Fall Arts Preview

Madison is bursting at the seams with visual art, dance, theater, comedy and film

Isthmus pokes its tentacles in all aspects of Madison culture in this special issue, as we go to our trusted arts writers to ask what’s got them excited this season. From apocalyptic art exhibits to innovative dance performances to… well, duh … Hamilton, you have no excuse to be bored. TV can wait! (Yeah, we’re looking at you.)

ART

A veritable visual feast

By Michael Muckian

For all the art you can handle, clear your schedule for Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s Gallery Night, Oct. 4, with exhibits in some 70 galleries, museums, coffee shops and other outlets citywide. Visit as many as possible, then return to MMoCA for an afterparty that runs from 9-11 p.m. with food, beverages, arts activities and DJ Femme Noir.

Hot on its heels comes MMoCA’s 2019 Wisconsin Triennial, a juried show of 34 state artists and collectives working in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, photography, performance and sound. The Triennial opens with an Oct. 18 reception, and runs through Feb. 16.

Striking apocalyptic imagery invades the Chazen Museum of Art on the UW-Madison campus Oct. 5 with phantasmagoric images in Fabrice Monteiro’s exhibit, The Prophecy. The Belgian-Beninese photographer/industrial engineer presents allegorical images of a frightening global future from the most polluted corners of the Earth. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Boasting bigger, better and brighter lights, Olbrich Botanical Gardens’ fifth annual GLEAM once again illuminates the night and the conservatory’s 16 acres of gardens in new and inventive ways. This year’s event, which runs through Oct. 26, includes a large, interactive Great Lawn installation, video mapping and a new neon work.

In response to the emerald ash borer infestation, a dozen area artists have turned reclaimed wood from Madison’s diseased ash trees into beautiful works of art in Phoenix from the Ashes, on display through Oct. 27 in the Playhouse Gallery on Overture Center’s lower level. This unique partnership between the Madison Arts Commission, Madison Parks and Wisconsin Urban Wood makes the best of a negative situation.

Faces of Railroading: Railroading and the Making of Madison and Dane County is a photographic exhibit running through Jan. 26 at the Dane County Regional Airport that aims to build greater appreciation of the timeworn transportation mode. It’s curated by Tandem Press and the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.

Native American textiles are the focus of Intersections: Indigenous Textiles of the Americas on display Sept. 5-Dec. 6 at the UW School of Human Ecology in Nancy Nicholas Hall. Co-curators Kendra Greendeer (Ho-Chunk) and Dakota Mace (Diné) explore material relationships among cultures through textiles and objects from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection and the Little Eagle Arts Foundation, a Ho-Chunk arts organization.

Rural scenes and animal imagery fill the Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery in Overture Center during joint solo shows by Wisconsin artists Craig Blietz and S.V. Medaris. Blietz specializes in painting sheep, cows and goats, while Medaris, a printmaker who runs a small Driftless Area farm, captures a variety of farm animals in color and black and white. The exhibit runs Nov. 15-Jan. 26.

DANCE

Channeling the “blessed unrest”

By Katie Reiser

This season, I’ll be using dance as a distraction from my melancholia since our daughter left for college. Interestingly, the prompt for her first freshman English assignment incorporated a Martha Graham quote about keeping the artistic channel open: “There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissastifaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching …”

Lucky for us, our local dance companies and choreographers are still motivated by that blessed unrest.

This fall, several professors from the UW-Madison Dance Department are producing new concerts. Associate professor Peggy Choy presents FLIGHT: torn like a rose at Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space Oct. 31-Nov. 2. The production is inspired by a 12th century Persian tale expressed through Afro-Asian dance fusion. Choy is a compelling choreographer — I can still recall moments from her 2007 Gateless Gate concert.

I’m looking forward to Kate Corby & Dancers with The Seldoms (also at Margaret H. Doubler Performance Space) Nov. 14-16. Corby’s early background in theater still informs her work, and The Seldoms, a Chicago based company, have a knack for creating profoundly satisfying productions combining dance and theater. Corby has proven to be a thoughtful collaborator, so I’m confident that the creative union of these two companies will be fruitful.

Professor Li Chiao-Ping’s company will be presenting 7DaysDancing, an array of “free dance adventures” at locations around the UW-Madison campus and community that will run from December through April. Her aim is to activate community spaces in inventive and inviting ways. Four of the events (Dec. 16, Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and Mar. 11) will be at the Chazen Museum, which Li describes as a great bridge between the campus and community. You’ll also have free access to Li Chiao-Ping Dance’s riveting work at Lathrop Hall and the Madison Masonic Temple.

Martha Graham: Power and Passion at Overture’s Promenade Hall Oct. 18-20  is the first of Kanopy Dance Company’s four productions in its 2019-20 season. Accomplished young dancers from the Martha Graham School in New York City who have been selected to perform with Graham 2 will be appearing with Kanopy. The Graham School’s program director Lone Kjaer Larsen will present a new work, and Kanopy dancers more than hold their own when performing with visiting dancers and choreographers.  

