Spring Arts Guide 2025
SPONSORED BY
5 Points Art Gallery
Acacia Theatre Company
- A Sleep of Prisoners, March 21-April 6
War was a living memory for English poet-playwright Christopher Fry when he wrote A Sleep of Prisoners. His 1951 verse play, dramatizing the vivid dreams of four POWs, caught on in the U.S. and UK for its antiwar message—a theme not irrelevant in today’s world. (David Luhrssen)
The Alice Wilds
All In Productions
Alverno Art & Cultures Gallery
American Players Theatre (APT)
Aperi Animam
Arts @ Large
Bach Chamber Choir
- Spring Concert, April 27 (St. Jude the Apostle, Wauwatosa)
Mozart Solemn Vespers with chamber orchestra
For the final concert of their 55th Anniversary Season, the Bach Chamber will be accompanied by an orchestra for Mozart’s exuberant Solemn Vespers. It's one of the composer’s significant choral works and is rarely performed in Milwaukee. (David Luhrssen)
Bay View Gallery Night, May 30
Black Arts MKE
Black Holocaust Museum
Boulevard Theatre
Bronzeville Arts Ensemble
Cabaret Milwaukee
Capital City Theatre, Madison
- Murder for Two, Feb. 21-March 2
- Broadway Our Way, March 20 (The Bur Oak)
- E. Faye Butler, May 6 (The Bur Oak)
Carroll Players
Carthage College Theatre
carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances/
- Terminal Exhale, March 27-30
- Away from the Mirror, April 4-5
- Head Over Heels, April 25-27, May1-3
Catey Ott Dance Collective
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
- Wednesday Concert Series
Cedarburg Art Museum
- "A Vision for Cedarburg: The Legacy of E. Stephan Fischer," through April 27
- Wisconsin Watercolor Society, through May 4
Cedarburg Cultural Center
Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
- Trailblazing Women of Country: A Tribute to Patsy, Loretta and Dolly, March 28
- The Texas Tenors, April 4
- Uptown: A Celebration of Motown and Soul, May 3
Chant Claire Chamber Choir
Charles Allis Art Museum
Chazen Museum of Art (UW-Madison)
- “You Belong Here: Place Purpose, and People in Latinx Photography,” through March 9
- “The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick,” through May 18
- “Look What Harvey Did: Studio Glass,” through June 1
Choral Arts Society of Southeastern Wisconsin
- “Say It with Music, The Great American Songbook Concert,” April 12 (First Presbyterian Church, Racine)
Civic Music MKE
The Constructivists
-
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, March 29-April 12
Some of the most familiar names in Milwaukee theater have gathered for this Tony-nominated play by Anglo-Irish writer Martin McDonagh. Among them, director James Pickering, and Flora Coker as a “spinster” in a remote Irish village. Also cast are Maureen Folan and Pato and Ray Dooley. (David Luhrssen)
Concord Chamber Orchestra
- “Not Far from the Tree: A Night of the New & Familiar,” March 22 (St. Sebastian Parish)
DanceCircus
Danceworks Performance MKE
- Viewpoints, March 1 (Danceworks Studio Theatre)
- Get It Out There: Spring Cycle, April 5 (Danceworks Studio Theatre)
- Fables from the Wide Sky, May 22-24 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
Early Music Now
- The Valencia Baryton Project: A Haydn Collective, March 1 (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church)
- Magdalena - Salon: Scenes from a French Landscape, April 26 (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church)
Early music is attracting young talent. Magdalena is a newly formed professional ensemble of six young musicians who specialize in Renaissance music. “They will perform songs of love and lust that were popular and plentiful in 16th and 17th- century French society. Early Music Now often presents emerging ensembles, offering our audiences fresh interpretations of centuries-old music,” says EMN’s artistic director Charles Grosz. (David Luhrssen)
Ex Fabula
- The Experience: Bodies, March 13
- StorySlam: Tales from Milwaukee, March 26
- Deaf Stories Project StorySlam, April 25
- Teen StorySlam, May 6
- All Stars: “If I’m Being Honest, May 15
Falls Patio Players
Festival City Symphony
-
Harmonies of the Heartland, March 8
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), a British composer of mixed ancestry, was called the “Black Mahler” by American musicians. His Ballade will be included in this concert, along with Howard Hanson’s Romantic Symphony, Samuel Barber’s Second Essay and more. (David Luhrssen)
-
Spanish Dreams and Dances, April 12
Fine Arts Quartet
First Stage
-
Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo, March 8-April 6
