#5: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at the Marcus Center.
Why? Maybe because your Mahler punch card isn’t quite full yet. In the last three years, we’ve been privy to a good portion of Mahler’s symphonic output, and this weekend, Edo de Waart starts at the beginning with the Symphony No. 1, one of the most accessible and “manageable” of all his symphonies. De Waart pairs it with Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, a tone poem much in thrall to the symphonic work of Franz Lizst.
#4: The Arcas Quartet at the First Unitarian Society.
Why? Because it’s time to get acquainted with Milwaukee’s newest chamber music ensemble, and with one of its up-and-coming composers. Lead by MSO Assistant Concertmaster Ilana Setapan, the Arcas includes other members of the MSO – including Peter Thomas, also the cellist with the band I’m Not a Pilot. The quartet will play Beethoven and Shostakovich, and also the world premiere of Joel Kenneth Boyd’s String Quartet No. 1, subtitled “Abigail’s Rose.” Sunday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. First Unitarian Society, 1342 N. Astor St. Photo by Ari Rosenthal.
#3: Renaissance Theatreworks Gorgons at Broadway Theatre Center.
Why? Because you can forget about “True Blood” and “Charmed”—nobody makes witches like decades of Hollywood diva-dom and its gradual and inevitable fading. Don Nigro’s comical horror story takes off from the real life Hollywood stories surrounding Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, the movie that put the aging Bette Davis and Joan Crawford together on a low-budget horror movie sound stage and watched the fur fly. With a camp quotient somewhere between “Jersey Shore” and “The Hills,” Gorgons may just be the most fun you’ll have while fulfilling your holy Halloween obligations.
#2: “Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper” at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Why? Because we love them for their dots and swabs of color, and all know the art docent lecture about how Impressionist painters understood the way the mind can mix colors at the painter’s suggestion. But this new MAM exhibit (organized with the Albertina Museum in Vienna) makes the case for the drawing talent of painters like Monet, Degas, Renoir and others. And because it is a truly rare opportunity to see work by some of the great 19th-century masters side-by-side—short of doing a world tour of major museums, that is.
#1: Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Driving Miss Daisy at Broadway Theatre Center.
Why? Because it is time to celebrate the career and talents of Ruth Schudson, our own grand dame of Milwaukee theater. Thirty-seven years ago, she founded the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre with Montgomery Davis, and she’s played some of the theater’s great characters over the years. This month, she’ll tackle the role of Daisy Werthan, a role that has attracted luminaries like Jessica Tandy, Vanessa Redgrave, Dana Ivey and Wendy Hiller. Alfred Uhry’s play is a microcosm of race-relations in the American South over the course of 25 years, but it’s really a chance for a talented actress to bite into a role demanding both fireworks and finesse. Michael Wright directs Schudson, along with Jonathan West and Michael A. Torrey.
