Classic fall offerings return

Film

The Milwaukee Film Fest is still going strong, and we still strongly encourage you to check it out. TCD has a running guide of daily film picks for the indecisive reader, and you can also check out our “MFF13” screener previews as they appear. If you already have your heart set on some films, fantastic. Spread the word, bring your friends. And don’t forget that Hotel Foster hosts live music every night of the Film Fest (free entry with your ticket stub!). Final note: we don’t want to play favorites, but seeing local folk supergroup Altos accompany the Ukrainian silent film Earth on Friday night, Oct. 4 at the Oriental Theatre would be a very worthwhile thing to do.

Music

The Peck School of the Arts’ Unruly Music series is back with its Fall Festival this weekend, showcasing the latest trends in music. Marilyn Nonken plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday Oct. 3, presenting solo piano music by composers with the French school of Spectral Music. At 7:30 p.m. Friday Oct. 4, hear returning Unruly Music artist Lisa Cella perform a solo flute recital. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 5, instrument builders Lou Bunk and Hal Rammel play solo and duo improvisations on their creations, the “Scratch-O-Lin” and amplified palettes. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, available (414) 229-4308. All performances are in the UWM Music Recital Hall.

The Wilson Center welcomes acclaimed trumpeter Philip Dizack to its Club Series at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4. The Milwaukee native has received critical praise for his virtuosity and performed with some of jazz’s great musicians. Tickets are $30, available online or at (262) 781-9520.

Todd Levy performs Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto for the MSO

The MSO presents Concertos for Orchestra Saturday night, featuring its own acclaimed clarinetist Todd Levy for Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The program also includes Wagner’s Overture to Der fliegende Holländer [The Flying Dutchman] and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. In addition to the 8 p.m. show Saturday, Oct. 5, there is an 11:15 a.m. performance Friday, Oct. 4. Both take place at the Marcus Center. Tickets range from $20 to $100, available online or at (414) 291-7605.

Festival City Symphony opens its season with Symphony Sunday, presenting “London Bridges” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Pabst Theater. You’ll hear Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 (London) and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A London Symphony. Tickets are $14, $8 for students, seniors and children, available online or at the Pabst box office, (414) 286-3205.

Theater

The Alchemist’s annual Halloween show opens Thursday

The Alchemist Theatre brings back its “haunted house” style Halloween show (after doing an on-stage production last season) with Closing Night. The play will be a participatory experience, as audience members are free to roam the Alchemist’s vast array of corners and hallways in search of clues for the who-dun-it story that unravels. The show opens Thursday, Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 2. Find more information, a full schedule and tickets ($25) online.

Want to relive your college days? Don’t we all? UWM theatre students have created a piece all about their undergrad experiences, called Mil-Wonky Style, showing this weekend. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. October 3, 4 and 5 in the Theatre Building. Tickets are $10, $8 for students and seniors available online, in person, or at (414) 229-4308.

In Tandem Theatre opens its season with Burying the Bones, a suspense story centered around the complicated time marking the end of Apartheid in South Africa. M.E.H. Lewis’ play is being presented for the first time in Wisconsin, opening Friday, Oct. 4 and running through Oct. 27. Tickets are $25, available online or at (414) 271-1371

Hansberry-Sands Theatre, Milwaukee’s oldest black theatre company, presents The Old Settler at the Marcus Center. Taking place in Harlem in 1943, the characters in The Old Settler struggle with social injustice and complicated emotional issues. The play runs at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. Tickets start at $23 online, or call (414) 273-7206.

Special Events

The very pretty site of ARToberfest arts & crafts fair (and more)

Something about fall just brings out the “crafty” in everyone. Charles Allis Art Museum gets it, and hereby announces its annual ARToberfest, this Saturday Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Enjoy the arts and crafts fair, beer garden, and german cuisine, all for a $5 admission (which includes museum tours at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.).

Well, this is Milwaukee, so we must have copious Oktoberfest celebrations. This weekend, enjoy Bavarian Oktoberfest festivities at Pere Marquette Park, featuring traditional Bavarian food, music, and (what else) beer. Mayor Tom Barrett will tap the the official keg at noon on Friday Oct. 4, marking the start of the celebration. The event goes until 11 p.m. and then repeats Saturday Oct. 5 from noon to 11 p.m. You must be 21 and purchase a $1 wristband, or be accompanied by a wristband-ed adult.

The Moth comes to the Miramar Thursday, Oct. 3 for its popular storytelling slam. This month’s theme is “Creepy,” featuring people just like yourself sharing their fascinating tales. The show starts at 8 p.m., with tickets $8 at the door and $16 in advance at The Moth website.

Last Chance

APT: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, through Oct. 5

Skylight Music Theatre: Fidelio, through Oct. 6

APT: Two Gentlemen of Verona, through Oct. 6

Ongoing

Youngblood Theatre: Dying City, through Oct. 12

Windfall Theatre: An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf, through Oct. 12

Next Act Theatre: Perfect Mendacity, through Oct. 13

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: The Detective’s Wife, through Oct. 13

APT: Dickens in America, through Oct. 19

APT: Antony and Cleopatra, through Oct. 20

Milwaukee Rep: I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett, through Oct. 20

Milwaukee Rep: Ragtime, through Oct. 27

Milwaukee Rep: Venus in Fur, through Nov. 3