Isthmus: Dec 10-16, 2015 by Isthmus

D EC E M B E R 1 0 –1 6 , 2 01 5

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VOL. 40 NO. 49

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MADISON, WISCONSIN

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■ CONTENTS ■ WHAT TO DO

4 SNAPSHOT

THE GIVING TREE

Inmates share in holiday spirit.

6-10 NEWS

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Planned Parenthood workers cope with threats.

LISA SPECKHARD

STU LEVITAN

COVER STORY EXACTLY 35 YEARS AGO this week, Stu Levitan wrote his first piece for Isthmus: a front-page tribute to the recently deceased John Lennon. He continued to contribute to Isthmus through the decades, even as he worked full time as a labor mediator for the state, wrote books, served as a Dane County supervisor, hosted radio shows and chaired the city’s Landmarks Commission. This week he turns his attention to the creative ways local residents, business owners and institutions make money off of Badger football.

COVER STORY LISA SPECKHARD IS ONE of the UW journalism students from Sue Robinson’s class in multimedia storytelling who joined Stu Levitan to help tell the story of the Bucky Economy, through video. What do Lucky’s Bar, His House Christian Fellowship, a scalper, Hotel Red and the Badger Bitch have in common? They all cash in on football Saturdays. See Isthmus.com.

SQUARE DEAL

Capitol reconstruction is a win for cyclists, peds.

11 TECH

ALMOST REAL

UW lab brings ’80s sci-fi concept to life.

12 OPINION

TESTING 1, 2, 3

Finding creative ways to improve public schools.

15 COVER STORY

MONEYBALL

Locals cash in on UW football games.

21 RECREATION

JUMP AROUND

New trampoline park has its ups and downs.

23-28 FOOD & DRINK

IT’S THE WINE, STUPID

Starry night Mon.-Wed., Dec. 14-16, MMSD Planetarium, 201 S. Gammon Rd., 6:30-7:30 pm (also 7:45-8:45 pm on Wed.) You have four chances this week to learn about astronomy and explore global holiday traditions at the always stellar planetarium.

Barolo keeps it simple.

30 SPORTS

BELL RINGERS

Printmaking elves

33 ART

Sat., Dec. 12, Tandem Press, 1743 Commercial Ave., 10 am-5 pm

Concussion documents football brain damage risk.

COLLISION COURSE

Exhibit fuses art and science.

34 BOOKS

SHOOTING GALLERY SHARON VANORNY

RECREATION SHARON VANORNY HAS BEEN shooting photos for Isthmus for about a decade. She says she loves the f-stop 1.4 and 2.8, photographing people and hearing their stories. She figured she’d spend an hour shooting pics for this week’s story on Madison’s first trampoline park, but was having so much fun she stayed for almost three. The customers she captures in her photos appear to share her exhuberance.

Documenting the life of Dickey Chapelle, the first female war photographer to die in combat.

35 MUSIC

HYPNOTIC HARPIST

BRYCE RICHTER

Visionary Joanna Newsom sings of new worlds.

38 SCREENS

INFINITE JEST

The Forbidden Room is a picture puzzle.

48 EMPHASIS

BRINGING UP BABY

CenteringPregnancy helps with prenatal care and parenting skills.

IN EVERY ISSUE 10 MADISON MATRIX 10 WEEK IN REVIEW 12 THIS MODERN WORLD 13 FEEDBACK 13 OFF THE SQUARE

40 ISTHMUS PICKS 49 CLASSIFIEDS 50 P.S. MUELLER 50 CROSSWORD 51 SAVAGE LOVE

PUBLISHER Jeff Haupt ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Craig Bartlett BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Mark Tauscher EDITOR Judith Davidoff NEWS EDITOR Joe Tarr ASSOCIATE EDITOR Michana Buchman FEATURES EDITOR Linda Falkenstein ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Catherine Capellaro MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jon Kjarsgaard STAFF WRITER Allison Geyer CALENDAR EDITOR Bob Koch ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Fath STAFF ARTISTS David Michael Miller, Tommy Washbush CONTRIBUTORS John W. Barker, Dylan Brogan, Kenneth Burns, Dave Cieslewicz, Nathan J. Comp, Aaron R. Conklin,

ISTHMUS is published weekly by Red Card Media, 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • Edit@isthmus.com • Phone (608) 251-5627 • Fax (608) 251-2165 Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI (ISSN 1081-4043) • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 100 State Street, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53703 • © 2015 Red Card Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Victorian Christmas Sun., Dec. 13, Dean House, 4718 Monona Drive, 1-4 pm

Get into the old-fashioned holiday spirit with this open house at the Nathaniel and Harriet Dean House, built in 1856. Tours, refreshments and harp music mark the festivities.

Una noche en México Friday, Dec. 11, East High School, 6-9 pm

Enjoy an evening of música, baile and comida in support of the East High School’s Latino Student Union. Performers include El Ballet Folklorico de Maria Diaz, El Charro Oscar Zaragoza and El Charro Carlos Soriano.

Stranger than fiction Friday, Dec. 11, Mystery to Me, 1863 Monroe St., 7 pm

For the last 45 years, former state Sen. Tim Cullen has had a ringside seat for Wisconsin’s political battles, most notably the Act 10 protests. Now, he’s written a book about his experiences. Learn more at a discussion with Cullen and his editor, Doug Moe.

FIND MORE ISTHMUS PICKS ON PAGE 40

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

Ruth Conniff, André Darlington, Marc Eisen, Erik Gunn, Bob Jacobson, Seth Jovaag, Stu Levitan, Bill Lueders, Liz Merfeld, Andy Moore, Bruce Murphy, Kyle Nabilcy, Kate Newton, Jenny Peek, Michael Popke, Adam Powell, Katie Reiser, Jay Rath, Gwendolyn Rice, Dean Robbins, Robin Shepard, Sandy Tabachnick, Denise Thornton, Candice Wagener, Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Hubler ADVERTISING MANAGER Chad Hopper ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Laura Miller ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Lindsey Dieter, Peggy Elath, Amy Miller WEB ANALYST Jeri Casper CIRCULATION MANAGER Tom Dehlinger MARKETING DIRECTOR Chris Winterhack EVENT DIRECTORS Kathleen Andreoni, Courtney Lovas EVENT STAFF Sam Eifert EVENT INTERN Megan Muehlenbruch ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Kathy A. Bailey OFFICE MANAGER Julie Butler SYSTEMS MANAGER Thom Jones ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Carla Dawkins

Get a glimpse of the inner workings of this worldrenowned press at an open house featuring printmaking demonstrations at 11, noon and 2 pm and new works by Tandem’s talented crew.

n SNAPSHOT

State inmates once again decorated the Christmas tree in the Capitol Rotunda this year.

Inmates and ornaments

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

BY STEVEN POTTER n PHOTO BY LAUREN JUSTICE

Anyone passing through the Capitol last week could not have missed this year’s Christmas tree, which towers 40 feet high in the Rotunda. Less noticeable were the three men who spent most of the week decorating the tree with thousands of lights and handmade ornaments. Dressed in drab, baggy sweatshirts, dark pants and simple knit hats, they went about their work hidden among the boughs of the huge balsam fir tree. The three will not be pulling a paycheck for their efforts — they are prisoners. For the 10th year, the state Department of Administration turned to inmates from the Oakhill Correctional Institution in Oregon, a minimum-security facility just south of Madison, to decorate the Capitol tree. The same crew of inmates also decorated the Christmas tree and the exterior of the Governor’s Mansion in Maple Bluff. Although the state gets free labor out of the trio, it did not appear to be forced. “I felt blessed” to be able work on the tree, says a shorter, white male with a bald

head and big, red beard. “I loved every minute of it.” Joy Staab, a spokeswoman with the state’s Department of Corrections, requested Isthmus not use the names or show the faces of any of the inmates. She explains that there wasn’t time to notify any of the inmates’ victims that they may appear in the newspaper for this story. Decorating the tree is a choice gig for inmates who are allowed outside the prison on work details, Staab says. “It’s a great opportunity,” Staab says. “Our inmates benefit from community service, and they feel very proud when they can give back to their communities.” Aside from stringing lights, the inmates delicately hang upwards of 3,000 ornaments made by children around the state. Many of the ornaments include Green Bay Packers and UW Badgers logos. Some include pictures of the kids who made them. All of them resonate with the inmates. “It’s a beautiful thing when you step back and look at it — with all the ornaments kids

Height of Capitol tree: JUST UNDER 40 FEET Number of lights: 2,000 Handmade ornaments: 3,000 State DOA staff directing the inmates: 2 Corrections officers on site to supervise: 1 Days it takes to hang the lights and ornaments: 2.5 Weeks the tree will stay up once lit: 5 Stars on the tree skirt: 72 (ONE FOR EACH OF THE STATE’S COUNTIES)

made from around the state,” says the inmate with a red beard. “I have small children, and this made me think of them — they need their dad.” The others were also reminded of their own families. “I always helped my mom with the tree, and when I told her I was working on this one, she said, ‘I wish you were here to help me decorate mine this year,’” said a second inmate, a short black man also with a beard and shaved head. “Hearing that gave me reason to make sure this is my last Christmas locked up.” The third inmate, a tall, slender black man, told family he was working on this project during a recent call home to Milwaukee. “When my daughter sees it on the news, she’ll know I decorated it,” he says. Despite their efforts, the three inmates will only see the tree lit if they happen to catch it on the news. When the tree lighting ceremony took place on Friday, they were already on to another job. As children are counting the days down to Christmas, these three inmates returned to their cells to continue counting their days to freedom. n

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n NEWS

Under attack Planned Parenthood providers undeterred by threats

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

BY ALLISON GEYER

Whenever a Planned Parenthood clinic is attacked anywhere in the nation, Meg Robertson is reminded just how dangerous her job is. The director of clinical services for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says shootings like the one that happened at a clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 27 are a grim reminder for reproductive health care providers everywhere. “When those sorts of severe attacks happen, there is a sense of fear from our staff at the frontlines,” Robertson says. “It’s unfortunate that part of what we do is defend ourselves,” she adds. “Most health care providers don’t have that as part of their repertories.” There were nine criminal or suspicious incidents directed at reproductive health care facilities around the country between July — when the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, released videos depicting Planned Parenthood officials bargaining over fetal tissue — and September, according to an FBI Intelligence Assessment. The FBI warned at the time, “It is likely criminal or suspicious incidents will continue to be directed against reproductive health care providers, their staff and facilities.” The attacks on reproductive health care facilities are not new. Since 1977, there have been eight murders, 17 attempted murders, 42 bombings and 186 acts of arson committed against abortion providers in the United States, according to the National Abortion Federation. Wisconsin is not immune. On May 25, 2011, Ralph Lang was arrested in Madison after accidentally firing a gun in a hotel room on the city’s far east side. When police arrived to investigate, the 63-year-old Marshfield resident confessed that he had intended to find and kill an abortion doctor at the nearby Planned Parenthood. Lang was later sentenced to 10 years in prison. On April 1, 2012, 50-year-old Francis Grady broke a window and set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute, telling investigators that he heard voices and wanted to “release the children.” In 2011, 84% of abortion clinics in the United States experienced at least some form of harassment, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice think tank. The prevalence is even higher in the Midwest, with 94% of clinics reporting harassment. Most anti-abortion activists characterize the perpetrators of these violent acts as “lone wolves.” Vigil for Life, a Madison group formed in 2007 that claims more than 1,000 members, maintains a “perpetual presence” at the Planned Parenthood clinic on Madison’s east side, where abortions are performed. Monday through Friday, a few volunteers stand on the sidewalk outside the facility,

LAUREN JUSTICE

Meg Robertson, director of clinical services for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, says “it’s unfortunate that part of what we do is defend ourselves” from violent attacks like one that happened in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month.

hoping to discourage women from having abortions. Protesters outside the clinic declined to talk to an Isthmus reporter, referring her to a spokesperson. Campaign coordinator Gwen Finnegan says volunteers must sign a statement agreeing to demonstrate peacefully and refrain from verbally abusing, threatening or physically touching any clinic personnel or patients. Finnegan says her group’s presence has drawn mixed reactions. Clinic staff typically ignore the vigil participants. Some patients are receptive to their message and have engaged in conversations. Others have yelled obscenities and thrown things at demonstrators, Finnegan says, claiming a client once put a knife to a volunteer’s throat. Finnegan says her reaction to the Colorado shooting is one of “sadness.” She urges abortion opponents to seek “peaceful solutions” when addressing the “societal scourge of abortion.” But, she adds, “Abortion is in itself one of the most violent acts in our society today.” Abortion and reproductive rights have been fiercely debated for decades, but the release of the Center for Medical Progress videos exacerbated the conflict. Lawmakers at the state

and federal level have taken steps to defund Planned Parenthood, and some hope to abolish the agency altogether. Of all the controversies she’s witnessed over 20 years as a women’s health care provider, Robertson says the backlash from the videos “probably stings the most.” The videos have since been debunked as heavily and selectively edited, and an inquiry into the health agency found no wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the state Assembly in September passed a bill to strip Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin of $3.5 million in federal Title X money, which funds family planning and health screening for the poor and uninsured. That funding is already barred from being used for abortions. In October, a state Senate committee approved the Title X defunding bill, along with another that would limit the amount Planned Parenthood can be reimbursed for prescription drugs through Medicaid — a change that would cost the agency $4 million. Myranda Tanck, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, says the Planned Parenthood bills have not yet been scheduled for a vote. The Senate reconvenes on Jan. 12. Republican lawmakers have also

advanced a bill banning the use of fetal tissue for scientific research. This isn’t the first time Wisconsin lawmakers have targeted Planned Parenthood. In 2013, four rural Planned Parenthood facilities closed as a result of Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to limit Title V funding for family planning facilities and operations. Robertson says any unease about threats of violence against clinics is overshadowed by an even greater concern: the possibility of women losing access to health care. But she says that fear is driving her and her colleagues to “protect [the] services that are so desperately needed in Wisconsin and nationwide.” Sixty-five percent of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin patients report that the agency is their primary provider of health care. If clinics closed, Robertson says, other organizations would not be able to absorb the influx of patients — particularly those with limits on how many Medicaid patients they can serve. “We’re ready to take on whatever comes our way and do whatever it takes to keep our doors open,” Robertson says. “The harder we’re attacked, the more we’re supported by the people who support us.” n

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n NEWS

Cruising the Capitol Madison plans to create a special bike lane on the Square BY JOE TARR

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The city hopes to install contra-flow bike lanes on the Capitol Square in stages, starting with Mifflin Street.

says Cieslewicz. “We know when we treat those pinch points, a lot more people will use the whole [biking system].” City officials have been talking with the state Department of Administration for years about making the change and have gotten tentative approval to do it, says Ald. Mike Verveer, whose district includes the Capitol Square. The state’s legislative parking along the Capitol side of the Square won’t be affected by the change, he says. The 5-foot special lane will run in-between those parked cars and oncoming traffic, with a 3-foot buffer on either side. “They’re okay with the plan we’re moving forward with because legislative parking wouldn’t be affected,” says Verveer, adding that the city is still waiting for final approval from the state. “We wouldn’t be moving forward if we felt the state would object.” Verveer says the change is being made on behalf of pedestrians as well as cyclists. “I’m hoping besides making it safer for bicyclists, this makes it safer for pedestrians,” he says. “I receive tons of complaints about illegal bike riding around the Square.”

