2008-12 Vital Source Mag – December 2008
A Tuna Christmas
Holiday-themed shows are a favorite in Milwaukee this time of year. They draw in larger then usual crowds and are often appropriate for nearly all ages. Soulstice Theatre opened A Tuna Christmas last Friday with a packed theatre full of people ready for full holiday swing. A Tuna Christmas is the second play in a series about the fictional town of Tuna, TX written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. It centers on the town yard decorating contest and a ‘Christmas Phantom’ that sabotages the contest. Traditionally, all the characters are played by just two actors. Soulstice opened their production up to six actors. While this does provide for more elaborate costume changes; it also ushers in a bit of the absurd. When an actor goes from playing a waitress at the Tastee Crème to an old man, is she meant to keep on her massive pink earrings or did she just forget to take them off while backstage? Much of what makes the Tuna plays so much fun is the ability of the actors to use voice and physicality to switch between characters. Soulstice relies more on costumes and things like wigs, hats and body padding. While some of the choices Soulstice made were fun and definitely in the Tuna spirit, several were superfluous and seemed to serve more to the amusement of the cast than the audience. Nonessential costuming aside, the six actors, Enid Barnes, Jeffrey Berens, Ben Dern, Ken Dillon, Michael Endter and Kelly Simon portray the town of Tuna and its eclectic citizens with the wit and irony intended by the script. Soulstice Theatre put together a fun show that can certainly be enjoyed by families this December. The satirical humor and occasional ad libs are clever and light. A Tuna Christmas runs through December 6 at the Marian Center at 3195 S. Superior St. For tickets call 414.431.3187 or visit their website at www.soulsticetheatre.org.
Dec 1st, 2008 by Russ Bickerstaff
2008 Holiday Fun Guide
What can we say about the holidays? For most of us, this time of year can cause serious anxiety as we ultimately find ourselves shuffling from store to store, desperately trying to hold our own among ravenous holiday shoppers. And every year, we end up stuck at yet another awkward family dinner where we try our best not to get too drunk in front of relatives. Or maybe that’s just me. Luckily for us cynics, VITAL’s Holiday Guide has the antidote to all this winter drudgery with helpful hints on where to go to get into the holiday spirit and ensure that the season is entertaining and filled with all of the cheer we hear about in those Christmas songs. After a landmark year in so many emotionally huge ways, we need it more than ever. VS Milwaukee Coach & Carriage Holiday Rides Milwaukee Coach & Carriage 414-272-6873 or milwaukeecarriage.com There’s no better way to enjoy a brisk winter evening and take in all the glittery holiday festivities than with a horse-drawn carriage ride. The Friday Night Snow Show: Fall Constellations UW-Milwaukee Manfred Olson Planetarium Through Dec. 12 414-229-4961 or planetarium.uwm.edu For an alternative method of getting into the spirit of the season, come to the planetarium for a weekly viewing of the night sky at 7:00 pm. Find out how to spot some special fall constellations and learn about their significance. Holiday Lights Festival Pere Marquette Park, Cathedral Square Park, Ziedler Union Square Through Jan. 4 milwaukeedowntown.org Millions of twinkling lights brighten up downtown Milwaukee during this festive annual tradition. Come for dazzling lights, stay for family-friendly entertainment. Downtown Jingle Bus The Shops of Grand Avenue Thursdays – Sundays through Jan. 4 Board the Jingle Bus for a 40-minute narrated tour of Milwaukee’s merriest holiday hot spots while enjoying hot cocoa and cookies. Holiday Floral Show Mitchell Park Conservatory Through Jan.4 414-649-9800 or countyparks.com Visit The Domes for a breathtaking Christmas show that features thousands of crimson and hybrid poinsettias, plus holiday concerts and performances. Westown Indoor Market The Shops of Grand Avenue Through Feb. 11 414-276-6696 or westown.org The Westown Farmer’s Market has moved indoors for the winter. Come check out your favorite vendors while listening to live musical performances. Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra The Shops of Grand Avenue Through Jan. 3 414-224-0655 or grandavenueshops.com Join Leonard Bearstein and his 18-piece orchestra of bears as they perform our favorite holiday songs live in the Grande Avenue Mall. Whoa! East Town Trees East Town Neighborhood Through Jan. 5 414-271-1416 or easttown.com See more than 30 wooden trees decorated by local businesses and retailers and scattered around in East Town. Saturdays with Santa The Shops of Grand Avenue Through Dec.20 414-224-0655 or grandavenueshops.com Spend the afternoon making holiday crafts and listening to Radio Disney, but don’t forget to tell Santa what you want for Christmas! Santa vs. The Snowman Humphrey IMAX Dome Theater, Milwaukee Public Museum Through Jan.4 414-319-4629 or mpm.edu See what happens when you combine Santa, a jealous […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Erin Petersen
