Fall Arts Guide 2025
Illustration by Timothy Czerniakowski
2025 Milwaukee Fall Arts Guide
5 Points Art Gallery
Acacia Theatre Company
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Freud’s Last Session, Oct. 24-26, Oct. 30-Nov.2., Nov. 6-9 — It is a question as old as time, as infinite as the universe: Does God exist? In Mark St. Germain’s cleverly written play, Freud’s Last Session, we don’t get an answer. But we do gain a better understanding of its two sparring protagonists, psychiatrist Sigmund Freud and theologian/philosopher C.S. Lewis. (Harry Cherkinian)
The Alice Wilds
Alverno Art & Cultures Gallery
American Players Theatre (APT)
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Picnic, through Sept. 13
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The Barber and the Unnamed Prince, through Sept. 25
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Anna in the Tropics, through Sept. 26
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Tribes, through Sept. 27
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“Art,” through Sept. 28
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The Winter’s Tale, through Oct. 4
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Fallen Angels, through Oct. 3
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream, through Oct. 5
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The 39 Steps, Oct. 22-Nov. 30
Aperi Animam
Arts @ Large
Bach Chamber Choir
- Fall: Americana, Oct. 19 (St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church) — American choral works and a new piece by Christopher Rich showcasing St. Christopher’s newly restored organ.
Bel Canto Chorus
Black Arts MKE
Black Holocaust Museum
Bombshell Theatre Co.
Boulevard Theatre
The Box Theatre Co.
- Broadway Highlights, Sept. 20-21
- Annie, Oct. 2-19
- Girl Power Cabaret, Oct. 25-27
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
facebook.com/BronzevilleArtsEnsemble
Bronzeville Center for the Arts
- Black Defined 1: Ceramics, through Jan. 9 (Gallery 507)
Cabaret Milwaukee
Capital City Theatre, Madison
Carroll Players
Carthage College Theatre
carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances/
Catey Ott Dance Collective
- 20th Anniversary Performance, Oct. 4-5 (Baumgartner Center for Dance) — "Everything I live, I dance,” says Catey Ott. “This show means so much to me because the body of work the Catey Ott Dance Collective has done over the past 20 years is, abstractly, the living map of my life, and also, ideally, of where we fit in the community and the global society, the collective unconscious. It includes a video montage of 20 years of my solos, followed by a movement montage of those solos in my present body. I’m resetting two key works, you’ll see company members in a swirl of solos, and a large new group finale.” (John Schneider)
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
- Wednesday Concert Series
Cedarburg Artists Guild
- Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour, Oct. 10-12
Cedarburg Art Museum
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Outdoor Sculpture: Kendall Poster, through Oct. 5
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Collecting Her: Women from the Cedarburg Art Museum’s Permanent Collection, through Nov. 9
Cedarburg Cultural Center
- Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit, through Oct. 13
Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
Chant Claire Chamber Choir
Charles Allis Art Museum
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Hattie Grimm: Bird Body, through Sept. 25
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Bruno Ertz & Winslow Homer: Waves and Wings, Masterpieces in Motion, through Sept. 28
Chazen Museum of Art (UW-Madison)
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Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within
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Pablo Delano: Caribbean Matters, Assemblage and Sculpture
Choral Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin
Civic Music MKE
The Constructivists
- Bed and Breakfast of the Damned, Oct. 25-Nov. 7 (Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre) — Cameron McNary, a self-described “deeply committed geek,” penned his take on that pervasive pop culture theme, the zombie apocalypse (some say it’s already happened and we’re living in the end times). A young couple take shelter in a bed and breakfast, breathing a deep sigh of relief, but find that people can be just as monstrous as zombies in this “door-slamming, Feydeau-style sex farce.” Jaimelyn Gray will direct the world premiere. (David Luhrssen)
Concord Chamber Orchestra
- Dancing Through Time, Oct. 18 (St. Sebastian Parish) — "Our 50th season is about honoring where we’ve been, celebrating who we are, and making space for what’s next. The October concert captures that spirit. We're connecting to history as our musicians perform on instruments that survived the Holocaust as part of the Violins of Hope residency and we're also premiering a bold new commission by Autumn Maria Reed, speaking with today's voice,” says Concord’s Dana Robb. (David Luhrssen)
