Winter Scene 2010: Cultural Attractions

There’s a world of fun to be explored indoors

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When you get tired of braving the snow, wind and ice outdoors, there’s plenty to do indoors to keep you entertained.

 

CU Natural History Museum

After six months of renovation, the University of Colorado Natural History Museum reopens on Nov. 13. With more than four million objects in its collections, the museum is a great place to lean about anthropology, archaeology, botany and more. For more information, call 303-492-6892, or visit www. cumuseum.colorado.edu.

Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art

The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is open Tuesdays through Sundays, and for a mere $5 (or $4 for seniors, students and educators), you can check out some of the hottest local and national artists For more information, call 303.443.2122, or visit www.bmoca.org.

Denver museums

If Highway 36 isn’t snow-bound and you don’t mind the drive, Denver has some great museums to visit. The Denver Art Museum (www.denverartmuseum.org) hosts Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs, featuring more than 100 objects spanning over 2,000 years of Egyptian history.

For more contemporary art, visit the aptly named Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (www. mcadenver.org). Offering some of the most striking art exhibits this side of the Rockies, MCA Denver is the perfect place to dodge the cold and expand your horizons.

Winter is also prime theater and dance season. Don’t believe us? Just check out all the performances going on this time of year.

University of Colorado

An annual favorite, CU’s Holiday Festival runs from Dec. 3 through 5 at Macky Auditorium. Don’t wait to get tickets, though. This event consistently sells out. Reserve your seat by calling 303-492-8008.

On Nov. 6, CU will host the Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Imani Winds visits campus Nov. 19. On Dec. 10, get in the holiday spirit with Christmas in Ireland, featuring acclaimed Irish ensemble Danú.

And that’s just the tip of the ice berg. For a full list of musical happenings at CU, visit www.cupresents.org.

And don’t forget the CU Theatre & Dance Department. In November, the department celebrates its 50th anniversary with Marisol, a surreal, apocalyptic journey by Jose Rivera, who wrote the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries. And from Dec. 2 to 24 you can check out A Christmas Carol, presented by the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (www.coloradoshakes.org).

The Dairy Center

CU doesn’t have a monopoly on winter theater preformances. The Dairy Center for the Arts (www.thedairy.org) also has a full calendar in the upcoming months.

The one-actor play TransFormations, playing Oct. 28-30, explores the lives and stories of transgender people.

Eda Bagel stars in Imitation of Wife – An Unauthorized Autobiography on Nov. 5 and 6. Proceeds from the show will go to Boulder County AIDS Project.

Boulder’s Upstart Crow Theater Company will present Shakespeare’s The Life of King John at the Dairy Nov. 12 through 27.

For a fun twist on an old favorite, Frequent Flyers Productions presents Ratcracker, a re-telling of the classic Nutcracker with performances on the low-flying trapeze, bungee, rope and harness, aerial fabric and a flying bed.

For all you David Sedaris fans in the audience, don´t miss the hilarious SantaLand Diaries, performed by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (www.boulderensembletheatre.org). Based on Sedaris’ real-life experience working as an Elf in Macy’s SantaLand, The SantaLand Diaries played to packed houses last year and promises to be just as popular this year. Performances at the Dairy run from Dec. 1 through 23.

Ballet Nouveau Colorado

If you prefer your classics a bit more classic, then don’t miss Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s production of Nutcracker, which runs Dec. 10-19. Classic doesn’t mean stuffy, however. After the show, kids are allowed on stage with the dancers to learn some of the steps from the performance. Who knows, you might have a tiny Baryshnikov on your hands. For more information and tickets, call 303-466-5685, or visit www. bncdance.com.

Boulder Ballet

The Boulder Ballet (www.boulderballet.org) company also performs The Nutcracker. On Nov.

26-28, they perform with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and at CU’s Macky Auditorium. On Dec. 4 and 5, they team up with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra at the Vance Brand Civic Auditorium in Longmont.

Orchestras & symphonies

Boulder County probably has more orchestras, symphonies and musical ensembles per capita than anywhere in the world. And during the festive holiday season, they all shine especially bright.

On Dec. 17, the Boulder Symphony (www. bouldersymphony.org) presents European Sojourn:

Infusing Folk with Classical. The concert includes works by Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and others, as well as a holiday sing-along. The Boulder Chamber Orchestra (www.boulderchamberorchestra. org) will host its holiday concert, All Magical, on Dec. 17.

And a little further afield, Denver Brass (www.denverbrass. org) has a jam-packed line-up of holiday performances. Check their website for the full schedule.

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