What to do in Madison this week: Noga Erez, 'Dracula, A Feminist Revenge Fantasy. Really.' and more Isthmus Picks

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Winnie the Pooh (and His Pals, Too!), Oct. 11-19, Madison Youth Arts: This “theater for the very young” production from Children’s Theater of Madison takes us to the 100-Acre Wood with action geared to kids ages 2-5. Winnie the Pooh (and His Pals, Too!) incorporates movement, music, and multi-sensory storytelling, and Pooh, Piglet and Tigger are great friends to introduce the very young to theater. In the immortal words of Pooh himself, “Any day spent with you is my favorite day.” Performances at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, plus 10 a.m. on Oct. 14 and 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Oct. 16-17. Tickets at overture.org.

Wild Hope: Rethinking Our Relationship With Nature, Tuesday, Oct. 14, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 6 p.m.: Would you dress up like a panda for the perfect camera shot? National Geographic photojournalist and activist Ami Vitale has — part of a career spent documenting communities and the natural world facing climate change and other dangers. Vitale is a six-time World Press Photo award winner and founder of the nonprofit Vital Impacts. As part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series she’ll speak on “Wild Hope: Rethinking Our Relationship With Nature,” and explore how photography can be a tool for awareness and change.

Zak Foster, through Oct. 27, Central Library:  “Southern White Amnesia” is the theme of this Madison Public Library exhibit by Bubbler artist-in-residence Zak Foster. It joins several other local exhibits this fall underlining the value of quilts as more than just bedding but as art, history and storytelling. Foster’s take is an examination of “how white American families pass down — or deliberately forget — stories about their role in slavery and its ongoing legacy.” His work incorporates found materials and inventive reimaginings of traditional forms like church banners and genealogical quilts.

Quan Barry, Tuesday, Oct. 14, Central Library, 7 p.m.: The Unveiling, the highly anticipated, genre-bending work of social satire and literary horror by Quan Barry, arrives in bookstores Oct. 14. Barry appears at Madison’s Central Library as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival's year-round programming that same day to launch the book. Set in Antarctica, The Unveiling follows Striker, a Black film scout on a mission to photograph potential locations for a big-budget movie about Ernest Shackleton’s doomed Antarctica expedition in the mid-1910s. She’s joined by a gaggle of insanely wealthy (and mostly white) tourists seeking adventure and absolution. A freak kayaking incident in the Southern Ocean maroons Striker and her fellow travelers on a remote island along the Antarctic Peninsula, where the real and supernatural worlds quickly collide. Read Michael Popke’s interview with the author here.

Sabina Ott: all this and not ordinary, Oct. 15-Feb. 15, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: Sabina Ott passed away too early at age 62 in 2018. “all this and not ordinary” includes 33 late works from a career that encompassed painting, sculpture and other assemblages using such materials as polystyrene and spray foam. The result is often a “space of transformation” that incorporates “play and wonder,” as the MMoCA explains in its gallery notes. And we can all use some more of that. The exhibit was co-curated by Jefferson Godard and museum director Paul Baker Prindle.

Noga Erez, Wednesday, Oct. 15, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7:30 p.m.: Israeli singer-songwriter Noga Erez presents a forward-looking take on pop music on her most recent album, The Vandalist, which blends glossy electronic dance, lush pop ballads, rap (sometimes in Hebrew), Middle Eastern melodies, and direct, smart lyrics. The North American leg of Erez’s world tour includes her first appearance in Madison as part of the Wisconsin Union Theater schedule, with opener V1V1D. Tickets at union.wisc.edu.

Mason Jennings, Wednesday, Oct. 15, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: If Prince is Minneapolis’ gift to rock and funk music, Mason Jennings is the Twin Cities’ gift to folk-rock. In a burst of creativity ignited by the 2022 birth of his son, Jennings penned 48 songs, 11 of which landed on his newest album, Beneath the Roses. In the press materials for the album, Jennings says the music explores the thorny, dirt covered themes of life just below the pretty blooms. The show is sure to mine other selections from his nearly 30 years of recording. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.

Dracula, A Feminist Revenge Fantasy. Really. Oct. 16-Nov. 1, Bartell Theatre: Kate Hamill’s 2020 feminist recasting of Bram Stoker’s 19th century vampire classic is here just in time for Halloween, courtesy of Madison Public Theatre. Hamill doesn’t parody Stoker’s convoluted tale of Victorian repression so much as she wrests it out of the hands of the men and gifts it to the women. Still, there’s humor and thrills amid the payback. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (except 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 1) and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.

Matthew Morrison, Thursday, Oct. 16, Overture-Capitol Theater, 7:30 p.m.: For a lot of people, Matthew Morrison will forever be Mr. Schue from Glee — the earnest teacher trying to wrangle a roomful of high school divas. But Morrison’s career goes way deeper: he’s a Broadway leading man with serious pipes (Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza), a dancer, and a performer who knows how to hold a stage. His one-man show, Rhythms & Revelations, isn’t a greatest-hits set; it’s Morrison using song, dance, and storytelling to show more of himself than any scripted role ever could. Think of it as Broadway polish meets cabaret intimacy. Tickets at overture.org.

Head on a Silver Platter: In Defense of Salome, through Oct. 26, Broom Street Theater: This modern retelling of the story of Salome features a teenager who is drawn into the orbit of a right-wing podcaster — which never bodes well. Head on a Silver Platter: In Defense of Salome is written and directed by Jan Levine Thal, longtime WORT-FM radio host and writer. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; tickets at bstonline.org.

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