Special traffic lights will give bicycles the okay to turn left onto Mifflin from State Street at the same time that buses are making right-hand turns onto the Square. The city will lose some parking on its side of the Square, in the first west block of Mifflin. The sidewalk will also become narrower. Verveer says the plan is to have the work done as early as possible each year, to avoid disrupting the farmers’ market and the many festivals and events held during the summer. “We’re hoping to keep the disruption to the sidewalks to a minimum,” he says, adding that some spot repairs likely will be needed on the sidewalks. “There will be some inconvenience to pedestrians and sidewalk cafes and food carts.” Once the project is completed, Verveer hopes the Square can be used for even more events. “Bicycle races that used to be a common occurrence around the Square no longer take place because the pavement is in such rough shape,” he says. “There’s no denying that the Capitol Square pavement is in need of tender loving care. It needs outright replacement now.” n

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When the city of Madison reconstructs the Capitol Square starting next spring, it hopes to make a special accommodation for bicyclists with a bike-only lane that moves against traffic on Mifflin Street. The special lane would address what advocates call a “pinch point” in the city’s bike infrastructure and help alleviate conflicts with pedestrians. The bike lane will run from State and Carroll streets along the Capitol side of the Square, to Pinckney and Hamilton. “For years, there’ve been complaints about bicyclists riding on the sidewalks,” says Scott Langer, the city’s assistant traffic engineer. “A lot of that is related to the one-way configuration of the Square. Bicyclists, instead of going all the way around the Square, ride along the sidewalk. The goal is to keep them off the sidewalk and put them in the street.” The reconstruction of Capitol Square’s streets is scheduled to take place over two years, with the section north of Washington Avenue to be rebuilt next spring and early summer. The southern section will be rebuilt in spring and summer 2017. The entire project will cost about $3.4 million, not including the replacement of utilities and sewer and water lines. The special contra-flow bike lane could potentially be extended all the way around the Square when the construction is completed in 2017. But for now, the city is moving ahead with plans to put the special bike lane only on Mifflin Street. “Knowing there might be some unease with it, we wanted to focus on the critical leg, and let people get comfortable with it,” Langer says. The Mifflin Street section is often a barrier for cyclists, particularly those riding up State Street trying to travel east, says former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who is now executive director of the Wisconsin Bike Fed. “If you’re coming up State Street and want to go east, you’ve got to go all the way up the Square; you’ve got to chug up a hill and then come all the way around,” he says. “People just naturally want to go left.” Cieslewicz says there’s a movement for cities to address these hard-to-navigate sections, which he says are called “pinch points.” The city has addressed other pinch points recently by putting in special crossing lanes at the RegentMonroe intersection near Camp Randall and the Atwood-Eastwood-Dunning intersection on the east side, in front of the Harmony Bar. “Those are pinch points where you have a really good bicycle infrastructure but there’s a particularly tricky passage,”

n MADISON MATRIX

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THURSDAY, DEC. 3 n The UW-Madison School of Music gets a $25 million gift from the Mead Witter Foundation, which will help fund the new performance center scheduled for construction at the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue in late 2016. n Sauk Prairie police officer Matthew Alt appears in court, facing felony charges for stealing prescription medication from the department’s drug disposal box, the Baraboo News Republic reports. Investigators found nearly 500 pills in the officer’s home.

FRIDAY, DEC. 4 n Ray Peterson, a 90-yearold Madison landlord known for substandard rentals, is selling all his properties after a Dane County judge declared 45 of his 48 properties constituted a public nuisance and gave 30 days to bring them up to code. Looking for a fixer-upper? Several houses are already listed. SATURDAY, DEC. 5 n Law enforcement officials

raid Lincoln Hill School for Boys, in Irma, the state’s prison for juvenile offenders, as part of an investigation into allegations of mistreatment of minors by staff and attempts to cover it up, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

SUNDAY, DEC. 6 n Are text messages subject

to open records laws? Gov. Scott Walker doesn’t seem to think so. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that his administration has at least twice denied records requests for text messages, claiming that the records are “transitory.”

MONDAY, DEC. 7 n Forty-five former Depart-

ment of Natural Resources employees, including George Mayer, the agency’s former secretary, write a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency voicing concerns that the agency under the Walker administration has become “more interested in pleasing business interests than protecting the environment,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

n TECH

Virtually real UW lab takes sci-fi concept into the physical world BY NATHAN J. COMP

In February 2014, staff from UW-Madison’s Living Environments Laboratory arrived at a Mazomanie residence where a murder had recently been committed. Using a lidar scanner (which uses a laser beam to map physical features at high resolution), they preserved the crime scene by creating a 3D, 360-degree visualization of the home’s interior. Ross Tredinnick, a systems programmer with the lab, never imagined he would preserve evidence of a crime in a virtual environment. “Two years ago this would’ve been infeasible,” he says. Located at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Living Environments Laboratory was established in 2010 to visually recreate environments, real or imagined, with an emphasis on improving the design of home healthcare technologies. The concept of virtual reality, which dates to the 1940s, became mainstream in the late 1980s and early 1990s, popularized by films like 1992’s The Lawnmower Man. But it never moved beyond the stuff of science fiction — until now. Dr. Kevin Ponto, an assistant professor of design studies at both the lab and the university’s School of Human Ecology, says the technology has finally caught up to the ’80s-era fantasy that virtual reality would be a part of everyday life. Researchers nationwide are now breathing new life into old ideas. A first generation of affordable head-mounted displays like the Oculus Rift have sparked the present period of rapid innovation to improve the underlying technology — processors and graphics cards — as well as its price points. Tredinnick says a pre-Oculus headmounted display he tested in 2012 sold for $12,000. And, he adds, “It was horrible.” The lab’s centerpiece is the $2.5 million cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE), a six-sided room where high-resolution images captured by the lidar scanner

A member of Living Environments Laboratory helps create a 3D visualization of a kitchen as part of a project that studies the health impacts of living spaces.

are projected on all sides, replicated at scale and with perspective preserved to within a millimeter. CAVE occupants — who wear 3D glasses to complete the effect — are left unconstrained by space and, in some cases, even gravity. Here, you can stand among the microscopic and intergalactic alike. “The CAVE puts you inside of a space that can transport you anywhere visually,” says UWMadison engineering professor Rob Radwin. The CAVE, which went online in 2011, has revealed some unexpected benefits. “When we first built the lab, I thought the CAVE was going to be the big deal,” says lab theme leader Patricia Brennan. “But it is just an inspiration for a whole host of other visualization and highperformance visualization activities.” Originally built to research health and home issues, the lab has attracted researchers

from 27 disciplines as well as the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, which the lab worked with to replicate the Mazomanie murder scene. Brennan, who teaches nursing and engineering, has spearheaded the vizHOME project, which explores the relationship between people’s living spaces and their health. Funded by a $2.5 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality, Brennan and her team have scanned the interior of 20 residences. “Home visualizations allow us to see how space affects the way people take care of themselves,” she says, noting the long-term benefits for post-care recovery. “Where is the best place to do a dressing change? Where is the safest place to exercise, to put the bed?” She believes that 3D captures of patients’ dwellings will become a standard consideration in discharge planning, particularly for

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patients with complex health problems. “I never thought I’d see that in my career.” Radwin, on the other hand, is more interested in virtual objects than spaces and how people interact with those. “I’ve looked for ways for people to have the illusion that they’re exerting force on these objects,” he says. After measuring the force exerted by volunteers’ muscles when lifting an actual dumbbell, Radwin then inputs the electric signatures into a computer to help guide the movement of a virtual dumb bell. “We ask [volunteers] to tense up their muscles so they have electrical activity as a computer manipulates the object,” he says. “As you contract, the dumbbell goes up.” Aside from the obvious potential for those in physical therapeutics, Radwin sees potential for creating a training tool for emergency personnel that provides the physical and visual experience of lifting a wounded person. The lab also takes on more light-hearted projects. Earlier this year Ponto and Tredinnick captured 3D exterior and interior visualizations of Taliesin in Spring Green and the Stave Church, a log church built in Mount Horeb over 120 years ago and shipped to Norway in 2014. The staff has taken these visualizations on the road, letting people wear the Oculus Rift and take a virtual tour of Taliesin and the church. Brennan says before long the technology will allow two people in different locations to experience virtual environments together. With the new technology also comes the potential for ethical abuses — scenarios that sci-fi fans are familiar with. A conference proposed to be held on campus next June would begin to develop guidelines around the ethics of investigational and interventional use of virtual reality. Says Brennan: “We want to get some guidelines to help people as the technology continues to move forward.” n

n OPINION

A tricky balance How to improve our public schools while they’re under attack BY RUTH CONNIFF Ruth Conniff is the editor-in-chief of The Progressive magazine

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

Parents, teachers and community members in Madison know there is a lot at stake for our public schools. That’s why the Barrymore Theatre was packed last week for a screening of the movie Beyond Measure, which documents the national movement to opt out of standardized tests, and shows students, teachers and parents pushing for a much more creative approach to education. The movie features one of The Progressive’s education fellows, Jesse Hagopian — the teacher who led the boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test at Garfield High School in Seattle — a leader of the national movement to end the “testand-punish” approach to public schooling. Another leader of the national opt-out movement, the dean of the school of education at Edgewood College, Tim Slekar, was in the audience at the Barrymore. After the film, Slekar called for a “revolution” — to stop over-testing and build a richer educational environment for all kids. The Madison audience seemed ready to respond. But how? The idea that public schools have failed — a message explicitly promoted in a $30 million campaign by the right-wing, antipublic-sector Bradley Foundation — has been used against our public school system to devastating effect. We’ve seen the statewide education budget slashed, and the simultaneous rise of a separate, private system of voucher and charter schools, which sucks even more money out of local school districts. We’ve seen the vilification of teachers and the assault on their unions, as part of a strategy pursued by the school choice lobby to argue for breaking up (and cashing in on) our public schools. Frankly, I was nervous about introducing a movie that makes a harsh critique of

DAVID MICHAEL MILLER

traditional public schools. Can our schools be improved? Absolutely! But politically, it’s hard to argue, simultaneously, that there is something seriously wrong with how our schools are functioning, and that we need to defend these same schools with all our might. I called Jesse Hagopian to talk this problem over before the film. “This is a difficult conversation to have when the public schools are under such horrific assault by the corporate reformers,” he told me. “But our movement will be stronger if we can talk about a progressive vision for education.” That vision includes Garfield’s rejection of the MAP test, and African American parents and educators, like Hagopian, demanding the same creative, intellectually stimulating curriculum for kids of color that white, suburban parents want for their own kids. Hagopian and the Seattle teachers are getting help from the teachers at the New York Performance Standards Consortium, another group of public school teachers who work with kids of color, English language learners and special-needs students to offer deeply engaging, creative, and satisfying instruction. “We’ve got to do two things at once,” Hagopian added. “Opt out and fight back, and build a progressive, innovative model of education.” That’s a neat trick to pull off.

In the film, a California charter school called High Tech High shows excited students and teachers in a beautiful, open-classroom environment doing project-based work. A teacher and an administrator from hard-scrabble Trigg County in Kentucky visit the school and are wowed. In perhaps the most revealing scene in the movie, the Kentucky teacher tries to replicate what she’s seen at High Tech High, and ends up berating a student for the less than brilliant result — a lumpy sculpture made with duct tape and plastic bottles. To be fair, the student had no idea what she expected him to produce. The lesson: It takes more than buzzwords and bootstraps to change the educational environment. It takes peer support, training and re-

THIS MODERN WORLD

spect for teaching as serious, sophisticated work. Madison teachers are understandably suspicious about plans to remake education in the current political environment. Take the “personalized pathways” plan for our high schools, which would connect kids to internships and out-of-classroom research projects. Depending on who you listen to, the plan is either a wonderful opportunity to expand students’ horizons, or a nefarious plot to turn children into “human capital” and do away with the subjects that help create literate and functional citizens. Schools superintendent Jen Cheatham will present a new charter school plan for Madison in early February. It’s a touchy subject in a state where charters have been draining resources and energy from the majority of students, instead of making schools better for everyone. Locally, some pro-public-school activists are optimistic that Madison can maintain great schools and better serve minority and low-income kids. “If this is going to be successful, it has to be for all students — not just a sorting mechanism,” Matt Calvert, a youth development specialist with the UW Extension, said of the “personalized pathways” plan. Over the next couple of months, the community will have a chance to decide how it shakes out. n

BY TOM TOMORROW

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n FEEDBACK

Shoe bombs

You’re gonna need a bigger plan “Man with a Plan” (12/3/2015) portrays a visionary Kenton Peters and a bold plan, but an incomplete picture of the extended possibilities of such bold thinking. The John Nolen Drive Corridor might better be considered in its entirety, extending from Williamson Street to the Highway 12-18 South Beltline. Land use, architectural treatment, mixed zoning possibilities, public/private ownership mix, accessibility and alternative transportation modes all need close attention. The corridor, seen as a specific entity, lends itself to a different treatment than the apparent current project-by-project approach. The outdated and now too dormant Alliant Center property, the Kenton Peters proposal, the “messy intersection” referenced at John Nolen, Blair, Williamson and Wilson streets and the various Judge Doyle Square proposals are not unrelated. Decisions at each location will generate interactions among the others. Nonetheless, much of the thinking, most of the proposals and, apparently, the planners as well fail to sufficiently address the connections. Frederick M. Arnold (via email)

OFF THE SQUARE

Re Tell All: “Take Off Your Damn Shoes” (Tell All, Isthmus.com, 12/7/2015): I remain shod, and always wipe my feet well before entering someone else’s house. Shoes help my back and prevent me from stubbing (and breaking) another toe. Plus, my feet get cold. And, I am creeped out by walking barefoot or in stocking feet in your house. I do not require my guests to remove their shoes at my house. To me, it’s just inhospitable. Sherry Thurner (via Facebook) Shoes off in the house! Vickie O’Connor (via Facebook) Insist on wearing shoes in my house? Well, then you won’t get past the linoleum kitchen floor, cuz you’re not stepping on my off white carpet with ANY kind of shoes on. If you don’t like it, buzz off; it’s my house, not yours! If you want to visit, we can meet for lunch at a restaurant where you can keep your shoes on. Sharon Kaufman (via Facebook) It is very common in most Asian countries (Japan; China; Thailand; Laos; Singapore etc.) to take off your shoes before entering the house. The main reason is pretty simple: It is hygienic. fflambeau (via Comments)

BY ALAN TALAGA & JON LYONS

Up to 11! Re “Compromise on Parks Sound Policy in the Works” (Isthmus.com, 12/7/2015): 92 decibels at the soundboard? Bwahhhh-haaaa-haaaa! Not a compromise, not achievable. Kris Hansen (via Facebook) If you moved to live near a park (the park has been there longer than you have been alive), then what did you expect, silence all the time? Okay, why not limit the decibel level of the horns and sirens of first responders as well? Doug Campbell (via Facebook)

WWJD Re “Mount Horeb Gives Me Hope” (Madland, Isthmus.com, 12/4/2015): Great editorial! The only quibble I have is calling the Liberty Counsel a Christian legal advocacy group. They are a hate group as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Also to call them Christian is ridiculous, as I believe Christ said to suffer the children, not make the children suffer. Casa Pastanaca (via Comments)

Correction An article in the Nov. 26 Isthmus, “Talk Real To Me,” should have stated that all five of Madison’s public high schools, not just four, have had students participate in the PATCH program.

Share comments with Isthmus via email, edit@isthmus.com, and via Forum.isthmus.com, Facebook and Twitter, or write letters to Isthmus, 100 State St., Suite 301, Madison WI 53703. All comments are subject to editing. The views expressed here are solely those of the contributors. These opinions do not necessarily represent those of Isthmus Publishing Company.

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n COVER STORY

THE

ECONOMY The Bucky Economy

Cashing in on football Saturdays BY STU LEVITAN n PHOTOS BY LAUREN JUSTICE n ART BY DAVID MICHAEL MILLER

It’s Halloween morning, and Bryan Keleny is in front of the Adams Street house where he and his wife, Sally, raised two children many years ago. He now rents the house out, along with the one next door. Located less than a half mile from Camp Randall Stadium, they are moneymakers during football season. “It’s amazing what a strong team does for this area’s economy,” Keleny says, as he directs about 20 cars, at $20 each, onto the lawns and driveways of the houses he’s owned for decades. “When I started doing this years ago, it was $5 and people would grumble and gripe. But as soon as the team started winning, we went to $10 — and not only were they happy, they’d almost throw the money at us and run to the game.”

