A plethora of musical guests greet the city

Music

Carl Davis brings the music of James Bond to Milwaukee for a special MSO Pops concert this weekend. Photo credit Richard Cannon.

This weekend, the three initials of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will be overshadowed by three numbers: 007. The MSO presents a Pops concert that pays homage to the music of Bond films, including Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” and of course the “James Bond Theme” itself. While frequent Pops conductor Marvin Hamlisch is actually the man behind two famous Bond pieces — “Nobody Does It Better” and a disco revamp of the theme song for The Spy Who Loved Me — guest Carl Davis will lead the orchestra and vocalist Mary Carewe. Concerts are Feb. 24 to 26, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range from $25 to $102; call (414) 291-7605 or the visit the MSO online box office.

Chamber Music Milwaukee will present some new friends at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Zelazo Center at UWM: the Arcas String Quartet. The quartet comprises four young MSO musicians, violinists Ilana Setapen and Margot Schwartz, violist Wei-Ting Kuo and cellist Peter Thomas. The quartet formed in 2010 and has performed throughout Milwaukee ever since. Also on this program: Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy, a Mozart horn quintet and a Brahms clarinet quartet. Tickets are $17, $12 seniors/faculty/alumni and $10 students; call (414) 229-4308 to order.

The Chroma Duo, Tracy Anne Smith and Rob MacDonald, will play at UWM’s recital hall Friday evening.

Also at UWM: The Chroma Duo, touring classical guitarists Tracy Anne Smith and Rob MacDonald, will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. Smith and MacDonald make it their business to play music by composers of our own day: Ben Verdery, Roland Dyens, Stephen Goss, Christopher William Pierce and Judah Adashi, to name a few. Hear some samples the Chroma website.  Tickets are $10,$5 for seniors, free for UWM students, alumni, faculty and staff with ID. Call the Peck School Box Office, (414) 229-4308.

Soprano Adrienne Danrich. Photo courtesy of website.

And one more UWM program: a Vocal Arts Series concert, “An Evening in the Harlem Renaissance” with soprano Adrienne Danrich. She was last in town in 2010 for Next Act’s This Little Light of Mine. Saturday, she’ll join the ensemble for solos and duets from Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, George Gershwin and more. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, in the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall. $17, $12 seniors/faculty/alumni and $10 students; call (414) 229-4308.

The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s Francophile season rolls on this weekend with Gallic Delights, featuring violinist Maria Bachmann. Gabriel Faure’s Pelleas et Melisande suite, Pablo de Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy and Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C. are on the program. The concert begins Sunday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m., at the Wilson Center. Tickets are $25, $30 or $35 based on location; call (262) 781-9520 or visit their online box office to order.

Pianist Pallavi Mahidhara visits the Wilson Center this Friday for a concert of classical, contemporary and jazz works. The young musician made her debut at the age of 10, and has since won the Milwaukee-based PianoArts competition in 2006 and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010. She performs Friday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.; tickets are $25. Call (262) 781-9520 or visit the online box office to order.

Theater

This week, Sunset Playhouse opens Greater Tuna, an affectionate satire of small-town life in Texas’ third-smallest town. Aaron Klein and Jim Donaldson will portray 20 residents in the comedy, which runs Feb. 24 to March 11. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. weeknights, 8 p.m. Fridays, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays; tickets are $20 or $16 for students/seniors. Visit the online box office or call (262) 782-4430 to order.

Boulevard Theatre brings Conor McPherson’s This Lime Tree Bower to the Midwest this weekend. The three-monologue play, set in a small Irish town, offers a glimpse into the lives of three of its inhabitants: siblings Joe and Frankie, and Ray, their older sister’s boyfriend. It’s only the latest in a number of McPherson shows to cross the Atlantic in search of Milwaukee in recent years. Theatre Gigante, Soulstice Theater and the Milwaukee Rep have staged McPherson plays since 2010. This Lime Tree Bower runs Feb. 21 to April 1, with most shows at 8 p.m. or a Sunday 2:30 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $21 or $23, depending on dates; for more information or to reserve a seat call (414) 744-5757.

Special Event

The UWM LGBT Resource Center and out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at UWM will present the annual Drag Show at the UWM Ballroom, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 25. The annual UWM Drag Show has attracted more than 800 attendees with twenty-five volunteer performers. This year’s performers include local favorites: the Miltown Kings, Jessica Properties, Chaz Ricardo, Windy Breeze, Noah Feck, Libra, and more.  New this year, the Drag Show will be SIMULCAST into another room in the UWM Union.  This year the Drag Show highlights the farewell performances of Lady Gia & Madam Sparkkl and says goodbye to Pretty Boi.

Admission is free, but all tips will Project Q, the youth program of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.

Windfall Theatre: Wittenberg, through March 3

Fireside Theater: Viva Vegas, through March 4

Milwaukee Rep: To Kill A Mockingbird, through March 11 (EXTENDED)

Milwaukee Rep: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), through March 11

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: A Thousand Words, through March 11

Last Chance

Fools for Tragedy: Waiting, through Feb. 26 at Villa Terrace

Next Act Theatre: Vigil, through Feb. 26

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