What to do in Madison this week: Feb. 16-19, 2026

Shaun Cassidy, Ethelene Whitmire and more Isthmus Picks

by

Arts

MONDAY

  • A Road at Night, through Feb. 18, Point Cinema: A Road at Night is a documentary about former Wisconsin Badgers basketball player and coach Howard Moore and his family. Before the film screened at the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival, director John Roach told Isthmus editor Judith Davidoff that it’s a film not about basketball, but a cautionary story about drunk driving; Moore’s wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Jaidyn, were killed, and Moore and his son, Jerrell, seriously injured in crash caused by a drunk driver. All proceeds from screenings continuing through Feb. 18 will support Howard Moore’s ongoing medical care.
  • Higher Ed, Public Policy and a Divided America, Monday, Feb. 16, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7 p.m.: If your recent engagement with American politics has mostly involved screaming into a pillow, the La Follette School of Public Affairs is offering a rare hit of pragmatism. Mitch Daniels — former Indiana governor and Purdue president emeritus, who made headlines for holding the line on tuition for more than a decade — will discuss how anything gets done in a country seemingly welded to one political team or the other. La Follette director Susan Webb Yackee moderates. Whether you file Daniels under fiscal hawk or reluctant grown-up, it’s a chance to see if “civil dialogue” is still a working concept. Register at artsticketing.wisc.edu.

TUESDAY

  • Johnny Chimes & the Mardi Gras Band, Tuesday, Feb. 17, Louisianne’s, Middleton, 6 p.m.: Madison mainstay Johnny Chimes has been playing solo piano and singing New Orleans-styled blues at a weekly residency at Louisianne’s for three decades and counting. For the Mardi Gras celebration of Fat Tuesday, Chimes most often brings along a band — and a heck of a band it is, featuring guitarist Mel ford, bassist LaCouir Yancey and drummer Al Falaschi. Reservations are recommended at 608-831-1929.
  • Arts and Literature Laboratory exhibits, through Feb. 21, ALL: ALL is chock-a-block full for its 2026 gallery debut. A Roundhouse Studios exhibit showcases the artists working at these Commercial Avenue studios, a project spearheaded by none other than ALL. It’s a wide-ranging visual feast, with prints, paintings, fiber arts and installations; 25 + artists are represented. “Diastole and Systole: The Pulse of Life,” a collab from Madison artists Richie Morales (paintings) and Beth Racette (acrylic ink paintings, sculpture and installation) looks at the opposing forces in our work and highlights the need for balance and harmony. And Madison’s Randall Berndt is publishing a retrospective book of his work, Stories: Words & Images.
  • Orchid Escape, through March 8, Olbrich Gardens, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.: After the recent stretch of frigid temperatures, many may be thinking of escaping to somewhere warm. A retreat right here in town is Olbrich Gardens' Bolz Conservatory, with the annual “Orchid Escape” display through March 8. Along with a multitude of beautiful orchids, this year’s event includes a focus on insects that are part of the plants' ecosystem. Tickets for timed entry are required, and available at olbrich.org.
  • New Orleans Tribute, Tuesday, Feb. 17, North Street Cabaret, 6:30 p.m.: Hallelujah, it’s Fat Tuesday! Time to listen to some New Orleans-style good time jazz, from a collection of players including Nat McIntosh, Ben Bell-Bern, Chris Rottmayer, Ben Ferris, Jordan Cohen and Darren Sterud. Rumor has it they may be bringing some special guests as well. Pile on your beads and laissez les bon temps roulez. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
  • Judas and the Black Messiah Tuesday, Feb. 17, Central Library, 6:30 p.m.: A tale of the 1960s, Judas and the Black Messiah was distressingly relevant when released in 2021 (and remains so today). The film recounts the story of the FBI assassination of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya); the plot was facilitated in part by an informant (LaKeith Stanfield) who had been coerced into cooperating with the FBI. It’s a heartbreaking must-see, and an Oscar nominee for Best Picture; Kaluuya and Stanfield were both nominated as Best Supporting Actor, with Kaluuya winning. The Cinesthesia series screenings take place on the third floor.
  • Stephen Kellogg & the Homecoming, Tuesday, Feb. 17, High Noon Saloon, 7 p.m.: Stephen Kellogg — veteran singer-songwriter, author, TEDx speaker, stand-up comic and more — is on a countdown to his 3,000th performance, which is why he’s calling this current jaunt with his crack backing band (and a potential setlist spanning 14 albums and a quarter-century) the “Road to 3000 Tour.” Here’s your chance to see the guy Rolling Stone refers to as “John Prine fronting the Heartbreakers.” Arrive early for opener gutter sinatra — the musical moniker for vocalist, songwriter, producer and author Don Miggs of the band Whole Damn Mess. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

