Colorado performing arts preview: can’t-miss January theater, music and dance

From a homecoming concert to world premiere plays, here’s Thirst’s guide to the best upcoming shows across Colorado

By the Thirst Team

Get Out of Town is our roundup of the best events across Colorado for the next couple of weeks. For more happenings, check out our events calendar.

This week, we are focusing on performing arts across Colorado. For each chosen region of Colorado, we’ll pick one can’t-miss performance and a few other recommendations from the worlds of theater, dance, music and more. Let us know what you think, and tell us what we missed.

Boulder

Our pick for January is an emotional homecoming concert with the Boulder Philharmonic. Colorado native Rainer Eudeikis, principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony, returns to Boulder and will perform with his former teacher,  Boulder Phil principal cellist Charles Lee. Eudeikis’ mother, Boulder Phil clarinetist Michelle Orman, also will be on stage.

The concert includes compositions by Jennifer Higdon and Robert Schumann, followed by Franck’s Symphony in D Minor. It starts at 4 p.m. Jan. 11 at Macky Auditorium.

Other highlights in the Boulder area include:

• The Grammy-winning Takács Quartet’s return to Grusin Music Hall Jan. 11 and 12

• The Boulder Chamber Orchestra with artist-in-residence Andrew Cooperstock performing piano quintets by Dmitri Shostakovich and Robert Schumann Jan. 17 at Boulder Adventist Church

• T2 Dance Company’s eighth annual Versatility Dance Festival on Jan 17 at the Dairy Arts Center, which also hosts MycoMorphosis: Dancing with Fungi, a “multimedia bio-art performance” Jan 23-25; and The Mariposa Collective’s “Resonance” show on Jan. 30

• Ruckus and Keir GoGwilt reviving an unexpected but age-old tradition of pairing Italian music with Irish dance at Macky Auditorium Jan. 23.

Cowboys and East Indians preview clip

Denver Center for the Performing Arts

“Cowboys and East Indians” was an acclaimed hit at the 2024 Colorado New Play Summit, and we expect the world premiere performance at the Singleton Theatre to be a highlight during a very busy month at the DCPA. It follows the Sen family as they move from India to Wyoming and cultures collide.

The show opens Jan. 16, and post-show talkbacks are scheduled for Jan. 28, Feb. 12 and Feb 24.

DCPA theaters also host:

• “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” a comedic retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story, through May 10 at the Garner Galleria Theatre

• “SIX,” a celebration of the six wives of King Henry VIII, at the Buell Theatre for a nearly sold-out engagement from Jan 7-11 

• “The Choir of Man,” an uplifting pub singalong and international hit, at the Buell Theatre Jan. 16 and 17

• “The Simon & Garfunkel Story,” honoring one of the best-selling and most beloved music groups of the 1960s, at the Buell Theatre Jan. 24 and 25

• The world premiere of “Godspeed,” a post-slavery Western, Jan 30 to Feb 22 at the Kilstrom Theatre 

• “Mark Twain Tonight,” a legendary one-man show starring Emmy-winning actor Richard Thomas, at the Buell Theatre Jan 31.

At Boettcher Concert Hall, Colorado Symphony highlights include:

• A symphonic Dolly Parton tribute Jan. 3 and 4.

• Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations with pianist Makoto Ozone Jan. 9 to 11

• The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute and humanitarian awards Jan. 13

• A Mozart symphony and modern pieces with conductor Peter Oundjian Jan. 23 to 25

The Colorado Ballet will stage “The Great Gatsby” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House Jan. 30 to Feb. 8. The long-awaited ballet was scheduled to premiere in 2021 but was delayed by the pandemic.

Denver’s other venues

The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Center for the Healing Arts is a colorful new landmark in downtown Denver. The space officially opens on Jan. 17 with a public ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. and the first performance at 7:30 p.m. Denver’s Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and Artistico will be joined by Lil Buck of Memphis, Tenn., and Philadanco of Philadelphia.

The Newman Center at the University of Denver hosts:

• La Santa Cecilia, a Grammy-winning pan-American Latinx band on Jan. 23

• Legendary musician and producer Don Was, leading the Pan-Detroit Ensemble to commemorate the 50th anniversary of  the Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah, on Jan. 29.

Over in Denver’s Golden Triangle, Curious Theatre Company and Local Theater Company, stages a rolling world premiere run of “Bad Books” by Sharyn Rothstein. The play is about censorship and personal conviction, and it runs Jan. 10 to Feb 1 in Denver, and February 5 to 14 in Boulder.

Denver suburbs

After winning multiple Henry Awards in 2025, Performance Now will stage Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” Jan. 9 to 25 at the Lakewood Cultural Center. The World War II island love story was a huge Broadway hit and a popular 1958 movie musical. The soundtrack includes iconic songs such as “Some Enchanted Evening” and “I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy.”

The Aurora Fox Arts Center will stage “Waiting for Godot” from Jan. 30 to Feb. 22. The theater also hosts $5 screenings of “Citizen Kane” and “The Wild Robot.”

In Johnstown, The Candlelight Dinner Theater is still in the holiday spirit, staging The Million Dollar Quartet Christmas through Jan. 11. A brief run of Motones & Jerseys: In Concert opens Jan. 15, showcasing classic 1960s music. Finally, the classic musical “Hello, Dolly!” opens Jan. 29.

Down south, the Lone Tree Arts Center will present:

• Grammy-winning Cuban guitarist Alex Cuba on Jan. 10

• Acclaimed modern dance company Ailey II on Jan. 16

• The Mary Louise Lee Band’s tribute to Whitney Houston on Jan. 31 

The Arvada Center presents: 

• A production of “Junie B. Jones: The Musical,” opening Jan. 23. 

• Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield, performing Duke Ellington’s Love Songs with the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra big band, on Jan. 31

Central Mountains

Sam Grisman brings an all-star group of acoustic musicians to celebrate the influence and legacy of his father David Grisman, a legendary mandolinist, composer and producer.

The show is at the Strings Music Pavilion in Steamboat Springs on Jan. 8, and opens a great 2026 season for the Strings Music Festival. Other upcoming concerts include:

• Singer-songwriter Paul Thorn on Jan. 6

• The Matt Kearney Acoustic Trio on Jan. 16

• Yonder Mountain String Band on Jan. 22

• Tank and the Bangas on Jan. 25 

Western Colorado

The Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra will host professional Broadway vocalists performing songs from Wicked, Hamilton, Phantom of the Opera, and more on Jan. 17 and 18 at the Asteria Theatre at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.

The Asteria Theatre also presents TINA - The Tina Turner Musical on Jan. 27 and 28.  

Also in Grand Junction, the Theatre Project stages Rabbit Hole, a Pulitzer Prize–winning drama by David Lindsay-Abaire, Jan. 9 to 11.

In Durango, Snowdown is a citywide party and festival from Jan. 23 to Feb. 1. There are all kinds of activities but a mainstay of the festival for 42 years has been the Snowdown Follies revue. But be warned: tickets are only available by auction and lottery.

As always, please send us your events and announcements. We’re happy to share them. If they don’t fit in the Get Out of Town column, we will add them to our events calendar.