The regular season is over and the Badgers have secured a spot in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 30 against USC. But the team does more than just boost school spirits. On Seven Saturdays this fall, the neighborhoods around Camp Randall were awash in both red and green, with 80,000 Badger boosters spending big bucks to enjoy the game experience. The UW football program has many boldface numbers — multimillion-dollar budget lines for coaches’ salaries, scholarships, ticket sales and TV revenue. But on those weekends when the Badgers play at home, there’s also an ancillary economy that brings millions of dollars down to a very personal and local level.

➡ DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

n COVER STORY

5,000

ISTHMUS ESTIMATE BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH KNOCHE’S FOOD MARKET AND LOCAL BARS

515,000

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

Raised by Madison Rotary South for polio vaccines and local charities since 2006

30,000

Private parking venue per game day, Vilas/Regent neighborhoods

553,327

Security (MPD, UWPD, other agencies) per season

Pounds of meat consumed per game day The kickoff for today’s game against Rutgers was 11 a.m. In the crowded back room at Lucky’s, the bar closest to the stadium, three fifty-something friends from Joliet High School are swapping stories over beers and burgers as Corey Clement breaks through the line for a score. Glen Kitchell and Bob Edwards still live in the Chicago area, but came up to visit their Madison-based buddy. “The game is a good excuse to hang out together,” says Kitchell. “We have such a good time, it’s an annual thing now,” adds Edwards. Angela Genin, general manager of Lucky’s Bar and Grill, 1421 Regent St., sees firsthand the economic benefits that Badgers home football games bring to the area. Home games account for about 40% of the bar’s annual revenue, she says. It isn’t just Lucky’s that benefits. The bar hires about 50 supplemental staff and security per game and spends $4,000 on portable toilets alone each season. There’s also fencing, signage, permits, DJs, grills, ice machines, special equipment — and about 6,000 tall boy cans and 500 pounds of beef and brats. “We have a lot of costs on game days,” she says. “And that’s income for somebody else.” The Vilas, Regent and Greenbush neighborhoods become a unique economic zone during home games. There are eight bars and restaurants with gameday beer gardens in the immediate area, with a combined capacity of about 7,000. They’re packed before and after the game — and are pretty crowded even while the game is going on. “Home games really keep some of these places in business,” says Steve Knoche, the

ISTHMUS ESTIMATE BASED ON SURVEY OF NEIGHBORHOODS

third-generation owner of Knoche’s Food Center, which distributes to about 40 bars and restaurants. Although local tourism officials don’t know how many of Madison’s 7,632 hotel rooms are rented for football weekends, those that are go for a premium — a markup of $70 to $100 per night. That’s why Conor

Moran schedules each year’s Wisconsin Book Festival for weekends the Badgers are away. While the boutique Hotel Red across Regent Street from the stadium often sells out, a Middleton hotel also does well. Because when Wisconsin is at home, another team is visiting. And for the past several years, almost

7,188

MADISON FIRE DEPARTMENT

Towing contract, per game

every team stayed at the Marriott West, taking 75 or so of the hotel’s 292 rooms. “That’s such a large bump that we’re either selling out or coming very close,” says general manager Jim Strom. “Yes, it’s very lucrative for the hotel. But it’s definitely a lot of work, and we have to double our staff.”

The hotel also buys more food, as 100 football players eat about the same amount as 175 regular people. And they eat better food — a strict menu prepared by dietitians, spelled out in detail. “These contracts have very specific riders,” Strom says, “almost like a headlining rock band on tour.”

Every home game draws between 12,000 and 13,000 cars to the area, the city estimates. And they all have to be parked somewhere for at least a few hours. But that doesn’t do the Madison Parking Utility any good. It “may seem counterintuitive,” says interim city parking manager Bill Putnam, but the utility actually loses money on home games, because metered spaces on Regent and Monroe streets are shuttered to ease traffic. And it’s almost a mile from the city’s Lake Street garage to Camp Randall, which, he says is “beyond where people are willing to pay a premium for parking.” That’s where the property owners in the Vilas and Regent neighborhoods come in. “Everybody who can park cars does,” says Keleny. “It’s certainly a nice boost, and helps to pay the property taxes.” A big season can even pay a year’s mortgage. Real estate agents think that’s a selling point. “When we bought our house, game day parking was included in the listing,” recalls Jenni Collins, head of the Madison Public Library Foundation, who lives on Garfield Street. The family parked cars on its property for one season — and then invested the proceeds into landscaping. Perhaps the largest private parking lot in the area is Edgewood High School. It’s a popular alumni tailgate destination, which Edgewood assistant principal Shannon McDonough also offers to opposing schools as a central location. The school parks about 275 cars per game, with peaks of 400 or so for rivalries like Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern. The revenue adds up to about $40,000 a year,

➡

Cans of beer sold on Regent Street per game day ISTHMUS ESTIMATE EXTRAPOLATING FROM LUCKY’S SALES

31,540

Football newspaper ads, per season UW-MADISON ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT PURCHASES, EXCLUDING PRIVATE BUSINESS ADS

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

2,369

30,000

Capacity of game day beer gardens

Discover hundreds of shops and restaurants, many locally-owned. Enjoy a free trolley and carolers on State Street and the Square, Saturdays through December 19. Stop by the Downtown Visitor Center on State Street or Overture Center Info Table for maps, directions, and shopping and dining suggestions.

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which supports the school’s athletic and fine arts departments. A few blocks away, at Randall Elementary, the Franklin Randall PTO parks about 150 cars — an annual boost of about $25,000, which it spends on a variety of academic, social and cultural activities at the paired schools. “Other school groups are jealous,” says school board member Dean Loumos. Some commercial establishments convert their free public parking into closed lots that exceed capacity. There are seven parking spaces at the 7-Eleven at the corner of Randall and Regent; on game days, they park 14, at $40 each. Because some drivers park improperly, Schmidt’s towing company has three separate contracts (including one regulated by state administrative code), accounting for $2,369 per game this season. Owner Jim Schmidt, who’ll pay his operators timeand-a-half, has nevertheless seen his work decrease as the Badgers have improved on the field. He’ll tow 35 to 40 cars on a game day now, down from 150 years ago. He attributes the drop to better signage, reduced drunkenness and a policy of warning people before towing. The football season also supports significant charitable fundraising. The Rotary Club of South Madison has raised more than $515,000 over the last decade for polio vaccine and grants to local nonprofits. There can even be some unexpected winners, like the fine art jewelry gallery Studio Jewelers, 1306 Regent St., next door to Jordan’s Big 10 Pub. “There are certainly people who don’t want to deal with” the area on game days, says owner Hannah Cook-Wallace. “But we’ve had some very good football Saturdays, even some walk-

in business on occasion.” And the pub is no problem: “They’re great neighbors, have everything under control.” There are, of course, some who lose — at least economically. “We don’t even bother to open,” says Todd Wiehr, whose Stadium Barbers, 1515 Monroe St., is right across from the stadium. The shop sees 15 to 20 customers on a non-football Saturday. Game days are a different story. Finding a place to park their own cars is next to impossible. “And everybody just wants to use the bathroom anyway,” Wiehr says. “It’s just pointless.” “It doesn’t make me too sad, though,” he adds. “It’s nice to have seven Saturdays off.” Football Saturdays have become so much a part of the local economy that anything that diminishes attendance is noticed. Genin of Lucky’s Bar says that bad weather will discourage some fans. Such was the case during this year’s final two home games. “Between the snow and rain on the prior game, we really suffered in sales,” Genin says on Nov. 21, the year’s final home game. “I think the snow in particular because folks didn’t drive down just to hang out.” And next year, the micro-economy will take another hit. The Badgers will host only six home games at Camp Randall because the season will open with a special game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay against LSU. Having only six home games — for the first time since 2005 — will mean about a 15% loss of revenue for some merchants and service providers. “That’s going to hit us hard,” says Genin. “And not only us, but all our workers and suppliers as well.” n

Instant replay on isthmus.com Badger football games present all sorts of moneymaking opportunities for enterprising folks. Three UW-Madison students, Lisa Speckhard, Fiona Beamish-Crouthamel and Kaitlin Kumbalek, fanned out around Camp Randall on game day to capture some of these stories on video. Go to Isthmus.com to watch videos about people making money by scalping tickets, parking cars, selling beer, hawking T-shirts and renting lodging.

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

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Letting go: Launch yourself into the foam pit.

Ups and downs Madison’s first trampoline park has dodgeball, jousting and a rock wall BY KATE NEWTON n PHOTO BY SHARON VANORNY

houses seven activity zones, including a massive rock climbing wall, dodgeball courts, a section of basketball hoops, an open trampoline jump area and an “X-Beam” game where duelers attempt to knock their opponent into a foam pit by using padded jousting sticks. More features like an American Ninja-style obstacle course and a laser maze may be added in time. Both first-timers and return visitors I talked with thought that the number of activities at Rockin’ Jump made the $15 admission ticket for the two-hour, late-night “Rockin’ Saturdays” session well worth it. There are other special sessions, like Friday nights for 11- to 17-yearolds, and a time dedicated for kids 6 and under on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. Emily Butters, 19, likes the jousting and slackline features. “I’ve been to another tram-

poline park in Wisconsin Dells that had fewer activities,” Butters says. The climbing wall is also a big draw. I met UW-Madison employee Crystal Nice in line as we playfully voiced our concern for the kids out way past their bedtime (ageism in its purest form). Nice was there to “get some rock climbing done.” When I ran into her later, we noted how much of a workout simply jumping for even a few minutes on a trampoline is — let alone climbing repeatedly out of foam pits. Like most things at Rockin’ Jump, that’s harder than it looks. Playing back-to-back dodgeball games is also quite a workout. One of more than a dozen franchise locations in the country, Rockin’ Jump’s Madison location opened in June. Co-owner Jim Thorpe, a

Middleton native, partnered with friend Steve Steidl to bring the trampoline park to Madison. They’d planned to open a park independently, but contacted Rockin’ Jump when they heard the company was looking to open in Madison. There are plenty of fitness websites that tout the benefits of exercising on a trampoline, or “rebounding.” It’s said to have less impact on joints and knees than a typical workout while also helping to improve balance, coordination, core muscle strength and cardiovascular health. The science that backs that up, though, seems to come from one NASA study from 1980. Risks range from broken legs to spinal cord injuries. Despite the growing popularity

CONTINUE D ON PAGE 32

➡

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

If you’re prone to anxiety or possess an irrational fear of injury, visiting a trampoline park probably isn’t on your to-do list. But sometimes you push through the fear for the thrill, right? Which is how I found myself walking through the doors of Rockin’ Jump on a recent Saturday. When I emerged two hours later, with bones unbroken, limbs intact and a face quite literally sore from smiling, I had new fitness inspiration and a renewed respect for the boundless energy of my fellow jumpers. I also realized something jarring: Nothing will make you feel your age more than going to a trampoline park on a Saturday night. But for kids — in body or at heart — Rockin’ Jump has plenty to offer. The 28,000-square-foot building off Rimrock Road just south of the Beltline

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Charge your glasses! Barolo is the fine wine bar Madison deserves BY ADAM POWELL Flatbreads change daily: Here, Dijon mustard joins caramelized onions, mortadella, pecorino and green tomato jam.

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BAROLO WINE BAR n 829 E. Washington Ave. n 608-237-1376 facebook.com/BaroloBarMadison 4 pm-1 am daily n Food $7-$15, wines by the glass $6-$10

the taste of various wines, not to get smashed. To that end, Barolo offers smartly designed plates for pairing. The flatbread selection changes daily. Here, they resemble the original pizzas, which were rounds of pounded-out dough charred on hot rocks around a fire pit from the Neolithic age. We loved a flatbread that featured tart, slightly cooked fresh figs, caramelized onions and taleggio cheese (an inspired choice, semi-soft, with washed rinds) on a crisped homemade crust. For this, the 2011 Jaboulet “Les Jalets” CrozesHermitage, with acid undertones hitting the back of the tongue in a smooth, subtle wave, was the right pairing. The albondigas en salsa diabla is classic Mediterranean — pork and beef meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce. Large slices of garlic are liberally festooned on the dish, along with caramelized white onions crosscut with panko-style breadcrumbs. The tomato sauce is sweet, and a pairing with Pinot Noir creates a peppery fizz,

powered by the garlic. A good accompaniment: the 2011 Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which carries a nose of sea foam and hydrangea. The beef tartare shows off high-grade tenderloin. Olive oil, lemon juice, shallots and capers accent the meat. A blueberry and beet salad is colorful, with avocado mousse, ricotta and mint. Try both with glasses of Nero d’Avola Mazzei Zisola of Sicily 2012 — bright, fulsome and hinting at berries with honey. The pots de crème is rich, with no chalky undertones in the base; its Earl Grey tea whipped topping creates a nice contrast between light and dark, heavy and airy. Dessert calls for an accompanying port, and Barolo has one of my favorites: the Quinta do Infantado 20-year tawny. It’s perfectly matched with the pots de crème and the ideal finish to a night of tasting. Raise a glass to the rewards of Barolo, the wine bar Madison deserves. n

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What Barolo is trying to do isn’t easy. Madison is far more of a beer than a wine town, and Barolo isn’t even a restaurant with good wine — it’s a straight-up wine bar. (It hedges its bets with a small cocktail and beer list.) Can a venture that highlights high-quality — and pricey — vintages thrive in Mad City, a town that has so far been reluctant to head in that direction? I hope so. Madison has to get over the “wine snob” reflex if we are to join the nation’s culinary destinations. God knows we have plenty of beer pubs. Barolo is part of Robinia Courtyard, the new development at the former Savidusky’s Fur Quarters. Its sister eateries are Julep, a Southern-themed restaurant, and A-OK, a Portland-style coffee shop. The shared, spacious outdoor patio is sure to be a hit when the cold lifts in Madison’s glorious spring and summer months. Inside, the long bar at Barolo is lit by glass globes, with inset halogen lamps providing pinpricks of light in the mellow interior of the rectangular room. Round tables across from the bar are too small for two people to place food and wine comfortably, though — the booths do a better job. A chandelier crafted from upside-down goblets makes a good conversation piece. Service is uniformly warm and knowledgeable, and servers offer samples of wines before you buy them. Wines are served by the glass, priced $6-$10, and also by the bottle. All settled into a comfy booth? Now it’s time to taste wines. 2001 Faustino Rioja Gran Reserva (Tempranillo) is served in a 2-ounce glass. “Here’s a glass of the good stuff,” our server said, setting it down reverently. Notes of dewy raspberries and strawberries envelop the nose. The taste opens up and grows more complex with sufficient oxygen (don’t forget to swirl wine in the glass to maximize interaction with the air), conveying velvety rosewater-tinged grapes, mild, with low tannins and only the slightest acidity. Dolcetto 2013 Abonna “San Luigi” Piedmont is light, reminiscent of summer rains. A wonderful graham cracker underpinning jousts delicately with white pepper and cherry water, finally developing a SoCal nopales (cactus) undertone. The Gamay 2011 Stephane Aviron Cote de Brouilly “Vieilles Vignes” smacks of the Atlantic Ocean, surging with surf and musky, jammy, dusky tartness. Yes, there is a lot of florid language here, as you might hear at a wine tasting, but these flavor analogues are all part of the fun. You taste what you taste. Everyone has a distinct palate, and describing wine can be a blast, if you’re really paying attention. When tasting wines, it’s important to eat something to cleanse the palate and keep from getting too loopy. The idea is to enjoy

n FOOD & DRINK

A burger, with a side of benefits Updated “Just Dining” guide to Madison restaurant employment standards is released BY LINDA FALKENSTEIN

Consumers may be surprised to see a big name scoring high in the latest edition of Just Dining, Madison’s own guide to “restaurant employment standards in downtown Madison.” National coffee chain Starbucks does well by its Madison employees, offering health insurance and paid sick days among other benefits. Other local establishments that scored high points for offering good wages and benefits include Ian’s Pizza, the Shamrock, Restaurant Muramoto and the Tornado. The fourth volume of the guide will be available Dec. 15 in English and in Spanish, as a PDF download from wrcmadison.org/WP/justdining. The Workers’ Rights Center of Madison and the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin have joined forces since 2012 to survey area restaurant employees and owners to learn what benefits each establishment offers its employees. Data is collected on starting wages, benefits (health insurance, paid sick days, retirement plans and paid time off) and if the employer provides written personnel policies. Restaurants that meet the minimum requirements in these areas are given a star. There’s a field for including additional benefits an employer might offer, too, such as tuition reimbursement, affirmative action and dental insurance.

