• Wisconsin Film Festival, through April 16, Flix Brewhouse: Since its debut in 1999, the annual Wisconsin Film Festival has only grown in importance for local filmgoers as traditional movie theaters gradually disappear and the variety of new films on the big screen shrinks. That's been very evident this year in the number of sold-out screenings observed at the fest. Die-hards have one more day to enjoy the 2026 fest; still to come is a final screening of the 1975 Indian epic Sholay (1:15 p.m.) and fest closer Power Ballad (8:30 p.m.), starring Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd. Check ticket availability at wifilmfest.eventive.org.
• The Evolution of the Youth Vote: The Changing Politics of Gen Z, Thursday, April 16, UW Fluno Center, 3 p.m.: Pundits usually expect the youth vote to land heavily on the side of Democrats, but that trend shifted enough in the 2024 fall election to help deliver the federal government to Republicans. The Elections Research Center at UW will consider “The Evolution of the Youth Vote: The Changing Politics of Gen Z” with a panel discussion featuring authors and political scientists Melissa Deckman and Matthew Nelsen, Harvard pollster John Della Volpe, journalist Christian Paz, and ERC Director Barry Burden. Register at elections.wisc.edu.

• Dig Deep, Thursday, April 16, Up North, 5:30 p.m.: Dig Deep coalesced in the Stevens Point music scene about a decade back, and since then the quartet has become a favorite on festival and club stages around the Midwest. They take their roots music seriously, but it’s far from staid as filtered through the musical world of the punk and metal bands the members have been in over the years. They’re starting this show early as a warm up set for Up North favorite Billy Bronsted and his band’s show a couple blocks away at the High Noon.
• D.S. Waldman, Alison Thumel, Anada Werner, Thursday, April 16, A Room of One’s Own, 6 p.m.: Has anyone reminded you that April is poetry month? If not, let us be the first, and this triple bill celebrating the debut collection from D.S. Waldman (Atria, Liveright/Norton) will remind you why we celebrate. Waldman’s work encompasses his Kentucky youth, time in California, and his current home, New York City, and ranges from sonnets to prose poems. Waldman’s poetry often centers on art and our relation to it, and is influenced by the imagists. Madison’s own Alison Thumel (Architect) and Anada Werner (Punt) round out the evening.

• Line Breaks, through April 24, various venues: UW-Madison’s Line Breaks festival, coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, features a variety of happenings showing hip-hop’s expansive cultural reach. Events still to come include a concert by singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin (7 p.m., April 16, Memorial Union-Play Circle) and a screening of See Memory with filmmaker Viviane Silvera (2 p.m., April 18, Chazen). More events and visual art exhibitions take place through April 24; find the full lineup at omai.wisc.edu.
• Kanopy Dance, April 16-19, Overture-Promenade Hall: A modern dance landmark returns to the stage when Kanopy Dance teams up with New York’s Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble for their spring concert, titled “Divine Mythologies.” The centerpiece is Anna Sokolow’s rarely performed 1965 work Odes, a stark, physically demanding piece set to the jagged, electronic-tinged sounds of modernist composer Edgard Varese. Works by Kanopy co-artistic directors Lisa Thurrell and Robert E. Cleary round out the program. Performances at 7 p.m. April 16-17, 4 and 7 p.m. April 18, and 2 p.m. April 19; tickets at overture.org.

• Lady Disdain, through April 26, Overture-Playhouse: Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing gets a contemporary remix by playwright Lauren Gunderson in Lady Disdain. The comedy drops two exes into a recording booth to voice the latest audiobook in a popular romance series — a setup providing plenty of room to echo Beatrice and Benedick’s famously prickly chemistry. Forward Theater Company’s production features a cast of familiar regional favorites under the direction of Jen Uphoff Gray, and is another entry in the World Premiere Wisconsin schedule. Read Rebecca Jamieson's review here. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, plus 2 p.m. April 16, 18 and 25 and 7:30 p.m. April 21. Tickets at overture.org.
• Riverdance, through April 16, Overture Hall, 7:30 p.m.: You may ask yourself: Riverdance is still at it? It is. The 30th anniversary tour “Riverdance 30: The New Generation” is both victory lap and reboot, celebrating decades of hard-shoe thunder and introducing cast members who weren’t yet born when the phenomenon originated. The show will deliver the beloved precision-footwork adrenaline rush, with updated choreography. If you’ve never seen it, the anniversary tour is a fresh chance to get acquainted; if you saw it years ago, this is your “oh right, that’s why” reminder. Tickets at overture.org.
• Chesapeake, April 16-26, Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, Spring Green: Two Crows Theatre Company is a younger but mighty sibling to American Players Theatre. Its third and final show of this season, Chesapeake, is quite timely. A performance artist whose funding gets cut by the NEA decides to take revenge by kidnapping a conservative senator’s prized Chesapeake Bay retriever. It’s written by Lee Blessing and stars Elizabeth Ledo. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at twocrowstheatrecompany.org.

