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207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 410, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: 414/276-2222
Tammy Baldwin has been our U.S. Senator since 2013. She is popular throughout the state because she spends much of her time focusing on kitchen table issues and delivering on them. In the interview below, Sen. Baldwin goes into some detail on the issues she has delivered on and the ones that she is still working on.
Why are you running for reelection?
I want working Wisconsinites to have someone fighting them in Washington and not have just the well-connected and powerful being heard. I’m committing to make sure that working families in Wisconsin are represented in Washington when it comes to the kitchen table issues. I’m talking about good paying jobs, healthcare people can afford, bringing down the cost of things they need, and then restoring some freedoms that we've lost.
Your opponent has bragged about wanting to take away rights from us, also wanting to cut programs that are vital, especially to seniors. And so can you lay out the biggest contrasts you see between you and your opponent. Could you list some specific things. Yes, let's start with Roe. He celebrated when Roe v. Wade was overturned. And I am leading the fight in the United States Senate to codify Roe, to restore those rights and freedoms with my Women's Health Protection Act. And, you know, anybody who celebrates the overturning of Roe, in my mind, owns the chaos that has ensued where women, depending on their zip code and their state, have different rights and freedoms. And we've seen such harrowing consequences in a state like Wisconsin, which has on the books, a criminal abortion ban that was signed into law in 1849. Imagine that.
On health care, I helped write the Affordable Care Act, and I am responsible for the provision that allows young people to stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26. Eric Hovde wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, and it would throw millions of people out of health insurance.
He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. I fight to protect them. In terms of cutting Social Security, one of the initial things he wants to do is raise the retirement age. But, you know, I was raised by my grandparents. I got to see both Social Security and Medicare at work at a very young age. And I know how, for some, it is their lifeline.
He got the Trump endorsement, so he now owns the MAGA agenda. And, again, just like I said at the outset, I want working Wisconsinites to have somebody who's in Washington fighting for them, not just the rich and well-connected. And not like Trump and Hovde being in it for themselves.
Please tell us some of the successes you've had in the Senate that you're particularly proud of. And, again, you may have mentioned a couple of these things. No, I have more.
All right. Go for it.
Yes. It's especially important to me that people have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare no matter where they are. And one of the things that has been so burdensome for people is the high cost of prescription medications. So just outlining some of our accomplishments recently in the Inflation Reduction Act, for the first time, Medicare is negotiating with big, powerful pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of their prescription drugs. The first round of negotiations is coming to a close as we speak. And we will be able to announce the progress that has been made. But every advanced industrial country negotiates with the pharmaceutical companies on pricing. But I think the fact that we haven't until now accounts for the fact that in America we pay sometimes 10%, 12%, 15% more than they do in other countries. So, that's an accomplishment that I'm super proud of. And that same measure, we've got insulin prices for seniors down to no more than $35 per month outof-pocket. And we are working as hard as we can to make that the case for everybody else who needs insulin. And I’m hopeful that we'll make progress on that yet this year.
Photo courtesy of Tammy Baldwin Senator for Wisconsin.
And the last thing I want to mention is a very recent victory. A few of my colleagues who serve on the health committee launched an investigation into the high cost of asthma inhalers. So, there's four companies that make asthma inhalers. And in the United States, they set the list price. And asthma inhalers in the U.S. are listed somewhere between $200 and $650 per inhaler. In Europe, the same asthma inhalers have a list price between $5 and $75. Also, people who have asthma need to take a daily inhaler and they have to refill their prescriptions, typically on a monthly basis. Now, not everyone pays $200 to $650 because some have great insurance that covers most or all of it.
But the people who have to pay full price are sometimes the ones who can least afford to do so. So we launched our investigation basically asking two questions. One, to look at that contrast, we asked the four manufacturers why they are charging so much more in the United States of America, again 10 or 15 times more than you are charging in Europe and other countries overseas. And explain why there are only four of you.
We pointed out to them that their patents certainly must have expired by now, inhalers were invented in the 1950s. Under the scrutiny of the high-profile investigation we had launched that called attention these cost issues, three out of the four manufacturers of asthma inhalers in the U.S. have voluntarily lowered their costs to no more than $35 per month out-of-pocket. I think about the half-million Wisconsinites with asthma and the disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color, this will be a game-changer to not have to choose between food on the table and an asthma inhaler for your kids. Two of the companies have already implemented their policy. And the third one, I think, is on the verge of doing that. We're monitoring very closely to make sure that they keep with their commitment.