Coffeeshops and “quick serve” eateries can get up to six stars; casual and fine dining restaurants are on a scale of seven (a “tipped wage” category is operational for these). Users of the guide, who may be looking to spend their dining-out dollars at an establishment whose values mirror their own, can count the stars. So can prospective employees. The new edition expands the range of the restaurants surveyed, adding sites on Atwood

Hickey notes that the project stays objective, sticking with “things you can actually measure,” as opposed to subjective assessments like “it’s a fun place to work.” This year’s survey took 2 1/2 months. So far as Hickey knows, it’s the only guide of its kind in the country. There’s a national project from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United that focuses on chain restaurants — an early inspiration for Just Dining. Hickey says his organization has heard from Iowa City, Iowa, and a few other cities that would like to launch similar guides. Starbucks is the high scorer in the coffee category. In quick serve, Ian’s Pizza gets six stars. In casual dining, The Wise (at Hotel Red) scores seven stars; State Street Brats and the Shamrock get six. In fine dining, Harvest, Capitol Chophouse, Restaurant Muramoto and the Tornado all have six out seven stars. Food Fight-affiliated DANIELLA ECHEVERRIA restaurants score high overall and often have added benefits of denAvenue and Monroe Street. The creators of the tal insurance, paid leave, stock options and tuition reimbursement. guide started with downtown; each year more In addition to the full guide, Just Dining are added as resources allow. also publishes a short version distributed Patrick Hickey, director of the Workers’ in hard copy free around Madison. (The full Rights Center, says the impetus behind the version contains more background info on guide is to “give credit to the good” and “shine restaurant work issues.) the light in a positive way.” On the other hand, There’s also a free Just Dining app availhe acknowledges that a restaurant’s “discomable on iTunes that locates the restaurants fort” with its ratings might “lead to action.” on a map and lists their star rankings. “The And he has seen that happen since the guide more convenient, the better,” says Hickey. n first launched.

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• Entrance to three parties under one roof! • Food featuring the flavors from all three restaurants (8 - 11:30pm) • Music of all shapes, colors and flavors in all four spaces • 2 drink tickets • Champagne toast at midnight • Gift bags for all, 5 bags will contain the lucky golden ticket!

ROBIN SHEPARD

n FOOD & DRINK

Something for everybody Restaurant/coffeeshop/bar/local market hybrid coming to the Square BY LINDA FALKENSTEIN

The space at 10 W. Mifflin St., most recently home to Sunprint Cafe, is in the process of being revamped as a restaurant/ local food quick market/coffeeshop/bar. André Darlington, long an Isthmus food and drink contributor, is a consultant on the restaurant, working on everything from menu planning and drinks to the choice of architect. The restaurant will be owned by several investors, the principal one being local entrepreneur Patricia Davis. Darlington describes the new venture as bringing fresh and local foods to downtown. “I live downtown, and right now people have to run to the Willy Street Co-op or Whole Foods,” he says. The new restaurant (the name is being kept under wraps until a trademark check is finalized) will open around 6:30 a.m.,

serving breakfast items and “third wave” coffees by Ruby Colorful Coffees of Nelsonville, Wis. “This will be [coffee roaster] Jared Linzmeier’s first full Ruby shop nationally,” says Darlington. The group chose Linzmeier after considering national powerhouses Intelligentsia and Counter Culture. Lunch will also be served, with an emphasis on healthy items like collard wraps and bowls; these will also be available from a grab-n-go cooler. The market space will work to “fill in need gaps” for downtown dwellers and office workers with staples like milk and eggs, locally sourced. “Items for the home cook,” says Darlington. In the evening, the coffee/market emphasis will shift to dinner and drinks. There will be a natural wine bar (focus on biodynamic, organic, sustainable wines) and beer, cocktails, kombucha, even fermented sodas.

The restaurant is being designed by Heliotrope Architects of Seattle, which has worked on The Whale Wins, Trove and other high-profile dining destinations in that city. The smaller rooms that divided the space when it was Cameo Day Spa have been removed — “it’s bigger than it looks,” says Darlington. The 5,400-square-foot space should seat about 90. A brick wall — the one remaining piece of a 19th-century opera house that was once on the site — will be preserved and showcased. The project will go before the Alcohol License Review Committee in January, with a projected opening date sometime in spring. “It will be a place that feels really Madison,” says Darlington, “something low-key and not fussy.” n Editor’s note: Darlington ceased reviewing restaurants for Isthmus when he took on the consulting job.

Saffron revolution Two early winter drinks from Forequarter It’s a snug vibe inside of Forequarter, 708 E. Johnson St., this time of year. The rustic interior, the glow of candlelight and a stuffed bear set a decidedly Midwest uplands mood. The drinks menu, however, is pure getaway. Bright citrus appears in combinations with mezcal, tequila and rum for drinks that seek to transport while they enliven. For those with the greatest desire to hit warmer and exotic climes via their palate, the Omorfi should be the first stop. The Greek Mastiha liqueur that popped up first at Mickey’s is given a wonderful lift with yuzu, the Southeast Asian fruit that’s something like a cross between a grapefruit and manPAULIUS MUSTEIKIS

FrabonisDeli.com

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

— ANDRÉ DARLINGTON

Vintage Ale from the Great Dane is a keeper A “vintage ale” falls within a category of brews known as old ales. They’re beers made to age gracefully and intended to be sold by the year of vintage, hence the name. They sometimes are called “stock ales” or “keeping ales.” Because of their strength, some have earned tongue-incheek nicknames like “lunatic broth,” and “milk-of-amnesia.” Vintage ales can top 9% ABV, and with their malty backbone they are often confused with barleywines. However, this style is specifically designed to mature, condition and mellow over time. These are maltfocused beers with complex sweetness. The Great Dane’s is made with the typical ingredients of an old European ale. Its malts include Golden Promise from Scotland, British Fuggel hops and an English yeast. The Great Dane’s Vintage Ale finishes at 9% ABV and sells for $6/glass. It is not sold by the growler or crowler because of its strength. It should also be on tap at the other Great Danes throughout December. With its smooth, malt-forward taste and alluring hints of grape, plum and fig, this is a vintage ale that satisfies the way a winter warmer should.

— ROBIN SHEPARD

The martini-like sipper that’s mad about saffron. C’mon, you knew we would go there.

From Madison’s original Little Italy!

darin orange. The two are a match, and with a little vodka for oomph, they make for a subtle lemony and pine-scented cocktail with memorable complexity. Visually a little milky and served low, it’s also alluring. The Saffron Sipper is a martini-like beauty based on Letherbee gin, which is infused with saffron to make a colorful and exotic cocktail. Something magical happens with the addition of Aquavit, pulling out even more of the saffron flavor. The entire drink sings with an herbaceous harmony that isn’t overwhelming — and if you’re expecting to tire of saffron notes, it doesn’t happen.

Hangin’ around

Christmas at Fraboni’s!

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DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

✿ Dinner in front of the fire

n FOOD & DRINK

Â Â?Â?Â?Â?Â Â Â&#x20AC;Â?Â&#x201A;Â&#x192; Â&#x201E;Â&#x2026;Â&#x2020;Â&#x192;Â?Â&#x201E;Â Â&#x192;Â&#x2026;Â&#x2021; Â&#x201A;Â?Â&#x2020; STEPHANIE HOFMANN

You gotta Four live it ounces of joy every day from Chocolaterian Cafe brings Paris to Madison Hot chocolate Isthmus.com/madland Imagine a place where it is socially acceptIsthmus.com/madland

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ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16, 2015

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able to consume a vat of molten chocolate. Not only is it acceptable, it is encouraged â&#x20AC;&#x201D; even celebrated. Such a place place exists, and I have been there: Chocolaterian Cafe, 2004 Atwood Ave., home of the Parisian hot chocolate. I became mildly obsessed with this place when I moved to the Atwood area last winter, and for good reason â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they make heavenly, transcendent confections that taste like

Paisanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Italian Restaurant 131 W. Wilson St. â&#x20AC;˘ 257.3832

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be fooled by the four-ounce cup â&#x20AC;&#x201D; this rich, velvety drink is more than enough to satisfy even the most insatiable sweet tooth. If that sounds too rich (and it might be, for some people), Chocolaterian offers an American version, which adds steamed milk. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s served with a little spoon. By the time the cup is almost empty, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be scraping the sides to get every last bit. Next time, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m getting shortbread or pretzels for dipping.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ALLISON GEYER

Three sweet-and-spicy fish dishes to eat this week Mojito en coco

Moak pa

Pla laad prik

La Taguara, 3502 E. Washington Ave.

Lao Laan-Xang, 2098 Atwood Ave. and 1146 Williamson St.

Rising Sons Deli, 417 State St.

This finely minced fish with coconut sauce comes as a stew with rice, plantains and heavenly guasacaca sauce on the side. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a dish from the Venezuelan state of Zulia.

Eats events 425 N. Frances St. â&#x20AC;˘ 256-3186

a love poem to the greatest ingredient in the culinary universe: chocolate. One of the most popular items on the menu, Chocolaterianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signature drink was inspired by co-owner Leanne Cordiscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travels to the City of Light, where she first sampled the Parisiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rich, velvety hot chocolate in a cafe near the Louvre. She re-created the experience and came up with her own Wisconsin version, using semisweet Belgian chocolate, Sassy Cow cream and whole milk.

Pie life Saturday, Dec. 12, 1-4 pm

Cindee Borton-Parker, co-author of the newly published Norske Nook Book of Pies, will be on hand at the Stone Fence, 2322 Atwood Ave., to sign copies of the book. And, yes: There will be pie.

Catfish with ground pork and hot peppers, all finely ground and steamed inside a banana leaf. It comes with sticky rice. And it is as hot as the tropics.

This Thai dish is based on deep-fried catfish in a spicy sweet sauce. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not as sweet as a good version of the Vietnamese catfish dish ca kho to, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about as close as a Madison restaurant gets.

State house dining

The great lakes, in beer

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2 pm

Monday, Dec. 21

Savory Sunday is a volunteer-run free meal served in the basement â&#x20AC;&#x153;snack roomâ&#x20AC;? of the State Capitol each week. Cooking (at the Madison Senior Center) begins at 11 am; volunteers for cooking and serving can sign up at savorysunday. org/volunteer.html. Those in need of a free hot meal should come at 2 pm.

A special pairing dinner at Dexterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pub will feature beers from Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great Lakes Brewing Company, creators of such classics as Edmund Fitzgerald porter and Commodore Perry IPA. Details at dexterspubmadison.com/events; book in advance at 608-244-3535.

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n SPORTS

Head bangers Concussion provides a sobering account of football’s physical violence

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

BY MICHAEL POPKE

Hollywood sure knows how to ruin the holidays. On Christmas Day, Concussion — a dramatic thriller about brain damage in football players — hits theaters. Based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born forensic neuropathologist (played by Will Smith) who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the body of deceased former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster, Concussion chronicles how the National Football League attempted to discredit Omalu and suppress his findings. CTE, a progressive degenerative brain disease diagnosable only upon death, is common in athletes with a history of repeat head trauma. It’s been found in the brains of dozens of deceased former NFL players — including Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, who both killed themselves, and playerturned-broadcaster Frank Gifford. Former University of Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland cited CTE’s pervasive threat as the reason he retired earlier this year following a hugely successful rookie season with the San Francisco 49ers. Without question, Concussion courts controversy. Director Peter Landesman denies reports he softened the film to avoid trouble with the NFL. Early screenings, as reported on cleveland.com, brought tears to the eyes of former NFL players as they watched flinch-inducing footage of hits long ago out-

lawed by the league but still happening at all levels of the sport. The film is bound to reignite the debate over whether football is, intellectually and morally, worth cheering about. “I’m somewhat of a hypocrite, because I’m beginning to think more about the risk,” says Isadore Knox, co-director of the Southside Raiders, a powerhouse program in Madison that is part of the Dane County Area Youth Football League. Knox is a former player and coach whose nephew, Derek Stanley, played for Verona High School and spent three seasons with the St. Louis Rams. Dane County Area Youth Football follows USA Football’s Heads Up safety protocol and requires coaches, players and parents to attend preseason training to understand concussions and recognize symptoms, and it adheres to strict returnto-play policies. Additionally, each team must appoint a player safety coach, who undergoes additional training. Knox, also director of Dane County’s Office of Equal Opportunity, held that position for the Raiders in 2014 and claims that youth football in the Madison area is safer than ever. Still, he knows Concussion will put the sport under a microscope. “Parents should make decisions about what they think is best for their kids,” Knox says. “And if they choose not to let them play, I don’t have a problem with that.” n

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of such parks (the International Association of Trampoline Parks estimates there will be over 550 indoor trampoline parks worldwide by the end of 2015), there are no federal laws regulating the industry and only a handful of states, not including Wisconsin, currently have regulations in place. Thorpe says safety is the “number one aspect” that affects all facets of the business, from the selection of materials and the layout and design of the park, to a continued focus on weekly and sometimes daily mandatory safety training for employees. Detailed safety rules are posted at all of the activity zones, an instructional video loops continuously near the shoe storage area, and users must sign a safety waiver before entering the park. Jumpers put on mandatory ribbed socks, meant to minimize slipping, as an additional

precaution. Thorpe says employees monitor all areas to insure that even the most confident jumpers are using the proper technique. As winter sets in, Rockin’ Jump offers a new option for kids and adults to stay active. While the kids jump, parents can either join in or sit in massage chairs or watch television screens in the lobby. “You don’t have to spend the whole day here to get rid of the cabin fever blues,” Thorpe says. “Come in, jump around, get those endorphins going and really be active.” McFarland resident Marcus Halsey brought his 13-year-old twins to the park for that very reason. “Usually, summertime, we bike ride a lot, go to the park. Wintertime, we watch movies,” Halsey says as he watches his children on the dodgeball court. “I love movies, but my daughter, I promised her something active this weekend.” Halsey’s not jumping this time, but he is tempted: “Next time, I may be wearing the socks.” n

ROCKIN’ JUMP 2700 Novation Parkway n 608-819-5368 n msn.rockinjump.com

n ART

Where art and science collide An exhibit brings new purpose to a decommissioned UW research facility BY BOB JACOBSON

Art and science are like oil and water to a lot of people, but in reality they are more like chocolate and peanut butter — “two great tastes that taste great together.” In the right conditions, they act in tandem to plumb the physical and metaphysical mysteries of existence and advance our collective understanding of life and the universe. “Condensed Matter Community,” a curatorial project featuring work by 34 artists in a variety of media, seeks to spark dialogue about the art/science nexus. Instead of a nondescript white gallery, the project has been installed at the Synchrotron Radiation Center, a recently decommissioned particle accelerator in Stoughton. It’s a visually rich environment, with evidence of past experiments, in-progress preparations for new experiments, and even the random personal effects left behind by scientists who worked there. Once home to the Aladdin electron storage ring, the center was the site of cuttingedge research for 45 years before the loss of $5 million in federal funding forced UW to pull the plug. The synchrotron beamed its final beam of electrons on March 7, 2014. The idea of repurposing the space for a site-specific exhibit came from curators Evan Gruzis and Kristof Wickman, who both hold undergraduate and master’s degrees in fine art from, respectively, UW-Madison and Hunter College in New York. Gruzis currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Brooklynbased Wickman is a guest lecturer in the UW’s sculpture department. The two heard about the space when center staff notified the sculpture department they would have

Daniel G. Baird’s “Capsule (scale).”

