Schabla and Bill Watson. Photo by Mark
Frohna Photography.
#5: In Tandem’s The Chosen at Tenth Street Theatre.
Why? Because In Tandem’s Chris and Jane Fleiller have assembled an impressive cast for this production of Chaim Potok’s beloved novel, including UWM professors Bill Watson and James Tasse. Because the adaptation—by Aaron Posner, who recently directed impressive productions of To Kill a Mockingbird and his adaptation of Potok’s My Name Is Asher Lev at the Rep—was honored when it was staged in Philadelphia. And because the story, about two Jewish friends growing up in Brooklyn in the eventful 1940s is powerful and timeless.
#4: Bel Canto Chorus’s “Evensong” at St. Joseph Chapel, 1501 S. Layton Blvd.
Why? Because there is something about choral music, watching the faces of a singers as they mirror the expressive contours of a melody, that can brighten even the dreariest early Spring. And Bel Canto Director Richard Hynson has assembled a wonderfully ambitious collection of music for this concert, including his own composition, “Evensong.” Also on the program is Benjamin Britten’s “Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac,” a large-scale work for chorus and soloists.
#3: Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s Home at Plymouth Church, 2717 E. Hampshire St.
Why? Because when you ask “What’s New?” on the concert scene, you literally are looking for something new and never heard. Jillanna Ponasik’s MOT offers a program music about “Home,” including several new compositions by composers from our home town. Leonard Bernstein is here, and Debussy and Vaughn-Williams. And they share the bill with works by Milwaukee composers, including new pieces by Jason Powell (the mind behind MOT’s recent Fortuna the Time Bender vs. the Schoolgirls of Doom) and Joel Boyd, who will offer an excerpt from his chamber opera based on the life of Abigail Adams.
#2: Youngblood Theatre’s The Flu Season at UWM’s Northwest Quadrant Building A, 3211 N. Maryland Ave.
Why? Because Youngblood once proves there’s room for adventurous theater in Milwaukee, here they introduce Milwaukee to the playwright Will Eno, whose mind-bending reality games have netted a Guggenheim fellowship and other awards, including a long and celebrated New York run of his best known work, Thom Pain (based on nothing). The Flu Season is ostensibly about two people in a psychiatric institution. But it’s really about creativity and the artistic process, represented by characters called Prologue and Epilogue, who keep butting in to the story and wondering if the preceding scene was on the mark. Fittingly, it is being staged in a hospital—or at least the former Columbia St. Mary’s hospital that is now being converted to serve the purposes of academia. Somehow, I think Eno would like that.
#1: Present Music’s Around 30 at Turner Hall.
Why? Because Present Music has never just been about music, and here they stretch out to embrace the entire artistic community of Milwaukee and beyond. Or at least the intersection of Milwaukee creativity and “Generation X or Y.” It’s a program and event that features dozens of artists born under the sign of The Great Communicator (Ronald Reagan, for those of you in Generation Z), including composers, visual artists, architects, filmmakers, designers, dancers and, yes, musicians. Arrive early and stay late. Turner Hall will be transformed into a gallery/performance space. And I’m Not a Pilot provides music for the after party.
