Visual arts
Through the week.Multimedia art. While storytelling overtly forms the foundation of Brent Green’s animated films, the narrative meanings behind Jill Hadley Hooper’s paintings and James Surls’ sculptures remain elusive, shrouded in mystery and metaphor. The three artists are featured in “Story,” an exhibition running through Feb. 23 at the Center for Visual Art, 1734 Wazee St. Free. 303-294-5207 or
Through the week. Original prints. In a bid to show more of its little- known permanent collection, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., is presenting “Galo Galecio: Below the Equatorial Line,” a portfolio of 31 prints by one of the foremost Ecuadorean artists of the 20th century. The museum purchased the works in 1953 and has not exhibited them since. The show is free with regular museum admission. 719-634-5581 or csfineartscenter.org.
Today.Textile art. The latest textile paintings by Deborah Kruger of Amherst, Mass., draw inspiration from the tribal art of West Africa and Brazil. A solo exhibition of this new work, subtitled “Plumage,” goes on view today at Translations Gallery, 773 Santa Fe Drive, which specializes in fiber art. A free opening reception is set for 5 to 8 tonight. 303-629-0713 or translations
Music Friday and Saturday. Garage rock. Cult metal fans know Dax Riggs from his days in Acid Bath, but the singer- songwriter is best-known for his time fronting the garage rock band Deadboy & the Elephantmen, which released an unstoppable record on Fat Possum Records a few years back. Riggs released a searing solo record on Fat Possum last year, and he’ll support the album with two shows at the Larimer Lounge tonight and Saturday. More: .
Saturday. Garage rock. People keep talking up the Hives’ live show, and while it is great, it doesn’t even compare to the life inside the Black Lips’ live show. See it for yourself on Saturday, when the Black Lips take on the Bluebird Theater. More: .
Saturday. Local rock. It’s tough to resist an Everything Absent or Distorted/Bela Karoli double bill. So give in to your post-Valentine’s whims and hit the Hi-Dive on Saturday. More: hi-dive.com. Saturday Film music. Among his many talents, Sergei Prokofiev was a superb film composer, writing the famous score for Eisenstein’s “Alexander Nevsky.” The Ars Nova Singers will join the Boulder Philharmonic to provide live accompaniment for excerpts from the movie during a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado at Boulder. $10-$65. 303-449-1343 or .
Dining
Ongoing. White tablecloth. The Palace Arms is struggling to maintain currency in a fast-paced restaurant scene, but the decidedly old-school restaurant still delivers on a few counts: Grand architecture, unmatched sense of local history, epic wine list and a killer Coca-Cola-braised short rib appetizer. 321 17th St., 303-297-3111.
Television
Friday. Musical. Perfect programming for shut-ins: “Celine Dion: That’s Just the Woman in Me” is a one-hour musical special to launch her “Taking Chances” world tour. Josh Groban and will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) are scheduled to appear. On CBS tonight, locally KCNC-Channel 4 at 8 p.m. This is the singer’s fifth CBS special, her first concert since her five-year Vegas run in “A New Day.” Movies
Thursday.Documentary. After shooting in the Baghdad neighborhood of Al Adhamiya for more than 10 months in 2003, Steve Connors and Molly Bingham deliver “Meeting Resistance,” a revealing, challenging portrait of some of the Iraqis we know only as “insurgents.” The filmmakers will be on hand for a post-screening discussion. DocNight. 7 p.m. Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway, $6-$9.50. 303-820-3456. Tuesday.Documentary. The Denver Public Library continues its series “African-Americans in Politics: Film From Then to Now!” with “Chisholm — 72.” Shirley Chisholm arrived on Capitol Hill in 1968, the first African- American woman elected to Congress. In 1972, the New York representative ran for president. Not, says documentarian Shola Lynch, necessarily to win, but because Chisholm wanted to bring more people into the process. 6:30 p.m., Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton St., 720-865-2401.
Theater
Friday-Saturday. Readings. The success of the Denver Center Theatre Company’s simultaneous world- premiere productions of “Our House,” “Lydia” and “Plainsong” bodes well for what else is in the works. This weekend’s Colorado New Play Summit gives audiences a chance to see staged readings of four more new commissions in various stages of development: Michelle Lowe’s “Inana” (11 a.m. Friday); Steven Dietz’s “Shooting Star” (3 p.m. Friday); Lee Blessing’s “Perilous Night” (10:30 a.m. Saturday) and Cusi Cram’s “Dusty and the Big Bad World” (3 p.m. Saturday). The readings are sold out, but a wait line will be formed. A public panel discussion, open to all, takes place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. 303-893-4100 for event availability and prices.
Friday-Saturday. Dramedy. Two heroines, half-mad and half-baked, yet charmingly self-aware, navigate life from the trenches of a very contemporary Mexico. In Su Teatro’s “Las Chicas del 3.5′ Floppies.” Young Mexican playwright Luis Enrique Gutierrez Ortiz Monasterio exposes the human repercussions of globalization and poverty with incisive humor and relentless honesty. 8:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 4725 High St. $15-$18, 303-296-0219 or .
Saturday. Comedy. D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzer-winning comedy “The Gin Game” shows a simple game of cards between an elderly man and woman passing the time in a retirement home. As the stakes of the game rise, so does the tension between an aging pair who, with humor and poignancy, confront the hands life has dealt them. Starring Patty Mintz Figel and Jim Hunt. Presented by Paragon Theatre through March 15 at the Crossroads at Five Points Theatre, 2590 Washington St. $17-$19, 303-300-2210 or .
Wednesday.Symphonic music. To get a sense of conductor Vladimir Jurowski’s fast-rising profile, consider that The New York Times recently devoted an entire page to a profile of him. The 35-year-old maestro will lead guest pianist Stephen Hough and the Russian National Orchestra when the two join forces for a concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Newman Center for Performing Arts at the University of Denver. $25-$85. 303-357-2787 or .
Kyle MacMillan
