Pop Music
Big names, Todd to James
All week long.Headliners. The summer concert season is in full swing this week. We’ll host vocal legends, including Etta James (Saturday at the Boulder Theater), Loretta Lynn (Wednesday at the Paramount Theatre) and Joe Cocker (Tuesday at the Denver Botanic Gardens), modern rock powerhouses, O.A.R. (Friday at Red Rocks Amphitheatre) and Rise Against (Thursday at Red Rocks) and an old Colorado favorites, Big Head Todd & the Monsters (Saturday at Red Rocks). Red Rocks tickets are available via while the Boulder Theater (bouldertheater.com), the Paramount Theatre (tickethorse.com) and the Botanic Gardens (botanicgardens.org) have their own ticketing sites. For more on rock shows playing the metro area, see page 10. Ricardo Baca
Film
Married and inspired
Thursday.Documentary. It makes lovely sense Denver’s dance doyenne Cleo Parker Robinson would be on hand for a special screening of the emotionally sweeping documentary “Carmen and Geoffrey.” The film captures the creative and marital partnership of dancer-choreographer Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, the Tony winner-dancer-choreographer-painter and, pitchman. (“This is an un-cola nut” he schooled in the richest of baritones.) Three Sistahs sponsors the preview 7 p.m. Thursday, $10-$12. Then the film beings a week-long run starting Friday. The Starz FilmCenter, 900 Auraria Parkway, 303-820-FILM and . Lisa Kennedy
Visual art
Recalling Denver’s beat
Today and Saturday.Multimedia. From the mid-1960s through much of the ’80s, Denver played an integral if underappreciated role in the beat-influenced rise of American counterculture. “Mile High and Underground,” today through July 31 at the Byers-Evans House Gallery, 1310 Bannock St., will showcase paintings, poetry, publications and cover art documenting the city’s vibrant underground scene. Free opening reception: 5 to 9 p.m. today. 303-620-4933 or . An accompanying event, “A Bohemian Extravaganza,” featuring film, theater and poetry, takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St. $10. 303-294-9281 or . Kyle MacMillan
Boulder reborn
Today. Multimedia. After a four-month renovation, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art reopens with a splash— “Pure Pleasure,” a sensuous multimedia exhibition showcasing 10 artists from the region and beyond. Among them: Phil Bender, Rebecca DiDomenico, Ana Maria Hernando and Mark Sink. The show opens today with a public reception 6:30 to 8 p.m. and runs through Sept. 6. $5, $4 seniors and students. 303-443-2122 or . Kyle MacMillan.
Family fun
Looking east
Saturday. International flavor. Celebrate the diversity of Denver’s Asian- and Pacific-American community at the Governor’s Residence. A warm-up event for July’s Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the gathering features tea ceremony demonstrations, taiko drumming, Mongolian dance and more. The Dragon Boat Festival will salute Hawaii’s 50th anniversary of statehood this year, so you can learn how to make a lei, too. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion, 400 E. 8th Ave. Admission is free. Kathleen St. John
Cool cars
Today-Sunday. Vintage autos. Car lovers will swoon at the 12th annual Goodguys Colorado Nationals auto show in Loveland. More than 2,000 shined-and-buffed cars will be on display and all are from 1972 and earlier, so expect some clever customizations. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The Ranch, Crossroads Boulevard and Fairgrounds Avenue, Loveland; 970-619-4000. $17 for adults, $6 for kids ages 7 to 12. Kids age 6 and younger are free. Visit . for more info. Kathleen St. John
Darling Dora
Today-Sunday. TV stage. Kids can join Dora the Explorer on a special adventure in “Dora the Explorer Live!: Search for the City of Lost Toys” at the Buell Theater. The musical stage show features Dora and all of her famous friends.The audience gets to help out, too, by playing along with the puzzles and problems. 7 p.m. tonight, 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday. Buell Theater at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street. Tickets are $16-39. Get them at . or at 303-830-TIXS. Kathleen St. John
Classical music
Mahler and out
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Symphonic music. The Colorado Symphony ends its 2008-09 season with the next installment of its ongoing Mahler series. Music director Jeffrey Kahane and the orchestra perform the composer’s towering Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” Also featured will be soprano Janice Chandler Eteme, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and the CSO Chorus. 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $15-$73. 303-623-7876 or . Kyle MacMillan.
Theater
Stories aloud
Sunday. Writings go live. Each month Stories on Stage presents local actors performing dramatic readings of short fiction, with each program built around a theme. On Sunday, Stories on Stage teams with the handicapped theater company PHAMALy for a program championing contributions by persons with disabilities. “We Are PHAMALy” will take on stories by Raymond Carver and Karen Bender, as well as its own “Don’t Cry for Me, Jerry Lewis.” 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the Jones Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex (303-494-0523 or .).
John Moore
Visual arts
Reality refracted via memory or dream
Trine Bumiller has been associated with the Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee St., longer than almost any of its other artists, gaining representation soon after she moved to Denver in 1987.
In her familiar paintings, which consist of canvases arranged into irregular grids, she presents a collection of semi-abstracted fragments of nature — reality refracted, perhaps via a memory or dream.
Her most recent series, on view through June 13, is titled “The Blue Hour,” referring to the transitory period right after sunset. “I was interested in the half light, the mystery, the quiet and sense of calm, and a natural time for reflection,” she said in an e-mail.
These latest selections have a more subdued, contemplative feel than some of her previous works. Among the most striking is “Genius Loci,” its green-gray cast and silhouetted branches conjuring a gently ghostly effect.
Bumiller’s paintings have always seemed a bit forced and emotionally inert to me, but it is impossible to deny her longtime appeal.
Free. 303-298-7788 or
Kyle MacMillan