The computer animation pioneers Pixar Studios was still at its prime in 2003 when it released Finding Nemo (2003), a delightful fable about family, children and parenting. Like many other recent Disney and Pixar productions, Finding Nemo became material for the stage, a musical. (David Luhrssen)
- Ride the Cyclone, March 28-April 13
- Esperanza Rising, May 2-18
Florentine Opera
- Versed: Viva La Mamma! March 3 (Wayne and Kristine Lueders Opera Center)
- Viva La Mamma! March 21-23 (Alverno College, Pitman Theater)
- Versed: Carmen, May 7 (Wayne and Kristine Lueders Opera Center)
- Carmen, May 16-18 (Marcus Performing Arts Center, Uihlein Hall)
Georges Bizet chose Prosper Merimée’s novella Carmen as the source for his beloved opera. Considered shocking at its 1875 debut, the libretto concerns the promiscuous “gypsy” smuggler Carmen (mezzo-soprano) who seduces poor Corporal José (tenor) and turns his life toward crime. They are hopelessly mismatched; comedy turns tragic with a score of unforgettable melodies. (David Luhrssen)
Forte Theatre Company
-
The Secret Garden, April 5-13 (Saber Center for the Performing Arts)
Forward Theater, Madison
- A Case for the Existence of God, March 27-April 13
- Guilty Pleasures Monologue Festival, May 8-10
Four Seasons Theatre, Madison
Frankly Music
- DSCH! A Commemoration of Dmitri Shostakovich, March 24 (Schwan Concert Hall, Wisconsin Lutheran College)
- An Evening Showcasing Marta and Ani Aznavoorian, Celebrating the Anniversary of Bedrich Smetana, May 5 (Schwan Concert Hall, Wisconsin Lutheran College)
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) is honored in the Czech Republic for composing classical music using themes and melodies of his homeland. Violinist Frank Almond will be joined by Chicago-raised cellist Azni Aznavoorian and her pianist Marta Aznavoorian. The sister duo’s album Gems from Armenian features the haunting work of composer-musicologist Komitas Vardapet. (David Luhrssen)
Fresco Opera Theatre, Madison
Gallery Night and Day, April 11-12
- Milwaukee’s original art hop happens quarterly with a focus on galleries in the Third Ward, East Town and Walker’s Point. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Germantown Performing Arts Center
Greendale Community Theatre
Grohmann Museum
-
“On the Edge: The Labor and Environment of Dimensional Stone Quarries,” Jan. 17-April 27
“Through Michael Schultz’s work, we are treated to awe-inspiring views of the quarry industry, from breaking and drilling to the stone cutters at work in refinement and finishing. The superbly crafted images celebrate the light within while directing our attention to the labor and laborers of heavy industry,” says the museum’s director James Kieselburg. (David Luhrssen)
Grove Gallery
Haggerty Museum of Art
- “Parallel Play: The Art of Science & the Art of Art,” Jan. 17-May 24
- “The Big 4.0 Vol. 2: New Views of the Collection,” through May 24
The Haggerty Museum of Art is a gem tucked away on the Marquette University campus, an institution with an impressive trove of art in its vaults and an admirably creative tradition of programming. The Big 4.0 Vol. 2” is a something-for-almost-everyone survey of diverse work from the permanent collection to celebrate the Haggerty’s 40th anniversary. (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
- “The Carl Tour,” through March 6
- Faculty Exhibition: Another Working Group, March 20-April 17
- Annual Student Juried Art Show, March 27-April 5
- Senior Exhibitions, April 25-May 3, May 9-17
Hover Craft
Hyperlocal MKE
Inspiration Studios Art Gallery
Irish Cultural and Heritage Center
James May Gallery
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
- Lavender & Green Carnation Exhibition, through March 15
- Kierston Ghaznavi, March 22-May 17
The exhibit by this Milwaukee artists invites the audience to step into the space between dreams and waking life. The works include large articulated dolls, painted wooden figures with fabric masks, and intricate papercraft collages that reflect the tension between what we reveal and what we conceal. (Morton Shlabotnik)
- Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
- Open Gallery Exhibition, Thursdays
Jewish Museum Milwaukee
- “Choices of Consequence: Denmark and the Holocaust,” Feb. 14-May 25
“In Denmark, where most of the population saw themselves as integrally linked to others through shared humanity, the Nazi perpetrated Holocaust largely failed as roughly 95% of Danish Jewry was saved by heroic grassroots decisions and actions,” says curator Molly Dubin. “In a time of distressing division, this exhibit holds up an extraordinary example and lesser-known story of allyship mobilized by ordinary people.”
