1. Bop to the Pops
MSO’s new Principal Pops conductor Byron Stripling wants to show people that classical isn’t stuffy. See “Let’s Groove Tonight: Motown & The Philly Sound” at the Bradley Symphony Center May 23-25.
READ MORE: MEET MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S NEW PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR
2. Find Magic in a Musical
How does the Marcus Performing Arts Center pick the musicals for its growing Broadway series? Some of it depends on a touring production’s schedule, but some of it is careful curation to appeal to a wide audience. The recipe? A pinch of the new (MJ the Musical, May 27-June 1), a dash of the classic (Annie, April 25-27), and an attractive mix of both (A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, March 25-30).
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Make Them Feel at Home
Milwaukee is a place where artists can develop and lay down roots. See: Milwaukee Ballet’s Second Company showcase “Momentum,” March 1-2 and April 26 at Baumgartner Center for Dance.
READ MORE: MILWAUKEE BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MIREILLE FAVAREL ON HER UPCOMING RETIREMENT
4. Rethink Poetry
Poetry has always been the cornerstone of this Riverwest institution. That’s why Woodland Pattern quietly dropped “Book Center” from its name – to clarify its roots in experimental poetry and visual art. Since they began it in 1979, Woodland Pattern’s founders have distributed books at political protests and began amassing a trove of independent texts for everyone to enjoy. Now, along with holding over 25,000 small-press poetry titles, the center hosts over 400 activities each year, including readings, writing workshops, art exhibitions, experimental music concerts and more.
5. Hear Something New
You never know what you’re going to hear at a Present Music concert. The forward-thinking ensemble commissions award-winning pieces – Pulitzer Prize-winning, to be exact – and recruits visionary musicians for contemporary classical concerts full of the unexpected. Experience the work yourself at the upcoming performance of Moby Dick; or, The Whale (Feb. 14, The Oriental Theatre), acclaimed filmmaker Wu Tsang’s queer adaptation of the Melville classic set to a subterranean score.
6.-10. Make Memories at Historic Venues
- Bradley Symphony Center, Est. 1930
- Turner Hall Ballroom, Est. 1882
- The Pabst Theater, Est. 1895
- The Rave/Eagles Club, Est. 1927
- The Riverside Theater, Est. 1928
READ MORE: WHAT’S ON AT MILWAUKEE’S SIX HISTORIC CONCERT VENUES
11. And One That Isn’t
Broadway Theatre Center, Est. 1993: The building is old, but the theaters are rather new. When Skylight Music Theatre needed a new home, it took ownership of an early-1900s Third Ward building and built the marvelous 358-seat main Cabot Theatre. Styled after a Baroque French opera house, the majestic hall is a hidden gem with grand arches and gallery seats, and an elegant ceiling painting of the Nine Muses floating around the Milwaukee skyline. Skylight later found another tenant in the intimate Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, which continues to share the space with them. Expect Skylight’s Gothic Frankenstein: The Musical (Feb. 21-March 9) to play into the Cabot’s fanciful design.
12. Meet the Authors
Boswell Book Co. is the little bookstore that could. Beyond selling a wide selection of written works, longtime owner Daniel Goldin and his team of bibliophiles work tirelessly to schedule an impressive slate of readings and Q&A sessions with authors near and far. On March 31, for example, Boswell is welcoming Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue – best-known for writing the award-winning novel Room and the screenplay for the 2015 film adaptation – for a special ticketed event.
13. Watch a Good Film or a Few Dozen
Despite seismic changes for Milwaukee Film – new leadership, slashed educational programs and acquisition of the Downer Theatre – the Milwaukee Film Festival (April 24-May 8) has stayed the course as a hearty buffet of national and global films. And if you want to meet our local makers of movie magic, the Cream City Cinema lineup is a must.
14. Give the Arts a Hand
It’s no secret that Wisconsin is second to last in the country in terms of public arts funding. Nevertheless, Milwaukee punches above its weight culturally, and there’s a reason for that: philanthropy.
The biggest lift comes at the institutional level – thanks to organizations like the Herzfeld Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, the United Performing Arts Fund, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and more – but the individual level is just as important.
If you’re one of the many generous people who give back to the arts, pat yourself on the back. And if you’d like to be one, visit charitynavigator.org to find a cause worth supporting or reach out to one of the organizations above.
15. Applaud an Enduring Practice
READ: FERNE YANGYEITIE CAULKER IS THINKING OF THE FUTURE BEYOND HERSELF
16. Encore!
After their adaptation of Dvořák’s epic lyrical opera Rusalka quickly sold out last year, Danceworks MKE and Milwaukee Opera Theatre are staging the Little Mermaid-esque tale once again (Feb. 14-23, Danceworks Studio Theatre). There are new twists this time – the groups’ own English translation instead of Czech and rousing new choreography.
17. See Young Talent Develop
Milwaukee’s future creatives are already shining bright. If you want proof, just venture over to MIAD, where you’ll find works by city’s budding artists, designers and imaginative thinkers. Best of all? The school’s on-site galleries are always free to attend, as well as its Downtown Gallery at the Avenue. Visit them all April 11-May 10 for MIAD’s biggest show of the year, the Senior Exhibition.
