From opera to ghost lights

More Madison institutions make the jump to virtual productions in Isthmus Picks for Oct. 22-29

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The print version of Isthmus remains on hiatus as we reconfigure ourselves as a nonprofit news organization. We hope it's handy for you to find the Picks in a single weekly post. Of course, the individual Picks can still be found in the usual places online: collected here, and sprinkled throughout all the events.

Acideon, Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 pm: Every Thursday for the past couple months, Madison-based electronic artist Acideon has been hosting an early-evening edition of the Crucible dance night Insidious. Hosted by the venue's Twitch page, Acideon spins hard-edged dance music, industrial beats, goth and more; for a sample of past streams, visit Soundcloud.

Milwaukee Film Festival. Through Oct. 29: Two utterly essential documentaries are part of this year's digital edition of the Milwaukee Film Festival: Rebuilding Paradise, Ron Howard's account of Californians attempting to rebuild after the devastating 2018 wildfire; and John Lewis: Good Trouble, about the late great U.S. senator (pictured). The event features 197 titles in myriad genres. The full schedule is available at mkefilm.org/mff/films, along with a PDF film guide. Passes are available ($160), and individual tickets are $8 per film, and can be shared with household members. Pop some popcorn and settle in.

Food Truck Fridays, Friday, Oct. 23, Alliant Energy Center-Willow Island, 4-8 pm: Food Truck Fridays at the Alliant Energy Center were a bright spot in an otherwise tough year for food carts. These gatherings on Willow Island capitalized on what makes the carts good for pandemic dining: they're used to doing carryout and they are all outdoors. Check out the final two Fridays of the event (through Oct. 30), when nine food carts will be in residence: Jolly Frog, Just Veggiez, Pancho's Tacos, Toast, LT's Aloha Wagon, Taiwan Little Eats, Banzo, JD's and Happy Kitchen. Parking is free. Bring your own chairs and blankets if you want to eat there.

The Sessions, Friday, Oct. 23, 5:15 pm: As with most of our Madison summer rituals, the annual concert series at McPike Park didn't happen this year. However, the organizers did host some socially distanced shows at Garver Feed Mill this fall. Next up is a livestream concert from the stage of North Street Cabaret, with sets by Sean Michael Dargan at 5:15 pm, Madison Choro Ensemble (pictured) at 6:45 pm, and Tani Diakite at 8:15 pm. Also featured is an auction including items gathered for this summer's canceled Sessions concerts; online bids for the auction items are currently being accepted, and the auctions will end live in between bands. Proceeds benefit Common Wealth Development. (Editor's note: updated time and lineup.)

Breese Screamins Field, Friday-Saturday & Thursday, Oct. 23-24 & 29, Breese Stevens Field, 6:30-10 pm: Usually October is a time for frights not related to current events. Big Top Baseball President Vern Stenman reports that "there are definitely spirits of Madison’s past at Breese," and Big Top is showing off the historic landmark's ghosts with a socially distanced haunted house-style event on weekends through Halloween. Ticket sales are online only for time slots each half hour, and all participants must wear a mask. For those worried about both frights and COVID-19, know that the haunters and the haunted will be on opposite sides of a glass enclosure.

Moon Over Monona Terrace, Friday, Oct 23, 7:30 pm: Who among us has not, at some point since last March, turned to gaze up at the night sky? We're not going to presume to know what kind of existential thoughts came to your mind, but we are willing to bet they were deeper than "Is that Cassiopeia?" Now, thanks to virtual skywatching with the Madison Astronomical Society, you can at least have that question answered, if not "What does all this mean?" Members of the society will guide participants across the night sky, explaining the moon, the stars, and whatever other celestial events might be happening that evening. A live telescope feed, weather permitting, is on the docket. RSVP for link.

Acts to Grind: COVID 19 Edition, Oct. 23–Nov. 2: Encore Studio for the Arts, one of the nation's only professional theater companies for people with disabilities, is forging ahead during the pandemic and offering an online production that includes music, classic repertory and newly created short plays. Based on our prior experience, we think they are bound to be edgy, funny and touching in equal measure. The new material includes such plays as “A Call of COVID Concern,” “Decision 2020” and “Masks Suck.” One segment is called "COVIDance." There is a suggested donation of $5-20 per person.

Chris Powers, Friday, Oct. 23, 7:30 pm: Guitarist Chris Powers remains one of Madison's foremost proponents of traditional music, as a player (most recently in Graminy and Old Tin Can String Band), educator (with UW-Madison Continuing Studies and as a bluegrass jam leader), and radio host (Mud Acres Bluegrass Special on WORT-FM). But it's fairly rare to hear a solo concert by Powers, which makes this set recorded for the Wild Hog in the Woods Coffeehouse Friday streaming series a special occasion.

I Wish It So: Marc Blitzstein — The Man in His Music, Friday, Oct. 23, 8 pm: I Wish It So is a concert recording featuring UW-Madison graduate students performing the works of one of this country's most complicated composers. Marc Blitzstein, author of The Cradle Will Rock, was a member of the American Communist Party, an Air Force soldier, and an out gay man. His songs are interspersed with letters, working notes and narration written by University Opera director David Ronis. The song rights were available only for a one-day window for streaming so don't delay. See Catherine Capellaro's story on the production.

