Starry Nights of Midsummer Culture

Theater 

Opening soon at the Sunset Playhouse

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opens this Thursday at the Sunset Playhouse. The musical comedy follows J. Pierrepont Finch, whose how-to book helps him climb the corporate ladder in ways you cannot imagine. This show runs through Aug. 11. Performances begin at 2, 3, and 7 p.m. and tickets are available online starting at $25.

Off the Wall Theater presents Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Tickets for opening night on July 17 are already sold out, but seats remain for performances July 18 – 21 and 24 – 28. This upbeat musical relates the Biblical tale of Joseph, his brothers’ jealousy, and how he overcame it all. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. except those on Sundays, which start at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are available online for $25.

The Wilson Center will host another free Starry Night Concert this Friday, July 19. The Bad Sneakers Orchestra will perform a Steely Dan Tribute beginning at 6:30 p.m. As always, picnics are encouraged, but food and drink are available for purchase at the Gerlach Outdoor Theater in Brookfield.

Dance

April Sellers

April Sellers, an MFA candidate in dance at UWM, will show her in-progress thesis work at 7:30 p.m. this at Kenilworth, 6th floor. Pay-What-You-Can donations will go to the Ed Burgess Legacy Scholarship Fund of the UWM dance department.

Danceworks puts its first summer DanceLAB performance on stage this weekend. Ignite: A Hip Hop Dance Experience, brings some of the city’s best hip hop dancers to the Danceworks Studio Theatre, and is the first all-hip hop show staged by Danceworks in years. Performances are July 19 at 8 p.m. and July 20 at 6:30 and 9 p.m.; tickets are $15, $18 reserved and $10 for students/seniors, and can be purchased online.

Special Events

Festa Italiana begins on July 19 at the Summerfest grounds. Bring the whole family for a weekend of food, fun and international adventures. In addition to tradition Italian fare, there will be live music, movies, and a traditional mass on Sunday. Festa is open each day from 11:30 AM until midnight. Tickets are $10 in advance online, but plenty of discount deals are available throughout the weekend.

To read a Third Coast Daily article about a particular show, please click on the show title. For more information about the show itself, please click on the venue.

Last Chance 

Optimist Theater: As You Like It, though July 21

Acacia Theatre: Quilters, through July 21

Ongoing

Alchemist Theatre: King Lear, through July 27

Milwaukee Art Museum: Celebrating 125 Years of Art, through Aug. 10

Milwaukee Art Museum: Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment, through Sept. 2

Milwaukee Art Museum: 30 Americans, through Sept. 8

American Players Theater: Too Many Husbands, through Sept. 14

American Players Theater: Two Gentlemen of Verona, through Oct. 6

American Players Theater: Dickens in America, through Oct. 19