I was talking to a woman the other day about the way in which the pharmaceutical companies can just jack up the price and there's no accountability. She was standing in line to pick up a prescription of her own. She was standing behind a mother who was picking up an EpiPen for her child who has severe allergic reactions to these things. And they said, you know, it's $200. And the woman just said, I can't afford that. But I also can't afford not to have one for my child. And she burst into tears. And the woman witnessing all of that said she did, too. She just couldn't believe it like that in America, but it is. We're fighting that.
You partially answered the next question and that is you’ve always been concerned about working families having a decent life and a decent chance and that means being able to afford healthy food, the ability to pay the rent or the mortgage, access to affordable medications, good child care, and the ability to send their child to post-high school education, whether it's college or technical college, without at the end of the day being strapped with a huge debt. What have you done to help the average person bring down their costs of living?
HOUSING COSTS
Yes, let's start with one of the fundamentals, housing costs right now. There's a lot of issues involved. Something I think you see primarily in Milwaukee is that the housing crisis has been either caused or exacerbated by the big Wall Street investors who are buying up houses to get unfair tax deductions and to make a profit at the expense of working America, and that’s taking away the promise of home ownership from so many. It's literally corporate greed that's driving the housing crisis and causing a huge shortage.
So last summer I worked with colleagues to introduce a bill that would eliminate some of the tax breaks that these private equity firms and other Wall Street businesses get when they gobble up huge numbers of homes in places like Milwaukee. Also, I introduced a bill called the Affordable Housing and Ownership Protection Act. It would provide up to $50 billion over 10 years to help build and preserve about 3 million affordable housing units nationwide. It would be funded by taxing the corporate investors who purchase and hold more than 15 single-family homes. So, it really does two things at once. It's disincentivizes the gobbling up of these homes, but also creates opportunities to create more affordable housing. There's a number of other things I'm doing in that space, including working with organizations that prepare lower-income families for home ownership and trying to create more opportunities for lending to those families.
CHILDCARE
Regarding childcare, I hear about the challenges, especially as we emerged from the pandemic. We lost a lot of daycare centers and family childcare centers during the pandemic so as we emerged from the pandemic, childcare became more scarce and more expensive. I have been working at the federal level to significantly increase the funds available to states and ultimately to individuals who can't afford their childcare and to provide subsidies for their health, their childcare and also to provide grants to childcare providers so that they can pay their workers what they deserve. This would make operating a childcare center a profitable proposition once again. And I have been able to, in my role as chair of the Appropriation Subcommittee that funds the Health and Human Services Department, significantly increased funding for childcare. There is still more to do, especially policy-wise, so families in Wisconsin do get relief in terms of the cost, if they are financially eligible for that, as we're trying to stabilize the childcare market.
All right, what are some of the other things you mentioned? We already talked a little bit about cost of prescription drugs and bringing those down.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Yes, so let's start with the fact that well over a century ago in Wisconsin, we made a commitment that every child should get a K-12 education, a promise that would, at that period of time, 100 years ago, prepare them for a career. Today, I think it's fair to say that you need to study beyond 12th grade to be prepared for the careers of today. And the cost of college has been a very significant issue.
I believe that we should continue to expand programs for loan forgiveness that recognize that if you go into public service or work in an underserved area, that you can get your loan forgiven after a time commitment of a certain period of time. I believe that community college and community technical vocational college should be tuition-free.
Four-year college and beyond is not for everybody, and some folks would prefer to get a shorter-term track to a good-paying job. We created many of these shorter-term tracks in the Biden administration, whether it be through the Infrastructure Bill, the Chips and Science Act, or the Inflation Reduction Act. My America's College Promise Act would also do that. It would create tuition-free opportunities at technical college. Lastly, and not so much about higher education, but about the transition from school to jobs, I have been a huge booster of apprenticeships. You probably know this, Louis, that Wisconsin was the first state to create a registered apprenticeship program, probably having to do with our many German immigrants in the late 1800s. And so, we were the first state to create a registered apprenticeship program. The U.S. followed suit in the mid-1930s. We have not modernized our nation's apprenticeship laws since then. And so, I'm leading the effort to do that. I so admire the model of earn while you learn, so that you can have a good income and benefits right out of high school or short-term vocational or technical training period, and not have the debt while becoming a master of your craft. Modernization of the apprenticeship laws would really allow us to think about new and novel apprenticeships that would bring greater opportunities to folks.