• Attacca Quartet with Caroline Shaw, Thursday, April 16, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7:30 p.m.: Composer Caroline Shaw — who in 2013 became one of the youngest ever recipients of the Pulitzer Prize for Music — joins the Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet for a program devoted entirely to her work. Drawn largely from their 2022 album collaboration, Evergreen, the concert features Shaw’s lyrical, quietly inventive string writing. Attacca has become one of Shaw’s closest collaborators, giving her music a warm, flexible sound that blurs the line between classical tradition and something more contemporary. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
• Much Ado About Nothing, April 16-26, UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre: Forward Theater’s current production, Lady Disdain, is a Lauren Gunderson reinvention of Much Ado About Nothing. University Theatre offers audiences a unique chance to compare-and-contrast with a staging of the Shakespeare original, directed by Baron Kelly. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday (no show on April 24), 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday; tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.

• Ruen Brothers, Thursday, April 16, Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: Think of the Milk Carton Kids only filled with piss and vinegar, the kind that comes with growing up in the industrial hellhole that is Scunthorpe, England. Now based in Louisville, Kentucky, the Ruen Brothers (real-life brothers Henry and Rupert Stansall) also have a bit of the Everly Brothers in their sound. Their latest album, Awoo, is as haunting as it sounds and when Henry’s soaring vocals climb confidently, effortlessly higher and higher, Roy Orbison smiles down. Rupert does his talking with his guitar…and what a talker he is. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.
• Earth Fest, April 17-23, UW campus: Earth Day was founded by a Wisconsinite — U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson — and it makes sense that the UW’s Nelson Institute would know how to do this most essential of holidays up right. It’s a full week of events across the spectrum, from hikes and birding outings to live music to craft sessions — all, of course, with nature in mind. Crafting, for instance, includes a session on making a bee house to attract pollinators. There’s lots more, including a keynote panel featuring Isaias Hernandez, an environmentalist also known as the Queer Brown Vegan, April 21 at 5:15 p.m. Find the full (and we do mean full) schedule at earthfest.wisc.edu.
• Midwest Horse Fair, Friday-Sunday, April 17-19, Alliant Energy Center: It must be spring if it’s time for the annual Midwest Horse Fair. The fair is celebrating 45 years of bringing horse owners, equestrian enthusiasts and families together for one of the nation’s premier equine events. Hundreds of clinics, seminars and other educational opportunities presented by some of the country’s top professionals will complement more than 400 vendor booths. There will even be Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo action on Friday and Saturday nights. Net proceeds will go to the Wisconsin Horse Council, which owns the fair. Visit midwesthorsefair.com for a complete schedule of events.

• Committed, April 17-May 3, Broom Street Theater: Relevance has always been Broom Street’s middle name, and they check in with the zeitgeist here with a drama about political resistance — albeit with an historical look back to the Vietnam and civil rights eras. In Committed, when a young boy’s mother who has been an activist is institutionalized, he fights back. The play is written by Coleman (Doed Koecks) and directed by Matthew Korda, and is part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals running throughout this year. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; tickets at bstonline.org.
• The Terminated, April 17-26, TNW Ensemble Theater: TNW Ensemble Theater’s entry into the World Premiere Wisconsin celebration is The Terminated, a timely play about federal workers who’ve been fired. The workers don’t accept things quietly in this satire as they plot a revenge heist with some recognizable tropes from heist-caper films. Perhaps there’s nothing fired federal workers do better than revenge. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday; tickets at tnwensembletheater.org.
• UW Varsity Band, April 17-18, Kohl Center: What started in 1975 as a low-key campus community concert is now a full-blown experience. The UW Varsity Band’s annual spring concert celebrates 50 years with a set that jumps from Wicked to Rihanna to Gaga without losing the thread — because the thread is Badgers tradition. The Kohl Center will fill with Fifth Quarter energy, “On, Wisconsin!” sing-alongs, and crowd participation. Shows at 7:30 p.m. on April 17 and 3 p.m. on April 18. Tickets at uwbadgers.evenue.net.