DanceCircus
Danceworks Performance MKE
David Barnett Gallery
- Artchitecture, Architecture in Art, through Oct. 18
- The Artwork of Marc Chagall, Featuring New Acquisitions, Oct. 17-Jan. 13 — Few 20th century artists painted as distinctively as Marc Chagall. He was a modernist grounded in a tradition—the landscape and folkways of Russia’s Pale of Jewish Settlement. His figures often float, literally, as if dreaming of places lost forever. (David Luhrssen)
Dawn Springer Dance Projects
Dead Man's Carnival
Early Music Now
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Cabaret Baroque: Les Goûts Réunis, Oct. 25 (St. Paul's Episcopal Church) — François Couperin was a court musician for Louis XIV, France’s “Sun King.” He composed suites of original beauty for harpsichord. The lute, recorder and harpsichord trio will perform other composers from the Baroque era, including Vincenzo Pellegrini. (David Luhrssen)
Ex Fabula
Since 2009, Ex Fabula has been connecting community through the art of true, personal storytelling. Ex Fabula, which is Latin for “from stories,” presents storytelling workshops, StorySlams and Community Collaborations where people listen to each other, feel heard, and grow in empathy and understanding. (David Luhrssen)
Falls Patio Players
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Steel Magnolias, Sept. 19-21, Sept. 26-28
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Beetlejuice Jr, Oct. 17-19
Festival City Symphony
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Hope, Resilience and Copland’s American Symphony (Bradley Symphony Center) in partnership with Violins of Hope, Oct. 18
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Halloween Pajama Jamboree, Oct. 29
Florentine Opera
- Don Giovanni, Oct. 24-26 (Marcus Performing Arts Center) — Most of Mozart’s music has endured for his lightness of touch, the sheer smartness of his melodies and harmonies. Farcical in tragedy, exquisite in folly, Don Giovanni ranks high among his achievements. Tchaikovsky called Donna Anna, daughter of the opera’s licentious nobleman, “the most superb and wonderful human presentation ever depicted in music.” (David Luhrssen)
Forte Theatre Company
- South Pacific, Oct. 11-19 — Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were artists in sync with their time, nowhere less than in South Pacific, a musical whose setting was the recently ended, island-hopping war with Japan. The story of G.I.s and the social consequences of crossing ethnic lines is buoyed by memorable songs (“I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair”) and melodies that became jazz standards. (David Luhrssen)
Four Seasons Theatre, Madison
Frankly Music
Gallery 218
Gallery Night and Day
- October 17-18 — Milwaukee’s original night and day art hop happens quarterly with a focus on galleries concentrated in the Third Ward, East Town and Walker’s Point. (David Luhrssen)
Germantown Performing Arts Center
Green Gallery
Greendale Community Theatre
Grohmann Museum
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The Legend Lives On: 50 Years Later, Oct. 1-Dec. 1 — Few maritime tales resonate like the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. Immortalized in art and song, the fateful day of November 10, 1975, lives on in Great Lakes lore,” says the Grohmann’s director, James Kieselburg. “For the 50th anniversary of this this tragic event, we commemorate the ship and her impact on popular culture through this display of paintings, photographs, models, and drawings of the ship under construction and on the water.” (David Luhrssen)
Grove Gallery
Haggerty Museum of Art
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No One Knows All It Takes, through Dec. 20
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Life Lines, through Dec. 20
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Capturing the Senses: Beauty and Horror in Early Modern Art, through Dec. 20
Harley-Davidson Museum
- Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson, through spring 2027
- "Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” through 2026 — Photographer Cate Dingley’s book Ezy Ryders focuses on New York City’s Black riding culture today. Images and text from her book have been chosen for the new exhibition at the Harley-Davidson Museum. All of Dingley’s photographs are in black and white. “There’s a sense of timelessness to them, black and white can be a very expressive medium,” curator Ann Sinfield says. (David Luhrssen)
H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art
Hover Craft
Hyperlocal MKE
Inspiration Studios Art Gallery
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ArtOnThePlazaVIII & WAAC Artists Showcase, September
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Lee Grantham Exhibit, September
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Theatrical Tendencies Cabaret Show, September
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Paul Terrien & John Zieloski Exhibit, October
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Theatrical Tendencies Production: She Kills Monsters, October
