Todd Levy is the guest soloist for the Festival City Symphony performance of “Copland and Levy: American Masters.”
Highlighting this week’s arts’ scene, The Constructivists beckon you To Fall in Love at The Underground Collaborative, and the Festival City Symphony plays music of Aaron Copland in Pabst Theater.
Theater
To Fall in Love
More than 20 years ago, psychologist Arthur Aron watched as two strangers, sitting directly
across from each other, fell in love as they asked each other a series of 36 questions he’d prepared for them. Six months later, the two participants were married. In Jennifer Lane’s new play, To Fall in Love, a couple, Merryn and Wyatt (played by Madeline Wakley and Matthew Scales, respectively) are on the verge of ending their marriage; they’ve decided to try Aron’s 36 questions themselves in hopes of reconnecting and starting their relationship anew. Will it work “in real life” as it did in an experiment?
“We feel this play provides a great balance to the epic nature of our fall production of The
Pillowman,” says Jaimelyn Gray—artistic director of The Constructivists and director of the Midwest premiere of Lane’s play. “This is truly intimate, real-time, kick-in-the-gut, fly-on-the-wall-theatre.”
March 29-April 13 at The Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-858-6874 or visit theconstructivists.org.
New Jerusalem
Some people know Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) only from allusions in popular media; he’s referenced, for example, in episodes of “M.A.S.H” and “Star Trek.” Others may know that he was listed on the Roman Catholic Church’s infamous “Index of Forbidden Books” for three centuries. Few people get an opportunity to hear his ideas expressed intelligibly in a wittily imagined drama based on historical events. Such a rare opportunity affords itself to you via David Ives’ New Jerusalem.
Directed by Margaret Bridges and accompanied by live music by cellist Ben Yela, a seven-member cast delves into the reasons for the ouster of the brilliant young philosopher from a congregation whose rabbi had groomed him to become the next chief rabbi of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, but rumors and innuendo about Spinoza’s ideas alarm Dutch leaders, who hold the Jews to strict requirements. This “enhanced staged reading” is presented by Seat of Our Pants Readers Theatre Troupe.
March 28-30 at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-264-1867 or through brownpapertickets.com (event “4067732”).
Classical Music
“Copland and Levy: American Masters”
According to Festival City Symphony Music Director Carter Simmons, the orchestra’s upcoming performance “will be a memorable concert of music to stir the senses by great American composers.” One of the names on the concert’s title is that of Pulitzer Prize-winning icon Aaron Copland (1900-’90), of whom attendees will hear his Concerto for Clarinet and scenic tone poem Appalachian Spring. Also on the program is Starburst by contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery and Brigg Fair—An English Rhapsody by Frederick Delius (1862-1934).
As for the “Levy” in the concert’s title, that refers to FCS guest soloist Todd Levy—principal clarinet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Grammy Award-winning artist—who is the soloist for the Copland concerto.
Sunday, March 31 at 2 p.m. in the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 262-853-6085, or visit festivalcitysymphony.org.
More To Do
Leaving Iowa
Leaving Iowa, a memory play, speaks to every former child who ever moaningly inquired, “Are we there yet?” while enduring the family vacation to some vague historical sight with a well-meaning-but naïve father. Don was one of those kids way back when. Now an adult living in Boston, he returns home for a family event. Driving across Iowa, Don relives the vacations he spent as a boy trapped in the family station wagon en route to comically dull sights.
Cody A. Ernest, who plays Don, says: “Getting the opportunity to take on [this] role [and] see the show from a new perspective has been truly insightful. Playing Don reminds me of my own relationship with my father, and I constantly draw on those experiences when I am on stage.”
The show’s director, Rich Smith, appreciates the opportunity to present Leaving Iowa, which for him will be a second time. “It’s a unique comedy that speaks to our Midwestern audience, but it has gained attention nationwide. Anyone who has ever taken a family vacation can relate to it,” Smith says. This Over Our Head Players’ production runs March 29-April 14 at the Sixth Street Theatre, 318 Sixth St., Racine. For tickets, call 262-632-6802 or visit overourheadplayers.org.
Embracing the Past, Embodying the Future
UW-Milwaukee Dance Department’s Master of Fine Arts class often includes artists who’ve already made their mark as choreographers and dancers. Three such artists from the current class will present work in an intimate concert. Alyssa E. Motter teaches dance at the City Colleges of Chicago and performs nationally (including in the Milwaukee Fringe Festival). She dances with the multicultural South Chicago Dance Theatre whose artistic director, Kia Smith, is another of the choreographers. Smith’s Dancing Beyond the Borderline addresses the Great Migration of African Americans northward. Finally, New York City-based choreographer Kaley Pruitt will present 75 Cents, an interdisciplinary performance on gender discrimination in the workplace. Saturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Mitchell Studio 254, 3203 N. Downer Ave. For tickets, call 414-229-4308 or visit arts.uwm.edu/tickets.