• Ratboys, Friday, April 17, Atwood Music Hall, 8 p.m.: Fun fact: A female fronts Ratboys. And even though the Chicago-based post-country indie-rock quartet titled its new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair, this show is likely to draw a full house. Ratboys are generating major buzz with their sixth album, which Sterogum hailed as “about as good as American indie rock gets.” According to the band’s own bio, tracking for the record began at a cabin in rural Wisconsin before Ratboys relocated to Chicago’s Electrical Audio studio, founded by the late Steve Albini. Ohio’s villagerrr opens with its Midwestern-brand of emo-infused indie rock. Hopefully you didn't wait on tickets, as this one sold out well ahead of time.
• Flatfoot 56, Friday, April 17, Gamma Ray, 8 p.m.: Mosh pit pick of the month: Chicago Celtic punk meets Milwaukee skeezy ska. With a total of nine Billboard charted songs, Flatfoot 56 is the most famous Celt-adjacent act you’ve never heard of. Something To Do plays intense ska with a devilishly care-free attitude. According to the band, they smell good, too. Tickets at gammaray.bar.

• Isthmus 50 Fest, Saturday, April 18, Atwood Music Hall, 8 p.m.: Join Isthmus to celebrate 50 years of journalism with a night of live music at one of Madison’s newest venues. The evening is a feast of new jazz and New Orleans second line performance. The New Breed Quintet will feature a pianist every bit as time tested as Isthmus itself: Ben Sidran, who will reunite with son Leo for the celebration. New Orleans parade partiers Mama Digdown's Brass Band will fill the dance floor and help usher in the next 50 years. Tickets at theatwoodmusichall.com.
• Eileen G’Sell, Sunday, April 19, A Room of One’s Own, 1 p.m.: Lipstick is a new entry in Bloomsbury’s Object Lessons book series by Eileen G’Sell, a writer and teaching professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Rather than a straightforward history, the book uses lipstick to consider how feminism and makeup collide, drawing on interviews with women and nonbinary people across generations. G’Sell will be joined in conversation by Madison artist and educator Meghan Allynn Johnson of Madison Death Studio.
• Growing New Roots: Women Writing about Home and Belonging, Sunday, April 19, Middleton Library, 2 p.m.: In contemporary society, staying in one place has become the exception, not the norm. From that new nomadism has come more concerns about how to connect with place. Two of Madison’s finest poets/essayists, Alison Townsend and Catherine Jagoe, have both written about home and rootlessness. Townsend’s memoir The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home is the story of the author’s many uprootings before her settling in Wisconsin. Jagoe’s forthcoming Unbelonging: A Life in Search of Home looks at her much-travelled and unsettled life. The event is moderated by Jessica Becker, editor of Wisconsin People & Ideas. Townsend and Jagoe will read from their memoirs, followed by discussion and Q & A.
• Parallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape, through May 10, Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture: Quilts are more than just blankets. The medium is a vehicle for personal and political expression. This exhibit of 19th- and 20th-century American quilts from the UW-Madison’s Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection examines these works of art as a metaphor for the landscape and the built environment. “Parallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape” has been thoughtfully curated by Marina Moskowitz, professor of design studies and the Lynn and Gary Mecklenburg Chair in Textiles, Material Culture & Design at UW-Madison, who’s “long had an interest in the ‘stuff’ of human life.” Upcoming related events include a screening of the 2024 documentary The Quilters, followed by a talk with director Jennifer McShane (5 p.m., April 19, Union South-Marquee; RSVP); and the final public gallery tour led by Moskowitz, a great chance to get insider insights (noon, April 22, RSVP).

• Lorna Shore, Sunday, April 19, The Sylvee, 7 p.m.: Riding high praise from the global metal press, New Jersey’s Lorna Shore brings its symphonic deathcore — death metal with breakdowns, essentially — to Madison for the third stop on its new tour supporting last year’s I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me. The band takes its name from a minor Batman love interest in a short-lived DC Comics series that debuted 20 years ago, and it’s gone through nearly a dozen members. The current lineup contains no founders, but lead guitarist Adam De Micco has been in the band since 2010. Fellow deathcore compatriots Paleface Swiss and Signs of the Swarm open. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.