2024 is becoming a very interesting election year. What is at stake in this election year?
Well, let’s just think about the presidency, the control of the United States Senate, and which party will control the House of Representatives - All of those could really come right down to Wisconsin. We are kind of the battleground state, right? And we know how close elections have been in Wisconsin before. But I think, as Vice President Harris talks about it, it's a choice between moving forward or going backwards. And it's a choice between candidates who are in it to fight for working Wisconsinites or in it to help themselves and wealthy buddies. We need to look at the connections that Trump and Hovde have to big oil, and whose bidding are they going to do should they ever get elected to office. But also at stake are our efforts to move forward and restore fundamental freedoms and rights that we have lost under the previous administration. We must restore Roe. We also must take up the fight against Republicans who want to strip workers of their right to organize. Also access to the ballot box and protecting democracy are on the line. A fight to protect Social Security and Medicare, and to protect the Affordable Care Act from threats to repeal would continue.
Okay, so one final question. It’s another slightly different issue here. Why is it so important for the LGBTQ community to vote on November 5?
Yes, I'll tell you. We are seeing unprecedented attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, both in Wisconsin and frankly, nationally, especially focused on children. And it’s heartbreaking and it needs to stop. And I think in many respects, we see these attacks because they score political points with certain folks as opposed to being a response to any real problem. For example, in Wisconsin, we are seeing bans on books. Bans on materials that are rainbow-colored or somehow allude to LGBTQ+ themes. We've had students and teachers publicly outed and threatened with expulsion because of their sexual orientation. There's a recent study that found that Wisconsin is the second-highest state to ban books, with 481 books banned in schools last year.
We've seen in Wisconsin our governor vetoing legislation, harmful legislation, hateful legislation that our Republican-dominated state legislature passed that he vetoed that would have limited access to healthcare for some children.
And my opponent recently launched a television ad that was filled with anti-LGBTQ messaging and bigotry and stereotypes because I had helped secure funding for a Dane County non-profit that supports homeless youth and runaway children. And the reason he did that was because among the homeless youth and runaway children are people from the LGBTQ+ community. And so the stakes could not be higher. But the other thing I will say about my election in particular is having a seat at the table matters. And, as you know, they often say, if you're not in the room, the conversation is about you. But if you're in the room, the conversation is with you.
And so my presence first in the House of Representatives and now in the Senate as the first out LGBTQ+ member of that body in U.S. history changes the conversation. And it was one of the reasons I was able to pass a bill called the Respect for Marriage Act following the Dobbs decision, where not only did that decision overturn Roe v. Wade, but it told people what they're after next. And what they're after next is contraception access, same-sex marriage, and a number of other issues that were originally decided on the same principle that Roe was, which is a fundamental right to privacy.
The Respect for Marriage Act protected both interracial and same-sex marriages against the risk that a future court would take cases relating to these issues. No one thought I could get passed a filibuster and pass it in the Senate, but yet by engaging my Republican colleagues, one-on-one, especially the ones that I thought really wanted to get to yes on that measure, but I did it. And in the end, 12 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats to pass the Respect for Marriage Act. Having seats at the table matters.
Louis Fortis served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and is Publisher of the Shepherd Express.
Project 2025
The Game Plan of America’s wealthy right-wing rich, ambitious MAGA players and Christian nationalists
BY KAREN ROYSTER
Project 2025 is a long (900 pages) and detailed plan for making fundamental changes in how America operates. The plan cuts the United States government out of running national economic, environmental and justice policies and pushes it into managing our schools, our sex lives and our families.
Project 2025 is the product of the Heritage Foundation, a very wealthy right-wing think tank that hired 80 writers to put together a play-by-play handbook for taking over the federal government when a popular Republican candidate wins the presidency. This election in 2024 is the target for implementing this strategy and changing how our government operates—new boss, new rules.