DANIEL G. BAIRD

scrap materials available. Gruzis and Wickman thought it would provide an interesting context for an exhibition as it transitioned to other kinds of scientific work. “We discovered that there was this amazing history with the site and that there was a lot of space there, and we thought this would be a great time and place to do an art exhibition,” Gruzis says. Working independently of any sponsoring institution, Gruzis and Wickman reached out to their network of artists, particularly those based in the Midwest, to solicit works. They received double what they expected.

A wide range of media are represented, including video, sculpture and abstract painting. The themes underpinning the collection touch on the connections between pieces of art and scientific tools; the ephemera of scientific experiments; and the relationship between objects and workplaces. One piece, a 3D-printed prototype sculpture by Tauba Auerbach, is based on the iconic Greek key (meander) pattern, melding technology, history and design. Hand 2 (2014), by Tony Matelli, looks like a finger-streaked dusty mirror, but is actually a permanently fixed composition.

There’s also appropriation art, in the form of work by David Robbins, who for several years has been appropriating books by an author also named David Robbins and placing them in various settings. The effect is a fusing of identities, creating ambiguity about authorship. Which David Robbins is responsible for the art if it took the efforts of both guys for the book to land in that particular place at that particular time? “What’s interesting is the pieces being in this context,” says Gruzis. “Some of the work could even get lost in there or blend in or get camouflaged, in a way.” UW senior instrumentation technologist Mary Severson is a beamline scientist who worked at SRC for 24 years. She is in charge of finalizing the decommissioning of the facility and disposing of the equipment, some of which has been sold, some repurposed through UW Surplus With a Purpose, or SWAP, and some recycled. The facility will next be used to manufacture equipment for detecting neutrinos (subatomic particles produced by radioactive decay) as part of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, an international project based out of Fermilab (the particle physics accelerator located outside Batavia, Ill.). Visitors to the art exhibit can also view the massive ice drills and neutrino sensor. The Synchrotron Radiation Center is located at 3731 Schneider Drive in Stoughton. A public reception is slated for Saturday, Dec. 12, 5-8 p.m. The exhibition can be seen by appointment for about four weeks afterward. All of the artwork will be documented and made available at condensedmattercommunity.org. n

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

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Bringing the war home Dickey Chapelle Under Fire highlights the career of an extraordinary woman

The pioneering photographer grew up in Shorewood.

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DECEMBER 12–23 Capitol Theater at Overture Center

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Fifty years ago, Dickey Chapelle, a Wisconsin native with pixie glasses, pearl earrings and military fatigues, died in Vietnam. Chapelle was already something of a legend: She was the first female war correspondent killed in action — anywhere. It’s surprising that we’ve had to wait until now for an extensive survey of her work to be published: Author John Garofolo has redressed that problem with his new book, Dickey Chapelle Under Fire: Photographs by the First American Female War Correspondent Killed in Action, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Garofolo is a California-based Iraq War veteran who has been working on a screenplay about Chapelle. Although both an autobiography and a biography exist, he was surprised to find no book highlighting her photographs. The Wisconsin Historical Society houses the Dickey Chapelle Archives, including 20,000 of her photos. Dickey Chapelle Under Fire resembles a coffee table book, but it is not a pleasant read — nor is it intended to be. Some of Chapelle’s photos are beautiful, many are brutal: a firing squad, a Red Cross worker, nurses, makeshift hospitals, airfields, aircraft, foxholes, refugees, battlefields before — and battlefields after. The wounded were a special interest of Chapelle’s. It’s difficult today to feel the shock that 1940s readers must have experienced when looking at the work of Chapelle and other

war photographers. World War II was the first U.S. war in which photos were circulated by mass media. At last, in our homes, we saw our soldiers bleed. Chapelle was born in 1919 and grew up in Shorewood, just outside Milwaukee. She graduated from high school at 16 and enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied aeronautical design. (She never let go of that interest; two of her five books, one for young readers, dealt with aviation.) She returned to Milwaukee for practical air experience, and eventually became a photographer for now-defunct Trans World Airlines (TWA). She then joined National Geographic and launched her pioneering career as a war correspondent. To get her shots, Chapelle evaded snipers and jumped with paratroopers. Impressed by her bravery, the Marines adopted her, honoring her as they have few civilians. Her assignments continued, and she traversed the globe: Austria, Cuba (where she photographed Castro), India, Iwo Jima, Guam, Laos, Lebanon, Okinawa and Puerto Rico. She was killed in Vietnam while on patrol with Marines. The soldier in front of her tripped a booby trap. As Chapelle bled to death and a chaplain gave her last rites, she was photographed by Henri Huet of the Associated Press. She was only 46. Dickey Chapelle Under Fire is a long overdue appreciation of one of the most important journalists of the 20th century. n

n MUSIC

Magical realism Joanna Newsom brings her exquisite songs to the Orpheum BY AARON R. CONKLIN

To her legions of devoted listeners, Joanna Newsom’s songs are like aural crossword puzzles, mysteries to be unraveled and dissected into their component references and influences. But despite the fact that she’s almost constantly barraged by fan requests to explicate her song catalogue, she’s not trying to baffle anybody. “I’m honored by the fact that people are listening with that level of interest,” says Newsom, who spoke to Isthmus by phone from New York City as she was gearing up for a North American tour that stops at Madison’s Orpheum Theater on Friday, Dec. 18. “But I’m not being intentionally complex. It’s just kind of the way I work. I’m trying to create a series of worlds that feel real to me. One of the things I do is layer, like layers of lacquer to a painter. For me, the most important thing is the story — the narrative truth of the song.” That’s abundantly evident on the 33-year-old’s latest release, Divers, where 11 meticulously rendered songs encompass histories both real and invented. “Waltz of the 101st Lightborne” imagines the fate of a military brigade, while the title of “Sapokanikan” connects the original name of Greenwich Village with references to Tammany Hall and the ill-fated Ozymandias (Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses II). Each song is like an epic poem sprung to lyrical life, evoked by Newsom’s soaring, throaty voice and her gorgeous harp-playing. They’re complex works that demand careful attention. Newsom, who was born in Nevada City, Calif., and lived in New York while she was

Her songs are like epic poems sprung to life.

ANNABEL MEHRAN

writing Divers, has said she was inspired in part by the city and that its complexities informed some of the narratives of her songs. The term she used when describing the album to the Los Angeles Times was “a narrative loop” in which the songs aren’t chronological but are linked by a concept. It’s obviously an appealing one — Divers attracted a heavy-hitting lineup of musical collaborators, including contemporary composer Nico Muhly and Dirty Projectors founder David Longstreth, who contributed orchestral arrangement to “Time, As a Symptom,” the Emily Dickinson-esque song that closes the album. Newsom grew up in a house without TV — her mother, as she puts it, “had done a ton of research on the effects of watching violence

on TV” — and while she wasn’t immune to its influence (in fact, she loves watching it today, something her husband, former Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg, probably appreciates), it left her free to play in the woods, writing music and pursuing her love of the harp, the instrument she gravitated to at an early age. “For my personality type, it was probably good [to not have TV]. I’m easily distracted.” Except when she’s writing music, that is. When she’s in the middle of making a record, Newsom becomes hyper-focused, which perhaps accounts for the attention to detail that marks her lyrics and composition. “I forget to pay bills, I forget to eat,” she says of her musical fugue state. “When I start writing, I can’t stop until an idea is fully evoked.”

Newsom appreciates the fact that stories written about her no longer lead with the fact that she plays the unwieldy harp, as they did when she released her first albums, 2004’s The Milk-Eyed Mender and its 2006 follow-up Ys. Instead, everyone’s focused on figuring out her lyrical footnotes and influences. She says it’s akin to how people appreciate — or fail to appreciate — a good joke. “I could lay my songs bare in the cold glare of the sunlight, but at no point would the listener understand the essential truth, the true spirit of the song. I draw the line at the notion that someone needs to do work to ‘get’ the music.” That’s fine by us, Joanna. We’re happy just to sit back and appreciate the beauty. n

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Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amore The Light in the Piazza is nuanced and gorgeous BY GWENDOLYN RICE

As warm light bathes three majestic arches on the stage of Overtureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Playhouse Theater, it is quite easy to be transported to a summer afternoon in Florence in the 1950s. In Four Seasons Theatreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glowing production of The Light in the Piazza, running through Dec. 13, tourists wander through ancient city squares and marketplaces reading guidebooks, gawking at feats of architecture and art. When a sudden gust of wind delivers a pretty American girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hat into the hands of a handsome Italian youth, something new and magical is bound to begin. Clara â&#x20AC;&#x201D; played by Abby Nichols as a captivating and disarmingly innocent young woman â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is traveling abroad with her sensible mother Margaret, delightfully captured by Tamara Brognano. When Fabrizio Naccarelli (an amiable Kenneth Lyons) appears with Claraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hat in hand and only a smattering of English vocabulary, the two are immediately smitten. Of course, the path of true love does not run smoothly: There are parental objections, language barriers, missed rendezvous and

waves of doubt. In other musicals, the story of this oft-thwarted couple would be the focus, inspiring soaring melodies, tears of frustration and many romantic declarations. The young lovers are afforded all of these scenes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including the gorgeous, lyrical duet â&#x20AC;&#x153;Say It Somehowâ&#x20AC;? that ends Act 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but the more interesting and complicated story is that of Claraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s caring but protective mother. Margaret is nostalgic about a trip she took to Italy with her husband long before the marriage withered. She is thrilled to see her daughter experiencing first love, but frightened that it will destroy her. A childhood brain injury has left Clara with the mind and emotions of a 12-year-old, and, as Margaret knows, love can be very, very complicated. Brognano brings her gorgeous soprano to the complex role, along with a perfect Carolina accent, a bit of Southern obstinacy and the shadow of her characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many disappointments. Brognano is supported by a talented cast of strong singers, many of whom have extensive opera credits. Marie McManama is especially delightful as Franca Naccarelli, Fabrizioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s furious sister-in-law. Her rich voice and passionate rebukes to her cheating husband (the debonair Alex Van Handel) are highlights. And as the

patriarch of the Naccarelli family, Tony Reitano does double linguistic duty â&#x20AC;&#x201D; leading his loud and emotional family in Italian and then translating their antics into English for his new American friends. As Margaretâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband Roy, Sam White brings texture and depth to phone conversations that could have made him a one-note villain. Under the direction of David Ronis, interim director of opera at UW-Madison, the scenes flow naturally, filling the city of Florence with interesting and specific characters. The aforementioned trio of arches transforms effortlessly from a cathedral to a hotel room, to outdoor cafes and promenades, thanks to Brandon Ribordyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deceptively simple set design. And the challenging score, conducted by Thomas Kasdorf, is condensed and delivered beautifully by six onstage musicians, although on opening night, the ensemble occasionally overpowered the singers. The Light in the Piazza is closer to opera than American musical theater, so you might not leave the Playhouse humming the songs. But you will be affected by this unusual and nuanced love story, brought to life in a superb production. n

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DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

CATS & DOGS!

n SCREENS

Mind trip Guy Maddin’s experimental laboratory concocts The Forbidden Room BY JAMES KREUL

Sailors trapped in a submarine are staying alive due to the oxygen trapped in the bubbles in their flapjacks. When they’re interrupted by a woodsman, Cesare (Roy Dupuis), who somehow enters the submerged vessel, an already absurd scenario transforms into a series of nested flashbacks and fever dreams. That’s just a taste of the madness in The Forbidden Room, the newest film by Canadian provocateur Guy Maddin. The dense imagery in The Forbidden Room — which screens once at the UW Cinematheque on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. — paces your mind at a sprint, but its two-hour running time is closer to a 10K run. The film, a collaboration between Maddin and Evan Johnson, demands that you stay in the moment and savor its wideranging visuals and textures. It is not difficult

to understand what is going on at any given moment, unless you try to remember how it relates to what has happened or try to anticipate whether you’ll need to remember it. At some point we’re in the middle of a music video for a song about a man who has parts of his brain removed to relieve his obsession with women’s derrieres. The man: go-to Euro-creep Udo Kier (who has worked with Lars von Trier, Dario Argento and even Michael Bay). The internal personification of his desire: a whipwielding Geraldine Chaplin. Other recognizable faces later woven into the film’s tapestry include Mathieu Amalric and Charlotte Rampling, right alongside Maddin’s stock players like Louis Negin, who pops up in multiple roles. During his 2014 visit to Madison, Maddin screened his best-known work, the semi-documentary My Winnipeg. Even that more accessi-

Images explode with color.

ble work featured Maddin’s trademarks: stylized performances, layered images, textured cinematography and film-historical references, especially to silent cinema. Now Maddin and Johnson tip their hat to two very different underground filmmakers who emerged in the 1960s: George Kuchar and Jack Smith, the latter with Maddin’s shared affinity for exotic melodramatic potboilers from the 1940s. John Waters, a big Kuchar and Smith fan, just named The Forbidden Room his third-favorite film of 2015 in Artforum. The Kuchar-influenced performances are less about realism and more about making something vivid and memorable (check out the portrait documentary It Came From Kuchar!). When captive Margot (Clara Furey) dreams about writhing on the floor during a cabaret performance, Furey gives the moment

everything she’s got. The cinematographic fireworks distract from the small, very simple sets made to seem large through rear-projection, selective lighting and other theatrical trickery. Images explode with color, and the superimpositions seem to ooze through each other. A particularly gorgeous sequence mimics the color palette of red and green Technicolor from the 1920s. It’s a shame that we don’t always have time to appreciate the beauty of a segment before we’re jarred into a new visual scheme. As Maddin tells viewers in his director’s statement for The Forbidden Room: “Stay safe and enjoy!” The warning is for those inclined to walk out of anything edgier than the other Room currently in theaters. The invitation is for those of us ready to groove on this richly textured visual experience. n

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

Television

Jeffrey Tambor (right) stars as the transitioning Maura Pfefferman.

JENNIFER CLASEN

Transparent Created by UW-Madison alumna Jill Soloway, this groundbreaking Amazon series is returning for another 10-episode season on Dec. 11. Jeffrey Tambor stars as Maura Pfefferman, a father transitioning to being a woman. The revelation leads other Pfeffermans to discover their true selves in honest and realistic ways — while season one of

Transparent was deeply invested in Maura’s journey, season two expands to focus on how this situation has affected everyone around her. Transparent is educational and touching, and shows what people need to see in 2015: a different kind of family. It’s a rare December premiere for a critically acclaimed program. — ALEX CLAIBORNE

The film list New releases In the Heart of the Sea: A whale targets a whaling ship in 1820.

THE PREMIER BENEFIT FOR OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

L I V E V I S UA L A RT C R E AT I O N BY LO N M I C H E L S SILENT AUCTION T H E U P B E AT O R C H E S T R A C H A M PAG N E WINE LOCAL MUSIC CABARET

The Letters: This Mother Teresa biopic tells the story of the Vatican investigator (Rutger Hauer) looking into the nun’s candidacy for actual sainthood in 1998. Teresa (Juliet Stevenson) is simply portrayed as a dedicated servant of God, while whatever internal struggles she may have dealt with are told, not shown.

