By Jessica Steinhoff
Live Music
Jon Batiste
Sept. 24 & 25, Orpheum Theater
Many people have discovered that they’re jazz fans after encountering this singer-songwriter’s music on the soundtrack to Disney’s “Soul.” With his new album, “Big Money,” he’s turning a whole lot of people on to roots music that’s built on the blues. No matter which musical genres he explores at this show, you’ll walk away a fan of his vocals, which InStyle has described as “joy personified.” madisonorpheum.com
Madi Diaz
Oct. 26, Majestic Theatre
Diaz started her career writing hits for other artists in Nashville and now she’s rocking it as a solo artist in L.A. Her 2024 album, “Weird Faith,” graced Stereogum’s best-of-the-year list and earned her two Grammy nominations, and her new release, “Fatal Optimist,” captivates with its raw emotions and stripped-down folk-pop sound. majesticmadison.com
Jeff Tweedy
Nov. 21, UW Memorial Union
The Wilco frontman gave fans of his solo work a huge gift earlier this year: “Twilight Override,” a triple album responding to the darkness and depravity he sees in current events. Tweedy has found a sliver of hope in the act of creating, envisioning it as the opposite of destruction. As he put it in a recent statement: “Creativity eats darkness.” Take in this show to see what it inspires you to create. artsticketing.wisc.edu
Layale Chaker
Jan. 16, Overture Center
This Lebanese composer and violinist weaves together jazz, traditional Arabic music and melodies she has improvised on the spot to create something spellbinding. overture.org
Elvis Costello’s Time Machine
We could fill an entire issue of the magazine with this living legend’s accomplishments and still only scratch the surface. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and his band of more than 20 years have dubbed their latest tour “Radio Soul! The Early Songs of Elvis Costello,” and will be in town on Oct. 19 at the Orpheum Theater. It revisits material from Costello’s 1977 album, “My Aim Is True,” which includes two of his most iconic songs: “Alison” and “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.”
Costello and company will also perform songs from 1986’s “Blood & Chocolate” and a few surprise numbers. What might those surprises be? We’re hoping for the Motown-esque 1979 hit “High Fidelity” and the sneering 1978 earworm “Pump It Up,” which was inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” madisonorpheum.com
Shimmy, Soar, and Snack with the Symphony
The start of Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-26 centennial season is making fans flip with two special events.
Those flips include actual acrobatics thanks to Cirque de la Symphonie, a circus arts group that collaborates with orchestras. On Sept. 20, Cirque de la Symphonie members will perform physical feats while the symphony plays dramatic music from Hollywood films such as “Vertigo” and “West Side Story.” An after party with snacks and dancing will follow.
If a sit-down affair better suits your style, consider an event the evening before, featuring three tuneful treats by Tchaikovsky, a cocktail reception and a formal Maestro’s Dinner in the Overture lobby (Sept. 19). Pianist Olga Kern, the guest soloist, is poised to shine in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. Play your cards right at the dinner and you might get to sit next to John DeMain, the master — or maestro, as it were — of ceremonies. madisonsymphony.org
Theater, Dance and Comedy
Taylor Tomlinson: Save Me
October 9 & 10, Overture Center
The hilarious host of CBS’s short-lived “After Midnight” returns to her stand-up comedy roots with a new tour. If this gig is anything like her previous ones, it may feature her misadventures in mental health care and funny-because-it’s-true observations about dating. overture.org
“The 39 Steps”
Oct. 22-Nov. 30, American Player Theatre
Four fantastic actors — Nate Burger, Casey Hoekstra, Laura Rook and Marcus Truschinski — portray more than 100 characters in this hysterical thriller. The play is based on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film of the same name, plus the 1915 John Buchan book that inspired it. As Stefon from “Saturday Night Live” might say, it has everything: villains, clowns, innkeepers, a police officer, inanimate objects that talk and cmore. americanplayers.org
Margaret Cho: Choligarchy
Dec. 7, Barrymore Theatre
The comedian, actor and activist is a master at using stand-up comedy to challenge audiences’ preconceptions about cultural identity and sexual orientation. She’s also a gifted comedic actor, stealing scene after scene in “Fire Island,” Hulu’s modern, queer retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Whether you’re seeing her for the first time or the 50th, you’re likely to leave the theater with a fresh perspective and a case of the hiccups. barrymorelive.com
“The Everlasting Faint”
Feb. 13 & 15, Overture Center
Attend the first official performance of a spooky new opera by Scott Gendel, a Monona-based composer who’s also Madison Opera’s principal vocal coach. Based on the 1897 Greenbrier Ghost case, the story centers on a mother (Katherine Pracht) and the ghost of her daughter (Tori Tedeschi Adams), who visits to share a chilling piece of information. madisonopera.org
“Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo”
Feb. 26, Overture Center
After Madison Ballet reveals ballerinas’ tough side in “Rock the Ballet” (Oct. 10-12, MYARTS), this troupe of tutu-clad men will show just how silly they can be. Though slapstickery and preposterous personas are part of the package, this isn’t just a comedy routine. These drag ballerinas have serious dance chops. madisonballet.org
“ChoreograpHER”
April 3-5, MYARTS
This performance celebrates the innovation and ingenuity of female choreographers, who are surprisingly rare in the world of professional dance. The program includes world premieres of works by Endalyn Taylor and Ilana Goldman, plus local debuts of creations by Caili Quan, Stephanie Martinez and Nathalia Janvion. Stick around afterward on opening night for a discussion with the choreographers or on closing night for a reception marking dancer Shannon Quirk’s 15 years with the company. madisonballet.org
“Lady Disdain”
April 9-26, Overture Center
Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” gets a fierce makeover in Lauren Gunderson’s new play about turning a steamy fantasy-romance series into audiobooks. The perfect voices belong to exes who can’t help sparring with each other, so drama and hilarity ensue. With artistic director Jen Uphoff Gray directing, this production should be the star of Forward Theater’s new season. forwardtheater.com
Child’s Play
The Children’s Theater of Madison is ringing in its 60th anniversary season with a lineup of family favorites and premieres.
