Spooky stuff
A weekend of tricks and sweets
Today-Sunday. Costumes encouraged. It’s a three-day Halloween extravaganza at the Children’s Museum of Denver’s Trick or Treat Street. There’s plenty of candy, of course, but also a full day of spooky activities. See live performances — including storytelling, magic and a visit from Ronald McDonald — or take a course in “Pumpkinology.” Vern’s Mini Train will be tooling around, giving rides for $2, and everyone’s invited to try some “Dirty Desserts.” Costumes, naturally, are encouraged. Check the event schedule online before heading out — it changes from day to day. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Children’s Museum of Denver, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive; 303-433-7444. Activities are included with museum admission: $8 for guests ages 2 to 59, $6 for 1-year-olds and seniors age 60 and older. For more information, visit . Kathleen St. John
Halloween party for the littler ones
Saturday-Sunday. All about trains. All aboard the Trick or Treat Train at the Colorado Railroad Museum, when young train — and Halloween — enthusiasts haunt the museum looking for candy. The event’s geared toward littler kids, so the focus is on silly Halloween fun, not big scares. A historic steam engine will pull train rides; visit the Not-So-Spooky Haunted Caboose, too. Snap photos in the pumpkin patch, make Halloween crafts and see who’s hanging around in the Old Railroaders’ Graveyard. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Colorado Railroad Museum, 17155 W. 44th Ave., Golden; 303-279-4591. Admission is $5 for kids, $12 for adults. Visit for more information. Kathleen St. John
A scary holiday soundtrack
Saturday. Family concert. Settle in for “A Spooky Halloween,” the Littleton Symphony Orchestra’s annual free family concert. Members of the LSO will perform in costume, meaning guests are invited to don their Halloween best, as well. Here’s an inspiration: The concert features Paul Dukas’ “The Sorceror’s Apprentice,” a song made famous by the Disney film “Fantasia.” Anyone have a broomstick costume? Or Mickey in a wizard hat? After the show, stick around for treats and more fun stuff. 2:30 p.m. Littleton United Methodist Church, 5894 S. Datura St., Littleton. Admission is free. Learn more at littleton . Kathleen St. John
Animal thrills and chills at the Zoo
Saturday-Sunday. A favorite dresses up. Those things hiding in the bushes are probably just peacocks, but you never know at the Denver Zoo’s annual “Boo at the Zoo.” The 26th annual Halloween blowout invites animal lovers to dress up in costume as they stroll through the zoo. Don’t forget to bring a bag — there are more than 25 candy stations set up along the way. Check out live entertainment and creepy-animal demonstrations, too. To avoid parking problems, park at East High School or take the light rail to 30th and Downing; free shuttles will be provided. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Denver Zoo, 2300 Steele St.; 303-376-4800. Admission is $13 for guests ages 12 to 64, $10 for seniors age 65 and older, $8 for kids ages 3 to 11. Visit for more information. Kathleen St. John
Dia de los Muertos
Remembering the ones gone before
Saturday. Customs and crafts. Salute El Dia de los Muertos at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center. Honoring deceased friends and loved ones, “The Day of the Dead” celebration features live entertainment, traditional food and special activities — decorate sugar skulls, make paper flowers and bring along items to add to the Community Altar. Take a tour of the exhibit “La Ofrenda de los Muertos,” too, updated for the 10th anniversary of the museum’s Dia de los Muertos fiesta. (It runs through Nov. 7.) Feel free to dress up as a calaca (skeleton) if you please. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, 400 Quail Road, Longmont; 303-651-8374. Admission is free. Learn more at . Kathleen St. John
Visual art
A winning duo
Today.Painting. Two of the region’s top veteran painters — Ania Gola-Kumor and Andrew Speer — are featured in a show opening today and running through Dec. 11 at the Sandra Phillips Gallery, 744 Santa Fe Drive. Both create elusive, abstracted visual realms with hints of narrative. A public reception is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Free. 303-573-5969 or . Kyle MacMillan
Classical music
The instrument of doom and gloom
Sunday. Organ music. There’s just something about organ music that makes it a perfect fit for Halloween. That explains why Colorado State University’s annual Halloween Organ Extravaganza has become such a popular tradition. This year’s edition of the event features costumed performers playing such haunting favorites as Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which has been heard in such films as “Tales From the Crypt” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” Performances are set for 7 p.m. (sold out), 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. in CSU’s Organ Recital Hall at the University Center for the Arts, 1400 Remington St., in Fort Collins. $5, $3 CSU students and children. 970-491-2787 or . Kyle MacMillan
A quartet, a festival
Saturday. Chamber music. The internationally renowned Jerusalem Quartet returns to Denver for a concert at 8 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, 51 Grape St. The event serves as the kickoff for the Mizel Arts and Culture Center’s 3rd Annual JAAMM Festival, celebrating Jewish arts, authors, movies and music. The program will include Mark Kopytman’s Quartet No. 3, as well as works by Mozart and Brahms. $25 and $40. 303-316-6360 or . Kyle MacMillan
Denver Art Museum’s Inaugural photo exhibit closing
Through the weekend. Photography.
