Spring 2026 - Milwaukee Arts Guide
Peformances, exhibitions and more in Milwaukee this spring
Sponsored by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
5 Points Art Gallery
Acacia Theatre Company
- These Shining Lives, March 6-22 (St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church) — Melanie Marnich has worked in television but also gained attention as a playwright. Her These Shining Lives is based on the true story of women working in a 1920s factory manufacturing glow-in-the-dark watches. First problem: the glow comes from radium. Second problem: the company lies to the women, even maintaining that a little radium is healthy. (David Luhrssen)
Addendum
- Thinking of a Place, through March 7 — The show features Milwaukee artists Jimmy Cobb, Ellie Hogan and Meg White “who paint environments and places,” says curator Tanner MacArthur. Hogan and White focus on homes and Cobb on landscapes, sometimes incorporating found pieces of wood. “All three have an emotional relationship with the Wisconsin environment. Their work fits together.” (David Luhrssen)
- Caroline Calvano, Emmanuel Guerra, Siren Harris and Aidan Rhoades, March 13-April 18
- Alan Peralta and Chris Regner, April 24- May 29
All In Productions
Alverno Art & Cultures Gallery
- Wisconsin Craft, through March 6
- Observations: Student Juried Exhibit, March 27-April 10
- Graduate Exhibit, April 17-May 1
Aperi Animam
Arts @ Large
Bach Chamber Choir
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Spring Concert: Bach is in the Air, April 19 (St. John Vianney Catholic Church, Brookfield) — Few composers wrote as often or as well as J.S. Bach. Like a reporter on deadline, he was a working musician with ecclesiastical and state employers who consistently demanded new material. In his only recorded self-assessment, he said: “I worked hard.” The Chamber Choir will perform Bach’s “Out of the Depths I Call, Lord, to You” and works by other composers. (David Luhrssen)
Bay View Gallery Night
Black Arts MKE
Boerner Botanical Gardens
Boulevard Theatre
The Box Theatre Co.
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Into the Woods, April 30-May 17 — It’s unlikely that today’s Disney-dependent Broadway would nurture a talent as musically adventurous as Stephen Sondheim. His 1986 musical Into the Woods brought together several Grimm fairytales and—in a reversal of recent norms—was later made into a Disney movie. (David Luhrssen)
Cabaret Milwaukee
Capital City Theatre, Madison
Carroll Players
Carthage College Theatre
carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances/
- The Moors, March 20-22, March 26-28
- Bright Star, April 24-26, April 30, May 1-2
Catey Ott Dance Collective
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
- Wednesday concert series
Cedarburg Art Museum
- Richard Kaneiss: Illustration to Abstraction, through April 26
- Student Art Matters, through April 26
Cedarburg Artists Guild
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The Plein Air festival has become a Cedarburg staple, bringing art across Downtown Cedarburg. This year the seven-day event runs from May 30 to June 6 and will dot the quaint town with a flurry of hard at work artists and curious art enthusiasts and passers-by. (Andreas Scocos)
Cedarburg Cultural Center
Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
- Mandy Barnett Sings Burt Bacharach, March 13 — In the ‘90s Mandy Barnett was successful on the country music charts but has proven to be a versatile talent. At the Cedarburg PAC, she will sing from the catalog of Burt Bacharach, whose subtly jazz-tinged pop songs were a backdrop to the ‘60s in recordings by Tom Jones, Love, Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. (David Luhrssen)
- I Am, He Said: Celebrating the Music of Neil Diamond, April 10
- Michael Cavanaugh: Music of Paul Simon, James Taylor and Billy Joel, May 1
Chant Claire Chamber Choir
Charles Allis Art Museum
Choral Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin
Civic Music MKE
The Constructivists
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Bug, April 25-May 9 (Broadway Theatre Center Studio Theater)
Concord Chamber Orchestra
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Breaking Barriers, March 14 (St. Sebastian Parish, Milwaukee) — The concert’s focus is on women with compositions by Louise Farrenc (1804-1875), a French Romantic pianist, and Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), the first African American pianist to join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (David Luhrssen)
DanceCircus
Danceworks Performance MKE
