Beer Festival and Plenty of Plays!

October 3, 2019

You’ve got your choice of a dazzling selection of theatre in Denver and Aurora this weekend! The double-feature repertory performance of A Doll’s House continues, and this is the final weekend for Indecent, a powerful play about censorship. For little ones, a magical production of the children’s classic book, Goodnight, Moon, opens this weekend. Not feeling so serious? Check out the largest Beer Festival in the country!   

Thursday-Saturday, October 3-5

GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL
This is the biggest beer festival there is—it’s even in the Guinness Book of World Records! With over 800 breweries from across the country together in one festival, you’ll get to sample the largest number and widest variety of hand-crafted brews in America. The Great American Beer Festival is the brewing industry’s top public tasting opportunity and competition.

It’s literally a tour of the country’s brewing landscape, with the beers arranged geographically on the festival floor. Enjoy tasting brews, one ounce at a time, and try to decide which one YOU would declare the winner!

Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St., Denver
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Tickets: $85
Phone: 303-228-8000

Thursday-Sunday, October 3-6

SEE A DOLL’S HOUSE!
Henrick Ibsen’s renowned theatre classic, A Doll’s House, is a portrait of a woman with a picture-perfect life, complete with a picture-perfect family and the small pleasures of her 1870s Norwegian home. Everything is not as perfect as it looks, however, and as Nora questions who she really is, she moves beyond the point of no return to assert her independence in this heart-wrenching and gripping production.

The play made such an impression on contemporary American playwright Lucas Hnath that he crafted a “Part 2” to Nora’s story. For the first time ever, the two plays are running in repertory—performed by the same company during the same time period on an alternating schedule. This gives the audience an exciting opportunity to see how each play interacts with the other!

Ricketson Theatre/DCPA, 1400 Curtis St., Denver
Thurs., 6:30 p.m.; Fri. 7:00 p.m.; Sat., 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.; Sun., 2:00 and 7:00
Tickets: $30-$40
Phone: 303-571-4401

FINAL WEEKEND FOR INDECENT
Don’t miss this riveting play—final performances are this weekend! Indecent is the true story of a play from the early 1900s that couldn’t be silenced. When Jewish playwright Sholem Asch brought his play, The God of Vengeance, to the stage, its provocative theme mixed religion with same-sex romance. The play was deemed “indecent” and subsequently banned.

But a number of artists believed in the right of a story to be heard, and kept the play alive. Contemporary playwright Paula Vogel picks up their story in her play, Indecent, which asks who gets to decide what is considered art and what deserves to be censored.

Space Theatre/DCPA, Speer Blvd. & Arapahoe St., Denver
Thurs., 6:30; Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sat./Sun., 1:30 p.m.
Tickets: $37-$75
Phone: 303-893-4100

TAKE A TRIP!
Miss You Like Hell is the fresh and surprising new musical by the Pulitzer Prize-winning co-creator of In the Heights, about an estranged mother and her 16-year-old daughter. When they embark on an impromptu road trip across the country, they learn as much about the complicated lives of a wide swath of Americans as they do about each other. The play’s theme about an undocumented mother who is pending deportation is poignantly relevant, and the acoustic score by folk artist Erin McKeown highlights the sharp and often funny repartee on stage.

Aurora Fox Arts Center, Black Box Studio, 9900 E. Colfax Ave, Aurora
Thurs./Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:00 p.m.
Tickets: $12-$37
Phone: 802-255-1826

Friday, October 4

TGIF!
Celebrate this beautiful Friday with a short trip down to the Food Truck Rodeo in Aurora! You’ll have a smorgasbord of food on wheels to choose from, including locally-sourced  homemade fare from the farm, Mexican street tacos, Southern BBQ, Asian fusion, sushi and rice bowls, and wood-fire pizza. Don’t forget to save room for dessert!

You can indulge in gourmet cupcakes and homemade sweets, as well as New Zealand-style ice cream! All this for purchase directly from the food trucks!

Aurora Municipal Center Great Lawn, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE

KIDS NIGHT OUT – CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
What kid wouldn’t love to spend the evening in the company of Willie Wonka and the Oompa Loompas? The YMCA Southshore’s Kids Night Out lets them do just that, with a screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, along with a whole lot of fun! There will be dinner, arts and crafts, and games—an evening just for the kids in a safe setting. Children who are potty-trained through the age of 12 are welcome. Registration is required.

