#5: Shear Madness at the Northern Lights Theater.
Why? Because John McGivern has agreed to give the hairstylist Tony one more sashay around the salon, revisting the interactive comedy that stakes its claim as one of the longest-running, um, straight plays of all time (non-musical, that is). Not wanting to rival Boston actor Patrick Shea, who has acted in the play for 30 years, McGivern brings the comedy whodunit to the stage at Potawatomi Casino for “one last run.” As usual, McGivern attracts a host of great comic actors to the show, including Jenny Wanasek, Norman Moses, and Mary McDonald Kerr.
Why? Because Paul Zindel’s 1964 play is a mainstay of actor monologs and drama-class reading lists. But it’s rarely performed these days, despite its Pulitzer Prize 
and the popularity of the Paul Newman directed movie. That isn’t stopping The Splinter Group, which has enlisted some great talent to bring it to the stage. Exhibit A: The talented and experienced Niffer Clarke, who no doubt knows a juicy role like Beatrice when she sees one (it did win Joanne Woodward an award at Cannes, after all). Clarke leads a cast that also includes Kat Wodtke, Megan Kaminsky, Eva Nimmer, and Marilyn White. The talented Mallory Metoxin directs.
#3: Theatre Gigante’s My Dear Othello at UWM’s Kenilworth East.
Why? Because no one does Shakespeare like Theatre Gigante. It’s adaptation of King Lear in 2010 was one of the highlights of the season, and its recent take on Midsummer Night’s Dream was charming and thought-provking. This revival of its 2004 Japanese-influenced production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy demonstrates the group’s fearlessly imaginative take on a classic. This time around, frequent Gigante collaborator Janet Lilly returns, and is joined by Optimist Theater’s Tom Reed and Gigante’s Isabelle Kralj, who created the work with Mark Anderson.
#2: Alverno Presents The Delicate Hour at UWM’s Mitchell Hall.
Why? Because Molly Shanahan and her Mad Shak dance company dig deep into experience and thought in their work. This hour-long quartet is inspired by Pennsylvania sunsets (which occur during the “delicate hour”), Renaissance painting, and more. But it’s really a thoughtful and sensitive exploration of the very idea of dance. What does it mean to move or watch other people move. Appropriately, Alverno moves the event to the more intimate space of Mitchell Hall, which could only serve to magnify the intensity and emotional richness of the experience.
#1: The Florentine Opera’s The Flying Dutchman at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because it’s a grand time for grand opera in Milwaukee. On the heels of the MSO’s stunning reading of Mozart’s Don Giovanni comes the Florentine’s first production of Wagner in a decade, and it has the potential to be remembered for years to come. Bass-baritone Wayne Tigges returns after his solid performance in 2012’s Susannah, and Florentine favorite Peter Volpe returns. But the real treat will be the Florentine debut of Alwyn Mellor, considered one of the great Wagnerian sopranos working today. She sang Brünnhilde in Steven Wadsworth’s recent Seattle Ring Cycle, and she previously sang the role in London and Europe, and was compared to the legendary Kirstin Flagstad. Paula Suozzi directs this original production with sets and lighting by Noele Stollmack.
