What to do in Madison this week: April 20-23, 2026

Jorma Kaukonen, Susan Patterson + James Patterson and more Isthmus Picks

by

Arts

  • Earth Fest, through April 23, UW campus: Earth Day was founded by a Wisconsinite — U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson — and it makes sense that the UW’s Nelson Institute would know how to do this most essential of holidays up right. It’s a full week of events across the spectrum, from hikes and birding outings to live music to craft sessions — all, of course, with nature in mind. Crafting, for instance, includes a session on making a bee house to attract pollinators. There’s lots more, including a keynote panel featuring Isaias Hernandez, an environmentalist also known as the Queer Brown Vegan, April 21 at 5:15 p.m. Find the full (and we do mean full) schedule at earthfest.wisc.edu.
  • Jorma Kaukonen, Monday, April 20, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 p.m.: Every couple of years, this 85-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist — a founding member of Jefferson Airplane — seems to land in the Madison area. Jorma Kaukonen still tours in Hot Tuna with his former Jefferson Airplane bandmate, bassist Jack Casady, but he’s also a prolific and powerful solo performer. Rolling Stone calls him “a bona fide graybeard folk swami,” and he plays his own material as well as a slew of well-chosen covers. At some point, though, the touring will end, and so will your opportunity to see a legend in his element. Don’t skip this one. Tickets at stoughtonoperahouse.com.
  • Anne E. Stoner, through May 22, UW Memorial Union-Main Gallery: With a UW Police Department Flock Safety camera surveilling outside the Memorial Union, it feels fitting that inside, the installation “Infrastructure Bodies/Injury Systems” asks what it means to be seen — and recorded. Anne E. Stoner, the 2026 Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize winner, pairs surveillance footage from recent Midwest protests with a sonic illustration of the movement of people in the video, along with audio of people injured during demonstrations. The work is a response to the current federal administration’s approach to law enforcement in American cities, and promises to be a sobering experience. Read more about the exhibition at chazen.wisc.edu.
  • Isthmus 50 Fest: Smarter Than You Trivia, Tuesday, April 21, High Noon Saloon, 6 p.m.: Isthmus is hosting some events this month to celebrate our 50th anniversary, and next on the agenda is a chance to show off what you’ve learned from us over those decades. Paul Guse will host a special edition of his Smarter Than You Trivia series (most often found first and third Wednesdays at the Harmony Bar) focusing on Madison-related trivia. Even if you don’t know any answers, this is a trivia night that’s always a good time thanks to Guse’s freewheeling, comedic style as host. Expect some unique prizes. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
  • Kiss Me Deadly, Tuesday, April 21, Central Library, 6:30 p.m.: There have been many takes on author Mickey Spillane’s private eye Mike Hammer in film and television since the character first appeared in the late 1940s. In capturing the cold-blooded tone of the bestselling novels, it’s hard to top director Robert Aldrich’s 1955 adaptation of Kiss Me Deadly, despite the fact it only loosely follows Spillane’s plot. The film manages to out-crazy the master, with Hammer brought to gleefully brutal life by an unforgettable Ralph Meeker. This Cinesthesia series screening can be found on the third floor of Central Library.
  • Lady Disdain, through April 26, Overture-Playhouse: Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing gets a contemporary remix by playwright Lauren Gunderson in Lady Disdain. The comedy drops two exes into a recording booth to voice the latest audiobook in a popular romance series — a setup providing plenty of room to echo Beatrice and Benedick’s famously prickly chemistry. Forward Theater Company’s production features a cast of familiar regional favorites under the direction of Jen Uphoff Gray, and is another entry in the World Premiere Wisconsin schedule. Read Rebecca Jamieson's review here. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, plus 2 p.m. April 16, 18 and 25 and 7:30 p.m. April 21. Tickets at overture.org.
  • David R. Harper, April 22-Aug. 30, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: “Good Morning Sweetheart,” a new exhibition by artist David R. Harper, is described by MMoCA as a look at “how memory takes shape in objects.” In Harper’s creative world, that includes a couch and related objects suspended in the Icon staircase, and the State Street Gallery filled with familiar materials remixed in unexpected ways. The exhibition will likely reward lingering, sinking into the mood, and deciding on your own interpretation of its meaning. Harper will discuss his practice in the 2026 Stephen Fleischman Lecture, at 6 p.m. on April 23; register at mmoca.org.
  • Parallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape, through May 10, Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture: Quilts are more than just blankets. The medium is a vehicle for personal and political expression. This exhibit of 19th- and 20th-century American quilts from the UW-Madison’s Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection examines these works of art as a metaphor for the landscape and the built environment. “Parallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape” has been thoughtfully curated by Marina Moskowitz, professor of design studies and the Lynn and Gary Mecklenburg Chair in Textiles, Material Culture & Design at UW-Madison, who’s “long had an interest in the ‘stuff’ of human life.” Upcoming related events include the final public gallery tour led by Moskowitz, a great chance to get insider insights (noon, April 22, RSVP).
  • Wilder Deitz’s American Canon, Wednesdays, through May 20, Muso, 7 p.m.: Madison musician and educator Wilder Deitz has been playing a variety of instruments and composing in a variety of genres from an early age. For “American Canon,” Deitz will pull together seemingly disparate musical threads and examine their connections in a series of performances-lectures. Deitz will be joined by bassist John Minnich, saxophonist Nathan France, and guests.
  • Free Verse, Wednesday, April 22, Forward Club, 7 p.m.: In honor of National Poetry Month, Madison improv team Big Honey is here to remind showgoers that poetry doesn’t have to be staid and serious — the form has always made room for laughs, too (consider limericks, and lyrics by humorists such as Tom Lehrer and Weird Al). The improvisers will be inspired by readings from poets Matthew Guenette, Chessy Normile and Richard Vargas.
  • Susan Patterson & James Patterson, Wednesday, April 22, Central Library, 7 p.m.: Susan Solie Patterson is a dyed-in-the-wool Badger, earning bachelor of science and master of fine arts degrees and all-American honors as a member of the swim team. And she has stayed active as an alum. Her latest book, The Mother-Daughter Book Club, celebrates that past. A group of college friends and five daughters who gather together around their love of reading meet up in Italy at Lake Como for quality time. As part of the Wisconsin Book Festival, Patterson will appear with co-author and bestselling author James Patterson in a discussion led by Madison’s own Doug Moe. Pre-signed copies of the book are free and will be available for attendees.
  • Cork 'n Bottle String Band, Thursday, April 23, Harmony Bar, 6:30 p.m.: CBSB started out as a weekly Sunday afternoon bluegrass jam in the basement of the Cork ‘n Bottle Liquor store on East Johnson Street. Only one of the founding members had ever been in a band before. Those Sunday afternoons led to seven years of weekly, infamous, Wednesday night shows at (now defunct) Ken’s Bar on Butler Street. The band has never let music get in the way of a good time but, whoops, 30 years later they’ve become great musicians and are the grand champions of the Madison bluegrass scene; they’re celebrating the milestone at this show.
  • Chesapeake, through April 26, Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, Spring Green: Two Crows Theatre Company is a younger but mighty sibling to American Players Theatre. Its third and final show of this season, Chesapeake, is quite timely. A performance artist whose funding gets cut by the NEA decides to take revenge by kidnapping a conservative senator’s prized Chesapeake Bay retriever. It’s written by Lee Blessing and stars Elizabeth Ledo. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at twocrowstheatrecompany.org.
  • Committed, through May 3, Broom Street Theater: Relevance has always been Broom Street’s middle name, and they check in with the zeitgeist here with a drama about political resistance — albeit with an historical look back to the Vietnam and civil rights eras. In Committed, when a young boy’s mother who has been an activist is institutionalized, he fights back. The play is written by Coleman (Doed Koecks) and directed by Matthew Korda, and is part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals running throughout this year. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; tickets at bstonline.org.
  • Much Ado About Nothing, through April 26, UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre: Forward Theater’s current production, Lady Disdain, is a Lauren Gunderson reinvention of Much Ado About Nothing. University Theatre offers audiences a unique chance to compare-and-contrast with a staging of the Shakespeare original, directed by Baron Kelly. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday (no show on April 24), 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday; tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
  • The Terminated, through April 26, TNW Ensemble Theater: TNW Ensemble Theater’s entry into the World Premiere Wisconsin celebration is The Terminated, a timely play about federal workers who’ve been fired. The workers don’t accept things quietly in this satire as they plot a revenge heist with some recognizable tropes from heist-caper films. Perhaps there’s nothing fired federal workers do better than revenge. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday; tickets at tnwensembletheater.org.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.