It’s like speed dating, but artsy

Hi, On Stagers. I’ve gotten a little chatty in recent columns. This week I’m going the Dragnet way: Just the facts, ma’am. Comment if you prefer wordy or terse.  — Strini

Music

Pianist and raconteur Jeffrey Siegel talks and plays Brahms, Sibelius, Grieg, Nielsen. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Hall, 8815 W. Wisconsin Ave. $37, $34, $12. 414 443-8802.

Milwaukee Symphony: Double-busy this week, starting with a special concert with hearththrob violin virtuoso Joshua Bell at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23. He’ll play Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Christopher Seaman conducting. $50-$160.
Christopher Seaman will stick around for the MSO’s Classical/Baroque program at 11:15 a.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday. MSO principal clarinetist Todd Levy will play Stamitz’s  Concerto in B-flat, and duo-pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton will play Mozart’s Concerto in E-flat for Two Pianos. Handel’s Royal Fireworks and Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 complete the program. $25-$79 Friday, $25-$95 Saturday. 414 291-7605.
All three concerts at Marcus Center Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. But you knew that.

We Six. Billy Strayhorn (Duke Ellington’s mistreated right-hand man). Lush Life, Take the A Train. Jazz, baby. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, 1584 N. Prospect Ave. $22, $20 for students and seniors. 414 276-5760.

Ba-da-bing. Music’s done. On to

Theater

Marilyn White is Mother Courage at Off the Wall Theatre. Photo courtesy OTW.

What will director Dale Gutzman and his Off the Wall Theatre do with Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage? Find out starting Thursday, March 24. The vintage anti-war show runs through April 3 at Off-the-Wall, 127 E. Wells St. 414 327-3552; $22.50 and $26.50.

James DeVita does some acting about acting and about his own true-life story in his one-man show, In Acting Shakespeare. It opens at 8 p.m. Friday, March 25, under the Renaissance Theaterworks banner. The show runs through April 17 at the Studio Theatre of the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, 414 291-7800. $37.50.

Next Act Theater opens Melanie Marnich’s A Sleeping Country, a play about… zzzzz. Where was I? Oh, yes, a play about insomnia. The show previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and opens at 8 p.m. Friday. It runs through April 17 at the Tenth Street Theatre. $25. 414 278-0765. Order tickets and learn more about it here. Vital fact: Angela Iannone plays a princess.

Ongoing

Skylight Opera Theatre: Mozart’s Così fan tutte, through April 3.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater: The Bomb-itty of Errors, through May 8 (Stackner); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, through March 27 (Powerhouse).
Sunset Playhouse: Tuesdays with Morrie, through April 3.

Fireside Dinner Theater: Annie!, closes March 27.
Alchemist Theatre: Patrick Schmitz’s Back and Forth, closes March 27.

Note: On Stage is not comprehensive. If you think I missed something important for March 22-28, please tout your event in the comment boxes below, but please keep it within the confines of the week. If you are a producer or performer, please open a calendar account and list your events, links and pictures. The calendar is a free service of ThirdCoast Digest.