Chicago-based Marian Consort will fill in during Early Music Now's November concert scheduled for Nov. 9 at Grace Lutheran Church (1209 N. Broadway). Capella de la Torre was originally scheduled to appear but experienced visa problems.
This week, the Milwaukee Rep presents a hit musical whose creator started it all with, interestingly enough, a series of snarky, Catholic nun-themed greeting cards.
Theater
Nunsense
With book, music and lyrics by Dan Goggin, Nunsense is a fast-paced comedic musical with an interesting history. Its concept originated as a line of greeting cards featuring a nun offering tart quips with a clerical slant. The cards caught on so quickly that Goggin decided to expand the concept into a cabaret show; the latter also proved quite popular and from that came his full-length musical in 1985. Nunsense has been in more-or-less constant production somewhere ever since.
In dire need of emergency funds after a culinary disaster nearly wipes out the convent, the Little Sisters of Hoboken (New Jersey) pull out all the stops in a fundraising variety show featuring tap dancing, habit humor, an audience quiz and a special appearance by convent cook, Sister Julia.
This clever comedy features Milwaukee Repertory Theater actors Kelley Faulkner, Veronica Garza, Lachrisa Grandberry and Melody Betts, as well as former Rep Emerging Professional Resident Candace Thomas. Making her directorial debut at The Rep, Milwaukee native (and former Rep acting intern) Malkia Stampley was previously seen last season in the company’s Two Trains Running. (John Jahn)
Nov. 8-Jan. 12 in the in the Stackner Cabaret, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
Cream City Crime Syndicate: Politics & Anarchy
Cabaret Milwaukee opens its fifth season of live theater inspired by old-time radio variety shows with Cream City Crime Syndicate: Politics & Anarchy. Richard Howling, host of “The Howling Radio Hour,” conducts the evening of music, comedy, jingles and, of course, the first episode of this new series.
“Our story this season takes us back to Milwaukee’s socialist heyday with the election of Daniel Hoan as the city’s second socialist mayor in 1916,” explains the company’s Facebook page. “The country was on the brink of war, and local political parties contended with anarchists for social sway. The bar is pouring so sit back, raise a glass and howl!” (John Jahn)
Nov. 7-22 at the Astor Hotel, 924 E. Juneau Ave. For tickets, visit facebook.com/pg/cabmke.
Dance
Revealing the Eclectic Body
Eat, drink and experience for the first time Danceworks Performance MKE in an evening of dance, music and mingling. Danceworks welcomes eight new dancers to its season, building on the company’s strong core of existing dancers; this is a great opportunity to get to know them. This dynamic ensemble of performing artists will come together for a unique event at Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel, an exquisite new venue that sets the stage for an evening of live music, beauty and fresh perspective. The featured new terpsichoreans are Katelyn Altmann, Alisha Jihn, Nekea Leon, Ivy Robertson, Jasper Sanchez, Gabi Sustache, Angela Weidner and Joshua Yang. (John Jahn)
Thursday, Nov. 7, 7-9 p.m. at Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave. For tickets, call 414-277-8480 or visit danceworksmke.org.
Everything In Its Place
Wild Space Dance Company opens its season with a site specific adventure in the Echelon Ballroom at the UWM Innovation Campus in Wauwatosa. Designed in 1911 by renowned architect Alexander C. Eschweiler (1865-1940), the ballroom has been restored as part of the Echelon apartment complex. It features church-like curving buttresses, stairways and balconies and offers stunning views of the city.
Choreographer Debra Loewen describes the room as “formal and symmetrical; the walls offer coves; doorways abound.” The site will be revealed, she says, “by the dancers through a series of migrations and interactions. Moving with abandon and purpose, each arrives at a moment of poignant intimacy. A door creaks to accompany dancers; a bassoonist joins in and provokes action. Even in the most formal spaces, the possibility of surprise and mystery lives. It takes time to find, and only if you hunt for it. The room becomes a wild space as dancers discover a place for everything.” The excellent cast includes Katelyn Altmann, Brea Graber, Mauriah Kraker, Amanda Laabs, Lindsey Ruenger, Maggie Seer and Jimmi Weyneth. Warren Enström will create the music soundscape. (John Schneider)
Nov. 13, 14 and 16 at 7:30 pm and Nov. 17 at 2:00 pm. Parking is only available at the UWM Innovation Campus parking lot at 1225 Discovery Parkway. There’s shuttle service to the ballroom. For tickets, call 414-271-0307 or visit wildspacedance.org.