In October, Roald Dahl’s “Matilda the Musical” (Oct. 4-19) returns, with high-energy dance performances and catchy songs.
Also in October, “Winnie the Pooh (And His Pals Too!)” (Oct. 11-19) will hit the stage.
Lovers of Mo Willems’ works will enjoy “The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza” (Nov. 29-Dec. 1), a brand-new musical.
December brings CTM’s holiday tradition “A Christmas Carol,” (Dec. 6-21) set in Dickensian Victorian England. February threads in the epic fantasy “The Hobbit” (Feb. 7-22), full of trolls, dragons and adventure.
In 2026, CTM presents the “rolling world premiere” of “Tiara’s Hat Parade” (March 7-22), an exciting one-woman show. The season concludes with Disney’s “Newsies” (May 2-17), the musical inspired by historic newsboys who stand up for justice.
Visual Art, Books and Film
Disney and Pixar: “Toy Story” in Concert
Oct. 5, Overture Center
Cheer on Woody the toy cowboy and revel in the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” at this concert paired with a screening of the 1995 animated adventure. madisonsymphony.org
Fringe Festival
Feb. 28-March 1, Overture Center
Throw propriety out the window, and revel in weird and wonderful acts of creativity at this weekend event inspired by the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The performers can answer questions you never thought to ask before. Baby Wants Candy tackles “What might a totally improvised musical sound like?” and Chris Grace teases laughs out of weighty inquiries like “Can we enjoy life if we know how it ends?” You can even find the answer to “What if two dudes did a magic show in the nude?” when “America’s Got Talent” alums The Naked Magicians take the stage. overture.org
“An Evening with David Sedaris”
Oct. 22, Overture Center
Sedaris’ 2024 release “Pretty Ugly” is a delightful departure from his tragicomic personal essays. The collaboration with “Olivia” author-illustrator Ian Falconer was marketed as a “beautifully gross picture book” for young children, but this tale of an ogre who wakes up with the face of — gasp! — a human girl is for anyone eager to redefine what it means to be beautiful in western culture. Meanwhile, his 2022 essay collection, “Happy-Go-Lucky,” mines comedic gold from two heavy subjects: the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of his father. Whether Sedaris explores these works or shares a new set of yarns at this visit, expect to be dazzled by both the details and his delivery. overture.org
The Road to a Pulitzer Prize
Percival Everett’s “James,” the UW’s 2025-26 Go Big Read selection, imagines “Huckleberry Finn” in a new light, giving Jim more control over his choices and, by extension, the story.
“It turns a familiar American story upside down and shows us, with the power of dialogue and perspective, an entirely different way of viewing the same world,” says Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, noting how “James” encourages readers to “reflect on how stories are told and whose voices are heard.”
This extraordinary novel took home the Pulitzer Prize in the spring. Now Madison gets an equally extraordinary opportunity: meeting its creator at a keynote speech co-hosted by the Wisconsin Book Festival on Nov. 7 at Union South. wisconsinbookfestival.org
Book Smarts
The Wisconsin Book Festival brings book-lovers together again for a four-day celebration, this year from Oct. 23-26. With a mix of in-person and virtual events that are free and accessible to the public, award-winning authors of all genres — fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children/teen and more — host readings and events. Although the organization also hosts free year-round author events (see right), the annual fest is always a must-do for bibliophiles. wisconsinbookfestival.org
Toshiko Takaezu’s Sculpture Revolution
Abstract artist Toshiko Takaezu experienced an awakening when she visited Japan to explore her Okinawan heritage in 1955. There, she studied traditional pottery techniques that came to shape her signature “closed form” ceramic sculptures. In “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” (Sept. 8-Dec. 23, Chazen Museum of Art), some of her creations are small enough to hold in one hand and others are expansive, forming entire worlds for viewers to experience. Takaezu insisted that memories we hold within ourselves, in “the dark space that you can’t see,” were the most compelling force behind much of her work. Her powerful perspective helped many people conceive of clay as an expressive medium for fine art, not just something for making soup bowls.
Takaezu’s philosophy extended to her classrooms at UW-Madison, where she taught from 1954 to 1955, as well as the Cleveland Institute of Art, Princeton and beyond. She was known for comparing glazing to dancing and demanding that new students follow her directions to a tee. Case in point: She made her most famous pupil, Brooke Shields, trim her fingernails before touching the clay. Takaezu also taught many professional visual artists, including UW alum and West Coast Funk sculptor Clayton Bailey. chazen.wisc.edu