K.I.L.O. aka SkitL'z, Saturday, Oct. 24, 6:30 pm: Cargo Coffee East has remained a constant in the livestream concert scene during the pandemic. This week brings a set by veteran hip-hop artist K.I.L.O. aka SkitL'z, recently awarded Hip-Hop Performer of the Year for the second year in a row at the 2020 Madison Area Music Awards. Watch on Facebook Live.

Patti LuPone, Saturday, Oct. 24, 7 pm: Overture is presenting this ticketed livestream as part of the Women of Broadway series, and few can approach Patti LuPone when it comes to theater grand dame status. She's well known for playing the role of Mama Rose in Gypsy; she played the title role in Marc Blitzstein's Regina; and she is a staple of Stephen Sondheim's musicals. And now she's coming to your home theater to belt out hits from Broadway and pop music, interspersed with personal anecdotes from her storied life. As an audience member, you have a chance to email questions to LuPone to answer during the livestream.

Kyle Ketelsen + Emily Secor, Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 pm: Madison Opera recently announced that its production of She Loves You has moved to February 2022. But don't despair, opera fans: You can still enjoy Madison Opera's virtual fall season, including this Saturday's premiere of a tribute concert to Giorgio Tozzi, a legendary bass for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and winner of multiple Grammy Awards as a recording artist. Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, who studied with Tozzi at Indiana University, will be joined by soprano Emily Secor, a Madison Opera studio artist in 2019-2020. Buy a subscription here to receive a link to the concert.

From Here on Out, Sunday, Oct. 25, Marƶeń, 1-5 pm: Integrated Art Group and Café CODA are collaborating on this exhibit celebrating Black lives and examining how artists are interpreting current events, on display at IAG's Marƶeń showroom (and online) from Oct. 25-March 1. The reception on Sunday is RSVP only with sessions at 1 or 3 pm, and features music by Hanah Jon Taylor and a painting demo by Deerfield artist Tony Catteruccia (exhibit co-curator with Margaret LeMay). To RSVP for the reception and find out about more virtual events, see integratedartllc.com.

Madison Mondays, Monday, Oct. 26, 7 pm: The fall 2020 Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program from the UW-Madison Division of the Arts features Michele Byrd-McPhee, a choreographer, educator and founder of the Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival. Along with teaching a course this semester, Byrd-McPhee hosts a series of public events with guest artists, including this conversation with poet, recording artist and activist Ursula Rucker. Find the livestream on Facebook Live or register to participate via Zoom.

UW Diversity Forum, Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 27-28, 8:30 am: This annual symposium hosted by the UW-Madison Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement transitions to a virtual format, open to all, on the topic "The Pandemic Effect: Exposing Racism and Inequities." Keynotes are at 9 am, and will be given by the authors of acclaimed bestsellers on racial inequality: Tuesday features Robin DiAngelo (pictured, author of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism) and Wednesday's speaker is Austin Channing Brown (I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness). Breakout sessions follow each day's keynotes. Find the full schedule and registration info at diversity.wisc.edu.

Crossroads of Ideas, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5 pm: The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation's Crossroads lecture series for October features "From Climate Change to the Coronavirus: What we Can Learn from Public Debates About Science in the U.S." Discussing this very timely topic will be Department of Life Sciences Communication professor Dietram Scheufele and Kendra Pierre-Louis, this semester's UW Science Writer in Residence, author of Green Washed: Why We Can't Buy Our Way to a Green Planet, and currently a reporter for the podcast How to Save a Planet. Register here to receive a link to the livestream.

Madison Bicycle Adventure Trail Engagement Meeting, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 pm: Weird thing about city meetings — it's much easier to participate in them now that they're on Zoom...and you have nothing else to do. Try this one, which concerns a new off-road bicycle trail network initiative in the city. While Madison has a lot of asphalt bike paths and lanes, singletrack paths and other natural surface trails in town are hard to find. (Legal ones, anyway.) In this public informational meeting (the final of three October sessions), members of the city of Madison Parks Division will make a short presentation on the project, followed by two 15-minute breakout sessions and a q&a. Register for the Zoom link here.

Wisconsin People & Ideas contest reading, Thursday, Oct. 29, 5 pm: We don't say this to be negative at all, but a fiction and poetry reading is the kind of event that translates very well to a Crowdcast-type environment, as opposed to, say, a virtual tour through an art gallery, or a nature hike. You're getting all the words, and the author's personality comes through pretty well unscathed! Tune in, log on and bliss out with this reading from winners of this year's statewide Wisconsin People & Ideas fiction and poetry contests. Readings include Jacquelyn Thomas of Dodgeville reading her first-place story, "Junk Shed"; Jennifer Morales of Viroqua reading her second-place story, "Wiseacres"; and poetry readings from first-, second- and third-place winners Susan Martell Huebner of Mukwonago, Kathryn Gahl of Appleton, and Dominic W. Holt (pictured) of Monona. It's a great time to listen to the voices of our neighbors near and far. Join the event here.

Under the Ghost Light, Thursday, Oct. 29, 8 pm: Theaters are always haunted, it seems, and Overture is no exception. This interactive virtual event is more than just spooky stories. You will experience apparitions, cold spots, unexplained creaks, energy, movements and otherworldly Overture lore — like the story of booking agent Timothy Hergor, who died in the Capitol Theater in the 1920s. Is he the one turning on the ghost light? Tickets are $10 per household, and all sales benefit Overture Center as it continues through an extended intermission due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommended for those 16 and older.