More To Do
Crumbs from the Table of Joy
This story, by a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, addresses issues of grief, racism and the politics of immigration in a moving coming-of-age story. In 1950, a widowed father transplants his two young daughters out of the deep South to Brooklyn, N.Y., in his search for a better life. The girls are exposed to the escalating tension between a conservative father and a free-spirited aunt. In the end, young Ernestine finds the courage to seek out her dreams in this inspiring tale. Nov. 8 and 9 at Marquette University’s Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St. For tickets, visit the theater’s box office, call 414-288-7504 or send an email to helfaer.boxoffice@marquette.edu.
Disney’s Sleeping Beauty
It’s Princess Aurora’s 16th birthday, and three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, must use their magic to save her from the spell of the evil sorceress, Maleficent. The fairies ensure that Aurora falls into a deep sleep that can only be ended with a kiss from her betrothed, Prince Phillip. To prevent Phillip from rescuing Aurora, Maleficent kidnaps and imprisons him. The good fairies are the last hope to free Phillip so that he can awaken Aurora. Racine Children’s Theatre’s production of this Disney classic will be performed by the Union Grove High School Performing Arts Department. Nov. 8-10 at the Racine Guild Theatre, 2519 Northwestern Ave., Racine. For tickets, call 262-633-4218 or visit racinetheatre.org.
Hyperlocal MKE #21: Meaning/Reframe
Hyperlocal MKE shows are entirely improvised by fine Milwaukee dancers and musicians creating in response to the performance site, a verbal cue, and whatever is heard, seen and felt during the approximately hour-long running time. The site for their 21st show is the wonderful Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. Performers will be scattered among the upstairs galleries where audiences can wander at will from room to room, until everyone somehow migrates to the main salon downstairs to discover what’s next. The cue of the title Meaning/Reframe is described by co-founder Maria Gillespie as: “to arrange or place something in a different way to achieve a new outlook; to alter position, conditions or rules to create a new perspective; do we change context or content to move/see/hear differently?” (John Schneider)
4 p.m. Sunday Nov. 10 at Villa Terrace, 2220 N. Terrace Avenue. Tickets are available at the door: $10 general admission; $6 for students and seniors. Visit hyperlocalmke.com for more information.
The Nerd
One of the funniest plays ever written, The Nerd premiered at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 1981, with playwright Larry Shue filling the role of Willum Cubbert. It went on to become one of the most-produced and best-loved comedies in the history of American theater, running for 441 performances on Broadway (starring Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame) before moving on to theaters across the U.S. and abroad. A madcap comedy of ridiculous proportions, The Nerd follows the progressively desperate (and hilarious) attempts of Willum to remove an unwanted houseguest: a Wisconsin factory inspector named Rick Steadman. Now in its fourth staging at The Rep, The Nerd returns to the Quadracci Powerhouse in a new production. Nov. 12-Dec. 15 at 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
“Tales and Impressions”
Festival City Symphony music director Carter Simmons invites the public to “experience a concert of works by two Frenchmen who changed music forever.” The program features Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Petite Suite and Maurice Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess and Mother Goose Ballet Suite. Simmons adds: “The mysterious and beautiful music of Debussy and Ravel uses all the colors of the orchestra to depict stories and myths from the ballet and concert stage.” The FCS welcomes children to these concerts, which are most appropriate for those in second grade and older. Prior to each concert at 1:45 p.m., Lynn Roginske presents “Children’s Program Notes,” offered to help children become familiar with the music they are about to hear. This particular concert is FCS’s annual “Girl Scout Day at the Symphony,” whereby local Girl Scouts may attend a 1:30 p.m. on-stage “Meet the Musicians” presentation with instrument demonstrations. Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m. at the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-286-3205 or visit festivalcitysymphony.org.
Early Music Now Changes Lineup
Early Music Now announced a change of artists in its concert series. Capella de la Torre will not appear on Nov. 9 as originally scheduled because of visa problems. They will be replaced by the Chicago-based Marion Consort.
The Consort is a vocal and instrumental group specializing in authentic performances of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. Under the artistic direction of Amy Bearden, the Marion Consort will perform “Tell Me True Love: Lute Songs of the English Renaissance” at Grace Lutheran Church, 1209 N. Broadway, 5 p.m., Nov. 9.
For tickets, visit earlymusicnow.org
