Sorry Mr. Eliot, we think February is the cruelest month, which is probably why we’ve larded it with so many “sweet and hot” holidays—Mardi Gras, St. Valentine’s Day, and that zenith of debauchery, President’s Day. There’s plenty of warmth coming your way this week, including one of the highlights of the year for lovers of words, metaphors, anapests and anaphora. The Poetry Marathon at Woodland Pattern Book Center brings out 150 of the area’s poets and writers on the (often) coldest day of the year, gives them 10 minutes and a podium, and turns them loose. You will hear the city’s most celebrated writers—John Koethe, Susan Firer—and perhaps the guy in the cubicle down the hall. One of the most bittersweet moments will certainly come in the tribute to Jeff Poniewaz, one of the city’s most tireless advocates for poetry, who died last month. Bring some food to share, hunker down for the whole 14 hours. It’s for a good cause.
Elsewhere this week:
#5: Chamber Music with a Twist.
Two of the city’s leading chamber music ensembles take to the stage this week, both with interesting guest stars and variations on the usual quartet/trio program. On Sunday, two pianists (Luis Magalhaes and Nina Schumann) join The Fine Arts Quartet in a Zelazo Center program that features the rarely heard Grande Simphonie Concertante by Jan Ladislav Dussek. And while they’re here, the duo tackles John Adams Hallelujah Junction for Two Pianos. On Monday and Tuesday, the Prometheus Trio invites three vocalists (Jennifer Gettel, Kathleen Sonnentag and Nathan Wesselowski) to perform an array of music for piano trio and voice, from a piece by 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw to ones by the good old boys, Beethoven and Brahms.
#4: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at the Marcus Center.
Why? Because Todd Levy is usually hunkered down in the middle of the MSO’s fine woodwind session, but here he steps into the spotlight, playing the lead in the jazzy, wonderful Clarinet Concerto by Karl Nielsen, one of the great showcases for the instrument. The young American conductor James Feddeck conducts, and leads the orchestra in music by Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Liszt, all pieces known for their sonic splendor.
#3: No Child… at Next Act Theatre.
Why? Because Marti Gobel is a brilliant chameleon of an actor. In 2012, she took on two-dozen characters in Charlayne Woodard’s Neat, and created a touching story of acceptance. Here, she will play an idealistic theater teacher and the members of her Brooklyn high school class. Nilaja Sun’s autobiographical story about the joys and challenges of teaching has been called “remarkable” and “riotously funny” when Sun herself performed it on the East Coast. We’re betting Gobel will capture the humor and power of the story as well.
#2: Jon Mueller’s Death Blues at Alverno Presents.
Why? Because Mueller’s “Death Blues” project has been celebrated in the national press and in this magazine — a Rolling Stone reviewer likened the sound to “hypnotic, shimmering clouds”— and Mueller has explored this meditative, explosive vibe through four albums. The final installment, Ensemble, is a collaboration with California composer William Ryan Fritch. Fritch, Mueller, and an ensemble of five musicians will present Ensemble live at Alverno’s Pitman Theatre, which will mark the end of the four-year project.
#1: Skylight Theatre’s Once on This Island at Broadway Theatre Center.
Why? Because once is not necessarily enough. Skylight staged this charming, Caribbean-inflected fairy tale in 1998, but former Skylight Artistic Director Bill Theisen is back in town to give the 1991 show a new life. Some of the previous cast has returned, including Sheri Williams Pannell and Bill Jackson. But it’s a brand new production, suitable for young children and their families. It’s a little bit Romeo & Juliet and a little bit The Little Mermaid, set among families of farmers in rural Haiti.
