What to do in Madison this week: Wild & Scenic Film Festival, 'Reshaping Destiny' with Danny Trejo and more Isthmus Picks

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Peter Annin, Tuesday, March 19, Central Library, 7 p.m.: A graduate of UW-Madison and former Newsweek reporter, Peter Annin is director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College in Ashland. His new book, Purified: How Recycled Sewage Is Transforming Our Water, probes deep into the water reuse movement in five water-strapped states — California, Texas, Virginia, Nevada and Florida — to argue that recycled water is critical to survival in the climate-change era. Annin’s previous book, The Great Lakes Water Wars, hit closer to home and has been hailed as the definitive work about the Great Lakes water diversion controversy. This event is part of the ongoing Wisconsin Book Festival.

The Light in the Piazza, March 15-19, Music Hall: University Opera closes its 2023-24 season by presenting the “crossover” opera combining classical voice and contemporary musical theater. (Think Broadway musical with operatic singing.) In The Light in the Piazza, two Americans, a mother and a daughter, in Florence, Italy, in 1953 have a meet-cute with a local resident. Love…and secrets…follow. As a Broadway musical it won six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations. Shows at 7:30 p.m. on March 15-16 and 19, and at 2 p.m. on March 17. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.

Mamma Mia! March 19-24, Overture Hall: Imagine the elevator pitch for this musical: there’s this young bride, see, and she wants her father to walk her down the aisle, but not even her mother knows which of three guys with whom she was sleeping years ago is the biological parent. It’s set on a Greek island. And they sing ABBA songs! Whoever greenlighted Mamma Mia! knew show biz, because the musical has spawned two films and is still going gangbusters on tour — tickets for Overture's dates were already in limited supply in February — in no small part because of its soundtrack of hits like “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “Dancing Queen.” Shows at 7:30 p.m. on March 19-22, 2 and 7:30 p.m. on March 23, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. on March 24. Tickets at overture.org.

"So Ruff, So Tuff”: Legacies of Black Midwestern Art and Struggle, Wednesday, March 20, UW Elvehjem Building-Room L140, 6 p.m.: Nicole Fleetwood, this year’s presenter of the UW Center for the Humanities Nellie Y. McKay Lecture in the Humanities, is the author of Between the River and the Railroad Tracks, a memoir and cultural history of growing up in Hamilton, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati. Her focus is on the Black Midwest’s cultural life and community. The title of her talk, “'So Ruff, So Tuff': Legacies of Black Midwestern Art and Struggle,” stems from the lyrics of a song from the funk band Zapp, members of which were in Fleetwood’s family. Fleetwood is the inaugural James Weldon Johnson Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU.

B.J. Hollars, Wednesday, March 20, Mystery To Me, 6 p.m.: When John F. Kennedy ran for president of the United States in 1960, Wisconsin emerged as his first battleground state. In his new book, Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History, UW-Eau Claire English professor B.J. Hollars explains how the Kennedy campaign outmaneuvered a seasoned Hubert Humphrey in the primaries and went on to win the presidency. (Hollars also wrote a memoir, Year of Plenty: A Family’s Season of Grief, set to be published in May.) Seating for this event is limited and RSVPs are encouraged, but it also will be livestreamed via Crowdcast. More info at mysterytomebooks.com.

Reshaping Destiny, Wednesday, March 20, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7 p.m.: Actor and restaurateur Danny Trejo knows a thing or two about “Reshaping Destiny,” the subject for this Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series talk. Trejo struggled with addiction and was in and out of the California criminal justice system both as a juvenile and adult, before finding faith and getting sober. Since those days, Trejo has gone from working as a gardener and construction foreman to extra work and eventual lead roles in films such as the modern classic action movie Machete. Check ticket availability at artsticketing.wisc.edu; if any tickets go unused remaining seats will be available on a first come, first served basis on the day of the talk.

Andrea von Kampen, Wednesday, March 20, The Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: Andrea von Kampen is everything you want in a singer-songwriter: soaring vocals, haunting minor-key melodies and delicate guitar picking. She’s touring in support of her new album, Sister Moon, where song topics cover the environment and (The Overstory fans, take note) “the stories of Richard Powers.” Lydia Luce (her new LP is Florida Girl) is a flawless match as an opener. Tickets at seetickets.us.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Thursday, March 21, Barrymore Theatre, 7 p.m.: It’s a festival that focuses on films that celebrate our natural world — and calls on audiences to take action to preserve it. This year’s special focus is the relationships among water, art and advocacy. Among the films on the Madison slate are INWARD, Finding the Line and Study Aboard, featuring UW-Stevens Point students. The fest is sponsored by the River Alliance of Wisconsin. Tickets at barrymorelive.com.

Endurance Improv Fest, March 21-23, Atlas Improv Co.: Atlas Improv Company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. That’s a lotta without-a-net creativity. The company’s annual Endurance Improv Fest will add to the history of laughs, starting with an open short-form improv tournament at 7:30 p.m., March 21. Three shows featuring company alumni take place on March 22, followed by the main event on March 23, with shows beginning hourly from noon until 1 a.m. There’s also a “Deconstruction” workshop by Chris George at 9:30 a.m. on March 23. Admission is free all weekend. Find more info at enduranceimprov.com.

Danny Brown, Thursday, March 21, The Sylvee, 8 p.m.: The half-in-shadow cover image of Quaranta, the most recent album by Danny Brown, matches the introspective and sometimes melancholic music inside. Brown’s bars are as incisive as ever (check out the gentrification-themed single “Jenn’s Terrific Vacation”) and his varied styles of rapping and singing make a perfect match with the inventive musical beds. With Hook, Bruiser Wolf. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Duwayne Burnside, Thursday, March 21, Red Rooster, 8 p.m.: Duwayne Burnside is one of the sons of legendary Mississippi musician R.L. Burnside; as a young man he played in the bands of his father and Junior Kimbrough (one heck of an apprenticeship in the blues), and also with the Dickinson brothers in the North Mississippi Allstars. His most recent album is 2022’s straight-ahead Acoustic Burnside, but for this Madison stop, Burnside will play with a full band. Opening is The Usual Suspects, one of the Red Rooster’s Blues Jam host bands. Tickets at clover.com.

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