Friday 6.15
Cottage Grove Fireman's Festival
Through June 17, 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.
Catherine Kautsky
Mills Hall in the UW Humanities Bldg., 7:30 pm
As part of the Piano Teachers' Workshop on campus, the UW professor offers a lecture-recital open to the public. She'll perform Debussy's "Preludes" and discuss their historical context.
Putting It Together
Bartell Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday (2 & 7:30 pm), Sunday (2 pm) & Thursday (7:30 pm), June 16, 17 & 21
Madison Theatre Guild presents the Stephen Sondheim revue, featuring songs from such Broadway gems as Company, Into the Woods and A Little Night Music. The framing story finds spouses battling through an all-night party.
Why We Come Here
Broom Street Theater, 8 pm. Also Saturday (8 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), June 16 & 17
A straight woman and a lesbian meet at a bar in Megan McGlone's play about dating.
Joan Armatrading
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
The U.K. folk-rocker still has marvelously rich pipes. She explores her blue side and gives her considerable guitar skills full play on the deft new CD Into the Blues. Nicholas Barron opens.
The Hobbyists
Indie Coffee, 8 pm
The chiming, politically aware San Fran-based duo head up a free acoustic bill that also includes Lisa "MaeRae" Marine's new solo project, the Meeses, and one-woman-band Lulabelle.
Brainerd
Klinic Bar & Grill, 9 pm
The sun's baking the alfalfa dry and the cooler's full of empties. Dude, isn't it high time you treated yourself to some A/C action and a few sets of Brainerd's perfectly pugnacious hard-rockin'? Tonnage, Planetstruck, and Dual Exhaust stretch your dollar even further.
Rooftop Cinema
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 9:30 pm
The series screens short films each Friday in June, inviting cinema buffs to set up blankets or chairs on MMoCA's rooftop sculpture garden. This week's theme is "The Art of Animation," including works from the '60s onward by Chris Landreth, Larry Jordan and Emily Breer.
Houses in Motion
High Noon Saloon, 10 pm
Face it -- David Byrne may never okay a Talking Heads reunion. If the old albums really aren't doing it for you, tributeers Houses in Motion may have a temporary answer for your Heads jones.
Saturday 6.16
Juneteenth Day
Penn Park, 10 am onward
Juneteenth celebrates the freeing of the last African American slaves in 1865. The Madison celebration kicks off with a 10 am parade starting at Nehemiah/Fountain of Life, 655 W. Badger Rd., and proceeding to Penn Park for an event called "At The Crossroads...We Choose Hope over Despair." It includes a James Brown contest and a performance by American Idol contestant Denise Jackson.
Feast with the Beasts
Vilas Zoo, 11 am-7 pm
The zoo's fund-raiser gives you a chance to eat with the animals (and, for some kids, like an animal). Expect bands and activities.
Jazz in the Park
Wingra Park, 2:30-8 pm
The Groove Merchants Quartet & Tim Whalen, the Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble and the Tony Castañeda Latin Jazz Sextet swing on the shores of Lake Wingra as kids swing in the nearby playground.
Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society
Overture Center's Playhouse, 7:30 pm. Pre-concert chat: 6:45
The local chamber ensemble continues its eagerly awaited summer season, featuring topnotch musicianship and a playful approach to performance. This week's theme is "The Heat Is On," featuring Mozart's "Flute Quartet" in D Major, Brahms' "Piano Quartet" in A Major and other warm-blooded works.
Much Ado About Nothing
American Players Theatre in Spring Green, 8 pm
APT begins its season with Shakespeare's classic comedy, with its battle of the sexes between the sharp-tongued Beatrice and Benedick.
Free Hot Lunch
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
In its heyday, the offbeat string band packed long-departed local venues like the Club de Wash and brought its "Wa-Ha" music to folk festivals around the country. This reunion show celebrates the band's 28th anniversary and, more important, the release of a live album recorded at Big Top Chautauqua back in the early '90s. Expect waves of good cheer to cascade from the stage.
Corey Hart
Brink Lounge, 8:30 pm
The local singer-songwriter bucks convention on Words Like Wildfire, offering up an idiosyncratic, at times prickly sound that's apt to hook folks looking for more than the usual prettified humming and strumming. Tonight's release party features Hart fronting a full band. The Struttin' Blues also appear.
The Year After
Klinic Bar & Grill, 9 pm
The Chicago band have a full, mile-wide guitar sound and embrace the kind of urgent-cum-ecstatic vocals that Bono made a rock-radio staple. Soundbyte Society and Axis open.
The Motorz
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
The Motorz mainline the legacy of the Beatles as well as feel-good arena-rock giants like Kiss and Cheap Trick. They know exactly how to turn frowns upside down, so expect as much fist-pumping fun as you can handle at this celebration of their much-anticipated new CDs. Kwang and Road Agent Spin also join in thee festivities.
Sunday 6.17
