Year-end sentiment and the laughs that go with it get a storytelling treatment this week as the Bricks Theatre stages That's What She Said: It's a Holiday Affair. The calendar also includes: a production of That's What She Said: It's a Holiday Affair; a performance by the Middleton Community Orchestra; live music from The August Teens, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, and Astronautalis with Busdriver and Jel; and, the "Ring in the Apocalypse" party at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center.
Monday 12.17
NOTEWORTHY: Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England during Protestant Reformation, 1538.
Tuesday 12.18
Frequency, 7 pm
Lure elves and reindeer with an unconventional treat: sunny surf-rock tunes that punch the winter blues in the kisser. The August Teens will perform The Ventures' Christmas Album, a 1965 record filled with guitar-riffic renditions of "White Christmas" and "Silver Bells" (see Music).
Wednesday 12.19
NOTEWORTHY: Riots erupt in Buenos Aires during Argentine economic crisis, 2001.
That's What She Said: It's a Holiday Affair
Brink Lounge, 7 pm
In an evening of storytelling, Bricks Theatre presents heartfelt and often hysterical reflections on the holiday season from nine local women. Audience members are invited to share stories of their most memorable holiday gifts.
Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons
High Noon Saloon, 7 pm
Chisel and his rootsy, gospel-influenced band will join the Whiskey Farm's Jason Horowitz and Ryan Maurer & the Angry Fix for a concert to benefit Poverty Stops Here, which helps families in developing countries.
Middleton High School, 7:30 pm
Soprano Emily Birsan, a UW alum who's now an apprentice at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, will join this polished local orchestra for an evening of dance-themed classical works, including selections from La Bohème and The Merry Widow.
Thursday 12.20
NOTEWORTHY: It's a Wonderful Life premieres in New York City, 1946.
Aldo Leopold Nature Center, 8 pm
This benefit for the Aldo Leopold Nature Center celebrates 2012's prophesied end times with doomsday film clips, live music and appetizers. Apocalypse-chic costumes encouraged!
High Noon Saloon, 9 pm
Three alternative hip-hop artists will demonstrate their prowess in the beats-and-rhymes department (see Tour Stop). The show will also feature a silent auction for Rhymesayers rapper P.O.S., who's postponed his latest tour until he can get a kidney transplant.