These new rules are based on a takeover of the levers of decision-making large and small. Most of these levers are operated by Civil Service employees who test into their positions and are protected by law from random firing. One of the first major changes is to eliminate the civil service worker protection and replace 50,000 of the current staff with MAGA loyalists who are being recruited and trained as we speak. This allows the administration to make policy changes without interference from independent experts.
With this smooth running MAGA machine, the president can mandate action on a number of fronts including:
Healthcare: Repeal Obamacare/ACA, cut medical care support for the poor, the old and people with disabilities and let insurance companies run the healthcare system.
Education: privatize public education, push for Christian schools, ban books that describe slavery and other negative aspects of American history. Stop all loan forgiveness for college students.
Reproduction: No abortion, no birth control, no invitro fertilization, no surrogacy, no adoption by single people or LGBTQ couples.
Sexuality: No gay marriage, no protection from discrimination, no recognition of trans reality, punishing doctors, hospitals and clinic that assist trans people.
Environment: Stop all Climate Change efforts. Give fossil fuel corporations control over US energy policies.
Immigration: Expel one million people per year from the U.S. using local police. Stop worker visas, refugee status for those at-risk of harm, no DACA protection, eliminate the policy that allows babies born in the U.S. to be citizens. Reinstate the fenced holding camps inside empty buildings, separate kids from parents and more.
THE LIST OF DESTRUCTIVE CHANGES GOES ON
What is the point? Why do billionaires pay for these proposals? Why do politicians act as eager spokespersons for such undemocratic policies? Why do national leaders care about who sleeps with whom?
Photo by GettyImages/EyeEm Mobile GmbH.
It’s a pyramid scheme. Rich people want to get richer which requires tax cuts, no laws to mandate worker welfare or environmental parameters and the freedom to drill, frack, dump and poison as needed to boost profits. Politicians need votes to maintain or grow their power and influence. Getting votes is expensive. Rich people have money so politicians act as megaphones for the desires of their donors.
Votes also have a price. The Christian nationalist movement has been a force since before the Civil War in different forms and under different names—the Ku Klux Klan, the Joe McCarthy supporters, the Reagan fans, George Wallace voters. The Christian nationalist forces re-emerged when Obama was elected as the Tea Party and the Heritage Foundation has been working this constituency for many years. This power base wants a return to a mythical 1950s when men were men, women stayed home, sex before marriage was a scandal and our vision of America was bright and shiny white.
Leonard Leo, Richard Uihlein, Charles Koch, Elon Musk and their allies need an army to win the election. They are willing to throw this army some policy bones. No sex, drugs or rock ‘n roll. No drag queens or dirty books. These cultural tidbits are a small price to pay for power over the means of production.
Project 2025 is a super bonus to the 1%. All the money saved by cutting resources for schools, hospitals, green investments and support for the elderly is a pot of gold to cover the cost of tax cuts, investments in Arctic drilling and so many private trips to the moon. The pyramid operates with the Christian nationalists on the wide bottom with their votes and donations
The conservative politicians and operatives are in the middle massaging the Christians and translating the desires of the wealthy into legislative actions. The top are the billionaires pulling the strings from their mansions and yachts. Donald Trump is a widget who makes the MAGA masses want to eat their young and lose their country. Project 2025 is his script for this dangerous piece of political theater.
Karen Royster is executive director of the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future.
Lizz Stachura Shares the Joy (and Benefits) of Tea with Milwaukee Lizz Stachura Shares the Joy (and Benefits) of Tea with Milwaukee
BY BEN SLOWEY
Lizz Stachura is behind Tootsie’s Tea, a business that vends dessert and medicinal teas as well as tea accessories at markets and events around Milwaukee. Her goal is to share the cultural and holistic joys of tea with as many communities as possible. A self-taught artist, Stachura proudly brings intentionality to the flavors, colors and sensations of each Tootsie Tea blend. Her business also supports Indigenous and Hispanic charities by donating tea and a portion of profits to different groups.
