Music and theater to be thankful for
Music
Guest conductor Lawrence Renes will lead the MSO in Holst’s “The Planets” Friday. Photo by Marco Borggreve.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra goes celestial Friday, Nov. 25, with a performance of Holst’s The Planets. The orchestra will play the whole seven-movement suite, led by guest conductor Lawrence Renes. Also on the program is another British work: Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Concert times are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $22 to $99; call (414) 291-7605 or the MSO box office.
Frank Almond
Frankly Music performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations at a pair of concerts Monday, Nov. 28 and Tuesday, Nov. 29. The works were originally composed for keyboard, but FM’s working with a transcription for string trio featuring violinist Frank Almond, violist Kyle Armbrust, and cellist Edward Arron. Pianist Michael Mizrahi will also perform. Shows are at 7 p.m. at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music; tickets range $10 to $36 and can be purchased at their online box office.
Theater
Actors (from left) Richard Halverson, Robert Spencer, and Daniel Mooney star in “Heroes,” opening Friday. Photo by Bill Finn.
This weekend, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre brings a serious comedy from Tom Stoppard across the pond. Heroes, an adaptation of the French play Le Vent des Peupliers (The Wind in the Poplars), tells the story of three World War I vets living out their last days in a French hospital in 1959, casting barbs back and forth and dreaming of their eventual “escape.” The three-man show — featuring Milwaukee actors Richard Halverson, Daniel Mooney and Robert Spencer — runs Nov. 25 through Dec. 18, with shows at 7:30 p.m. weekdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets range from $31 to $36, and can be purchased at (414) 291-7800 or at MCT’s online box office.
First Stage brings a beloved first-grader to life with Junie B. in Jingle Bells Batman Smells. Based on the book series by Barbara Park, the play comes just in time for the holidays, with Junie B. worrying about the upcoming school sing-along and pulling the infamous Tattletale Mary from the Secret Santa hat. The show runs Nov. 25 through Dec. 24, and performances are at 7 p.m. Fridays, 1, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 3:30 p.m. Sundays, with extra shows in the days leading up to Christmas Eve. Tickets range from $13 to $34; call (414) 273-7206 or visit First Stage’s website to order.
Last winter, Spring Green’s American Players Theatre reopened the doors of their new Touchstone Theatre for a holiday production of The Gift of the Magi. This year the show returns for a second time, with the full cast of actors back for the season. The show runs through Dec. 18, and tickets range from $40 to $65. Order at (608) 588-2361 or the APT website.
Boulevard Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, through Dec. 3
Skylight Opera Theatre: The Music Man, through Dec. 18
Next Act Theatre: Sylvia, through Dec. 18
Fireside Theatre: A Fireside Christmas, through Dec. 22
Marcus Center: A Kodachrome Christmas starring John McGivern, through Dec. 31
Milwaukee Rep: Song Man Dance Man, through Jan. 8
