SUNDAY
Python director speaks
FILM SCREENING | What’s better than watching one of the most barbed, quotable religious satires of our time? How about chatting with the writer/director after the show? Monty Pythonites will get their wish when CU’s Conference on World Affairs Athenaeum screens the British comedy troupe’s 1979 classic “Life of Brian” on Sunday. Director and Python-pillar Terry Jones will be there to answer your burning questions. | 7 p.m. Sunday | Muenzinger Auditorium, Film Studies Theater, University of Colorado at Boulder campus, free, 303-492-2589 or .
TONIGHT & SATURDAY
Deadhead dilemma
LIVE MUSIC | It’s a Deadhead dilemma this weekend: See Phil Lesh (who plays here regularly) or check out vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, the only woman who was ever a member of the Grateful Dead, with her new group Donna Jean and the Tricksters. We know which option Godchaux-MacKay – who sang on recordings by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding – would like you to choose. | Friday-Saturday | Cervantes, 2637 Welton St., $18.75, 303-297-1772 or .
TODAY & SATURDAY
Wyoming’s Red Desert
SYMPOSIUM | Photographer Martin Stupich, writer Annie Proulx, archaeologist Dudley Gardner and geologist Charles Ferguson have spent five years exploring Wyoming’s distinctive Red Desert for a soon-to-be-published book. The collaborators will take part in a two-day symposium titled, “The Red Desert: Among Dead Volcanoes and Living Dunes, A Public Conversation on the Value of Place.” | 10 a.m. today and Saturday; closing reception, 5 p.m. Saturday | University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, free but reservations required, 307-766-3477, 307-766-6620 or .
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
1830s rendezvous
SPANISH MARKET | Step back in time with the Tesoro Foundation at its 6th annual Spanish Market & 1830s Rendezvous on the grounds of The Fort restaurant. The event features authentic historical encampments, mountain men competitions, Fandango dancing, displays from Colorado and New Mexico’s most celebrated Spanish colonial artists, food and music. | 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday | The Fort, 19192 Highway 8 in Morrison, $3-$6, children under 12 free; 303-839-1671 or .
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Fort Collins Symphony
CLASSICAL GUITAR | Polish classical guitarist Marcin Dylla has taken first place in competitions stretching from Vienna to Buffalo, N.Y. The prize-winning artist will join the Fort Collins Symphony for its season-opening program, featuring Joaquin Rodrigo’s popular “Concierto de Aranjuez.” Also on the lineup are works by Piazzolla and Tchaikovsky. | 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday | Lincoln Center, 17 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, $27-$37, 970-221-6730 or .
TODAY THROUGH DEC. 9
The Marecaks
ART | Edward Marecak and and his wife, Donna, met as students at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. The two married in 1947 and went on to become significant artists in the state. A new show surveys their accomplishments, with works in a wide array of media, including paintings, drawings, ceramics, prints and even furniture. | Today through Dec. 9 | Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, 1311 Pearl St., $6 general public and $5 seniors, students and teachers, 303-832-8576 or .
TUESDAY
Argentine delights
CHAMBER MUSIC | The spicy sounds of Argentina will come alive in an evening of music by Luis Jorge González, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s College of Music. Included will be solo piano works and the composer’s piano trio, “The Gates of Time.” Heading the list of performers is faculty pianist Alejandro Cremaschi, a native of Argentina who has appeared with the country’s national symphony. | 7:30 p.m. Tuesday | CU-Boulder, Imig Music Building, 18th Street and Euclid Avenue; free; 303-492-8008 .
FRIDAY
French decadence
FILM | The other day, Denver Art Museum film honcho Tom Delapa declared Patrice Leconte the best director working in France. And who are we to argue? Leconte’s “The Man on the Train” and “The Widow of Saint-Pierre” are among our faves. In his Oscar-nominated “Ridicule,” (1996), a minor nobleman travels to the court of Louis XVI to secure funds for a water project that could save lives. There he is introduced to the pleasures and decadent cruelties of wit – seemingly the court’s raison d’etre. | 7 p.m. Friday | Sharp Auditorium in DAM’s Hamilton Bldg, 13th Avenue between Broadway and Bannock, $7-$8, 720-913-0105 or .
GOING, GOING …
Catch these events before they disappear after this weekend:
World Festival of Theatre
THEATER | If you saw Daniel Beatty perform his one-man “Emergence-See” for Shadow Theatre last year, you won’t want to miss him in “The Broadway Songs I Love.” | ENDS SATURDAY | Final performances 8 p.m. today and Saturday at the Ute Pass Cultural Center, 210 E. Midland Ave., Woodland Park. $25-$30 (719-227-0086 or ).
“The Hostage”
THEATER | Upstart Crow has blended three versions of IRA veteran Brendan Behar’s 1960 play about an innocent British soldier facing execution at the hands of the IRA. | ENDS SATURDAY | Final performances 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $16-$20 (303-444-7328, ).