THE FORCE AWAKENS

at Sundance Cinemas: Join us for the Pre-Party on Thursday, Dec. 17 from 6 to 8 PM

Admission for the event are non-perishable food items to be donated to River Food Pantry of Dane Co. PRIZES • CONTESTS • FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS

Recent releases Chi-Raq: Fashioned after Aristophanes’ comedy from 411 BC, modern-day Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) leads the women of gun-ravaged Chicago on a sex strike (“No peace, no pussy”). It’s Spike Lee’s most vibrant work in nearly a decade.

STARTS FRIDAY IN THE HEART OF THE SEA NO PASSES - CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri: (1:40, 4:25), 7:05, 9:40; Sat: (11:05 AM, 1:40, 4:25), 7:05,

Creed: Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) passes the torch to Adonis Johnson Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of his former nemesis. The film isn’t a complete KO, but it goes all 12 rounds with vitality and style. The Good Dinosaur: Pixar continues to reign supreme in the realm of family-focused animation with this story about a world in which dinosaurs never went extinct. It may not be the studio’s most original film or its most heartwarming, but it gets the job done in fine fashion.

9:40; Sun: (11:05 AM, 1:40, 4:25), 8:00; Mon to Thu: (2:15, 5:05), 8:00

BROOKLYN

S A T U R D A Y, J A N U A R Y 3 0

G A L A 8 —1 1 P M | I S T H M U S A F T E R PA RT Y 1 1 P M — 2 A M OV E RT U R EC E N T E R .O R G / F R O S T I B A L L

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2 CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri & Sat: (1:15, 4:05), 6:55, 9:45;

Sun: (11:20 AM, 2:10, 5:00), 7:50; Mon to Thu: (2:10, 5:00), 7:50 CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri & Sat: (4:00), 6:45; Sun: (4:00), 7:35; Mon to Wed: (4:40), 7:35; Thu: (2:00 PM)

SPECTRE

BRIDGE OF SPIES

Krampus: A boy who has a crappy Christmas accidentally summons a demon.

CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION

Fri: (1:45, 4:20), 7:15, 9:35; Sat: (11:10 AM, 1:45, 4:20), 7:15, 9:35; Sun: (11:10 AM, 1:45, 4:20), 7:50; Mon to Thu: (2:25, 5:15), 7:50 TRUMBO CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Fri: (1:30, 4:10), 6:50, 9:25; Sat: (11:00 AM, 1:30, 4:10), 6:50, 9:25; Sun: (11:00 AM, 1:30, 4:10), 7:45; Mon to Wed: (2:20, 5:10), 7:45; Thu: (2:20 PM) SPOTLIGHT CLOSED CAPTION Fri: (1:35, 4:15), 7:00, 9:40; Sat: (11:00 AM, 1:35, 4:15), 7:00, 9:40; Sun: (11:00 AM, 1:35, 4:15), 7:40; Mon to Wed: (2:05, 4:55), 7:40; Thu: (2:05 PM)

CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION

Fri & Sat: (1:10), 9:45; Sun: (1:10 PM); Mon to Wed: (2:00 PM)

Trumbo: Like so many recent issue-oriented historical dramas, this biopic about blacklisted ’50s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) seems built largely around making viewers feel good about what they already believe — fortunately, it’s also fairly entertaining.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS SNEAK PREVIEW NO PASSES - CC & DESCRIPTIVE NARRATION Thu: 7:00, 7:30

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Amenity Fees Vary With Schedule - ( ) = Mats. www.sundancecinemas.com/choose LOCATED AT HILLDALE MALL 608.316.6900 www.sundancecinemas.com Gift Cards Available at Box Office

Showtimes subject to change. Visit website to confirm Closed captioning and descriptive narrative available for select films

More film events

Showtimes for December 11 - December 17

Aparajito: The second entry in Satyajit Ray’s “Apu” trilogy follows a rural boy whose mother helps him attend university in Calcutta. Cinematheque, Dec. 11, 7 pm. It’s a Wonderful Life: Frank Capra’s 1946 fantasy in which a despondent George Bailey (James Stewart) gets the chance to see what the world would be like without him. Palace & Point, Dec. 13 (noon) and Dec. 14 & 16 (7 pm).

701 East Washington Ave. 608-661-8599

Open Tuesday-Saturday 4pm - close

Jaws: The Revenge: The widow of police chief Brody begins to think her remaining family is being targeted by a shark. Central Library, Dec. 17, 6:30 pm. The Shop Around the Corner: The turbulent romance of two shop clerks (James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan) in turn-of-the-century Hungary is director Ernst Lubitsch at his best: humane, charming, effervescent. Chazen Museum of Art, Dec. 13, 2 pm. Spaceballs: Writer-director Mel Brooks’ parody of Star Wars and other sci-fi movies. Union South Marquee, Dec. 10 (9:30 pm) and Dec. 12 (11 pm). Star Wars Saga: Marathon of all six episodes and the upcoming new sequel. Palace, Dec. 17, 2 am. Stations of the Cross: A 14-year-old Catholic girl follows Jesus’ path to sainthood. Ashman Library, Dec. 11, 7 pm. Tangerine: Shot entirely on iPhones, this comedydrama follows a pair of transgender women searching for their pimp. Union South Marquee, Dec. 11 (9 pm), Dec. 12 (7 pm) and Dec. 13 (6:30 pm).

Ant-Man

The Night Before

Bridge of Spies

The Peanuts Movie

Brooklyn

Secret in Their Eyes

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Sicario

Inside Out

Spectre

The Intern

Spotlight

Love the Coopers

Steve Jobs

The Martian

A Walk in the Woods

$40 / holiday formal attire

ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVANZA featuring

Hot Sauce and Antique Nouveau featuring comedian David “Showman” Freeman with guest appearance by Miss Wisconsin 2015 Kate Redeker

SUN. DEC. 13 .

6:30-9:30 pm / $20 adv, $25 dos

Rick Leigh Music presents

Mark Croft Band featuring Jon Vriesacker, Chris Wagoner,

Mary Gaines and Matt Rogers on strings! with The Empty Pockets

TRIPLE HIT HOLIDAY SHOW

HOLIDAY BUFFET for the Packer vs Cowboys Game and CONCERT Come early for the Holiday Buffet and watch Packers vs Cowboys Game! Game at 3:30 pm Lounge opens at 3 pm $35 for Game Buffet & Concert – Advance Reservations for Buffet required.

www.thebrinklounge.com

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What’s happening this weekend

❏ ISTHMUS MOVIE TIMES All the movies, all the times

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

Also in theaters

SAT. DEC. 12.

Deerhunter Tuesday, Dec. 15, Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm Somewhere between a rock show and performance art, Atlanta noise pop act Deerhunter’s concerts inject new life into the band’s well-loved songs, spanning from 2005’s breakout Cryptograms to this year’s impressive Fading Frontier. Bradford Cox is an imaginative bandleader whose banter makes headlines, but the real stars of the show are the melodic guitar-driven songs that have filled Deerhunter’s albums throughout their remarkably consistent career. Cox’s critically acclaimed solo project, Atlas Sound, opens.

picks

PICK OF THE WEEK ART EXHIBITS & EV ENTS

thu dec 10

Craig Werner & Douglas Bradley: Discussing “We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War,” 6 pm, 12/10, A Room of One’s Own (257-7888); 6:30 pm, 12/16, Urban League (233-1997).

fri dec 11

MU S I C Bos Meadery: Jason Moon, free, 6:30 pm.

MUS I C

Brink Lounge: Mike Massey & Francie Phelps, rock/pop, 7 pm. Cardinal Bar: DJ Chamo, Latin, 10 pm.

Abigail Engstrand: What She Felt

Chief’s Tavern: Hoot’n Annie, string band, 8:30 pm. Claddagh Irish Pub, Middleton: Slipjig, Celtic, free, 6 pm.

Sequoya Library (4340 Tokay Blvd.), on display through Dec. 31

Club Tavern, Middleton: Madpolecats, free, 9 pm. Essen Haus: WheelHouse, free, 9 pm. First United Methodist Church: Isthmus Brass, free/donations benefit Porchlight, 7:30 pm. The Frequency: Luke Arvid, Marty Finkel, Jack Tell, 9 pm. High Noon Saloon: Austin Lucas, Evan Murdock, Christopher Gold, 9 pm. Ivory Room: Vince Strong, Nicky Jordan, dueling pianos, 9 pm. Merchant: Charlie Painter & Friends, free, 10 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Compact Deluxe, free, 10 pm. Paoli Schoolhouse: Jim White, free, 6 pm. The Red Zone: Acideon, Dorian DeLorean, Advancer, Mark Jansky, EDM, 9 pm. Tip Top Tavern: Psychoacoustics, WORT-FM live broadcast, with music by Damsel Trash & Lover’s Spit, free, 8 pm. UW Humanities Building-Morphy Hall: Wingra Woodwind Quintet, free, 7:30 pm.

T HE AT ER & DA N CE

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

armature: in medias res

Thursday, Dec. 10, Overture Center’s Promenade Hall, 7:30 pm

Li Chiao-Ping Dance wraps up a terrific 20th anniversary concert series with guest artists Susan Lee and Megan Thompson joining company dancers in performing highlights from the renowned company’s past decades. The troupe also premieres a brand-new work, “in medias res.” ALSO: Friday (7:30 pm, with a postperformance reception in Promenade Lounge) and Saturday (2:30 & 7:30 pm), Dec. 11-12.

The Beaux’ Stratagem Thursday, Dec. 10, UW Mitchell Theatre, 7:30 pm

In George Farquhar’s comic romp, originally produced in 1707, two penniless cads from London flee to the country to escape their debts. They decide that to return to the high life, one of them must marry for money. This University Theatre production gives a large cast of students the opportunity to have fun with a classic. ALSO: Friday and Saturday (7:30 pm) and Sunday (2 pm), Dec. 11-13.

Delicious Xmas Thursday, Dec. 10, Broom Street Theater, 8 pm

Working together in a “deliberate crisis situation,” the ensemble members of Are We Delicious? are talented local thespians who write, rehearse, memorize and perform short plays in an absurdly short amount of time. “Xmas,” a generic term that embraces all seasonal permutations, is bound to present a hilarious spin on the holidays, no matter what you celebrate. ALSO: Friday (8 & 10 pm) and Saturday (8 pm), Dec. 11-12. Hobson’s Choice: Upstart Crows Productions romantic comedy, 7 pm, 12/10-11, Lake Edge United Church of Christ. $15 donation. 827-9482.

This Oconomowoc-based artist makes her pictures — framed impressionistic landscapes and figurative scenes of animals and people — with wool, silk and animal and plant fibers. Most of the homespun works in her bountiful exhibit are needlefelted wool, and all of them are warmly composed in three-dimensional textures and layers of fluffy, fuzzy, brilliant color. Among the dozens of images displayed is “My Long Winter Road Re-Imagined,” an enchanting forest in vibrant aqua shading into violet and somber earth tones.

Dianne Reeves Friday, Dec. 11, Shannon Hall, 8 pm

Mike Stanley

Jazz queen Dianne Reeves toured with Harry Belafonte and Sergio Mendes and closed the 2002 Winter Olympics. Her 2015 release Beautiful Life garnered her fifth Grammy Award. Adding an elegant touch to the holidays with “Christmas Time is Here,” Reeves will deliver a concert unlike any other you’re likely to witness this season.

Thursday, Dec. 10, Comedy Club on State, 8:30 pm

The Know-It-All Boyfriends

COM EDY

Mike Stanley has performed internationally and was named “Best Chicago Standup Comedian” by the Chicago Reader. He originally hails from Detroit, and it doesn’t take too many of his jokes to sort out that he’s a Midwestern comic: Beneath his sometimes coarse subject matter and witty banter lies a thoughtful, honest center.

BOOKS/SP OKEN WORD Greg Harris, Andrea Musher: Poetry reading, 7 pm, 12/10, EVP Coffee-East. 294-6868.

Friday, Dec. 11, Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm

Butch Vig and Freedy Johnston’s starstudded cover band is joining forces with special guests Kelly Hogan, Sam Llanas (formerly of the BoDeans) and Cory Chisel for a fundraiser concert benefiting Joey’s Song, a local epilepsy awareness organization, and Gio’s Garden, a therapeutic respite center serving Dane County families. With Stop the Clock, Modern Mod.

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DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

n ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 11 T H EAT ER & DA N C E

ALL-INCLUSIVE

New Year’s Eve

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DEC. 31 • 6 PM -CLOSE LIVE 2 Bars! MUSIC 2 Bands! Live at Nine Twice the Fun! David Austin All You Can Eat & Drink!

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

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Gods in the Chrysalis + The Ferns + Tarpaulin Friday, Dec. 11, The Frequency, 9 pm

While many of the individual musicians here are Madison music scene veterans, this bill showcases three relatively new local bands, putting Gods in the Chrysalis’ (pictured) dark, hard rock-tinged folk next to the Ferns’ bright guitar pop and Tarpaulin’s minimal indie rock. They have zero albums released among them (Tarpaulin is sitting on a recently tracked EP), giving Madison’s music-curious folk even more reason to check out these budding groups in person. With Milwaukee’s the Rashita Joneses.

Vince Staples Friday, Dec. 11, Union South’s The Sett, 9 pm

Vince Staples opened his debut, Summertime ’06, by stating that he’s a legend. Six months have passed since the record’s release, and the 22-year-old rapper is already right: Summertime ’06 is one of the most enjoyable, cohesive, thought-provoking and critically acclaimed albums of the year. With CrashPREZ, Lord of the Fly. 1855 Saloon, Cottage Grove: Robert J, free, 7 pm. Badger Bowl: Scott Wilcox, 9:15 pm. Blackhawk Evangelical Church, Middleton: Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, annual “Messiah” concert with Sarah Lawrence, Jamie Van Eyck, Calland Metts, Peter Van de Graaaff, WCO Chorus, 7:30 pm. Bos Meadery: Treemo, The Werewolverine, free, 6 pm.

Gadzooks! Cinderella! (It Ain’t Shakespeare) Friday, Dec. 11, Bartell Theatre, 7:30 pm

If your family is seeking some nonsentimental entertainment during this holiday season, try Mercury Players’ British-style “panto.” In this Monty Python-esque slapstick, the Royal Shakespeare Players have been reduced to presenting the classic fairy tale to make money. It’s okay to boo the baddies at this genderbending and boundary-crossing show. ALSO: Saturday (7:30 pm), Sunday (4 pm), Wednesday and Thursday (7:30 pm), Dec. 12-17. Through Dec. 19.

The Light in the Piazza Friday, Dec. 11, Overture Center Playhouse, 7:30 pm

Four Seasons Theatre presents The Light in the Piazza, a musical that begins in the summer of 1953 when the wife of a well-heeled American businessman is traveling with her mentally challenged adult daughter Clara. While sightseeing in a piazza, Clara’s hat blows off, landing at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine. (See page 36.) ALSO: Saturday (7:30 pm) and Sunday (2 pm), Dec. 12-13.

CO MEDY

Cardinal Bar: Gerri DiMaggio, jazz, free, 5:30 pm; Blythe Gamble, Lazydeadpoet, Dora Diamond, 9 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: WheelHouse, 9 pm. Covenant Presbyterian Church: Madison Area Concert Handbells, “A Global Christmas,” 7:30 pm. Also: 7:30 pm, 12/12, Christ Presbyterian Church; or 3 pm, 12/13, St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 7:30 pm. High Noon Saloon: The People Brothers Band, Frogleg, The Heavy Set, 9 pm. Lakeside Street Coffee House: Madison Classical Guitar Society Showcase, free, 7 pm. Liquid: DJ Britt, 10 pm. Louisianne’s, Middleton: Johnny Chimes, New Orleans piano, free, 6:30 pm Fri.-Sat. & 6 pm Tue.-Wed. Madison College-Truax, Mitby Theater: Madison College Big Band, Jazz Combo, World Drumming Ensemble, holiday concert, free, 7:30 pm. Merchant: DJ Vilas Park Sniper, 10:30 pm. Mickey’s Tavern: The Flavor That Kills, Sir! No Sir, Futbol, free, 10 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Cloverlane, August Teens, free, 10 pm. Natt Spil: DJ Nick Nice, free, 10 pm. Parched Eagle: Old Tin Can String Band, 8 pm. Plan B: Abominable Snow Ball, drag show, 9 pm. Rex’s Innkeeper, Waunakee: Funky Chunky, 8:30 pm. Stoughton Opera House: Detour Bluegrass, 7:30 pm. Tip Top Tavern: Gentle Brontosaurus, We Are the Wild Things, pop/rock, free, 10 pm. Tuvalu Coffee, Verona: Kurt Klinger, free, 7 pm. UW Humanities Bldg-Mills Hall: UW Wind Ensemble, free, 7:30 pm.

