Posted: April 3, 2010
Sorry, T.S. Eliot. With an African music star, Brahms' choral hit and a play about superheroes who know how to work the phones, no one will be able to call April the cruelest month in the performing arts around here.
Here is a look at 10 promising performances this month, listed in chronological order:
King Sunny Ade: One of the happiest sounds of our time is composer-bandleader-guitarist Sunny Ade's juju music, a lively fusion of traditional African music with Western sounds (a KSA guitar lick will even occasionally evoke the sound of pedal steel guitar). If you're new to the Nigerian Afropop master, sample the tunes on his MySpace page; check out his song "Manu Dibango" for one African master's take on another. 8 p.m. April 15. Turner Hall Ballroom, 1032 N. 4th St. This is an all-ages, general admission show. Tickets: $25. Call (414) 286-3663 or pabsttheater.org/kingsunnyade.
"The Sweetest Swing in Baseball": While not exactly "The Pride of the Yankees," the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre hopes that Rebecca Gilman's dark comedy about a female artist in a psych hospital will be the Straw that stirs a successful spring campaign. To extend her hospital stay, the artist feigns multiple-personality disorder, taking on the persona of former slugger Darryl Strawberry. This comedy may hit a sweet spot for anyone who's ever wanted to take a swing at the health care system. Previews 7:30 p.m. April 15, opens 8 p.m. April 16, through May 2. Broadway Theater Center, 158 N. Broadway. Tickets, $15-$38. Call (414) 291-7800.
"Monsters, Mayhem & Mac 'n' Cheese": While Danceworks Performance Company has often danced in schools and other outreach locations, this is its first public dance concert pitched at a family audience, drawing in part on past choreography that artistic director Dani Kuepper (a mom herself) believes will work for a younger audience. Those include "Wild Things," a dance inspired by the Maurice Sendak story "Where the Wild Things Are," and "Potluck," choreographed to evoke a church picnic, with musicians from the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra performing onstage with the dancers. 7 p.m. April 16, 3 and 7 p.m. April 17, 1 p.m. April 18, Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St. Pre-performance workshops for families will begin an hour before each performance. Tickets: $25 reserved, $20 general admission, $15 students and seniors, $10 for children ages 12 and under. The family workshop fee is $10 for a family of up to four people ages 4 and older; $5 for each additional participant. Space for the workshops is limited; advance registration is required. Call (414) 277-8480, Ext. 6025.
Lang Lang: Hotshot Chinese pianist Lang Lang plays Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra gala concert. The orchestra also will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 and the "Coriolanus" Overture. New Yorker music critic Alex Ross has written that Lang Lang "advertises his love of performing simply by the way he charges onstage." 7:30 p.m. April 21. Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. Tickets: $50-$160. Call (414) 291-7605.
"Spirits to Enforce":Youngblood Theatre will perform Mickle Maher's "Spirits to Enforce," which sounds like an intriguing and entertaining remix of Shakespeare: A dozen superheroes stage a telethon fund-raiser for their forthcoming performance of "The Tempest." Youngblood won't have to walk far for the tights and capes: These shows will be performed inside the Miller & Campbell Costume Service building, 907 S. 1st St. Opens 7:30 p.m. April 22; through May 9. Ticket details will be announced soon.
"Speaking of Happiness": Wild Space Dance Company, which has performed everywhere from a warehouse to a lakefront yacht in recent years, moves back to a traditional concert stage for this program about Americans' favorite pursuit, with choreography by Debra Loewen, Monica Rodero and Dan Schuchart. 8 p.m. April 22, 23 and 24. Stiemke Theater, 108 E. Wells St. Tickets: $25, $20 and $15 (students and seniors). Call (414) 224-9490.
"American Fiesta": In this Renaissance Theaterworks production, local monologuist and comic actor John McGivern plays an obsessive collector of dinnerware hurting over his parents' failure to accept his pending gay marriage. Opens 8 p.m. April 23; through May 23. Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. Tickets: $32. Call (414) 291-7800.
Anna Quindlen: The popular novelist and columnist (formerly New York Times, now Newsweek) stops here on her book tour for "Every Last One," her new work of fiction about a mother of three teens who must cope with the fallout from an act of violence. 7 p.m. April 23. Next Chapter Bookshop, 10976 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon. Tickets are $32; they include a copy of "Every Last One" and light refreshments during the reading. Visit Next Chapter or call (262) 241-6220.
Earth Poets and Musicians: For the 23rd consecutive year, these down-to-earth performers will honor Gaylord Nelson's great idea (Earth Day) with words and music. Their April 23 gig at the Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Place, begins with interactive poetry and music for the family at 7 p.m., following by an EP&M reading and music at 8 p.m. On April 24, the crew moves over to The Coffee House, 631 N. 19th St., for an 8 p.m. performance. The EP&M crew includes Jahmes Tony Finlayson, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Holly Haebig, Jeff Poniewaz, Suzanne Rosenblatt and Harvey Taylor. Outgoing Milwaukee poet laureate Susan Firer joins them at both shows. Admission is $5 for either event, with a $10 family rate for the April 23 performance. The April 24 reading benefits the Walnut Way project. For more about the readings and the performers, visit bit.ly/ae9ivC.
Brahms' Requiem: The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will sing and play Brahms' "A German Requiem," which draws on biblical texts in German but does not follow the traditional Catholic requiem Mass format. One commentator has called this gentle choral masterpiece a "requiem of consolation." Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms completes the program. 8 p.m. April 30 and May 1. Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. Tickets: $25-$93. Call (414) 291-7605.
04/03/10 >> 
