Photo credit: Festival City Symphony
Village Church is the site for Windfall Theatre’s production of Enchanted April, a 2003 stage play by Matthew Barber adapted from Elizabeth von Arnim’s 1922 novel.
Theater
Enchanted April
Feeling lost and overlooked in the shadows of bleak marriages and 1920s society in general, two London housewives pool their savings to rent a villa in Italy for a ladies-only holiday away; they reluctantly recruit two upper-class women to share costs and the experience. All four women clash but also start to bloom and bond under the Mediterranean sun; that is, until men once again emerge to upset the balance.
Enchanted April is a 2003 stage play by Matthew Barber, adapted from Elizabeth von Arnim’s 1922 novel titled The Enchanted April. This Windfall Theatre production will be directed by Carol Zippel and features Amanda Hull, Alicia Rice, Gloria End and Chris Goode. (John Jahn)
May 3-18 in Village Church, 130 E. Juneau Ave. For tickets, call 414-332-3963 or visit windfalltheatre.com.
More To Do
Spring Masterworks Concert
The Racine Symphony Orchestra wraps up its 2019-’20 season with a concert featuring several pieces, mainly from the Classical period, as well as students from the orchestra’s “Side-by-Side Invitational” program and Noah Mercadillo, the 2019 Young Artist Competition winner. Composers on the program include Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-’87), Henryk Wieniawski (1835-’80) and Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Siena Center Chapel, 5635 Erie St., Racine. For tickets, call 262-636-9285 or visit racinesymphony.org. (John Jahn)
The Giver
Jonas lives in a utopia with no pain, fear or choices. Language is precise and sterile, and emotions and other physical impulses are controlled. At age 12, children are assigned a vocation, and as he approaches this momentous occasion, he notices strange things happening to ordinary objects around him, which no one else seems to notice. He is assigned a special job: to receive and keep the memories of the community, but what happens when he learns the truth—that there really can be such things as choice and love? Katie Lynne Krueger directs The Giver, which is based on the Newberry Award-winning novel by Lois Lowry. May 2-19 at Waukesha Civic Theatre, 264 W. Main St. For tickets, call 262-547-0708 or visit waukeshacivictheatre.org. (John Jahn)
133rd Anniversary Bay View Tragedy
On May 5, 1886, strikers marching in Bay View demanding an eight-hour workday were fired on by the Wisconsin militia. Seven died. The event has been commemorated annually with a rally and speakers for many years and—starting this century—a performance reenacting the march and massacre. This year’s performance is directed by John Schneider and features a Milwaukee cast, including actors from Quasimondo Physical Theatre, music by Jahmes Finlayson and giant effigies by Milwaukee Mask and Puppet Co. The public is urged to gather at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 5 at the corner of South Bay Street and Lincoln Avenue for a march to the historical marker in the green space at South Superior and Russell streets. Performance begins at 3 p.m. The commemoration will also include music by folksinger Craig Siemsen and a speech by UW-Green Bay history professor Jon Shelton. (David Luhrssen)
“Rhapsody and Romance: Legends of the Piano”
The Festival City Symphony’s season concludes with a concert featuring pianist Jeannie Yu. Among the loveliest concertos ever penned, Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 11, is a concert highlight with Ms. Yu as soloist. The orchestral music of another piano virtuoso, Franz Liszt, provides a fiery response to Chopin’s tenderness: Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S. 359, and Les Preludes, S. 97. Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m. at the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 262-853-6085 or visit festivalcitysymphony.org. (John Jahn)
“From Vivaldi to Beatles!”
Milwaukee Musaik—a consortium of musicians dedicated to imaginative concert experiences— welcomes guest guitarist Rene Izquierdo for its next concert. The music on the program spans centuries, featuring pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Astor Piazzolla, Wolfgang Mozart, Heitor Villa-Lobos and, yes, The Beatles. So, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have joined the ranks of Classical Music’s greats? Man, I feel old. Monday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, 1584 N. Prospect Ave. For tickets, visit milwaukeemusaik.org. (John Jahn)
