Community Briefs

Night of Hope

CASA of Larimer County will hold its first ever Night of Hope Fundraising Gala, at 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at the Embassy Suites, 4705 Clydesdale Parkway.

Formerly known as Light of Hope, Night of Hope is the evening version of CLC’S largest fundraising and awareness event of the year.

It will include a social hour with live music from the local band Mr. Smyth, beverages and testimonials from individuals and community partners who have been involved with CASA of Larimer County.

CLC also will recognize volunteers and partners whose meaningful contributions have significantly advanced the group’s mission.

There also will be a silent auction.

Tickets are $75, or $500 for a table of eight.

For tickets, visit auctria.events/nightofhope2024 or contact Cristi Clifton at cristi@ casalarimer.com or 970488-1632.

‘Year to Save the Earth’

At 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, Namaqua Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 745 E. Fifth St., Loveland, will host “The Year to Save the Earth,” a multimedia experience co-hosted by NUUC Music Ministry and Climate Justice Ministry.

Jim Scott’s lyrical melodies and outspoken poetry raise up celebration, grieving, protest and positive vision for the planet. As well as hard reality, the program’s message is one of optimism with many invitations to join in the singing.

A $20 donation per person is requested.

For details, visit namaquauu.org.

Stand-up Comedy

Desk chair workspace, 201 E. Fourth St., will host a stand-up comedy show featuring Alan Bromwell at 7-9 p.m. Friday, April 5.

Hailing from Denver, Bromwell is a rising star in the comedy world. His act covers diverse topics including college, food, relationships, politics, and religion. Tickets are $20. For details, call 970462-9464 or visit bit. LY/3VGNB7B

FORT COLLINS Masks Exhibition

The 20th annual Northern Colorado Masks Exhibition and Fundraiser will take place April 5-June 7, at the Museum of Art Fort Collins, 201 S. College Ave.

Museum officials hope to raise $41,000 through the online auction of over 271 creative masks. The proceeds from masks support the exhibitions and educational programs of the museum.

There will be two ways to view the masks for sale: in person at the museum and through an online auction at fly. causepilot.com/moafc/ masks2024.

Admission to the museum is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 65-plus, and free to Colorado State University and Front Range Community College students with ID, military and veterans with ID, and ages 18 and under.

Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

For details, visit moafc. org.

ACT Film Festival

From April 3 to April 7, the ninth annual ACT Human Rights Film Festival will present 23 awardwinning documentaries on Colorado State University’s campus and at The Lyric. Award-winning filmmakers and film participants will join to share their insights.

The festival opens with a reception at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in the Lory Student Center Theater lobby, 1101 Center Ave. Mall, on CSU’S campus. The Colorado premiere of “If I Could Stay / Si Pudiera Quedarme” and the short film “How We Get Free” will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the theater. Both films investigate contemporary political issues in Colorado, and will be presented bilingually in Spanish and English with live interpreters.

The festival continues April 4 through April 7 at The Lyric, 1209 N. College Ave., for the remaining 21 films.

A one-hour reel of Ken Burns’s award-winning documentary series, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” will be screened at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7. Noting that “history cannot be looked at in isolation,” Burns and co-director Lynn Novick will join ACT Human Rights Film Festival for a virtual question-and-answer session moderated by Laura Frank immediately following the screening.

Another film of note, “Mediha,” screens at The Lyric at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4. That film turns its lens on the recent Yazidi genocide in Syria and Iraq perpetrated by ISIS terrorists. Mediha and Hasan Oswald, the film’s director, will be present for an inperson Q&A immediately following the screening.

ACT is offering two free trainings for community organizing and activism led by Fort Collins Community Action Network (FCCAN). Attendees will learn skills for building democracy and creating empowered social movements, and receive two free tickets to see any film at the festival. The trainings are open to all and will take place at The Lyric at 2 p.m. Friday, April 5, and 10 a.m. Sunday, April 7.

ACT festival passes range from $35 to $110, and tickets are available for individual films and livestreams as well. Through the Film Is Better with Friends initiative, those who buy a ticket to an ACT film can use the discount code “FRIENDS,” to receive a free ticket to bring a friend along.

The festival lineup and schedule, as well as festival passes and individual film tickets, can be found at actfilmfest.org.

Stunt Dog Experience

Perondi’s stunt dogs will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, and 4 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St.

During the Stunt Dog Experience, attendees will witness incredible dog stunts and tricks, Frisbee dogs, comedy antics, dancing dogs, athletic feats and more.

Tickets are $17-$48. For details, call 970-2216730 or visit lctix.com.

Springtime Dance

The Square Dusters Square Dance Club will hold a Springtime in the Rockies Dance at 7-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, at Club Tico, 1599 City Park Drive.

Peter Gomez will cue the round dances and Bob Riggs will call squares starting at 7:30 p.m.

Donation is $8 for members and $9 for guests; nondancing visitors are welcome at no charge.

For details, call Chris Kelly at 970-342-1823.

WINDSOR ‘California Suite’

Windsor Community Playhouse will present “California Suite” at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Friday, April 5, through April 21, at the theater at 561 E. Garden Drive, Unit A.

The humorous Neil Simon play, divided into four parts, showcases different couples from London, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, who travel to Los Angeles at different times during the same year and separately inhabit a Beverly Hills hotel suite, bringing along their problems, anxieties and comical marital dilemmas.

Opening night tickets are $10, and all other performances are $20.

For details, visit windsorplayhouse.org.

GREELEY ‘Firebringer’

The Aims Community Theater (ACT) Group will present “Firebringer: A Stone Age Musical” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 5-6 and April 12-13, and 1 p.m. Sundays, April 7 and April 14, at the Ed Beaty Hall Theater on the Aims Community College campus, 5401 W. 20th St.

“Firebringer” is a comedic musical set in the Stone Age, showcasing tribal life as comic and goofy, combining a dose of invention with a splash of prehistoric hilarity.

At the story’s center is a tribe of these primitive beings led by Zazzalil. When they stumble upon the discovery of fire, their world is forever changed, setting off a series of comedic misadventures and profound realizations about the nature of progress and humanity itself.

The show has two versions, one rated PG and one using more explicit language for adult audiences. The PG version will be staged April 5, 7 and 14, while the version for mature audiences will be staged April 6, 12 and 13.

Tickets are $10, available at aims.co/firebringertickets. A student rate is available; email stephanie. newton@aims.edu for the promo code. Ticket proceeds and donations will help fund the 2025 ACT productions.