ACCESS THE ARTS FROM HOME
Though our building may be closed, Overture Center continues to bring the arts to you through the following collection of educational resources and entertainment.
On Demand Fun For Everyone Ideas and Events for Parents and Caregivers Tools and Lessons for Educators Content for Broadway Fans Resources for Artists
On Demand Fun for Everyone
Overture Forums
- Explore a range of arts-related topics from speakers, guest artists, Overture staff, experts and more. Topics include: How three industry leaders are teaming up to keep the arts alive in Wisconsin, Overture’s Vital Role in the Community, State of the Industry and the COVID 19 Vaccine and the Black Community. Watch them online here.
Only Intermission
- Reconnect with familiar faces from the Overture and Madison arts family with these short vlogs about our community. Featured guests include Dana Perry, Gail Becker, Corey Pompey and more. You can watch the short videos online here.
Voice Your Heart
- Overture is a space for community stories and voices, and even though our doors are closed, we want to continue to be that place for you. We invited the community to tell us where the heart is in this moment using art. We received an incredible number of submissions ranging from songs to dances to graphic novels. Check out these amazing community-sources art pieces online. Students participating in field trips with Oveture artists continue to add to the gallery throughout the year. Learn more here.
Jerry Awards
- The much-anticipated Jerry Awards 2019/20 program aired on SUN, JUN 21, at 7 PM via Facebook Live. The 90-minute show featured video clips of musical theater performances, student and school awards, and special guests. You can watch the awards program here.
Downtown Murals
- Come visit outdoor murals around our building and on State Street. Overture has availed spots around our building for artists to create murals as part of the City and Madison Business Improvement District’s mural project to amplify artist voices in response to social injustice. Learn more.
Duck Soup Cinema
- Check out Wisconsin Public Television’s University Place feature on silent film organist and composer Jelani Eddington. In the episode, filmed in Capitol Theater, Eddington accompanies scenes from “The Flying Ace,“ a 1926 silent film with an all-African American cast. Watch the episode.
Our Resident Organizations
- Children’s Theater of Madison is online! Like CTM’s Facebook page to participate in FREE offerings and visit here to view The Goodwin Project, a series of four short plays written by the brilliant Idris Goodwin and combined with educational content created by our Goodwin Project Educational Content Team. The purpose is to start tough conversations about race within the households and classrooms of Madison and beyond! It provides families and teachers with a well-designed toolkit to address race in an insightful, groundbreaking, and helpful way.
- Experience Madison Symphony Ochestra’s virtual 20/21 Organ Season Premiere featuring Greg Zelek, Principal Organist and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ. Also, visit madisonsymphony.org/organ for the latest information on our Overture Concert Organ programming.
- Keep up to date with Forward Theater both onstage and online here including the upcoming 46 Plays for America’s Leading Ladies and Lewiston/Clarkston.
- Kanopy Dance Company has launched Dancing with Kanopy at Home, a virtual class program! Classes are available for all ages. Ongoing enrollment.
- While we’re closed, the James Watrous Gallery is exploring ways to share our exhibitions and celebrate contemporary Wisconsin artists online. Follow them on Instagram for the latest updates and visit their website to experience their Digital Online Gallery.
Overture Galleries
- Our Spring 2020 exhibits are available as a digital gallery!
- ClearCut – The Wages of Dominion was recorded as an online webinar. Watch here.
National Geographic Live
- Our friends at National Geographic Live created a special #stayathome experience as they went backstage with some of our favorite National Geographic explorers. View the series on theirFacebook page.
Madison
- Destination Madison has a collection of virtual resources online including events, music, cocktail and cooking creations, shopping, activities for kids, exercise and more! Visit their website for more.
Ideas and Events for Parents and Caregivers
Some of our favorite Kids in the Rotunda performers are making the most of this time with new songs, daily and weekly livestreams and some teaching!
- Kids in the Rotunda favorite David Landau is being silly at home with a livestream at 10 AM on weekdays.
- Future Hits offers a fun and (secretly) educational concert series, aptly named Jams.
- Ken Lonnquist is livestreaming a show every weekday at 10 AM featuring many of his classic kids songs.
- Laura Doherty livestreams kids shows on Tuesdays at 3 PM, Wednesdays at 10 AM and Fridays at 12 PM.
- Little Miss Ann offers livestream concerts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 AM.
- Mad Science offers dozens of fun science activities to do at home.
- Magic Morgan and Liliana are teaching magic tricks from home.
- Stuart Stotts is premiering a song each Tuesday via livestream.
- Suzi Shelton has a daily livestream from her Brooklyn, New York, home at 4 PM CT.
- Zoozort Live Animal Programs is showing us what all the animals are up to, while staying safe at home.
Lullaby Project
- Overture’s newest community program pairs local singer-songwriters, new parents and parents-to-be to create personal lullabies for their children, in partnership with community organizations. Listen to their music on Soundcloud. View an online concert featuring lullabies from all over the world, including Madison here.
Check out our past livestreams to host your own Kids in the Rotunda!
Follow Kids in the Rotunda on Facebook for more educational resources
Coloring Book
- Download the full PDF of our Coloring Book from Overture Center! Share your creations with us on our Facebook or Instagram! Don’t forget to tag us!
Tools and Lessons for Educators
Virtual Arts Education Field Trips
- In response to COVID-19, Overture Center for the Arts is launching virtual arts field trips for the 2020-21 academic year led by experienced professional artists from our community. Professional artists and Overture education staff will provide a kaleidoscope of demonstrations, discussions and mini-performances to meet your curricular goals around a theme of your choice.
Storytime
- Through our OnStage student matinee series, we welcome students and their teachers to see favorite stories come to life on our stages. Although school now looks very different, we’re still here as a resource to make the most out of a good story. Here is a collection of resource guides for literature-based shows filled with discussion ideas, creative projects, art lessons and more we’ve used throughout the years to enhance the storytelling on our stages.
Content for Broadway Fans
- Find out what’s next for Madison’s only Broadway stage.
- Enjoy a recording of a show with these free publicly available online materials.
- Check out Broadway Cares’ special encore series of recent star-studded performances from Broadway Backwards, where genders are swapped on famous show tunes.
- Take a virtual walk-through of the Harold Prince exhibit at Lincoln Center.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber’s YouTube platform, called The Shows Must Go On, features a full length musical each Friday for free.
- Broadway On Demand (BOD) is a gathering place for both theatre lovers and theatre makers to celebrate, commune and share their passion for the form. Features performances, masterclasses, live events and more.
- Visit Broadway Direct for a theater lover’s guide to online streaming content available now.
Resources for Artists
- Arts Wisconsin’s Information and Resources for the Creative Sector re COVID-19.
- Explore these low-cost or free options to livestream your work.
- Join the Arts Education Roundtable Madison Facebook Group for updates and networking related to Arts Education.
- Be a part of the new teaching artist roster we are developing as part of Any Given Child Madison. More info on the call for teaching artists is here.
- Get up-to-the-minute updates about arts and culture from the Americans for the Arts’ Resource Page.
- Find out about the latest resources available to freelance, independent artists.
- Try taking free daily Broadway Dreams Live Lessons for aspiring student actors, singers and dancers with some accomplished Broadway-caliber talent from The Broadway Dreams Foundation.
- Find out about resources and opportunities for artists through Dane Arts like the DANG! (Dane Arts Need Grant) Grant program.
