#5: The Avett Brothers at the Riverside Theatre.
Why? Because this North Carolina band is a little bit Lester Flatt and a little bit Ramones, and its blend of the traditional and the explosive has made them one of the best live acts around. With 2009’s I and Love and You, the Avett’s made a quantum leap in following and popularity. No surprise, then, that the band that played to a respectable Turner Hall audience in 2008 should come back to play two nearly sold-out shows at the much larger Riverside Theater.
#4: Early Music Now at Schwan Hall, Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Why? Because everyone loves their Handel at the holidays, but it doesn’t end with the last “forevers” of the Hallelujiah Chorus. Daniel Taylor brings his acclaimed ensemble, Theatre of Early Music, to town to perform arias from some of Handel’s most sublime operas, including Rinaldo and Julio Cesare. Conductor Taylor is also a celebrated countertenor, and he’ll sing along with soprano Deborah York.
Photo by Marco Borggreve.
#3: Tomáš Kubínek at South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.
Why? Because you haven’t been down to South Milwaukee in a while, and you’d be surprised how much warmer it is down there. And while you’re there, warm up your funny bones with this show by the self-proclaimed “certified lunatic and master of the impossible.” Born in Prague, there’s more than a touch of Eastern Europe in Kubinek’s circus-inspired solo show, but it translates into all languages, and has been hailed around the world as master of physical comedy and clowning.
#2: Present Music’s Thanksgiving Concert at St. John’s Cathedral.
Why? Because sometimes, it’s nice to start the season with a different sort of mob scene (one that doesn’t involve crowds of shoppers lining up at Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving night). Present Music’s annual concert has become a Milwaukee tradition, always including Native American drumming and even sing-along carols. This year, the concert features the return of Henry Brant’s Wind, Water, Clouds & Fire, which PM commissioned in 2004. The PM ensemble is joined by over 100 musicians and singers to realize this piece that explores “the scale and immensity of the natural world.”
#1: Holiday Theater at Next Act and Skylight.
Why? Because there’s a suspicious increase in glitter, satin and jingles at area stores, which means that the holiday season is approaching. Milwaukee theater companies are at the ready, offering a buffet of Christmas-themed stories of otherwise light-hearted and popular theater fare to lure in audiences ready for a special outing. Next Act takes to the dogs with the deftly comic audience pleaser, Sylvia, A.R. Gurney’s tale of what happens to a New York couple when the husband brings home a stray dog. Down the street at the Skylight, there’s trouble in River City as Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man marches in to town, with Norman Moses leading the way as the indefatigable Harold Hill.