James May Gallery
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
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Free Improvisation, Saturdays
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Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
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Open Gallery Exhibition, Thursdays
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Second Muse: Inspiration’s Multiple Manifestations, through Sept. 13
Jewish Museum Milwaukee
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“Choices of Consequence: Denmark and the Holocaust,” through Sept. 7 — “In Denmark, where most of the population saw themselves as integrally linked to others through shared humanity, the Nazi perpetrated Holocaust largely failed as roughly 95% of Danish Jewry was saved by heroic grassroots decisions and actions,” says curator Molly Dubin. “In a time of distressing division, this exhibit holds up an extraordinary example and lesser-known story of allyship mobilized by ordinary people.” (David Luhrssen)
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
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Ashwini Bhat: Reverberating Self, through Jan. 11, 2026
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Familiar Texture: The Fibers of Childhood and Home, through April 5, 2026
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A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition, through May 10, 2026 — “Buol’s grotto is a part of a lineage that continues today, and the exhibition brings this tradition of Midwestern grottos to life with other artifacts from our permanent collection as well as new commissions by artists Stephanie H. Shih and E. Saffronia Downing who reimagine the (grotto) tradition in a contemporary context,” says curator Laura Bickford. (Michael Muckian)
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Silvio Barile, through Spring 2026
Kettle Moraine Symphony
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Beating a Dead Horse, Sept. 5-7, Sept. 11-14
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Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Oct. 17-19, Oct. 23-26
Kettle Moraine Symphony
Kith and Kin Theatre Collective
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Caesura, Oct. 10-10 (Resurrection Lutheran Church)
Kneedland-Walker House
wauwatosahistoricalsociety.org
Knightwind Ensemble
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Jose Alberto Pina’s The Ghost Ship, Oct. 26 (South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center)
Kohler Memorial Theater
Ko-Thi Dance Company
Lake Arts Project
Lake Country Playhouse
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Anastasia: The Musical, Sept 26–Oct 12 — Journey from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the glittering lights of Paris in this sweeping Broadway hit, filled with romance, intrigue, and a soaring score.
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Anastasia: The Musical–Youth Edition, Oct 16–Oct 2,
Lakefront Festival of Art
Latino Arts, Inc.
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Palimpsests +Memories: The Student to the Teacher, through Oct. 8
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Day of the Dead Ofrendas, Oct. 20-Nov. 14
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A Journey through Mexico from North to South Featuring Ometochtli Mexican Folk Dance, Oct. 31
Lion Performance Hall
Lily Pad Gallery
Lutheran A Capella Choir of Milwaukee
Lynden Sculpture Garden
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Chris Salas: Forms of Remembrance, through Nov. 2 — In Chris Salas’ first solo exhibition, the Chicago artist “explores material cultures as living reflections of ecological and ancestral relationships across the Americas. From ceramic, to dirt, to seed—what vibrant stories are held within their inanimacy?” (David Luhrssen)
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
Marcus Performing Arts Center
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Maa Vue and the Dream Carrier, Sept. 6
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Bill Blagg Family Magic, Sept. 17
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Duane Betts and Palmetto Hotel, Sept. 28
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Mrs. Doubtfire, Sept. 30-Oct. 5
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Il Divo by Candlelight, Oct. 7
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Black Violin, Oct. 9
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Oct. 10
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Les Misérables, Oct. 28-Nov. 2 — Victor Hugo probably never imagined that his 1862 novel about social injustice in 19th century France would be repurposed as a musical. The production premiered in an appropriate place, Paris (1980), before setting records on London’s West End before becoming a Broadway hit and a film. Les Mes is part of this season’s Broadway at the Marcus Center. (David Luhrssen)
Marquette University Players Society