I’ll be seeing you …
In the beginning When I started writing the Slightly Crunchy Parent in March 2003, I was full of things to say about the choices I had made as a parent. I spent hours and hours researching all of the decisions I made for our family. It is such a large responsibility – I don’t think a person can fully comprehend the pressure and the desire to “do it right” unless they’ve raised kids. We all know what happens to children when parenting goes wrong: years of therapy and unfulfilling adult relationships and neuroses and medications and maybe even jail time. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad. But it feels like it when you’re the mom. When I was offered the opportunity to write a column I jumped at it. I had done a lot of writing before I had kids, but it slowed down a lot while I carried babies and chased toddlers. Every month, I loved sitting down to vent some of that pent-up creativity. The Slightly Crunchy Parent (or Crunchy P, as we call it in-house) has been a fabulous outlet for the last five-and-a-half years. During that time, I have talked about some of my best and worst experiences as a mother. More than once, I have found myself crying as I write, re-experiencing some difficulty or triumph. It has also happened that I open the pages of VITAL Source and can hardly remember what I have written. So many times I am in the zone, writing things that were secrets until my fingers hit the keys. Then and now Lena is 13; in 2003 she was seven. As a home-schooled second grader, she was right on the cusp of reading and she could whoop some serious backside at pretzel poker. She was a bossy, sassy, sweet master strategist who liked to be glued to my side. She was simultaneously very proud of and very annoyed by her younger siblings and cousins. Her desire to mother and control them was so strong – I felt like I was constantly saying, “Lena, you are NOT the parent!” Lena has been trying to grow up fast since the day she was born. Looking at her now, it seems like she has gotten her wish. Though she was my fattest baby, she is now a slender young woman with a core of self-confidence that’s hard to rattle. While she still likes to be the boss (very much!), she typically channels it into helping out with her brother and sister and babysitting a lot. For the most part, she has refined her sass into something far more palatable in our family: irreverence. At 13, she obviously still has some pretty mouthy moments (and what is up with the eye rolling?), but we work through it. In March 2003, Emma was approaching her fourth birthday. That girl has always walked to the beat of her own drum. In manner and nature, she is completely different from her siblings. Emma was already working […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Lucky Tomaszek
The Secret Machines
The self-titled third full-length release from The Secret Machines is just about the best collection of new music released this year. Within eight jams stands one of the most towering monoliths of sound I’ve ever cast my ears upon. From these three gifted New York (by way of Texas) musicians thumps a mighty beat of dance/pop and a noisy cinema of aural images. It knocked me on my ass. The party gets started with huge drums and distorted guitar melodies on the dance-floor beacon “Atomic Heels,” and then seamlessly slides into “Last Believer, Drop Dead.” There, Brandon Curtis settles into the contemplative crystallization of being a “dream enthusiast” in a “graveyard of hopes.” Throughout, there is the faint realization that much more is going on than just stellar music, but as the melodies and delivery are so subtly intertwined, the lyrics are felt more than understood. “Underneath The Concrete,” a total vamp with hooks via synth and voice, is the last glimmer of levity. Henceforth, “The Walls are Starting to Crack” and the closing “The Fire is Waiting” are huge, cataclysmic draperies of dark emotion and production. Every moment of these recordings has impact. In all of the songs are touches of many influences, which are never groped, just caressed, innovated and invigorated – in the true spirit of artistry – by The Secret Machines’ own formidable creativity.
