#5: UWM Guitarists at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Why? Because we usually associate classical guitar with Spain and its environs, but students from the UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts’ acclaimed guitar program will spend this afternoon showing why the guitar goes well with all things Italian, including the paintings at the MAM’s new show, Of Heaven and Earth, which surveys the Italian masterpieces currently housed in Glasgow museums.
#4: Anton in Show Business at the UWM Theatre.
Why? Because before there was the YouTube “fail video,” there was the backstage comedy, in which theater folk pull back the mysterious curtain and expose the messiness and mayhem of the dramatic enterprise. And there is no better example of the genre than Jane Martin’s slapstick satire about a company performing Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Raeleen McMillion, who knows a thing or two about what can go right or wrong in a theatre production, directs a student cast.
#3: When We Go Upon the Sea at Next Act Theatre.
Why? Because politics is politics, and even though we are well into the Obama years (and well past the honeymoon phase), there is something to be said for a look back. Namely, Lee Blessing’s 2010 political fantasy, in which George W. Bush is tried for war crimes at the Hague. The play takes place in a posh hotel on the eve of the trial, and finds “W” in a chatty mood. On the play’s world premiere in Philadelphia, one critic wrote, “Blessing isn’t concerned with simple Bush bashing. His purpose in Sea is to investigate the relationship between rulers and those they rule.” And of course, that’s a subject that doesn’t disappear from election to election.
#2: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Pops at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because you just can’t seem to part with that furry, seven-foot Chewbacca mannequin in your living room, no matter how many ex-girlfriends have called it a “deal breaker.” And because your friends roll their eyes at your cell phone’s Darth Vader ring tone. Well, some Star Wars tunes are bound to be part of John Williams’ one-night-only appearance with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and he’ll likely be leading the group in some of his other film scores, including Schindler’s List, Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Maybe he’ll even dig deep into his legacy and offer some gems from the 1970s, including music from The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno.
#1: after all the terrible things i do at the Milwaukee Rep.
Why? Because the shorthand take on A. Rey Pamatmat’s play is that it’s “about bullying.” But the reasons it has captured the attention of American theater folk are much deeper: its finely drawn characters and its sense of humanity. Other major productions of the play are planned, but The Rep got there first, and will present the world premiere at its Steimke Theatre. May Adrales directs a pair of actors making their Rep debuts, Sophia Skiles and Mark Junek.
