VITAL
“There’s No Place Like Home” for one Wisconsin native (and 12 munchkins from Waukesha)
Do you remember the first time you were serenaded by Judy Garland’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” or hoped little Toto would find his way home? This weekend, trip down a yellow-brick memory lane, live at the Milwaukee Theatre. A revamped, high-tech version based on the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz flies into town on its first national tour in more than a decade.
Jun 3rd, 2009 by Hope Stolarski
June 2 – 8
June is the definitive start of the off-season for stage, except if you're the venerable and fun American Players Theater. Well, it's for sure the time in which the city of festivals silences the horn section for some rowdier fare. Unless, of course, you're in the French Horn section sending maestro Andreas Delfs off in style. At least the streets will be safe, unless you happened to be standing in the way of a couple hundred bicyclists this weekend who have a big heart for the arts community in southeastern Wisconsin.
Jun 2nd, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
Red, Red Whine (30-20)
Certain rivals have been whining an awfully lot lately about the Brewer's winning ways. This week's letter to Ken Macha congratulates him on his managerial acumen in getting under other team's skins and for helping fans save money when getting girl drink drunk.
Jun 1st, 2009 by Rob Vosters
Poster Children in Champaign, IL: On Vacation For Forever and a Day
It occurred to me during the drive down to Champaign that more than any other band, the Pkids are the band of my 20s. I saw them for the first time in early 1995, when I was 20; the last time I saw them, we were opening the Champaign record release show for their No More Songs About Sleep and Fire album in 2004, the year I turned 30. But instead of honoring that sublime piece of synchronicity by turning around and driving straight back to Wisconsin, we pushed on.
May 30th, 2009 by DJ Hostettler
‘Henry V’ realized with more than just imaginary forces
It is the final play from William Shakespeare's historical tetraology of British kings, and the most oft-quoted. This Quasi Productions performance of Henry V grew not only out of a collective desire to make a worthy theatrical presentation, but from a grim sense of incompletion.
May 30th, 2009 by Michael Madden
Milwaukee Artist Resource Network’s new vision
In February, the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network announced its first full-time Executive Director, Melissa Musante, former Associate Director of Film Wisconsin, Peck School graduate and independent artist, musician and filmmaker. Mark Metcalf caught up with her to talk about the new MARN web project artinmilwaukee.com, why MARN is not just for visual artists and how the organization is ramping up their efforts in a dark economic time. Listen online now! Backstage with Mark Metcalf: MARN’s Melissa Musante Backstage with Mark Metcalf is produced with WMSE 91.7 FM at the beautiful downtown studio of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Tell your friends!
May 29th, 2009 by Amy Elliott
The state of Lunch Counter and Diner Culture, 2009
With the collapse of the Brady Street Café (formerly Pharmacy) and the late 2007 demise of Goldmann's on Mitchell Street, I've been wondering if diner culture is near collapse in Milwaukee. Are we in danger of losing our vital ability to communicate, empathize, and nourish without bankruptcy?
May 27th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
Five Questions for Debra Brehmer
You may know her as an accomplished artist who specializes in haunting portraiture. Or perhaps you memory of Debra goes all the way back to her founding of the legendary Art Muscle Magazine; perhaps she was your professor at MIAD. Or maybe you just want to know what's going on with her latest venture, Susceptible to Images. Whatever you know, or don't know yet, about Debra Brehmer, she's an icon of Milwaukee's art scene old guard - and a fascinating person to know.
May 27th, 2009 by Jon Anne Willow
What’s In Your Yard? Part 3: Resting Buns in the Sun
In part two of “What’s In Your Yard?” I included uber-artist Jeff Koons (who once was a guard at Chicago’s Art Institute) and an image of his much-praised “Balloon Dog.” It costs way more (millions more) than a concrete doggie from a garden center, but is it more fun because it’s bigger and heavily hyped by the powers that guide specific artists to stardom? Is it any secret that Koons has an entire staff just to pump his name?
May 27th, 2009 by Stella Cretek
MIAD, AmeriCorps & local youth collaborate
People who come to the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center on Milwaukee's south side will get a new kind of medicine these days. It's not through prescriptions or preventative treatment, but instead a vision of hope outside the building. It's art.
May 26th, 2009 by Hope Stolarski
‘Pirates’ invade the Skylight
pirates-penzanceA hilarious reach for the pinnacle of musical ridiculousness, Milwaukee's latest production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance fully engages its audience's satirical sensibilities. Whimsically adapted by the Skylight Opera, this production is less a straightforward rendering of the classic comic opera and more a snapshot taken with a hall of mirrors lens.
May 26th, 2009 by Michael Madden
May 26 – June 1
With spring awakening ancient feelings, Milwaukee's fine arts scene turns to a celebration of the spirit. We suspect many artists, actors, and musicians are oiling up their bikes for next weekend's Miller Lite Ride for the Arts (more on that in a feature article for TCD next week). But there are several programs for kids, by kids, and by up-and-comers featured this week.
May 26th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
