Arts and Entertainment

The melodious bellow of bagpipes and the steady tapping of drums heralded the first concert of the annual Summer Concert Series at the Littleton Museum on Wednesday.

Despite the rain, the Denver and District Pipe Band — comprised of almost 70 bagpipers, drummers and dancers — performed traditional and modern takes on Celtic marches, jigs and reels for 300 attendees.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Littleton Library and Museum, the Summer Concert Series has been free to the public for more than 25 years. 

The Nutcracker was a girl. That didn’t sit right with 8-year-old Tyler Humphrey. 

Tyler, now 15, had previously seen his mother in a performance of “The Nutcracker,” and he asked indignantly why a girl was cast in a boy’s part.

“I told him it was because there weren’t any boys to play the part,” said Demelza Humphrey, Tyler’s mom. “I told him, ‘You’re the only one who can change that.’ ”

There’s something to be said for following a childhood dream into adulthood — especially when that dream involves horses, acrobatics, sword fighting, chariot races and fire.

The cast of “Gladius,” which is in the middle of a six-week run at the Jeffco Fairgrounds, lives that dream every time they take the stage. 

For some young performers, that first opportunity to entertain an audience is all it takes to turn stage fright into stage presence. 

“I’ll be honest: I really, absolutely hated performing for people. I despised it,” says 11-year-old Brooklyn Webb. 

But Brooklyn’s high anxiety turned to polished poise when she took the stage for the first time last year in Lakewood High School’s performance of “Les Misérables.”