Songs, stories and soul

Theater

The national tour of “West Side Story,” based on the bilingual revival including reworked songs like “Un Hombre Asi” (“A Boy Like That”), comes to Milwaukee this week. Cast members Michelle Aravena (Anita, L) and Evy Ortiz (Maria) pictured. Photo credit Carol Rosegg.

Get ready to dance-fight. The Marcus Center is bringing the national tour of West Side Story through Milwaukee for eight shows this week, starting tonight (Tuesday). The show follows the lead of the recent Broadway revival, which spliced Spanish lyrics and dialogue into some of the show’s songs for authenticity. The classic Bernstein and Sondheim score is virtually the same, though, still featuring now-standards like “Tonight,” “America” and “I Feel Pretty.” The show runs April 10 to 15, with performances at 7:30 p.m. weeknights, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Remaining tickets start at $77, with some performances close to sold out; call (414) 273-7206 or visit the Marcus box office to order.

For their last show this season, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre joins forces with the theatre department at UW-Parkside for Bus Stop, the 1955 comedy by William Inge. The play takes place entirely within a small-time diner outside Kansas City, where an unexpected snowstorm has marooned five bus passengers who will quickly develop quasi-relationships with each other. It’s the third such pairing in as many years — last year MCT joined with Marquette to produce The Lion in Winter, and UWM took their turn with 2009’s Picnic — and will feature students and faculty from Parkside alongside MCT’s professional cast and crew. The show runs April 13 through April 29, with performances at 7:30 p.m. weeknights, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $18.50 to $43.50, and can be ordered at their online box office or (414) 291-7800.

First Stage’s final show of the season, Diary of a Worm, a Spider and a Fly, opens this weekend. Adapted from a book series by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss, the play depicts three friends — Worm, Spider and Fly — who go through life challenges that will seem very familiar to its young audience. The show runs April 13 through May 13, with shows at 7 p.m. Friday and at 1 and 3:30 p.m. most Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets range from $11 to $29, and can be purchased at (414) 273-7206 or the First Stage box office.

The Alchemist Theatre and Project Empty Space present a new play starting Thursday: Outliers, written and directed by Grace DeWolff. The play focuses on a new teacher and her Gifted and Talented program’s only student, and explores the way public schools handle the kids who fall through the cracks — on either end of the academic spectrum. The play runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays April 12 to 21, with all shows at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 online and $15 at the door, and a portion of the show’s profits will be donated to purchase supplies for arts education and local teachers.

Music

Present Music journeys into the frontiers of the past for their latest concert, Buffalo. The concert will feature the world premiere of Buffalo Nation (Bison bison), by Milwaukee composer Jerome Kitzke and librettist Kathleen Masterson. The work that tells the story of the American bison and its decimation by Americans in the late 19th century through voices, instruments and actors. The work’s official performance is Sunday, April 15, at 4 p.m. at the Lincoln Center for the Arts, but there will also be two special performances April 14 at Franklin’s Indian Community School at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Kitzke and Masterson will host both pre- and post-concert talsk Saturday, at 3:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. Tickets are $35, $25 or $15, and student tickets are half-price. Call (414) 271-0711 or visit the Present Music website to order.

Pieces by William Walton (L) and Edward Elgar invade Milwaukee Monday at Frankly Music’s last concert of the season.

Starting this paragraph with “The British are coming!” seemed more than a little cliche, so we’ll just stick with the basics: Frankly Music is closing out its season at Wisconsin Lutheran this Monday with two quintessentially British composers: William Walton and Edward Elgar. The “British Invasion” pits Walton’s lyrical, rarely performed Violin Sonata against Elgar’s melancholic Piano Quintet. Violinist Ilana Setapen, New York Philharmonic principal violist Cynthia Phelps, rising young pianist Orion Weiss, and Detroit Symphony principal cellist Robert DeMaine will join Frank Almond for the performance. The concert begins at 7 p.m. April 16, and tickets are $39, $10 for students. To order, visit the Frankly Music box office.

The Milwaukee Choral Artists’ journey through the four points of the compass rose ends Saturday with their Eastern Voyages concert. Works come from countries as diverse as the Czech Republic, China, India and Japan. Pay especial attention to their Russian selection: Igor Stravinsky’s Four Russian Peasant Songs, arranged for four horns with women’s voices. The concert begins April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Fox Point Lutheran Church. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and $15 for students; call or visit their online box office.

Dance

At David Zambrano’s “Soul Project,” dance happens all around you. Photo credit Alverno Presents.

Soul music is supposed to be powerful, moving and emotionally honest in a way few other genres can match. This weekend, Alverno Presents hosts the David Zambrano Dance Company’s Soul Project, an attempt to find that same intensity in dance. The performance will take place at MSOE’s Kern Center (a change from the original venue, fyi), but be warned if you go: part of the Soul Project’s aesthetic is that the dancers are mixed in the crowd — so at any moment be ready for them to leap into soul. The company will perform twice, at 3 and 8 p.m. on April 14; tickets are $32.50. Call (414) 382-6044 or visit the online box office to order.

Special Events

This week, Discovery World pairs with South Shore Cyclery for Pedal Power, a festival-y celebration of biking past and present. The event includes an exhibition of more than 30 antique bikes, a contemporary bikes display, safety and vintage bike seminars, daily time trials around the Promenade, and raffles throughout the week. Pedal Power started yesterday (Monday), but it’ll run all this week at Discovery World.

Milwaukee Rep: In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), through April 22

Next Act Theatre: One Time, through April 29

Fireside Theatre: 9 to 5, through May 5

Milwaukee Rep: Othello, through May 6

Milwaukee Rep: Always…Patsy Cline, through May 20 (EXTENDED)

Last Chance

Renaissance Theaterworks: Honour, through April 15