Closing the year with Pops and puppets

Music

Marvin Hamlisch leads the MSO in a tribute to the Gershwin brothers next weekend. Photo courtesy of website.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra thinks Gershwin brothers George and Ira are Here to Stay. Principal Pops conductor Marvin Hamlisch, pianist Kevin Cole, vocalist Sylvia McNair and dancer Ryan VanDenBoom to join its latest Pops concerts, Dec. 30 to Jan. 1. The Gershwins’ whole catalog is up for grabs, including “I Got Rhythm,” “Shall We Dance,” and songs from the opera Porgy and Bess. Shows are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday; tickets range from $25 to $102. Call (414) 291-7605 or visit the MSO online box office to order.

Niffer Clarke channels her musical idols in “Beyond the Ingenue.” Photo credit Kristin Hobermann.

Over at the Skylight Opera Theatre, Niffer Clarke (fresh off a run in The Music Man) and pianist and musical director Richard Carsey take us Beyond the Ingénue, for a tribute to her musical idols: Julie Andrews, Shirley Jones and Barbara Cook. The three women, like Clarke herself, all fall into the stereotype of the ingénue — a sweet, innocent, girl-next-door” type — but broke free from it and defied expectations. The show opens Dec. 30 and runs through Jan. 8, with most shows at 7:30 p.m. except 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $22.50 to $65.50; call (414) 291-7800 or visit the Skylight box office to order.

Milwaukee Rep: Song Man Dance Man, through Jan. 8

Milwaukee Rep: Next to Normal, through Jan. 15

Last Chance

First Stage: Junie B in Jingle Bells Batman Smells, through Dec. 29 (RUN EXTENDED)

Carte Blanche Studios: Neil Haven’s Who Killed Santa?, through Dec. 30

In Tandem Theatre: Scrooge in Rouge, through Dec. 31

Sunset Playhouse: Annie, through Dec. 31

Off the Wall Theater: Holiday Punch, through Dec. 31

Marcus Center: A Kodachrome Christmas starring John McGivern, through Dec. 31