Tom Papa Friday, Dec. 11, Comedy Club on State, 8 & 10:30 pm

Not many standups get the opportunity to appear in a prestige picture with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, but Tom Papa did just that in 2013 with his supporting role in Behind the Candelabra. But Papa’s experience with the serious hasn’t affected his humor — his “clean but cutting” wit has never been sharper, and there’s a reason he got his break as Jerry Seinfeld’s handpicked opener. With Mike Stanley, Reena Calm. ALSO: Saturday, Dec. 12, 8 & 10:30 pm.

B O O KS Tim Cullen: Discussing “Ringside Seat: Wisconsin Politics 1970 to Scott Walker,” his new book, 7 pm, 12/11, Mystery to Me. 283-9332.

➡

115 KING STREET DOWNTOWN MADISON

WISCONSIN FESTS

Just Announced

AT THUR

JAN 28

TRIPPY TURTLE AT THE MAJESTIC

THURSDAY

JAN 7

WHITEY MORGAN JAN 29 & CODY JINX FRI

THUR

LEFTOVER SALMON AT THE MAJESTIC

THUR

DEC 10

TUE

DEC 15

CHRISTMAS BREW ’N VIEW

ELF

DEERHUNTER WITH ATLAS SOUND

JAN FOLK SATURday, OCTOBE 8 FEST FRIDAY

THUR. APRIL 14 216 STATE STREET, MADISON, WI TICKETS AND INFO AT MADISONORPHEUM.COM

CORY CHISEL WE ARE THE WILLOWS JE SUNDE | CHRISTOPHER GOLD RACHEL HANSON SATURDAY

JAN 9

DEC 19

CHRISTMAS BREW ’N VIEW

DIE HARD

THURSDAY

DEC 19

THUR

DEC 31

80S VS 90S

CHRISTMAS SWEATER BALL

DECADANCE

A NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION

POP FEST

JAN 15

PUNK FEST

TENEMENT THE HUSSY ZEBRAS | THE MOGULS THE AMERICAN DEAD SATURDAY

JAN 16

BLUEGRASS FEST

DEAD HORSES JOSEPH HUBER DIG DEEP THEM COULEE BOYS

WITH TACOS 115 KING ST. FROM MADISON WI GET TICKETS AND INFO AT

MAJESTICMADISON.COM

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MAJESTICMADISON.COM

FEST

GGOOLLDD THE LIVING STATUES OH MY LOVE | MODERN MOD TARPAULIN FRIDAY

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JAN 14

SAT

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AT THE MAJESTIC

FEB 25

HIP-HOP

n ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 11 – 13

WISCONSIN UNION THEATER

ART EXHIBITS & EV ENTS

DIANNE REEVES

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE

WITH PETER MARTIN, ROMERO LUBAMBO, REGINALD VEAL, AND TERREON GULLY

12.11.15

UW Interior Architecture Portfolio Showcase: 12/915, UW Nancy Nicholas Hall-Ruth Davis Design Gallery (reception 5-7 pm, 12/11). 262-8815.

Immanuel Lutheran Church: Choral Arts Society Chorale, 7 pm. Ivory Room: Kevin Gale, Leslie Cao, Michael Massey, dueling pianos, 8 pm.

Ashley Robertson & Micaela Berry: “Daughters in Dissent: A Visual Celebration of Herstories, Kinship and Sistahood,” 12/11-1/3, Cafe Zoma (reception 6-8 pm, 12/11). 243-1300.

Knuckle Down Saloon: Altered Five, 9 pm.

UW Clay Collective, Mad Gaffers, Fresh Hot Press, Mad Metals: Annual holiday show/sale, 10 am-6 pm, 12/11-13, UW Art Lofts. uwclaycollective@gmail.com.

Liliana’s: Stan Godfriaux & Laurie Lang, free, 6:30 pm.

sat dec 12

Lakeside Street Coffee: The McDougals, 6:30 pm. Lazy Oaf Lounge: Fighting For, rock, 10 pm. Liquid : DJ Nick Magic, EDM, 10 pm. Merchant: DJ Nick Nice, free, 10:30 pm. Mezze: DJ Umi, free, 9 pm. Mickey’s Tavern: The Low Czars, rock, free, 10 pm. Mr. Robert’s: Stone Room, free, 10 pm. Paoli Schoolhouse: Greg Thornburg, free, 6 pm.

TRUE

M USIC

Red Zone: Fall II Rise (CD release), Haliwel (CD release), Daphni, Left of Reason, rock, 7 pm.

Baroque Holiday Concert

Rex’s Innkeeper, Waunakee: Funky Chunky, 8:30 pm.

Saturday, Dec. 12, First Congregational Church (1609 University Ave.), 8 pm

BLUES

This fifth annual Madison Bach Musicians concert will feature a vocal quartet and instrument ensemble performing Arcangelo Corelli’s Christmas Concerto op. 6 no. 8, Telemann’s Tafelmusik Quartet in E minor and two Bach Cantatas. Director Trevor Stephenson gives a pre-concert lecture at 7:15 pm.

FEATURING ERIC BIBB AND COREY HARRIS

1.29.16, 7PM & 9:30PM

St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Monona: Messiah Sing-a-long, all welcome to sing Handel with St. Stephen’s Sanctuary Choir, free, 7 pm. Stoughton Opera House: Four Guyz in Dinner Jackets, doo-wop, 7:30 pm. Tip Top: Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble, free, 10 pm. Tricia’s Country Corners, McFarland: Undercover, 9 pm. UW Humanities Building-Mills Hall: UW Choral Union & UW Symphony Orchestra, 8 pm. UW Old Music Hall: UW World Percussion Ensemble, free, noon. Viking Lanes, Stoughton: Cool Front, 9 pm.

ST. LAWRENCE

Willy Street Pub/Wisco: Unnecessary Gunpoint Lecture, Ethicist, Tyranny is Tyranny, 9:30 pm.

STRING

T H EAT ER & DA N C E

QUARTET 2.5.16 Wintersong Saturday, Dec. 12, Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm

UNIONTHEATER.WISC.EDU

608.265.ARTS

(403@ -<5 65 ;/, :367,:

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

Triple Chair Lifts • Freestyle Terrain For All Skill Levels Beginner Area That Includes a 5,> 500-Foot Magic Carpet! yrol Airbag! • Friday Night Late Nite Great Nite!* Drinks in the Double Diamond Bar and Tyrol Café der Ski/Ride FREE • Just 20 Minutes West of Madison (with college ID)

Arts & Literature Laboratory: Gregory Taylor & Tom Hamer, The Geodes, free/donations, 8 pm. Babe’s Restaurant: Rod Ellenbecker, free, 8 pm. Badger Bowl: Big Shoes, 9:15 pm. Brink Lounge: Hot Sauce, Antique Nouveau, DJ Sherm, comedy by David Freeman, 7 pm. Chazen: UW Holiday Horn Choir, free, 1 pm. Claddagh, Middleton: John Masino, free, 8 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Super Tuesday, 9 pm. Come Back In: Blue Beyond, free, 9 pm. Crystal Corner Bar: The Pine Travelers, Exploding Sons, Birds Birds Birds, Americana, 9:30 pm. Essen Haus: Mike Schneider Band, free, 8:30 pm.

.4135

Frequency: Something to Do, 4 Aspirin Morning, Doctor Noise, Underground Day 1, 9 pm. Funk’s Pub, Fitchburg: Kyle Henderson, Employment and Training Association benefit, 9 pm.

unt Horeb, WI

The holiday season isn’t about getting — it’s about giving. So, for the fourth year, local folk acts will gather to perform and raise money for Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. Last year, the event raised enough money for over 30,000 meals, and this year’s showcase aims to be even more generous. PHOX, Anna Vogelzang, Corey Mathew Hart and others will perform.

Great Dane-Hilldale: The Retro Specz, 6:30 pm.

www.tyrolbasin.com 608-437-4135 • www.TyrolBasin.com

Just 5 miles north of Mount Horeb and 20 minutes west of Madison

Harmony Bar: Cash Box Kings, blues, 9:45 pm. High Noon Saloon: Madison Music Foundry Student Showcase, Take the King (CD release), 11 am; DJs WhiteRabbit, Mike Carlson, psych0tron, Ryan Parks, Mindphaser, 9 pm.

The Nutcracker Saturday, Dec. 12, Overture Hall, 2 & 7:30 pm

While this ballet’s original production in 1892 was deemed unsuccessful, it certainly doesn’t need an introduction: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is now considered one of the most popular ballets of all time. The Madison Ballet production is directed by maestro Andrew Sewell and choreographed by W. Earl Smith, and sure to delight anyone feeling festive or in need of a little merriment. ALSO: Sunday, Dec. 13, 2 pm. Through Dec. 27.

A Christmas Carol Saturday, Dec. 12, Capitol Theater, 2:30 & 7 pm

What would Christmas be today without Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? The timeless tale put the phrase “Merry Christmas” on the map, reassociated the holiday with familial gatherings and reminded readers of the season’s true spirit. This year, John Pribyl reprises his role as Scrooge and James Ridge directs CTM’s signature production and holiday classic. ALSO: Sunday, Dec. 13, 2:30 pm. Through Dec. 23. The Eight: Reindeer Monologues: Dark comedy from Know Better Productions, 5 pm on 12/12-13 & 19 and 11 pm, 12/18, Broom Street Theater. $10. 332-3763.

A RT EX H I B I TS & E VE N TS Art at the Depot: Annual open house, 10 am5 pm, 12/12, 931 E. Main St. 256-3979. Tandem Press Holiday Open House: 10 am5 pm, 12/12, 1743 Commercial Ave., with printmaking demos 11 am, noon & 2 pm. 263-3437.

2201 Atwood Ave.

(608) 249-4333 SAT. DEC. 12

9:45 pm $8

Holiday Bazaar: 10 am-3 pm, 12/12, Crestwood Elementary, with arts & crafts vendors, bake sale. Free admission. montero324@hotmail.com. Origami by Children: Traveling exhibit, 12/11/31, Middleton Library (origami open house 1-4 pm, 12/12, with MadCity Folders workshops for all ages). 831-5564.

DA NC I N G Wisconsin Tango Social: With DJ Joe Yang, 7-10 pm, 12/12, Cardinal Bar. $3. 622-7697.

Cash Bionxgs K

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K IDS & FA MI LY Gingerbread Casas for CASA: House decorating competition benefiting Dane County Court Appointed Special Advocates, 10 am-1 pm & 1:304:30 pm, 12/12, Madison Children’s Museum; kids invited to decorate cookies 10 am-1:30 pm, 12/1213. Museum admission $8. 284-2250.

THUR. DEC. 17 8-10 pm $7 sugg. don.

w/ The Backroom Harmony Band feat. ANNA LAUBE

Come watch Bucky and the Pack on our 6 HD TVs! www.harmonybarandgrill.com

Sun Gazing: In English/Spanish, viewing through special telescopes, 11 am, 12/12, Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Monona. Admission $4. 221-0404.

sun dec 13 624 UNIVERSITY AVE // MADISON, WI

TICKETS: LIQUIDMADISON.COM

MU SI C

FRIDAY - DECEMBER 11

DJ BRITT

with $3 LIT (Long Island Ice Tea) Special until Midnight SATURDAY - DECEMBER 12

with

DJ NICK MAGIC + DJ MANDO FRIDAY - DECEMBER 18

with DJ

Aaron Gillespie

BRITT

SATURDAY - DECEMBER 19

Sunday, Dec. 13, The Frequency, 8 pm

Anyone who identified as “emo” in the mid-’00s will recognize Aaron Gillespie’s voice almost instantly. He was the clean vocalist of influential screamo act Underoath, as well as the frontman of alt-rockers the Almost. He’s even got a side gig playing drums in a little band called Paramore. But Gillespie’s true passion is ·worship he’llVenue Sports Bar Bar & music, Grill · and Event bring his heartfelt, high-energy act here with support from Speak Low If You Speak Love and Nathan Hussey. Brink Lounge: Mark Croft Band, The Empty Pockets, Nate Jones, 6:30 pm. Brocach-Square: The Currach, Irish, free, 5 pm. Cargo-E. Washington: Jamie Guiscafre, 2 pm. First Congregational UCC: Madison Youth Choirs, HIgh School Ensembles & Intergenerational Choir, 1:30 pm, Boychoirs, 4 pm, Girlchoirs, 7 pm. Madison Turners Hall: Madison Maennerchor, annual German Christmas concert, 3 pm. Max’s Farm Table, Middleton: Beautiful Friendship Project (CD release), holiday songs & jazz, free, 4 pm. Olbrich Gardens: Suzuki Strings, 2 pm.

LIQUIDMADISON.COM

Sports Bar · Bar & Grill · Event Venue

THU, DEC 10

ELECTRONIC DJ SAT, DEC 12 . 7 PM

Fall II Rise (CD Release), Haliwel (CD Release), Daphni, Left of Reason Wed Night Karaoke with Happy Hour Prices!

Stoughton Opera House: Stoughton Festival Choir & City Band, free/donation, 4 pm.

1212 REGENT ST. 608-251-6766

➡

THEREDZONEMADISON.COM

ELECTRONIC NIGHT THU NOV 12 . 9PM . $5

Featured DJs: Acideon, Sean Paul, Lane Alexander, Jogre the Ogre

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

High Noon: I Prevail, XXI, Versus Me, 8 pm.

Dance parties every weekend! For full list of events visit

418 E. WILSON ST. 608.257.BIRD CARDINALBAR.COM FRIDAY 12/11 LIVE HAPPY HOUR

GERRI DIMAGGIO

& Friends 5:30PM • FREE _______________

Naughty Santa Party

____________________ SATURDAY 12/12

hosted by JOE

YANG 7-10PM • FREE _______________

with DJ FERNANDO

WITH DJ CHAMO 10PM

BOOKS

A RT EXH I B I TS & EV EN TS

Madison Comic Book Convention: Buy & sell comics & collectibles, 10 am-4 pm, 12/13, Badger Bowl. 309-657-1599.

CUREative Art: Art & writing by ages 13-18 whose lives have been affected by cancer, reception 6-8 pm, 12/16, Gilda’s Club, Middleton. 828-8880.

Maddy Hunter, Kathleen Ernst, Jessie Chandler: Local authors, 1 pm, 12/13, Mystery to Me. 283-9332.

ART EXHIBITS & EV ENTS

performances by BLYTHE GAMBLE, LAZY DEAD POET & DORA DIAMOND 9PM

Tango Social

n ISTHMUS PICKS : DEC 13 – 17

Deck of Cards Art Project: 12/1-31, Mother Fool’s (reception 7-9 pm, 12/13). 259-1301.

thu dec 17 MUS I C

ENV IRONM ENT Four Lakes Sierra Club Winter Bonfire: 6:30 pm, 12/13, Picnic Point. Free. RSVP: kmulb@charter.net.

mon dec 14

10PM

____________________ TUESDAY 12/15

JAZZ JAM

w/ THE NEW BREED 9PM • FREE

MA DI SO N ’ S C L A S S IC DA N C E B A R

M USIC The Frequency: Jennifer Hedstrom, Hemmingbirds, Stephanie Rearick, 8:30 pm. Glass Nickel-Atwood: David Landau, family concert, 5:30 pm. Heritage Tavern: Gerri DiMaggio, jazz, free, 5 pm. High Noon Saloon: The Apologists, Elks Teeth & Rabbits Feet, 7 pm. Natt Spil: DJ Mu, free, 10 pm.