marquette.presence.io/organization/mu-players-society
Marquette University Theatre
Master Singers of Milwaukee
Material Studios + Gallery
Memories Dinner Theatre
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Blithe Spirit, Oct. 24-Nov. 2 — Noel Coward was one of England’s most popular playwrights in the first half of the last century, cited by a contemporary for his “gay and impudent dialogue.” His amusing story of marriage and ghosts, Blythe Spirit (1941), was adapted for a 1945 film by David Lean. (David Luhrssen)
MIAD Gallery at the Ave
Milwaukee Art Museum
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Farm to Frame, through Sept. 28
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Reviving the Dance of Death, through Nov. 30
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Bradley Collection of Modern Art: A Bold Vision for Milwaukee, Sept. 26-Jan. 18
Milwaukee Ballet
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Giselle, Oct. 17-19 (Marcus Performing Arts Center) — Adolphe Adam wrote grand as well as comic operas, but the French composer’s enduring contribution to the canon is his ballet, Giselle. The two-act romance has been a tour-de-force for great ballerinas since its 1841 premiere, and the Ballet’s Michael Pink will doubtlessly find new ways to present the classic. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Chamber Theater
- Old Wicked Songs, Sept. 19-Oct. 15 (Broadway Theatre Center Studio Theatre) — In Jon Marans’ Old Wicked Songs, a burned out American piano prodigy finds himself giving lessons in Vienna, a musical city haunted by ghosts of its past. Elyse Edelman directs actor-pianists Brett Ryback and Jack Forbes Wilson. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Children's Choir
Milwaukee Festival Brass
Milwaukee Film
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Michael Schultiz Tribute, Sept. 12-13 (Oriental Theatre)
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Dialogues Documentary Festival, Sept. 18-21 (Downer and Oriental theaters)
Milwaukee Fringe Festival
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Gallery
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Our Mothers, Ourselves, Sept. 19-Dec. 13 (Frederick Layton Gallery)
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The Drypoints, Sept. 19-Dec. 13 (Fredrick Layton Gallery)
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Constant Practice: New Work from Faculty & Staff, Sept. 27 – Nov. 20 (Brooks Stevens Gallery)
Milwaukee Irish Arts
Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra
Milwaukee Makers Market
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Sept. 21 (American Family Field)
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Oct. 19 (Discovery World)
Milwaukee Musaik
Milwaukee Opera Theatre
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H.M.S. Pinafore, Oct. 8-12 (UWM Theatre Building Mainstage Theatre) — MOT’s Jill Anna Ponasik directs the Gilbert and Sullivan classic in conjunction with UWM’s Theater Department. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
- It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Oct. 31-Dec. 21 (Stackner Cabaret) — Frank Capra directed the classic, 1946 Jimmy Stewart film from a story by Philip Van Doren Stern, inspired in turn by Charles Dickens’ deathless A Christmas Carol. Although crafted for the screen, It’s a Wonderful Life debuted as a radio play as early as 1947. The Rep’s Jonathan Hetler will direct Joe Landry’s adaptation at the Stackner. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
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A Hero’s Life, Sept. 13-14
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Batman 1989: Film with Orchestra, Sept. 19-20
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Disco Divas, Sept. 26-28
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Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s Ninth, Oct. 3-4 — While up late in Europe at the close of 1989, I enjoyed watching the TV stations’ sign-off: the stars of the European Union jumping one by one into a circle to the melody of “Ode to Joy.” For me, it’s a memory of a more hopeful time—the Berlin Wall about to fall, the Soviet Union about to dissolve. Beethoven must have felt a similar emotion when he composed “Ode to Joy,” a setting for Schiller’s poem featured in his Ninth Symphony. Ken-David Masur will conduct. (David Luhrssen)
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Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Oct. 6
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Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony, Oct. 10-12
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Mendelssohn’s Reformation, Oct. 17-18
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
