What to do in Madison this week: March 2-5, 2026

Dan Cavanagh Quartet, First Look at the Fest and more Isthmus Picks

by

Arts

  • The Big Share, Tuesday, March 3, online: If you want to put your giving where your values live, The Big Share makes it easy. This online campaign raises funds for 82 local nonprofits under the Community Shares of Wisconsin umbrella — organizations working for health equity, environmental protection, civil rights, housing, assistance for immigrants, and much more. Browse, pick your cause (or three), and make a small dent that adds up fast. A telethon-style livestream can be found at thebigshare.org, where donations can also be made, and the day also includes related in-person events such as “Seen and Unseen,” a self-guided walk created by Urban Triage to raise awareness of homelessness (noon-5:30 p.m., Capitol Square).
  • World Championship Cheese Contest, March 3-4, Monona Terrace, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.: Wisconsin doesn’t just make cheese, it argues for excellence, one bite at a time. And if Madison had a red carpet for dairy, the World Championship Cheese Contest would be it. The public can watch judging in real time, sample free cheese, and geek out over what separates “pretty good” from world-class. Following the public event, the Top 20 and World Champion reveal can be seen at worldchampioncheese.org at 2 p.m. March 5.
  • Freedy Johnston + Kevin Willmott II, Tuesday, March 3, Gamma Ray, 7 p.m.: Songwriting machine Freedy Johnston and Gamma Ray bar owner and Don’t Mess with Cupid band leader Kevin Willmott II have brotherly connections. They’re both native Kansans; Johnston attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Willmott’s home town. They toured briefly together when Willmott graduated from high school. Willmott’s first Madison show was on the stage in the bar he now owns and where Johnston has also performed over the years. Willmott will open with a solo set. Johnston will play two sets that will include a song or two with his host and longtime friend. Tickets at gammaray.bar.
  • Dan Cavanagh Quartet, Tuesday, March 3, North Street Cabaret, 7 p.m.: Dan Cavanagh, director of the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music and a longtime educator, is also an award-winning jazz and classical composer and pianist. It’s the jazz side that comes to the forefront for this concert. Cavanagh leads a quartet featuring two collaborators from summer 2025 recording sessions for his upcoming album of new compositions — alto sax player Remy Le Boeuf and drummer Shinya Fukumori — along with Madison bassist Peter Dominguez. It’s contemporary jazz with brains and bite, led by someone who can run a school by day and still chase the good stuff at night. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
  • First Look at the Fest, Wednesday, March 4, Flix Brewhouse, 7 p.m.: Along with the breaking up of lake ice and snow melting, the return of the Wisconsin Film Festival is a sure sign of spring around here. An early sign of the fest, like a returning redwing blackbird or a budding crocus, is the First Look at the Fest event. It’s a party, it’s a sneak peek, and it’s a fundraiser for the fest, during which the schedule is unveiled, trailers are screened, and attendees have a first chance at buying tickets. There’s also food and drink, and the spacious lobby of Flix Brewhouse makes a convivial gathering space. Bring out your button collection and head on over, or, geek out buttonless. Tickets at wifilmfest.eventive.org.
  • Penelope Road, Wednesday, March 4, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: Atlanta’s Penelope Road manages to blur not only musical genres — soul, pop, indie rock — but also musical eras. This music could have found a home in any decade, beginning with the 1970s. No surprise, considering the band counts Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Hall & Oates, Paramore and Goose among its influences. Named after a street its members lived on while in college, Penelope Road calls their sound “stanky funky junk,” but we think they’re underselling themselves. With Harvey Street. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
  • Andy Ewen, through March 21, Giant Jones Brewing: In the 1980s and '90s Andy Ewen created illustrations for The New York Times Book Review, The Progressive and Isthmus; more recently his professional life has been at the UW-Madison medical school. But many in Madison will know Ewen as frontman/songwriter for the band Honor Among Thieves. In an artist statement, Ewen describes the work in “Recent Drawings” as “semi-automatic…I just start by drawing a line or a shape, and then let my imagination free associate in a manner akin to lucid dreaming.” The tasting room at Giant Jones is open Wednesday-Saturday; find hours at giantjones.com.
  • Oh, My! It's Cheshire Cat Comedy's 300th Show! Thursday, March 5, Crucible, 7 p.m.: Scene energizer Cheshire Cat Comedy marks a milestone with a lineup featuring five cross-category performers who could all be headliners. Madison is ably represented by Eli Wilz, a stand-up comic and Atlas Improv member, and Aris Awes, comedian, drag performer and actor. The evening also includes three Chicago-based performers: comedian, musician and actor Ross Childs, boylesque artist and variety show producer Joelie Folle, and stand-up, writer and filmmaker Rey Tang. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
  • cullud wattah, through March 8, UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre: This is a significant play from UW-Madison and First Wave alumna Erika Dickerson-Despenza, dramatizing the mid-2010s water crisis in Flint, Michigan, that shocked the nation. When the city began drawing water from the Flint River without proper treatment, lead from old pipes began poisoning the population. The play centers on one family’s intersection with protest, trust and community, themes still highly relevant today. University Theatre performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sundays, plus 2 p.m. March 7. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
  • Sandra, through March 8, Slowpoke Lounge, Spring Green: Sandra is the second part of a trilogy of film noir-style thrillers by David Cale (the Two Crows company also staged Harry Clarke, the first play in the trilogy, last year). It follows a recently separated woman who travels to Mexico to search for her missing friend, Ethan, a young composer and pianist. And a special treat: It stars APT stalwart Colleen Madden playing all the roles. Two Crows company founder Marcus Truschinski says of Madden: “She shifts into all these characters, and there’s no space between her and the audience.” Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at twocrowstheatrecompany.org.
  • Erin Morley + Lawrence Brownlee, Thursday, March 5, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7:30 p.m.: Concerts featuring the 19th century bel canto style of singing can sometimes feel like a museum tour; this one won’t. Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee are both top-tier Metropolitan Opera singers, and when artists with this much control and personality share a stage, fireworks are sure to ensue: spun-legato lines, fearless high notes, and phrasing that can turn a single word into drama. The program includes work by Rossini, Verdi, Donizetti and other big names (including music from Morley and Brownlee's 2025 album, Golden Age), but the real draw is the duet chemistry and the sheer athletic beauty of voices that can make hard things sound effortless. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
  • Los Straitjackets with Deke Dickerson, Thursday, March 5, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: For more than 30 years, Los Straitjackets have been keeping the flame of instrumental rock ‘n roll alive in clubs around the world (and on record, such as their 2025 platter Somos Los Straitjackets). Along with developing an unforgettable stage presence (performing in matching suits and Mexican wrestling masks), Los Straitjackets has also proven to have excellent taste in collaborators, serving as Nick Lowe’s recurring backing band for some years now and maintaining periodic confabs with rock/roots true believer Deke Dickerson. The “Rockin' Dance Party” tour should provide freewheeling fun. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.
  • The Lone Bellow, Thursday, March 5, Majestic, 8 p.m.: Mere weeks after the release of the trio’s sixth album, What A Time To Be Alive, The Lone Bellow makes a stop in Madison. The first incarnation of this upbeat album — loaded with the band's “signature harmonies and anthemic indie folk turned up full,” according to Holler — was stolen from the band’s van while on tour (along with equipment, instruments and luggage), and it all had to be re-recorded. Here’s to a trauma-free tour and a memorable Madison stop. Peru-born Fabrizio, whose deep baritone suits his brand of haunting Americana/folk, opens. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

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