This week, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Chasin’ Dem Blues: Untold Story of Paramount Records, about the unlikely Wisconsin roots of this record label, will help you shoo the winter blues.
Theater
Chasin’ Dem Blues: Untold Story of Paramount Records
This revival of a Milwaukee Repertory Theater premiere (previously titled Grafton City Blues) explores the inspiring story of the founding of Paramount Records—a label associated with jazz and R&B—in the unlikeliest of places: tiny, white-bread Grafton, Wis.
For a few brief, bright years at the height of the jazz and blues age, Paramount Records was the leading label for recording artists of color in the Midwest, and the label broke down small-town racial barriers along the way. Artists such as Louis Armstrong, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Alberta Hunter and Ma Rainey all recorded there. This exuberant musical celebration of some of the greatest jazz and blues music features four quadruple-threat performers guiding the journey through story and song. This musical—written, choreographed and directed by Kevin Ramsay—features Brandin Jay as Blue, Maiesha McQueen as Queen, Eric Noden as Harp and James Scheider as Professor. (John Jahn)
Jan. 17-Mar. 22 in the Stackner Cabaret of the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
The Marvelous Wonderettes
It’s Springfield High School’s 1958 prom where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy—four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts. As we learn about their lives and loves, the girls break into classic ’50s and early ’60s pop hits, including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid” and “Lipstick on Your Collar.” In its second act, we find the Wonderettes reuniting to take the stage and perform at their 10-year high school reunion.
Originating at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, this nostalgic jukebox musical has entertained audiences off-Broadway and around the country for 20 years; it hereby makes its Sunset Playhouse debut in a production directed by Becky Spice and with musical direction by Paula Foley Tillen. For those old enough, it promises to be a musical trip down memory lane; for those who didn’t live through the era, it’s a history lesson in the sights, sounds and milieu their parents or grandparents enjoyed. (John Jahn)
Jan. 16-Feb. 1 in Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove, Wisc. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
Classical Music
“Happy 250th Birthday, Beethoven!”
The next Wisconsin Philharmonic concert, billed a “Janboree Family Concert,” pays homage to the fact that 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of classical music’s giants (and my personal favorite, incidentally). The concert is presented as one of many events in this year’s Waukesha Janboree, billed as “Wisconsin’s premier winter festival” (for more information, visit janboree.org). it’s a decidedly family friendly affair, with the concert offering free admission to children, an instrument petting zoo and other fun pre-concert activities, as well as post-concert birthday cake.
The all-Beethoven program includes his Sonata for Piano and French Horn (viola transcription), featuring violist Fitz Gary, and the Septet in E-Flat Major, Op.70. “This will be a special performance of the Beethoven Septet, inspired by Arturo Toscanini’s arrangement of the work which uses an extended string section, as well as the addition of flute, oboe and trumpet parts,” explains the Philharmonic’s Ashley Rewolinski. (John Jahn)
Saturday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 300 Carroll St., Waukesha. For tickets, call 262-547-1858 or visit wisphil.org.
More to Do
“Pictures at an Exhibition”
If there’s a “unifying theme” to the next Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert, it would have to be… Sergei. After an artist friend’s unexpected passing, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839-’81) paid homage by composing Pictures at an Exhibition—a suite of musical paintings inspired by his friend’s sketches. Music director Ken-David Masur conducts Sergei Gorchakov’s orchestral arrangement of this colorful gallery (listen for the familiar, brassy “Promenade” throughout). Pianist Sergei Babayan is the soloist for Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26. Of the five piano concertos written by Prokofiev, this one (from 1921) has garnered the greatest popularity and critical acclaim. Smaller-scale works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Alfred Schnittke round out the program. Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. in Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.
