Ada Deer: A Tribute to Her Enduring Legacy, Monday, Nov. 11, UW Pyle Center, 4:30 p.m.: It’s time to recognize the good work of Ada Deer, the Menominee tribe member and Wisconsinite who was the first Native woman to lead the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Deer also ran for secretary of state of Wisconsin and for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing both but never tiring of advocacy for Indigenous people’s rights. The UW American Indian & Indigenous Studies program asks for preregistration if possible.
Chowders for Change, Monday, Nov. 11, Crystal Corner Bar, 6:30 p.m.: It’s the perfect time for some chowdah especially because this event (marking Armistice/Veterans Day) benefits Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, which has been working in areas around the world to feed people after disasters and during ongoing crises, recently in Gaza and in North Carolina in areas hard-hit by Hurricane Helene. Soups are from the cooks at Tempest, Garver Feed Mill and Lao Laan-Xang. But that’s not all; the night features music by Tani Diakite with Andy Ewen, No Name String Band and Dry River Goats.
John Murray Mason, through Nov. 30, U-Frame-It-East: Nobody knows Madison’s trees like photographer John Murray Mason. For the last two decades, Mason has been capturing the sculptural beauty of Madison’s trees in black-and-white. This exhibit, held in conjunction with PhotoMidwest, accompanies his new book Madison Trees in Season, which features 51 photos of Madison trees. Is your favorite among them?
Lil Darkie, Tuesday, Nov. 12, Sylvee, 7 p.m.: Lil Darkie is a stage name of Joshua Hamilton, who also performed as Brahman and was a founder of the Spider Gang collective. The most recent Lil Darkie album, 2023’s The Future is Dark, lives up to its title, presenting a dystopian vision of modern society with potent musical experiments blending rap, metal, trap and other genres. With MKUltra. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
Consider the Consequences! An Interactive Gamebook of Life, Tuesday, Nov. 12, Arts + Literature Laboratory, 7 p.m.: The “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series was long predated by Mary Alden Hopkins and Doris Webster’s 1930 interactive novel Consider the Consequences! Falconbridge Players continues its run of dramatic readings of forgotten works that have recently come out of copyright. Audience members vote on the fate of each character at various points in the script. RSVP at falconbridgeplayers.org.
Old Oaks EP release, Tuesday, Nov. 12, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: Old Oaks features the songs of singer-guitarist Frank Laufenberg, of late performed as a duo with saxophonist Daniel Haschke. Both are also members of funky Madison band Wurk, which has been busy playing around the Midwest recently to support the sparkling new single “Song for Squares.” It turns out they have also been busy working on new music for Old Oaks, and the new EP No One Has Nothing to Do will be celebrated with a release party. The EP cut “Expired” is a perfect introduction to Old Oaks’ sound, mixing folk and jazz in a playfully winding arrangement that gives all the players room to shine. The duo will be joined for this show by longtime bassist Claire Kannapell and Zac Curtes on electric guitar. Dana Perry opens. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.
Jerrod Carmichael, Nov. 13-14, Comedy on State: Jerrod Carmichael moved to Los Angeles to start a career in comedy, which turned out to be a good idea; his first stand-up special, Love at the Store from 2014, was directed by none other than Spike Lee. Since then, Carmichael has been a consistently thought-provoking artist, from starring in the semi-autobiographical NBC series The Carmichael Show to making his feature directorial debut with the dark comedy-drama On the Count of Three to a scene-stealing turn in Poor Things to this year’s completely autobiographical Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show. Shows at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13 and 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 14; tickets at madisoncomedy.com.
Murder Girl, through Nov. 24, Overture-Playhouse: This is the world premiere of a new play by Milwaukee actor/playwright Heidi Armbruster, who often draws from classic murder mysteries and has previously adapted Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage as well as crafting Mrs. Christie, a play about the novelist. In this comedy, Armbruster draws on the fact that Wisconsin is populated with both supper clubs and famous serial killers. The plot: Siblings who have inherited a supper club in the northwoods find things turning dark. American Players Theatre favorite Sarah Day is in the cast of this Forward Theater production. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, plus 2 p.m., Nov. 16 and 23. Tickets at overture.org.
