A Wild Garden

The rush of spring brings with it a flowering of artistic offerings – some buoyant and fresh, some perplexing, dense and metaphysical. UWM stages the play within the play of Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle. The Rep premieres Armadale, starring Deborah Staples as one of the strongest female villains in English literature. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre brings us Talley’s Folly, a sweet two-person romance co-starring Artsy Schmartsy blogger Jonathan West. Music gets visual this month as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra plays the live score at a screening of Chaplin’s City Lights. Alverno Presents welcomes the French-gypsy/ska-punk explosion of Babylon Circus, which should prove to be sumptuous, spellbinding fun. If you’re in the mood to observe the shifting season in a more pensive manner, see the MSO tackle Stravinski’s eternally challenging Rite of Spring. Audiences interested in something a little safer may wish to attend musical productions of Beauty and the Beast (at the Waukesha Civic Theatre) or something really silly like the touring production of Monty Python’s Spamalot (at the Marcus Center). In dance, Milwaukee Ballet takes the stage at The Pabst for some new work while Alverno Presents hosts New York’s Armitage Gone! and Dancecircus presents Wade in the Water – an ambitious tribute to the great lakes.