Biennial picks
Celebrating Latino composers
Monday. Classical and beyond. An array of performing-arts activities are taking place across Denver as part of the Biennial of the Americas. The Colorado Chamber Players will make their contribution with a concert titled “Música de Feria.” The event, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive, will feature works by such Latino composers as Astor Piazzolla, Silvestre Revueltas and Luigi Boccherini. Joining the ensemble for this program will be guitarist Masakazu Ito and flutist Paul Nagem. Free. . Kyle MacMillan
The Biennial steps into Arvada
Thursday.Mexican dance. Among the many entertainment events associated with the Biennial of the Americas, Fiesta Colorado’s colorful “La Magia de Mexico” is the only one highlighting traditional Mexican dance. Music from Mariachi Sol de Mi Tierra will back performances from Ballet Folklorico, Fiesta Colorado artistic director Jeanette Trujillo-Lucero and soloists from the renowned Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. A 6 p.m. musical performance by Denver’s Mono Verde will be followed by the 7:30 p.m. dance show. Arvada Center for the Arts, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada. $15-$30. 720-898-7200 or . John Wenzel
Dance
A new festival
Saturday.Free dance event. Just in time for the Biennial of the Americas — and timed near the close of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s 16th Annual International Summer Dance Institute — that longtime Denver dance institution will debut its Mile High Dance Festival. The free event, taking place at an open-air venue outside Robinson’s theater, features performances from Hannah Kahn Dance Company, Fiesta Colorado, Grupo Folklorico Sabor Latino, Cleo’s own company members and more. 7 p.m. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre, 119 Park Ave. West. Free. 303-295-1759 or . John Wenzel
Theater
This guy’s the real thing
Saturday-Aug. 14.Comedy.Paragon Theater struck lightning three years ago when it landed Denver Center Theatre Company stalwart Sam Gregory to spend his summer vacation starring in its award-winning “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”? Gregory and Paragon are reuniting to stage Tom Stoppard’s comedy “The Real Thing,” opening Saturday and running through Aug. 14. In his relationship comedy, Stoppard explores love and honesty in a world where nothing is as it seems — even when it seems like the real thing. Gregory is joined by Emily Paton Davies, Warren Sherrill and Barbra Andrews. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays at 1385 S. Santa Fe Drive. $17-$21. 303-300-2210 or
John Moore
Classical music
The Philly in Vail
>Today.Symphonic music. One of the orchestra world’s fastest-rising conductors, Ludovic Morlot, above, will join the Philadelphia Orchestra for a concert at 6 p.m. today. The event will take place in Vail’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater as part of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. The French maestro boosted his stature in June, with his appointment as music director of the Seattle Symphony, one of this country’s top orchestras. In Vail, he will be joined by pianist Jeremy Denk, who will serve as soloist for Grieg’s celebrated Piano Concerto. Also on the program are works by Franck and Mendelssohn. $23-$85. 877-812-5700 or . Kyle MacMillan
Visual art
Get a lot of Moore for free
Thursday.Outdoor art. One of the biggest art offerings of the summer is the outdoor exhibition “Moore in the Gardens,” which continues through Jan. 31 at the Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St. It is the first major open-air display of Henry Moore’s sculptures in the Western United States and the most ambitious art exhibition ever mounted by the gardens. Arranged among the plants and flowers are 20 monumental, mostly bronze works by the celebrated British sculptor, ranging in size up to 29 1/2 feet long. A great time to see the show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday when admission will be free. 720-865-3500 or . Kyle MacMillan
A showcase comes back
Today. Sculpture. After a four-year hiatus, the North American Sculpture Exhibition returns to the Foothills Art Center, 809 15th St.. G0lden. The show, juried by noted Denver artists John McEnroe and Lawrence Argent, will feature 21 diverse works by 15 artists. It opens with a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. today and runs through Aug. 29. $5, $3 seniors, with free admission on Monday and Aug. 2. 303-279-3922 or . Kyle MacMillan.
Family fun
Get outside!
Today and Sunday. Music and museum. Two local institutions are participating in Target’s nationwide “Arts and Wonder” event this weekend: The Children’s Museum of Denver and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Today, the Children’s Museum grants free admission from 4-8 p.m. Be sure to check out the museum’s “Bubbles” exhibit. Then, on Sunday, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra presents a free concert, “Classical Masterpieces,” at Stapleton’s Central Park. The performance includes works by Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak and more. 4-8 p.m. today. Children’s Museum of Denver, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive; 303-433-7444. Concert, 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Stapleton Central Park, Central Park Boulevard and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Kathleen St. John
Looking for a scavenger hunt?
