An out-of-this-world Mardi Gras bash
Tuesday. Most Front Range bars and venues will likely have their own version of a Mardi Gras celebration over the next few days — the New Orleans-influenced, Fat Tuesday-themed parties fall on Tuesday, March 1 this year — but sci-fi themed Outworld Brewing has one of the most complete packages.
The all-day party, at 1725 Vista View Drive in Longmont, will serve up jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, beignets and chicory coffee while bands such as Badda Boom Brass Band, Brothers of Brass, The Hugh Ragin Band, The Jack Hadley Band and Zydeco DJs Ptomaine Tommy and Big Daddy provide a live soundtrack.
Contests include the best hand-crafted Mardi Gras float, Mardi Gras umbrella or mask (costumes are overall encouraged), while a traditional Second Line dance will wind around the taproom. Runs noon to midnight on Tuesday. 720-545-2337 or outworldbrewing.com/events — John Wenzel
Egypt’s secrets, up close and personal
Opens Friday. Families rarely need excuse to check out Denver Museum of Nature & Science, but this week offers added incentive with “Egypt: The Time of the Pharaohs.”
The exhibition of the perennially popular subject, opening Friday, Feb. 25, travels back 5,000 years to examine the cultural mysteries and scientific insights afforded by Egyptian leaders’ lavish graves and treasure hordes, from citizens’ daily lives to royal secrets.
A separate dated and timed ticket required for both “Egypt” ($7-$9.50) and museum general admission ($14-$20). Kids under 3 are free. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily at 2001 Colorado Blvd. 303-370-6000 or dmns.org/egypt — John Wenzel
New Play Summit brings cutting-edge theater downtown
Saturday and Sunday. If you love theater and want to see plays in their naked but oh-so-cool form, the Colorado New Play Summit is the place to be.
This is the first weekend of staged readings presented by Denver Center for the Performing Arts — Saturday, Feb. 26, and Sunday, Feb. 27 — but after that playwrights return to the writers’ room and the rehearsal rooms tweaking, adding, and polishing for the next weekend (March 4-5), which is once again open to the public but also brings in theatermakers from the nation’s regional theaters.
Past plays to head from the Summit to Off Broadway include recent Matthew Lopez’s riotous “The Legend of Georgia McBride” and Samuel D. Hunter’s “The Whale.” The stage readings of four new plays run concurrently with world premieres of two previous Summit participants: “Rattlesnake Kate” and “In the Upper Room.”
Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex at Denver Performing Arts Complex. $5-$10 per reading or $23-$38 for ticket packages. 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org — Lisa Kennedy
Punk rock meets fine art, loudly
Tuesday. Artist and activist Gregg Deal’s by turns exhilarating and gutting solo show, “Tutse Nakoekwu (Minor Threat),” closes its roughly month-long run at Emmanuel Art Gallery at 4 p.m. on March 1 with a spoken-word performance from the artist himself.
Deal’s masterful subversion of art-world tropes pushes Indigenous subjects and punk-rock culture to the fore with daring, color-splashed, and historically savvy work. And this University of Colorado Denver-run gallery, open to the public and students, is the perfect place for it.
Museum hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at 1205 10th St. Plaza on Auraria Campus in Denver. Free. 303-315-7431 or emmanuelgallery.org — John Wenzel
