Yes, the end of the year approaches, and a season of celebration opens this weekend with the Madison Holiday Market. The calendar also includes: productions of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Found Money, Helen, and The Marriage of Figaro; the Madison Hip-Hop Awards; live music from 3OH!3, The Reverend Horton Heat, the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, Keefe Klug, Daniel del Pino and the Iberia String Quartet, Greensky Bluegrass, Shock G/Humpty Hump, Jay Farrar, Shock G/Humpty Hump, and Horse Feathers; the grand opening of Lisa Link Peace Park; Duck Soup Cinema; Pie Palooza; and book talks by Ann Wertz Garvin and Nathan Rabin.
Friday 11.5
BIRTHDAY: Bond babe Famke Janssen, 1965.
Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall, 10 am-8 pm. Also Saturday (10 am-6 pm) & Sunday (10 am-5 pm), Nov. 6 & 7
The holiday season is upon us -- ulp -- and that means it's time for frantic shopping. Get it over with early at this event, which benefits Madison Ballet and features 120 vendors selling everything from crafts to toys to pottery.
Orpheum Theatre, 7 pm
The lyrics may be lousy and the vocoder might be obnoxious, but if you like to party to crunkcore, this show's for you. The pair of pals from the University of Colorado hit it big last year with their single "Don't Trust Me," then again this year with "My First Kiss," a collaboration with crunkcore queen Ke$ha. With Hellogoodbye, Down With Webster and Southern Belle.
In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)
Overture Center's Playhouse, 7:30 pm. Also Thursday (7:30 pm), Saturday (8 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Nov. 4, 6 & 7
Forward Theater Company kicks off its second season with Sarah Ruhl's provocative, thrice-Tony-nominated play about the early days of the popular electric contraption for ladies.
Encore Studio for the Performing Arts, 1480 Martin St., 8 pm. Also Saturday, Nov. 6, 2 & 8 pm
The theater company mounts another singular musical comedy, this one pitting the People With Disabilities Mafia against the Cerebral Palsy People With Disabilities Mafia (see Theater).
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Saturday (2 & 8 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Nov. 6 & 7
The face that launched a thousand ships is holed up in a hotel room in Ellen McLaughlin's 2002 play, which riffs liberally on Euripides' 412 B.C. original. Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre and Madison Theatre Guild collaborate on this one.
Majestic Theatre, 8 pm
The Reverend and his punk-fueled rockabilly band have been a cult sensation for nearly 20 years, but their music is also a popular choice for videogames, from Guitar Hero 2 to Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. With Split Lip Rayfield and Legendary Shack Shakers.
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
The city's community of MCs, DJs, producers and the rest salutes itself with a bash, and about time too. Music by Dumate and Star Persons.
Overture Hall, 8 pm. Also Sunday, Nov. 7, 2:30 pm
Mozart's poignant opera about conjugal fidelity is presented by Madison Opera and directed by A. Scott Parry. Its mix of engaging narrative and sublime music makes it a perfect choice for beginning opera fans.
Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band
Wisconsin Union Theater, 8 pm
The Grammy-winning bandleader has recorded more than 40 albums since his debut in 1962, merging his jazz piano stylings with rhythms from his native Puerto Rico and other Latin American destinations. Groove to a great at this Isthmus Jazz Series event (see Tour Stop).
Annex, 10 pm
The finalist from Triple M's songwriting contest and reality show Project M recorded a new CD, What You Do to Me, which he'll release and perform with his soulful pop band, the Surgical Precision (see Music). With J.T. Roach.
Saturday 11.6
NEW MOON
NOTEWORTHY: UN condemns Apartheid in South Africa, 1962.
Lisa Link Peace Park Grand Opening,br> 11 am-2 pm
The pocket-sized park on State Street has just been substantially made over, not -- this being Madison -- without controversy. After you've marched there in the 11 a.m. parade that starts at the Capitol, check out the new visitor center and other amenities.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 2 & 7 pm
Overture's family-friendly series brings back the old-time vaudeville era with a lively variety show followed by the Buster Keaton film Our Hospitality, accompanied live on organ.
Daniel del Pino and the Iberia String Quartet
Farley's House of Pianos, 7:30 pm
The Spanish pianist is joined by the accomplished European foursome in playing two piano concertos by Chopin: No. 2, Op. 21 in F minor, and No. 1, Op. 11 in E minor.
High Noon Saloon, 8 pm
The bluegrass outfit out of Kalamazoo, Mich., is best known for its live concerts, or, more accurately, Appalachian jam fests. With New Mountain Kickers.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
Without Farrar, there would be no Uncle Tupelo, no Son Volt and no No Depression, one of the albums that defined the nascent alt-country movement in the early 1990s. Come see what Farrar's been up to lately. With Bobby Bare Jr.
Scatz Sports Bar & Nightclub, 9 pm
Greg "Shock G" Jacobs assembled the Oakland, Calif.-based hip-hop act Digital Underground back in 1987, and a few years later, the group scored a massive hit with "Humpty Dance," the frenetic, comic tune featuring singing by Jacobs' alter-ego, Humpty. Perhaps Jacobs will honor requests for the ditty.
UW Memorial Union Rathskeller, 9:30 pm
This indie folk quartet featuring violin, cello, musical saw and harmonium have been garnering lots of praise for their expert use of silence and space, as well as their lyrics, which leave lots of room for imagination to roam. With Anas Mitchell.
Sunday 11.7
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS (FALL BACK)
BIRTHDAY: Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, 1943.
Goodman Community Center, 9:30 am
Local farmers and chefs put together a brunch with a huge selection of sweet and savory pies. Participants include L'Etoile, Harvest, Lombardino's, Hubbard Avenue Diner, Fresco, Crema Café, Marigold Kitchen and Bunky's. Proceeds benefit REAP, the nonprofit that promotes a healthy and sustainable local food system. The event will be (literally) a slice of heaven (see Food News).
A Room of One's Own, 2 pm
At the 2004 Wisconsin Book Festival, Garvin took the silver in a story-writing competition. Not bad for her first story. Today the UW-Whitewater prof discusses her debut novel, On Maggie's Watch, about a woman who revives the local neighborhood-watch program.
Borders Books West, 2 pm
In 2007, Onion critic and UW grad Rabin began a series of columns called My Year of Flops, in which he looked with fresh eyes at films deemed disasters, from Ishtar to Gigli. They're compelling reading, and Rabin has now issued them as a book.