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
- “Willie Kohl: Home Assembly,” through April 27
- “Lunch Break: Arts/Industry In Between,” through May 4
- Pao Houa Her: The Imaginative Landscape, March 15–Aug. 31
- “Sam Barsky: It’s Not the Same Without You,” through July 20
- “Ashwini Bhat: Reverberating Self,” through Oct. 19
Kettle Moraine Symphony
- Musical Travels, April 11 (Slinger High School)
- Musical Bites, May 16 (Town Heritage Center)
Kim Storage Gallery
- Jordon Scott: Connections, March 8-April 19
Carl Jung might have loved Jordan Scott’s geometric abstractions, made from used postage stamps transformed into “meditative designs, inspired by mandalas, that reflect the interconnectedness of humanity and ideas of the collective unconscious.” (David Luhrssen)
Kith and Kin Theatre Collective
Kohler Memorial Theater
- The Other Mozart, May 8
Ko-Thi Dance Company
Lake Arts Project
Lake Country Playhouse
- Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical, March-April 13
- Proof, May 9-23
Lakefront Festival of Art
Latino Arts, Inc.
- Her Colorful World: Su Mundo de Colores by Issis Macias, March 7-June 6
- La Perla, March 7
- Tres Souls, April 11
Lily Pad Gallery West
Lutheran A Capella Choir of Milwaukee
- My Song is Love Unknown, April 25 (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, New Berlin)
- My Song is Love Unknown, April 27 (Mount Carmel Lutheran Church)
Lynden Sculpture Garden
- And then Down Became Up: New Works by Sonja Thomsen, March 15- June 1
Sonja Thomsen weaves an intricate narrative across time and space, bringing together the legacies of pioneering women artists through a multidisciplinary exploration of balance, perspective and maternal lineage. The new work, visible just beyond the gallery’s windows, is echoed in the interior space in small, light-modulating objects, large-scale mural prints and transparencies and photographs. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Madison Ballet
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, April 4-6
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
Making Music Vocal Arts
-
Chorale Showcase, April 2-4, April 6 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
Marcus Performing Arts Center
- Romeo and Juliette (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), through March 30
- Yamato: The Drummers of Japan, March 5
- Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo (First Stage), March 8-April 6
- Martha Graham Dance Company, March 15
- The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, March 21
- Rumours: The Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute Show, March 22
- A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical (Broadway Series), March 25-39
Neil Diamond was often overlooked in the ‘60s by the rock cognoscenti—was he a bit too pop, too melodic and sentimental, too distant from the Summer of Love? Diamond’s hits have endured and are wheeled out in this jukebox musical named for his 1976 LP (produced by The Band’s Robbie Robertson). (David Luhrssen)
- Love is a Game, April 4-5
- Ladies of Hip Hop, April 4
- Cesar E. Chavez Celebration, April 6
- Sleeping Beauty (Milwaukee Ballet), April 11-13
- Lakecia Benjamin, April 11
- The Cher Show, April 19
- Annie (Broadway Series), April 25-27
- Esperanza Rising (First Stage), May 2-18
- Dog Man: The Musical (First Stage), May 3-4
- Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, May 9
- Carmen (Florentine Opera), May 16-18
- MJ (Broadway Series), May 27-June 1
MARN Art + Culture Hub
Master Singers of Milwaukee
- Transformation, March 2 (Christ King Catholic Parish)
- Shelter in the Storm, May 18 (Crossroad Presbyterian Church)
Material Studios + Gallery
Menomonee Falls Symphony
- Beethoven Triple Concerto, April 26 (Hamilton Fine Arts Center)
Milwaukee Art Museum
- “Light and Shadow: John Constable’s English Landscape Prints,” through March 16
- “True Story: Photography, Journalism, and Media,” through March 16
- Winter Series: Meadow, through April 13
