What to do in Madison this weekend: May 14-17, 2026

Art Walk Middleton, Bluebird Improv and more Isthmus Picks

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Arts

  • The Bodega, Thursday, May 14, Breese Stevens Field, 5-9 p.m.: The Bodega is back, and at 10 years in it knows exactly what it is: Part night market, part neighborhood hangout. Featuring more than 90 regional artisans and food vendors, you’ll wander past things you didn’t plan on buying and probably leave with something you didn’t expect to. This year’s dates (also including June 25, July 24 and Aug. 20) all feature a theme, with opening night celebrating the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association’s 50th anniversary year. An expanded kids' zone and music by Cassandra Kilgore rounds out the evening. Find more info at breesestevensfield.com.
  • Beauty and the Beast, through May 17, Overture Hall: This fairy tale feels as old as time, but continues inspiring new interpretations. The touring version of Disney’s Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast visits Madison with the songs you remember, the costumes you’re waiting for, and just enough stage magic to make it feel new again. It’s familiar in a good way — when you know what’s coming and still look forward to it. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. May 12-15, 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 16, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. May 17; tickets at overture.org.
  • Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival, through May 15, Edgewood University-Ballweg Theater, 7:30 p.m.: This is always a fun one and it happens only every other year, so take note. Forward Theater has been doing its part to develop new plays through its Wisconsin Wrights competition in which the three winners work with professional directors, dramaturgs and actors to develop their plays, with staged readings at the end of the week. This year the festival kicked off on May 13 with Roses and Ruses by APT core company member David Daniel. Not surprisingly, considering that this has been a very successful lane for APT, the play is described as “a fast-paced romantic farce.” May 14’s Impossible Monsters by Madison writer and photographer Jacqueline Kehoe, follows the story of pioneering woman paleontologist Mary Anning. The festival concludes May 15 with Paper by Ali Mansouri, a doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary theater studies at UW-Madison studying contemporary theater in the Middle East. Paper is set in present-day Tehran and is described as exploring themes of “censorship, artistic resistance, friendship, and survival under oppressive systems.” Timely. And speaking of times, all shows are at 7:30 p.m.; tickets available at the door.
  • Bluebird Improv, Thursday, May 14, Atwood Music Hall, 8 p.m.: Touring ensemble Bluebird Improv features a rotating cast of comedy veterans you have seen on television shows such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Veep and The League, and possibly on stage at The Second City Chicago. Each show is unique, sparked by a conversation with the audience at the beginning. The Madison tour stop features Joe Canale, Marc Evan Jackson, Brad Morris and Matt Walsh. Tickets at theatwoodmusichall.com.
  • Psychedelic Furs, Thursday, May 14, The Sylvee, 8 p.m.: Emerging in the late ’70s from the British post-punk scene, The Psychedelic Furs didn’t break in the United States until 1982’s “Love My Way,” a bouncy new wave ditty that also helped land the band a spot on the 1986 Pretty in Pink soundtrack. After taking an extended break beginning in the ’90s, brothers Richard and Tim Butler (on vocals and bass, respectively) reunited and released Made of Rain, the first Psychedelic Furs studio album in almost 30 years, in the middle of the pandemic. Since then, the band’s revised lineup has toured consistently. Madison is the second stop on a new tour that extends through July. New York City’s We Are Scientists open. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
  • Overture Galleries spring exhibitions, through May 24 or 31, Overture Center: Possibly the best public galleries in town are hallways in the Overture Center, with patrons passing by on all levels of the building and careful, creative curation always at play. This spring’s exhibits encompass a consideration of space, the language of love, and world landscapes, from artists Katherine Steichen Rosing, Sandra Schoen, Susan Dupor, Valerie Savarie, Gerit Grimm, Matthew Warren Lee, Mack Bo Ross and DarRen Morris. Bonus! Madison’s book-making group, The Bone Folders' Guild, displays its members’ art books in the Playhouse Gallery.
  • Killer High Life, Thursday, May 14, Gamma Ray, 8 p.m.: Milwaukee trio Killer High Life whips up quite an emo-punk whirlwind on their self-titled debut album from 2025, with a healthy dose of melody and pop hooks enlivening the proceedings. This show is certainly the “favorite band names” pick of the week, also including Milwaukee noise merchants Bullshit Nonsense and a pair of Madison artists, drum 'n bass duo Dad Bods, and comparatively chill (for this bill) ddddangit. Tickets at gammaray.bar.
  • Breese Stevens Field Grand Reopening Weekend, May 15-16, Breese Stevens Field: “What was once a neglected relic of a blighted East Washington Avenue is now resurrected,” wrote Madison author (and former Isthmus graphic designer and writer) David Michael Miller in his entertaining 2025 book, The Rise of Breese Stevens Field. So true. Now an east-side gem, Breese Stevens is celebrating 100 years of sports, entertainment and community with a “grand reopening weekend.” On May 15, women’s soccer debuts at the stadium, as Rally Madison FC takes on Chicago House AC in a match that will include a family-friendly pre-game fan fest and a post-game player meet-and-greet; gates open at 5:30 p.m., with the match at 6:30 p.m. The next day, Forward Madison FC begins its eighth USL League One season, with the team’s home opener against Detroit City FC. A pre-game tailgate with fun activities and Ferris wheel rides begins at 4 p.m.; match time is 5 p.m. Find tickets and more info at breesestevensfield.com/bsf-100, and watch for other anniversary-related events all summer long.
