What to do in Madison this weekend: Isthmus Dance Collective, Madison Night Market and more Isthmus Picks

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration, Thursday, May 9, Madison Children’s Museum, 4-8 p.m.: May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and the Madison Children’s Museum is celebrating with activities and entertainment. Performances include traditional Japanese taiko drumming by Beni Daiko and lion dance by the Zhong Yi Kung Fu Association’s Traditional Folk Performing Arts Troupe. Interactive cultural activities will be provided by the Hmong Institute Women’s Group, UW Hmong American Students Association, and artist Meri Lau. Museum admission and activities are free.

Madison Night Market, Thursday, May 9, State Street/Capitol Square, 5-9 p.m.: The city of Madison’s State Street pedestrian mall project kicked off this week, closing the 400-600 blocks to traffic (after 3 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends). There's added incentive to check it out May 9 with the return of the Madison Night Market for 2024, as vendors, music and activities once again take over State and Gilman, and expand to North Carroll and West Mifflin streets on the Capitol Square. Find the full list of vendors and the entertainment schedule at visitdowntownmadison.com.

Stand Up and Sing for Kids, Thursday, May 9, Goodman Community Center-Brassworks, 5:30 p.m.: Canopy Center provides child abuse treatment and prevention programs for residents of Dane and Columbia counties. Stand Up and Sing for Kids is the organization’s annual fundraiser, featuring silent and live auctions, appetizers and drinks, an awards program, and music by the Sean Michael Dargan Band. Find tickets at canopycenter.org.

Lucy Kaplansky, Thursday, May 9, North Street Cabaret, 7 p.m.: If you were at Lucy Kaplansky’s 2001 show at the Pres House you probably remember her playing “Here Comes the Sun” as a tribute to George Harrison, who’d passed away earlier that day. “This,” she began, “is the first song I ever learned how to play on the guitar.” If you missed it (and even if you didn’t) this tour stop is one not to miss. Singing and accompanying herself on the guitar, Kaplansky can have a Nanci Griffith vibe, but leaning more to folk than country. Her latest album is 2022’s Last Days of Summer. Tickets at tickettailor.com.

Sharon Kilfoy + TetraPAKMAN, through Aug. 9, Social Justice Center; reception May 17, 5-9 p.m.: The Jackie Macaulay Gallery hosts paired exhibits considering the effects of climate change on our planet’s living creatures. TetraPAKMAN’s sculpture and other large-format works often focus on raising awareness of climate change, and this exhibit includes “The Climate Sheets,” wrapping around the gallery space and including records of the ever-raising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rising global temperatures contribute to a higher danger of wildfires; Sharon Kilfoy shows some concrete examples of what fire does with a collection of objects recovered following a 2016 fire at Williamson Street Art Center.

The Ballroom Thieves, Thursday, May 9, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 p.m.: The Massachusetts-based indie folkers The Ballroom Thieves are now a duo. Martin Earley (guitar, vocals) and Calin Peters (bass, cello, vocals) come up with stunning harmonies and shed infectious energy live. They’ve played dream sets at Newport Folk Festival — and should fit right in at the intimate Stoughton Opera House. Tickets at stoughtonoperahouse.showare.com.

Black Brilliance Gala, Friday, May 17, Overture Center, 6 p.m.: This new event from Urban Triage celebrates unsung community heroes while raising funds for the Supporting Healthy Black Employment program (which will offer carpentry training for Black and vulnerable community members). The formal affair includes dinner and a program, music by Adem Tesfaye, Chakari Daezhare, MADD, Windy Indie and a dance with DJ Pain 1, spoken word by Opal Ellyse, and more. Ticket sales close May 10 at overture.org.

Doug White Trio, Friday, May 10, Cafe Coda, 5 p.m.: Madison pianist and composer Doug White leads a jazz trio featuring two more veteran Midwest players: trumpeter Dave Cooper and percussionist Dane Richeson. The trio is celebrating release day for Awaken: Live, the latest album by the Doug White Quintet (which also includes sax/flute man Tom Gullion and bassist Mark Urness), and will play selections from the new album and more. Find the new release and more music at dougwhitejazzpiano.bandcamp.com.

Da Classroom Ain't Enuf, through May 12, Broom Street Theater: Charles Payne is becoming a name in Madison arts circles. He’s a familiar face in spoken word, has contributed several essays to Isthmus, and is the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District’s second-ever artist-in-residence (where he brings attention to the importance of water in light of climate change). Payne has now written a play, Da Classroom Ain't Enuf, which dives into the experiences of Black and Brown students in the American education system. Read Steven Potter’s preview here. Shows at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays; pay-what-you-can tickets are always available at the door for every Broom Street Theater performance, and advance tickets are at eventbrite.com.

