By Allison Garcia, Rob Hullum, Steven Potter, Adam Rogan and Lauren Warnecke
Music
Elton John
Tuesday, April 28 | Fiserv Forum
Elton John will make his way to the Fiserv Forum for the second Milwaukee stop of the iconic piano man’s seemingly never-ending Farewell Yellow Brick Road world tour. Fork out the dough to see him now, as John has said that this will be his final final tour.
Kevin Morby
Wednesday, April 22 | Turner Hall Ballroom
Ambitious production and religious overtones encompass indie rocker Kevin Morby’s 2019 album Oh My God, with these elements featured most prominently on the standout track “No Halo.” Morby and his Oh My God band will bring the album to life at Turner Hall Ballroom with special guest Sam Cohen.
Bikini Kill
Sunday, May 24 | The Riverside Theater
Bikini Kill is best known for pioneering the riot grrrl movement in the early 1990s, opening doors for women in the male-dominated punk rock scene across the nation. After breaking up in 1997, the band reunited for seven U.S. shows in 2019, paving the way for a 24-date tour this year.
Art
Reconstructing Reality
Through Feb. 21 | LATINO ARTS INC.
Artist Brianna Lynn Hernández Baurichter is looking at all the angles. She aims to represent recognizable “psychological landscapes” through massive charcoal drawings resembling dreamed environments. She calls them “hybrids of reality and imagination” that shift depending on your perspective.
On the Nature of Wisconsin
Through March 20 | THE WAREHOUSE
This 4,000-square-foot always-free-to-enter gallery in the Menomonee Valley started life as a literal warehouse in 1924. Since opening less than two years ago, the displays have been taken from the private collection of Wisconsinite-curators Jan Serr and John Shannon. “On the Nature of Wisconsin” is the first exhibit exclusively featuring artists who are from or have spent significant time in the Badger State.
Quilts of Pauline Parker
March 20-July 19 | MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Parker, who died in 2013, didn’t begin working with quilts until she retired to Wisconsin. She’d been a painter who often focused on women in her work. Her quilts portray the same subject matter, while also exploring storytelling through current events, biblical characters and autobiography.
Literature
Tracey S. Phillips Spills Secrets at Boswell
Feb. 4 | Boswell book Co.
Madison-based crime novelist Tracey S. Phillips chats with retired Madison Police Detective Marianne Flynn Statz at this Thrillwaukee event. Her book, Best Kept Secrets, follows a detective whose latest case brings to light a childhood trauma.
Women’s Speaker Series: Mary Kubica, author of The Other Mrs.
Feb. 25 | Lynden SCULPTURE GARDEN
Tickets include an autographed copy of The Other Mrs., Mary Kubica’s latest psychological thriller, refreshments and admission to the picturesque sculpture garden.
Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp & Writing Retreat
May 17 – May 23 | Cedar Valley
Call it a bookcamp bootcamp. The six-day retreat near West Bend is focused on helping authors finish work on long-form writing. It’s an opportunity to meet and work with published novelists, editors and literary agents.
Theater
Eclipsed
March 3-29 | The Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Playwright and actor Danai Gurira (you might remember her as the most badass Wakandan warrior in Black Panther) received six Tony nominations for this riveting drama. It follows five Liberian women who help each other negotiate the turmoil of their country’s bloody
civil war.
Gently Down the Stream
April 24-May 17 | Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
MCT artistic director C. Michael Wright stars in this poignant rom-com about a world-weary pianist who meets an eccentric lawyer full of youthful optimism. Wright, who’s retiring after the show wraps, says that the play – which should appeal to hopeless romantics of all ages and backgrounds – has long been on his bucket list.
9 Circles
April 2-26 | Next Act Theatre
Based on a true story, this disturbing drama tells the story of Daniel E. Reeves, an American soldier who committed horrific crimes against Iraqi civilians. Playwright and Jesuit priest Bill Cain chose to portray Reeves as a flawed but not entirely unsympathetic protagonist whose journey through the criminal justice system parallels
Dante Alighieri’s descent into the nine circles of hell. The result is a bleak but unforgettable 90-minute tour de force.
Dance
Mala Mala!
Feb. 23 | Wisconsin Lutheran College
This free concert named for a West African word meaning “to shine” is one of Ko-Thi’s fi rst major showings since DeMar Walker became artistic director.Following in founder Ferne Caulker’s footsteps, audience members will be treated to the energetic, enthralling dances they’ve come to expect from this top-shelf African diasporic dance company.
Off the Page
March 12-14 | Boswell Book Co.
Choreographer Debra Loewen’s newest foray into lost, forgotten or otherwise unconventional spaces takes audiences to an East Side book store. Here, the Wild Space Dance Company offers musings on classic works of literature in a dance about the joy of reading.
Push
March 26-29 | Marcus Center
Milwaukee Ballet’s spring mixed-rep program boasts contemporary works by Alejandro Cerrudo, Darrell Grand Moultrie and Aleix Mañé, winner of last year’s choreography competition. From Cerrudo, once the
resident choreographer at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, comes “Extremely Close,” a sumptuous morsel set to meditative music by Philip Glass and Dustin O’Halloran, last seen in Milwaukee in 2012.
