This Week in Milwaukee: April 14-20, 2022

Here are the Milwaukee events we are looking forward to coming up this week.

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The Island at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, the 50th Anniversary Of Alvin Ailey’s Cry at Marcus Performing Arts Center, 414 Day music, an underground film festival, songwriter showcases and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, April 14

The Island @ Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

An apartheid-era masterpiece with smoldering contemporary resonance. In a notorious maximum-security political prison, two cellmates toil at brutal hard labor by day and rehearse Sophocles’ Antigone for a prison entertainment by night. When one is unexpectedly granted his release, envy and empathy, triumph and loss, and hope and despair all collide in the concentrated atmosphere as they dig into a 2,000-year-old play that explores every human’s moral obligation to defiance of unjust government.

Through May 1: milwaukeechambertheatre.org/the-island.

Milwaukee Day Showcase: Fox Face, Shle Berry, Devils Teeth @ Company Brewing, 8:30 p.m.

Celebrate 414 Day with this triple bill of some of Milwaukee’s best high-energy acts: the tension and release of Fox Face, the surf/punk/garage/Spaghetti Western stew of Devils Teeth and the “heart on her sleeve” sounds of Shle Berry. Company Brewing keeps the momentum happening with the three-day 414 Day Festival with a full lineup each night Friday through Sunday. More info here: companybrewing.com/live-music.

Milwaukee Underground Film Festival @ UWM and Company Brewing

Thursday at UWM Arts Center Lecture Hall (2400 E Kenwood Blvd) and Friday and Saturday upstairs at Company Brewing. The Milwaukee Underground Film Festival is a student run film festival devoted to showcasing independent, artist driven cinema. For nearly two decades the festival has been programming filmmakers that defy convention in an attempt to amplify unheard voices. Also Saturday. More info here: milwaukeeundergroundfilm.org/2022-schedule.

Friday, April 15

Dwight Simmons @ Laughing Tap, 7 p.m.

Dwight Simmons hails from Indianapolis and has done stand-up in nearly every state in the country. In 2018, his self-produced album Sip and Pass reached #1 on the iTunes comedy charts, making it his second release to do so. Dwight’s comedy has been featured on Kevin Hart’s LOL on Sirius XM and on the Bob and Tom show. Also Saturday. More info here: laughingtap.com/event/dwight-simmons-at-the-laughing-tap/2022-04-15.

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Saturday, April 16

Roxie Beane, Bryan Cherry and Steph Lippert @ Tonic Tavern, 4 p.m.

Tonic Tavern offers glimpse of 2022’s Gigs 4 Good series will bring. Roxie Beane’s acoustic funk rock, cosmic-conscious songwriter Bryan Cherry’s new EP Trainwreck delivers on his comments in 2020, “I’m sure it may sound silly to some people but at the base level I am interested in ego death, interested in being a hollow vessel for creation,” Cherry says. “Art is cleansing for me and that has never been truer than right now.” shepherdexpress.com/music/artists-beating-covid-19/bryan-cherry-balances-parenting-and-creativity-during-lockdo Multi-instrumentalist Steph Lippert’s resume includes pianist, trombonist, singer and DJ with L'Resorts, Ruth B8r Ginsburg and Lady Cannon. Her low-key home recordings might hint at Alice Coltrane’s later work.

The Byrne Brothers @ Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 6:30 p.m.

The Byrne Brothers are a multi award winning family band and Irish dancers from Dublin. Luca (18 on accordion), Finn (16 on banjo, mandolin and guitar), Dempsey (12 on bodhran & whistle and dad, Tommy (uilleann pipes, bagpipes, fiddle and guitar) emigrated to Florida three years ago. During a family vacation to Disney World, the boys got up and danced at the Raglan Road Pub and Restaurant in Orlando and were invited to perform when they next visited. They became the youngest ever cast entertainers at the pub and continue to perform there.

Erik Koskinen, Derek Pritzl, Kat Wodtke and Andrew Koenig @ Circle A, 8 p.m.

In pre-pandemic times, Derek Pritzl hosted a semi-regular guitar pull at Circle A. Here’s a welcome return featuring a trio of songwriters trading tunes. Minnesota’s Erik Koskinen is a link in the chain that includes Greg Brown and James McMurtry. Derek Pritzl is getting closer to his long-awaited album; expected burnished gems from his notebook. Kat Wodtke steps out from Long Mama and all three songwriters will benefit from having guitarist Andrew Koenig in their corner for the evening.

"Breathing Spaces," @ Real Tinsel, 6 p.m.

From the start, artists have been engaged in a tug of war between positive space and negative space. Positive space is often the star of the show because of all its descriptive possibilities. Negative space is the open area between the apples and wine bottles of your favorite still life paintings, the light poking through the trees in a landscape painting, and it is the space between you and me.

Curated by Geoffrey Todd Smith, artists Michelle Bolinger, Paul Erschen, Paul Simmons, Michelle Wasson and Sara Willadsen feature playful negotiations between positive and negative space.

Wednesday, April 20

50th Anniversary of Alvin Ailey’s Cry @ Marcus Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

Connecting with audiences is at the heart of the Ailey experience, so Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's much-anticipated return to the stage is reason to rejoice. Revel in the passion these extraordinary dancers bring to each step, the artistry no pandemic can diminish, and the communal joy of live performance. The Company will present a program combining contemporary works by Aszure Barton and Robert Battle with classics by Alvin Ailey, including Cry (celebrating its 50th anniversary) and the beloved Revelations, a universal anthem of resilience that resounds anew in 2022.

More info here: marcuscenter.org/show/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater.