Forget Red or Blue or Democrat or Republican. Look back over the last few decades, and it’s easy to divide White House aspirants into two categories: those who feel at home on the range and those who don’t. Greater Tuna, the fictional Texas town created by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, is going on 27 years old. But in the last month of the brush-clearing Bush years, it’s worth a final visit. Heck, it just might be a vision of Sarah Palin’s “real America.” Whatever it’s connection to 2008, you are certain to get a good chuckle at the expense of 20-or-so odd characters that inhabit the third smallest town in Texas. Two of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s best comic magicians, Gerry Neugent and Lee Ernst, have a great time bringing them to life.
If you’re more in the mood for tragedy, there will be plenty of pity and terror at the Marcus Center as the Florentine Opera stages the mother-of-all tear-jerkers, Madame Butterfly. Robin Follman, a soprano who puts the (high) C in Puccini, comes back to the Florentine after her dazzling Mimi in the Florentine’s 2004 La Boheme. 
If you thought Norwegian culture was just about lutefisk and Swen & Ollie jokes, Early Music Now wants to have a little chat with you (perhaps while you’re all enjoying a nice sauna). Trio Mediaeval is one of the world’s leading exponents of medieval music, and has garnered superlatives everywhere the trio touches down. Likened to the late, great Anonymous 4, the trio finds gorgeous resonances in near-ancient harmonies. Greg Sandow of The Wall Street Journal called them “breathtaking, arresting, vivid, calm but never peaceful, with every moment ready to bring a surprise.”
If you’re looking for something truly arresting, come to UWM’s Union Theatre for a heapin’ helpin’ of Guy Maddin’s world. The visionary Canadian director is a legend in the more outré film circles (think of him as a sort of vaudeville David Lynch with a little bit of Douglas Sirk thrown in for good measure), and My Winnipeg, his latest film is said to be one of his greatest and most personal.
Finally, the sound of frightened turkeys means that Thanksgiving approaches, which also means its time for Present Music’s annual Thanksgiving Concert. As usual, Kevin Stalheim and his ensemble will gather the whole Milwaukee musical family around the table, including the Milwaukee Choral Artists, the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, the Bucks Native American Singing and Drumming Group, Baritone Kurt Ollmann, and many more. The highlight of the program should be a piece by Henry Brant, whose “spatial music” will use every nook and cranny of St. John’s Cathedral. Word is that the concert is almost sold out, so be sure to call ahead for your tickets.
