Arts & Culture
The Merchant of Venice
The American Player Theatre delves into sticky realms of ambiguity with its production of what is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most questionable plays. The Merchant of Venice concerns money lent to a man by a Jewish moneylender named Shylock. If the money is not paid back in a timely fashion, Shylock has the legal right to one pound of the debtor’s flesh. It’s not an overriding problem unless one happens to be exquisitely sensitive, but there are enough allusions to anti-Semitism in the script to make modern audiences cringe. The APT glides its way gracefully through what is essentially a courtroom drama with as much style as it can muster. This includes some of the best acting in the state filling a comfy outdoor theatre in the middle of a wooded area west of Madison. Sadly, however, the biggest disappointment in the acting here is James Ridge in that oh-so-central performance as the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It should be pointed out before this review goes any further that James Ridge is a phenomenal actor. In 2005, his performance as Tartuffe was exquisite and insightful – something of a revelation. This past year as the title character in Dickens In America with Next Act (which he picks up again this summer with the APT and next December with the Madison Rep), Ridge put forth a spellbinding, highly charismatic performance. In light of these recent successes, Ridge’s performance as Shylock is a colossal disappointment. Ridge affects an accent, which may serve to distinguish a sense of otherworldliness in the villain, but it never quite feels natural enough to make the character entirely believable. Ridge goes a long way toward making up for this lack of realism by playing the role sympathetically. We see depth in Ridge’s performance as Shylock. His motivations for behaving as cold as he is seem firmly defined in Ridge’s portrayal, but the larger picture of who the character is never fully resolves, leaving this production’s Shylock feeling like more of a shallow villain than Ridge’s efforts should have allowed. The rest of the performances here live up to the play quite well. James DeVita plays the title character who borrows money from Shylock to give to his friend Bassanio (Matt Schwader) so that he may have a chance at marrying his one true love, Portia (the charming Colleen Madden). As the play progresses, Bassanio gets ever closer to his dream as Portia plays reluctant host to a series of wealthy suitors played by frequent Rep actor Jonathan Smoots. Madden is in particularly good form here playing subtle comedy in perfect timing and DeVita plays the title role as a very rational man in very real peril. The best part of his performance is the intrinsic believability of his friendship with Bassanio. It would seem all too easy to play a friendship between two men in which one is willing to risk his life for the other’s well being as some kind of mysterious male code of honor for […]
Aug 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Smashing Pumpkins
This might not be the Smashing Pumpkins you remember from seven years ago—or, as seems more likely, from around 1995, when leader Billy Corgan symbolized the meld of artistic and commercial ambitions of alternative-rock as it went mainstream. Back then, the Pumpkins were really his baby, and Zeitgeist discards any pretense of a “band:” the credits state, “JIMMY CHAMBERLIN: DRUMS/BILLY CORGAN: ALL THE REST.” Chamberlin, once as famous for his addictions as for his drumming, remains Corgan’s reliably virtuosic ace of controlled frenzy. And Corgan remains one of rock & roll’s most grandiloquent noisemakers, layering tracks of guitars atop each other and trying to sing through it all in a voice that makes him sound as though he’s releasing an inner child driven to desperation by the captivity. Zeitgeist finds the child trapped in America—perhaps the biggest, most elusive subject possible for any native. Corgan pursues it in ways both oblique (the fiercely buzzing “Doomsday Clock” ) and direct (the black-metallic “United States” ), although his lyrics (“apocalyptic screams/mean nothing to the dead” ) are as cryptic as ever. When Corgan gets more personal, the lyrics and music get less remote: “That’s the Way (My Love Is)” drifts into tenderness and “Pomp and Circumstances” revives the earnest, synthesized lushness of 1980s ballads. Yet Zeitgeist fails to capture America, or indeed anything resembling its own title. Instead, it offers a mélange of distant memories of what used to be the Smashing Pumpkins. VS
Aug 1st, 2007 by Jon Gilbertson
August 2007