Dead Man's Carnival
facebook.com/Dead-Mans-Carnival
Door County Contemporary Art Fair
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June 4-7 (Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek)
Door Shakespeare
Early Music Now
- ALBA Consort: Romance of the Rose, March 7 (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church)
- Music from China: Silk & Bamboo, April 18 (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church)
- The Newbury Consort: Revolution, May 8 (St. Joseph Chapel) — The Chicago based early music ensemble has recorded several albums of Baroque and Renaissance music. For their Early Music Now concert, the Consort venture to the New World and a later period, 1776-1865, performing choral and marching music, spirituals and abolitionist broadsides. However, in keeping with their roots, they will perform on period instruments. (David Luhrssen)
Ex Fabula
Falls Patio Players
Festival City Symphony
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Pictures at an Exhibition, March 7 (Bradley Symphony Center)
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Faith, Persistence and Celebration, April 18 (Bradley Symphony Center)
Fine Arts Quartet
First Stage
- Peter Pan and Wendy, through March 22 — Disney called it Peter Pan, but Edwardian novelist-playwright J.M. Barrie titled his story Peter and Wendy, a meditation on the inevitability of leaving childhood behind with Wendy as the protagonist. First Stage’s Jeff Frank’s adaptation promises a whimsical journey to Neverland. (David Luhrssen)
- Julius Ceasar, March 13-22
- Disney’s Frozen, April 11-May 17
Florentine Opera
- Tales of Hoffman, March 13-15 — The libretto for Jacques Offenbach’s opera draws from German author E.T.A. Hoffman, whose recognition for the story that inspired The Nutcracker ballet belies the sinister implications of his writings. Offenbach’s music makes audible the author’s perspective on the disturbing obsession of romantic love. (David Luhrssen)
- Tosca, May 15-17
Forte Theatre Company
- Mamma Mia! April 11-18 — Sweden’s super troupers remain as popular as ever. Given ABBA’s gorgeous harmonies, catchy melodies and generally upbeat tunes, how could anyone resist them? Since the songs came first, the book by Catherine Johnson had to be constructed around the songs and in particular, the lyrics. For the most part it works. (Harry Cherkinian)
Frankly Music
- Music of Bernstein, Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen, March 16 (Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Concert Hall) — Leonard Bernstein inspired a generation of American classical musicians; France’s Olivier Messiaen tutored leading figures of the last century’s avant-garde such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis. Both were eclectic composers. Henri Dutilleux is a less remembered but admired post-Ravel impressionist. Tamas Varga, principal cellist from the Vienna Philharmonic, joins the Milwaukee ensemble for this concert. (David Luhrssen)
Fresco Opera Theatre, Madison
Germantown Performing Arts Center
Green Gallery
Greendale Community Theatre
Grohmann Museum
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Dave Clay’s Industrial Atmospheres, through April 26 — Milwaukee native Dave Clay is an artist, software architect, engineer and musician working in a variety of media including digital collage, metal, large-scale interactive sculpture and painting. “I met Dave Clay through Tom Crawford at WMSE. Tom knew him from the local band scene when Dave still lived in Milwaukee. He is in Seattle now,” says Grohmann Museum director James Kieselburg. “His work is a perfect fit for the Grohmann—industrial interiors with an otherworldly look, like they could have been pulled from Omni or some other sci-fi magazine.” (David Luhrssen)
Grove Gallery
Haggerty Museum of Art
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This Side of the Stars: Robert Rauschenberg’s Stoned Moon in the Company of Kite, Paglen and Yi, through May 16 — Science and technology merged with visual art when Robert Raushenberg produced “Stoned Moon,” a series of lithographs inspired by the Apollo 11 lunar landing (1969). His lithographs are displayed alongside work by three living artists: Oglála Lakȟóta performance-visual artist and composer Kite, artist-author-geographer Trevor Paglen and Milwaukee-based multimedia artist Jason S. Yi. (David Luhrssen)
Harley-Davidson Museum
- “Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson,” through spring 2027
