Aspen’s Most-Anticipated Arts Events, Winter 2019-20 – Aspen Times

Anybody who hangs around in Aspen long enough will grow weary of tourism boosters talking incessantly about how exceptional this place is. All the superlatives and all that my life is better than your vacation bull is tiresome and indecent.

But then you look at the arts and culture lineup for the winter ahead and, yeah, you realize how spoiled we are here how, yes, exceptional it is to have access to this caliber of exhibitions and performance and events in a remote mountain town so isolated from the cosmopolitan centers where youd expect, say, a Kusama Infinity Room and a Trevor Noah show. For most winter destinations, the skiing is enough.

Looking ahead at 2019-20 on the culture beat in Aspen, there are tentpole events you can count on, like splashy art openings over Presidents Day weekend for the jet-set and huge New Years Eve concerts at Belly Up, those few days over X Games when Aspen is the center of youth culture and pop music. There are series that have gotten hotter in recent years and have the town abuzz, like the Aspen Laugh Fest and the JAS Caf.

And there are always some new wrinkles, like Aspen Films Academy Screenings this year moving from its Christmas-to-New Years slot to early January, changing the long-established rhythm of entertainment during Aspens freakiest week.

As always, there will be surprises to come, like last years late addition of an on-mountain springtime music festival with String Cheese Incident and Umphreys McGee headlining.

So keep your edges sharp and mark your calendars. This is the Aspen Times Weeklys Most Anticipated list for 2019-20.

Andrew Travers

Yayoi Kusamas Where the Lights in My Heart Go

Aspen Art Museum, Dec. 20 through May 10

Youve probably seen your friends Instagram posts from inside Kusamas Infinity Room installations around the world, for which people wait for hours in line and on which museums and galleries have had to implement strict time limits for visitors. Kusama, a 90-year-old titan of contemporary art and recent viral fame, brings this mirrored room to the rooftop sculpture garden at the Aspen Art Museum in time for Christmas and everybody in Aspen is going to want to step inside.

AND DONT FORGET: Oscar Murillos Social Altitude at Aspen Art Museum (through May 17) bayer & bauhaus: how design shaped aspen at Aspen Historical Society (through April) Anderson Ranch Arts Center Holiday Open House (Dec. 17) Mickalene Thomas at Baldwin Gallery (opening late December) Emma Senfts Dappling at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Feb. 3-28) Lisa Yuskavages Wilderness at Aspen Art Museum (Feb. 16-May 31) Our Planet: Exploring Our Changing Environment at Anderson Ranch (March 9-April 8).

Christopher McDougall

Aspen Winter Words at Paepcke Auditorium, Tuesday, Feb. 18

Few books in recent years have been as ubiquitous on Aspen bookshelves as McDougalls 2009 narrative nonfiction blockbuster Born to Run. It sparked the barefoot running craze and shined a fascinating light on Mexicos Tarahumara tribe. McDougalls latest, Running with Sherman, is about a donkey jogging partner and animal-human partnerships.

AND DONT FORGET: Wild Game memoirist Adrienne Brodeur at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 6) Three Women author Lisa Taddeo at Winter Words (Jan. 7) Poets Jericho Brown and Ada Limon at Aspen Winter Words (Jan. 28) Naomi McDougall Jones The Wrong Kind of Women (published Feb. 4) Shutter Island author Dennis Lehane at Winter Words (March 10) Dopesick author Beth Macy at Aspen Winter Words (March 31).

David Finckel and Wu Han

Harris Concert Hall, Thursday, Feb. 20

If our summers are overstuffed with classical offerings, winter is starvation season. But the Aspen Music Festivals three-part winter series dependably brings summertime favorites back to satiate year-round local listeners. This beloved husband-and-wife pair has long been synonymous with Aspens music scene, giving rapturously received recitals and running influential chamber music workshops at the festival. Theyll perform cello sonatas by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Chopin.

AND DONT FORGET: Aspen Choral Societys Messiah (Dec. 13 & 14) A Celtic Family Christmas at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 19) William Hagen and Albert Cano Smit at Harris Concert Hall (Feb. 6) Joyce Yang at Harris Concert Hall (Feb. 13).

Trevor Noah

Aspen Laugh Festival at the Wheeler Opera House, Saturday, Feb. 22, 7 & 9:30 p.m.

The Wheeler has raised expectations sky-high for Laugh Fest, as its booked the biggest names in comedy for several years in a row. But, man, landing the Daily Show host and stand-up comic for two shows in the middle of presidential primary season? This is already the most talked-about event of the season.

AND DONT FORGET: Best of SNL with Alex Moffat and Mikey Day at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 27) David Spade at Belly Up (Jan. 2) Fortune Feimster at Wheeler Opera House (Jan. 11) Brian Regan at Belly Up (Feb. 10) Second City at Aspen Laugh Festival (Feb. 19) Norm Macdonald at Aspen Laugh Festival (Feb. 20) Taylor Tomlinson at Aspen Laugh Festival (Feb. 21) Paula Poundstone at Wheeler Opera House (March 12) Piff the Magic Dragon at Wheeler Opera House (March 13).

MOST ANTICIPATED: DANCE

Beautiful Decay by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

Aspen District Theatre, Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m.

This piece by Nicolo Fonte, staged for three performances last summer, was the first evening-length contemporary ballet ever produced by Aspen Santa Fe. A touching meditation on mortality, featuring a multi-generational cast, if you missed the first round of shows you must see it this winter.

