Critic’s pick
Get in the spirit with “White Christmas”
FRIDAY. If you’ve been cooling your heels on getting into the holiday spirit, there’s still time: Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” a stage production based on the 1954 musical film of the same name, is finishing its run at the Lone Tree Arts Center Friday. If you grew up listening to “Blue Skies,” “How Deep is the Ocean” and the ubiquitous title track — or watching Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney dance their way across screens large and small — this show’s for you. Former Country Dinner Playhouse producer Paul Dwyer directs the family-friendly, laugh-filled fare. 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. 10075 Commons St., just west of Interstate 25 and Lincoln Avenue. $45-$65. 720-509-1000, . John Wenzel.
Family Fun by Kathleen St. John
Lodo windows bedecked
Through Dec. 31. Enjoy Christmas in the city during LoDo Aglow. Along with local art students and designers, nearly two dozen Lower Downtown businesses have decorated their windows in sparkling seasonal style. Holiday revelers can wander the streets and take in the displays, including stops at historic landmarks like Rockmount Ranch Wear (1626 Wazee St.) and The Oxford Hotel (1600 17th St.). Of course, if the cold is getting to be too much, the businesses will happily let you inside for a warm-up. The window displays will stay in place through Dec. 31. Locations throughout LoDo. Free.
Breakfast with Santa
Saturday. Fuel up for a fun Christmas Eve at Breakfast With Santa at the Downtown Aquarium. The annual buffet lets kids get in a last-minute visit with Santa before he starts on the evening’s rounds. The aquarium’s friendly mascot, Sharkey, will also be on-hand for photo-ops and chats. Santa’s also been known to strap on diving gear and jump in the giant fish tank. Afterward, breakfastgoers can enter the aquarium’s exhibits for half price. Seatings begin at 8:30 a.m. 700 Water St.; 303-561-4450. $16.99 for adults, $10.99 for kids ages 3 to 12. Reservations required; call to sign up.
Aspen delivers cheer
Through Dec. 31. Downtown Aspen becomes a holiday wonderland during “The 12 Days of Aspen.” The 12 days began on Monday and continue through New Year’s Eve with lots of free events, performances and specials at local businesses. For instance: Today, kids can visit Santa’s reindeer in Wagner Park and decorate cookies and listen to carolers at the Hotel Jerome. On Saturday, youngsters warm up with free s’mores at Wagner Park while grownups seek out a holiday drink at one of the “12 Bars of Aspen.” Future events include free concerts, fireworks and family movies. Times, prices and locations vary. Visit for a full schedule.
Last of Scrooge & Co.
Through Saturday. It’s the last chance this season to catch Scrooge and the gang in the Denver Center Theater Company’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” The stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’s story tells the familiar tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his journey through the past, present and future as he learns the real reason for the season. Expect all the classic characters along the way: The Cratchit family, Scrooge’s old boss Fezziwig and, of course, the wise ghosts that guide Scrooge to change his ways. 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today, 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The Stage Theater at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis Streets. Tickets are $57-$67, available at or by calling 303-893-4100.
Holiday brass fiesta
Friday night. Get in one more holiday brass fiesta with The Bartels Brass, presented by Englewood Arts. Headed by Justin Bartels, the Colorado Symphony’s principal trumpet, the sextet’s Christmas concert features a variety of Christmas and seasonal music, from traditional carols to classical pieces. The program includes works like the Nutcracker Overture, “Angels We Have Heard on High,” Gustav Holst’s “In the Bleak Midwinter” and Pavel Tschensnokoff’s “Salvation is Created.” 7 p.m. tonight. Hampden Hall at the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Pkwy., Englewood; 303-762-2572. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors age 60 and older, $5 for students under age 18. Buy tickets at the door beginning 1 hour before showtime.
Holiday pageant
The Fort hosts Posadas
Saturday. Celebrated in parts of the American Southwest and Mexico Dec. 16-24, the Posadas celebration commemorates Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of shelter on the night of Jesus’ birth. Posada is Spanish for lodging or accommodation. Tesoro Cultural Center will re-create this journey at The Fort restaurant in Morrison from 4:40 to 6 p.m. Local children will lead a donkey carrying Mary and Joseph and sing traditional Mexican Christmas songs. The holiday pageant includes the customary breaking of the piñata and caroling. The Fort, 19192 Colorado 8, Morrison; , 303-839-1671. Laressa Watlington
Television
Want the news of 2011? You’ll have to “Wait”
Friday. “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” a public-radio fixture for years, makes the leap to TV with this year-end wrapup: “A Royal Pain in the News.” A wry current-events discussion framed as a smarty-pants quiz show, “Wait, Wait” regularly features comedians, including Paula Poundstone, below. In this installment, they discuss the year’s top news stories. At 8 p.m. on BBC America. Joanne Ostrow
Shag is back on East 13th
Everything old is new again along East 13th Avenue, so it makes sense that the hip, revitalized retail and entertainment stretch is bringing back one of its most popular DJ nights for a special holiday reunion.
Shag, the Brit-pop music night founded by Denver musician and writer Jason Heller and DJ Matthew Serban, enjoyed a revival last year at Beauty Bar — formerly the spot of original Shag host (and notorious Capitol Hill dance club) the Snake Pit. But neither Serban nor Heller participated in last year’s reunion, so this installment takes Shag back to its founding days.
“The big thing was Matthew moving back to Denver from New York, where he lived for eight years,” Heller said. “With him back here, it was just like this big nostalgia rush.When you have friends who are particular to one part of your life, you tend to psych each other up about it.”
Whether you’re an old-school fan of Quid, Shag’s predecessor, or just a devotee of such inexorably Brit-pop acts as Blur, Primal Scream, the Jam, Elastica, the Stone Roses, Supergrass, Suede and Oasis, you’ll also be treated to a set of ’60s soul music from Heller’s collection.
“That whole block (of 13th Avenue) has seen a renaissance,” Heller said. “Beauty Bar’s a little brighter, … a little more welcoming than the Snake Pit. And they have an actual DJ booth!”
9 p.m. today, 608 E. 13th Ave. Free. 720-542-8024 or .
John Wenzel
