THEATER:
Oregon Trail: The Play
The classic American western film was famously skewered by Mel Brooks in one of his greatest comedies, Blazing Saddles, but how about a send-up of a videogame based on the Old West—a musical theater one at that? This is just what Over Our Head Players has in store for us with A.J. Allegra’s Oregon Trail: The Play, which pays homage to the traditions of Westerns, dysfunctional families and cross-country road trips—but above all offers a tribute many of us Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers will especially appreciate: to that traumatizing/treasured educational videogame of the 1980s and ’90s, Oregon Trail.
The play follows the Bootsmeyer family, populated with stereotypical, over-the-top western characters, as they set off on a troubled journey westward—not quite the Donner Party but close to it. Along the way, they face various privations as Allegra’s parody of the game’s (and history’s) off-the-cuff sexism, racism and natural resource destruction—intentionally designed to make us uneasy—emerge throughout the narrative. This is dark comedy, for sure.
May 18-June 2 at the Sixth Street Theatre, 318 Sixth St., Racine. For tickets, call 262-632-6802 or visit overourheadplayers.org.
It’s Too Darn Hot: The Sizzling Songs of Cole Porter
Hot off Sunset Playhouse’s tribute to Judy Garland (C’mon Get Happy) is another concert dedicated to an American song-and-dance icon, Cole Porter (1891-1964). The classically trained young Porter was drawn to musical theater and, after a somewhat slow start, began to gain popular traction such that, by the 1930s, he had become one of Broadway’s biggest star songwriters. Porter’s musicals—enduring classics like Anything Goes, Can-Can, Silk Stockings and Kiss Me, Kate—fairly brim with songs still being recorded by singers today.
Sunset Playhouse, as part of its SideNotes Cabaret Series, welcomes singer Becky Spice who, accompanied by pianist Jack Wilson, will present many of Porter’s wittiest and sassiest songs. Sure to be included will be such as “Let’s Misbehave,” “What is This Thing Called Love?” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” Given the somewhat raunchy nature of some of Porter’s lyrics, Sunset recommends this show for mature audiences only. So, if you were “Born to Dance,” you might just find out that “You’re the Top” and may even find “True Love” at Sunset Playhouse this month.
May 17-20 at Sunset Playhouse, 800 Elm Grove Road, Elm Grove. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
CLASSICAL MUSIC:
‘Kindermusaik, and the Kitchen Sink!’
The Milwaukee Musaik ensemble—10 professional classical instrumentalists playing violins, violas, flutes, clarinets, trumpets and more—have put together a program of music that, for the most part, was devoted to children and childhood memories by its composers. As a result, the works on the program for their concert entitled “Kindermusaik, and the Kitchen Sink!” is open, expressive and accessible. Note that it is not “light” music a la Leroy Anderson or Victor Herbert, but cherished music that evokes dance, pantomime and fairy tales.
Claude Debussy’s Children Corner is a six-movement work originally written for solo piano (later orchestrated by Debussy’s friend André Caplet); Debussy was inspired by—and dedicated the work to—his daughter, Claude-Emma. Robert Schumann’s Fairy Tale Narrations is a four-movement trio not intended to invoke a specific fairytale but the picturesque and fanciful ambiance of the whole genre. Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů’s La Revue de Cuisine is a jazz ballet created for sextet, which received its premiere in Paris in 1930. Uniquely and enchantingly, it’s a ballet for various cooking utensils that swagger their way through life in a kitchen. The concert’s topped off by the majestically glorious Kaiser-Walzer (“Emperor Waltz”) by Johann Strauss Jr.
Monday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music’s Helen Bader Recital Hall, 1584 N. Prospect Ave. For tickets, visit milwaukeemusaik.org.
MORE TO DO
Connection
This annual event hosted by Ex Fabula features true stories on the theme of “connection” from community members who were voted audience favorites throughout the performance company’s regular season of “StorySlams.” Though open to people of all ages, Connection’s potential attendees should note that, given the nature of true-life tale-telling such as this, material presented might be more attuned to a mature audience. Ex Fabula invites you to come and listen, submit your own stories as written “UltraShorts” and vote to crown their “Season 9 Audience Favorite.” Friday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. Fourth St. For tickets, visit exfabula.org/tickets.
‘Festival City Postcards’
In “Festival City Postcards,” Milwaukee Festival Brass presents a concert of music with a focus on Milwaukee—musical pieces inspired by, composed for or premiered right here in Brew City. Outside of pop or maybe country music (“My Cousin in Milwaukee” by the Gershwin brothers or “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made a Loser Out of Me” by Glenn Sutton), what else could there be? Beer company commercial ditties? Well, Milwaukee Festival Brass isn’t saying, so to find out you’ll just have to attend the concert. Come and hear Milwaukee being praised by way of horns, trombones, euphoniums, tubas and percussion! Sunday, May 20, at 3 p.m. at the Fr. Robert V. Carney Performing Arts Center of Pius XI Catholic High School, 135 N. 76th St. For tickets, send an email to tickets@mfbrass.org.