August 7th Peter Case Let us Now Praise Sleepy John Yep Roc Kat DeLuna 9 Lives Epic Drowning Pool Full Circle Eleven Seven Music Fuel Angels and Devils Epic June Make it Blur Victory Grace Potter and The Nocturnals This is Somewhere Hollywood The Pretty Things Balboa Island Zoho Music August 14th Peter Cincotti East of Angel Town Warner Collective Soul AfterwOrds El Music Group Junior Senior Hey Hey My My Yo Yo Rykodisc Mae Singularity Capitol Lori McKenna Unglamorous Warner Bros. Matt Nathanson Some Mad Hope Vanguard The Seldom Scene Scenechrnized Sugar Hill Linda Thompson Versatile Heart Rounder Turbonegro Retox Cooking Vinyl Paul van Dyk In Between Mute August 21st Adema Kill the Headlights Partnership/Immortal Architecture in Helsinki Because I Love It Columbia Peter Buffett Staring at the Sun BeSide Earlimart Mentor Tormentor Majordomo/Shout! Foreign Born On the Wing Now Dim Mak Idiot Pilot Wolves Reprise Minus the Bear Planet of Ice Suicide Squeeze The New Pornographers Challengers Matador Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight Brute/Beaute/Warner Nikki Sixx The Heroin Diaries Eleven Seven Music August 28th Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor Hollywood Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals Lifeline Virgin Kula Shaker StrangeFolk Sony Music Liars Liars Mute Lyle Lovett and His Large Band It’s Not Big It’s Large Lost Highway Meshell Ndegeocello The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams Decca Northern State Can I Keep This Pen? Ipecac
Aug 1st, 2007 by Erin Wolf
Bad Religion
“We’re animals with golden rules/Who can’t be moved by rational views/Welcome to the new dark ages.” Iraq’s a mess, our civil liberties are eroding and Scooter Libby was basically pardoned. Leave it to six years of an oppressive Republican regime to light a fire under Bad Religion’s ass. Anyone who’s heard a Bad Religion song, much less an entire album, knows what to expect from New Maps of Hell: hyper-intelligent lyrics, dramatically gorgeous vocal harmonies and punk riffs that spawned legions of imitators who took more time explaining what their songs were about than actually playing them. But to criticize Bad Religion for not evolving over the years would be a futile exercise; one may as well complain that AC/DC has recorded the same album 18 times. While other bands would be accused of having run out of ideas, New Maps of Hell feels more like re-visiting a favorite book, if that book were Dude, Where’s My Country? Ironically, as solid as the formula tracks are, it’s when the band changes things up a bit that we find the standout cuts – notably the single “Honest Goodbye,” which uses a thundering mid-tempo verse to anchor a sugar-coated hook. Closing track “Fields of Mars” does the same thing using piano while fantasizing about a time when we can get off this rock, away from the Neanderthals running the show. But how fun woul these guys be if they were happy? If you’re not already a Bad Religion fan, you could pick a worse starting point than this. After all, it’s important for us Americans to familiarize ourselves with our most venerable institutions. VS
Aug 1st, 2007 by DJ Hostettler
Much Ado About Nothing
It can be the smallest things that make any production of a popular Shakespeare classic more memorable than the last. In an American Players Theatre production, this always seems to come from the least expected places. Maybe the production design is so impressive that it nearly overshadows the play it’s presenting. Maybe there’s a subtle, brilliantly unspoken joke woven into the set design that plays on a drastic height difference between the diminutive James DeVita and a towering supporting character. In this year’s APT production of Much Ado About Nothing, it’s the villain Don John. More than simply being a marginal character, Don John almost seems to be an afterthought in an otherwise giddy comic script, which is fun enough to make Much Ado one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. Precisely why Don John would leave such a strong impression is a bit of a mystery, particularly when said production features such strong performances in all of the other more central roles. Milwaukee Rep actor Ted Deasy stars as confirmed bachelor Benedick who is unsuspectingly dragged into a relationship with Beatrice – a woman with which he is quite reluctantly head over heels in love. Beatrice is played brilliantly here by Milwaukee actress Tracy Michelle Arnold. Beatrice has a stinging, level-headed wit about her – a wit that Arnold rings to the stage with a considerable amount of flair. At the center of the story rests young Claudio (Marcus Truschinski) who has fallen for Hero (Leah Dutchin), the daughter of the Governor. Brian Mani plays the governor with a characteristically charismatic stage presence. The love here is pure and played remarkably well between Truschinski and Dutchin. With a central supporting cast consisting of such considerable APT/ Milwaukee talent as Sarah Day, James Ridge and Jim DeVita (among others) this is a solidly executed production of Much Ado. While little of it seems overwhelmingly impressive, it’s all executed very well. Milwaukee Shakespeare recently did a brilliant production of this play, so APT’s production may suffer from being produced so soon afterwards, but taken on its own it is exceedingly enjoyable. Why should it be then, that the marginal villain Don John is the single aspect of the production that makes this production worth seeing? The character only serves to provide the conflict that is the central obstacle in Claudio and Hero living happily ever after. There are few characters as far from the center as Don John, yet Milwaukee Shakespeare talent Michael Gotch plays the character with such dazzling flair that the character seems almost essential to the plot in this production. It doesn’t take Gotch long to establish the ostentatious personality of his particular Don John as he begins scheming to ruin the wedding plans of Hero and Claudio. Once he’s established his presence, all eyes are on Gotch every time he makes an appearance and the audience responds openly to even his most subtly comic movements. In Milwaukee Shakespeare productions (notably Taming of the Shrew and Richard II) Gotch […]