- “Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” through 2026 — Photographer Cate Dingley’s book Ezy Ryders focuses on New York City’s Black riding culture today. Images and text from her book have been chosen for the new exhibition at the Harley-Davidson Museum. All of Dingley’s photographs are in black and white. “There’s a sense of timelessness to them, black and white can be a very expressive medium,” curator Ann Sinfield says. (David Luhrssen)
H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art
Hover Craft
Inspiration Studios Art Gallery
- The Cake, March (Theatrical Tendencies)
- Fast Company, April (Lotus Theatre)
- Leah & Zakia Exhibit, April
- Of Thread and Thorn, May 15-24
- (Kith & Kin Theatre Collective)
James May Gallery
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
- Free Improvisation Sessions, Saturdays
- Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
- “The Time is Now: Milwaukee Artists and Our Political Moment” through March 21 — “The Time is Now” includes a small sample of work by five Milwaukee artists: John Fleissner, Chrystal Denise Gillon, Niki Johnson, David Najib Kasir and Nicolas Lampert. Their art addresses multiple issues: “Immigration, tariffs, authoritarianism, racism, misogyny, climate change,” says co-curator Barbara Miner. Their media includes prints, oil paintings and assemblages. (David Luhrssen)
Jewish Museum Milwaukee
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48 Jews: Layers of Identity, March 5-Sept. 6 — “The plurality and complexity of modern Jewish identity is explored in this vivid portrait series by artist Abshalom Jac Lahav. Public images of Jewish cultural icons, ranging from historical to contemporary, are translated into paintings with shifting styles of representation. Considering the individual and cultural narratives they carry, identity is portrayed as evolving and layered,” says curator Molly Dubin. (David Luhrssen)
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
- Familiar Texture: The Fibers of Childhood and Home, through April 5
- Pao Houa Her: Seeds of History, through April 19
- A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition, through May 10 — “Madeline Buol’s grotto is a part of a lineage that continues today, and the exhibition brings this tradition of Midwestern grottos to life with other artifacts from our permanent collection as well as new commissions by artists Stephanie H. Shih and E. Saffronia Downing who reimagine the (grotto) tradition in a contemporary context,” says curator Laura Bickford. (Michael Muckian)
- Emily Endo: Estuary, through Aug. 16
- Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis: Rock Fade, through Aug. 30
- How Do You Throw a Brick Through the Window…, March 14-Oct. 4
Kettle Moraine Playhouse, Slinger
Kettle Moraine Symphony
- Verdi Requiem, April 26 (with Bel Canto Chorus)
Kim Storage Gallery
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Gabrielle Marie Stone, through April 10
Kith and Kin Theatre Collective
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Of Thread and Thorn, May 15-24
Kneeland-Walker House
wauwatosahistoricalsociety.org
Knightwind Ensemble
Kohler Memorial Theater
Ko-Thi Dance Company
Lake Arts Project
Lake Country Playhouse
- The Da Vinci Code, March 13-29
Lakefront Festival of Art
Latino Arts, Inc.
- Christie Tirado: Cosechando Historias, March 6-June 5
- Quitapenas, March 6
- Beats & Baile: A Salsa Social, April 10
Lion Performance Hall, Richfield
- Juan Pablo Horcasitas: Songs and Dances from Around the World, March 22
Lily Pad Gallery West
Lutheran A Capella Choir of Milwaukee
Lynden Sculpture Garden
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Faythe Levine: Time is Running Out, through March 14
Madison Ballet
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ChoreograpHER, April 3-5
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
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A Broad Sweep of Sky, through March 29
Making Music Vocal Arts
Marcus Performing Arts Center
- Clue: The Movie Hosted by Lesley Ann Warren, March 3
- Hadestown, March 6-7
- Tales of Hoffman, March 13-15 (Florentine Opera)
- Bodytraffic, March 18
- One Night of Queen, March 20
- Rocky Mountain High Experience: John Denver Tribute, March 21
- Shen Yun, March 21-22
- The Wiz, March 24-29
- New Jazz Underground, April 10
- Disney’s Frozen, April 11-May 17
- Mariachi Henrencia de Mexico, April 16
- Riverdance 30: The New Generation, April 17-18