  • Art Walk Middleton, Saturday, May 16, Terrace Avenue, Middleton, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: The fifth annual Art Walk Middleton turns Terrace Avenue into a showcase featuring about 70 artist booths and artist demonstrations. But that’s not all; the day features music from local groups and Madison Music Foundry student bands at the Capital Brewery biergarten; free kids' activities; and nine food trucks covering everything from cheese curds to Caribbean cuisine. The day wraps up with an all-ages dance-and-bubbles afterparty at Stone Horse Green. The event is hosted by the Middleton Public Arts Committee.
  • Disney’s Newsies the Musical, through May 17, Madison Youth Arts: EXTRA! EXTRA! The newsboys are done being adorable background scenery. Newsies takes the energy of a very real 1899 newsboys strike (kids vs. the money guys, all grit and nerves) and turns it into one of musical theater’s great adrenaline hits — the dancing isn’t decoration so much as a physical form of refusal. The score is Alan Menken at peak hook-making, and the whole thing famously cleaned up at the 2012 Tony Awards with statuettes for score and choreography. This Children’s Theater of Madison production shows at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6 p.m. Sunday, plus 7 p.m. on May 15; tickets at overture.org.
  • Shinedown, Saturday, May 16, Kohl Center, 7 p.m.: Shinedown — which holds the record for most No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock charts, with 22 — has remained one of the biggest bands in the world, even after its heyday from 2008 to 2012. The Florida-based band will light up Madison with a massive arena show in support of their new album, EI8HT, which drops May 29. They’ll be accompanied by two other bands that enjoyed the bulk of their commercial success during the same era as Shinedown: the proggy Coheed & Cambria and southern rockers Black Stone Cherry, both of which have released new music within the past year or so. DJ Rock Feed also will appear. Tickets at uwbadgers.evenue.net.
  • Richard Wiegel album release, Saturday, May 16, Harmony Bar, 8 p.m.: Richard Wiegel is a Madison music icon. He’s been performing rockabilly, blues, country and roots rock here for more than five decades (with The Midwesterners for the last 30-plus of them). This show celebrates the release of the new album Driftless Blues. Past and present bandmates joined him on the project including country crooner Kristy Larson, bassist Tom McCarty, harp player Frankie Lee and others, and fans can expect some guest appearances during the night’s performance.
  • Rap J, Saturday, May 16, The Rigby, 7 p.m.: Following the debut of a new single, “Rock Out,” and his first show outside Wisconsin, Milwaukee emcee Rap J makes his Madison debut. Living with cerebral palsy and performing in a wheelchair, Rap J aims to bring awareness to where differently-abled musicians can perform while keeping the focus on the music: “My goal is for people to see me and not the chair,” he says. Read more in Steven Potter’s concert preview here. With Riz, Darrin Alston and DJ Dscribe.
  • Kenny Reichert residency, Saturdays, through May 30, North Street Cabaret, 8 p.m.: Guitarist-composer Kenny Reichert is a prolific and inventive collaborator, whose breadth will be on display each Saturday in May during a residency hosted by BlueStem Jazz. The Wisconsin native will play electric guitar with five quite different ensembles. The residency kicked off with trios; still to come is organ trio Righteous Rooster (May 16). Colours (May 23), a quintet that came together from a previous residency, and Twin Cities Quartet (May 30) are both ensembles that blend composed material with plenty of space for improvisation. Find more info and tickets at northstreetcabaret.com.
  • Tom Antell, Romano Johnson, through July 12, James Watrous Gallery; reception May 17, 3-5 p.m.: The power of color leads the conversation as the James Watrous Gallery features a pair of exhibitions by Wisconsin artists. Romano Johnson’s collection “Gospel Love Heart” goes big — angels, racing cars, church clothes, and plenty of glitter — in large-scale imagery that fills a room and will keep your eyes moving. Tom Antell’s “Democratic Vistas” blends playful imagery with dark themes considering Indigenous history as shaped by colonization. The artists will speak at a reception from 3-5 p.m. May 17. Regular gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.
  • WAMI Awards, Sunday, May 17, Atwood Music Hall, 6 p.m.: Like the Madison Area Music Association, the Wisconsin Area Music Industry is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization, and its annual award nominations rely on selections by artists or fans. Judging by the 2025 winners the awards gained more enthusiasm from Madison and southwest Wisconsin artists than in some past years, and the 2026 awards show is taking place in Madison. The show honors Skylar Grey and Jane Wiedlin, who will both perform, and the evening also features music by Beth Kille, Drop It for Luck, The Whiskeybelles, Kia Rap Princess, and The Hot & Dirty Brass Band. Tickets at theatwoodmusichall.com.
  • Buffalo Nichols, Sunday, May 17, Bur Oak, 7:30 p.m.: Roots musician Carl Nichols was born in Houston and raised in Milwaukee. He’s been a self-proclaimed loner all his life: He picked up the guitar to avoid the social hassle of playing sports as a teen. He kills on traditional blues numbers like the cover of Blind Willie Johnson’s “You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond” from The Fatalist album, released in 2023. But he’s just as effective when he tangles with contemporary politics and religion in his enigmatic originals. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.

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