Kanopy’s second offering is Winter Fantasia, which runs Dec. 13-15, also in Promenade Hall. This production is grounded by two festive tales, “Once Upon a Winter’s Eve” and “The Norse Tree of Life.”

Soon after the annual run of Madison Ballet’s colorful, crowd-pleasing Nutcracker at Overture Hall (Dec. 20-28), its Jan. 17-25 production of Winter Works will be presented at the Bartell Theatre. I find it an ideal setting for dance because you can see the prowess of the performers up close. I’ve been struck by the talent of the dancers and the interesting repertory choices at these more intimate Bartell performances.

I’m also up for Dance Wisconsin’s Illuminations, a collection of new works, on Oct. 5 at Madison College’s Mitby Theater and its Nutcracker Dec. 14-15 at Memorial Union’s Shannon Hall.

The excellent local ballet company Magnum Opus continues its third season opens on Sept. 22 at the Fluno Center with its holiday offering, Full Light, at several area stages in December.

COMEDY

Funny stuff for strange times

By Josh Heath

Autumn is fast fall-ing upon us. Tee hee! Oh, okay, I’ll admit it: I’m no professional comedian, but thankfully, Madison has plenty of those coming around for the next few months. You won’t have to settle for my “humor,” as it were.

Right away, here comes former Madisonian Geoffrey Asmus, returning to his comedic birthplace. He’s really been taking off lately, going to Just For Laughs in Montreal and appearing on the multiplatform Laugh Out Loud network. Expect awkward self-reflection, a boner joke or two, dry sarcasm and specific references to Deuteronomy. He’ll be at the Comedy Club on State Sept. 26-27.

You can follow up biblical wisdom with some worldly knowledge. Locally, for a wizened outsider perspective, we look to Colombian-born outsider artist Frandu. But on Sept. 28 at the Barrymore, we can see Ismo Leikola, Finnish-born international sensation. He made his own sitcom in the early 2000s, created his English-language U.S. debut in 2014, and has had audiences rolling with his dissection of how dumb English can really be sometimes.

If you’re looking for a looser, goofier experience, we have fan favorite Rory Scovel coming back to the Comedy Club on State Oct. 10-12. He’s a true absurdist, mixing personal philosophy, manic highwire energy, and delivering zig-zagging punchlines that leave you guessing … or wheezing.

Jay Pharoah, famous for his spot-on impressions and hilarious character work on Saturday Night Live, is taking the stage for the weekend of Nov. 7 at the Comedy Club. His stand-up has been getting rave reviews for years now, and his affable nature makes his segues into crowd work delightful. SNL fans won’t be let down because, yes, he does bust out Denzel every now and then.

We also have Hari Kondabolu arriving at the Comedy Club on Nov. 21 for a weekend run. He’s been busy the last few years after releasing the film, The Problem With Apu, and recording a Netflix special last year. Now he’s back to educate the masses about racial injustices with some of the most nuanced material out there.

If none of this is up your alley, Madisonians put on plenty of shows themselves. There’s, sincerely, a stand-up showcase almost every single night of the week. Check out LocalMadisonComedy.com to plan your outings. And Monkey Business Institute and Atlas Improv have improv every single weekend for not a lot of dough. A simple search of the Isthmus events calendar can reveal troves of treasures in our own backyard.

STAGE

The elephant (or founding father) in the room

By Gwendolyn Rice

Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you’ve been waiting for! One of the most anticipated tours in Broadway history, Hamilton is finally coming to Overture Center. The young, scrappy and hungry immigrant who played a pivotal role in shaping our country’s government and financial systems, Alexander Hamilton (Joseph Morales), will take the stage Nov. 19-Dec. 8, along with 34 other singers and dancers in the “Philip cast” (the touring casts are named after Hamilton’s children). By now, Hamilfans know the cast album by heart, they’ve read the Hamiltome, some have probably even read the Ron Chernow biography that Lin-Manuel Miranda based his extraordinary Pulitzer-, Tony- and Grammy-winning musical on. But there’s nothing like being “in the room where it happens.” Wholly original, wildly entertaining and presented at the breakneck speed of 144 genius words per minute, every performance is a triumph for the cast and audience alike. Go see it if you can.

Forward Theater produced a stunning production of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or the vibrator play in 2010. This season, Nov. 7-24, the company is diving back into Ruhl’s substantial catalogue with To Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, a semi-autobiographical story of four siblings dealing with their complicated relationships, before, during and after their father’s death. Expect elegant language and abstract images to permeate the play, as is Ruhl’s style, rather than a straightforward family drama. The Wisconsin premiere features many of Forward’s founding members in the cast, including James Buske, Celia Klehr, Sam White, Susan Sweeney, Michael Herold and Norman Moses.

At first glance it would seem that the 5-year-old Roald Dahl heroine, Matilda, had gotten a really rotten deal in life. Her fast-talking, crook father and shallow, self-absorbed mother are annoyed with the young girl’s intelligence and her fascination with reading. Her mean and vindictive teacher, Miss Trunchbull, is annoyed with all children, but particularly the bright ones — like Matilda.