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, April 21 — Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) was a pioneering African American choreographer and dancer. The company he founded in 1958, as the civil rights movement gained momentum, carries on his vision of fusing modern dance and ballet with Black American vernacular music and dance. (David Luhrssen)
- 360 All Stars, April 24
- Alice (In Wonderland), May 1-10 (Milwaukee Ballet)
- Artemis, May 14
- Tosca, May 15-17 (Florentine Opera)
Marquette University Players Society
marquette.presence.io/organization/Marquette-players-society
Marquette University Theatre
marquette.edu/communication/theatre-arts.php
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Noises Off, April 17-19, April 23-26
Master Singers of Milwaukee
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Night and Day, May 17 (Crossroads Presbyterian Church, Mequon)
Material Studios + Gallery
Memories Dinner Theatre
- Godspell, March 20-29
- Looney Lutherans, May 2-3
- A Red Plaid Shirt, May 8-17
Menomonee Falls Symphony
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Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, April 11 (Hamilton Fine Arts Center, Sussex) — It’s one of classical music’s mysteries: why did 25-year-old Franz Schubert begin his Symphony No. 8 but never finish it? Was he afraid he couldn’t top the magical first two movements with a third? Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony remained unperformed until 37 years after his death. (David Luhrssen)
MIAD Frederick Layton Gallery
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The Circle that Unites Us, through March 6
MIAD Gallery at the Ave
Milwaukee Art Museum
- mam.org
- Gertrude & Friends: Wisconsin’s Magic Realists, through July
- Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery, March 27-July 19 — Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) was a prominent Chicago surrealist, painting enigmatic landscapes and interiors lifted from dreams and oddly elongated bodies from a dark palette. Owls and broomsticks and doors opening to nowhere were motifs. She led a fascinating bohemian life. Dizzy Gillespie played at her wedding and thought her art was bebop visualized. (David Luhrssen)
- Art in Bloom, April 16-19
Milwaukee Ballet
- Genesis, March 13-15 (Pabst Theater)
- Alice (In Wonderland), May 1-10 (Marcus Performing Arts Center) — Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has been called “the most enchanting nonsense in the English language.” Continuing to enchant 150 years after they was written, Carroll’s enigmatic characters seem ideal for ballet as adapted by internationally known choreographer Septime Weber. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Chamber Theater
- Is This a Room, March 20-April 5 (Broadway Theater Center Studio Theatre)
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A Raisin in the Sun, May 8-24 (Broadway Theater Center Cabot Theatre) — A Raisin in the Sun, the powerful 1959 play by African American playwright Loraine Hansberry, concerns a Black family coming to grips with issues of identity and racism, felt most acutely in housing discrimination. The play was adapted as a 1961 film starring Sidney Poitier and has been periodically revived on Broadway. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Children's Choir
Milwaukee Comedy
Milwaukee Community Orchestra
- MCO String Orchestra Spring Concert: Tchaikovsky, Siebelius, Rutter and John Williams, April 26 (St. Sebastian Church)
- MCO Spring Concert, May 3 (South Milwaukee PAC, with Milwaukee Community Chorus)
Milwaukee Festival Brass
Milwaukee Film
Milwaukee Fringe Festival
Milwaukee Irish Arts
Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Milwaukee Makers Market
Milwaukee Musaik
- American Soundscapes: A 250th Celebration, March 30 (Wisconsin Conservatory of Music) — The music in this ambitiously eclectic concert is united by its origins in America, from the colonial era through the elegant minimalism of Philip Glass. In between, Milwaukee Musaik will perform work by the late Romantic Samuel Barber and the Jazz Age’s George Gershwin, among others. (David Luhrssen)
- Innocence and Wonder with Soprano Alisa Jordheim (Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church)
Milwaukee Opera Theatre
- Camille’s Rainbow, March 19-23 — Says Milwaukee Opera Theatre artistic director Jill Anna Ponasik of an opera written for pre-kindergartners, “Camille's Rainbow is written to sit within a child's vocal register; this encourages them to play with us vocally throughout the performance. When we think of 'opera.' we're often imagining vocal extremes of very, very high, or very, very low singing and big sound. Camille's Rainbow doesn't go there. It has a gentle, playful quality to it, but the central idea is communicated through singing, which pulls us into the territory of opera.” (Jamie Lee Rake)
