Calendar Highlights

University Opera opens with tale of Verdi’s bon vivant
In a case reminiscent of Conan Doyle, Queen Elizabeth I required William Shakespeare to resurrect Falstaff after the Bard killed off HRH’s favorite comic relief.

Composer Giuseppi Verdi also held Falstaff in high esteem. Using Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” and parts of “Henry IV,” Verdi premiered an opera featuring the character when the composer was nearly 80 years old. The finished product is said to reflect the entire history of Italian comic opera.

University Opera has chosen “Falstaff” to open its 2003-04 season. Performances are Thursday, Oct. 23, Saturday, Oct. 25, and Monday, Oct. 27. All curtains rise at 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall. Tickets, $17 and $10 for UW–Madison students, are available through the Vilas Hall Box Office, 262-1500.

Homecoming goes a cappella with MadHatters performance
“A bunch of guys who just love to sing” is how MadHatters business manager Tyler Knowles describes this group of male undergraduate and graduate students.

A cappella ensembles like MadHatters perform without musical accompaniment. The MH repertoire includes oldies like “Blue Moon,” “Duke of Earl” and “Come Go With Me,” plus contemporary tunes from Ben Folds, Jack Johnson, Blessed Union of Souls, Caedmon’s Call and more.

The MadHatters will join the campus women’s a cappella group, Tangled Up in Blue, plus several step-show acts, in a Homecoming performance Thursday, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre, 216 State St. Information: 255-6005. The MadHatters also perform during Freshmen Parents’ Weekend, Friday, Nov. 14, at Luther’s Blues: 255-1184.

UT to perform work by former Czech president
Those employed by bureaucracies doubtless will want to attend the University Theatre production of the play “The Memorandum,” the second play by former Czech president Vaclav Havel. The Soviets banned it along with Havel’s other works when they invaded the country in 1968.

This production, directed by Robert Skloot, professor of theatre and drama, opens Friday, Oct. 17, and continues Saturday, Oct. 18; Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 23-25; Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 29 and 30; and Saturday, Nov. 1. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. in Vilas Hall’s Hemsley Theatre. Seats are not reserved and are $16, $12 for UW–Madison students. Information: Vilas Hall Box Office, 262-1500.