Dec 1st, 2008 by Troy Butero
VITAL’s predictions for 2009
By VITAL Source Staffers JON ANNE WILLOW – CO-PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF No matter how hard Wall Street works to lure private investors back into the market, ordinary citizens will go back to saving the old fashioned way: stuffing cash in their mattresses. By June, Verlo will offer an all-new custom model, The Saver 3000, which will include a hidden chamber accessible only with a card and PIN number. Sure, they’ll be uncomfortable as hell to sleep on, but Verlo will sell scads of them to freaked-out Baby Boomers, not only securing their own financial future but providing hundreds of jobs right here in Wisconsin. The Obama Administration’s new motto will be “A windmill in every yard.” AMY ELLIOTT – MANAGING EDITOR In 2009, the stupid but prevalently held idea that “deaths happen in threes” will take on a whole new level of mystical garbage meaning when a trio of prominent world leaders – Kim Jong-Il, Fidel Castro and, in a “freak accident,” Vladimir Putin – kick the bucket. Somali pirates will take over Cuba, Moscow will be annexed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and North Korea will allow Kim Jong-Il to rule from the grave. Also meeting their demise in 2009: million-year-old and long-presumed-to-be-already-dead Structuralist philosopher Claude-Levi Strauss; actors Sidney Poitier and Peter O’Toole; former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca and the already mostly decayed Amy Winehouse. James Brown, on the other hand, will be crowned the Funk Messiah when he unceremoniously rises from the dead on Christmas day. BRIDGET BRAVE – PRODUCTION MANAGER After its victorious parlay into the national consciousness via the New York Times, the Journal-Sentinel’s “Wasted in Wisconsin” series will continue to spread, resulting in a five-part BBC series, MTV True Life Special (“I Drink in Wisconsin”), and several obscure Family Guy references. Milwaukee will celebrate by doing a shot every time the city is mentioned by name. RYAN FINDLEY – ADMINISTRATOR/FINE ARTS EDITOR Gas will make a head-spinning ricochet back to astronomical prices. This ricochet will bring the boomerang back into style with a vengeance. And speaking of vengeance, God will hold off on striking us dead because, in electing Barack Obama, Americans have bought ourselves a few years with which to prove we’re not the awful human beings and wretched global citizens we appear to be. So, no plagues of locusts or rivers of blood or any of that stuff. Which is kind of a nice thought. ERIN LEE PETERSEN – CALENDAR EDITOR Unsatisfied with the Bronze Fonz’s lukewarm reception but still high on patina chemicals, VISIT Milwaukee will collect funds to bronze other pop culture icons loosely associated with Wisconsin. By year’s end, visitors to Milwaukee will be able to take souvenir pictures with Laverne & Shirley, the gang from That ‘70s Show and the entire cast of former TGIF fave Step by Step. The city’s main attraction, however, will be a life-sized depiction of that scene in Wayne’s World where Alice Cooper explains the Algonquin origins of Milwaukee to Wayne and Garth. Erin Lee Petersen […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Vital Archives
A fresh catch for New Year’s Eve
Chef Dan Smith McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant 414-475-0700 mccormickandschmicks.com “Fresh” comes to mind when I think of the seafood at McCormick & Schmick’s. The slightly briny oysters taste like they were just harvested and served at a seaside bistro instead of a restaurant landlocked in a shopping center parking lot. Chef Dan Smith uses a light hand in seasoning and saucing the daily menu’s 30-some varieties of fresh catch. “I love New Year’s Eve,” says Smith, “because people are ready to go out and have an awesome time and it’s almost a given that you’ll have no complaints, you’ll have happy people [who] want to be wined and dined and eat fussy food. So I usually pull out lobster, filet and truffles and truffle oil and morels because people are willing to pay for it.” Smith, who opened Envoy at the Ambassador Hotel in 2005 and spent 20 years cooking in San Francisco, including a stint with the renowned Jeremiah Tower’s Stars Restaurant, has fun cooking for his appreciative holiday customers. You will too when you try his special New Year’s Eve menu. Ginger Vodka Cooler Ginger-infused vodka gives this cocktail a refreshing flavor. 