- Follies, April 29
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
- McNeal, through March 22 (Herro-Franke Studio Theater) — Raised in Milwaukee, Ayad Akhtar earned a Pulitzer Prize for his 2012 play Disgraced. Since then, the Pakistani American won additional prizes for work that addresses assimilation, immigration, identity and the nation’s corrupt economy. His latest, the darkly comedic Broadway hit McNeal, concerns “art and ambition in the age of AI.” (David Luhrssen)
- August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, through March 22 (Checota Powerhouse Theater)
- Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show, March 6-April 26 (Stackner Cabaret)
- Frida … A Self Portrait, April 3-May 16 (Herro-Franke Studio Theater)
- Mrs. Christie, April 14-May 10 (Checota Powerhouse Theater)
- Georgie & Grace: A Love Story, May 1-June 14 (Stackner Cabaret)
- And Then There Were None, May 26-June 28
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Sponsor of 2026 Spring Arts Guide
- Hadelich & Brahms, March 6-7
- Windborne’s The Music of Queen, March 14/li>
- Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, March 20-21
- Yo-Yo Ma with Orchestra, March 25
- Decades: Back to the ‘80s, March 27-29
- Wincor Conducts Shostakovich No. 1, April 10-11 — In a concert dedicated to youthful talent, rising young conductor Katharina Wincor will lead the orchestra on something from Mozart’s earlier years, his Piano Concerto No. 9 (written at age 21), along with Dmitri Shostakovich’s conservatory graduation piece, his First Symphony (at age 19). Guest pianist David Fray joins the MSO for the performance. (David Luhrssen)
- Stars of Tomorrow, April 12
- Schumann Romance, April 17-18
- Fandango & Rapsodie, April 26
- Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, May 1
- Copland & Twain: America 250, May 8-10
- America the Beautiful: Patriotic Pops, May 22-24
- Stravinsky’s Firebird, May 29-30 — When the dance impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned Igor Stravinsky to write a ballet, the result was The Firebird (1910). Lavish with a touch of dissonance, The Firebird drew from Russian folklore and imbued it with thrilling modernism. In coming years Stravinsky mined his original concept for three orchestral suites. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Milwaukee Youth Theatre
MKE Black Theatre Festival
MKE Studio Tour
Morning Star Productions
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The Bell, March (Kneeland-Walker Mansion)
Museum of Wisconsin Art
MOWA | DTN (Saint Kate–The Arts Hotel)
MOWA on the Lake (St. John's on the Lake)
Next Act Theatre
- Swing State, through March 8 — Rebecca Gilman is no stranger to Milwaukee theatergoers; her plays have been performed at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Renaissance Theaterworks. Her latest, Swing State, is a comedy set in rural Wisconsin where an out-of-state energy company buys farmland and threatens the community that lives there. The Chicago Tribune called it “the best play since COVID to tap into our divided nation.” (David Luhrssen)
- Dinner with the Duchess, April 22-May 17
Nō Studios
No Instructions Gallery
- Charlotte Saylor and Kiefer Waterman, March 6-April 10
- Cassidy Ott, April 24-May 29
North Shore Academy of the Arts
Northern Sky Theater
Oak Creek Performing Art and Education Center
Oconomowoc Arts Center
Optimist Theatre
Outskirts Theatre
Over Our Head Players
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Salmon-a-Rama, May 8-10, May 15-17, May 21-24, May 28-31(Sixth Street Theater, Racine)
Paint Cedarburg: A Plein Air Painting Event
Peninsula Players
- In the Doorway, play reading, March 2
- the after wife, play reading, April 6
Peninsula School of Art
Philomusica Quartet
PianoArts
- Recitals, May 27-June 1
- Concertos with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, June 2
Pink Umbrella Theater
Portrait Society Gallery
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A Catalog of Inquiries: The Contemporary Surreal, March 6 -April 17 — Surrealism is associated with the 1920s and ‘30s but the spirit of altered, dream consciousness still inspires artists in the 21st century. According to Portrait Society director Debra Brehmer, “This group exhibition of contemporary women artists working within the terms of Surrealism privileges fantasy, invention and sculpted realities over logic and order.”
