Family fun
Animals and lights
Today-Jan. 3. Holiday tradition. The Denver Zoo transforms into a twinkling winter wonderland for its nighttime Zoo Lights display. Nearly 40 acres of the zoo will be lit with festive holiday lights, including more than 150 animated light sculptures. Activities abound each night, too, from live animal demonstrations and live performances to visits with Santa and his elves. Warming stations are set up throughout the park to keep everyone toasty. 5-9 p.m. daily. Denver Zoo, 2300 Steele St.; 303-376-4800. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for children. Zoo members receive $2 off admission. Children age 2 and younger are admitted free. For more information, visit . Kathleen St. John
Tea and stories
Tonight-Saturday.Tales by candlelight. Get a unique perspective on “The Nutcracker” during special candlelight tours of the Molly Brown House Museum. Guests explore the Victorian mansion at night, with only candles lighting the way. In the third-floor ballroom, listen to a special reading of the “Nutcracker” story, and visit with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince. If you can’t make it to the house this weekend, the museum also hosts its popular “Holiday High Tea” on select dates. Candlelight tours: 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. tonight; 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Holiday High Teas, various times and dates through Dec. 20. Molly Brown House Museum, 1340 Pennsylvania St.; 303-832-4092. Candlelight tour tickets are $16 for adults, $13 for children, seniors and museum members. High teas are $25 per person; reservations are required. Visit for tickets and reservations. Kathleen St. John
Country Christmas
Tonight-Sunday.Bluegrass concert. Add a little country to your holiday season with “Bluegrass Christmas” at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Timothy P. and the Rocky Mountain Stocking Stuffers, a crew of local bluegrass musicians assembled just for the occasion, will pick out countrified versions of holiday hits. A few originals will be in the mix, too, as well as newer yuletide tunes like Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Colorado Christmas.” Expect a few laughs along the way, courtesy of show emcee Timothy P. Irvin. 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway; 303-987-7845. Tickets are $22 for adults and $12 for children. Call to order tickets in advance. Kathleen St. John
Just the story
Sunday. Staged readings. See a refreshing take on holiday storytelling at “Making Merry,” presented by Stories on Stage. Stories on Stage’s dramatic readings of literature are read by professional actors, creating a unique style of performance. “Making Merry” is a collection of Christmas classics including O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” scenes from Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows” and “Another Christmas Carol” by P.G. Wodehouse. 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis Streets. Tickets are $25. Buy advance tickets by calling 303-494-0523. Kathleen St. John
Candy joy
Saturday. Factory visit. It doesn’t get much better than this: a Christmas party at a candy factory. Send a kid you know into orbit at the Hammond’s Candies Candy Cane Festival, when the factory will become a holiday playground. Besides all the yummy holiday candy, trolley rides, cookie decorating, caroling and other holiday pursuits will be available. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in attendance, of course, holding court in the middle of the sugary celebration. 9 a.m. to dusk. Hammond’s Candies, 5735 Washington St.; 303-333-5588. Admission is free. Kathleen St. John
Holiday music
Brave the cold
Sunday.Open-air concert. The University of Denver offers an out-of-the-ordinary, family- friendly way to enjoy holiday music. Carol Jikling Lens will perform yuletide favorites on the Williams Carillon, a 10-year-old set of 65 bronze bells with a 5 1/2-octave range. The listening area for the open-air concert on the DU campus is between the Stapleton Tennis Pavilion and Williams Bell Tower at the Ritchie Center Wellness Center, 2201 E. Asbury Ave. Refreshments will be served afterward. Free parking will be available in DU lots 103 and 108. Free. 303-871-6412 or . Kyle MacMillan
Jazzy Christmas
Tuesday. Big band. The 15-piece Duke Ellington Orchestra — led by Barrie Lee Hall, a trumpet soloist and member of the original Ellington band — joins forces with the Colorado Symphony. The 7:30 p.m. concert, “Big Band Christmas,” offers a jazzy take on the holidays. It will combine Christmas favorites with Ellington classics, such as “Take the A Train.” $50-$105. 303-623-7876 or . Kyle MacMillan
Dance
Going nuts!
Starting tonight. Holiday moves. There are only two weeks left until Christmas, but a handful of holiday dance offerings are just heating up. Ballet Nouveau Colorado unveils its fun, sophisticated “Nutcracker” tonight, which allows kids on stage after the performances to see how it’s done. Weekends through Dec. 20 at the Performing Arts Complex at the Pinnacle Event Center. $16-$42. . David Taylor Dance Theatre’s popular “Nutcracker” also kicks off next week at the Lakewood Cultural Center, which runs most days through Dec. 23. $28-$38. . Finally, Boulder’s Frequent Flyers Productions launches its “Swing Into the Holidaze” tonight, which runs weekends through Dec. 20 at the Dairy Center in Boulder. The aerial dance company pairs bungee cords, stilts, hoops and trapeze work with jumpy swing tunes. $15-$23. . John Wenzel
Visual art
Big bang
Today. New gallery opening. Boom Gallery, the Denver area’s newest commercial art space, opens with a public reception from 6 to 10 p.m. The 1,500-square-foot storefront gallery, at 1215 S. Pearl St., is presenting “River Series,” an exhibition of oil paintings by Rolf Dercum. Free. 720-272-3135 or . Kyle MacMillan
Art that gives
Continuing. Original prints. Still looking for that perfect Christmas present? How about a piece of art? Open Press, 40 W. Bayaud Ave., is presenting an exhibition of more than 200 small-format original prints by 20 local artists. Among the offerings will be new bodies of work by Laura Grossett, Carly Gelatt, Tony Ortega, Reed Weimer and Beth Collier-Fogdall. Viewing hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 20. Free. 303-778-1116 or . Kyle MacMillan.
