Arts & Culture in Milwaukee

Recurring dreams can often be brief and haunting. But 6 miles west of Lake Geneva at a large theater in the center of 40 acres of wooded trails, Dana Montana happily watches her lifelong dream unfold at least six nights a week. Here, she takes center stage to introduce up to 300 guests to her beloved purebred Arabian horses that majestically trot out to join her. They entertain audiences alongside expert acrobatic performers and trainers, whose resumés include stints with the Ringling Bros. Circus, Walt Disney World, and Arabian Nights.

Garbed in sparkling bridles and feather-plumed headdresses, the magnificent steeds wow the crowd with dazzling footwork and quotes from Shakespeare’s lesser-known horse plays. Montana’s park also presents guests with an exotic bird show, a petting zoo, and a wildlife trail that blooms with fiery colors each fall.

Founded in 1884, the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center is among the oldest community music organizations in the U.S., inviting patrons into its halls year after year to support and experience the excitement of live music. The center is home to the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra, which won the 2011 award for Best Chamber Orchestra from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. The group of in-residence musicians keep fans of classical music thoroughly entertained with concerts throughout the year and tag-team wrestling matches between the string and brass sections.

Got a case of Mary Poppins malaise? This $5 Groupon is a spoonful of sugar for the medicine: tickets to Girls vs. Boys ($10 value). The play, a musical by the creative team behind The House Theatre of Chicago's sold-out show The Sparrow, is an extremely loud, fast-paced show about a brother and sister who find themselves thrust into a perilous, modern-day Lord of the Flies. High-stakes relationships turn into all-out war of the sexes. The director says it's like a rock concert, so the best way to experience the sound and fury is with a spot in the pit. This Groupon gets you in standing room and on the ground floor of the action (guaranteed swears, awesome music, violent themes, and partial nudity).

Under the baton of maestro Giancarlo Guerrero, the Grammy Award–winning Nashville Symphony sets air particles to vibrating with a program that features both classical masterworks and world-premiere performances. Music-making commences with Anton Webern's “Passacaglia,” op. 1, before his lush textures and angular melodies melt into the world-premiere performance of Richard Danielpour's Darkness in the Ancient Valley, which draws on the composer's Iranian heritage. Joining the orchestra for Danielpour's visceral tone romp is Grammy Award–winning soprano Hila Plitmann, who will lend her dulcet tones to the composer's musical text and glare at audience members who clap between movements. The program rounds out with master symphonist Gustav Mahler's Symphony no. 4, a highly accessible piece that signifies lost childhood innocence through high flutes, sleigh bells, and the mournful squeak of broken Matchbox cars.