On Stage 10/30

A quiet week, with charitable options

As the holiday season draws nearer, fundraisers, benefits and pay-what-you-can performances take center stage.

By - Oct 30th, 2012 04:00 am

Music

Michael Francis will conduct Franck’s Symphony in D Minor and more at the MSO’s concerts this weekend.

Join the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra this weekend for a program featuring César Franck’s thrilling Symphony in D minor. Guest Michael Francis conducts, with MSO’s Todd Levy performing Carl Maria von Weber’s effervescent First Clarinet Concerto. The performance also features Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler. Check out the program notes before the concerts, at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3 at Uihlein Hall. Tickets start at $22, available online or at 414-291-7605.

UWM’s Year of the Arts hosts The Klezmatics, one of the world’s leading performers of klezmer (Eastern European Jewish) music. Fusing traditional klezmer forms with elements of jazz and funk, this New York-based ensemble showcases Yiddish culture with exciting live performances. The concert is at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4 at Helen Bader Concert Hall. Tickets are $30, discounted for children and free for students. Call 414-229-4308 for tickets or purchase online.

The Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra opens its season Sun. Nov. 4 with its annual “Playathon” gala at Bayshore Town Center. The Playathon marks the start of five weeks of intensive MYSO fundraising. Hear the best talent from Southeastern Wisconsin’s premier youth orchestra, from 10:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The event is free, with donations appreciated.

Frank Sinatra Jr. kicks off Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign Friday at The Pabst

The Salvation Army kicks off its Red Kettle campaign with a benefit concert Friday, Nov. 2, featuring Frank Sinatra, Jr. Former Packer LeRoy Butler serves as honorary chairman of this year’s campaign, which generates about one-third of the Salvation Army’s annual budget. Sinatra’s performance kicks off the holiday season with a set of his father’s iconic music at the Pabst Theater, with tickets at $60, $85, and $125. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Purchase online or call 414-286-3663.

The Wallflowers visit Turner Hall tomorrow night (Halloween!) with special guest, Milwaukee’s own Trapper Schoepp & The Shades. Perhaps best known for their beloved 90’s hits like “6th Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight,” The Wallflowers’ new record Glad All Over brings a fresh spin to their pop-friendly sound. Craving a night of synth-heavy dance pop instead? Hit up Passion Pit at the Riverside Thursday, Nov. 1. Their sophomore album Gossamer continues the band’s propensity for hard-hitting beats and irresistibly catchy hooks. Tickets are $29.50 for both shows, doors open at 7 p.m. Purchase tickets online or call 414-286-3205.

Theater

Soulstice Theatre presents the hit comedy Blithe Spiritby Noel Coward. When novelist Charles Condomine invites an eccentric medium into his home for a séance to gather material for his new book, he accidentally summons the ghost of his candid first wife. The play has seen several successful adaptations and revivals since it first premiered in London in 1941. Blithe Spirit opens Fri. Nov. 2 and runs through Nov. 17, with showtimes at 7:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. Catch a pay-what-you-can preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1. Tickets are $18, and can be ordered online or at 414-481-2800.

Pink Banana Theatre presents the Milwaukee premiere of Harold Pinter’s The Hothouse. Set in a government-run institution, the play tracks bureaucratic corruption, ineptitude and scandal. This seriously dark comedy opens Thursday, Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 17. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. every Thurs. Fri. and Sat., with a pay-what-you-can performance at 7:30 p.m. Mon. Nov. 5. Tickets are $18 at the door, $15 in advance online . Pink Banana is located at the Arcade Theatre in The Underground Collaborative, lower level of the Grand Ave. Mall.

Milwaukee’s Fools for Tragedy believes in exposing the city to quality, thought-provoking art without charging the proverbial pound of flesh. With a responsibility toward the community in mind, Fools for Tragedy opens their second season Let Them Laugh with a staged reading benefiting The Hunger Task Force. Simply bring a few (or many!) nonperishable items to The Alchemist Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Mon. Nov. 5 and enjoy a contemporary play reading (to be revealed the night of) in the spirit of charity. Contact Fools for Tragedy for reservations or call 414-581-0031.

Special Events

“So You Think You Can Dance” Season 9 winners Chechon Wespi-Tschopp (L) and Eliana Girard (C) (pictured alongside host Cat Deeley) headline the live show at the Milwaukee Theatre Friday. Photo credit Adam Rose, FOX.

The So You Think You Can Dance Live concert comes to Milwaukee, starring the season nine finalists. The hit FOX reality show features a broad variety of dance styles, with the competitors mastering their skills throughout the season. This high-energy tour hits the Milwaukee Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Fri. Nov. 2. Tickets are $39.50, $52.50 and $$65 available online or at 800-745-3000.

Ina Garten, better known as Food Network personality The Barefoot Contessa, will share her hosting and cooking expertise Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Riverside Theater. Tickets are $42.50; order online or call 414-286-3663. Tickets include an autographed copy of “Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust.”

Celebrate Halloween tomorrow night at Festival City Symphony’s Halloween Pajama Jamboree. The orchestra will perform family-friendly musical “treats” in costume. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes or pajamas and get up close with the orchestra. The event is free, taking place at 7 p.m. Wed. Oct. 31 in the Bradley Pavilion of the Marcus Center. Call 414-963-9067 for more information.

Ongoing

Renaissance Theaterworks: Enfrascada, through Nov. 11

First Stage: Big: The Musical, through Nov. 11

Sunset Playhouse: 12 Angry Men, through Nov. 11

Milwaukee Rep: The Diary of Anne Frank, through Dec. 2

Milwaukee Rep: Blues in the Night, through Dec. 23

Fireside Theatre: Scrooge the Musical, through Dec. 23

VIA Downer & Transferside work, through Jan. 11

Milwaukee Art MuseumRembrandt, Van Dyck and Gainsborough, The Treasures of Kenwood House, London,through Jan. 13.

Last Chance

The Alchemist TheatreThe Alchemist Eyethrough Nov. 3

Quasimondo Physical Theatre: Halloween Tree, through Nov. 3

 

Milwaukee Rep: The Mountaintop, through Nov. 4

Off the Wall Theatre: Trainspotting, through Nov. 4

Cardinal Stritch (w/ Renaissance Theaterworks): Irena’s Vow, through Nov. 4

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