A film festival opens, and concerts galore

Music

Julian Kuerti guest conducts the MSO at this weekend’s concerts.

This week, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra takes an armchair European vacation in the comfort of Uihlein Hall. Canadian guest conductor Julian Kuerti will lead a Symphonic Postcards concert. Travel destinations include Mozart’s Prague Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, and contemporary composer György Ligeti’s Romania-centric Concert Românesc. Concerts are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; tickets start at $22 and can be purchased at (414) 291-7605 or the MSO online box office.

Saturday, the Milwaukee Choral Artists perform their first concert of the 2011-12 season, Northern Lights, at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwautosa. The concert includes works from Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Canada and Wales. Northern Lights begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and $15 for students; to order call (262) 628-5022 or visit the MCA website.

Fendika dancer Zenash Belay performs with the members of Debo Band.

Last year, Debo Band and Fendika were just two among many performers at Alverno Presents’ 2010 Global Union concert. Apparently, they liked Milwaukee, because they’re back Saturday for an Alverno Presents performance of their own. The combination is ingenious: Debo Band is a Boston-based Ethiopian funk group, Fendika is a quartet of traditional Ethiopian performers (a vocalist, drummer and two dancers). The show begins at 8 p.m. at the Pitman Theatre; tickets are $20. Call (414) 382-6044 or go to Alverno’s website to order tickets.

The Milwaukee Theatre hosts Italian pop-opera trio Il Volo at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23. The teen group, composed of tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto and baritone Gianluca Ginoble, formed after competing on an Italian reality TV show and have since found international success. The concert is a fundraiser for the Italian Community Center, and tickets come with a seat at their 5 p.m. buffet. Tickets are $78, $63 or $48 based on location; call (800) 745-3000 or visit the online box office.

“Weekend,” the opening night show for the Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival, premieres at 7:30 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre.

Film

For the 24th year, UWM’s film department will present the Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival this weekend. The festival brings a selection of 16 films from around the globe, all making local premieres. The movies playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday are at UWM’s Union Theatre, but Weekend, the award-winning, opening night show on Thursday, Oct. 20, is at the Oriental Theatre at 7:30 p.m. A full list of shows with showtimes can be found at the film festival’s website. Several films are free; the remainder are $9 and $7 for students, seniors and UWM community members, or $15 and $10 for Weekend, respectively.

Theater

Teacher Anne Sullivan (Therese Gotcher, left) helps a young Helen Keller (Alison Pogorelc) learn to communicate in “The Miracle Worker.”

When The Miracle Worker begins, main character Helen Keller is blind, deaf and unable to reach the world around her. Teacher Annie Sullivan changes all that. Acacia Theatre Company’s The Miracle Worker runs Friday, Oct. 21 through Oct. 30. Shows are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, and additionally at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29; tickets are $16, $13 for seniors, students and clergy. To order call (414) 744-5995.

Sor Juana (1648-1695) was a self-taught poet and scholar who challenged Spanish and Catholic authority and teachings with her works.

UWM’s theater department opens The Sins of Sor Juana,  based on the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. The 17th-century self-taught poet and nun lived in Spanish colonial Mexico. She challenged religious and social authorities. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 to 22, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23. Tickets are $17, $12 for seniors and UWM faculty/alumni and $10 for students; buy online or at (414) 229-4308.

Visual Arts

For the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) offers an annual opportunity for local artists to create ofrendas (altars or offerings) to their deceased loved ones as a gallery exhibition alongside sculpture and 2-D works. This year’s exhibit will open Friday, Oct. 21, at a Gallery Night reception including music, Aztec dancers and spoken word poetry. Next Friday, Oct. 28, the gallery will also sponsor a parade at 5 p.m. going from the United Community Center (1028 S. 9th St.) to the WPCA.

Special Events

The MSO may be sponsoring their show, but the China National Acrobatic Troupe won’t need an orchestra for what they have planned tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 18. Direct from Beijing, they’ll perform a variety of acrobatic and circus acts for the audience in Uihlein Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $60; call (414) 273-7206 or visit the MSO online box office.

Mark Nizer, a comedian/juggler, is one of the two headliners at Wisconsin Lutheran College this Friday.

Wisconsin Lutheran College offers two performers this week: ventriloquist Lynn Trefzger and juggler Mark Nizer. They may seem like an odd couple, but their shared comedy base ties the evening together. The show starts at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21; tickets are $20, $18 for seniors and donors and $12 for students. To order, call (414) 443-8802 or visit their online ticketing website.

Alchemist Theatre: Faust: An Evening at the Mephisto Theatre, through Oct. 29

Milwaukee Rep: From My Hometown, through Oct. 30

Next Act Theatre: The Exonerated, through Oct. 30

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: Driving Miss Daisy, through Oct. 30

Sunset Playhouse: Prelude to a Kiss, through Oct. 30

Renaissance Theaterworks: Gorgons, through Nov. 6

Milwaukee Rep: Yellowman, through Nov. 13

Milwaukee Rep: Lombardi, through Nov. 13

Last Chance

Theatrical Tendencies: The Little Dog Laughed, through Oct. 22

John Michael Kohler Arts Center: House of Mind, through Oct. 22

In Tandem Theatre: Miss Mannerly, through Oct. 23

Fireside Theater: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, through Oct. 23

Racine Theater Guild: Doubt: A Parable, through Oct. 23