A laugh and more with Wayne Brady
There's an all-star cast headlining this year's Laugh It Up Milwaukee — and it's all one guy. Wayne Brady takes the stage at the Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., at 8:15 p.m. Saturday. He's probably best known as a comedian, especially through the improv show "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" But he's also a singer and actor (he recently played Aaron Burr in "Hamilton," and had a recurring role on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"), and shows his game-show chops weekdays as host of CBS' "Let's Make a Deal." Sponsored by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, this year's Laugh It Up Milwaukee benefits the JCC and Safe & Sound Milwaukee. Tickets are $45 to $95.
Info: jccmilwaukee.org/laughitup
Talkin' (Brewers) baseball
It's less than three weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, but some of us can't wait that long for baseball to come back. That's why there's Brewers on Deck. The rite of winter — bringing Brewers players, legends and personnel together with fans at the Wisconsin Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave. — runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The projected lineup for the event includes, among others, Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers and Bob Uecker; Brewers manager Craig Counsell; and current players Ryan Braun, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Jimmy Nelson, Corey Knebel, Josh Hader, Travis Shaw, Domingo Santana, Orlando Arcia, Eric Thames and Keon Broxton. Autograph sessions, baseball clinics, games and more are part of the mix. Admission the day of the event is cash-only: $20, $15 for kids 14 and younger. (Advance tickets are also available online before Sunday.)
Info: brewers.com/ondeck
Bringing the winter to Waukesha
Temperatures have fled from freezing, but winter's still in session in Waukesha this weekend, thanks to the Waukesha Janboree, the snow-and-ice-themed festival held in late January since 1984. The action is all over Waukesha, including Lowell Park, 2201 Michigan Ave., home of Friday night's opening ceremonies, starting at 4 p.m.; Schuetze Recreation Center, 1120 Baxter St.; Waukesha North High School, 2222 Michigan Ave.; and the Downtown Transit Center. Ice sculpting (weather permitting), a Saturday pancake breakfast, an "Arctic Avalanche" toboggan run, and even a beer garden are on tap. The doings start at 4 p.m. Friday, 7:30 a.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. Sunday. You can check on the status of cold-weather-specific activities online or by calling (262) 522-9356. Admission for most events at the Janboree is free.
Info: janboree.org
All verses, all the time
Woodland Pattern Book Center and its friends are bringing all the words to Saturday's 24th annual Poetry Marathon & Benefit. The 15-hour event, starting at 10 a.m., features writers and readers who are sponsored to read poems all day and night and what's as much a celebration as it is a fundraiser for literature and arts programming at Woodland Pattern, 720 E. Locust St. Admission Saturday is $10, or free for anyone who's pledged $35 or more for a reader.
Info: woodlandpattern.org
New on stage
"Venus & Adonis/Dido & Aeneas": The Florentine Opera offers a rare double bill from antiquity: John Blow's "Venus & Adonis," about the goddess Venus' encounter with the hunter Adonis; Henry Purcell's "Dido & Aeneas," a romance from Virgil’s Aeneid. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, in Wilson Center at Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St. Info: florentineopera.org.
Last call
These doings will be gone after this weekend.
"Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France": Works by a greatest-hits roster of masters — including Van Gogh, Léger, Manet, Monet, Cassatt, Chagall and many others including the title duo — make up this show, which wraps up a nearly three-month run Sunday at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Admission to the museum, which includes "Degas to Picasso," is $19, $17 for seniors 65 and older and students with I.D., and free for art museum members and kids 12 and younger. Info: mam.org/degas-picasso.
"Metamorphosis": Franz Kafka's story of a man who wakes up and discovers he's (spoiler) a cockroach concludes its short run courtesy of Theatre Gigante Sunday at Kenilworth 508 Theatre, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place. Info: theatregigante.org.
"Deck the Street": After this weekend, they're taking down the Christmas decorations in the Milwaukee Public Museum's Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit, so Monday will be your last chance to catch the Victorian-era holiday wonderland. It's part of regular admission at the museum, 800 W. Wells St. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $18; $14 for seniors 65 and older, college students, and active members of the military; $12 for kids ages 5 to 13; and free for member and for children 4 and younger. Info: mpm.edu.