Sure, stock up on the beer and nacho fixings, but you can’t spend the whole weekend watching snappy suited sports pundits speculating on the Steelers’ defense or Aaron Rodgers’ health. So shovel out the SUV, and do your own down-and-out to the nearest theater.
#5: The Decemberists at The Riverside.
Why? Because master storyteller Colin Meloy and his merry band of troubadours have taken British folk and prog-rock into brave new territory, which is only occasionally populated with fair maidens bearing “fruit of amorous entwine.” In contrast to their 2009 song cycle, The Hazards of Love, their latest album, The King is Dead, bears allegiance to the band’s folk influences – Fairport Convention and the like. It’s been called one of their best.
#4: Winterdances at the UWM Mainstage Theatre.
Why? Because it’s your chance to see two (post)modern dance classics: Mark Morris’ “Canonic ¾ Studies” and Alwin Nikolais’ “Water Studies.” And it showcases new work by local favorites. Dani Kuepper’s meditative “Invisible Truth,” Elizabeth Johnson’s playfully provocative “BALL/AD,” and Ed Burgess’ satirical “Reversals of Fortune,” a dance that explores the question: what happens when bad things happen to bad people?
#3: Festival of Films in French at UWM.
Why? Because when Michel Gondry isn’t making bad superhero movies (The Green Hornet), he’s crafting sweet and personal films like A Thorn in the Heart, his 2009 documentary about his Aunt Suzette, a school teacher in rural France. It’s just one of several films at UWM’s annual festival – most of which you won’t see anywhere else. There are recent films from French-speaking countries from around the planet, and even a silent classic, Marcel L’Herbier’s 1928 L’Argent, presented with live accompaniment.
#2: The Best of All Possible Worlds at The Rep’s Stackner Cabaret.
Why? Because playwright Alice Austen has had work produced in Chicago and London. And it’s high time we saw more of her in her hometown. The intrepid goats & monkeys troupe obliges by producing a staged reading of a family drama that has nothing to do with Voltaire, but has other stellar names associated with it: composer Josh Schmidt, and actors Laura Gordon and Mark Metcalf.
#1: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at Uihlein Hall.
Why? Because a big weekend – big snow, big football – calls for big music. And opera doesn’t get any bigger or grander than Richard Wagner. Milwaukee gets its own little piece of the “Ring” cycle as Edo de Waart conducts the first act of Die Walküre. Margaret Jane Wray has sung Sieglinde at the Met and at the Seattle Opera. And Clifton Forbis (Siegmund) has sung Wagner in Berlin and Paris. And if the stage wasn’t crowded enough with big names, the concert opens with Emanuel Ax playing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.
