Ten More Things to Do in Denver This Weekend

It may be cold outside, but entertainment options are really heating up for the weekend. Aspen is celebrating a big birthday, local runways will be full of fashion, the curtain’s rising on new theater offerings – and this is your last chance to catch Rattlesnake Kate.

See our list of free events here, check out art shows and openings here, and keep reading for events around town (and in the mountains) that are definitely worth the price of admission.

Aspen75 Live Show
Saturday, March 12
Wheeler Opera House, Aspen
In honor of the 75th anniversary of Aspen Snowmass, the resort has partnered with Pop-Up Magazine on a mixed-media storytelling event that emphasizes the area’s people, places and ski-town passion. And that means tales of the 24 Hours of Aspen Ski Race, the unsung heroes of the Highland Bowl, bootpacking, drunk dials, yodeling and more. Tickets are $46 plus fees – and that’s just the start of the costs of an Aspen weekend. But this anniversary celebration could be priceless. “It’s a milestone celebration for Aspen Snowmass’ diamond anniversary, signifying our sense of community that’s been filled with historic moments, carving lines and creating possibilities over the last 75 years,” said Kate Wertheimer, director of content at Aspen Skiing Company. Find out more here.

Piazza’s Italian Restaurant & Sports Bar Pool Tourney
Saturday, March 11, noon until close
1770 South Buckley Road, Aurora
Come meet five of the world’s top pros  – and you can play with them for $100 an hour at this great sports bar and pool hall. VIP seating is available, and the pool tourney is a benefit; 75 percent of the proceeds go to the MSAA Foundation. Find out more here.

Rattlesnake Kate
Through March 13, daily
Wolf Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
Cellist Neyla Pekarek was studying at the University of Northern Colorado in 2008 when she came across the story of Rattlesnake Kate, a farmer who killed over 100 rattlesnakes one day in 1925. She became determined to tell Kate Slaughterback’s story – first in song, and now in a new musical that chronicles sixty years in the life of this Colorado legend. Read more about the show here; tickets are $30 to $74 at denvercenter.org.

Phamaly, The Spitfire Grill
Through April 3: Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Monday, March 21, and Thursday, March 31, 7:30 p.m.
Parsons Theater, Northglenn Arts, 1 East Memorial Parkway, Northglenn
Phamaly, Denver’s professional theater company of actors with disabilities, kicks off 2022 live on stage for a string of performances of The Spitfire Grill, a down-home musical set in a dilapidated small-town diner in the Wisconsin boonies. The central character is Percy, a worn-down woman with a past, who arrives in town to work at the Spitfire, where she reinvents herself as well as the diner, bringing smiles and a happy ending. It’s perfect Phamaly fare. Tickets range from $18 to $25; learn more and reserve seats here.

Colorado Ballet, The Wizard of Oz
Through March 20
Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex
The Colorado Ballet is off to see the wizard, bringing back an athletic production of The Wizard of Oz, choreographed by Septime Webre, the artistic director of the Hong Kong Ballet, who previously held the same role for the Washington Ballet. The sprightly dancing is enhanced by special effects, puppetry and an off-the-hook fly system that will hold the all-ages audience in awe. Primarily drawn from L. Frank Baum’s story, the show also borrows some iconic bits from the Judy Garland film. Find tickets, $40 to $160, and information here.

Cultural Fashion Runway Series: Mottainai
Saturday, March 12, 7 p.m.
McNichols Building, 144 Colfax Avenue
Denver Arts & Venues ventures into the fashion business with the Cultural Fashion Runway Series, designed to showcase local designers and fashion-related vendors. Mottainai, the theme of this event, is a Japanese term for sticking to sustainable practices and eliminating waste; it fits the practice of textile designer Rachael Levine, who uses shibori and special fabric-dyeing techniques to create the art-to-wear line ARAE. Also on the runway: vintage kimonos from the Nikkei Treasures collection. And on the sidelines, there’s a wabi-sabi marketplace. Tickets range from $6.35 to $44.80 here.

Spring Forward Fashion Show
Sunday, March 13, 5 to 10 p.m.
Skylight, 833 Santa Fe Drive
Spring Forward is a fashion show of a different stripe, with a focus on a vintage runway show and artisan goods offered by vendor booths at Skylight, in the Art District on Santa Fe. Guests can take selfies in the photo booth at the shopping party next door at resale shop Strawberry Mountain, while food vendors provide eats in Skylight’s courtyard, and the Boozy Botanist shakes up some creative cocktails alongside non-alcoholic beverages. Live art and DJ spins will keep it all lively. Admission is $85; get tickets and info here.

and some ongoing theater events:

Catamounts, One Way-Back Day
Through March 19, Thursdays through Sundays; industry night: Monday, March 14, 8 p.m.
Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder
The Catamounts, Boulder’s adventurous, foodie-friendly and community-minded theater troupe, is getting comfortable working under a roof these days – not that its work has suffered during outdoor ventures. Come welcome the group to the Dairy for its latest: One Way-Back Day, a down-home story sourced by director Tresha Farris from a stew of African, Black and South Carolinian Gullah and GeeChee American fairy tales and folklore. Kept in line by director Lisa Young and a well-picked cast, this is an unforgettable kind of front-stoop play that will take audiences far away from the usual grind, guided by a matriarchal, 101-year-old storyteller named Lettice Boyer. Get tickets, $20 to $50, and information at the Dairy’s website.

Curious Theatre Company, Refuge
Through April 9, select dates
Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma Street
Curious Theatre Company addresses the border situation in folkloric fashion with Refuge, a play by Satya Jnani Chávez and Andrew Rosendorf that tells the bilingual story of a young Honduran immigrant heading north into Texas. The production has a lilt of magic realism, traditional music and puppetry; Curious commissioned and developed the work, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award recipient, with help from transcreator Mari Meza-Burgos, who helped mold the script’s shifting languages to make sense between two cultures. Reserve tickets, ranging from $20 for previews on March 3 and 4 to $35 to $50 during the regular run, here.

INbox, Theatre Artibus
Through March 27, select dates
Savoy Denver, 2700 Arapahoe Street
The Savoy in Curtis Park, now owned by physical-theater specialists Meghan Frank and Buba Basishvili of Theatre Artibus, went quiet during the pandemic and then closed for renovations. Now the Savoy’s new improvements are being unveiled with a side of INbox, a droll sci-fi comedy played out silent-movie-style, right down to the overstated movements and framed titles used in the silver-screen era. The work is tied to a true story of an unlikely project in Tasmania; to learn more, go see it. Tickets are $19 to $48 at Eventbrite.

Know of a great event in Colorado? We’ll be updating this list through the weekend; send information to editorial@westword.com.