WEDNESDAY

  • Sailing for Science, Wednesday, Feb. 18, UW Memorial Union-Tripp Commons, 6:30 p.m.: In 2011, Matt Rutherford started a solo sailing journey around the Americas; completing the circuit in 2012, he became the first person to accomplish the feat. And the journey only inspired him to do more by creating the nonprofit Ocean Research Project, since then captaining a 72-foot steel schooner into the Arctic to document in real time the parts of the planet currently melting. At this talk hosted by the Hoofer Sailing Club, Rutherford brings a salty reality check on plastic pollution and rising tides, along with stories of his legendary sailing trip. Tickets at union.wisc.edu.
  • Ethelene Whitmire, Wednesday, Feb. 18, Central Library, 7 p.m.: UW-Madison historian and professor Ethelene Whitmire found an incredible story of determination and resistance when she discovered the papers of Reed Peggram, a Black Bostonian educated at Harvard and Columbia in the years leading up to World War II. Peggram landed in Paris and was captured by Nazis in 1941; he and his friend and likely lover were sent to concentration camps in Germany and Italy. (Remarkably both survived.) Peggram eventually escaped and made his way back to the U.S. Whitmire has fleshed out his story in her new book The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram. In this Wisconsin Book Festival event she will discuss the book with Steven Wright, a clinical associate professor at the UW Law School and author of the political thriller The Coyotes of Carthage.
  • Black Love as a Practice, Wednesday, Feb. 18, UW Memorial Union-Great Hall, 7 p.m.: Black History Month at UW-Madison isn’t treating “Black Love” like a slogan, it’s treating it as a full practice. This year’s theme, “Black Love: Rooted, Radiant, Revolutionary,” encompasses community, friendship, faith, wellness, creativity and joy as well as romance. The keynote is provided by Yolo Akili Robinson, founder of the Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective; he will present an interactive workshop designed to “examine how Black Love shows up in our behaviors, choices and relationships.”
  • Shaun Cassidy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, Barrymore, 7:30 p.m.: If you were a tween in the late 1970s you were probably watching The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries on television and perhaps not just to find out whodunnit. Shaun Cassidy, a popular singer, played one of the Hardy Boys (who knows which) and, sadly, his teen idol status stole attention from his musical talent. Son of actor Jack Cassidy and musical theater icon Shirley Jones, Cassidy rose above nepo-baby status with a long career in music and television. That’s borne out now, 50 years later. In concert he’s affable, enthusiastic and puts on a good show. Tickets at barrymorelive.com.
  • Glen Phillips, Wednesday, Feb. 18, Atwood Music Hall, 8 p.m.: From the many weirdly named bands of the mid 1990s, a keeper is Toad the Wet Sprocket — less for the Monty Python-inspired name (way less) than for frontman Glen Phillips. The sweet-voiced lead singer and primary songwriter for Toad has stuck around, with solo albums, collabs with members of Nickel Creek, and an experimental venture called Remote Tree Children with Texas folk singer Matt The Electrician And he’s starting work on a new solo album. Expect a patchwork of work from all of the above. With M Shays. Tickets at theatwoodmusichall.com.

THURSDAY

  • Melissa Faliveno, Thursday, Feb. 19, A Room of One’s Own, 6 p.m.: Mount Horeb native and former Isthmus contributor Melissa Faliveno is back with her second book and debut novel. In an email to friends and supporters, Faliveno calls Hemlock “a spooky little story about inheritance and transformation set in a shadow version of the Wisconsin Northwoods” as well as “a queer Midwestern Gothic.” Also reportedly in starring roles: “Friday fish fries, brandy old fashioneds, and cheese curds, obviously.” Faliveno will be in conversation with Madison novelist Maggie Ginsberg.
  • C’est La Vie, through Feb. 21, Bartell Theatre: Though this production is new, the concept is familiar: a lifetime includes a lot of scenes you don’t realize mattered until later. C’est La Vie, presented by Madison Public Theatre, features a collection of short works, written by Gretchen Suárez-Peña, that examine “the little things that make us all human,” as described by the playwright. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (except 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 21) and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.
  • Chelsea Handler, Thursday, Feb. 19, Orpheum, 8 p.m.: Chelsea Handler comes to Madison for the “High and Mighty Tour,” reportedly packed with the kind of material only she can get away with: sharp digs at modern life, unapologetic stories about dating and politics, and a healthy amount of oversharing. If history is any guide, she’ll cover at least three things you weren’t expecting, say at least one thing you can’t repeat at work, and provide some moments you’ll laugh harder at than you meant to. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

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