Posted by: Andrea Harris, Madison Arts Cooperative

As writer George Moore said, “The difficulty in life is the choice.”  This is a week that should have arts lovers jumping and clapping—there is a plethora of great-sounding events this week.  Here are some highlights, and be sure to check out the calendar for others.



There are still two more weekends to see Strollers Theatre’s production of Hamlet.  Shakespeare is always an ambitious undertaking, and Strollers meets the challenge head on, especially since director Jeff Knupp resolutely adheres to the play’s original setting (in medieval Denmark) rather than picking a sexier, more modern setting, as is currently in vogue.  If you go, expect a show about three hours long. Even though Knupp has tightened the script considerably, Shakespeare’s tragedies are complex, lengthy, and require concentration—a challenge for our 30-second-sound-bite-trained minds. NO whining please!

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Offering comic balance, Madison Theatre Guild’s Over the River and Through the Woods is an “alternative” holiday show by Broadway playwright Joe DiPietro. The play is easy on the ears and intellect; the New York Times described it as “heartwarming,” and like “watching some sentimental 50-year-old television series and realizing that, miraculously, this is an episode you’ve never seen before.”



My personal “don’t-miss” recommendation is Luna Negra Dance Theatre, a Chicago-based company directed by Eduardo Vilaro, who trained with Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham, danced with Ballet Hispanico in NYC, and holds a master’s from Columbia College. For Vilaro, dance is a way to create awareness about Latin American culture. I love this statement in the company’s mission: “Steering away from stereotypes and folkloric representations, Luna Negra brings to audiences modern Latino expressions with energy, power and passion, reflecting through dance the immense cultural shift that is shaping America in the 21st century.”



Finally, Madison Opera presents Madame Butterfly, featuring acclaimed American soprano Maria Kanyova. Puccini’s opera tells the story of an American lieutenant who marries, impregnates, and then abandons a Japanese geisha. It is one of the worlds’ most popular operas, inspiring modern interpretations such as David Henry Hwang’s play and movie M. Butterfly and Broadway’s Miss Saigon.