18. Cherish Our Legacy Estates
The Villa Terrace and Charles Allis museums have ended their marriage of convenience, splitting into two separate nonprofits as Milwaukee County offloads both properties. But fear not! The beloved institutions are still open and showing exhibitions – Tracy Keller Nickolaus’ “Left with Your Memories” (Charles Allis, through Feb. 23) and group show “Disruptive Ecologies” including Lois Bielefeld and Nirmal Raja (Villa Terrace, through May 11). And while you are there, take note of the architecture: Both of these structures were built by local early-1900s magnates and modeled after European styles (an Italian villa and a Tudor-style English homestead, respectively). It’s reason enough for a visit. And if you wait until the weather warms up, you can explore Villa Terrace’s stunning cliffside gardens.
19. Immerse Yourself in Art
Experience a sense of community during Gallery Night & Day, when art lovers and the simply curious come out in droves to gallivant from space to space. Most galleries hold their opening or closing receptions during the quarterly event, often with the artists in attendance. It’s a great chance to ask questions or give compliments face to face. Because what’s art if not a bridge to understanding others and ourselves?
This spring’s hop is April 11-12, in the evening and daytime respectively. Newbies might consider starting in the Third Ward’s Marshall Building, home to five floors of galleries. Walker’s Point also has a high concentration of spaces, including Var Gallery and The Alice Wilds.
20. Applaud Local Talent
READ: MEET MARIE KOHLER, ONE OF MILWAUKEE’S LEADING DRAMATISTS
21. Make Space for Young Performers
Since 2005, First Stage Children’s Theater and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra have been shaping future generations of performers at this shared education and entertainment hub on Walnut Street. Thousands of students a year fill the halls, stages and classrooms to build skills, confidence, creativity and a lifelong love of the arts. See the results with First Stage’s Finding Nemo (March 8-April 6) and MYSO’s Grand Finale (May 4, Bradley Symphony Center).
22. Support Shows for All
Some bigger-than-usual names have swung by Bay View’s Cactus Club recently. Although the diverse, innovative space has always drawn national acts, ESG, Bully and Jack White were here for something special – raising money to make the historic venue accessible to all.
As a result, owner Kelsey Kaufmann says a new ramp – decorated with a mosaic facade by local artist Kate Klingbeil – stairs and entrance to the front door will be completed this spring. Next is widening the bathrooms, stage and green room to make them easier to navigate. The Accessibility Initiative is an ambitious thing for a small club to do, and we applaud it. Check it out at the upcoming show by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers (March 27).
23. Let Loose by the Lake
“Is MAM After Dark coming back?” That’s the most-asked question Scott Schwebel says he got when he started as the Milwaukee Art Museum’s first chief experience officer. The popular parties in Windhover Hall – mixing food, drinks, live music, photobooths and more with open viewing of the museum’s art collection – disappeared during the pandemic. But MAM knew it needed to come back. “We’re at the epicenter of where Downtown meets the lake,” Schwebel says. “What’s happening inside will be artful and creative and expressive. It just gives us another point of access for the community to come and enjoy themselves.”
If you missed the first bash in January, there are two more chances to come alive amidst the art this spring. “New York Nights” (Feb. 21) invites black and-white dress like exhibiting artist Robert Longo’s charcoal drawings, and includes breakdancing, trivia and a 360 photobooth. And “March Masquerade” (March 21) encourages elegant attire and Venetian masks to pair with a six-piece string ensemble.
24. Experience On-Site Creation
Not every city has a hotel with an artist-in-residence program, let alone two. The Pfister Hotel and Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel, both owned and operated by Marcus Hotels, provide chosen local artists with resources and public-facing spaces in which to create. The Saint Kate’s resident artist Megan Woodard Johnson uses shared memories to inspire her abstract paintings, and Pfister resident Sasha Kinens paints mystical portraits.
25. Collaborate, Don’t Compete
First a novella, then an opera, and later a ballet, Carmen has beguiled audiences for decades. From May 16-18, the seminal story is taking the stage – well, stages – by way of two Milwaukee institutions: The Florentine Opera (at Uihlein Hall) and the Milwaukee Ballet (at the Pabst Theater). The unplanned overlap has evolved into a unique collaboration to promote both productions – just another example of the local tendency to support each other.
26. Fit for the Big and Small Screen
Most here know Milwaukee native John Ridley’s rise to national prominence for writing the Academy Award-winning screenplay to 2013’s 12 Years a Slave. In 2018, Ridley invested in his hometown with the founding of Nō Studios, a film-focused hub providing event spaces, a screening room and other resources and programs for ambitious filmmakers like himself. Check out his latest directorial effort, Shirley, a biopic of the first Black woman to run for president, which had its premiere in Milwaukee last year and is now streaming on Netflix.
27. Bring the Business
For six years, the Sherman Phoenix Foundation and its vibrant marketplace have been boosting entrepreneurs of color. But the foundation is also uplifting artists in a partnership with gener8tor – a startup accelerator – to provide a handful of promising and traditionally underfunded artists with seven weeks of intensive, one-on-one mentorship to turn their practice into a sustainable business. Did we mention there’s a $10,000 grant involved? You can view the previous cohorts’ works in a group exhibition at the marketplace.
28. Take a Seat Wherever
Our venues are better together. Two years ago, the upper crust of Milwaukee’s live performance groups and venues banded together to shine a spotlight on our city’s stages, resulting in Theater Week and other joint promotions. At the crux is a venue getting a massive overhaul – the Milwaukee Rep secured their $78 million renovation goal in September to add new public spaces, rehearsal halls and an education center to its theater complex. Check in on the progress when attending the Rep’s bluegrass twist on Romeo and Juliet (Feb. 25-March 30).