The Netherlands are known for its love of flowers. Little wonder then that the Dutch DRIFT studio created the “upside down landscape” of “Meadow,” a bouquet of giant flowers suspended from the Quadracci Pavilion’s high ceiling. Fashioned from aluminum, fabric, steel and robotic components, the petals open and shut in regular rhythm mimicking the workings of nature. (David Luhrssen)
- “On Site: Derrick Adams Our Time Together,” through May 11
Milwaukee Ballet
- Sleeping Beauty, April 11-13
Western Civilization has lived so long with Sleeping Beauty, and through ever evolving choreography, that it’s easy to overlook the beauty of Tchaikovsky’s music. When writing for ballet, the Russian composer had the extraordinary gift of catching the exact rhythm and mood need in every scene. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Chamber Theater
-
Every Brilliant Thing, through March 16
- Topdog/Underdog, April 25-May 11
Suzan-Lori Parks won a Pulitzer and a Tony for Topdog/Underdog. The dark comedy follows two Black brothers with troubled upbringings, Lincoln and Booth. Booth is a petty criminal while Lincoln wants only honest work—and the only job he can find is at a boardwalk arcade as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Children's Choir
- Community of Voices: 30th Anniversary Concert, May 11 (St. Sebastian Parish)
Milwaukee Comedy
Milwaukee Festival Brass
Milwaukee Fringe Festival
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Gallery
- “Bridge Work: Ten Years of Making,” through March 8
“Bridgework” features recent work by participants in the Plum Blossoms Initiative, a program developed by local artist Jason Yi and curator Leah Kolb to shore up the disruptive gap facing students upon graduating from art school. The work of the 23 participants in the show suggests that the infrastructure those two architects laid is both functioning extraordinarily well and holding up to the elements. (Shane McAdams)
Milwaukee Irish Arts
Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra
Milwaukee Makers Market
- Celebrate Milwaukee/414 Day, April 13 (Discovery World Pavilion)
- Celebrate Spring, May 18 (Ivy House)
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
- The Craic, through March 16 (Stackner Cabaret)
- The Woman in Black, Jan. 21-March 23 (Stiemke Studio)
Woman in Black was made into a 2012 film starring Daniel Radcliffe, a slightly disjoined telling of a popular play based on a bestselling novel. Given the play’s remarkable run on London’s West End, 33 years, plus acclaimed international tours, Antony Eden, associate director of the Milwaukee Rep’s Woman in Black, can’t understand why Hollywood “would change the story so drastically! As a horror film fan, I enjoyed the film very much, but the real story, the best story can only be enjoyed by reading the book or, even better in my opinion, by spending two hours in a dark theater.” (David Luhrssen)
- Romeo and Juliet, Feb. 25-March 30 (Marcus Performing Arts Center/Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall)
- The Last Five Years, March 21-May 18 (Stackner Cabaret)
- Espejos: Clean, April 8-May 11 (Stiemke Studio)
- Million Dollar Quartet, April 22-May 24 (Marcus Performing Arts Center Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall)
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
- Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony, March 7-9
- Bach Celebration, March 21-23
- Copland’s Appalachian Spring, April 4-5
- Brahms Requiem, April 11-13
- Dinur Conducts Tchaikovsky, April 26-27
Internationally respected, Yaniv Dinur became a welcome familiar face in town as the MSO’s resident conductor and organizer of chamber music concerts at Villa Terrace and Charles Allis. He returns to the MSO podium for a concert pairing two Russians, Sergei Prokofiev and Peter Tchaikovsky, with an American, Samuel Barber, influenced by Tchaikovsky. Alexander Korsantia will perform on piano. (David Luhrssen)
- Pines of Rome, May 9-10
- Bernstein & Bartok, May 30-31
The link between Bela Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story is that both were written for an ensemble of dancers. It’s an imaginative coupling, supplemented by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana’s symphonic poem Vyšehrad. Stefan Asbury conducts, with Tai Murray as featured violinist. (David Luhrssen)
