Photo credit: Sunset Playhouse Facebook Page
MUSIC:
‘Time, Nature, Culture, Sound’
Present Music brings museum pieces to life
Present Music, Milwaukee’s finest contemporary classical music ensemble, frequently makes history with world premieres and groundbreaking collaborative efforts. Their upcoming concert is no exception. In “Time, Nature, Culture, Sound,” Present Music embarks upon their first-ever joint effort with the Milwaukee Public Museum. As they enticingly put it, “You’ve seen the Milwaukee Public Museum, but have you heard it?”
In other words, Present Music instrumentalists will be on hand as visitors stroll from exhibit to exhibit, providing a live soundtrack to such as a prehistoric hunt, a rain forest, pre-Columbian American and Pacific Island scenes. Present Music members utilize everything from instruments dating back to 20,000 BCE up to the latest electronic music technology.
7 p.m., Saturday, April 29, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells St. For tickets call 414-271-0711 or visit presentmusic.org.
Infusion Baroque
Early Music Now concludes its season with something of a musical murder mystery. EMN welcomes Montreal, Canada-based Infusion Baroque, grand prizewinners of 2014’s Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition. This lively ensemble of Baroque flute, violin, cello and harpsichord players conducts an auditory investigation of the murder of Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) with performances of his chamber music as well as works by his rival Jean-Pierre Guignon and fellow composers Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville and Pietro Antonio Locatelli. As for murder—Leclair was found stabbed to death on a Paris street.
April 22, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 914 E. Knapp St. For tickets call 414-225-3113 or visit earlymusicnow.org.
THEATRE:
The Way Things Go
Created by Isabelle Kralj and Mark Anderson, The Way Things Go good naturedly addresses themes of birth and love and our place in the cosmos. It’s co-presented by Theatre Gigante and Alverno College and has a nine-member cast, including its co-creators. The Way Things Go also boasts eclectic music by Frank Pahl, an internationally known musician who specializes in the design, building and operation of musical instruments that play themselves.
April 21-29, Pitman Theater at Alverno College, 3431 S. 39th St. For tickets, call 1-800-838-3006 or visit giganteway.brownpapertickets.com.
The Amish Project
Directed by Ryan Albrechtson and starring Abigail Hess, this play retells the tragic story of a 2006 school shooting that occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Penn. It touches on so many human emotions and drives and ultimately shows us how a community can come together after such a harrowing event.
April 28-30, Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets call 414-367-6484 or visit outskirtstheatre.org.
The Dixie Swim Club
Sunset Playhouse presents Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten’s comedic play, The Dixie Swim Club, which focuses on four weekends that lifelong female friends, who first met on their college swim team, spend together over a 30-year period. Can teamwork and friendship overcome adversity that wends its way into one of their lives?
April 20-May 7, Furlan Auditorium, 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
Strange Bedfellows & The Bed
“The concept of the production is novel in that you don’t often see an event where short films are combined with short theater,” says Jeffrey James Ircink, whose short play, The Bed, will receive its world premiere in this production. “Its roots are based on one universal condition—the need to sleep.” Indeed, sleep is the overarching theme of this film and theater series.
April 21-May 13, Alchemist Theatre, 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Tickets are available at the door or by visiting thealchemisttheatre.com.
Carnival
Michael Stewart and Bob Merrill’s rarely seen musical, Carnival, set in 1920s France, follows a young and somewhat naïve woman who finds a job working at a local carnival. Her coworker, a puppeteer, falls for her but is scarred by his experiences in World War I. Meanwhile, Marco the magician sets his eyes on her. In Tandem’s production features some 15 local actors—their largest cast to-date.
April 21-May 14, Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets call 414-271-1371 or visit intandemtheatre.org.
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë’s classic story Jane Eyre, adapted for the dramatic stage by Polly Teale and directed by KJ Sanchez, is a fervent romance and emotional drama performed by 10 Milwaukee Rep actors portraying more than twice that many characters. The production features Victorian Era costumes combined with inventive and modern staging elements. Margaret Ivey, who’s starred in productions from California to New York, assumes the title role.
April 25-May 21, Quadracci Powerhouse, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play
“The first time I saw a production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, I fell in love with [it]. I was enthralled by the pop culture connections and so moved by the play’s faith in the human capacity to persevere,” says director Leda Hoffmann of Luminous Theatre’s Milwaukee premiere of Anne Washburn’s play. The eponymous “Mr. Burns,” as one might suspect, refers to the character in TV’s animated success story, “The Simpsons.” “Release the hounds!”
April 20-May 8, The Goat Palace, 3740 N. Fratney St. All tickets are pay-what-you-can and are available at the door. Visit luminoustheatre.com for more information.
DANCE:
Alchemy
UW-Milwaukee’s Springdances 2017: Alchemy is a collection of original choreographed dance works by a trio of UWM Dance Department faculty members and guest artist Holly Johnston. Original music to accompany the performances is provided by Tim Russell. In Alchemy, the choreographers, through the movement of the human body, explore themes of freedom, agency and the ways in which both self and space can be transformed.&
In Kenilworth Square East Gallery, 2155 N. Prospect Ave., April 27-May 1. For tickets call 414-229-4308 or visit arts.uwm.edu/tickets.