Olive Klug, Wednesday, Nov. 13, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: While Klug’s website declares the singer-songwriter “refuses to be put into a box,” bank on dependable, acoustic guitar-driven pop/folk. Don’t You Dare Make Me Jaded, Klug’s debut album from 2023, is a warbly coming-of-age statement. Standout “Song About America” features remarkably Joni Mitchell-esque vocals as the singer ponders how safe the U.S. is for those who, like Klug, identify as queer: “So I’m not even gonna try to write a song about America/It’s too big and too daunting of a task.” Same. Bear in the Forest opens. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
Black Film Fest, Nov. 14-16, various venues: Justified Anger hosts three days of screenings featuring six documentaries and feature films, plus three video essays by cultural commentator F.D Signifier. Nov. 14 (10:15 a.m.-4 p.m., Goodman Community Center) includes A Thousand and One, writer-director A.V. Rockwell’s tale of a mother who rescues her son from the foster care system; it won the 2023 Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Nov. 15 (12:15-8:30 p.,m., Fountain of Life) is highlighted by American Fiction, about an acclaimed but neglected novelist who gets more than he bargained for when writing a satirical tale that is taken as genuine by the literary establishment. Nov. 16 features a Zoom screening of the classic drag ball documentary Paris is Burning (10 a.m.), and at Lussier Community Education Center (11:30 a..m.), the documentary Cooked: Survival by Zip Code, about a deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave. Register and find the full schedule here.
Sally Collins, Thursday, Nov. 14, Lake City Books, 6 p.m.: Wisconsin is fertile ground for fiction writers, and Door County-based author Sally Collins sets her debut coming-of-age novel, Muddled Cherries, on the famous peninsula. The story follows 20-year-old Emily Schmidt, stuck working at her father’s flagging tavern in her western Wisconsin hometown. But an unsettling incident involving one of the tavern’s regulars prompts Emily to embark on a journey across the state to Door County in search of a new start. She finds that and more when she takes a job at a restaurant on the shore of Lake Michigan. Fun fact: Collins has served countless old-fashioneds and fish fries.
Pride and Prejudice, through Nov. 17, UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre: It’s one of the most beloved novels in English for a reason. Our heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is ahead of her time. When she decides that the eligible Mr. Darcy is an insufferable snob, she must learn much before everything comes to right. While Pride and Prejudice is in many ways an intricate dance in which the major characters figure out who should marry whom, it is much more than that, assaying class and gender roles with wit and perception. Performances of this University Theatre production are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7-17. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
Angry F*gs, through Nov. 16, Bartell Theatre: StageQ weighs in with a play smartly timed to election season. Topher Payne’s Angry F*gs, written in 2013, deals with violence and attitudes that have not changed in the 11 years since. When a friend is beaten up outside a gay bar, political speechwriter Bennett is outraged that it isn’t classified as a hate crime. This dark revenge comedy won the Gene-Gabriel Moore playwriting award. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (except 2 p.m. on Nov. 16) and 2 p.m. on Nov. 10. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.
Are We Dell’arte? Nov. 14-16, Broom Street Theater, 8 p.m.: Are We Delicious?, the ensemble that puts together its shows in just two weeks from script to production, tackles the age-old form of commedia dell’arte, one of the earliest forms of professional theater. Expect surprises. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
Town Mountain + John R. Miller, Thursday, Nov. 14, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: This worthy double bill features a band that blurs alt-country, bluegrass and honky-tonk (with pinches of rock) and a singer-songwriter whose intimate material sounds warm and familiar from the get-go. There’s an added poignancy to Town Mountain shows these days. The band formed nearly 20 years ago in Asheville, N.C. — which was ravaged by Hurricane Helene in September — and played an Election Day benefit for communities in the Appalachian region before heading to the upper Midwest. Town Mountain’s performances also often include unlikely but compelling Dire Straits and Bruce Springsteen covers. Nashville-based John R. Miller, meanwhile, released Heat Comes Down last year, on which he delivers cosmic country, laid-back honky-tonk and plenty in between. These two artists are perfectly paired for a late-fall Madison evening. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.
Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.