Artists include Demitra Copoulos, Ella Dwyer, Jean Roberts-Guequierre, Diane Levesque, Ashley Lusietto and Divyangi Shukla. (David Luhrssen)
Present Music
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Rahde Rahde: Rites of Holi, March 20-21 (Jan Serr Studio) — The 2014 film by Indian American director Prashant Bhargava, Rahde Rahde, concerns the Hindu spring festival Holi. Present Music will screen the film with a live score by New York jazz pianist-composer Vijay Iyer. The concert’s cinematic dimension continues with Canadian “musical scientist” Nicole Lizée’s tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Also on the program: Jlin Patton's Little Black Book and Judd Greenstein's Jitterpocket. (David Luhrssen)
Prometheus Trio
Quasimondo Physical Theatre
Racine Art Museum
- RAM Showcase: Bodies, through March 14
- From the Archives, through March 14
- RAM Showcase: Indigenous Baskets, through April 18
- Watercolor Wisconsin 2025, through April 18
- Tanya Crane: Embodied Histories, Exploring the Legacy of African Jewelry, through Jan. 9, 2027
Racine Symphony Orchestra
- The Beethoven Project: A Grand Beginning, April 18 (DeKoven Center, Racine)
Racine Theatre Guild
- The Girl on the Train, through March 15
- The Hobbit, April 10-19 — J.R.R. Tolkien penned The Hobbit to entertain his children; he didn’t intend it for publication and never expected to become a cult figure in literature and film. Patricia Gray adapted the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, the prelude to Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” saga, for the stage. (David Luhrssen)
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Pippin, May 15-31
Re:Craft and Relic
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Spring Market, April 18-19
Real Tinsel Gallery
- Kyle Seis: Catching a Tumbling Shadow, through March 22
- Chad Alexander Matha, March 22-May 2
Renaissance Theaterworks
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Barefoot in the Park, March 22-April 12 — Many of us have seen the 1967 film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, but the humorous story of young newly-weds began life as a 1963 Neil Simon play. Renaissance’s artistic director and cofounder, Suzan Fete, will direct the popular romantic comedy. (David Luhrssen)
River Press
Sacra Nova Chorale
Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel
- Sweet Emulsion: Photography as Painting, through April 12
- Bobbi Meieir and Gelah Penn: Drawing into Sculpture, April 17-July 10
Sculpture Milwaukee
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Sculpture Milwaukee was founded in 2017 from an idea by local entrepreneur Steve Marcus and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Sculpture Milwaukee has commissioned work to line Wisconsin Avenue from living artists, some with ties to our state. As much as possible, the sculptures are fabricated in Wisconsin in keeping with the Badger State’s machine-shop history. (David Luhrssen)
Seat of Our Pants Reader Theatre
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
- I’ve Got to Be Me: Celebrating Sammy Davis Jr., March 11
- Cecil and Ari Alexander, March 27
- Pascal & Rapp: 30 Years of Friendship and Rent, April 10
- Donna Woodall Group: The Music of Carole King, April 17 — Raised in Milwaukee, singer Donna Woodall’s innate musicality and affable personality insinuated her into popular local jazz bands like Eddie Butts and Streetlife, the dynamite jazz-fusion band led by Warren Wiegratz, which played for Milwaukee Bucks crowds for years. Woodall can project big but also charm you with a tender ballad. (Kevin Lynch)
- Sam Grisman Project, May 1
- Valjean, Cosette & String Quartet, May 13
Sheboygan Theater Company
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Mamma Mia! May 8-16 — Sweden’s super troupers remain as popular as ever. Given ABBA’s gorgeous harmonies, catchy melodies and generally upbeat tunes, how could anyone resist them? Since the songs came first, the book by Catherine Johnson had to be constructed around the songs and in particular, the lyrics. For the most part it works. (Harry Cherkinian)
Skylight Music Theatre
- The Spitfire Grill, through March 15
- A Rockin’ Midsummer Night’s Dream, April 10-26
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
- Funny Women of a Certain Age, March 6
- Hello Dolly, March 13-15 (South Milwaukee High School)
- Gregorian Pure Chants World Tour, March 18 — With over 2,000 shows in 36 countries, not to mention a PBS special and impressive album sales, Gregorian has been called “the most successful choir in the world.” (Morton Shlabotnik)
- Women of Americana, March 27
- Knightwind Ensemble, April 12
Sunset Playhouse
- Nana’s Naughty Knickers, March 5-22
- Marvelous Motown, March 9-10
- Diva Dynasty: A Tribute to Judy & Liza, March 26-29
- Proof, April 10-18 — By the time David Auburn’s play about mathematical genius and mental illness moved from off to on Broadway, Proof had won a Tony and a Pulitzer. The protagonist has inherited some of her father’s brilliance but worries that her legacy might also include his instability. (David Luhrssen)
- When I Look in the Mirror, April 22-25
- All Shook Up, April 23-May 10
Theatre Gigante
Thrasher Opera House, Green Lake
Three Point Project
Tooth-and-Nail Gallery
Tory Folliard Gallery
- True to Life: Contemporary Realism, through March 28
- The Magic Realism of John Wilde, March 27-June 27
- Here’s Looking at You: The Portrait in Contemporary Art, April 17-May 30
Underscore (inside Real Tinsel)
UW-Parkside Theatre
UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts
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UWAY All-Stars in Concert, March 1 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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The Good Doctor, March 11-15 (Theatre Building)
