#5: Mamma Mia at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because you loved Abba. Because you loved the first Broadway production in 2001. Because you loved hearing Meryl Streep sing in the 2008 movie. And because the soundtrack album is on permanent play in your minivan. Why not?
#4: The Bad Plus at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because the Marcus Center’s Vogel Hall, which usually sits dormant, is perhaps the perfect venue for a jazz concert that is bound to draw a fair crowd. The Bad Plus have been around for a decade, specializing in a jazz-rock fusion that has nothing to do with Spyro Gyra or Kenny G. An acoustic trio steeped in post-bop jazz tradition, they’ve brought the jazz-improv thing to songs by Nirvana and Aphex Twin, and since they’ve been playing together for a while, they play well together.
#3: Feed the Fish at Times Cinema.
Why? Because you’ve suffered enough at the cinema lately, sitting through Hollywood phone-ins like Little Fockers and Gulliver’s Travels. Why not get a little local flavor with your laughs with this comedy set in Door County? Tony Shaloub plays a children’s book author approaching a mid-life crisis who tries to “find himself” by participating in the Polar Bear Plunge in Sturgeon Bay. Director Michael Matzdorff, a fixture in Hollywood editing rooms, is a Green Bay native – so he knows the territory well.
#2: The Scarring Party at Borg Ward Collective.
Why? Because they’re a little bit Edward Gorey, a little bit Samuel Beckett, and a whole lotta fun. They could have easily headlined in Weimar Germany, but we’re glad to have them here in Milwaukee, where their sound matches their ominous lyrics (“Press your Cheshire grin/To my blistered lips again/Even a guillotine/deserves a second chance”). The band is fresh back from dates in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and are gearing up for a West Coast tour. The Borg-Ward artists collective — appropriately ensconced in a former funeral home — offers the perfect grungy venue.
#1: Margaret Leng Tan and Present Music at Turner Hall Ballroom.
Why? Because Leng Tan is a legend of avant-garde music who has worked closely with John Cage and Henry Cowell. And because she’s the only toy pianist coming to town this year. And because Present Music was recently singled out as one of the American music organizations that is keeping live, contemporary music alive with innovative programming and excellent music-making. Stop by and see why.
