All That Jazz

In 1954, a music event was started which at the time was called “First Annual American Jazz Festival,” and was held in Newport, Rhode Island. Socialite Elaine Lorillard and her husband Louis Lorillard had hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize what became the first outdoor jazz festival ever held in the U.S. It grew into a celebrated annual event, the “Newport Jazz Festival,” which was broadcast on Voice Of America radio and had some of its performances recorded and issued by record labels. The festival is held at Fort Adams State Park, often during the same month as its sister festival, the Newport Folk Festival.

Wein, now 88, still produces the jazz festival and continues to hear live jazz in the clubs of NYC on a regular basis and has focused the programming of the festival towards the young composers and musicians who perform nightly in those venues. This year, in celebration of Newport Jazz Festival’s 60^th Anniversary, a handpicked group of musicians are doing on a 17-city tour across the U.S., with more dates across North America and Europe being added this summer. Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen leads the all-star, multigenerational ensemble featuring vocalist/pianist Karrin Allyson, bassist Larry Grenadier, pianist Peter Martin, guitarist Mark Whitfield, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and drummer Clarence Penn. Collectively, these musicians have recorded hundreds of albums with a vast range of styles. This concert should offer an entertaining update on the state of an original American art form, jazz.

Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts: Newport Jazz Festival: Now 60! Saturday, March 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35, available online or call (262) 781-9520.

Music

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven: “Eroica” Symphony March 28-30 at The Pabst Theater. Tickets range from $21.25-$86.25, available online or call  (414) 291-7605.

Florentine Opera: Julius Caesar March 28 & 30 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $39.15-$135.15, available online or call 414-291-5700 ext. 224.

Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra: Davidson Chamber Ensemble Recitals: March 30 at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. Tickets are $12, $10 for students and seniors.

UWM’s Peck School of the Arts presents Fine Arts Quartet Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m. at Helen Bader Concert Hall. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, available online or call (414) 229-4308.

UWM’s Peck School of the Arts: MKE Unplugged Mike Mangione and the Union with opening act Macyn Taylor, Thursday March 27 in room 250 at the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts. Opening act at 7:30 p.m., headliner at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

UWM’s Peck School of the Arts: Unruly Music at UWM Music Recital Hall March 27-29. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, free for majors. For tickets call the Peck School of the Arts box office at (414) 229-4308. https://www4.uwm.edu/psoa/music/unrulymusic/

Italian Community Center: Cure for Cabin Fever Series presents Bob Hirschi & Groove Therapy Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. Free admission and parking for guests.

Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes) “Music Under Glass” series presents The Noyz Boyz and Gyrlz, 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 27. Tickets are $6.50, $5 for seniors/students. 

Turner Hall Ballroom: James Vincent McMorrow with special guest Aidan Knight Friday, March 28. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Theater

Off The Wall Theatre: Romeo & Juliet March 27 – April 6. Tickets are $25, available online or call (414) 484-8874.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Rep Lab at Stiemke Studio March 28-31. Tickets are $10, available online or call (414) 224-9490.

First Stage: CRASH, March 28-April 13. Tickets range from $12-$32, available online or call (414) 267-2961.

Dance

Schauer Center presents Cinderella & Other Tales by New York Theatre Ballet Friday March 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $23-$27 for adults, $10 for students, available online or call (262) 670-0560, ext. 3.

Visual Art

Milwaukee Art Museum: Art in Bloom: A Tribute to Art and Flowers, March 27-30. Admission is $5 for members, $17 for adults, $14 for seniors and students with ID, free for kids 12 and younger.

Museum of Wisconsin Art: Handmade for Hard Times exhibition, March 28-June 15. One time member fees for admission start at $12 and are good for one full year.

Special Events

Skylight Music Theatre presents Taste of the Ward 2014 Thursday, March 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45, $30 for young professionals ages 21-45, available online.

South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center: An Evening with John McGivern on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $27-$37, available online or call (414) 766-5049. All proceeds benefit St. Matthew School & Parish.

Charles Allis Art Museum: Prospect Avenue Mansions Lecture Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance online. Remaining tickets will be available the night of the lecture.

Last Chance

Skylight Music Theatre:  Hydrogen Jukebox, through March 30

Waukesha Civic Theatre:  Curtains, through March 30

Lynden Sculpture Garden: The Mingei Tradition in the Midwest: Warren MacKenzie and Beyond, through March 30

Ongoing

Sunset Playhouse: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, through April 6

Tory Folliard Gallery:“The Figure in Clay” and “Concerning Nature,” through April 19

Museum of Wisconsin Art:  Beth Lipman: Precarious Possessions,  through April 13

Portrait Society: Ceramic exhibition, through April 12

Fireside Dinner Theatre: Mary Poppins, through April 20

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts: Featured Member Exhibition: Paul Matzner, through April 5

Wisconsin Lutheran College Schlueter Art Gallery: Pfister Artist in Residence Exhibition, through April 11

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Ain’t Misbehavin’, through May 18

Charles Allis Art Museum: FORWARD: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now, through June 29