Growing up between Chicago and Arizona, Stachura has lived in Milwaukee since 2018. She and her husband Mike have had a shoe painting business for over a decade. At one point, Stachura began painting teacups and teapots as well that she sold at markets during Christmas time. “I’ve always been into tea,” she affirms. “I would joke about eventually having my own little tea store, but we just kept getting busier and busier with shoes.”
One day, Stachura purchased a coconut tea from an Arizona farmers market that she absolutely loved but could not find anywhere else. “I contacted the market and everything but had no luck,” she recalls. “But I looked at the ingredients and decided that I’d just make it myself.”
Finding it fulfilling, Stachura started making lots more tea from there. Eventually, her joke about having a tea business became reality. Tootsie’s Tea launched in December 2022. The business’ name is a reference to Stachura’s maiden name, Tsosie, which would frequently get mispronounced as “tootsie.”
LOCAL AND ORGANIC
Stachura sources ingredients locally and organically as much as possible although she does have flavors from all over the world.
“My Red Hatch Chile Pepper tea has hatch chiles from New Mexico, plus I get sencha green tea from Japan,” she gives as examples. “Locally, I’ve used mushrooms from Flush with Mush in my teas and edible flowers from Doom Town & Country. I also grow my own lavender, elderberry and sage in Milwaukee’s Native Wellness Garden.”
As Stachura crafts recipes and experiments with flavors, she considers what is both enjoyable and consistent. Both caffeinated and caffeine-free Tootsie Teas are available.
While many Tootsie Teas like Mango Apricot, Strawberry Sweet Corn and French Macaron are dessert teas, Stachura also has several medicinal options like Anti-Insomniac, Tummy Twilight and Dream Catcher designed to help with issues like sleep, anxiety or pain. “A really popular one has been the Door County Cherry,” Stachura says. “People really surprise me though, and that’s what I love about it. Sometimes someone will want a nice cinnamon or nuttier tea in the summertime, or a cooler, fruitier tea in the winter.”
SUGAR STONES AND STEEPERS
In addition to teas and teacups, Tootsie’s Tea sells accessories like sugar stones sourced from Belgium, steepers and storage jars. Local delivery as well as shipping for orders $30 and up is free.
Tootsie’s Tea supports Native and Hispanic communities both monetarily and with donated tea. “It brings a lot of comfort to people,” Stachura asserts about tea. “It can be interpreted in so many different ways and that’s what’s great about it. I remember being sick to my stomach after I had surgery, but a cup of tea helped me so much at that moment.”
Photo by Mike Stachura
Stachura debuted a blood orange and cedar tea she named “Burning Hearts” in honor of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day this past May. She shares, “There are waiting rooms for mental health facilities, Native Elders’ groups and veterans’ groups, and Hispanic family nights that I’ve donated to. The money from all my teacup sales goes toward charities too. Any way I can be involved, I try to be.”
Tootsie’s Tea vends at the Riverwest Farmers Market once a month as well as the Red Magic Market throughout the year. Stachura has also vended at popular events like Mercadera, Sauced Market, Milwaukee Makers Market and The Big Gay Market in Madison. “I just got a Kiva loan, and I’m excited to use that to buy more ingredients and test more things out,” she notes. “I’ve been really focused on the foundation of it all because I want to help others as much as possible.”
Stachura is working on getting certifications to serve Tootsie’s Tea at more events, plus she hopes to start selling more tea wholesale. Visit the Tootsie’s Tea website https://link.edgepilot.com/s/9f65ca92/ CfljSeKnWUS35HE9lBdFqA?u=https://tootsiest.com/ or follow them on Instagram @tootsies.tea to get in touch.
Ben Slowey is a Milwaukee writer and photographer and frequent contributor to shepherdexpress.com.
Derek Mosley, Champion of Civil Discourse
BY TOM JENZ
Derek Mosley is one of the most well-known influencers in Milwaukee. Lawyer, municipal judge for 22 years, lecturer, foodie, restaurant critic and historian, Mosley is truly a man for all seasons with a distinguished career in public service. Since 2023, he has been the director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education at Marquette University Law School.
Mosley grew up on Chicago’s south side. His dad was an engineer for Illinois Bell. His mom was a secretary at Governors State University. He graduated from Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights and did his undergraduate college degree in Iowa. In 1992, he received a full ride scholarship for Marquette Law School where he graduated in 1995. Brimming with charm, he exudes an attitude built on optimism. His laugh is contagious.