Isthmus Dance Collective, May 10-11, Madison Youth Arts: One of the nonprofit Isthmus Dance Collective’s newest programs is the Dance Experience Lab for Vibrant Exchange (DELVE) incubator, which encourages collaboration on new works by local contemporary choreographers and dancers. The first DELVE showcase features work by choreographers Raka Bandyo, Rachelle Fochs, Kendyll Hazzard, Caitlyn Lamdin, Clyde Mayberry, and the duo of Courtney Kopchinski and Jessica Billings. Shows at 7:30 p.m. on May 10 and 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. on May 11. Tickets at isthmus-dance-collective.square.site.

Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully, May 10-25, Bartell Theatre: What if you visited your parents in the small town where you grew up, and it happened to be the weekend aliens invaded and surrounded the town with an impregnable force field? That’s the premise of Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully, adapted for the stage by Eddie Robson from his 2012 BBC Radio 4 series. Madison Theatre Guild presents the comedy at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (except 2 p.m. on May 25) and 2 p.m. on May 19. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.

Cooksville Acoustic Fest, Saturday, May 11, Cooksville Community Center, 1-5 p.m.: Cooksville is a charming crossroads settlement south of Stoughton that has remained charming and rural (think Paoli without the commerce) and the perfect setting for this acoustic music festival. The bill is all heartfelt singer-songwriters. Madison’s Josh Harty skews folk, Appleton’s Michael Grabner brings modern indie influences to country and folk, and Fondy’s Kylar Kuzio is a little bit country. This free fest is outdoors-if-weather permits; bring a chair and BYOB; food and NA refreshments will be available onsite. Updates at facebook.com/events/397348382966872.

The Diary of Anne Frank, through May 19, Overture Center-Playhouse: Surely no one reading this needs to be told about Anne Frank and her diary. But the next generation, so much further away from the Holocaust, should be introduced to the Jewish girl who unflinchingly recorded her thoughts in a daybook that miraculously survived World War II even though its author did not. Children’s Theater of Madison will use the stage adaptation by Wendy Kesselman, intended especially for young audiences in grades 6 and up. Shows are at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, plus 6 p.m. on May 12. Tickets at overture.org.

Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues, Saturday, May 11, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 p.m.: For the ensemble Chamber Blues, composer and multi-instrumentalist Corky Siegel gathered players from around the world and created a sound like nothing else. For an example, search on YouTube for the song “Angel Food Cake” (originally a song on the Siegel-Schwall ‘70 album). Reimagined for Chamber Blues, Siegel’s vocals and harmonica are joined by a chamber music string section and tabla drums; it’s instantly recognizable as the old S-S number but also a very different animal. Tickets at stoughtonoperahouse.showare.com.

Festival Choir of Madison, Saturday, May 11, First Unitarian Society, 7:30 p.m.: The Festival Choir of Madison closes its season with an intriguing program of sacred music written for the Eastern Orthodox Church. “Gladsome Light” features works by 19th-20th century Russian composers Pavel Chesnokov, Alexander Gretchaninov, Alexander Kastalsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Alfred Schnittke and others. Guest soloist is baritone Ricardo Herrera, a faculty member at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Tickets at festivalchoirmadison.org.

Trey Anastasio & Classic TAB, Saturday, May 11, The Sylvee, 8 p.m.: “All who wander are not lost,” the saying goes. “Unless they’re in a jam band.” Anastasio has been getting unapologetically lost in his music, taking his rapturous audience with him, since his days leading Vermont-based Phish starting in the ’80s. Since that time he’s been Grammy nominated and has performed solo and with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and many others. This tour reunites Anastasio with drummer Russ Lawton, keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, and bassist Dezron Douglas. Sold out nearly immediately, but watch for last minute tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Better Lovers, Sunday, May 12, Majestic, 7 p.m.: For metalcore fans, Better Lovers is a dream team: the rhythm section and lead guitarist from Every Time I Die, joined by Fit for an Autopsy guitarist Will Putney, and topped by the larynx-shredding Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato. Their 2023 EP, God Made Me an Animal, is predictably crushing, and a full-length is on the way later this year. For this tour they are joined by heavy faves SeeYouSpaceCowboy (ahead of their own summer headlining tour), Foreign Hands and Grayhaven; Milwaukeeans Graysea are also on the Madison bill. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

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