Aug 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
Tegan and Sara
Like the “HeadOn: apply directly to the forehead” commercial, Tegan and Sara’s “Walking With a Ghost” (from 2004’s So Jealous) proved that repetition equals retention. The simplistic and cyclical single earned an EP dedication by The White Stripes; the Canuck twin songwriters took note. On The Con, “Walking With a Ghost”-equivalents “Back in Your Head” and “Hop A Plane,” which are filled with pop hooks like “every record between ’93 and ’97,” act as a safety net for exploration elsewhere. While royalty checks must be added security, thankfully this is not another album ripe with lackluster Grey’s Anatomy ballads. More mope than mush, “Knife Going In” and “Relief Next to Me” are unprecedentedly dark, dwelling on the loss of their “grama” and the insanity and loneliness that came with it. Though apart while writing, the sum of their individual contributions is consistent in both lyric and mood – twin telepathy? Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla and Jason McGerr, The Con’s co-producer and drummer, respectively, make their presences known – if not blaringly obvious – through delicate electronics and calculated percussion. “Floorplan” and “Burn Your Life Down” are giveaways. “Nineteen,” “Call It Off” and the title track best meld the sisters’ aesthetic of earnestness and interwoven vocals with the collaborators’ marks, making those three songs particularly accomplished. When they aren’t adopting English accents on “Are you Ten Years Ago” or sounding like bingo callers on “Like O, Like H,” they put forth their most substantial material to date. If only it could speak louder than their damn undying scenester haircuts… VS
Aug 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
Coventry Jones
A fixture at Summerfest’s lake path stage or busking around town, Coventry Jones has finally released another album of original tunes. Sure he can hack out requests for covers with the best of the weekend warriors, but on the 10-track Time Stands Still Jones takes a few strides away from the ever-smiling Summer of Love persona with which he’s been tagged. Bolstered by Gregg Slavik’s drums and producer Scott Finch’s killer piano “John Glenn & I” rocks like a Chuck Berry nugget until it hits a woozy psychedelic breakdown before cranking it up again and “Delta Queen” mixes Jones’ wailing harmonica and slide guitar with Mike Woods’ sax for a particularly thick swampy gumbo. “Standing at the Station” finds a hapless Jones trying to get bailed out by his family, his lawyer, hell even Perry Mason – Wood’s soprano sax lends a music hall vibe that would not be out of place on them dodgy ‘70s concept albums by The Kinks. Utilizing a different lineup of acoustic players (mandolinist Bob McDermott, John Banshaw on banjo and upright bassist Jeff Coulliard) Jones taps into his British Isle roots on traditional tunes “Wild Rover” and “Whiskey in the Jar” – not exactly Thin Lizzy but a nice move away from patchouli pathways. Then again, if you just can’t live without a money shot, the opening track “Elissa” finds Jones back in mellowed out Allman Brothers territory, singing about a wooden ship on the water. VS Coventry Jones Time Stands Still CD Release Party is Friday July 27 from 7 p.m. – Midnight at Rip Tide Seafood & Grill, 649 E. Erie Street. 414-271-8433
Aug 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
The Lady in Question
Gender-bending roles are a trademark in the scripts written by Charles Busch – accomplished playwright, actor and drag artist. Awarded a Drama Desk Award for Career Achievement in 2003, Busch usually plays the leading ladies in his parodies of 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s film. Two of his best-known works are Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommy Die. And one of his recent plays, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, received a Tony nomination. This Milwaukee production of The Lady in Question is a spoof of 1940s film noir with a patriotic bent. The premise is that international piano virtuoso Gertrude Garnet is on tour through Germany as Hitler tightens his reign. A chance meeting with Nazi sympathizer Baron Von Elsner and the mysterious American hero, Professor Erik Maxwell, creates a crazed love triangle. In the end, an aging actress, Raina Aldric, must be saved and multiple questions and answers unfold