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
- New Light Recitals, March 16 (Milwaukee Youth Art Center)
- Grand Finale, May 4 (Bradley Symphony Hall)
- Lyrical Journey, May 7 (Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Concert Hall)
- Rhythm and Blues, May 10 (Milwaukee Youth Art Center)
- New Adventures, May 16 (Zelazo Center Bader Hall)
- Symphonic Celebration, May 17 (Shattuck Music Center Auditorium)
- Dynamic Frontiers, May 17 (Shattuck Music Center Auditorium)
- Encores and Masterpieces, May 18 (Shattuck Music Center Auditorium)
- May Melodies, May 21 (Zelazo Center Bader Hall)
Milwaukee Youth Theatre
- Murder on the Orient Express, March 14-16
MKE Black Theatre Festival
MKE Studio Tour
Morning Star Productions
Museum of Wisconsin Art
- “Jennifer Angus: Into the Blue: An Immersive Installation,” through March 2
- The Sculpted World of Adolph Rosenblatt, through April 13
- Sherrie Levine: After Russell Lee, through July 27
- Franklin Boggs: The Art of Tanning, through June 8
- “Impressions in Clay: The Sculpted World of Adolph Rosenblatt,” through April 13
My Balcony, a complex clay sculpture by the late Milwaukee artist and educator Adolph Rosenblatt, represents a full house of patrons in the balcony of Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre, the 81 figures depict actual friends, neighbors and family members of the artist, who prior to his death in 2017 spent 50-plus years living and working on the city’s East Side. (Michael Muckian)
- MOWA | DTN (Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel)
- MOWA on the Lake (St. John’s on the Lake)
- Rosalie Waranius Vass Art, through April 8
Next Act Theatre
- The Children, through March 9
In British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, the routine of retired couple Robin and Hazel is upset by the unexpected arrival of Rose, a former colleague. All three are scientists who once worked together at a nuclear power plant; a recent accident gives them pause to consider the results of their past. And then Rose offers “a looming disruptive proposal involving all of their futures,” says Marie Kohler, director of Next Act’s production of The Children. (David Luhrssen)
- Circle Mirror Transformation, April 23-May 18
Nō Studios
North Shore Academy of the Arts
Northern Sky Theater
Oak Creek Performing Arts and Education Center
Oconomowoc Arts Center
Oil a City Gallery Milwaukee
Optimist Theatre
Outskirts Theatre
Paint Cedarburg: A Plein Air Painting Event
Peninsula Players
- “Do You Turn Somersaults?” March 3
- “A Body of Water,” April 7
Philomusica Quartet
- English Elegance, April 14 (Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Concert Hall)
PianoArts
Portrait Society Gallery
- Behold: Bernard Gilardi, Norbert Kox, Rosemary Ollison, Curtis Wilks and others, March 28-May 10
Behold is a word with profound meaning—it’s not just seeing something ordinary but something “awesome” in the truest sense. The artists in “Behold” approach artmaking as a spiritual endeavor, each from their own perspective.
“Curtis Wilks created hundreds of drawings and paintings of Biblical verse while incarcerated. Bernard Gilardi re-staged Catholicism,” says gallery director Deb Brehmer. (David Luhrssen)
Present Music
- intO tHe WiLd, March 26-27 (Jan Serr Studio)
Carla Kihlstedt returns to PM with “26 Little Deaths” based on Edward Gorey’s The Gashleycrumb Tinies. Composer Andy Akiho premieres “Copper Canvas,” “which examines the prime number ’29’ (from the Periodic Table of Elements) with Calder-like shifting perspectives,” says PM artistic director Eric Segnitz. PM favorite Kamran Ince “asks the tough existential questions with his new piece then, nothing,” Segnitz continues, “and David Lang responds with “Born to Be Wild,” a tongue-in-cheek romp through the Steppenwolf classic.” (David Luhrssen)
- Baroque Pop! With Julia Holter, May 25 (Milwaukee Art Museum)
Quasimondo Physical Theatre
Racine Art Museum
- Watercolor Wisconsin 2024, through April 19
- “Low: Rene Amado,” through July 2025