1.5 oz ginger-infused vodka 3 oz ginger ale 1 oz cranberry juice Dried cranberries Candied ginger Fill your favorite holiday glass with ice. Add home-infused ginger vodka (recipe at vitalsourcemag.com!). Add in the ginger ale. Top with the cranberry juice and garnish with dried cranberries and candied ginger. Enjoy! Ginger-infused vodka Perfect for your holiday entertaining or give as a gift! Find a good-looking glass jar large enough to hold a little more than 750 milliliters of liquid. Fill with your favorite vodka (the higher grade the better). Grate or peel about 1.5 teaspoons fresh ginger and add to the vodka. (Peel the ginger in long curly pieces for a festive look.) Tightly seal your jar and store for a few days, then open and stir your vodka. Seal it up again and store for a few more days. Your vodka should be ready to spice up your holiday cocktails in about a week. Chef Dan Smith’s Crab Cakes Yields about 20 4-oz cakes 1 cup mayonnaise 4 large eggs, beaten 1 T old bay seasoning 1 t ground black pepper 1 t dry mustard 1 t kosher salt 1 t Worcestershire sauce 1 lb-loaf white bread, crust removed, diced 2.5 lbs lump crabmeat, pasteurized 1/3 cup chopped parsley Combine mayonnaise, eggs and seasonings in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix bread, crabmeat and parsley. Gently fold sauce into crabmeat mix, taking care not to break up or mash crabmeat. Chill at least two hours. Form four- or eight-ounce cakes. Pan fry or deep fry the crab cakes until golden brown. Serve with lemons, tartar sauce or your favorite condiment. Phyllo Wrapped Smoked Salmon with Crème Fraiche Mousse 3 phyllo sheets 9 oz smoked salmon 2 oz crème fraiche 1 oz capers 1 oz egg white Lay phyllo on a flat surface and lightly […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Cate Miller
A freshman’s time to shine; ERC ghost haunts Barrett
Pat on the back: After weeks and weeks of hearing that this was Mayor Barrett’s most difficult budget ever – and that fees and taxes had to be raised by a certain amount or fire fighters, police and libraries would be cut – the Common Council found a third and better option. Thanks to frosh alderman Nik Kovac (who happens to have a math degree from Harvard), the Council came up with the idea of moving the bulk of the fee increases from the solid waste fee (homeowners only) to the wastewater/tree pruning fee (homeowners, non-profits and businesses). The City of Milwaukee will get more money by capturing businesses and non-profits (hey, they have trees too) with the fee increases, but homeowners will actually pay less than they would have under the Mayor’s proposed budget. Not only that, but aldermen managed to restore libraries, fire fighters and police – and expand the summer jobs program to boot. The word around City Hall is that the Mayor’s Budget office is frustrated that they didn’t see the solution that Ald. Kovac and other Council members put forth. But no matter who came up with the idea, it puts Milwaukee in a much better position. Sick Day Fiasco: Speaking of putting the city in a better position, a group called 9to5 collected thousands and thousands of signatures earlier this year to enable something called “direct legislation” for more paid sick days for workers in the city of Milwaukee. (Full time workers would be eligible for nine days per year, if it is ever implemented.) Insiders say business organizations (e.g. the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) lobbied Mayor Barrett and Common Council President Hines pretty hard to come out against the ordinance, which went directly to a voter referendum without a chance for the Council to vote it down. Only Barrett took the bait, issuing a strong statement against more paid sick days for workers. What’s really interesting is that the Mayor now has no plan for enforcing the ordinance. He pushed for it to be defeated – hoping and praying, it seems, that he wouldn’t have to deal with it – and the voters ignored him. Now, Mayor Barrett appears to be pinning his hopes to an MMAC lawsuit against the ordinance. Why won’t he just deal with the fact that the ordinance passed and must be enforced? It all goes back to the Equal Rights Commission (ERC), or lack thereof. The ERC was established during the Norquist Administration to deal with discrimination complaints related to housing and employment. It was the City agency set up to hear those complaints and enforce legal action against discriminatory businesses, landlords, etc. But there was a big blow-up when Norquist took away the ERC’s legal powers, and members of the commission resigned or retired one by one. Pratt avoided the issue during his short tenure, but when Barrett was sworn in, everyone watched anxiously to see what he’d do with the ERC. Would he abolish it? […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Dan Corcoran