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Jazz Ensembles, March 12 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
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Art & Design MFA Thesis Exhibition, March 13-April 18 (Kenilworth Square East Gallery)
Spring Choral Invitational, March 13 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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Sing into Spring Choral Concert, March 14 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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UWM Pop Ensemble, March 16 (Music Building)
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Premieres of New Music, March 17 (Music Building)
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Voice Recital: Alisa Jordheim and Kuang-Hao Huang, March 18 (Music Building)
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Chamber Music Milwaukee: Florestan Duo, March 19 (Music Building)
Rituals, Spells and Charms, March 21 (Present Music, Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
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Art & Design First Year Exhibition, April 1-10 (UWM Union Art Gallery)
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First Year Musical Theater Showcase, April 6 (Music Building)
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Songs for a New World, April 8-12 (Kenilworth Square East, Kenilworth Five-0-Eight)
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Makers! 26+Sculpture 26+Focus! Student Exhibitions, April 10-26 (Kenilworth Square East, 3rd Floor Gallery)
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UWM Symphony Orchestra, April 10 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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“UWM Percussion Ensemble and Wisconsin Percussive Arts Society, April 17-18 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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UWM Opera Theater Spring Opera, April 17-18 (Music Building)
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MKE Mass Steel Band, April 17 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
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Chamber Music Milwaukee: Master Works, April 23 (Music Building)
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UWM Wind Ensemble, April 24
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University Community Orchestra Spring Concert, April 26 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- University Community Band Spring Concert, April 27 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- Three Sisters, April 29-May 3 (Theatre Building) — Anton Chekhov was Russia’s closest answer to Shakespeare as a playwright whose work is known the world over. Three Sisters, one of his most enduring plays, is filled with the hunger for life and the power of simplicity as it fathoms the mysteries of the human condition. (David Luhrssen)
- Springdances 2026, April 30-May 3 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
- UWM Steel PANthers Steel Band and Community World Music Ensemble, April 30 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts)
- UWM Symphony Orchestra, May 1
- New Dramaworks: 2026 Short Play Festival, May 6-10
UWM Union Art Gallery
uwm.edu/studentinvolvement/arts-and-entertainment/union-art-gallery
- Art & Design First Year Exhibition, April 1-10
UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery
UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium
Var Gallery & Studios
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
Village Playhouse, Wauwatosa
Voices Found
Walker's Point Center for the Arts
Water Street Dance Milwaukee
Waukesha Civic Theatre
- Hadestown Teen Edition, through March 8
- The Prom, March 13-29
- The Legend of William Tell, April 10-12 (ACAP Playmakers)
- Give Me Moonlight, April 17-26
- Calendar Girls, May 1-17
- The Nanny, May 13-14 (Purse String Productions)
West Allis Players
West Bend Theatre Company
West Performing Arts Center
Windfall Theatre
Wisconsin Classic Stage
wisconsinclassicstage.com/actors-studio
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The Persians, April — Aeschylus’ The Persians is a classic in the truest sense, a 2,500-year-old play about war and its costs that remains relevant. It was revived by Peter Sellars in response to the First Persian Gulf War and by New York’s National Actors Theatre after the invasion of Iraq. The new production is timely. (David Luhrssen)
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
Wisconsin Craft
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Morning Glory Art Fair, May 30 (Marcus Center Performing Arts Center)
Wisconsin Dance Theatre
Wisconsin Lutheran College - Center for Arts and Performance
- CelloVoci, March 28 (Schwan Concert Hall)
- Philomusica String Quartet: British Connections, April 13 (Schwan Concert Hall)
- The Hello Girls, April 15 (Raabe Theatre)
- Spring Jazz Band and CAGE Concert, April 22 (Raabe Theatre)
- Spring Choir Concert, April 24 (Schwan Concert Hall)
- Spring Chamber Ensemble Concert, April 26 (Schwan Concert Hall)
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Art
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Quilts Japan: The 17th Quilt Nihon, through March 8
Wisconsin Philharmonic
Woodland Pattern Book Center
Wustum Museum of Fine Arts
PRESENTING
World Premiere Wisconsin
World Premiere Wiscosnin is a first-of-its-kind statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals. Throughout the guide, look for the World Premiere Wisconsin logo highlighting new work happening across the state!