AND DONT FORGET: The Nutcracker by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Dec. 21 & 22) Shimmer by Acrobats of Cirque-Tacular at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 26) Cirque Zuma Zuma at Wheeler Opera House (Feb. 16) Diavolo at Aspen District Theatre (March 27).

Just Mercy

Aspen Film Academy Screenings, Jan. 7

Director Destin Daniel Cretton brings the work and life of death row activist attorney Bryan Stevenson to the screen, with Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx starring. You may remember Cretton from his presentation at Aspen Shortsfest last spring and you may have caught one of Stevensons many talks at the Aspen Institute over the years. So youve got to see this during Aspen Films annual festival of Oscar hopefuls.

AND DONT FORGET: Pain and Glory, presented by Aspen Film at Isis Theatre (Dec. 4) Warren Millers Timeless at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 4 & 5) Heavy Water at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 15) Polar Express at Wheeler Opera House, Dec. 20 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker at Isis Theatre (Dec. 20) X Games film series, Diamond Club at Buttermilk (Jan. 23-26) The Longest Wave at Wheeler Opera House (March 20) Aspen Films Aspen Shortsfest at Wheeler Opera House (March 31-April 5).

MOST ANTICIPATED: POP MUSIC

Rae Sremmurd

X Games & Belly Up, Jan. 24 & 25

If you have ears, youve heard Black Beatles a lot in the last three years. And if youre a hip-hop head, you probably know the album SR3MM. The duos fourth full-length album, SremmLife 4, is rumored for a winter release. So expect Rae Sremmurd to make their big X Games show and ESPN tie-ins a key part of their album launch with all eyes on Aspen, these concerts and these new tracks.

AND DONT FORGET: Gregory Alan Isakov at Belly Up (Dec. 6) Robert Glasper at Belly Up (Dec. 9) The Wood Brothers at Belly Up (Dec. 11) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at Belly Up (Dec. 13) Modest Mouse at Belly Up (Dec. 14) The Head and the Heart at Belly Up (Dec. 16) Thievery Corporation at Belly Up (Dec. 18 & 19) Big Gigantic at Belly Up (Dec. 22) Cedric Gervais at Belly Up (Dec. 23) ABBA Mania at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 25) Zhu at Belly Up (Dec. 26) Third Eye Blind at Belly Up (Dec. 27 & 28) Bob Moses and Nora En Pure at Belly Up (Dec. 29) Flume at Belly Up (Dec. 30-31) Yonder Mountain String Band at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 31) Dillon Francis at Belly Up (Jan. 4) Pat Green at Belly Up (Jan. 10) Alphonso Horne & the Gotham City Kings at JAS Caf (Jan. 10 & 11) Illenium (Belly Up Jan 22 & X Games Jan. 25) Alesso (Belly Up Jan. 24 & X Games Jan. 25) Bazzi at Belly Up & X Games (Jan. 26) Railroad Earth at Belly Up (Jan. 28 & 29) The Doo Wop Project at Wheeler Opera House (Feb. 8) Lupe Fiasco at Belly Up (Feb. 9) Martin Sexton at Belly Up (Feb. 11) Curtis Stigers at JAS Caf (Feb. 13 & 14) North Mississippi Allstars at Belly Up (Feb. 19) Duchess at JAS Caf (Feb. 20 & 21) Donavon Frankenreiter at Belly Up (Feb. 21) O.A.R. at Belly Up (Feb. 27) Lyle Lovett at Belly Up (March 3) Guster at Wheeler Opera House (March 4) Poncho Sanchez at JAS Caf (March 7) Keller Williams at Belly Up (March 8) Spafford at Belly Up (March 13) Carolyn Leonhart at JAS Caf (March 13 & 14) Classic Albums Live: Abbey Road at Wheeler Opera House (March 25) Grace Potter at Belly Up (March 26 & 27) Killer Queen at Wheeler Opera House (March 27) Jamison Ross at JAS Caf at the Collective (March 27 & 28) Steel Betty at Wheeler Opera House (March 29).

Crystal Palace Review

Wheeler Opera House, Jan. 31 & Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m.

Mead Metcalf and the Crystal Palace players made a nostalgia-fueled, still-funny and politically incorrect return to Aspen last winter at the Wheeler and it appears this may be turning into an annual tradition. Metcalfs old dinner theater was reduced to rubble this fall, but the Palace lives on in this most local of locals nights at the Wheeler.

AND DONT FORGET: The Doyle and Debbie Show at Thunder River Theatre (Dec. 5-21) A Very Electric Christmas at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 8) Theatre Aspen Holiday Cabaret (Dec. 15-19) Ken Ludwigs Twas the Night Before Christmas at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 22) Adam Trents Holiday Magic at Wheeler Opera House (Dec. 28) The Great Dubois at Wheeler Opera House (Jan. 10) A View From the Bridge at Thunder River Theatre (Feb. 20-March 7) Million Dollar Quartet at Wheeler Opera House (March 6) Wild Creatures at Wheeler Opera House (March 7) Peter Rabbit Tales at Wheeler Opera House (March 19) Justin Willmans Magic for Humans at Wheeler Opera House (March 21).

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Aspen's Most-Anticipated Arts Events, Winter 2019-20 - Aspen Times