By Jessica Steinhoff | Photo courtesy Madison Ballet
THEATER, DANCE AND COMEDY
CTM: “Calabasas Street”
March 12-27, Madison Youth Arts Center (MYARTS)
A chance encounter in a neighbor’s backyard leads young Domingo Sanchez to discover the transformative power of art. Told in English and Spanish, this performance also offers sensory-friendly accommodations. ctmtheather.org
Tig Notaro
March 16, Orpheum Theater
Notaro is a master of deadpan delivery, which shines in her stand-up sets, her podcast “Don’t Ask Tig” and her semi-autobiographical TV show, “One Mississippi.” She’s also inspired many with her bravery, candidly discussing her breast cancer diagnosis on stage. madisonorpheum.com
Madison Ballet’s “Turning Pointe”
March 25-27 & April 1-3, Overture Center
Madison Ballet bids farewell to Artistic Director Sara Stewart Schumann with a program that pays homage to the past with Gerald Arpino’s 1986 Birthday Variations and looks to the future with a restaging of works from “Lift Every Voice,” the popular film series the company launched in 2021. overture.org
Fortune Feimster: “2 Sweet 2 Salty”
March 25, Barrymore Theatre
After a successful run as nurse Collette Kimball-Kinney on “The Mindy Project,” this lovable comic has landed all sorts of television work in the past few years, including roles in “Tales of the City” and “The L Word: Generation Q.” For a taste of her confessional style of stand-up, watch “Sweet & Salty,” her 2020 Netflix special. barrymorelive.com
VISUAL ART AND FILM
Black Arts Matter Festival
March 23-26, Memorial Union
Organized by slam poet Shasparay Irvin (above), who got her start in UW-Madison’s First Wave program, this event showcases a range of Black artists, voices and art forms while asking audiences what it means to include and celebrate people of color and their creative work. union.wisc.edu
Wisconsin Film Festival
April 7-14, multiple venues
With roughly 150 film screenings spread across eight days, this fest is bound to make you think, laugh, cry and cheer — possibly all at once. Whether you gravitate toward avant- garde debuts or critically acclaimed classics, you’ll find something that piques your interest. Be sure to check out some of the Wisconsin’s Own selections, which feature filmmakers, settings and themes from the Badger State. wifilmfest.org
LIVE MUSIC
Madison Symphony Orchestra with Gil Shaham
March 11-13 Overture Center
One of the world’s most celebrated violinists visits Madison to solo on Beethoven’s one and only violin concerto. Rachmaninoff’s “Isle of the Dead” and Kodály’s “Háry János Suite” round out this must-see — and must-hear — program. overture.org
Greta Van Fleet
March 22, Kohl Center
If Led Zeppelin were founded by Gen Z musicians, they might sound like this bluesy, hard-rocking crew. Frontman Josh Kiszka’s vocals bear an uncanny resemblance to Robert Plant’s, and he and his bandmates are in their element at arena shows like this Kohl Center gig. go.wisc.edu/gretavanfleettix2022
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra with Eric Silberger
March 25, Overture Center
Craving more violin pyrotechnics? This concert, featuring Paganini’s fiery “Violin Concerto No. 1” is just the ticket. The evening’s soloist is a prizewinning virtuoso who performs on a rare J.B. Guadagnini violin crafted in 1757. overture.org
ELEVATING BLACK ARTISTS
Exploring the depth and range of art being created in our state is the goal of the Wisconsin Triennial, a grand exhibition the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art mounts every three years. In 2022 the Triennial turns its attention to artists who are Black, female and often overlooked with a thought-provoking exhibition titled “Ain’t I a Woman?” (April 23-Oct. 7). Curated by Fatima Laster of Milwaukee’s 5 Points Gallery & Studios, it highlights works by nearly two dozen artists.
The name of the exhibition comes from abolitionist Sojourner Truth and feminist bell hooks, explains Laster.
“It asks, ‘Don’t I deserve to be acknowledged, seen, given worth and recognized as a human or spiritual being, and as the positive contributor I am?’ The exhibition highlights the resilience and brilliance that exists and persists in spite of [these barriers],” she says. mmoca.org
