MSO, Sha Na Na, party like it’s 1959

Fewer silent nights than you’d think between Christmas and the first days of 2011. On these stages, all is bright.

Marvin Hamlisch, MSO Pops conductor.

Try getting your head around this: Marvin Hamlisch, Sha Na Na and the MSO will share the Uihlein Hall stage this weekend. All three of these things are not like the other, but it’s all so crazy it just might work. They promise to party like it’s 1959 on New Year’s Eve. They’ll do it again at 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 1-2). Tickets $25-$92, at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra website.

Imagine spending New Year’s Eve with George Gershwin at his Long Island estate, then dropping in for late-night fun at the Cotton Club with Harold Arlen, Fats Waller and Duke Ellington. Never mind, the Skylight Opera Theatre has imagined it all for you, in a new revue, Gershwin and Friends, to premiere on New Year’s Eve. Performers Cynthia Cobb and Parrish Collier developed the show, with director Bill Theisen. Paul Helm, the music director, will be at the piano. New Year’s Even is sold out, but the show will run eight more times through Jan. 9 at the cozy Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center. Tickets are $39 on weekend evenings, $34 on Wednesday evenings and matinees.

Theater

June’s Got the Ca$h on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on June 2 at the Racine Theatre Guild.  RTG presents Dan Simpson as Johnny Cash and Jenna Miller as June Carter Cash in this show, which weaves many Cash hits into the story of their relationship. Miller and Simpson will be onstage with a six-piece band. On New Year’s even, a country-themed New Year’s Eve party will follow the show, 2519 Northwestern Ave. (Highway 38) in Racine. The party is included in the $40 ticket for the Friday show. Tickets are $16 ($14 students and seniors) for the Sunday show. Call 262-633-4218 or visit the company’s website for tickets.

Ongoing

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Liberace! through Jan. 16, in the Stackner Cabaret.
Boulevard Theatre: The Savannah Disputation, through Jan. 16.

Last Chance

Next Act Theatre: John McGivern’s Home for the Holidays, through Jan. 2 at the Milwaukee Rep’s Stiemke space.
Carte Blanche Studio: Brendan Behan’s The Hostage, through Dec. 29 at the Carte Blanche.
Off the Wall Theatre: Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, through Dec. 31 at OTW.

A cool ’59 Caddy, celebrated by the US Postal Service.