But the little girl prevails, through her stunning imagination, a talent for telekinesis, and the friendship she cultivates with another teacher, Miss Honey. Based on the book of the same name, the Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl’s Matilda, The Musical, courses with high energy song-and-dance numbers, and the most enchanting class of underdog students since Harry Potter entered Hogwarts. This Children’s Theater of Madison production, Oct. 11-27, is directed by local favorite Brian Cowing and should be a magical, uber-theatrical show.

This fall, Strollers Theater is taking audiences back to 1869, with Jacklyn Backhaus’s unorthodox look at an American moment, Men on Boats. The historically based tale follows 10 explorers as they travel through Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico — making it all the way to the Grand Canyon — under the guidance of a one-armed Civil War Veteran named John Wesley Powell.

This story could have been told as a cheerful, Disneyfied faux history, a big Hollywood Western, or a violent homage to rugged men following Manifest Destiny a la The Revenant. Happily, it is none of the above. Instead, these conquering white male characters are all played by women —  who were traditionally left out of history book narratives — which should make for an interesting journey. It’s at the Bartell Theatre, Nov. 8-23.

Here is some good news for Madison, and in particular for the group of UW-Madison professors and students who held a “teach in” last spring in front of Overture Center, in response to the venue programming racially and culturally insensitive stories The King and I and Miss Saigon only a few weeks apart. Kathie Rasmussen Women’s Theatre is producing Straight White Men Dec. 6-21, a play by Korean American playwright Young Jean Lee. Although the story doesn’t center on the experiences of Asians or Asian Americans, it does examine cultural and racial bias — traditional white male privilege — and whether one can escape its long-term effects. And what better time to hash all this out than during a family get-together where a father and his three sons are celebrating Christmas?

In an age of sequels and prequels, playwright Bruce Norris decided to write both, in his Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play Clybourne Park — a pair of stories that could have taken place before and after Lorriane Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun. The first act is set in 1959 and focuses on the first black family to move into a white neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side. The next act fast-forwards to 2009, and the same house is sold to a young white couple, as the traditionally black neighborhood is gentrifying. UW-Madison’s Department of Theater and Drama is taking on this difficult play about family, race, connection and opportunity. Chicago-based director Michael Cotey will direct the show, which runs Nov. 14-24.

FILM

Treats for cinephiles

By James Kreul

In the commercial theaters, the fall season marks the transition from blockbuster comic book movies like Avengers: Endgame to the serious Oscar-bait comic book movies like Joker. But our local venues dedicated to film beyond franchises will offer a wide range of treasures in the coming months.

The UW Cinematheque schedule (cinema.wisc.edu) has many highlights. While a major retrospective of the films by the late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami currently tours the country, the Cinematheque will present a sample of his work with “Abbas Kiarostami: The Koker Trilogy and More,” through Oct. 11. Kiarostami’s Koker trilogy — Where is the Friend’s House? (1987); And Life Goes On (1992); and Through the Olive Trees (1994) — confirmed Kiarostami as a major filmmaker and Iran’s as a vital national cinema. One film in the trilogy contains my all-time favorite final shot in a film. Which one? Join me at Cinematheque to find out.

Other Cinematheque programs include a visit from New York Times critic Manohla Dargis, who will curate an evening of silent films directed by women on Oct. 31. An appreciation of documentarian Julia Reichert’s career begins Nov.  2 with Growing Up Female (1972). The Emmy-award-winning and Oscar-nominated Reichert will also visit to introduce her 1983 feature Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists on Nov. 16.

Schawn Belston, an archivist at 20th Century Fox, will share several classic films including Leave Her to Heaven (1941) on Nov. 9. Even if you’ve seen the Gene Tierney star vehicle on television, you need to see Leon Shamroy’s stunning cinematography projected in 35mm to appreciate how Hollywood transformed melodrama into high art. The Fox series will also feature two films by underappreciated director Roland Brown, whose brief career before Hollywood’s production code included Quick Millions (1931) and Blood Money (1936), both screening Dec. 6. 

Off campus, your best bet for international art cinema, the genre least likely to get a commercial run in town, is Spotlight Cinema at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. The complete schedule is not finalized, but early in the series Spotlight will screen Lucio Castro’s End of the Century, which starts with a casual hookup between two men in Barcelona and then plays fast and loose with time and narrative structure. The German drama In My Room, on Oct. 30, follows a man who wakes up one day to discover that all the rest of the humans have apparently disappeared. And the Romanian black comedy I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians, showing on Nov. 6, questions how mass murder should be represented, as a theater director tackles the question of Romania’s alliance with Nazi Germany.

Even AMC, New Vision and Marcus theaters have upped their game for repertory programming, so keep checking the “event cinema” tabs on their websites. Highlights include several Studio Ghibli films (Spirited Away in October, Princess Mononoke in November) and anniversary presentations of Alien (Oct. 13 and 16), The Godfather, Part II (November 10, 11, 13) and Meet Me in St. Louis (Dec. 8 and 11).