It seems like it just opened, but the six-month inaugural exhibition in the Denver Art Museum’s new seventh-floor photography gallery comes to a close Sunday.
Curator Eric Paddock chose a cross section of 58 images from the institution’s 7,000-piece collection for the display “Exposure: Photos From the Vault.”
It is no blockbuster, but its mix of high-caliber surprises and standbys has proven to be a hit with connoisseurs and casual visitors alike.
Selections include familiar masterpieces, such as Ansel Adams’ transcendent night scene, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” (1944) and Harold Edgerton’s famous stop-action shot, “Milk Drop Coronet” (1957).
Other widely known photographers represented include Diane Arbus, Robert Doisneau, Laura Gilpin, Andre Kertesz, Eadweard Muybridge, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston and Garry Winogrand.
10 a.m.-10 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Free with regular admission. 720-865-5000 or .
Kyle MacMillan
A work of theater provides a frame for Beethoven’s later quartets
In 1825, Beethoven wrote a missive to his nephew describing his recovery from an illness and its transformative effect on one of his last and most significant works — the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132.
A few years ago, Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the acclaimed Takács Quartet, decided those words might be the basis for a short drama and sought the help of a longtime friend, playwright David Lawrence Morse.
Morse conceived a one-act play titled “Quartet,” which explores the circumstances surrounding the creation of Beethoven’s late quartets. It features four characters — the composer, his nephew and two assistants — and is interspersed with 20 or so musical excerpts.
“The real challenge of doing music and words is to integrate them,” Dusinberre said. “So, right from the beginning of the play we have musical examples in there, and, to a certain extent, the shape of the play is influenced by the music.”
Four members of the Colorado Shake- speare Festival’s resident acting company will join the Takács, in residence at the University of Colorado at Boulder since 1983, in presenting the theatrical hybrid this weekend in CU-Boulder’s Grusin Music Hall.
The second half of the program will consist of a full performance of the String Quartet No. 15 by the Takács.
More and more classical groups are creating programs combining theater and music in an attempt to attract new audiences and make the form more approachable.
Beethoven’s late quartets have been unfairly seen as distant and elusive, Dusinberre said, because of the abstract, forward-looking qualities associated with them. But he also sees them as earthy, witty works that anyone can enjoy.
“It’s an experiment, really, to see: How does it affect our interpretation of the piece when we come out on stage in the second half, and, of course, how does it affect the way an audience might hear the piece?” Dusinberre said.
If “Quartet” proves successful, the Takács hopes to take it to other venues across the country.
“QUARTET.”
Music-theater collaboration. University of Colorado at Boulder, Grusin Music Hall, 18th Street and Euclid Avenue. The Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s resident acting company joins the Takács Quartet to present David Lawrence Morse’s new one-act play, dramatizing the illness and recovery that marked one of Beethoven’s most famous works — the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. The quartet will be performed in its entirety in the second half. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday (sold out) and 7:30 p.m. Monday (sold out). $35, $33 seniors and $30 youth. 303-492-8008 or .
