Romance Is In the Air

To give you an idea of just how far arts groups are going to celebrate Valentine’s Day, consider this weekend’s show by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Danceworks. The two organizations team up for “Valentine Romance,” which features the symphony playing, Danceworks dancing and guest vocalist Lisa Vroman singing, all under the baton of guest  conductor John Morris Russell, and all with an emphasis on the tango, “the dance that took Europe by storm,” as the show’s promoters note.

The show will include such Broadway musical fare as “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera, “If I Loved You” from Carousel and “Till There Was You” from The Music Man. Russell, after all, is the conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, and knows this music well, and Vroman is a versatile singer who has performed both on Broadway and in such opera houses as the New York City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera.  Famed Broadway producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh says Vroman has “one of American musical theater’s most beautiful voices.”

The program will also include some tangos, such as Tango (Por Una Cabeza), a hit from the 1930s about a man on fire with passion both for race horses and a beautiful and evil woman, not necessarily in that order. Danceworks has established a reputation as a company that can be smart and funny about such topics as romance, so they should have an interesting take on the tango, which originated in Argentina and became the new craze  in Paris in 1912, soon followed by London, Berlin, and, eventually, New York. No, we’re not sure just when it traveled to Milwaukee.

Other shows this week focusing on the feast of St. Valentine’s includes Theatre Giganti’s “Screwball Love,” which mixes songs, music and dialogue on said theme, and features guest performers Leslie Fitzwater and Bo Johnson.  Marquette University Theatre is doing the romantic comedy Almost Maine, the Milwaukee Art Museum offers a Valentine’s Day Dinner and the Mitchell Park Domes’ “Music Under Glass” series presents “Valentine Sweethearts Night” with music from Vivo featuring Warren Wiegratz. And if all that sounds too candy-and-flowers romantic for you, you might prefer Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre production of “Love and Cthulhu,” which promises to mix “love and pure horror.”

The complete list of this week’s arts offerings:

Theater

Theatre Gigante: Screwball Love, Feb. 13-15 at 7:30 p.m., Kenilworth Studio 508. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors, $15 for students, available online or call (800) 838-3006.

Marquette University Theatre: Almost, Maine, Feb. 13-23 at Helfaer Theatre. Tickets are $20, available online or call (414) 288-7504.

Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre: Love and Cthulhu, Feb. 13 – March 1 at The Milwaukee Fortress. Tickets are $15, $12 for students, available online.

Windfall Theatre: The Petrified Forest, Feb. 14 – March 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, available online or call (414) 332-3963.

Carroll Players: The Vagina Monologues, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Otteson Theatre. Admission is free but donations are strongly encouraged as proceeds benefit The Women’s Center.

Music

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Danceworks Performance Company performs with the symphony to present Valentine Romance, Feb. 14-16 at the Marcus Center. Tickets range from $22-$102, available online or call (414) 291-7605.

Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes) “Music Under Glass” series presents Valentine Sweethearts Night with music from Vivo featuring Warren Wiegratz, 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13. Tickets are $6.50, $5 for seniors/students. 

Early Music Now: Orlando Consort, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. in St Paul’s Episcopal Church. Tickets range from $10-$40, available online or by phone at (414) 225-3113 or (877) 546-8742.

Marcus Center for the Performing Arts: Florentine Opera’s Fiesta Florentina, Feb. 14-16 at Vogel Hall. Tickets are $34.15-$49.15, available online or call (414) 291-5700 ext. 224

Milwaukee Children’s Choir: SINGATHON, Friday, Feb. 15 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bayshore Town Center Rotunda. This is the choir’s primary fundraiser of the season and is a free community event.

Milwaukee Opera Theatre: L’Enfant et les Sortileges, a collaboration with UWM and choreographer Edward Winslow, Feb. 14 & 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Helen Bader Concert Hall. Tickets are $12, $8 for Students/Seniors/UWM Faculty and Staff, Free for UWM Students/Majors. Tickets are available online or call (414) 229-4308.

Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra: Brass, Bows and Brilliance Saturday, Feb. 15 at Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall.

Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts: Kurt Elling, Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $35-$65, available online or call (262) 781-9520.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music: Prometheus Trio Concert Feb. 10-11. Tickets are $25, $15 for students with ID.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music: Orquesta Tumbao Concert Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at United Community Center.

Wisconsin Lutheran College Guest Artist Series: Thank You for the Music – A Modern Tribute to ABBA, Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Schwab Concert Hall. Tickets are $36, available online or call (414) 443-8802.

Dance

Milwaukee Ballet Company: Winter Series features world premieres by choreographers Luca Veggetti, Milwaukee Ballet’s Choreographer-in-Residence Timothy O’Donnell, and Gabrielle Lamb, winner of Genesis, Milwaukee Ballet’s 2013 international choreographic competition. Winter Series comes to The Pabst Theater Feb. 13-16. Tickets range from $26.25 – $91.25, available online or call (414) 902-2103.

Special Events

Milwaukee Art Museum: Rendevous: Valentine’s Dinner,  Feb. 14-15 at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The event is $140 per couple, $125 per member couple. Make pre-paid reservations online here.

Comedy

Riverside Theater: Inside Amy Schumer’s Back Door Tour, Thursday, Feb. 13. Tickets range from $37.50-$43.75, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Last Chance

Boulevard Theatre:  Shooting Star, through Feb. 16

Off the Wall Theatre: Glengarry Glen Ross, through Feb. 16

Cardinal Stritch University Theatre: The Shoemaker, through Feb. 16

Falls Patio Players: The Dixie Swim Club, through Feb. 16

Ongoing

Waukesha Civic Theatre: Perfect Wedding, through Feb. 23

Next Act Theatre: Race, through Feb. 23

Skylight Music Theatre: In the Heights, through Feb. 23

First Stage: The Cat in the Hat, through Mar. 2

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie, through Mar. 9. For review of show see https://urbanmilwaukeedial.com/2014/01/theater-still-radical-after-all-these-years/

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: The Whipping Man, through March 16