Big events
The giant runaround
All weekend. Race. For adults, there is the main event: Sunday’s 26.2 mile Colorado Colfax Marathon, centered on one of Denver’s most storied streets. The long race and its assorted spinoff runs can be as much fun to watch as they are to jog. But get there early, the running begins at 6 a.m. And kids don’t have to sit on the sidelines during the marathon’s weekend-long events. Youngsters can test their mettle at the much shorter Colorado Kids Fun Runs Saturday at City Park. There’s a low-key Family Walk/Run too. Registration starts at 8 a.m.; runs start at 10 a.m. The Pavilion at City Park, East 17th Avenue and York Street. Prices vary. Check the schedule for complete info at for more information. Kathleen St. John
Theater
A filthy mess
Through June 14. Offbeat theater. What’s left for the innovative Buntport Theater ensemble to tackle? How about mud wrestling? Buntport will perform its original adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Squabble” entirely in a 12-by-19- foot mud pit. It’s a yarn about how swiftly two inseparable, small-town friends can be separated when one calls the other — gasp! — a goose. “We’re going to be advertising on all of the professional wrestling channels,” joked actor Evan Weissman. The play explores how “a lot of strange formality takes place in the way people interact,” Weissman said. “The Squabble” opens tonight and plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, plus 2 p.m. June 7 and 14, at 717 Lipan St. $13-$16 (720-946-1388 or ). John Moore
Family fun
Bach mocker
Saturday-May 23. Classical for kids. The Colorado Chamber Players present two lighthearted takes on classic fables: Bruce Adolphe’s jazzy “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” by humorous composer Peter Schickele, a.k.a. P.D.Q. Bach. Four performances at three venues: 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Children’s Museum of Denver, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive; 303-443-7444; $7.50 for visitors ages 2 to 59, $5.50 for 1-year-olds and seniors, $1 for museum members, $2 for nonmembers; 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder; free; and 11 a.m. May 23, Foothills Art Center, 809 15th St., Golden; $6. Kathleen St. John
Visual art
From the gutter
Today and Saturday. Multimedia. Irrigation ditches might not be sexy, but they are important enough to be the focus of a series of events in Boulder titled (what else?) “The Ditch Project.” Boulder has some 60 ditches, many dating to the 19th century. These waterways will be examined from multiple viewpoints, including an exhibition by 43 artists split between two venues: The Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., through June 19, and Boulder Public Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd., through July 8. Both open with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. today. A symposium takes place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the library. Free but reservations required: 303- 449-7532. . Kyle MacMillan
Celebrated color-field painter is back at it
After venturing down a mishmash of other stylistic pathways, Virginia Maitland has returned to the vibrant color-field paintings that defined the Denver abstractionist in the 1970s and remain her most celebrated body of work.
In those pieces, she adopted a technique invented in the 1950s by Helen Frankenthaler. Paint is poured onto untreated canvas, staining rather than coating the surface, and the result is floating, translucent abstract imagery.
Examples of the veteran Denver artist’s latest takes on the style dominate a solo exhibition running through May 30 at the Sandra Phillips Gallery, 744 Santa Fe Drive.
As strong as some of these new offerings are, the show-stopper is a stunning 1974 painting Maitland recently rediscovered in her studio — “Androgynous Strain” (66 by 72 inches). With its ideal balance of freedom and structure, it is surely among her best pieces ever.
Free. 303-573-5969 or sandraphillips . Kyle MacMillan
Say what?
Through the weekend. Multimedia. Sound artist Jim Green likes to bring a little unexpected fun to people’s lives. He has made sinks sing at the Denver Art Museum and escalators laugh at the Colorado Convention Center. For his latest project, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, 1485 Delgany St., Green has created a grid of self-inflating whoopee cushions. Going on view at the same time: “You’re Not My Father,” Paul Slocum’s video re-enactment of a scene from the TV show “Full House.” Green’s installation stays through Aug. 30 and Slocum’s through June 28. Free with museum admission. 303-298-7554 or . Kyle MacMillan
Classical music
CSO keys in
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Symphonic music. While he has made a point of performing works by a wide range of composers, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is best known as a leading interpreters of the music of his native land. He will join guest conductor James Gaffigan and the Colorado Symphony for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. Also on the program will be Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 and Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $15-$73. 303-623-7876 or . Kyle MacMillan
Choral splash
Today and Sunday. Choral music. Sergei Rachmaninoff is known for his piano music, but his compositions went far beyond that. Among his greatest: the sacred choral work, “All Night Vigil (Vespers)” from 1915. Kantorei, a Denver-based chamber choir, will perform six movements plus selections by contemporary American composers. 7:30 p.m. today, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1350 Washington St., and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave. $15, $10 students and seniors. 303-316-0356 or kantorei . Kyle MacMillan
Phil steps up
Sunday. Symphonic music. The Denver Philharmonic, a volunteer community orchestra, typically maintains a modest scope in its activities. But this weekend it is stepping up its ambitions with the engagement of Grammy Award-winning pianist Angelín Chang. The professor of piano at Cleveland State University will join the ensemble for Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at 7 p.m. Sunday in the King Center on the Auraria campus. Also on the program: Schubert and Brahms. $20, $15 seniors and $10 students. 303-420-2919 or . Kyle MacMillan
Film
She’s racy
Starting Friday. Documentary and weekend in-person appearance. It’s va-va-voom time at the Starz FilmCenter when local burlesque maven Vivienne VaVoom performs before screenings of “A Wink and a Smile.” Dierdre Allen Timmons’ documentary follows so-called regular gals as they begin Miss Indigo Blue’s course at Seattle’s Academy of Burlesque. VaVoom performs 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway. $6-$9.50. 303-820-FILM. Lisa Kennedy
Pop music
Critical choice: Gregory Alan Isakov
Today. Stories in song. Gregory Alan Isakov tells stories. And his stories are now being heard by more and more fans.
Isakov, one Colorado’s most celebrated songwriters, has had a good year. He’s formed connections with nationally recognized peers — including solo artist Brandi Carlile, and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, both of whom will be taking Isakov on tour with them this summer. And the Boulder resident’s new CD, “This Empty Northern Hemisphere,” is a stunning masterwork of melody and deep thought.
Isakov releases the album with a show tonight at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. (Tickets, $10-$12.50, available via .) And we’ll profile the artist in Sunday’s Arts & Entertainment section, so keep an eye out. Ricardo Baca
