One of Madison's biggest weekends of year -- a reminder of all the city has to offer and hopefully a respite from those April showers -- delivers on the promise of spring with the UW's biennial Neon & Light Exhibition, the season opener of the outdoors Dane County Farmers' Market, Isthmus Green Day, the UW football spring game, the Busking for Books benefit, and the 420 Festival. The calendar also includes: the Midwest Horse Fair; productions of Cloud 9 and Boom; Exposed by Madison Ballet and the PSY acrobatics show by Les 7 Doigts de la Main; performances by the UW Varsity Band, Parry Karp with Eli Kalman, and the Opera Up Close preview; and, a deluge of live music from Anna Vogelzang with David Berkeley, Dessa, Derrick Carter, Reagan Youth, Purling Hiss, The Pines, Holly Near, Cloud Cult, Shabazz Palaces, Pissed Jeans, Cowboy Winter, and the Del McCoury Band.
Friday 4.19
NOTEWORTHY: Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco, 1956.
Alliant Energy Center, through April 21
The annual event features exhibitors, demonstrations and clinics, plus rodeo champ Sharon Camarillo and Olympic equestrian James Wofford. What more could a horse lover want?
UW Stock Pavilion, 6-11 pm; through April 20
This biennial exhibition features artists from around the country who use light as a medium. The space is lit only by the art itself -- how cool is that?
UW Vilas Hall's Mitchell Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Thursday & Saturday, April 18 & 20, 7:30 pm
University Theatre presents Caryl Churchill's race- and gender-shifting exploration of sexual, political and personal identity, set in 19th-century colonial Africa and 20th-century London. Prepare to have the dominant paradigm subverted.
Bartell Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday & Thursday, April 20 & 25, 7:30 pm
Madison Theatre Guild presents Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's doomsday comedy, which begins with a personal ad. Intrigued by a description of "sex to change the course of the world," a young woman finds herself in a basement laboratory, considering the end of humanity.
Kohl Center, 7:30 pm. Also Thursday & Saturday, April 18 & 20, 7:30 pm
Conductor Mike Leckrone leads an "indoor fifth quarter" filled with Badgers anthems, multimedia displays, jaw-dropping pyrotechnics and even some aerial stunts.
Farley's House of Pianos, 7:30 pm. Also Sunday, April 21, 4:30 pm
Karp, a UW-Madison cello professor, will join Kalman, a UW-Oshkosh piano professor, for an evening of Beethoven's cello sonatas that will also include variations on a theme from Mozart's The Magic Flute.
Anna Vogelzang, David Berkeley
Crescendo Espresso Bar, 7:30 pm
Crescendo, a new Monroe Street coffee shop owned by singer-songwriter Cait Shanahan, will morph into a music venue for the first time when local songbird Anna Vogelzang and New Mexico troubadour David Berkeley step up to the mic.
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Saturday, April 20, 2 & 8 pm
Madison Ballet's spring repertory performance brings together the neoclassical and the contemporary. It includes UW dance professor Marlene Skog's pas de deux "Swan" and George Balanchine's "Valse-Fantaisie," "a whirl of perpetual motion." Dramamine not included.
UW Union South Sett, 9 pm
At this free show, the rapper, singer and Doomtree diva will perform songs from her latest release, Parts of Speech. With UW First Wave.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
The Chicago DJ ruled the underground house scene in the 1990s, after releasing an influential EP with Mark Farina and Chris Nazuka. He'll likely do a '70s-inspired set heavy on disco, jazz and soul. With Orchard Lounge and DJ Nick Nice.
Frequency, 9 pm
This band of anarchists helped punk rock establish a foothold in the U.S. with musical tirades against hate groups and regular appearances at New York's legendary CBGB, where they performed with contemporaries such as Bad Brains. With Dust Angel and Pyroklast.
UW Memorial Union Rathskeller, 9:30 pm
This trio will drown out the quiet, ironic folk-pop in passersby's headphones with loud, intricate guitar lines and simple, sincere lyrics that fans can shout along to. With Spires That in the Sunset Rise.
Saturday 4.20
Capitol Square, 6 am-2 pm
Madison's signature purveyor of locally produced food kicks off its outdoor season. All hail cheese bread!
Monona Terrace, 10 am-5 pm
Isthmus' free event is a one-stop shop for all your sustainable-living needs. There will be booths and breakout sessions on health, gardening, food, transportation, socially conscious investing, etc. You can also check out speakers like Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club (11 am); and author Doug Fine, who touts the environmental benefits of legal cannabis (2 pm). Plus: kids' activities, a seed swap and a recycled-art gallery.
State Street, 11 am
A bevy of talented local performers, including Winn-Dixie, Forward! Marching Band and the Sam Lyons Trio, will perform on State Street for two hours. All the coins tossed into their instrument cases will be donated to the Literacy Network to provide classes and tutoring to adults throughout Dane County.
Camp Randall Stadium, 4 pm
UW football coach Gary Andersen debuts in the Badgers' intra-squad game, a tune-up for the next Rose Bowl run.
High Noon Saloon & Brink Lounge, 4:20 pm
Get in on the reefer madness at this benefit for the Ben Masel Project and Madison NORML. Performers include Ween tribute Warm Wet Rag (4:20 pm, Brink Lounge) and bluegrass-style Madonna tribute Material Boys (High Noon Saloon, 11:15 pm).
Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm
This group's blend of dark rock and atmospheric Americana catapulted their latest album, Dark So Gold, onto the Billboard charts.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 8 pm. Also Sunday, April 21, 2 pm
Les 7 Doigts de la Main, Montreal's masters of circus artistry, present this fever dream of a show, which uses acrobatic mainstays such as juggling and aerial ropes to delve into the neuroses of the human psyche.
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
In addition to performing with protest-music icons like Joan Baez, this folksinger acted in The Mod Squad and the Broadway musical Hair in the late '60s and early '70s.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
MTV has likened this group's new album, Love, to the work of Arcade Fire and the Polyphonic Spree. See if you agree with that assessment at a show featuring trumpets, strings and visual art that's created onstage. With JBM.
UW Union South Sett, 9 pm
Helmed by the Digable Planets artist formerly known as Butterfly, this collective pushes hip-hop into experimental territory with haunting mbira solos, dizzy-sounding beats, and shards of rhyme. With TheeSatisfaction.
UW Memorial Union Rathskeller, 9:30 pm
This noise-rock band landed on FuseTV's shortlist of must-see artists at SXSW this year, thanks to the raucous fun they bring to live performances (see Tour Stop). With Technicolor Teeth and New Years Gang.
Genna's Lounge, 10 pm
Rock and soul converge beautifully on Magic or Tragic, the album the local group will release at this show. With Roboman and the Real Jaguar.
Sunday 4.21
NOTEWORTHY: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 300 saves, 1982.
UW Madison Biochemistry Building, 420 Henry Mall, 1 pm
Madison Opera previews its upcoming production of Mozart's Don Giovanni with multimedia presentations, commentary and behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm
The venerable bluegrass outfit are likely to toss a few gems by Bill Monroe into their set, which should also feature material from their Grammy-winning 2005 album, The Company We Keep.
