Radio City Christmas Spectacular
The holiday season continues its early start in Madison this week with a concert by Trans-Sibreian Orchestra and a touring production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The calendar also includes: live music by Playing for Change, Jeffrey Siegel, Frontier Ruckus, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, and Fang Island; and, talks by John Mearshimer, The Yes Men, and Jacqueline Rose.
Monday 11.8
NOTEWORTHY: Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeats Eisenhower veep Richard M. Nixon in U.S. presidential election, 1960.
Kohl Center, 7:30 pm
TSO isn't just a melange of metal and classical; it's a 60-piece rock orchestra complete with pyrotechnics and a very stoic version of Christmas cheer. Expect lots of seasonal songs at this show, plus a few numbers from the 2009 concept album Night Castle.
Tuesday 11.9
BIRTHDAY: Singer Susan Tedeschi, 1970.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 7:30 pm
The multimedia music project touted by Manu Chao, Keb' Mo', Bono and founder Mark Johnson has recorded street musicians in the nooks of Nepal, the alleys of Barcelona and tons of other places, creating YouTube videos and other blog-friendly tidbits to help unite musicians around the world. The live act features a set by a handful of talented musicians, including Euro-house vocalist Clarence Bekker and harmonica sensation Grandpa Elliot.
UW Humanities Building's Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
The traveling pianist and lecturer, a witty raconteur, presents "The Romantic Music of Robert Schumann: Fantasies Forbidden and Fulfilled."
Wednesday 11.10
NOTEWORTHY: The Edmund Fitzgerald goes down in Lake Superior storm, 1975.
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Alliant Energy Center's Coliseum, 4 & 7 pm
Entertainment fads come and go, but the high kicking of the lovely Rockettes is as compelling as it was in FDR's day. After you see this show, which incorporates both secular and religious elements, you'll know why the credits include a podiatrist.
3650 UW Humanities Building, 7 pm
The University of Chicago political scientist, a major proponent of realism in international relations, speaks on "Greater Israel's Bleak Future: Righteous Jews versus the New Afrikaners."
Wisconsin Union Theater, 7:30 pm
The notorious pranksters famously made the case for slavery before a World Trade Organization forum, as documented in the 2003 film that bore their name. See what other tricks they've got at this Distinguished Lecture Series event.
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
Both of Detroit's alternative weekly newspapers, Real Detroit and Metro Times, have hailed this folk-rock band as one of the best things to come out of the Wolverine State in years, while Rolling Stone said the band's live performance at Bonnaroo was one of the best this year. With Breathe Owl Breathe.
Thursday 11.11
VETERANS' DAY
BIRTHDAY: Actor Leonardo di Caprio, 1974.
Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 7:30 pm
This veteran mariachi ensemble will leave you longing for a trip to Guadalajara, or at least a margarita and a listen to Canciones de Mi Padre and Mas Canciones, the Linda Ronstadt albums the group appeared on two decades ago.
Chazen Museum of Art, 7:30 pm
In her talk "Total Belief: Delirium in the West," Rose, an English professor at Queen Mary, University of London, draws on Western experiences with totalitarianism in discussing how we think about religious extremism. This is a Humanities Without Boundaries offering.
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
It took the five-piece almost five years to release their full-length, self-titled debut, which hit stores in February, but once you see their heavy, Andrew W.K.-meets-Sparta live show, you'll see they're no slackers in the rock department. With Delicate Steve.