701A E. Washington Ave. 268-1122 www.high-noon.com

thu dec

AUSTIN LUCAS Christopher Gold Evan Murdock 9pm $8 18+

fri dec

sat dec

sun dec

Now Through Jan 24 “One of photography’s shrewdest observers of American life.”

— WALL STREET JOURNAL

mon dec

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

wed dec

mam.org Larry Sultan, Woman in Curlers, from the series The Valley, 2002 (detail). © Larry Sultan, courtesy the Estate of Larry Sultan.

Thursday, Dec. 17, The Frequency, 7 pm

The Ballroom Thieves began as a duo in a dorm room and have evolved into a trio that blends folk, blues and hymnals with vibrant harmonies for a sound both familiar and uncommon. With the Bros. Landreth, the Sharrows. Bos Meadery: Tenacious B, Appalachian, free, 6 pm. Brink Lounge: Madison Jazz Orchestra, 7:30 pm. Club Tavern, Middleton: Pat McCurdy, free, 9 pm. Essen Haus: Big Wes Turner’s Trio, free, 9 pm. Harmony Bar: Backroom Harmony Band, Anna Laube, Americana, 8 pm.

THE PEOPLE BROTHERS

The Frequency: The Jimmy K Show, podcast recording with Government Zero, Help Desk, free, 7 pm; The Woods, Jazz for Kids, The Untamed, 10 pm.

Frogleg / The Heavy Set /

Natt Spil: DJ Ted Offensive, free, 10 pm.

Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton: Middleton High School Choir, holiday concert, free, 12:45 pm.

Oregon Library: Tom Kastle, folk, 6:30 pm.

Merchant: Prognosis Negative, rock, free, 10 pm.

Up North Pub: Derek Ramnarace, free, 8 pm.

Mickey’s Tavern: Mal-O-Dua, French/Hawaiian, 5:30 pm; DJ Evan Woodward, free, 10 pm.

BAND

Madison Music Foundry’s Student Showcase followed by Take The King Record Release party 11am -4:30 $3 sug. Don.

9pm $10

REVERB presents

“Versus”

DJ WhiteRabbit / Mike Carlson / DJ psych0tron DJ Ryan Parks DJ Mindphaser 9pm $5 18+

I PREVAIL XXI / Versus Me 8pm $15 adv, $18 dos

18+

THE APOLOGISTS (Holiday Spectacular)

Elks Teeth & Rabbits Feet

Music Trivia Presented By Strictly Discs & High Noon 6pm FREE

ROCKSTAR GOMEROKE live band karaoke 9pm FREE

NERD NITE

“Soils: The Rodney Dangerfield of Natural Resources” “That’s What BEE Said: A Talk about Talking Animals” “Now Usually I Don’t Do This, But… [trigger warning]” 8pm

thu dec

M USIC Crystal Corner Bar: David Hecht & Who Dat, 9 pm.

7pm $5

tue dec

tue dec 15

The Ballroom Thieves

FREE

Wyrding / Ossuary Terran Wretch Tubal Cain / Conjuror 8pm $10 18+

Majestic: Deerhunter, Atlas Sound. See page 40.

BOOKS Rebel Reporting: John Ross Speaks to Independent Journalists: Talk on the new book by co-editors Norman Stockwell & Cristalyne Bell, contributor Robert McChesney, noon, 12/15, Ingraham Hall-Room 206 (262-2811); also, 6 pm, 12/15, Rainbow Bookstore (257-6050).

High Noon Saloon: Wyrding, Ossuary, Terran Wretch, Tubal Cain, Conjuror, 8 pm.

CO MEDY

LGBTQ OutReach Grand Re-opening: Remodeled LGBT community center, 6-8 pm, 12/15, 600 Williamson St.-Suite P-1. 255-8582.

wed dec 16 M USIC Brink Lounge: Aaron Williams & the Hoodoo, 8 pm. Buck & Honey’s, Sun Prairie: Robert J, free, 6:30 pm. Cardinal Bar: DJs Brook, Siberia, fetish night, 9 pm. Claddagh, Middleton: Michael Tully, free, 6 pm. The Frequency: The Yawpers, 8:30 pm. Heritage Tavern: Alison Margaret, free, 8:30 pm. Ivory Room: Peter Hernet, piano, free, 9 pm. Madison Country Day School, Waunakee: Winter concerts: Grades 1-4, free, 6 pm. Also: Grades 5-8 5:30 pm and high school 7 pm, 12/17. Opus Lounge: Madison Malone, free, 9 pm. Up North Pub: MoonHouse, free, 8 pm.

Jackie Kashian Thursday, Dec. 17, Comedy Club on State, 8:30 pm

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Wisconsin comic Jackie Kashian, who got her start heckling Sam Kinison right here in Madison (seriously — it was an offhand comment about open mics by management that inspired her to become a standup). In the decades since, Kashian has become one of the nation’s premier touring comics and has hosted the twice-weekly podcast The Dork Forest, which she records in her living room, since 2005. With Dash Kwiatkowski, Mike Mercury. ALSO: Friday and Saturday (8 & 10:30 pm), Dec. 18-19.

SEARCH THE FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS AT ISTHMUS.COM

Winner of Six Tony Awards

THURSDAYS H 8:30PM H FREE

BLUES Tate’s JAM FRI, DEC 11 9PM $7 H

Grammy Nominated

Aaron Williams and the

HooDoo

Hard Rockin’ Blues

SAT, DEC 12 H 9PM H $8

Altered 5

SAT, NOV 14 9PM H $7

2014 WAMI Winner Blues Artist of the Year 2015 International Blues Challenge Best Self-Produced CD

SAT. DEC.

12 8PM • 2015

FRI. DEC. 18 SAT. DEC. 19 NEW YEAR’S EVE Christian The Jimmys MAD CITY FUNK Collin Birthday Bash Funk/Soul/Motown

WEDNESDAYS H 8:30pm H FREE

December 4–13, 2015 The Playhouse at Overture y

Open Rock Jam w/ Devil’s Share & Big Third Down

Tickets: $35 ($30 seniors, $20 students) On sale through the Overture Center Box Office at (608) 258-4141 or at www.fourseasonstheatre.com.

2513 Seiferth Rd., Madison

PHOX LOVE HIGH ANNA VOGELZANG FAUX FAWN COREY MATHEW HART CRANE YOUR SWAN NECK

BARRYMORE THEATRE $18 advance, $20 d.o.s. | $10 children under 12 | $18 door with Non-Perishable Food Donation or Student ID Tickets available through barrymorelive.com, by phone at (608) 241-8633, and at Sugar Shack, Star Liquor, MadCity Music, B-Side, Frugal Muse, Strictly Discs and the Barrymore PROCEEDS BENEFIT SECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

222-7800

ING FIFT

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New Year’s Eve Gravity Ball ELEVATE YOUR NEW YEAR’S EXPERIENCE. CHAMPAGNE, APPS AND LIVE MUSIC BY BUMPUS (FUNK) + THE HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE (90’S COVERS)

Madison’s finest holiday tradition!

MADISON’S ONLY

BALL DROPAT MIDNIGHT

DECEMBER 12–23 Capitol Theater at Overture Center

TICKETS: ctmtheater.org 608.258.4141

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT THEEDGEWATER.COM/NEW-YEARS

DECEMBER 10–16, 2015 ISTHMUS.COM

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Great Gifts

BOOTS • SHOES • SOCKS S L I P P E R S • J E W E L RY H A N D B A G S • WA L L E T S S C A RV E S • A N D M O R E !

and

Wisconsin’s Only Brighton Heart Store! The Art & Soul Collection. Messages from the heart.

Hilldale – 716 N. Midvale Blvd – Madison 608-238-9282 LOCALLY OWNED

uuuuuuuuuuuuu Katy’s Annual

HOLIDAY SHOW & SALE Featuring

ARTIE YELLOWHORSE in Person!! Fri, Sat, Dec. 11/12, 10am-5pm & Sun, Dec. 13, noon-4pm

ISTHMUS.COM DECEMBER 10–16, 2015

Before baby The CenteringPregnancy program uses a group setting to enhance prenatal care, parenting skills BY TAMIRA MADSEN

featuring

n EMPHASIS

1817 Monroe St. u Madison, WI 53711 608.251.5451 u katys@att.net www.katysamericanindianarts.com

Pregnant with her first child, Mercedes Bloodsaw knew little about what to expect in the weeks prior to giving birth. Nor did she know much about the health benefits of breastfeeding. But she learned about all of this and more by participating in UW Health’s CenteringPregnancy program, offered at the Arboretum Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Clinic on South Park Street. Launched in spring 2014, the program is led by family medicine physicians, ob/gyn doctors and midwives who teach health education and provide prenatal care and support. Healthy births and healthy birth outcomes are the main objectives of Centering, particularly among lower-income women. “In the south Madison community, there tend to be women who have more barriers to getting care early or maybe don’t feel as welcomed in the health care system,” says Dr. Cynthia Anderson, who was instrumental in bringing the Centering approach to UW Health. “Anything we can do to make the health care setting more comfortable and more approachable, a place where they want to be, is a good thing.” Each participant begins class with an individual assessment, blood pressure check and heartbeat monitoring. But the majority of the class is discussion — topics include pregnancy challenges, delivery, parenting and even domestic violence. Social workers are available if expectant mothers are in need of more assistance. The group, with eight to 12 women, begins meeting in the fourth month of pregnancy. During the final month, weekly classes alternate between CenteringPregnancy classes and doctor appointments. Centering concludes with a postpartum “reunion,” where mothers introduce their newborns to the group and meet privately with a doctor for a pelvic exam and birth control discussion. Bloodsaw, 18, was referred to the program by a social worker, and was the youngest member in the most recent Centering group. She gave birth to a son, Braelin, on Oct. 20. She says she appreciated the cultural diversity of the group, the kindness of other participants and the advice from doctors. Many of her concerns about breastfeeding were addressed in the two class sessions devoted to the practice. “I wanted to breastfeed and some people shared their stories, so it got me scared, but I figured it’s the healthiest way to feed, so I [planned to] push through the pain,” she says. Dr. Kristen Sharp, medical director of the program, says she’s had the chance to get to know patients better than she could in typical appointments that last 10 to 15 minutes. (Centering classes take the place of routine or prenatal appointments.) And since the

JELENA OBRADOVIC

CENTERING IS OPEN TO ALL PREGNANT UW HEALTH PATIENTS For more information, see uwhealth.org/obgyn/centeringpregnancy/45925 or call the Arboretum ObGyn Residency Clinic at 608-287-5898.

women are going through similar experiences, they also teach each other, Sharp says. “We’ll have women where this is their first pregnancy or other women who are there with their fourth or fifth baby, and those real-life experiences enrich the group even more.” The national Centering model was created in 1993 by Sharon Schindler Rising, a certified nurse midwife who also founded the Centering Health Institute in an effort to provide group health care focused on “assessment, education and support” for expectant mothers, babies and families. The institute claims the approach reduces the risk of premature births from 47% in traditional care to 33%. It was these positive outcomes that sold UW Health officials on the Centering model.

Seeing women like Victoria Frazier open up and share ideas with others has been satisfying for Anderson. Frazier is a mother of three — two daughters, Savoy and Savannah, and son Saishon, who was born Oct. 8. Frazier embraced a group filled with firsttime moms and offered them her perspective on what to expect with a newborn. But she also learned what to expect for her own first Cesarean birth. “It gave me a sense of pride to be able to help someone who just now got in the situation that I’ve been in,” Frazier says. “It’s like one big sisterhood because we’re all going through the same thing, and we’re not alone. You’re pregnant, you’re full of hormones, and this is natural.” n

n CLASSIFIEDS

Housing Open House this Sunday, December 13th from 1-3, 11 Farley Avenue, Madison. Classic vintage home with stunning architectural details. Lg selection of comfortable living spaces including sunny 3rd floor space. Close to University, shops & restaurants. $375,000.00 Robin Taylor, Restaino & Associates 608-576-6097

Buy-Sell-Exchange Matching people and property for over 20 years. Achieve your goals! Free consult. www.andystebnitz.com. Andy Stebnitz 608-692-8866 Restaino & Associates Realtors BADGER CHIMNEY LLC Fireplace & Chimney Sweeping and Repair Call (608) CHI-MNEY (244-6639) SHORT-TERM RENTALS Luxury furnished apt with resort hotel services, everything incl in rent. “All you need is your toothbrush.” 1, 2, 3 bdrms from $375+/wk or $1495+/mo. Countryside Apartments. 608-271-0101, open daily! www.countrysidemadison.com ALL AREAS ROOMMATES.COM. Lonely? Bored? Broke? Find the perfect roommate to complement your personality and lifestyle at Roommates.com! (AAN CAN) All real estate advertised is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, or status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking; or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. Isthmus will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are on an equal opportunity basis.

Jobs MADCAT seeks full/part-time service rockstars. must have retail experience, strong work ethic, love people and pets. Normal business hours include weeknights and weekends. Position requires a self-starter with a drive to provide relentless service. Learn about companion animal nutrition and behavior and use your communication skills to help clients make informed decisions concerning their pets wellbeing. Love cats? Awesome. Can you lift and carry at least 50lbs? Good. Can you be friendly and attentive to multiple clients at the same time? Rock on.

Pay: $10-$15 Younger Middleton area lady is looking for help with cleaning and errands. Twelve hours/week at $11.47/hr. Call (608) 7725960. Are you in BIG trouble with the IRS? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 844-753-1317 (AAN CAN)

***$50 Hiring Bonus after 30 days!!!*** CLEANING-OFFICES *Full-time Floaters, nights [5pm-1:30am], transportation required, $10.00-12.00/hr+benefits *Lead Cleaner near CAPITOL[6pm-8:30pm], M-F, $9.25/hr *General Cleaners in set locations throughout Madison, start around 5-6pm, 3-4 hrs/night, $8.75-9.25/hr Apply online at www.ecwisconsin.com/employment or call 1-800-211-6922 DREAMWEAVERS seeking support staff to help adults with developmental disabilities live a high quality, independent life in their homes and in the community. Flexible hours: weekend and weekday overnights, some weekend day hours. Part time or full time hours available. Vehicle with insurance preferred but not necessary. On buslines. Responsibilities include cooking and cleaning, community/home activities, documentation. Depending upon the individual, responsibilities may include some personal /medical cares and/or working with behavioral challenges. Must be 18 years or older and have a high school diploma or its equivalent to be considered for employment. Call (608) 255-2284 ext 10 or email susan@dreamweavers-inc.org to get application information. Man with physical disability on the south side of Madison needs personal care assistance every other Fri and Sat nights 10 PM-6AM. Pay rate is $50.65/night. Must pass criminal background check. Call (608) 663-5839 to apply. Man with disability needs high level of care with health issues. Multiple shifts available. Contact Tina at 608-630-4369 for more information. Seeking individuals with a diagnosis of PTSD: Men and women between the ages of 18 – 45 years who have a current diagnosis of PTSD are needed for a research study to investigate changes in mood and biomarkers in the blood following a single 30-minute bout of aerobic exercise. You will be monetarily compensated for your participation in this study. Men and women who are interested in taking part in this study or would like additional information should email Kevin Crombie at kmcrombie@ wisc.edu or call (608) 669 – 8269 and leave a message saying you are interested in the “Physical Activity Patterns/Acute Aerobic Exercise” study, along with your name, phone number, and the best times to call.

WHAT’S YOUR MESSAGE? Call 608-251-5627 to place an ad. isthmus.com/classifieds

GET TICKETS FOR THESE EVENTS!