Okay. The white stuff is on the ground. The stores are packed. It’s time to get Holiday Serious.
#5: Bach and Friends with Ensemble Musical Offering.
Why? Because Joan Parsley’s “original instruments” group has brought vim and vigor to music from the 17th-19th centuries for almost 25 years. She and her group present well-researched evenings that don’t skimp on musical excitement. This weekend’s show features lots of concertos from J.S. Bach and friends, including Corelli, Vivaldi and Telemann.
#4: Made in U.S.A. at UWM Union Theatre.
Why? Because nothing says Christmas in America better than Jean-Luc Godard’s gleeful and dizzyingly haphazard film, chock full of beautiful images (cinematography by Raoul Coutard) and three-deep literary references. Make sense of it if you dare. But better to let your mind dance with the sugarplums, keeping an eye out for Marianne Faithful’s “As Tears Go By” cameo and characters whose names evoke an era (Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara).
#3: The Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker at Uihlein Hall.
Why? Why not? As a recent New York Times article chronicled, there are Nutcrackers everywhere. And of every shape and size. Milwaukee’s, courtesy of Michael Pink, is elegant and emotionally resonant. And fun. You may know an aspiring ballerina who will be scurrying around the stage as a mouse. But even if you don’t, you should make it a point to see this production every once in a while.
#2: The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s A Christmas Carol at the Pabst Theater.
Why? Because tradition is tradition, and like staples It’s a Wonderful Life, Joe Hanreddy and Edward Morgan’s adaptation of Dickens’ classic story isn’t just holly jollies. It is, after all, about a man coming to terms with a mostly wretched life, and the story and the Rep performers aren’t afraid to go deep. This year, Scrooge is played by the inestimable James Pickering.
#1: Ex Fabula’s December Spectacular at Turner Hall.
Why? Because you love This American Life and The Moth and want to know what sort of weird and wonderful stories your friends and neighbors have in them. Because this year-end finale features the best tale-spinners from Ex Fabula’s “open” storytelling evenings. Because it’s about time you unburied yourself from your Twitter feed and heard someone in the flesh talk about real life.