as foreign intrigue unites unlikely comrades. A staged escape through the Alps in shreds of paper snow completes these comical scenarios in just over two hours. As one lady in question, Mark Hagen puts Garnet in great light and her attire is, indeed, glamorous. Dale Gutzman as Von Elsner, who also directs, is a fine foil to Garnet while their perversions to the German language present sharp edged lines and laughs. Jeremy C. Welter, who plays the part of Professor Maxwell, is a lightweight hero for Hagen, but the two combine for a little chemistry on stage. But Karl Miller as Lotte, the Baron’s oversexed 12-year-old niece, provides another opportunity for drag. Draped in frothy lavender tulle or traditional Lederhosen, Lotte is front and center. Miller, along with an amply talented supporting cast, supplies the remaining comedic timing to this performance. Although the sets may be a bit underdone, the costuming more than makes up for the scenery. And the aisle is used to good advantage as an underground tunnel – just beware of gunshots! VS Off The Wall Productions presents The Lady in Question at 127 East Wells Street until July 29. For tickets or more information, call 414-327-3552 or visit www.offthewalltheatre.com.
Jul 23rd, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
A Midsummer Night McGivern
One of the most popular people in local theatre, John McGivern has a huge following. Just to see the guy standing there onstage, the uninitiated could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. On the surface, McGivern seems like anyone else you might see walking around the East Side. Seeing him perform adds to the mystery of his success a bit at first. He’s a very talented storyteller, yes, but the autobiographical work he performs in his one man shows isn’t the kind of genius one would expect from a man who has reached McGivern’s level of success. It feels much more like the type of thing that might go over well at a comedy club somewhere. Why is it that he’s playing rooms as big as Vogel Hall? Somewhere in the rhythm of McGivern’s delivery, one begins to understand what makes him so popular: he’s a nice guy. His overall presence makes people feel at ease. He’s made this his profession. He’s made a career out of being professionally nice. McGivern isn’t professionally friendly in some synthetic customer service way. His amiability isn’t the kind you’d get out of a politician, a waitress or even that guy who tried to sell you insurance. McGivern has gotten to be as popular as he has because he has a genuine passion for being a nice person. And that friendliness translates extremely well to the stage in the parade of comedy and nostalgia that is his summer show: A Midsummer Night McGivern. The show features a number of stories and a couple of readings from McGivern’s childhood experiences growing up on Milwaukee’s East Side. Laid out generally in chronological order, the stories begin with McGivern’s memories of Memorial Days as a child and gradually work their way through to the end of the season. McGivern delivers these stories with a heartfelt enthusiasm that is so strong one gets the impression that he’d be telling these same stories to friends and family at some placid park somewhere if he weren’t onstage. McGivern’s stories run nostalgically through a greater Milwaukee County of several decades ago. Various bits of Americana are seen through the very specific eyes of a man who remembers his father taking him and his brothers to visit the graves of soldiers as fresh ones were being dug for those still returning from Viet Nam. There’s a bittersweet quality to some of McGivern’s stories, but the overall feeling here is one of comedy. McGivern’s specific kind of enthusiasm pairs exceedingly well with stories told from a childhood perspective. One of his more poignant bits involves him relating what it was like to be interviewed for the Weather Channel about life in Milwaukee as the seasons change. The set McGivern performs on was put together by longtime Milwaukee Rep fixture Edward Morgan. It’s a summery collection of items tastefully lounging around the stage to help set the mood. But McGivern could easily do this on a more or less empty […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Russ Bickerstaff
The limitless as limitation
Creativity has no limits. The freedom to express, within any given medium, is a liberating process and brothers John and David Jenson not only understand this process but are taking it a step further. What started as an idea in 2005, or rather a bouncing of ideas, later grew into what is now Soar Studios, an art-studio space that allows the freedom of expression to transcend across various mediums. Soar Studios encourages people from all walks of life to collaborate in the creative process while utilizing such diverse tools as screen-printing, digital media, sound, photography, illustration, carpentry – really anything that you can get your hands on. Their philosophy is kinetic, collective and maximizes freedom through exploring without limitation. With collaborations from such local studios as Lucky