Critic’s pick
Time to mix genres in Lakewood concert
THURSDAY. The members of Time for Three are solidly anchored in the classical world, but they like to shake up the sometimes staid genre. This hip, category-busting ensemble is just as at home in the country, Gypsy and jazz realms as it is with Franz Schubert or Felix Mendelssohn, and it likes to mix them up. The fast-rising trio, which was in residency last summer at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and has appeared in Aspen, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway. Its Denver-area appearance is a commendable coup for this modest-budget, suburban venue. $26. 303-987-7845 or . Kyle MacMillan
Family Fun by Kathleen St. John
Denver’s holiday lights come on Friday evening
FRIDAY, NOV. 25. The holiday season comes to light at downtown Denver’s Grand Illumination. With three locations switching on their lights, fans can pick their favorite shiny spot or do a holiday hustle to watch all three. The wave starts at Skyline Park with free ice skating and entertainment, plus the lighting of the Holiday Tree and 16th Street Mall. Next, Union Station goes sparkly — visit a Children’s Museum craft table, say “hi” to Rockies mascot Dinger, enjoy treats and listen to live music. Finally, the City and County Building gets its turn to twinkle at about 6:45 p.m. — arrive earlier to catch a program of performances. 5:30 p.m. at Skyline Park, 16th Street Mall and Arapahoe Street; 6 p.m. at Civic Center, Broadway and Colfax Avenue, and at Union Station, 17th and Wynkoop streets.
Christkindl Market sets up in Skyline Park
SATURDAY. Downtown Denver adds even more holiday shopping when the Christkindl Market officially opens at Skyline Park. The Market, continuing through Dec. 23, gathers local and international artisans to sell their wares in a festive, town-square setting. Revelers shop for gifts, often accompanied by live music, then take a break with German food, mulled wine or beer. Saturday’s opening ceremony features speeches, music and a visit by the Christkind, a traditional representation of the Christ child. Opening ceremony: 5 p.m. Regular hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Skyline Park, 16th Street Mall and Arapahoe Street. Free.
“Polar Express” ride on the Narrow Gauge
THROUGH DEC. 28. All aboard the “Polar Express,” the Durango and Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railroad’s Christmastime train. Just like in the classic children’s book, kids can wear their pajamas for a journey to pick up Santa. Passengers sip hot chocolate, listen to Christmas stories and sing carols. Santa visits each train car, and each child gets a special gift from the man himself. Weekends through Dec. 28, plus additional dates. Departures begin 5:15 p.m. from the depot at 479 Main Ave., Durango; 970-247-2733. Tickets are $31-$66 for passengers age 12 and older, $21-$56 for children ages 2 to 11.
Be part of the send-off for NASA’s Mars rover
SATURDAY. Get a front-row seat for the launch of Curiosity, NASA’s latest Mars rover, at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Watch the live broadcast of the launch with commentary by Eddie Goldstein, the museum’s senior space-science educator, and Zach Richards from United Launch Alliance, which built the Atlas V rocket that’s sending Curiosity into space. After the launch, join in a Q&A with Goldstein, Richards and other space experts. (Launch time and date may change; check or for updates.) Museum opens 6:45 a.m.; launch coverage begins 7:45 a.m. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-370-6000. Activities free with museum admission: $12 for adults, $8 for seniors age 65 and older, $6 for juniors and students.
“A Christmas Carol” at Mainstreet Center
SATURDAY. Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” comes alive at a “Literature to Life” production in Parker through Dec. 18. The Literature to Life series encourages reading by staging theatrical renditions of stories from the literary world — its version of “A Christmas Carol” uses a mix of live actors and puppetry to tell the classic tale. Expect all the familiar faces: Stingy Scrooge, the loving Cratchit family and a few gently-spooky ghosts. Noon and 3 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Mainstreet Center, 19650 E. Mainstreet, Parker; 303-805-7728. Tickets are $10.
Classical Music
Getting into the strings of things via Schubert
SUNDAY. Feeling a bit of musical withdrawal since the Colorado Symphony shaved its schedule in October and November? A concert at 2 p.m. Sunday offers the ideal antidote. Eight of the orchestra’s musicians, with violinist Myroslava Bartels, above, serving as host, will perform Franz Schubert’s Octet for Strings, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn. The event, part of the Englewood Arts’ Chamber “Music of the Masters” series, will take place in Hampden Hall in the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. $15, $12 seniors and $5 students 18 and younger. 303-806-8196 or . Kyle MacMillan
Join top CU performers for night of French music
TUESDAY. Pianist Alexandra Nguyen and other top performers from the University of Colorado at Boulder’s music faculty team up for a concert titled, “Une soirée francaise: An Evening of French Chamber Music.” The free program, part of CU’s Faculty Tuesday series, will include Gabriel Faure’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Grusin Music Hall in CU’s Imig Music Building, 18th Street and Euclid Avenue. 303-492-8008 or . Kyle MacMillan
Garage rock
Thee Oh Sees come back for a rager at Moe’s BBQ
SATURDAY. Thee Oh Sees defy garage rock norms by playing complex, tight and technically savvy music. And yet the San Francisco quartet is one of the wildest, rowdiest, sloppiest and most entertaining rock ‘n’ roll bands on the scene today. They wowed us at the Larimer Lounge earlier this year and multiple times at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and now, they’re back on the Front Range for a Saturday-night rager at Moe’s Original BBQ in Englewood. Tickets, $8-$10, are available through . Total Control and Sauna will open the show. John Hendrickson.
Artist paints commentary on status via furniture
Although she makes her living as an illustrator for an array of national magazines and newspapers, Jill Hadley Hooper also has enjoyed a distinguished career as one of Denver’s top fine artists.
Eight of her recent 67-inch-square paintings — each offering loosely rendered, trace-like views of furniture she has inherited — are on view in “The Weight of Things,” a handsome exhibition at Goodwin/Fine Art, 1255 Delaware St.
“I wanted the paintings to honor the straightforwardness of the objects,” Hooper said. “These aren’t Eames chairs. They are just things that great-grandparents and grandparents earned or acquired as emblems of status in the middle class.”
These paintings do not achieve the same emotional power as some of the works in her 2006 show, “In the Between,” which had a poetic, enigmatic quality that is missing in these more direct, less-elusive paintings.
That said, these are still strong works, which are enhanced by Hooper’s nuanced surface effects, which she achieves by painstakingly sanding down the surfaces and employing an inventive range of relief printing techniques.
The show runs through Dec. 3. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Free. 303-573-1255 or goodwin . Kyle MacMillan
