35th Avenue at Holly Street; Clement Park, West Bowles Avenue at Long Street, Littleton; free,.
Sunday
Multicultural
STAND-UP COMEDY|Comedian Eric Blake, who appears at Comedy Works this weekend, can certainly play to black audiences. A regular at Hollywood’s Improv and a veteran of Comedy Central, BET and HBO, Blake overcame a rough childhood in South Central Los Angeles to find the stage. But Blake prides himself on transcending racial barriers, including appearing in front of Latino audiences on Galavision’s “Que Loco.”|7 and 9 p.m., Sunday|Comedy Works, 1226 15th St., $15
Tragic Mahler
SYMPHONIC|One of the world’s leading conductors takes on one of the great symphonic works. That’s a quick take on Sunday’s concert featuring the Aspen Festival Orchestra. James Conlon will lead the ensemble in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.6, “Tragic.” Also featured: rarely heard art songs by Mahler’s wife, Alma, with mezzo-soprano Kristine Jepson.|4 p.m. Sunday|Benedict Music Tent, Aspen Music Festival grounds, $70, 970-925-9042 or aspen
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The weekend
Whee, it’s KidSpree
KID’S FESTIVAL|KidSpree, Colorado’s largest outdoor festival for children, returns to Aurora’s Bicentennial Park for a 12th year. The 29-acre space will host an estimated 35,000 kids and parents as they negotiate life-sized chutes and ladders, mazes and rock climbing walls. More than 60 paint-splattered arts and crafts will augment entertainment and music from Flobots and kid singers including Brityn Mykhail.|10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday|13655 E. Alameda Ave., free, 303-326-8386 or.
The week
Violin virtuoso
CLASSICAL MUSIC|Anne Akiko Meyers, another of the first-rate violin talents who have emerged in the past decade or so, travels to Durango’s Music in the Mountains for four appearances beginning Wednesday. She will join pianist Aviram Reichart and other musicians for chamber works by such composers as Beethoven and Mendelssohn.|7 p.m. Wednesday|BootJack Ranch, Pagosa Springs, $40, 970-385-6820 or .
Horns aplenty
BRASS FESTIVAL|There won’t be 76 trombones, but there will be plenty of shiny brass instruments of all kinds during the Denver Brass’ High Altitude Brass Festival. The four-day event begins Wednesday with a concert by faculty members of the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute at the University of Denver and continues Thursday with festival soloists and the Denver Municipal Band.|7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday|University of Denver, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., $12 or $48 for a festival pass, 303-832-4676 or.
FILM|We all know kids say the darndest things. But the candor captured in Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price’s documentary “Summercamp!” is tart, sweet, and bittersweet. For three weeks, Wisconsin’s Swift Nature Camp provides a rustic home for a varied group of kids whose personalities stake claim to this verité work and likely prod viewers’ own memories of bygone summers at sleep-away camps. As part of the Denver Film Society’s DocNight, Beesley and Price will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A and reception. Host Lisa Kennedy may even get them to share their own notes on camp.| 7 p.m. Thursday|Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway, $5.75-$8.75, 303-820-3456
