Critic’s pick
Top dance companies perform to aid Japan
Saturday. A who’s-who of Denver dance companies will take over the Newman Center for the Performing Arts this weekend to raise cash for the tsunami-stricken people of Japan. The “Kizuna: Dance for Japan” concert at the University of Denver will feature a rare mix of Denver dance talent, including principal dancers from the Colorado Ballet, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, David Taylor Dance Theatre and members of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Delusions of Grandeur Productions and others. The show will feature selections from “Flames of Paris,” “Swan Lake” and “Le Corsaire,” as well as contemporary works by Garrett Ammon, Amy Seiwert, Elvira Stewart and live music. 7:30 p.m. 2344 E. Iliff Ave. $25. 800-982-2787 or . John Wenzel
Family Fun
Get out Expo
Saturday-Sunday. The springtime sports season is just heating up. Catch up on your outdoor fun at the Get Out Expo in Eagle. Watch demonstrations of new gear, help maintain the town’s fleet of “green bikes,” jam out to live music, and generally have fun being outside. The schedule is packed: tricycle and scooter races for youngsters, longboard races for daredevils, yoga in the park, a 10K run. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Various locations, Eagle.
Jazz, swing, classical in Highlands Ranch
Saturday-Sunday. Kick back for the weekend with an eclectic music lineup at the sixth annual Highlands Ranch Music Arts Festival. Saturday’s shows focus on jazz and swing acts, with outdoor performances by Windjammers Jazz Orchestra, Ministers of Swing, Swing Shift and more. The program takes a more classical turn on Sunday. On both days, you can shop in the Festival Marketplace, have a silly face-painting session or grab a snack from one of the on-site vendors. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Civic Green Park, 9370 Ridgeline Blvd., Highlands Ranch. Free.
Free day at museum celebrates Jewish art
Sunday. The Mizel Museum celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month with a free day for visitors. Stop in and see the museum’s latest permanent exhibit, “4,000 Year Road Trip: Gathering Sparks.” The exhibit is a varied collection of artworks, including pieces from local and global Jewish artists. Learn, too, about the museum’s projects — including its work with the Babi Yar memorial park. 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The Mizel Museum, 400 S. Kearney St.; 303-394-9993. Admission is free.
Ensembles to sing “Best of Broadway”
Tonight. P’zazz Children’s Choir and Dynamix Singers pay tribute to the Great White Way in “Best of Broadway.” The concert features the two ensembles singing and dancing to some of Broadway’s greatest hits, including tunes from classics and some new favorites, too, including “Spring Awakening,” “Spama- lot” and “Hairspray.” 7 p.m. today. Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road, Broomfield; 720-887-2371. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, military and kids under age 12.
Jazzy sounds, lots of art in Estes Park
Saturday-Sunday. Groove to jazz music, and exercise your eye for art at the Estes Park Jazz Fest and Art Walk. Starting at noon each day, Performance Park hosts live jazz from artists such as The Chris Lee and Colleen O’Brien Band, Purnell Steen and Le Jazz Machine, Roberta Gambarini and Eric Gunnison and Wake Up Call. Pack a blanket and a picnic lunch, and set up a sunny, springtime spot on the lawn. Art Walk: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, various locations. Concerts: noon to 3:55 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Performance Park, 417 W. Elkhorn Ave., Estes Park. Free. . Kathleen St. John
Comedy
Have a laugh, help the community
Today. Comedian Barbara Perez initially wanted to hold her “Comedy for the Community” benefit at a small north-side bar or restaurant. But community interest in the event, which will raise cash for families who can’t afford membership fees at the Atzlan and Ashland recreation centers, pushed it to the much larger PPA Event Center. With Mexican food from neighborhood favorite Chubby’s, a free beer tasting from Del Norte Brewing Co., and stand-up from Perez and a mix of national headliners and locals, including Mike Motz, Vinnie Montez, Adam Lucidi, Rick Bryan and Bo and Albert Galvan. $15. Today, 2105 Decatur St. Food at 5 p.m.; show at 7 p.m. 970-580-9095 or . John Wenzel
Classical music
“Crouching Tiger Concerto” from CSO
Saturday and Sunday. Part of what made the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” so successful was composer Tan Dun’s music, with its engrossing mix of Eastern and Western motifs. A work drawn from the score, “Crouching Tiger Concerto” for Erhu, Flute, Percussion and Strings, will be highlighted during Colorado Symphony performances at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Boettcher Concert Hall. Betti Xiang, a noted exponent of the erhu, a traditional Chinese fiddle, will be the freatured soloist. $19-$80. 303-623-7876 or . Kyle MacMillan
Visual art
Downtown LED screen turns canvas for artists
Today. Think of art in a whole new way. The Downtown Theatre District and Downtown Denver Partnership are turning a massive LED screen at 14th and Champa streets into an electronic artistic canvas. From 8:30 to 9 p.m., Evan Mann and other local artists will screen short original videos, and from 9 to 9:30 p.m., more projection works will be shown that use a new three-dimensional video-mapping technology. Free. . Kyle MacMillan
Saturday. Chalk-art projects have become commonplace. But the one taking place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building on Martin Plaza is different on a couple of counts. Not only will local artist Michael Rieger work with high- and middle-school students to produce three large- scale murals, but two of the works will re-create Italian Renaissance works on view in the museum, including one by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop. Visitors are welcome to jump in and contribute their artistic talents. Free. 720-865-5000 or . Kyle MacMillan
Theater
“Grey Gardens” musical premiere at the Vintage
Through june 12. The unlikely Broadway musical “Grey Gardens,” based on the 1975 documentary about Jacqueline Kennedy’s aunt and her daughter (Big Edie and Little Edie), gets its regional premiere. The musical tracks the progression of the Beales’ fall from a rich and socially polished existence to an isolated life in a home overrun by cats. Starring Megan van de Hey and Deborah Persoff. Presented by the Vintage Theatre, 2119 E. 17th Ave., 303- 839-1361 or . John Moore
“Water Music” on tap in Baroque Chamber Orchestra concerts
Even if they have never heard of George Frederic Handel’s “Water Music,” most people probably know at least snippets of the music from movie soundtracks or television commercials.
The 1717 work, commissioned by King George I for a concert performed on barges on the River Thames, has to be included on any top-10 list of the most popular works of the baroque era.
“It just seems to be one of those pieces with staying power,” said harpsichordist Frank Nowell, artistic director of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado.
The ensemble, expanded to include period oboes, horns, bassoons and recorders, will present this weekend its debut performances of the first of the three suites that make up “Water Music.”
Also on the program will be Georg Philipp Telemann’s little-known “Water Music” counterpart, Suite in C major, written six years later for the Hamburg admiralty.
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. today in St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1350 Washington St.; 7:30 p.m. Saturday in First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St., Boulder; and 4 p.m. Sunday in Wellshire Presbyterian Church, 2999 S. Colorado Blvd.
Tickets are $24, $19 for seniors and military personnel, and $5 for students. 303- 889-1012 or Kyle MacMillan