David Byrne & Brian Eno
What happens when English bloke Eno decides to tackle America’s gargantuan genre of gospel music? Uplifting takes a slight downturn into boring. Bless Eno’s fervent fascination and willingness to pan for gold in church, but his self-described ‘electronic gospel’ is, although earnest, also slightly tepid-sounding, and with David Byrne dutifully collaborating on vocal arrangements, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is only a ghost of an echo of the more mid-tempo songs of The Talking Heads, and not quite as inspirational as Eno was probably striving for. Influenced by Reverend Maceo Woods’ “Surrender to His Will,” Eno set off to create sonic emulations of the gospel music he found to be underappreciated in the country of its own origin, and certainly succeed in creating a unique take. Reaching back to the world-pop of the Heads rather than his collaboration with Byrne 27 years ago for My Life In the Bush of Ghosts (a complex and moody foray into ambience), Eno’s gospel-inspired music, although unique, doesn’t scream innovation; it only whispers of casual experimentation. Byrne’s direct vocal style hovers wobblingly over Eno’s electronic gospel tracks create a pleasant and comfortable environment with its ample sound and accessible addition of acoustic guitar work, leaving an album that is agreeable but nowhere near as much as a benchmark as the pair’s previous collaborations.
Dec 1st, 2008 by Erin Wolf
Under 25
With the country’s current, sorry economic state, many are preparing for a Cratchit-like holiday season. If plummeting stocks have crippled your finances and threatened your stockings, you have two options: The first is to pull a “Gift of the Magi” and trade in your most prized possession for presents for your loved ones. But let’s be honest, your season one DVD box set of Wings isn’t going to get Ralphie that Red Rider BB gun he’s been clamoring for. Your best bet is to stick with your friends at VITAL, and let us show you some thoughtful, spirited local gifts that cost $25 dollars or less. Keep your wallet, your family and friends happy, and keep your Wings DVD. VS PinoFunnel + more $17 – $25 hot*pop 414-273-1301, hotpopshop.com hot*pop opened in the Third Ward this spring, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen in Milwaukee: they advocate “good living through good design” and at their colorful store you can find apparel, sneakers, comic books, skate deck art, urban tableware, Hong Kong-inspired vinyl toys, as well as a gallery of local and national art. Among the dozens of bright, cheeky delights available, you can find a small funnel shaped like Pinocchio’s face (his nose is the funnel) that lets you get wine back into the bottle from the carafe. Great for the young at heart, street art lovers and people who obsessively collect small things. Recycled t-shirts $7 Teecycle Teecycle.org We all know how fun it is to find a hip, hilarious or just plain nice t-shirt buried in the racks at the thrift store. It’s great to wear it and tell people who like it that you paid a dollar for it. But if you’re not so into the thrill of the chase, the hours of digging or the funny smell of thrift store clothing that never quite washes out, you’re in luck. Not only does Teecycle take all of that nasty hard work out of it, they donate $1 from every shirt sold to the River Revitalization Fund. Everyone wins! Teecycle’s cute gently used shirts are a bargain at $7 per, so buy one for everyone in your family. Hand-made crafts $7 – $25 John Michael Kohler Arts Center 920-458-6144, jmkac.org The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is well- known for its visual and performing arts offerings, but the center’s ARTspace breaks the mold by merging a traditional museum gift shop with a curated exhibit of art with One and Only: Gifts Made by Hand. So if that special someone would love a decorative ceramic tumbler, a one-of-a-kind glass ornament (incorporating ash from Mount St. Helens), decorative felt wool flowers – all delivered with gorgeous hand-made cards – One and Only is sure to have just what you need. Organic fair trade tea and gift sets $20 – $24 Rishi Tea rishi-tea.com If the nerves of some of your gift recipients are still shot from a turbulent election year, help them forget that a real life Ebenezer Scrooge […]
Dec 1st, 2008 by Nick Schurk
Visual Arts Picks, December 2008
