Classic Rock Art Show
The winter arts season commences its second act this weekend with the Classic Rock Art Show, Wedding Planner & Guide Bridal Show, the Madfest Juggling Extravaganza, and a Mad Rollin' Dolls bout. The calendar also includes: productions of The Norman Conquests, Maya and Me, and Church Basement Ladies: A Second Helping; Kids in the Rotunda with the Atwood Players; performances by the MSO and Amit Peled with Eli Kalman; two nights of dance parties with DJ MoPo and a Girls Rock Camp benefit; and, more live music from Fortune & Glory with Comstock Revision, Cash Box Kings, Freddie Gibbs, Anne Laube, and Cody Canada & the Departed.
Friday 1.14
NOTEWORTHY: Green Bay Packers rout Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II, 1968.
Ho-Chunk Gaming-Dejope, 2-11 pm. Also Saturday (2-11 pm) & Sunday (noon-5 pm), Jan. 15 & 16
The highlight here is the presence of Ron Campbell, who directed the animated 1960s TV show The Beatles and animated the Fab Four's gently entertaining feature Yellow Submarine. There are also concert posters and visual art by rockers like John Lennon and Ron Wood.
Overture Hall, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday (8 pm) & Sunday (2:30 pm), Jan. 15 & 16
The big ensemble kicks off its winter season with guest violinist Henning Kraggerud, of Sweden. He'll tackle Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Also on the bill: "Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance," by Barber, and Schumann's "Renish" Symphony No. 3.
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Thursday (7:30 pm) & Saturday (8 pm), Jan. 13 & 15
Strollers Theatre presents Alan Ayckbourn's farcical, Tony-winning trilogy about libidinous Norman and five other characters who convene at a country house. Strollers is performing the three plays in rotation (Thursday: "Table Manners"; Friday: "Living Together"; Saturday: "Round and Round the Garden"), but it's not important what order you see them in.
Broom Street Theater, 8 pm. Also Saturday (8 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Jan. 15 & 16
The east-side theater company presents writer-director Kay Dixon's seriocomic play about two women's friendship.
Saturday 1.15
BIRTHDAYS: Actor/filmmaker Mario van Peebles, 1957; singer-songwriter Iris DeMent, 1961.
Overture Center's Rotunda Stage, 9:30 & 11 am, 1 pm
The Atwood Players, a Milwaukee-based husband-and-wife team, presents a program of interactive theater for the little ones. It's called Create-A-Play, and that is just what players and spectators do together.
Wedding Planner & Guide Bridal Show
Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall, 10 am-5 pm. Also Sunday, Jan. 16, 11 am-4:30 pm Attention brides: With the U.S. economy still on its knees, our only hope is for you to spend, spend, spend on flowers, clothes, food, booze, music and all the rest. So find your ideally matched vendors at this expo.
Church Basement Ladies: A Second Helping
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 2 & 7 pm. Also Sunday, Jan. 16, 2 pm
Composer and lyricist Drew Jansen, the man who made musical comedy of lutefisk with Church Basement Ladies, collaborated on this sequel. It features more singing, more dancing and more wry mainline Protestantism. This time all of it is set against, yes, the foment of the 1960s.
Alliant Energy Center's Coliseum, 6 pm
The theme of tonight's roller-derby bout, "They Came From Space!," means a spectator costume contest at halftime, as well as the usual mayhem and athleticism. The Reservoir Dolls take on the Unholy Rollers, and the Vaudeville Vixens skate against out-of-town guests the Dagger Dolls, of Minneapolis.
Wisconsin Union Theater, 7 pm
The annual gathering draws object manipulators from far and wide, some silly and some stunning. There's also a "renegade" show later in the evening at VFW Post 7591 (301 Cottage Grove Road). Madfest is part of the free Juggling Festival held at Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall (Jan. 14-16), with workshops and competitions open to everyone.
Farley's House of Pianos, 7:30 pm
Israeli cellist Peled and pianist Kalman return to the west-side venue to play music of Henry Eccles, Schumann and Beethoven, among others. Isthmus critic John Barker says Peled's playing is astounding.
Fortune & Glory, Comstock Revision
Frequency, 9 pm
Come say adios to almost-defunct local punk group Fortune & Glory and watch Comstock Revision start up its guitar-fueled engines once again. With Cloratura and the Frenetic.
Crystal Corner Bar, 10 pm
Join the Kings and special guests Billy Flynn, Jimmy Sutton, Oscar Wilson and the Five Points Serenaders to get down and dirty with the blues at one of Willy Street's most celebrated watering holes.
High Noon Saloon, 10 pm
Though he's living the sunny SoCal life nowadays, up-and-coming hip-hopper Freddie Gibbs is an interesting combo of East, West and Midwest. While he was raised in Gary, Ind., his delivery has been likened to that of East Coast legend Tupac Shakur. With Shad, MC Starr and Motion.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
San Fran DJ MoPo won't shorten a single syllable of "Psycho Killer," "Once in a Lifetime" and the other Talking Heads tunes he's spinning at this dynamite dance party, which will also feature master Madison DJ Nick Nice. Can't make it Saturday night? Join MoPo at the Majestic on Friday, Jan. 14 (9 pm), for his legendary James Brown "Get Up & Get Down" event with local record jammer Vinnie Toma.
Sunday 1.16
NOTEWORTHY: Michael Jackson cops eight American Music Awards for Thriller, 1984.
High Noon Saloon, 1 pm
Nashville-via-Madison singer-songwriter Briana Hardyman brings her bluesy Americana tunes to the High Noon's stage to inspire local gals who write songs, make beats, rock guitars and belt out melodies on basement steps and high school stages. The show will raise money for Girls Rock Camp Madison, a weeklong event where girls ages 8 to 18 learn five instruments, compose songs, form a band and rock their hearts out at a live performance. Also playing: Danielle Brittany and Pattymelt Massacre.
Evjue Commons at Olbrich Gardens, 2 pm
Bridging the worlds of folk and country, this local musician got her start as an oboe prodigy but transformed into a guitar-toting songwriter in college. Since then, she's played South by Southwest, competed in Triple M's "Project M" songwriting contest, created her own iTunes app and much more. Hear what she's been up to lately while enjoying the gorgeous gardens.
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
The vocalist and front man of Americana-rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed will test-drive some songs from his forthcoming solo album, which is likely to have roots in Canada, Texas and Oklahoma and hints of Gram Parsons, Neil Young and the Eagles (see Tour Stop).
