• Madtown Doubledown, Oct. 8-11, Madison Curling Club: The Madtown Doubledown is a mixed doubles bonspiel (aka tournament, for those unfamiliar with curlingspeak) featuring both amateur teams and international competitors. The curling begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 8-9 and 8:30 a.m. Oct. 10-11. Players scheduled to appear include McFarland Olympians Rebecca Hamilton and Matt Hamilton (now with short hair!), and many others. Tickets available at the door.

• Pause and Play, Thursday, Oct. 8, Atwood Music Hall, 5:30 p.m.: This benefit concert brings together local artists of all ages in support of ongoing post-production and editing of a forthcoming documentary — dubbed "The People's Film" by Building Unity founder and organizer Tim Cordon — about the Fight for Our Lives Democracy Tour, making stops around Wisconsin until Election Day. Marimbist Eric De Los Santos will welcome attendees as a special guest before a pair of young acts continue the festivities: Cool School jazz-fusion trio Spacetime and bilingual alternative rock band The Bridge. The psychedelic sounds of veterans Def Sonic and The Earthlings will keep spirits high into the night hours. Organizers will also offer a sneak peek at material filmed for the documentary and invite audience suggestions on a final title for the feature-length version. Tickets at theatwoodmusichall.com.
• GLEAM, Wednesday-Saturday, through Oct. 24, Olbrich Gardens: If you haven’t yet had a chance to get your GLEAM on, the time grows short; regular hours for Olbrich’s annual installation of art works using light end on Oct. 24 (though, it returns for one last night on Halloween). Timed entry begins at 6:30 p.m. in October; note that Oct. 8 is Adults Only Night for ages 21 and up. Tickets are only sold in advance at olbrichgleam.org.

• The Wiz, through Oct. 11, Overture Hall: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are heading down the Yellow Brick Road again, but this definitely isn’t your great-grandmother’s Wizard of Oz. The Wiz took the familiar story, gave it a soulful ’70s makeover, and became a Broadway sensation. Fifty years later, a Broadway revival has introduced Dorothy’s trip to Oz to another generation. Now that production comes to Madison with plenty of big voices, big dancing (with choreography by JaQuel Knight, the man behind the dance moves to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies”), and big spectacle. Really, who couldn’t use a little more courage, heart and brains these days? Performances at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8-9, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11. Tickets at overture.org.
• Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States, through Dec. 13, Chazen Museum of Art; reception Oct. 8, 5-7 p.m.: The New Deal-era Works Progress Administration sent millions back to work during the Great Depression — including many visual artists. While a lot of art was designed to help lift people’s spirits, other works documented American life during hard times. The lithographs collected in “Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States” mostly feature the latter thematic focus. Curator Kathryn Koca Polite (from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Krannert Art Museum, home of the exhibition’s first incarnation) says some pieces tap into “surrealist nightmare fuel.” That sounds appropriate for our current moment. Read Chali Pittman’s exhibition preview here. A reception takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Oct. 8, with a talk by UW School for Workers faculty members Ericka Wills and Alexia Kulwiec; register at eventbrite.com.

• The Poisoner, Oct. 8-10, UW Memorial Union-Play Circle, 7:30 p.m.: The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, provided the spark for the new play The Poisoner, written by M.M. Haney. The story follows a journalist who returns to his Midwestern hometown only to find a whole lot of issues in relation to the town’s water supply. In this case it’s fiction rather than real life, but the questions raised about trust in the government to protect its citizens are decidedly real. Madison is one of just seven stops on a national tour by Uncommon Productions, directed by Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans. Another good reason to see it: Every dollar from ticket sales benefits the Wisconsin Union Theater’s André De Shields Fund, which gives UW-Madison students grants to create and produce their own artistic work. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.
• Decomposium, Oct. 9-11, Park Hall, Sauk City, and Free Congregation Cemetery, Prairie du Sac: You know the good folks at Reedsburg’s Wormfarm Institute from Fermentation Fest, the Farm/Art D’Tour throughout Sauk County, and the recent Hay Rake Ballet. This three-day symposium concerning rot is very much on brand — the Decomposium blends the facts of decay with art and agriculture through a wide-ranging slate of events, with the first two days at Park Hall in Sauk City and the final day nearby in the historic and beautiful Free Congregation Cemetery on Slotty Road. There are art installations, readings, discussion of green burial practices, meditations, music from Tsuzamen and Wrannock and more; full schedule at wormfarminstitute.org. Free (save for one writing workshop) but advance registration is requested.
• Taking Sides, Oct. 9-24, Bartell Theatre: Ronald Harwood’s 1995 play Taking Sides has taken on added relevance at our current moment. It’s based on the true story of star German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwängler. After World War II, accused of collaborating with the Nazis, the conductor claimed he was on the side of art, not the Nazis. Madison Public Theatre revisits Furtwängler’s story. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (except 1:30 p.m. Oct. 24) and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.

• Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Friday, Oct. 9, Overture-Capitol Theater, 7:30 p.m.: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra begins its 66th year with “Transcendence,” the fourth installment of the orchestra’s five-year, five-album “Musical Landscapes in Color” project highlighting the works of living composers of color. Guest artist Stewart Goodyear will be featured on his own Piano Concerto; Carlos Simon’s Movements for Flute features WCO principal flute Brandon LePage; and the program also features Brittany Green’s Testify!, Quenton Blache’s Habari Gani, and Anthony Kelley’s Spirituals of Liberation. The sum total should be stirring, and will be recorded for a future album release. Tickets at overture.org.
• Eurydice, through Oct. 17, Bartell Theatre: Playwright and author Sarah Ruhl’s work has been regularly featured on Madison stages over the last couple decades. Eurydice, Ruhl’s retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the perspective shifted to lady E, made its premiere as a Madison Repertory Theatre production in 2003, and here is revived by Madison Theatre Guild for a fresh look. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday (except 3 p.m. on Oct. 17) and 3 p.m. Sunday, plus 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15. Tickets at bartelltheatre.org.
• David McGlynn, Saturday, Oct. 10, Lake City Books, 5 p.m.: David McGlynn teaches English at Lawrence University in Appleton, and his engaging second novel, Liberal Arts, happens to be set at a small liberal arts college in a small Wisconsin town. Coincidence? Probably not. The Madison-based author will celebrate the book’s release with a party and talk, and there will be plenty to discuss. Liberal Arts is both serious and satirical, as it spans four academic years — from “freshpeople” orientation to graduation — and features a series of bizarre, interconnected dramas. McGlynn excels at portraying communities; his first novel, last year’s Everything We Could Do, focuses on hope and heartbreak at a neonatal intensive care unit. This is a free event, but RSVPs are encouraged at lakecitybooks.com.

• Watershed Year, Sunday, Oct. 11, High Noon Saloon, 6 p.m.: Early 2000s Madison band Watershed Year is reuniting for one night only to honor the memory of the band’s drummer, Matt Hahn, who died in late 2025. They are joined in reunion sets by two other Madison punk scene vets who haven’t played in a while — Things Fall Apart and Big Fat Ass — along with Warhawks and Minneapolis visitors Loss Leader.
• Faust, Sunday, Oct. 11, Arts + Literature Lab, 7 p.m.: F.W. Murnau is well known for his creepy 1922 film, Nosferatu. But his 1926 film of Faust should not be overlooked, and ALL is not overlooking it in this, its 100th anniversary year. This screening is accompanied by a score performed live by Minneapolis duo ten thousand lakes, aka Steven Larsen (stringed and electronic instruments and noises) and Peter Bruhn (percussive and electronic instruments and… also noises). The two have ping-ponged from shoegaze to indie rock to this more experimental approach to sound. Our German Expressionism/post-shoegaze pick of the week. Tickets at artlitlab.org.

• Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Sunday, Oct. 11, Gamma Ray, 8 p.m.: Quintron & Miss Pussycat bring the gritty and glorious artistic gumbo of their New Orleans home to the world with concerts featuring music (so irresistible it will make even the most dedicated non-dancer sway), puppets and other creative experiments. They’re back for a repeat appearance at the Puppets In The House festival in Verona on Oct. 9 (find tickets for the puppet show Party Planning for Animals here), and this year the duo is sticking around a couple extra days to bring the rock to Gamma Ray. With Wristwatch. Tickets at gammaray.bar.
• Smashing Pumpkins, Sunday, Oct. 11, Kohl Center, 8 p.m.: This show should bring back some memories for anyone who spent the mid-'90s endlessly playing Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Smashing Pumpkins are celebrating the landmark double album with “The Rats in a Cage Tour,” featuring one set made up entirely of Mellon Collie songs and another reaching across nearly four decades of the band's music. That means plenty of room for "1979" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" along with favorites from the rest of Billy Corgan and company's wonderfully unpredictable career. Tickets at uwbadgers.evenue.net.

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