Getting back to nature needn’t mean you’re a tree-hugger determined to save the earth. That said, in this season of ho-ho overkill, perhaps you’re in need of respite in the realm of visual arts. Start with the December 3 lecture (Art, Ecology and Social Change) by New York artist Betsy Damon. Its part of the Wednesday night series in the Arts Center Lecture Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd, and it’s a freebie! From now – December 27, Tory Folliard Gallery offers painters (Dennis Wojtkiewicz and Flora Langlois) whose views on flora and fauna are at opposite poles and from greatly different distances. Dip into Brian Knep’s Healing Pool in MAM’s Baker/Rowland Galleries (now – January 09). The funky “waters” are projected from the ceiling onto vinyl flooring, an ever-changing reminder that no matter where we walk, no matter what we do, we are bound to disturb the biological system. Ever changing too, was the 19th century cultural landscape of Wisconsin, and until January 4, you can explore those changes during The Finest in the Western Country: Wisconsin Decorative Arts, 1820-1900, also at MAM. Items include Crazy Quilt, 1893, a stitched-together-landscape which warmed a long ago Wisconsin bed. At Paper Boat Gallery and Boutique on December 5, witness the bright, other-worldliness of Life in WonderMountain by San Francisco-based mixed-media artist Lisa Congdon. Paper Boat is also a great place to pick up affordable gifts for your friends and family. Grab crocheted purses in gumdrop hues, key chains, pendants, magnets, baby onesies or a copy of Paper Boat owner Faythe Levine’s new book Handmade Nation. For more cheap and wonderful gifts, consult our guide on page 12. And Vital Source has a gift for you: everything you want to know about Act/React at MAM, with a DVD, artist cards, essays and more, all packaged in a clever orange box. The first person to me at <a href=”mailto:art@vitalsourcemag.com”>art@vitalsourcemag.com</a> wins the loot! VS
Dec 1st, 2008 by Stella Cretek
The Happy Elf
“Think big and you can do great things.” Believing this line quoted from Harry Connick Jr.’s The Happy Elf, First Stage Children’s Theater perfected every production element throughout their opening night performance. From the charming North Pole stage designed on two levels to snowflakes of light spiraling over the audience, the musical Happy Elf delivered the promised ticket of holiday joy. With music and lyrics composed by the famed Harry Connick, Jr. and a book written by Andrew Fishman, this tale of Eubie the Elf considers postmodern concepts. Eubie works in a North Pole inhabited with Walgreensleeves, McDonner’s, Northstarbucks, and Barnes and Snowble. But the seasonal magic hovers under elves’ hats and shines through in five new songs commissioned especially for this First Stage production, including the delightful “It Happens When You Try” and “Santarific.” A national award-winning production team including Broadway Director John Rando, Choreographer Wendy Seyb, Scenic Designer Beowulf Boritt, and Costume Designer Karin Kopischke worked with Milwaukee’s own Richard Carsey as Musical Director and Lighting Designer Jason Fassl. This team creates a show which sparkles with professionalism. Add the acting abilities of First Stage’s Bluesville cast, which includes the lovely voice of Rachel Schmeling as Mollie and Alex Aldred’s Curtis, the two unhappy teenagers who assist Eubie in bringing a light-filled Christmas to the depressed and cloud-covered town of Bluesville. Credit actor Jared Gertner with providing the show with a believable Eubie, who appears eccentric and lovable with finesse. His feminine companion, the elf Gilda (played by Hannah Laird) finds the sweet taste of romance for Eubie in delectable proportions. Santa’s powerful voice speaks through Michael James Leslie and represents another Milwaukee debut. This contemporary take on America’s Christmas season reminisces animated holiday television specials. It is filled with untraditional melodies and carols, and the production moves quickly and seamlessly in less than two hours. The story’s mischievous and heartwarming antics entertain both adults and children, bringing a unique brand of Christmas cheer. The Happy Elf honors the quality talent brought by First Stage’s exceptional vision and commitment to Milwaukee children’s theater. Perhaps as if reiterating a First Stage thought on this production, Santa proclaims when he rides into Bluesville that his “presents are not rewards for the renewed spirit of Christmas but seeds of hope and generosity to be shared throughout the year.” First Stage Children’s Theater presents Harry Connick, Jr.’s The Happy Elf through December 24 at the Todd Wehr Theatre in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets: 414.273.7206 or www.firststage.org.
Dec 1st, 2008 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