Rene Amado showcases the cars, bicycles, and community of lowrider culture through photography and video. “Low” blends his photography with custom bicycles and other small vehicles from various builders/makers (including himself) and a video in which he expands on the story of lowrider culture through interviews and documentation. (Morton Shlabotnik)
- RAM Showcase: Focus on Adornment, through Nov. 22
Racine Symphony Orchestra
- Musical Flights, March 21, Uncorkt, Racine
- Spring Masterworks, April 26, First Presbyterian Church, Racine
Racine Theatre Guild
- And in This Corner: Casius Clay, through March 2
Chicago playwright Idris Goodman’s And in This: Corner Casius Clay explores the early life of the boxer who—as Muhammad Ali—became one of the world’s most famous athletes and America’s most controversial sports celebrity. (David Luhrssen)
- Little Red Riding Hood, March 7-9
- Extra Crispy Brass Band, March 15
- Always a Bridesmaid, April 3-13
- Janet Planet, April 19
- Legally Blond, May 16-June 1
Real Tinsel Gallery
- Ceci est une pipe: Pipelines from Z through X, through March 30
“The title refers to a 1929 painting by René Magritte that lives as one of the earliest examples of a society grappling with the difference between a thing based in language and the physical object it represents—the idea of something and the thing itself,” says gallery director Shane McAdams. (David Luhrssen)
Sacra Nova Chorale
Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
- Jason Vaughn: Hide, through April 13 (The Gallery)
- Beth Bennett and Michael Sternoff: Under the Ice, through April 13 (The Closet)
- Leif Larson: Snow Globe, through April 13 (The Vitrine)
- Danielle Winger: The Peace of Wild Things, through April 20 (The Space)
Sculpture Milwaukee
-
Truman Lowe, through March 9 (Bradley Symphony Center)
This fall, Ho-Chunk artist Truman Lowe (1944-2019) will be the subject of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. Meanwhile, we can look for ourselves at a trio of his sculptures visible through the windows of Downtown Milwaukee’s Bradley Symphony Center. “The indoor location provides 24/7 access and a 180-degree perspective from outside,” says John Riepenhoff, executive director of Sculpture Milwaukee, better known for the array of sculpted objects displayed for a mile-long stretch of Wisconsin Avenue. (David Luhrssen)
Seat of Our Pants Reader Theatre
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
- Goitse with Athas, March 8
- Cantus, March 12
- Allison Mahal Band, March 14
- Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, March 29
- Kat Edmonson, As Time Goes By: Songs from the Silver Screen, April 16
Singer-songwriter Kat Edmondson was raised on old movies—and the songs that helped carry their stories. She calls her own music “vintage pop.” For her Milwaukee debut, she might perform selections from Wizard of Oz, Arthur, Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Purple Rain and more. “Watching old movies and absorbing the music from those films has been one of the key sources of inspiration in my artistic life so among the classic songs I’ll be singing, I’ll be peppering in a few movie-influenced songs I’ve written,” she says. (David Luhrssen)
- Paul Taylor Dance Company, May 10
Skylight Music Theatre
- Frankenstein: The Musical, through March 9
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) was one of the most prescient novels ever written. Her vision of the unanticipated outcomes of science and technology set the stage for science fiction and dystopian drama and has been translated often for stage and screen. With book and lyrics by Jeffrey Jackson and music by Mark Baron, Frankenstein: The Musical debuted off-Broadway in 2007, presenting Shelley’s story in an imaginatively non-linear staging. (David Luhrssen)
- Sister Act, April 4-27
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
- Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman, Edgar Meyer Trio, March 26
- Unleashed, April 6
Sunset Playhouse
- Drinking Habits, March 6-23
- Pop Divas, March 10-11
- This One’s for You, March 27-30
- Honky Tonk Angels, April 3-6 (Bombshell Theatre Co.)