You were a municipal judge for over 22 years, but since 2023, you have been at Marquette University Law School. What does the Lubar Center do? And describe your responsibilities as director. In my opinion, we don’t talk to each other anymore in this country. What I mean is that there is no such thing as civil discourse. If you disagree with someone, it can sometimes turn to violence or name-calling. The Lubar Center was founded so that people can have discussions where they might disagree but make their points in a civil manner. We are kind of like a Milwaukee town hall.
How do the discussions work? Do you conduct seminars on different subjects for people to engage one another?
Yes. We focus on several topics including education, public safety, public policy and water. One topic is called “On the Issue,” where we pick an issue important to the Milwaukee area, for example, museum and arts funding and how Wisconsin ranks toward the bottom in the U.S. We bring in arts community people to each talk about their issues. For the other topics, we’ve brought in the police chief, the fire chief and also the county executive—in other words, people in power. The format is a Q & A between my guest and me. Everybody from the community is invited. We do these programs at the Lubar Center over the lunch hour, and we provide lunches for everyone.
Right now, we are sitting in that very Lubar Center, a beautiful lecture hall that seats probably over 200. This lecture hall is a wonderful venue for these discussions, but if you can’t make it here in person, we live stream each program and record it.
Not long after you took the job, you said, “The Lubar Center is a place where we’re going to have civil discourse interactions. That’s my goal, to break down barriers and get people talking.” Have you been getting people talking through intelligent civil discourse?
Along with my program manager, Hilary DeBlois, we plan out our year. Beside “On the Issue,” we have an event called “Get to Know.” I got the idea from a veteran African American Chicago reporter, Harry Porterfield. When I was young, I’d watch his TV program called “People You Should Know” in which Porterfield would talk about Chicago citizens doing great things.
Photo by Tom Jenz
In “Get to Know,” I invite people from the community to talk about what they are doing that affect us every day.
For instance, I brought in the port director, Jackie Carter, who is in charge of our Milwaukee Port, which is almost as big as Chicago’s in terms of tonnage. The port is an important economic engine in Milwaukee. And I also brought in Chris Corkery, who runs the Hundred Acre, a hydroponic indoor farm near 30th and Capital. Hundred Acre provides the salad mix to the best restaurants in the city. The third thing we do is our Ethnic Heritage Dinner where the motto is “Meet Someone, Learn Something and Try Everything.”
I bring in chefs from various cultures to prepare meals for the community. We have done six dinners so far, all at The Ivy House. For example, the last one we put on featured cuisines from Korean, Hmong, Nepalese and Vietnamese. Guests are seated at tables with people they do not know. Our whole point is bringing people together from different economic backgrounds, political ideologies, races, and ethnicities, all to listen and learn from each other. Some of the best conversations happen over food, which tends to disarm people.
You once stated, “Civil discourse for the purpose of enhancing understanding of public matters and concerns is lacking in Milwaukee and elsewhere.” Can you elaborate?
I don’t think people communicate with each other enough in Milwaukee. Generally, we surround ourselves with people who look and think like us. When we do that, we miss out on the beauty that makes Milwaukee great—different cultures. We don’t even live in the same neighborhoods, and our kids don’t go to the same schools. I’d like to bring cultures back together. We can’t solve problems if we are only hearing one side of an issue. The Lubar Center allows people to speak and also defend their “truths” without fear of reprisal or rejection.
You give speeches and lectures about unconscious bias and Black history. What exactly is unconscious bias? Unconscious bias is a prejudice either for or against a group of people, and that bias is almost unconscious and may run contrary to our logic. The bias is learned and based on stereotypes. We all have some form of unconscious bias. Our brains are hardwired to help us make snap decisions, namely shortcuts. For example, take the term “black.” Blacks are a group of people with darker skin, but the color black has a negative connotation. Black magic, black market, blackballing, blacklisting and so on. These words have an unconscious effect on us as we grow up. In other words, we can make snap decisions by just hearing the word, black. As a result, whites and Blacks end up not talking to each other. For instance, we might develop unconscious prejudice when it comes to hiring employees.
