Youth Rocks: A benefit for the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County
Madison's spring arts season warms up this weekend with a strong showing of live theater and music. The calendar includes: the conclusion of the Line Breaks festival; productions of Stuart Little, Pedro and the War Cantata, Iceland, Are We Delicious?, and Lord of the Flies; a comedy show by The Second City; performances by Daniel del Pino, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Sierra Maestra, Pro Arte Quartet, Alex de Grassi, and Laurence Hobgood; the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular, a benefit concert for the Boys & Girls Club, and the MAMAs nomination party; and, more live music from Megafaun, The Winter Sounds, Rosie Thomas, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Balaclavas, Cursive, and Needtobreathe.
Friday 3.23
NOTEWORTHY: Supermodel Christie Brinkley marries piano man Billy Joel, 1985.
Overture Center's Rotunda Studio, 7 pm. Also Thursday & Saturday, March 22 & 24, 7 pm
The UW's Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives concludes its annual festival of spoken-word and hip-hop performance. Tonight's show is a highlight: Writer/composer/actor Paul Oakley Stovall and Brad Simmons perform "The Next Best Thing to Love."
Overture Center's Promenade Hall, 7 pm. Also Thursday (7 pm) & Saturday (2 & 7 pm), March 22 & 24
For little theatergoers, MadCAP Theatre stages E.B. White's tale of a mouse born to human parents. White skipped over the mechanics of how precisely that worked, which was probably for the best.
Farley's House of Pianos, 7:30 pm
The accomplished Spanish pianist with a continent-hopping career plays an intimate salon concert, delving into works by Liszt and Chopin.
UW Vilas Hall's Hemsley Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday, March 24, 7:30 pm
After a bombing raid, a boy is trapped with an elderly neighbor in University Theatre's Theatre for Youth production. Argentine playwright María Inés Falconi's premise sounds grim, but the play is about people's capacity for resilience in hard times.
First Congregational United Church of Christ, 7:30 pm
Organist Theodore Reinke joins the choir as it performs Maurice Duruflé's 1947 "Requiem," as well as music by Poulenc and Herbert Howells.
Broom Street Theater, 8 pm
Broom Street presents Maine playwright Michael Tooher's coming-of-age story. The production marks Tooher's Wisconsin debut.
Great Hall at UW Memorial Union, 8 pm
Launched by Buena Vista Social Club founder Juan de Marcos González, this Cuban ensemble perform 90-year-old gems from their country's son tradition using instruments like trumpet, güiro and tres.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 8:30 pm
Oh wow.
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
A new, self-titled album by these folk-fueled Wisconsin natives has earned glowing praise from Pitchfork and enthusiastic applause from fans during last month's European tour. With Field Report.
Rathskeller at UW Memorial Union, 9:30 pm
Melancholy begets beauty when this Nashville rock band swirls together guitars, electronics and an unabashed love of New Wave aesthetics.
Bartell Theatre, 10:30 pm
A band of local theater notables calling themselves Ensemble Theatre -- Matthew Schrader, Doug Reed, Dana Pellebon, Christian Neuhaus and others -- present an evening of one-acts, all written, rehearsed and staged within one week's time.
Saturday 3.24
NOTEWORTHY: Exxon Valdez oil spill, 1989.
Boys & Girls Club of Dane County Benefit
High Noon Saloon, noon
A slew of young performers, including Launchpad contestants the Daze and Modern Mod and sixth-grade rockers the Chums, team up to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club's Music Makers program. Hosted by Triple M's Gabby Parsons, this event also features Black Star Drumline, BGC Music Makers, Sam Lyons, Taalbi Brothers and A Misfits Glory.
Overture Center's Playhouse, 2:30 pm. Also Saturday, March 25, 2:30 pm
Children's Theater of Madison presents an adaptation of William Golding's tale, in which schoolboys make their own society after crash-landing on an uninhabited island. Kids under 8 aren't allowed -- this yarn is pretty intense, you gotta admit.
Madison Area Music Awards Nomination Party
Brink Lounge, 7 pm
Discover who's been nominated for this year's local music awards at a party packed with live music by Gabe Burdulis, Sam Lyons, Midnight Voices, Kyle Henderson's Blue-Eyed Soul and the Grasshoppers.
Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm
The Grammy-nominated musician performs his score to A Story of Floating Weeds, the silent film by Yasujiro Ozu. Graced by the familiar timbre of the acoustic guitar and an exotic pentatonic blues motif reminiscent of the Japanese koto, the concert will explore sounds from the east and west as poetic visuals flash across the screen.
Wisconsin Union Theater, 8 pm
The UW's resident quartet continues its centennial season with another new commission, William Bolcom's Piano Quintet No. 2. Pianist Christopher Taylor joins the foursome in a work that's structured much the same as Brahms and Schumann's quintets, though it has modern feeling.
Overture Hall, 8 pm
Those iconic scamps of Chicago comedy return with more sketchy comedy. Tina Fey began her professional comedy career performing in touring Second City troupes like this one. Consider it an extra incentive: You might see the next Tina Fey.
Sett at UW Union South, 9 pm
This singer-songwriter grabbed the national spotlight 12 years ago, when her sweet, dreamy vocals appeared on Damien Jurado's Ghost of David. This led to a Sub Pop record contract and, most recently, an album co-produced by Pedro the Lion's David Bazan. Hear a live, solo rendition of this disc, which is titled With Love. With Bhi Bhiman.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
These Scots share a city and a record label with Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit, but they focus as much on post-punk as they do indie pop. Check out their latest release, 2011's In the Pit of the Stomach, which has earned radio play from KEXP in the U.S. With Bad Veins.
Rathskeller at UW Memorial Union, 9:30 pm
This Houston trio conjure a palpable sense of doom with their noisy union of goth and post-punk, which turned critics' heads at South by Southwest just a few days ago. With Apache Dropout and Population.
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
This quartet of Nebraskans unveil their latest synthesis of indie rock and post-hardcore: I Am Gemini, a concept album about twins separated at birth. See how the story translates onstage (see interview). With Cymbals Eat Guitars and Conduits.
Sunday 3.25
NOTEWORTHY: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and followers arrive in Montgomery to complete their four-day, 50-mile march from Selma, 1965.
The UW's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies presents its annual festival of films and events with environmental themes. See the guide in this week's issue, or visit Laurence Hobgood
Brink Lounge, 3:30 pm
Known for his creativity and virtuosic style, this Grammy-winning jazz pianist has earned accolades from the likes of Dave Brubeck. Local musicians Sally de Broux, Laurie Lang and John Becker add vocals, bass and drums to the performance, and afterward, Lang leads a chat about music-making.
Orpheum Theatre, 8 pm
Fronted by a pastor's two sons, this South Carolina band funnel their religious faith into rock music, which has scored them a record deal with Atlantic and crossover appeal with Billboard-charting singles like 2011's "The Reckoning." With Ben Rector.