Star and Donebestdone, John and David’s idea for Soar is piloting the sky. So, ladies and gentleman, fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a hell of a ride. John and David were born in Edgerton, WI. After a few short years their father, Hugh, relocated the family to Eau Claire where he found work as an insurance agent. It was around 1976 when the family decided to move back to Central Wisconsin, first to Mukwonago then finally settling in Oconomowoc. Their mother, Kathleen, became the proprietor of a vintage clothing store and from the back-stock of all her threads was able to fashion purses and other garments to sell at local farmers markets. Undoubtedly, her creative endeavors were the first exposure the young brothers had to the creative mind. After graduating UW-Madison with a degree in industrial engineering, David improbably found work in New York as a proofreader/editor translating Russian text for scientific journals. Back home, brother John was freelancing as a designer and doing commercial art. The brothers kept in touch, bouncing creative ideas off each other that eventually hatched a plan. “Hey, why don’t we go into business together? We’re brothers,” John recollects asking David one day after a particularly lively exchange. So David moved back to Wisconsin and the two landed work for GMR Marketing, a local company that handles design work for such companies as Nintendo, MGD and Airwalk Shoes. “It was a team effort for GMR,” David says. “We collaborated on flyers and marketing tools for promotion.” Shortly after, the experience with GMR segued into graphic design work in the publications industry. However, disenchanted with commercial art and the various filters it goes through, the two brothers grew a craving for a broader form of artistic expression. So they branched off on their own and started the design team, Designaholix. Designaholix was really the fodder for what would later become Soar Studios. With the initial start up, Designaholix generated enough income through freelance projects to purchase new equipment and prepare for the launch of Soar Studios. The intended purpose was to allow a space for collective creativity to evolve where each step influences the next and opens doors to fresh artistic outlooks and experiences. The artistic […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
The Gourds
Here’s the setting: You’re outside on a warm summer day; there’s a nice breeze and some good conversation flowing and you have a tasty beverage in hand. You hear some music and decide to stroll under the tent to check it out. It ain’t earth-shifting, life-affirmation stuff, but it’s well-played and gets your fingers tapping – in all, pleasant. The same setting could be metaphorically applied to the new Gourds album, Noble Creatures. There’s nothing here that will change your world, but it is a great soundtrack by which to pass some time. Noble Creatures does add another dimension to the band’s considerable recorded history with “Promenade” and “Steeple Full of Swallows.” Both are ballads of particular interest, as they keep with The Gourds’ well-honed songcraft of hitting the mark intellectually and emotionally. The production has a very live “soundboard” feel, which unfortunately undermines the actual quality of the songs. In fact, it disables the disc from ever getting out of the tent, hopelessly miring Noble Creatures under the canvas of a much-narrowed band of appreciative listeners. Even so, artists should always be commended for stepping off the familiar path and creating something new…in that sense, this effort truly is noble. VS
Jul 1st, 2007 by Troy Butero
Crowded House
Fourteen years since their last album, 11 since their last show and yet it feels almost effortless the way Crowded House pick up where they left off. Admittedly, Time on Earth represents an incomplete reunion – original drummer Mark Hester died in 2005, and keyboardist Mark Hart wasn’t part of the initial lineup – but lead singer and songwriter Tim Finn papers the cracks. It’s not too remarkable that Finn remains a lively creative presence; after Crowded House broke up, he continued to write with his brother Neil, carried on a solo career and collaborated with artists like the Dixie Chicks. (That specific collaboration, “Silent House,” was on their album Taking the Long Way and shows up here as well.) You could say Time on Earth puts Finn back where he belongs, or at least where he’s most comfortable. From the opening track, the lucent and lovely “Nobody Wants To,” Finn and Crowded House don’t seem to have been away. In their absence, no one else really emerged to make mid-tempo pop-rock seem so simultaneously effortless and brilliant. And, at times, a little facile. With his smooth voice and acute ear for accessible melodies and smart lyrics, Finn is like a cousin to Paul McCartney, all prettiness and no edge. But the descending melancholy of “Pour Le Monde,” the sleek romantic hope of “Don’t Stop Now,” and the hushed glimmering of “A Sigh” cannot be denied. Time on Earth spends its own minutes well. VS
Jul 1st, 2007 by Jon Gilbertson
