Welcome to the weekend!

I have returned from my out-of-state travels and am excited to catch up on the arts as fast as I can. This weekend we have many choices, starting with:

Opera in the Park. This annual event starts at 8 p.m. in Garner Park at the corner of Mineral Point and Rosa roads. We'll hear selections from this coming season's operas: Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" and Gounod's "Faust."

We'll enjoy some familiar arias like "O mio babbino caro" and "Nessun Dorma," some Spanish musical theatre (zarzuela), and some classic Broadway tunes like "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man."

The heavy hitters are soprano Melody Moore, mezzo Kendall Gladen, tenor Bryan Hymel and baritone Luis Ledesma, backed by the Madison Opera chorus.
Bring a blanket (or chairs), a picnic, some bug spray and a couple dollars to put in when they pass the hat. Find more info at the Madison Opera Web site.

Protest our country's international activities -- or just enjoy some quality, provocative artwork -- at Common Wealth Gallery this weekend. Art Surge: Artists Against War is a show of antiwar prints, paintings, and photos with an opening from 7-9 p.m. Sunday, July 27 at 100 S. Baldwin.

Eleven local artists working in the tradition of such masters as Francisco Goya, Jacques Callot, George Grosz, and Leon Golub are participating in a show of antiwar art. They believe that a war on terror can't succeed because war is terror. They believe that political art can be more than propaganda, that art can be about ideas, and that content can be as important as form.

Art Surge: Artists Against War will feature works by Lester Dore, Steve Chappell, Mike Duffy, Patrick JB Flynn, Russell Gardner, Eric Hagstrom, John Hitchcock, Sam Johnson, Colm McCarthy, Mike Konopacki, Jackson Tiffany and Andrea Samarrai-Zietko.

The show will run through Aug. 9. Check out their Facebook event page and a Web site.

Love fairy tales? Head out to Verona this weekend for the first performance by Epic Theatre, a new company that performs on the Epic Campus, 1979 Milky Way in Verona. "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon" runs for two more performances. It was written by Don Zolidis and directed by UW-Madison student Brandon McGirr. Madstage describes the show like this: "This zany, fast-paced comedy tells the 'true' untold stories of the fairy tale characters we know and love...including classics like 'Rapunzel' and 'Snow White' as well as lesser-known stories like 'The Devil's Grandmother' and 'The Girl Without Hands.'"

The show opened last night and continues Saturday July 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are free. For advance tickets, contact Epic Theatre.

If you enjoy operetta, check out the last few performances of The Mikado at Music Hall on the UW-Madison campus -- show times are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

I saw it last night at an added performance, and I have to say, the singing is of an exceptionally high quality. The chorus is awfully large (there's a lot of shuffling on and off stage, and almost no room for dancing) but the singing sparkles and is almost always in step with the orchestra. That's no small feat for a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, famous for their breakneck patter songs.

I especially enjoyed Amanda Compton's spunky Yum-Yum, Sarah Johnson's expressive Pitti-Sing and the excellent Donavon Armbruster as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. The Savoyards have ticket info here.

And one last plug -- stop by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art if you can to see the newest installation, "The Absent City." This three-part installation by Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt will be shown through Nov. 16 in the State Street Gallery and lobby.

I saw it being put up yesterday and it's quite striking. So before I go, here are a few more photos. Have a wonderful weekend!