- Violins of Hope, Sept. 24-Jan. 25 —The Nazis did their best to destroy the Jews and every aspect of their lives including music. They confiscated thousands of musical instruments, destroying most, but many survived. Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein collected surviving violins and, as skilled violinmakers, brought them back to life. Their collection is called Violins of Hope and travels the world where they can be displayed and played: wherever there is music there is hope! The Violins of Hope will be here in Milwaukee this September through January. A variety of programs will be presented to the Wisconsin community. The Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra will have use of the instruments, and a concert is being planned for September. (Ken Kapp)
Milwaukee Youth Theatre
MKE Black Theatre Festival
MKE Studio Tour
Morning Star Productions
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Declaration! Oct. 12 (Old Falls Village Park, Menomonee Falls) — In its next outdoors production, Morning Star sets the audience up as the jury hearing the case against Thomas Jefferson: Was he a racist? Did he write the Declaration of Independence? Did he involve the U.S. in needless foreign wars? (David Luhrssen)
Museum of Wisconsin Art
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Erinn Springer: Dormant Season, through Sept. 14
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Hideki Suzuki, through Sept. 14
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Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design, Oct. 4–Jan. 25, 2026 — When Frank Lloyd Wright built a house, he wasn’t only thinking of four walls, a floor and a ceiling. His homes and offices were total works of art, down to the furnishings. The exhibit includes more than 40 domestic furniture pieces by the Wisconsin architect—many on view for the first time—as well as working sketches, archival photographs, and animated renderings. (David Luhrssen)
MOWA | DTN (Saint Kate–The Arts Hotel)
MOWA on the Lake (St. John's on the Lake)
Next Act Theatre
- Sanctuary City, Sept. 10-Oct. 5 — Jake Penner from APT will direct this play by Martyna Majok, written during the first term of the White House’s current occupant. “It’s about two young people, Dreamers who were brought to this country by their immigrant parents,” says Next Act’s A.J. Magoon. “They exist in a legal gray area, desperately clinging for any opportunity to find connection—anything they can call home.” (David Luhrssen)
Nō Studios
No Instructions Gallery
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Tanner MacArthur, Recent Work, through Sept. 19
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Cody Tumblin, Sept. 26-Nov. 7 — The Chicago artist is a mixed-media painter whose work “emerges at the intersection of textile craft and emotional archaeology.” Working with dyeing, sewing, threadwork, and collage, he builds “layered pictorial landscapes from scraps, remnant fabrics, and recycled paintings. As he cuts, re-dyes, bleaches, and resews, these materials transform with memory, longing, and renewal.” (David Luhrssen)
North Shore Academy of the Arts
Northern Sky Theater
- The Bachelors, through Oct. 24 — The writers of Guys on Ice, a perennially popular comedy in the Upper Midwest, return with their take on guys having a pizza together. The Fred Alley and James Kaplan characters are startled when the pizza is delivered by a woman they once knew. (David Luhrssen)
Oak Creak Performing Arts and Education Center
Oconomowoc Arts Center
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Two of Us: The Music of Famous Duos, Sept. 14
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I Can Go On Singing: A New Judy Garland Musical, Sept. 20
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Four Guyz in Dinner Jackets: Moments to Remember, Sept. 25-28, Oct 2-5
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Girls Like Us: Barbra, Bette, and Bernadette, Oct. 18-19
Oil a City Gallery
One-Off Exhibitions (inside Real Tinsel Gallery)
- Now Playing! Tyanna J. Buie, through Sept. 20
Optimist Theatre
Outskirts Theatre
Overture Center, Madison
Paint Cedarburg: A Plein Air Painting Event
Portrait Society Gallery
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Lauren Semivan, Sept. 12-Oct. 25 — Work by the Appleton photographer has been included in group exhibitions at Portrait Society. This will be her first solo exhibit at the Third Ward space. (David Luhrssen)
Present Music
- All Souls Eve, Oct. 31 (Milwaukee Art Museum) — The concert honors the Mexican Day of the Dead with works by Latin-American composers Gabriela Ortiz and Miguel del Aguila, as well as Evan Chambers’ “The Old Burying Ground.” Eric Segnitz describes Chambers’ contribution as “a song cycle based on epitaphs.” Also on tap is the premiere of Present Music’s commission for Vietnamese American composer Viet Cuong, “Music of the While.” (David Luhrssen)
Prometheus Trio
Quasimondo Physical Theatre
Racine Art Museum
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RAM Showcase: Focus on Adornment, through Nov. 22
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Fool Me Once: The Trompe L’oeil Sculptures of Karen Dahl and James Doran, through Jan. 10, 2026
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On Fire Part II: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late-Twentieth Century, through Jan. 24, 2026.
