During the performing arts season, arts editor Jim Higgins recommends promising music, dance and theater productions to see in the coming month. Look for these stories in the newspaper the final Sunday of the month. They post online the preceding week at jsonline.com/entertainment/arts.

In Milwaukee’s performing arts scene, the first month of 2026 brings the return of the 21st century’s revolutionary musical, plus a new stage work about Wisconsin artist Mary Nohl.

Also, it’s a good month for Mozart, both in the concert hall and on stage.

Here are 16 theater, music and dance performances you can enjoy in the Milwaukee area in January. I would never tell you that these are the only shows worth seeing here during that time period.

‘The Godfather,’ Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Associate conductor Ryan Tani leads the MSO in performing Nino Rota’s Oscar-nominated score live to screenings of Francis Ford Coppola’s classic American film. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 2-3. Bradley Symphony Center, 212 W. Wisconsin Ave. Visit mso.org or call (414) 291-7605.

‘Cardboard Piano,” Renaissance Theaterworks

Hansol Jung’s drama, which opens in war-ravaged Uganda in 1999, takes on compelling conflicts about faith and homophobia. Jan. 9-Feb. 1, 255 S. Water St. Visit rtwmke.org or call (414) 278-0765.

• A Milwaukee County Judge’s clerk was reprimanded for calling a federal immigration agent a “fascist.”
• The clerk, Alan Freed, made the comment outside the courtroom of Judge Hannah Dugan, who was later found guilty of felony obstruction.
• Freed stated he stood by his comments, calling them political speech, and received the lowest level of a write-up.

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s clerk, who called a federal immigration agent “a fascist” outside a courtroom, was reprimanded for the comment.

Alan Freed testified at Dugan’s federal obstruction trial that he told Dugan the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the hallway outside her courtroom on April 18.

Freed testified he went into the public hallway and called one of the agents a “fascist.”

The agents were in the hallway outside of Dugan’s courtroom to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was wanted for illegally re-entering the U.S. after being previously deported.

In a split verdict, a jury found Dugan guilty of felony obstruction of agents, but not guilty of trying to hide the suspect, a misdemeanor.

Dugan’s defense team is seeking to overturn the jury verdict and will file motions by late January with U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.

Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts Anna Hodges said she couldn’t provide specifics about the situation with Freed because it is a personnel matter. But she added it is impermissible, under state Supreme Court rules, for court staff like Freed to express personal opinions on the job.

Clerks are key employee for judges, calling cases, determining available dates for next hearings and answering questions when the judge is not on the bench.

“People have their own personal opinions, but we need to be professional and appropriate in the courtroom setting,” she said. “Our job is to be impartial.”

Radio host Mark Belling first reported on Hodge’s concern about Freed’s conduct.

Hodges said her staff, including Freed, are well aware of the state Supreme Court rules on decorum because of required trainings.

In an interview, Freed said he is retiring Jan. 2, but said it was planned and unrelated to his reprimand. He is 70.

Freed said he received the “lowest level of write-up” for what he said on April 18. He said he didn’t back down when it was delivered, and added that it was his first reprimand in seven years as a clerk.

“I said, ‘I stand by my comments, and it’s political speech, and that’s that,’” Freed said.

Freed said the reprimand came before he testified. He said his supervisor approached him again after his testimony, but didn’t give him an additional write-up, because it was for the same thing, he said.

Freed said he was told by his supervisor that “language like that isn’t appropriate, especially in the public hallway, as you’re an employee of the county, and it doesn’t show good judgment.”

“I said, ‘It was on the spur of the moment, and a lot of us were outraged at what was going on. And I stand by my words.’”

Freed said he wasn’t aware of rules around decorum for court clerks.

“I’m not aware of that, but maybe (Hodges) has got some document but she hasn’t shared it with me,” said Freed, who was a disability rights lawyer before he became a court clerk.

MILWAUKEE — Christine LaMarre is finally getting used to a view she hasn’t seen clearly in months.

“I haven’t seen my street for forever… for months,” LaMarre said.

Outside her home on North 89th Street in the Cooper Park neighborhood sat a 150-foot-long leaf pile — frozen under snow and stretching down much of her block.

The massive pile posed safety concerns for elderly neighbors and made it tough for fire trucks and other vehicles to navigate what had essentially become a one-way street.

“It needed to be cleared for them… and my neighbors wanted it cleared also, because it was in front of three, four houses and they couldn’t get into park or anything,” LaMarre said.

Mike Beiermeister

TMJ4 first spoke to Christine last week after a viewer had reached out, sharing their frustration about the lack of cleanup. By Monday, Milwaukee Department of Public Works crews were out clearing that pile and others in the neighborhood.

Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/it-looks-terrible-milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-massive-leaf-piles-block-streets-for-over-a-month

Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-leaf-piles-remain-buried-under-snow-dpw-has-plan-to-address-the-leaves

It was a welcome sight for Andy Butula, who also lives on 89th Street.

“It’ll be nice to be able to park in front of my house and just go in,” Butula said.

Mike Beiermeister

The city says a snowstorm in late November slowed leaf collection — and that both operations use the same crews and equipment. That’s why some piles sat for weeks, even months.

“It just seemed like it would have been easier if it would have been taken care of right away before the snow came,” Butula said.

Mike Beiermeister

Crews weren’t able to get to every leaf pile in Cooper Park and around the city on Monday. They plan to clean up remaining piles and are getting help from Mother Nature as warmer conditions are expected to carry on the rest of this week.

Related Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-neighbors-frustrated-as-uncollected-leaves-create-hazardous-conditions-after-storm

As crews take advantage of the warmer weather, some neighbors on Milwaukee’s west side are thankful to have things back to normal before the holidays.

“I’m very pleased… mostly for my neighbors, because it was a front of their homes, but it was bothering all of us,” LaMarre said.

The city says about 90% of city-created piles have been cleared. Next, they’ll focus on large resident-created piles.

Mike Beiermeister

According to a spokesperson with Milwaukee DPW, the deadline for residents to rake leaves to the curb was Sunday, November 30. After that date, crews begin collecting leaves citywide, a process that typically takes two to three weeks. This year, however, a significant early winter snowstorm on November 29 interrupted operations. As a result, crews expect to continue collecting larger leaf piles into the new year. Smaller piles will be addressed in the spring.

“We are thankful to residents for being patient with us as we navigating snow operations and leaf collection at the same time as both operations use same staff and equipment. We are currently lucky to have better weather conditions that our staff is taking advantage of for leaf collection,” the spokesperson said.

Approximately 90% of city-created piles have been collected. Once that work is completed, crews will shift their focus to large resident-created piles. Some of those resident piles have already been collected as part of the city-pile cleanup process.

Residents may report large leaf piles by submitting a request at milwaukee.gov/Click4Action, through the MKE Mobile app, or by calling 414-286-CITY (2489).

This story was reported on-air by Mike Beiermeister and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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