Award-winners and stars abound

Theater 

Kay Stiefel and Jack Forbes play themselves in this musical memorial to Lerner & Lowe, Rodgers & Hart and Kander & Ebb full of familiar favorites. Sing Me a Story opens at the Skylight Music Theatre on Friday, May 3, and runs through May 19. Tickets are available online or by calling (414) 291-7800.

The Milwaukee Rep will host Randy Johnson’s tribute to the Queen of Rock and Roll. One Night With Janis Joplin, staring Mary Bridget Davies, runs from May 3 (officially opening Monday, May 6) to June 2 at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. Not only can you hear the infamous singer’s most popular songs, but this evening will examine the lives of those artists who influenced her in a time when men ruled the music scene. Tickets are available by calling 414-224-9490, e-mailing tickets@milwaukeerep.com or visiting the site.

Windfall Theater is celebrating the close of their 20th season with a 40th anniversary performance of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. This Tony Award-winning show transforms Ingmar Bergman’s film “Smiles of a Summer Night” into an evening of waltzing, intrigue and romance. The show runs from May 3 to May 18 with a pay what you can performance on May 13. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online or by calling 414-332-3963.

The Mystery of Irma Vep opens at Next Act Theatre on May 3. John McGivern and Norman Moses star in the frenzied Olde English adventure about mummies, werewolves, and the like. The show will run through May 26 in the Third Ward at 255 S. Water St. Tickets are $38 for regular performances and $28 for Wednesday matinee shows.

Smithereen Productions‘ second show of the season will open at Carte Blanche Studios this Friday, May 3, and run though May 11. The cult classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the story of a transgender musician Hedwig, overshadowed by her former partner Tommy Gnosis, who stole her music when he left her. Tickets for this show cost $13.

The Memory of Water will open at the Soulstice Theater in St. Francis this Friday evening. Shelagh Stephenson’s dark comedy about death, family relationships, and the humor available in all situations will run from May 3 through May 18. Tickets to this performance can be purchased online for $21. Senior and student discounts are available.

Music

The Wisconsin Conservatory’s We Six sextet is joined by special guests Brian Lynch on trumpet and Alex Hoffman on tenor saxophone for an evening of jazz at Helen Bader Recital Hall. This event will take place on May 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online for $22 with student and seasonal discounts. For more information, call (414) 276-5760.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and violinist Augustin Hadelich will perform under assistant conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong at Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall. Pieces include Mozart’s Concerto No. 5, selections from Idomeneo, Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, and Eulenspiegel’s lustige Streiche. Tickets are available online beginning at $22. This special two night performance will take place on Friday May 3 and Saturday May 4 at 8 p.m.

The Waukesha Choral Union presents Something Old and Something New, featuring works by Handel, Bach, Haydn, and the world premiere of Paula Foley Tillen’s Innocence and Reflections.Tillen’s commissioned piece accompanies a poem written by Waukesha South High School student Abby Lewis as part of a writing contest sponsored by the Choral Union. Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors/students, $4 children 11 and under. Tickets are available by phone at 414-297-9310 or online.

Film

Milwaukee Underground Film Festival will run from May 3-5 at 3 PM at the Fine Arts Theater on Downer Avenue. This year’s jurors include Genevieve Yue, Fern Silva and Chris James Thompson. Morgan Fisher’s Standard Gauge (1984) and Mark Toscano’s Releasing Human Energies (2012) both present an interpritation of the concept of “China Girl,” which is the demure but evasive ideal woman that appears in all sorts of film and advertising. Tickets are available at the venue.

To read a ThirdCoast Daily article about a particular show, please click on the show title. For more information about the show itself, please click on the venue.

Last Chance

The Quasimondo: Bacchanalia, through May 5

Milwaukee Rep: Ring of Fire, through May 5

First Stage: Jackie and Me, through May 5

Ongoing

Alchemist Theatre: House of Horrors, through May 11

Boulevard Theatre: Living Out, through May 12

Sunset Playhouse: Lucky Stiff, through May 12

In Tandem Theatre: Apartment 3A, through May 19

Milwaukee Art Museum: Color Rush, through May 19

Milwaukee Art Museum: 125th Anniversary Celebration, through Aug. 10

Milwaukee Art Museum: Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment, through Sept. 2