Film
Doctors without fear
Monday. One-night event. The doctors in “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” are seldom seen without a lit cigarette. Small wonder. Their missions take them to war-riven, poverty-ravaged places like the Congo and post-civil-war Liberia. Surgeries often trump the stomach-churning stuff of cable trauma shows. But the raw — often conflicted — emotions captured make this documentary (shortlisted for a 2010 Oscar) as rich as it is humbling. Post-screening, news anchor Elizabeth Vargas will conduct a live satellite discussion with featured doctors Christopher Brasher and Tom Krueger and others at 5:30 p.m. Colorado theaters include Cinemark Century Boulder, AMC Westminster Promenade 24, Kerasotes Showplace Theatre-Castle Rock Stadium, Regal Pavillions 15, Cinemark Fort Collins, Cinemark Greeley Mall, AMC Highlands Ranch 24. $12.50-$15. Go to for tickets and more theaters.Lisa Kennedy
Midnight badness
Tonight and Saturday. Retro action. “He’s badder than Shaft, Super Fly and the Mack put together,” boasts the come-on for Scott Sanders’ blaxploitation homage and send-up, “Black Dynamite.” A kung-fu specialist with payback on his mind, this cat Black Dynamite is “a bad mother … shut yo mouth!” Catch the local premiere of the celebrated B flick, starring Michael Jai White and Salli Richardson-Whitfield, a dead ringer for Denver’s own Pam Grier. Esquire Theatre, 590 Downing St., midnight b0th nights,. Rated R. $7.25. 303-352-1992. Lisa Kennedy
How “Nutcracker” stays timeless
It might shock the masses to know that the original “Nutcracker,” based on a book published in the early 1800s, was a rather depressing tale.
But these days the ballet, famously choreographed by the legendary Marius Petipa to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, has been transitioned into a tale that’s entirely kid-friendly.
For dance companies, it is an annual opportunity to lure in audiences who don’t make it to dance events any other time.
“I think one of the ways we’ve successfully built on ‘The Nutcracker’ year after year is that it reflects the themes of the season,” says Arthur Espinoza, now in his 11th year as general manager of the Colorado Ballet, which is staging the piece. “Those themes are family. Tradition. Celebrations. Gatherings.”
Of course, companies still need to do a bit of marketing to remind folks that it’s time to buy tickets. Companies base their budgets on successful turnouts.
“This year, we built the theme around magic. We need magic now. And the Sugarplums are part of that magic.
“We weren’t looking for flashy words. This is a production that will appeal to everyone, no matter what language they speak, what their income,” says Espinoza, who is in charge of marketing.
Sharon Wehner dances the prized part of the Sugarplum Fairy in many of the performances. This is her 14th season with the company. Wehner, who trained on the West Coast but now lives in Denver, loves working with the Denver ballet because the shows offer a broad range of styles.
“For me, it never gets boring,” Wehner says. “Your body might get tired, but it never gets mundane because you have to be at the top of your game. It’s challenging.”
Gil Boggs, artistic director of the company, says “The Nutcracker” is always strong in terms of sales. Even the economy, he says, hasn’t affected revenue.
“It’s classical, traditional, and it’s the perfect length,” Boggs says. “Some companies drag on some of those first acts. We work to add touches of comedy, and we make sure there are no slow moments.”
While Boggs notes that it’s a challenge to make the classic fresh every year, there’s a motto among all ballet dancers.
“We say, ‘It’s always someone’s first ‘Nutcracker,’ ” he says with a chuckle.
“And I say one of the best perks of my job is that I make kids smile.”
COLORADO BALLET’S “THE NUTCRACKER.”.
Holiday classic. Denver’s busiest ballet company presents its annual show at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 950 13th St. Through December 27. $19-$149. 303-837-8888 or
A home for whimsy at Vertigo
The Denver Art Museum’s exhibition, “Embrace!” is not the only place to see installation art locally.
The adventuresome Vertigo Art Space, 960 Santa Fe Drive, is presenting a boisterous, fanciful environment brimming with murals, mobiles and stand-alone elements, including a one-of-a-kind playhouse, with a multicolored felt door that draws visitors inside.
This playful room-size creation — the kind of noncommercial art that most area galleries eschew — was realized by Alvin Gregorio, an assistant professor of painting at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and four of his students.
Although the exact meaning of the piece, titled “In the House of Your Tomorrows,” remains perhaps deliberately elusive, Gregario’s accompanying statement alludes to childhood joys that too easily give way to adult worries and fears.
The exhibition runs through Saturday. It is open 2 to 6 p.m. today and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Free. 303-573-8378 or . Kyle MacMillan
