Community celebrations are at the heart of summertime life, with this weekend offering the Cottage Grove Firemen's Festival, Jazz in the Park, and Juneteenth Day. The calendar also includes: "The Short Videos of Miranda July" at Rooftop Cinema; productions of Ten Thousand Moons From Here, Molly Sweeney, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona, as well as the annual Tommy Awards for local high school musical theater; performance by the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society and The Tükrös Ensemble; and, more live music from Sister Hazel, Voicehandler, 3 Pill Morning, The Cave Singers, Hey Marseilles, Panther Sequoia, Natty Nation, the Joel Patterson Trio, and Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons.
Friday 6.14
NOTEWORTHY: Paris falls under German occupation, 1940.
Cottage Grove Firemen's Festival
Through June 16, Firemen's Park in Cottage Grove
Summer continues with yet another town festival, with more parades, more music, more pancake breakfasts. What can you say but: Pass the syrup!
Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society
Overture Center Playhouse, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday, June 15, 7:30 pm
This playful ensemble of classical performers kick off their season with two programs. Friday's "Follow Suit" features Mozart's "Kegelstatt" trio for clarinet, viola and piano, and Saturday's "Lost in the Shuffle" focuses on works by Mendelssohn, Messiaen and Emmanuel.
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Thursday (8 pm), Saturday (2 & 8 pm), June 13 & 15
Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre heads for the final frontier with this sci-fi story about an intrepid crew of space explorers and their aging robot as they finally reach their destination -- Planet New Day -- after a journey of a thousand years.
Brink Lounge, 8 pm
Glimpse old-world Hungary with this dance-friendly quintet featuring a violin, a cimbalom, a three-string bass and a flat-bridged viola.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
This show wins the '90s Flashback of the Week award. Revel in the sound of Sister Hazel's 1997 radio hit, "All for You," and, if you're lucky, their cover of Big Star's wonderful "September Gurls." With Joe Bachman and 89 Mojo.
Shockrasonica, 9 pm
The 1200 block of East Mifflin gets experimental with a house concert featuring Jacob Felix Heule and Danishta Rivero, who create noise-inspired improvisational music with voice, percussion and a water-based electroacoustic instrument called a Hydrophonium. With Jon Mueller, Kathleen Baird, Joel Shanahan and Shane Verwey.
The Short Videos of Miranda July
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art rooftop, 9:30 pm
Rooftop Cinema, the month-long series of avant-garde and independent film under the stars and surrounded by sculpture, presents five shorts by performance artist, musician and filmmaker Miranda July. Pull up a camp chair or a blanket, quaff a cocktail -- truly, movies as they were meant to be seen!
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 9:30 pm
This Minneapolis hard-rock act melts faces faster than summer temperatures melt Babcock Dairy ice cream cones. With Ultrea.
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
Though this project grew out of Pretty Girls Make Graves, their sound is more indie folk than post-punk. Alternative Press praised their new record, Naomi, for finding "a way to remove the corniness from a jammy folk album" with laid-back guitars and earnest lyrics. With Blessed Feathers.
Saturday 6.15
NOTEWORTHY: Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, triggering financial crisis, 2008.
Wingra Park, 3-9 pm. Lake Wingra cleanup: 10-11 am
Help clean up the Lake Wingra shoreline, then enjoy the fruits of your labor with a beautiful view for the rest of the day. The celebration includes family activities and music by MadiSalsa and Cliff Frederiksen.
Penn Park, 11 am
Juneteenth celebrates the freeing of the last African American slaves in 1865. The Madison event kicks off with an 11 am parade starting at Fountain of Life Church and proceeds to Penn Park for a day's worth of food and activities. There's also music by such all-stars as Richard Davis, Jan Wheaton, Rob Dz, Rick Flowers, Charlie Brooks and Hanah Jon Taylor.
American Players Theatre's Touchstone Theatre, 3 pm. Also Thursday, June 13, 7:30 pm
APT presents Brian Friel's provocative story about what happens when a woman blind since infancy regains her sight. The play -- which is told through monologues delivered by Molly, her husband and her surgeon -- explores what is gained and what may have been lost.
Art in the Barn, Fitchburg, 7:30 pm
At this fundraiser for the Madison-based aid organization Haiti Allies, the Seattle-based chamber-pop group will perform selections from their sophomore album, Lines We Trace, which earned a thumbs-up from NPR and The New Yorker. With PHOX.
American Players Theatre in Spring Green, 8 pm. Also Thursday, June 13, 7:30 pm
APT presents Shakespeare's early comedy, which follows the romantic misadventures of two friends.
Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, 8 pm
Chill out with an iced latte and a set by Drake Scott, an early member of Violent Femmes, one of the coolest alt-rock bands of the 1980s. With Biff Blumfumgagnge and Tom Hamer.
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 9:30 pm
This band have shared their rockin' fusion of reggae, dancehall and dub in Africa, Japan and the Middle East, plus just about every downtown venue in their hometown of Madison. Enjoy the summer weather as they release some hot new tracks.
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
The leaders of the Sunday-night soul-jazz parties at Chicago's Green Mill will make Saturday night sizzle here in Madison. Expect plenty of blues organ solos from Hammond B3 master Chris Foreman.
High Noon Saloon, 10 pm
This crazy cabaret-punk group haven't been very active since lead singer Shane O'Neill moved to New York City to pursue a solo career, but their collective spirit lives on through Girls Are OK, a new EP he's returned to release with the rest of the crew. With Bes Monde and Fort Wilson Riot.
Sunday 6.16
Overture Hall, 6 pm
Named for Dairyland's own Tom Wopat, this Overture Center event celebrates the best in local high school musical theater. It features bits from nominated shows, and you'd be surprised by how good these young performers can be.