Saturday. Community quest. Get ready to scramble at “Rootles — Quests for the Curious” at the Colorado Chautauqua today. The scavenger hunt will take participants around the grounds of Chautauqua in search of clues and riddles. Teams are made up of four to eight players — all ages are welcome, and individual hunters can sign up, too. The hunt starts and ends at the Chautauqua community house; finishing teams get prizes and treats. 5 p.m. Saturday. Colorado Chautauqua, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder; 303-442-3282. Tickets are $15 per person for teams of four to eight people; $18 for individual players. Buy tickets in advance at . Kathleen St. John
Cowboys and pancakes
Through Sunday. Going West. The final weekend of Gunnison’s Cattlemen’s Days festival is in full swing. Today is the last day of judging in the festival’s 4-H show, followed by a rodeo presented by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Saturday starts early with a Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast in preparation for the big Cattlemen’s Days parade. It’s Family Night at the rodeo on Saturday, with free and discounted tickets for kids age 10 and younger. The party doesn’t stop after the rodeo ends, either: There’s dancing and carnival rides, too. 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Most activities located at the Fred R. Field Western Heritage Center, one block south of U.S. 50, Gunnison. General admission tickets are $12, grandstand tickets are $15. Visit for a full schedule and more information. Kathleen St. John
The world of Globeville
Saturday-Sunday. Chow down. Celebrate the Globeville neighborhood’s multicultural past and present at the Old Globeville Days and Orthodox Food Festival. Eat your way through the festival with dishes from Russia, Romania, Greece, Eritrea, Mexico and more. Once the bellies are full, there’s time for shopping at vendor booths, kids’ activities and tours of the historic neighboring cathedral. Live music and dancing will keep the party going into the evening. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Argo Park, Logan Street and East 47th Avenue. Admission is free. Visit or call 303-294-0938 for more information. Kathleen St. John
A trio of plays
Friday-Saturday. Kids on stage. Weeks of work come to fruition when the students of the Rocky Mountain Conservatory Theatre’s summer camp present their shows at the University of Denver’s Newman Center. Three shows will go up for the weekend: “The Jungle Book Kids,” “Guys and Dolls Jr.” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The young thespians have been preparing since June for this weekend’s performances — excitement will be in the air. “The Jungle Book Kids”: 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. today. “Guys and Dolls Jr.”: 11 a.m. today, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 8 p.m. today, 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Tickets are $13 for kids ages 3 to 13, $15 for adults age 14 and up. For advance tickets, visit or call 1-800-982-ARTS. Kathleen St. John
“Rocksteady” a soulful Big Head Todd & the Monsters record
For nearly 20 years, Todd Park Mohr has been working on his curious relationship with “Sister Sweetly,” his band’s 1993 breakthrough CD. The Big Head Todd & the Monsters frontman has had an antagonistic rapport with the record ever since it went platinum (via sales of more than a million) in 1996.
“I hate the feeling that I’m only still around because people want to hear ‘Bittersweet’ again,” Mohr said earlier this week. “I’ve always wanted to have a large body of work that was all good and have people want to see the band to see what we’re doing next.”
How’s that going for Mohr?
“After all of these years,” he said, “I do finally feel that way, yes.”
Big Head Todd & the Monsters — singer-guitarist Mohr, bassist Rob Squires, keys player Jeremy Lawton and drummer Brian Nevin — will release their ninth album, “Rocksteady,” on Tuesday. And the band appears to be in a centered and rejuvenated place.
Their last album cycle, in which they gave away a half-million physical copies of their record via radio and magazine mailing lists, was one of the boldest music industry experiments in recent memory. Their new record is already winning fans on radio via the breezy, feel-good single “Beautiful.” And they’re celebrating the release of the record with an intimate, KBCO listeners-only show at their old stomping grounds, venerable South Broadway rock club Herman’s Hideaway.
“This album is the Caribbean, R&B and soul record,” Mohr said. “I don’t know that we’ve ever done such a narrowly focused album before. Soul and R&B have always been a part of our sound and what we do . . . I’ve had a few trips down there to the Caribbean, and I’ve always been a lover of the music — it’s an enormous influence in contemporary music.”
So far, so good with “Rocksteady” and its infectious “Beautiful.” The song is on the radio in Denver, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, Baltimore and even on Sirius, where it gets played six times a day on the satellite radio’s Triple A-oriented Spectrum channel.
” ‘Beautiful’ has done really well at radio so far,” Mohr said. “We’re seeing a lot of convergence finally. Our next step is Hot AC radio, so we’re doing that in November. None of our records since ‘Sister Sweetly’ have taken on at radio. I mean, we’ve gotten airplay and done well for what our situation has been. But once you start breaking into the other formats outside of Triple A, that’s a really exciting process for us 20 years down the line.”
Mohr gets it. He knows that the band’s path to “Rocksteady” came via the foundation of “Sister Sweetly.” But he’s happy to see his band — his legacy, even — moving beyond the early-’90s record that has followed (and haunted) him.
“The reality is, (‘Sister Sweetly’ is) our biggest record, and there are many people who pay to see the band play ‘Bittersweet’ and ‘Broken Hearted Savior’ and other songs from that record. I’ve always been in the battle to move my career forward — especially right after ‘Sister Sweetly.’ When you have your first hit, it’s hard to come back after that.
“Your first successful album is always the hardest one to survive. It’s hard to repeat that, and everybody wants you to repeat that. And if labels don’t get behind you for the rest of your career, you’re fighting your success. But slowly we’ve become known for our whole catalog and the experience of our band, rather than just a couple of hit songs.”
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@ ; @RVRB on Twitter
BIG HEAD TODD & THE MONSTERS
Sunny rock ‘n’ roll. Herman’s Hideaway, 1578 S. Broadway. 8 p.m. Saturday; Tickets were free via while supplies lasted.
