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Written by Michael Muckian, Contributing writer
Dec 1, 2011
Moscow Ballet's ''Great Russian Nutcracker'' comes to Milwaukee's Riverside Theater on Dec. 1. – Photo: Courtesy
Wisconsin stages will be filled with singing, dancing, acting up, acting out and other forms of merriment this holiday season. Mark your calendar and make your plans for 24 days of holiday cheer.
Here we come a caroling
"John DeMain's Christmas Spectacular" features the holiday spirit of the Madison Symphony Orchestra Dec. 2-4 at Overture Center for the Arts, Madison. Join Maestro DeMain and the MSO, soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, the Madison Symphony Chorus, the Madison Youth Choirs and the Mt. Zion Gospel Choir for an evening of holiday favorites. And don't forget your Santa hat! Details: www.madisonsymphony.org.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's "Holiday Pops Spectacular" runs Dec. 2-4 at Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee. Guest conductor Jeff Tyzik, the MSO Chorus, the Milwaukee Children's Choir and the Alleluia Ringers of Concordia University celebrate the season with carols, sing-alongs and some of the city's most festive musical holiday traditions. On Dec. 8 the MSO reappears in Holiday Pops, Too! at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. Details: www.mso.org.
Start your holiday with beloved carols and hymns, performed in the Milwaukee's breathtaking Basilica. Bel Canto Chorus, the Bel Canto Boy Choirs, and the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble join together Dec. 10-11 for "Christmas in the Basilica." Details: www.belcanto.org.
Multiple messiahs
Georg Friedrich Handel's masterpiece "The Messiah," about the life and death of Jesus Christ, is scheduled throughout the state this season, giving you multiple opportunities to stand for the "Alleluia Chorus."
UW-Parkside in Kenosha offers "The Messiah" in the acoustically perfect Frances Bedford Concert Hall under the direction of music professor James Bedford Kinchen Jr. with the Voices of Parkside and the UW-Parkside Master Singers. The show runs Dec. 4-5, but Dec. 4 is already sold out. Details: www.kenoshacvb.com.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Andrew Sewell performs "The Messiah" on Dec. 9 at Blackhawk Church in the Madison suburb of Middleton. Stunning soloists join WCO and its newly formed chorus for a beautiful rendition of this timeless classic. Details: www.wcoconcerts.org.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents "The Messiah" Dec. 14-18 at various church locations throughout Milwaukee and Hales Corners. In addition to the MSO, under the direction of guest conductor Christopher Seaman, the performances also feature the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and Florentine Opera Studio's soprano Erica Schuller, alto Kristen DiNinno, tenor Matthew Richardson and bass-baritone Dan Richardson. Details: www.mso.org.
Numerous Nutcrackers
Wisconsin ballet fans will get many chances to enjoy seasonal favorite "The Nutcracker Ballet," the immortal tale of Uncle Drosselmeyer, his young niece Clara and a magical nutcracker that comes to life, all set to composer Tchaikovsky's gorgeous score.
Moscow Ballet's "Great Russian Nutcracker" comes to Milwaukee's Riverside Theater on Dec. 1. The New York Times called the show "a visual treat that creates lifetime memories." And Russia, after all, is where the composer was from. Details: www.pabsttheater.org.
The Valley Academy for the Arts is staging "Nutcracker in the Castle" at the historic Paine Art Center in Oshkosh through Jan. 8. The center's historic rooms are elaborately decorated with scenes from the ballet, while live music and youth ballet performances bring the story to life throughout the art center, known as "the castle." Details: www.thepaine.org.
The Milwaukee Ballet, under Michael Pink's direction, performs "The Nutcracker" Dec. 10-26 in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee. Details: www.milwaukeeballet.org.
The Madison Ballet, under W. Earle Smith's direction, performs its version of "The Nutcracker" Dec. 17-26 at Overture Center for the Arts, Madison. Details: www.madisonballet.org.
Madison's Overture Center also hosts world-renowned choreographer and UW School of Dance professor Li-Chiao Ping's "The Knotcracker," a blend of adventurous dancing, humorous vignettes and insightful works that entertain and inspire. Performances run Dec. 1-4 in Promenade Hall. Details: www.lichiaopingdance.org.