The Lakehouse, YMCA Southshore, 27151 E. Lakeview Dr., Aurora
6:00-10:00 p.m.
Cost: $15-$17
Phone: 720-870-2221 

FALL FILM SERIES – CHASING ICE
This fall, you can dive deep into many important issues through Stapleton’s Fall Film Series with screenings of powerful documentaries every Friday in October. Tonight’s film is Chasing Ice, the story of one photographer who is committed to going to the Arctic every year to capture an evolving picture of how the world’s glaciers are changing.

Prior to the film, an educational discussion will be led by experts in the field. There’s even a concession stand selling beer, wine, soda and popcorn!

The Cube, 8371 Northfield Blvd., Denver
7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $5

Friday-Sunday, October 4-6

A ROMANTIC EVENING AT THE SYMPHONY
The ultimate work of Romanticism in classical music—Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony—will sweep you away with its unparalleled meditation on fate in four movements. The first part of the program gives you a sweeping taste of Americana with Libby Larsen’s Deep Summer Music. This enchanting piece will conjure visions of sweeping plains and harvest winds. Rounding out the program is Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, a movement in two pieces, with the second piece showcasing twentieth-century American jazz. 

Boettcher Concert Hall/DCPA, Speer Blvd. & Arapahoe St., Denver
Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 1:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$89

COMEDY ABOUT LOVE AND TIMING – FINAL WEEKEND
Don’t miss your chance to see The Best Day of Your Life, an endearing comedy-drama that follows two unlikely lovers through the decades as their paths cross over and over again.

In college Ron is smitten with Wanda, but as their excruciating first date shows, it doesn’t work out. The next time they meet, seven years later, time and circumstances have changed. Wanda sees Ron in a different light, but this time Ron isn’t ready. The play follows them through the years, through sickness and health, wealth and business and ultimately marriage. Love takes time… and timing.

Vintage Theatre Productions, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora
Fri./Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.
Tickets: $38
Phone: 303-856-7830

Saturday, October 5

ART FEAST
If your favorite passions are food and art, this is the FREE festival for you! Make a quick trip to Cherry Creek North and get acquainted with the area’s renowned galleries and designer food. Art Feast is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for culinary and artistic interaction, sampling, and learning—in a re-imagined way.

There will be live artist demonstrations, live music, and store discounts in each of the galleries on the art walk. Along the way, cafes, bistros, and restaurants will be offering tasty bites to sample and purchase. There’s even a complimentary wine tasting at The Vineyard Wine Shop!

Cherry Creek North, 2401 E. 2nd Ave., Denver
2:00-5:00 p.m.
Tickets: FREE
Phone: 303-394-2904

Saturday-Sunday, October 5-6

MAKE – FLY – LAUNCH – ASPIRE
Be among the first to experience Mission Aerospace, the new exhibit at Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. Kids and adults alike will be enthralled by this interactive learning experience! This exhibit is geared toward the astronauts and pilots of tomorrow, giving them a taste of what a career at NASA would be like. You can launch a rocket to Saturn or fly a plane to Sydney in high-tech simulators.

Make your way through an interactive maze that will teach all about the history of flight and NASA’s vision for the future. Experiment with thrust, lift, control surfaces and gyroscopes. Build rockets and paper airplanes, then test them for distance and air-dexterity. The price of this exhibit is included in the admission price!

Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, 7711 E. Academy Blvd., Denver 
Sat., 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sun., 12:00-5:00 p.m.
Tickets: $9.95-$16.95 admission price
Phone: 303-360-5360

GOODNIGHT, MOON
Every family who follows the sweet tradition of reading their children to sleep with this cherished children’s classic will delight in the stage version of the beloved story. This adaptation incorporates whimsical music and dance and picks up right as the clock is striking seven—Bunny’s bedtime.

Pre-K through 2nd graders will be especially mesmerized as all of the characters they know so well make an appearance on stage—kittens and mittens, bears and chairs, a red balloon, a quiet old lady saying “hush,” and of course, the beautiful moon!

Randy Weeks Conservatory Theatre, 1101 13th St., Denver
1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Tickets: $16
Phone: 303-893-4100

No shortage of activities near Southshore!

There’s no shortage of things to do near the master-planned community of Southshore! You get the tranquility of lakeside living with easy access to your favorite urban activities. Stop by and see for yourself how great Life at the Lake can be! With beautiful model homes from Toll Brothers, Century Communities, and Richmond American Homes, it’s easy to picture yourself in your own new home, priced from the upper $400s to the $700s.