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RAM Artist Fellowship and Emerging Artists Exhibition 2025, through Nov. 22
Racine Symphony Orchestra
- Violins of Hope: A Concert of Remembrance and Resilience, Oct. 11(First Presbyterian Church, Racine) — In partnership with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, this evening will feature Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances No. 3 and Max Richter’s evocative The Four Seasons Recomposed, performed by violin soloist Alexander Mandl on instruments rescued from the Holocaust. (David Luhrssen)
Racine Theatre Guild
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The Importance of Being Earnest, Sept. 5-Sept. 11 — Oscar Wilde was seldom funnier than in this 1895 drawing-room comedy about the tangled lives of two young men, wooing women and evading social obligations. RTG’s artistic director, Douglas Instenes, will helm the show (David Luhrssen)
Real Tinsel Gallery
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Milwaukee Punk & Postpunk: 50 Years of Poster Art, Sept. 26-Dec. 31 — Milwaukee has always been a seedbed of musical creativity with bands developing their styles outside the intense scrutiny of larger cities. The onset of punk rock in the late ‘70s brought a flurry of poster-making, DIY art projects meant to be ephemeral but often displaying a keen sense of design. This exhibit will feature work by local music poster artists from 1978 through the present and will include performances, panel discussions and pop-art retail. (David Luhrssen)
Renaissance Theaterworks
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Switzerland, Oct.19-Nov. 9 — By some accounts, Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley) wasn’t far removed from the dubious characters that populated her fiction. In Joanna Murray-Smith’s play, Highsmith might meet her match when she encounters a sinister fan who encourages her to keep the Ripley series going. A film version is in the works starring Helen Mirren. (David Luhrssen)
Sacra Nova Chorale
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The Peaceable Kingdom: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Randall Thompson and more, Oct. 24 (Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church) and Oct. 26 (Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist)
Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel
- Expensive Attention, The Slow Looking Tradition in Art: featuring Sutton Allen, Francie Cook, Olivia Hiester, Tucker Love, Blake O'Brien, and Liam Murphy-Torres. (Opens Oct. 17)
Sculpture Milwaukee
- Sculpture Milwaukee was founded in 2017 from an idea by local entrepreneur Steve Marcus and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Sculpture Milwaukee has commissioned work to line Wisconsin Avenue from living artists, some with ties to our state. As much as possible, the sculptures are fabricated in Wisconsin in keeping with the Badger State’s machine-shop history. (David Luhrssen)
Seat of Our Pants Reader Theatre
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
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Tangorium, Sept. 13 (Mainstage)
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Terri Warpinski: Restless Earth, through Sept. 24 (Ploch Art Gallery)
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Live From Laurel Canyon: James & Joni, Oct. 3 (Mainstage) — Live from Laurel Canyon is a tribute act focused on the LA folk-rock of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. For their Wilson Center performance, Laurel Canyon will perform an evening of songs (and stories) by James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. (David Luhrssen)
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Karen Goetzinger: Beauty in the Inconsequential, Oct. 4-Dec. 28 (Ploch Art Gallery)
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Marty Stuart, Oct.24 (Mainstage)
Skylight Music Theatre
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Fiddler on the Roof, Oct. 3-26 — One of the world’s most recognized fictional characters is a Jewish milkman from a tiny village in pre-revolutionary Russia. Tevye, a recurring figure in the short stories of Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem, danced his way into American popular culture as the protagonist of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. From there, he reached the wider world through a popular film version that etched the story’s characters and songs in memory. (David Luhrssen)
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
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Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Sept. 25
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Swan Lake, Grand Kyiv Ballet, Oct. 2 — Russia’s Peter Tchaikovsky was happy to compose within prescribed limits, and his made-to-order compositions were brilliantly tailored to requirements. Little wonder that his ballets, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, are the enduring works in their field. In the current world situation, the Grand Kyiv Ballet’s tour embodies the unifying power of great art in the face of political catastrophe. (David Luhrssen)
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The Rat Pack, Oct.19
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Knightwind Ensemble, Jose Alberto Pina’s The Ghost Ship, Oct. 26
Sunset Playhouse
- Murder at the Howard Johnson, Sept. 4-21
- I Can Go on Singing, Sept. 4-13
- Broadway Showstoppers, Sept. 15-16