From my own anecdotal experience, I’ve found that it is sometimes difficult to get Milwaukeeans interacting with one another—Latinos, whites and Blacks. To quote you, “We don’t live in the same neighborhoods, but we’re all Milwaukee humans.” What can the Lubar Center do to help Milwaukee citizens engage one another?
One example is when we bring in chefs from various cultures to prepare meals for the community. I think food unites people. Even though we live in different places and look different, what we have in common is we need to eat. All our programs encourage people from different cultures to interact.
Crime in Milwaukee is a serious problem, especially in the central city. There is an impression among many white residents that the central city harbors lawbreakers. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the inner city streets, and I can tell you that 99% of Black residents want safe neighborhoods. Is Milwaukee doing enough to control and prevent crime? If you are asking about city leaders, I’d turn back the question to, “Are we as citizens doing enough to prevent crime?” For instance, we need better schools and better jobs, and that is up to us to provide private capital and incentives. But I will credit Milwaukee for providing services for those in need. And we currently have energetic young leaders, many who grew up in the central city.
I understand the Lubar Center is doing a lot for children, mainly children of color.
We have the program we call MEDAL: Medicine, Engineering, Dentistry, Architecture and Law. We bring in Milwaukee middle school students, 7th and 8th graders. We introduce the students to those five MEDAL disciplines. Every day for a week, we all meet here for a 9 a.m. to noon program. First, we ask each student to write down what he or she wants to do for a living and put that in an envelope. Then, the program begins. Monday is medicine, and we go to the Medical College of Wisconsin where kids meet med students, mostly of color. The students learn how to use the X-ray machine, and they do sonograms on a real person to find out about human organs. Tuesday is engineering day, and they go to MSOE and learn how to computer code. Wednesday is dentistry, and they go to the Marquette Dental School and meet Black dental students who make molds of their teeth. Thursday is architecture and the trades. The students go to MATC, and learn about architecture, carpentry, automotive, and culinary. Friday is law, and we give the students a supreme court case and teach them how to form a good argument. The kids even argue in front of judges. At the end of the MEDAL program, I open the envelopes, and we talk about how most of them had changed their minds about career choices.
This all happens in one week in the summer?
Yes, but we also have an intense program for kids who like the law, our Summer Youth Institute that lasts several weeks. They learn public speaking and how to argue cases.
When I was growing up, I did not even know Black lawyers existed until I saw a Black actor playing an attorney on “LA Law.” From that moment on, I wanted to be a lawyer.
Something I’ve noticed, and street leaders have confirmed this: Central city families often headed by just one parent, usually a mother, seem to have no plan. It’s like they live day to day without much thought to the future. This causes the lack of hope. Absolutely. It’s the difference of living with a long-term plan for the future or living only for the next day.
OK then, what have you learned from all the years you had been a municipal judge doling out punishments mostly to young Black offenders?
Kids who are raised on love view the world differently than kids who are raised on survival.
Your mom told you, “To the world, we are just one person, but to one person, we can be the world.” That statement sat on your judge’s bench. What has it meant to you?
The world is a big place, and you think to yourself, “What can I do to make a difference?” The task is overwhelming. But if you focus on one person at a time, you can make a difference. My job at the Lubar Center is to make one person’s day more positive.
Tom Jenz writes the Central City Stories column for shepherdexpress.com.
Pizza Time at Santino’s Little Italy
BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
They talk about Chicago, but Milwaukee has some of the best pizza west of Italy. This year, West Allis’s Flour Girl & Flame won several Shepherd Express Best of Awards, as did Balistreri’s on the West Side. On the East Side, there’s Carini’s and Zaffiro’s. Many swear by Papa Luigi’s in Cudahy. With its Italian American history, Bayview seems especially blessed with DeMarini’s, Tentuta’s and Santino’s Little Italy. The list could go on and on, but let’s focus this month on Santino’s.
Like many local restaurants known for their pizza, Santino’s has a short menu of pasta dishes and a pleasing antipasti array, including a generous portion of bruschetta, six toasts topped with cherry tomatoes, basil and shaved Romano cheese lightly drizzled in virgin olive oil.
The arancini (rice balls stuffed with cheese and spinach) are delicious, the deep-fried calamari is tender and the “bocce ball” is a filling meatball served with marinara sauce, cheeses and olives. The salads are ample.