Countless Christmas carols
For many, it just isn't the holidays without a heaping dose of Charles Dickens' tale of selfishness, remorse and redemption. For those who can't get their Christmas on without miserly Mr. Scrooge, crutch-saddled Tiny Tim, and some big, scary stage prop as The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, here is a list of times and places to catch "A Christmas Carol" in various versions of its Victorian glory.
The Milwaukee Rep offers its nearly month-long Scrooge-a-palooza Dec. 2-24 at Milwaukee's historic Pabst Theater. Details: www.milwaukeerep.com.
The West Bend Masonic Lodge offers its version of Dickens' classic Dec. 2-11 with a cast of local actors that last year included someone named "Kidd Beat Box" doing a hip-hop riff on the Ghost of Christmas Present. OK. Details: www.westbendchristmascarol.com.
Children's Theater of Madison brings its enduring production of the endearing tale back to the Capitol Theater stage in Madison's Overture Center for the Arts Dec. 9-23, wisely rehiring American Players Theater's James Ridge to reprise his Scrooge. Details: www.ctmtheater.org.
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton offers only one enchanted evening with "the old screw" on Dec. 15. Details: www.foxcitiespac.com.
How about irreverence?
"A Kodachrome Christmas Starring John McGivern" features Milwaukee's favorite gay native son as cable access TV hostess Earlene Hoople, the self-proclaimed "Queen of Rural Media." The hilarity runs through Dec. 31 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in Vogel Hall. Details: www.easttown.com/do/a-kodachrome-christmas-starring-john-mcgivern.
If a little bit of "God bless us, everyone" goes a long way, the Christmas season at Madison's Barrymore Theatre offers some refreshingly adult holiday alternatives.
The local traveling troupe Bricks Theatre once again brings out author and NPR commentator David Sedaris' hilariously funny holiday nightmare to life in "The Santaland Diaries" Dec. 9-11. The one-elf show wryly chronicles Sedaris' single season as one of Santa's helpers at Macy's. This is not the stuff of which holiday dreams are made.
Looking to put the "X" back into Xmas? You might enjoy "A John Waters Christmas" on Dec. 14, an unlikely evening with the alternative film director best known for the smash hit "Hairspray" and the cult classic "Pink Flamingos." The rapid-fire Baltimore bad boy may be the most unlikely holiday monologist imaginable. Waters shares his desire to give and receive perverted gifts, his religious fanaticism for Santa Claus, his unholy love of true crime holiday horror stories, and other weirdness. Details: www.barrymorelive.com.
Holiday humor
"A Christmas Carol" isn't the only stage production to grace the boards this season. Several Milwaukee companies have some stocking stuffers of the more unorthodox sort.
Off the Wall Theatre is bringing back Dale Gutzman's "Holiday Punch," described as fall-on-the-floor-funny shtick mixed with Christmas tunes and an anything-goes party atmosphere. The production runs Dec. 16-31. Bring your friends, but warn them first. Details: www.offthewalltheatre.com.
In Tandem Theater is bringing back "Scrooge in Rouge," the hilarious English music hall comedy about three performers trying to play all the parts in a musical version of "A Christmas Carol." It's funny, bawdy and an antidote for sugarplum overload. The show runs Dec. 2-31. Details: www.intanemtheatre.org.
A lot of night music
Then there are the holiday extravaganzas, programs almost too big to contain on a single stage. But somehow they manage, and here they are.
Country superstar Lee Greenwood, best known for his hit "God Bless the USA," seizes the season with two evenings of Christmas favorites Dec. 6-7 at the Northern Lights Theater in Potawatomi Bingo Casino. You can bet on a mix of both the secular and sacred here. Details: www.paysbig.com.
If you're ready to have yourself a merry little Christmas season, start it out with the "John Tesh Big Band Christmas" Dec. 9 at the Milwaukee Theatre. The two-time Grammy Award nominee alternates soulful piano solos, engaging patter and the big sounds of a 14-member band to put a little swing in the holiday season. Details: www.milwaukeetheatre.com.
As if on a seasonal cue, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra chugs back into the Bradley Center Dec. 15 with the classic "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," its traditional holiday spectacular. Climb aboard either the 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. show. Details: www.bradleycenter.com.
Silver-throated Sandi Patty joins members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for an evening of holiday favorites Dec. 17 at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater. Sing along or sit and listen. Details: www.pabsttheater.org.