- The Frog Pal, April 9-12
- Grand Hotel: The Musical, April 24-May 11
- Boy Bands Tribute, April 28-29
Theatre Gigante
- Terminus, through March 9 (UWM Kenilworth Studio 508)
Co-artistic directors Mark Anderson and Isabelle Kralj describe Terminus as “A rip roaring crazy whirlwind of a ride told in verse—a dark tale written by one of Ireland’s contemporary darling playwrights,” Mark O’Rowe. (David Luhrssen)
Theatrical Tendencies
- Perfect Arrangement, Feb. 14-16, 21-23 (Inspiration Studios)
Third Avenue Playhouse, Sturgeon Bay
Thrasher Opera House, Green Lake
Three Point Project
- Milwaukee has an important new dance company founded last year by 27-year-old artistic director Ashley Tomaszewski whose previous years as a dancer and associate artistic director with Water Street Dance Milwaukee helped that group to greatness. (John Schneider)
Tooth-and-Nail Gallery
Tory Folliard Gallery
- Claire Kellesvig, through March 8
- Caitlin Lempia-Bradford, through March 8
UW-Parkside Theatre
uwp.edu/therita/theatreperformances.cfm
- Dead Man’s Cell Phone, March 7-16
- Waiting for Godot, March 21-22
- Macbeth, May 2-11
UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts
- UWAY Concert, March 2 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Dames at Sea, March 5-9 (Theatre Building, Mainstage Theatre)
- Jazz Ensembles, March 6 (Jan Serr Studio)
- Choral Invitational, March 7 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Sing into Spring Choral Concert, March 8 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Popular Music Ensemble, March 10 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- Chamber Music Milwaukee: Women Composers Matter, March 13 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- Art & Design MFA Exhibition, March 28-April 19 (Kenilworth Square East Gallery)
- The Ballad of Maria Marten, April 2-6 (Kenilworth Square East, Kenilworth Five-0-Eight)
- Chamber Music Milwaukee: UWM Composers Past and Present, April 3 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- Spring Opera: Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, April 4-5 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Makers 25! + Sculpture 25 + Focus!25 Student Exhibitions, April 4-28 (6 (Kenilworth Square East Gallery)
- Musical Theatre Showcase, April 7 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- Classical Guitar Studio Concert, April 10 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- MKE Percussion Festival, April 11-12 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- MKE Mass Steel Band, April 11 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Celebrating Tenor-Bass Choirs, April 13 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Piano Recital Series, April 14 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- Classical Guitar Studio Concert, April 22 (Music Building, Recital Hall)
- First Year Project, April 23-27 (Kenilworth Square East, Kenilworth Five-0-Eight)
- Springdances 2025, April 24-27 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
- UWM Steel Panthers Steel Band & Community World Music Ensemble, April 24 (Zelazo Center, Room 250)
- UWM Wind Ensemble & Symphony Band Concert, April 25 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- University Community Orchestra Spring Concert, April 27 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- University Community Band Spring Concert, April 28 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, April 30-May 4 (Theatre Building, Mainstage Theatre)
- UWM Percussion Ensemble, May 1 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- UWM Symphony Orchestra Season Finale, May 2 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- Art & Design Spring Exhibition, May 3-17 (Kenilworth Square East)
- Choral College Concert, May 3 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- UWAY Concert, May 4 (Zelazo Center, Bader Hall)
- New Music Ensemble Concert, May 5 (Zelazo Center, Room 250)
- Popular Music Ensemble, May 6 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
- Jazz Ensembles, May 8 (Kenilworth Square East, Jan Serr Studio)
UWM Union Art Gallery
uwm.edu/studentinvolvement/arts-and-entertainment/union-art-gallery
- Annual Juried Exhibition, through March 13
- Art & Design First Year Program Exhibition, April 4-11
UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery
- Embodied Connections: Figurative Ceramics and Cultural Narratives, through March 20
- BA & BSE Senior Show, April 7-17
- BFA Senior Exhibition, April 28-May 8
UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium
Var Gallery & Studios
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
Village Playhouse, Wauwatosa
Voices Found
Walker's Point Center for the Arts
Warehouse Art Museum
Water Street Dance Milwaukee
- Performance, April 11 (Schauer Arts Center, Hartford)
West Bend Theatre Company
West Performing Arts Center
Wild Space Dance Company
- Choreo Kitchen Series 2, April 18-19 (Broadway Theatre Center)
Windfall Theatre
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
Wisconsin Craft
Wisconsin Lutheran College - Center for Arts and Performance
- Spring Jazz Band Concert, April 23
- Spring Band Concert, May 2
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Art
- Winter Quilt Show Fiber Contest, Feb. 12-March 5
- Heidi Parkes: Soft Magic, March 6-June 8
Wisconsin Philharmonic
- Superheroes!, March 13 (Oconomowoc Arts Center)
- Magnificence and Grandeur, April 17 (Oconomowoc Arts Center)
Woodland Pattern Book Center
- Open Mic: Resound Return, March 28
- Open Mic: Resound Return, April 25
- Open Mic: Resound Return, May 30
