Weekly Picks- Oct. 2

I love lines. Mostly.
Sure, it’s not completely fun to wait ten minutes at the Pick ‘n’ Save when you’re just popping in to pick up a bottle of wine or a donut. And thoughts of the Department of Motor Vehicles does make my blood pressure climb a few notches.
But more often than not, lines are good things. It means you’re at the place to be. In the groove. Where it’s at. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, you’re where nobody goes any more—because it’s too crowded.
Which is why the Milwaukee Film Festival has been giving me a buzz all week. I love the clusters of people hanging around the Oriental Theatre, chatting about what they’ve just seen or what they’re about to see. I love seeing people queue up at 4:45 on a Wednesday afternoon to see an Italian movie about Giulio Andreotti (Il Divo, as politically complicated as a Shakespeare history play, as funny and visually striking as the finest Coen Brothers).
So if lines turn you off, don’t fear. They move along quite nicely. You get to sit for two hours after your waiting. And the experience at the end of the line is worth it (and probably something you won’t see again). If you’re really anti-queue, you can always stroll right into The Final Destination or Surrogates. Those are the movies that even Yogi would love.
Otherwise, don’t miss some of my “must-see” festival picks. Beaches of Agnes,French legend Agnes Varda’s whimsical and loving look back at her career; Tokyo Sonata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s tense exploration of a family faced with economic struggles; and Munyurangabo, a simple, elemental film that explores the lingering ethnic tensions in post-genocide Rwanda. Of course, there are also local favorites Frankie Latina’s Modus Operandi and Brent Notbohm’s Madison, as well as The Milwaukee Show, a juried competition of local films. And the festival closer, Precious, a big Sundance winner that will almost certainly continue to be celebrated at festivals and year-end awards.
See you in line.

If movies just aren’t your thing, there will be plenty of lines at other events this week. Edo De Waart returns from his Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra debut with an equally ambitious program that features two symphony soloists, violinist Frank Almond and cellist Joseph Johnson. The pair will play the Brahms Double Concerto, his final orchestra composition. And De Waart will also conduct Beethoven’s lively Seventh Symphony, which Richard Wagner called “the apotheosis of the dance.”

Frank Almond is keeping busy this week. After the weekend’s MSO concert, he’ll gather his Frankly Music group to perform two chamber works with guest cellist Lynn Harrell. Almond will stay in a Brahms vein, this time showcasing the string sextet from early in his career. And he’ll join Harrell and other musical friends to play the rarely heard string quintet by Alexandr Glazunov. 

And as Billy Mays might say: But wait, there’s more!  The Fine Arts Quartet kicks off its season, which features the Milwaukee debut of its new violist, Nicolò Eugelmi. Saint-Saens and Shostakovich are on the menu. 

And finally, the Marcus Center’s Broadway series opens with the unlikeliest of hit musicals. Spring Awakening is based on a turn-of-the-19th-century German play by Frank Wedekind about the dawning of sexual feelings in a group of teen-agers. it faced censorship trials during its early life. But that was before Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater turned it into a Tony-winning Broadway play in 2006.