Pop music
Janet Jackson up close at Wells Fargo Theatre
With Michael Jackson’s passing, there’s only so much of a Jackson legacy left for pop music fans — and it’s not with La Toya Jackson, who can be seen every Sunday night wandering around aimlessly on this season’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” No, the living pop legacy of the Jackson family is with Janet — or Ms. Jackson, if you’re nasty. Janet Jackson’s “Number Ones: Up Close and Personal World Tour” is one of the year’s biggest, and her intimate date in Colorado next week — Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Theatre, inside the Colorado Convention Center — is one to look forward to. The show should truly be everything it’s promising: Up close in a small room (holding around 5,000 fans) and full of her most familiar material. Tickets to Jackson’s Denver show, $79.25-$170, are available via . Ricardo Baca; photo by Sean Gardner,Getty Images
Family fun
Gangway!
through sunday. Spring break is drawing to a close, but pirate fans have one more weekend to join “Spring Break Pirate Invasion” at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In celebration of the museum’s “Real Pirates” exhibit, kids can listen to pirate tales, decorate pirate hats, hunt for treasure and more. The exhibit has extended hours through April 10. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Last tickets sold 90 minutes before closing; extended hours valid through April 10. (Regular hours run through Aug. 21.) Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-370-6000. Tickets are $20 for adults, $14 for seniors age 65 and older, $11 for students and ages 3 to 18.
Family field day
saturday. Get outside and get moving at “Health for All Seasons,” a family field day and fitness fair at the Children’s Museum of Denver. Participate in all sorts of fun games and test your springtime strength. Children’s Hospital is providing bikes for a cool Bike Rodeo, and healthy treats will be available for refueling. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Children’s Museum of Denver, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive, 303-433-7444. Activities free with museum admission: $8 for guests ages 2 to 59, $6 for 1-year-olds and seniors age 60 and older.
Feel the Flauschink
through sunday. Welcome spring in Crested Butte at the town’s 43rd annual Flauschink celebration. The king and queen of Flauschink receive their crowns at tonight’s Coronation Ball, featuring peppy polka music by the Pete Dunda Polka Band. On Saturday, the new royalty make an appearance at an afternoon parade, waving scepters made of toilet plungers. Salute the new rulers on Sunday at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, where they’ll await tributes from atop Flauschink Hill. Coronation Ball: 9 p.m. today. Eldo Brewery, 215 Elk Ave., Crested Butte. Admission is $8. Parade: 5 p.m. Saturday. Elk Avenue, Crested Butte. Admission is free. .
The hills are alive . . .
through april 10. The Von Trapp family sings again when the Northglenn Youth Theatre presents “The Sound of Music.” The all-kid musical tells the familiar tale: Young Maria isn’t fitting in at the convent, and is assigned to help a widowed military man with his seven kids. 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday. The D.L. Parsons Theatre, 11801 Community Center Drive, Northglenn; 303-450-8800. Tickets are $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for students and seniors.
Tales from the firehouse
wednesday. Listen to stories and learn about firefighters at “Firehouse Tales for Tots” at the Denver Firefighters Museum. Settle in for a fire-themed book or two mixed with audience participation activities like puppetry and finger plays. Before and after, explore the museum’s exhibits. Vintage firetrucks and firefighting tools, the history of Denver’s fire department, fire safety displays and more. Can’t make it this week? The museum presents “Tales for Tots” the first Wednesday of each month. 11 a.m. Denver Firefighters Museum, 1326 Tremont Place; 303-892-1436. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, $4 for kids ages 2 to 12. denverfirefightersmuseum Kathleen St. John
Dance
Two programs to catch
today-sunday. Longtime Denver dance outfit Hannah Kahn Dance will reach back as far as 30 years for some of the pieces in its new show, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Other Dances,” pictured above. The 13-member company’s spring performance will include CU-Boulder dance professor Gabriel Masson in a new staging of “While Ye May,” plus other works from the last three decades. 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway. $18-$22. or 303-987-7845. Also worthy this weekend: Helander Dance Theater will mark 30 years with the lighthearted program “Humor Me!” at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder. The theatrical mix of dance, narrative, music and art is a collaboration with dancer Marcia Douglas. 8 p.m. today and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. $17-$22. 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. 303-440-7826 or . John Wenzel
Pop music
“Oh, No!” Oh, yes
saturday. Aaron Thomas Collins’ previous band wasn’t for everybody. The often bloody, sweaty garage-punk of Machine Gun Blues was abrasive and sloppy. And it makes sense that Collins’ next project, the coyly named A. Tom Collins, is a 180 from those days. A. Tom Collins would sound at home in a Chicago sewer party — or a dive bar in the French Quarter. Its jazzy horns and Tom Waits-inspired vocals are unlike anything else in Denver right now. And so naturally we’re excited about the band’s first EP, “Oh No!” which it will release Saturday night at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood. Listen to the band’s “Pants Off Dance Off” — currently a free download on Steal This Track, a weekly column on Post music site Reverb () — and you’ll hear Collins’ melodic take on gypsy jazz’s hairy underbelly. Also playing the Gothic on Saturday are Princess Music and Paper Bird. Tickets, $13.75, are available via . Ricardo Baca
Classical music
Beethoven with strings
today. The Borromeo String Quartet, whose profile continues to rise in the classical world, returns to Colorado State University in Fort Collins for its sixth residency. As part of its visit, the ensemble will present an all- Beethoven concert at 7:30 p.m. today at CSU’s Griffin Concert Hall, in the University Center for the Arts, 1400 Remington St. Instead of printed scores, the tech-savvy quartet will use MacBooks mounted on modified music stands. $12, $7 CSU students and $1 children. 970-491- 2787 or . Kyle MacMillan
Bach on a unique guitar
saturday. The Denver Classical Guitar Society is presenting one of the highest-profile performers in its history — Paul Galbraith. His recording of arrangements of J.S. Bach’s complete violin sonatas and partitas earned him a Grammy nomination in 1998. Galbraith performs on a unique eight-string guitar, which he developed with English luthier David Rubio. His Denver recital will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the South Broadway Christian Church, 23 Lincoln St. $20. . Kyle MacMillan
