Wilson Center Guitar Festival @ Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Aug. 17-19
Brookfield’s Sharon Lynne Wilson Center will resound with the sounds of guitar strings in their annual Guitar Festival; Boozy Bard offers their own inimitable take on Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well; and Bad Example Productions presents the Milwaukee premiere of Coraline the Musical at the Tenth Street Theatre.
MUSIC:
Wilson Center Guitar Festival
Three consecutive days of plucking and strumming expertise in Brookfield offers something for everyone with an ear attuned to the acoustic guitar. It kicks off Thursday, Aug. 17 with the Beijing Guitar Duo—Meng Su and Yameng Wang. They’ve released two highly acclaimed CDs and have appeared live in the Far East, Europe and the Americas. The following day is styled “Fingerstyle Friday.” Sponsored by Milwaukee’s CandyRat Records, this evening’s concert features fingerstyle guitarists Antoine Dufour from Canada and Mike Dawes from Great Britain. The last evening of the festival welcomes former “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” musical director Kevin Eubanks to the stage who, after almost two decades on the show, has begun a new chapter in his life as a recording and touring guitarist.
Aug. 17-19 at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, 19805 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield. For tickets, call 262-781-9520 or visit wilson-center.com.
THEATRE:
All’s Well That Ends Well
The Countess says: “Tell me thy reason why thou wilt marry.” The Clown responds: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives.” A little opaque? Mangled syntax? How dare you! It’s William Shakespeare writing lines in his 1601 romantic comedy, All’s Well That Ends Well. (Basically, the clown is telling the countess that, if the devil’s driving, strap yourself in for a wild ride!) What will All’s Well That Ends Well look and sound like in the besotted grip of Boozy Bard? Follow your fleshly drives for their “Shakespeare Raw”-take on this classic. After all, you must needs go!
Aug. 14-16 at Best Place in the Historic Pabst Brewery, 901 W. Juneau Ave. For more information, visit facebook.com/boozybard.
Coraline the Musical
Published 15 years ago as a dark fantasy novella aimed at younger readers, Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is full of things that unnerve us when we’re young. Things like being warned against opening a certain door, worrisome predictions about the future, being told of inanimate items with special powers…or maybe a next-door apartment that has been bricked up. Bad Example Productions brings a stage adaptation, Coraline the Musical (David Greenspan, writer; Stephin Merritt, composer-lyricist), to Milwaukee in a premiere production, thereby offering us a little foretaste of Halloween. Coraline is for all ages, but parents of younger children should know that there are some scenes designed to be genuinely frightening.
Aug. 3-13 at Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For more information and tickets, visit coralinemusical.brownpapertickets.com.
