After Dark My Sweet

One wag suggested the event should be called Beer and Scissors, but the Milwaukee Art Museum staff maturely settled on the title “Milwaukee Cocktails and Crafts” for its latest installment of “MAM After Dark.” Attendees are promised a night filled with local art, crafts, music, and yes, drinks.

If you’re looking for a quietly artsy evening, you can delve into the Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art exhibition, featuring everything from drawings to quilts to a wide range of oddball works, like duck decoys and walking sticks, from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The exhibition highlights the depth of the museum’s incredible collection of folk and self-taught art and celebrates an important period when American art found its own voice in the midst of the classical European art that dominated at the time. Curator Margaret Andera will host a gallery talk throughout the exhibition at 8 p.m.

If you’d like something a little more high-energy, Milwaukee’s own Calamity Janes and the Fratney Street Band will provide the music for the evening, while the STRUT Fashion Show design teams showcase their Wisconsin-made combinations of clothing and interior design. There will also be a trunk show featuring items made by Milwaukee-area artists and designers. After browsing this selection of locally made creations, guests can head over to the craft area to create their own Milwaukee inspired art while indulging in happy hour specials courtesy of Café Calatrava.

Also: At 7 p.m. there will be an All Things Wisconsin Tour where patrons can explore a collection of dairyland artworks. You can also check out the Scholastic Art Awards, which offers a chance to catch a glimpse at works from the next generation of great local artists. And of course, no MAM After Dark event would be complete without a stop at the photo booth with your friends!

“‘MAM After Dark: Milwaukee Cocktails and Crafts,” Milwaukee Art Museum on Friday, Feb. 21 from 6 p.m. to midnight. Admission is free for museum members, $14 at the door, $9 plus fees in advance, available online. And if you join at the door you’ll get in free with a friend!

Theater

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: October, Before I was Born, Feb. 20 – Mar. 9 at Studio Theatre. Tickets are $28.50, available online or call (414) 291-7800.

Milwaukee Youth Theatre: Still Life with Iris, Feb. 20-21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8, $6 for high school and middle school students, $4 for elementary school students, advance tickets available online.

In Tandem Theatre: Chesapeake, a one man comedy, Feb. 21 – March 16. Tickets are $25, with discounts for seniors and students with ID, available online or call (414) 271-1371.

First Stage: Anatole, Feb. 21 – March 16. Tickets range from $12-37, available online or call (414) 267-2961.

Music

TAIKOPROJECT transforms the ancient art of drumming

John Michael Kohler Arts Center: Taikoproject All Stars: Japanese Drumming and Music, Family Series Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. & Performance Series Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the Feb. 18 show are $14, $10 for members and students. Tickets for the Feb. 20 show are $29, $24 for members and students. Tickets are available online.

Turner Hall Ballroom: IndieMKE2 CD release concert featuring music from Semi-Twang, John Sieger & Greg Koch, and more. Tickets are $10 and include a copy of the “Indie Mke Volume 2” CD, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Peck School of the Arts: MKE Unplugged featuring guitar player Clive Carroll Thursday, Feb. 20 in room 250 in the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts. Opening act will go on at 7:30 and admission to the show is free.

Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes): “Music Under Glass” series presents The Beatles Tribute featuring music from The BriTins, 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tickets are $6.50, $5 for seniors/students. 

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Transcendent Sibelius, Feb. 21-22 at 8 p.m. at the Marcus Center. Tickets range from $22-$102, available online or call (414) 291-7605.

Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra present Flutes and Fanfare on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, Orchestral Occasion on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at Shattuck Auditorium, Caroll University and Symphonic Spectacular on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. at Shattuck Auditorium.

Peck School of the Arts: Chamber Music Milwaukee, Sunday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. at Helen Bader Concert Hall. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, and free for music majors, available online or call (414) 229-4308.

Wisconsin Philharmonic Orchestra: Viva Verdi, Viva Vivaldi! Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. Tickets are available by mail-in order form or by phone at (262) 547-1858.

Comedy

The Riverside Theater: Impractical Jokers featuring The Tenderloins on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $37.50, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Turner Hall Ballroom: Hannibal Buress on Sunday, Feb. 23. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $25.50, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Last Chance

Waukesha Civic Theatre: Perfect Wedding, through Feb. 23

Next Act Theatre: Race, through Feb. 23. For review of show see https://urbanmilwaukeedial.com/2014/02/03/theater-not-easy-to-talk-about-race/

Skylight Music Theatre: In the Heights, through Feb. 23. For review of show see https://urbanmilwaukeedial.com/2014/02/04/theater-rhythm-of-the-streets/

Marquette University Theatre: Almost, Maine through Feb. 23

Ongoing

Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre: Love and Cthulhu, through March 1

Windfall Theatre: The Petrified Forest, through March 1

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. For review of show see https://urbanmilwaukeedial.com/2014/02/10/theater-a-twisted-tale-of-slavery/