- Shining Like the Sun: An Abba Tribute, Oct. 9-12 — Those tuneful Swedes have had a long afterlife since their hitmaking years in the ‘70s, with the Broadway jukebox musical Mama Mia! spawning two Hollywood adaptations. Will the audience singalong to “Dancing Queen” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You”? (David Luhrssen)
- Pippin, Oct. 16-Nov. 2
- David Seebach’s Illusions in the Night, Oct. 17-19
- What Goes Up: Horn Bands, Oct. 20-21
Theatre Gigante
Theatrical Tendencies
- A Miscast Cabaret, Sept. 10-11
- She Kills Monsters, Oct.10-12, Oct. 17-19
Third Avenue Playhouse, Sturgeon Bay
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Ryan’s Pub, Trivia Night, Sept. 24-Oct. 12
Tooth-and-Nail Gallery
Tory Folliard Gallery
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The Salon Show, through Sept. 6
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Michael Hedges: New Paintings, Sept. 12-Oct. 11
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Mark Mulhern: New Paintings, Oct. 17-Nov. 29
Underscore (inside Real Tinsel)
UW-Parkside Theatre
UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts
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Sum Total: Art & Design Faculty Exhibition, Sept. 5-28 (Kenilworth Square East Gallery )
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Woven Images, Sept. 12-28 (Kenilworth Square East 3rdrd Floor Gallery)
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Sing Out! Tenor-Bass Festival, Sept. 19 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall )
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Heartland Marimba Quartet, Sept. 19 ( Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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Kenilworth Open Studios, Sept. 28 (Kenilworth Square East)
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Korea Day Celebration & Symphony Orchestra Concert, Oct. 3 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall )
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Fall Choral Showcase, Oct. 4 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall)
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Fall Choral Invitational, Oct. 5 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall)
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H.M.S. Pinafore, Oct. 8-12 (Theatre Building Mainstage Theatre) — Arthur Sullivan was a Royal Academy of Music graduate who wrote stuffy oratorios—until he hooked up with William S. Gilbert, a sour but witty man who became his librettist for a series of memorable operettas. Among them H.M.S. Pinafore, whose hilarity and infectious gaiety left the world a merrier place. Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s Jill Ana Ponasik will direct in collaboration with and the UWM Theatre.
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Chamber Music Milwaukee: Celebrating UWM Alumni, Oct. 16 (Music Building Recital Hall)
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UWAY Concert, Oct.19 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, Bader Hall)
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UWM Pop Ensemble, Oct. 20 (Music Building Recital Hall)
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Jazz Ensembles, Oct. 23 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
UWM Theatre/Peck School of the Arts
UWM Union Art Gallery
uwm.edu/studentinvolvement/arts-and-entertainment/union-art-gallery
UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery
UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium
Var Gallery & Studios
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
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The Beat Goes On! The Art and History of Sheet Music, 1897-1957, through Jan. 18 — The exhibit’s 60-year span with some 60 examples of sheet music cover pages encompasses the format’s golden years. Like LP covers in the late 20th century, “sheet music covers helped to sell the music,” co-curator Annemarie Sawkins says. “Sheet music is American historical ephemera. What excites me are the colors, the fonts, the graphics.” (David Luhrssen)
Village Playhouse, Wauwatosa
Voices Found
Walker's Point Center for the Arts
Warehouse Art Museum
Water Street Dance Milwaukee
Waukesha Civic Theatre
- Dad’s Season Tickets, Sept. 12-28 — Around these parts, Packers tickets are worth their weight in (green and) gold. Written by West Allis playwright Matt Zembrowski, Dad’s Season Tickets tells the story of a family’s bond and the role of the tickets. Decades ago, Mom broke her ankle (or foot, depending on whose version of familial history you choose). Eldest daughter Rhonda stayed home to help Mom in the kitchen. She is not the football type. Gabby went to the Packers game with Frank, their Dad, thus cementing the daughters’ roles in the family dynamic. (Blaine Schultz)
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The Lion King Kids, Oct. 2-5
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Plein Air Artists Reception: Oct 4
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Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Oct. 17-Nov. 2
West Allis Players
West Bend Theatre Company
West Performing Arts Center
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
Wisconsin Lutheran College - Center for Arts and Performance
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Art
Wisconsin Philharmonic
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Music of the Soul, Sept. 14 (Sharon Lynn Wilson Center) — As part of the Violins of Hope project, involving musical instruments that survived the Holocaust, the Wisconsin Philharmonic will perform Hasidic melodies and Jewish folk songs alongside classical selections. (David Luhrssen)
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Prairie Voices, Oct. 12 (Oconomowoc Arts Center)