BIG SLICE
But let’s get back to pizza, which occupies a big slice of Santino’s menu. The blueprint for the 17 varieties was drawn by Ukrainian born, Italian-schooled Chef Vasyl Lemberskyy. The cooks work on an Italian-made gas-wood pizza oven capable of baking five pies simultaneously over fragrant cherry wood. Ingredients include the finest Italian flour and cheeses. The results are 12-inch pies with medium thin crust, lightly toasted and singed on the rim. An ample meal for sharing, varieties include a gourmet upgrade of the usual Italian sausage pizza, the Paisano; the Greek with black olives, artichokes, mozzarella and feta; the Margherita with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil; and the DaVinci with three cheeses, pesto and cherry tomatoes. You can customize the menu options or make your own pizza choosing from two dozen toppings, among them the expected giardiniera and anchovies but also eggplant, grilled chicken, shrimp and redskin potatoes.
The list of Italian wines is long, there are two Italian beers on tap, many unusual (for Milwaukee) liqueurs (including the essential fernet branca) and a roster of specialty cocktails. The tequila and fresh lime of the Margarita Italiano is dressed up with blood orange aperol; the Godfather with whisky and amaretto and the Old Fashioned Italian packs a punch.
Photos by Tim Czerniakowski.
Santino’s serves its food and beverages in a unique atmosphere. Owners Santo Galati and Greg Huber gutted a former dive bar and transformed it into a dark, mysterious rendezvous. Sophia Loren movies usually play from a wide screen behind the bar and the conversationlevel music ranges across Italian-Americano ‘50s-‘60s (lots of Frank and Dino) to contemporary Italian pop rock. Santino’s became so popular that they added another, larger dining room in back—and outdoor seating in the warm months. The setting is almost theatrical, perfect for an Italian restaurant that refines Italian classics to a high level.
Santino’s Little Italy
353 E. Stewart St. 414-897-7367
$$-$$$
santinoslittleitaly.com
David Luhrssen is managing editor of the Shepherd Express.
Cooking With Garlic Cooking With Garlic
BY ARI LEVAUX
Sometime in the mid-1990s, after a lifetime of servitude to the shriveled heads of garlic that I would bring home from the supermarket, I finally declared myself independent. As a cook and a garlic lover, I would no longer stand for garlic heads that contain 47 cloves each, cloves that I had to painstakingly peel one by one in order to get the itty-bitty chunks of garlic inside. After every such ordeal my fingers would appear to have been tarred and feathered by whisps of garlic paper.
But since my independence I have been fortunate to interact exclusively with big, easy-to-peel cloves. It’s the best garlic that money can buy, and I get it for free because I grow it. It takes about nine months, from September to the following summer, for a clove to grow into a head. And if you are going to invest that much time and effort, you should be planting the good stuff.
The central distinction in garlic botany is between the hardneck and softneck varieties. The cheap stuff from the supermarket is of the softneck persuasion, while the good stuff is all hardneck. The name hardneck refers to the flower-like organ, called a “scape,” that sprouts from the middle of the garlic plant around solstice. It also has larger cloves, and fewer cloves per head, and peels about as easily as a banana. The scapes must be pulled in order to redirect all of the plants energy into the below-ground bulb, so to make it grow as large as possible. This chore is also the first garlic harvest of the season. Everyone loves scapes. These charismatic and curly growths, green and spicy and full of garlic juice, get the garlic season going in style.
If you want to be independent like me and plant your own garlic, the best place to find hardneck is your local farmers market. You can also order hardneck garlic online, although most farms tend to quickly sell out of the good stuff like Romanian Red.
Wherever you get your seed garlic it will cost you. Just remember that your initial investment will be offset by the fact that you will never have to buy garlic again, while you enjoy the crème de la crème of garlic.
I came into my current variety of choice—Romanian Red—at the Tonasket Barter Faire in the Okanogan Valley of North Central Washington State. Folks had gathered around the pickup trying to figure out what to trade the grower, David Ronniger, for his vibrant heads of Romanian Red. I slid to the front with some crispy Benjamins and paid the man his money for a 50-pound sack.
Photo by GettyImages/pilipphoto
Photo by Ari Levaux
With this garlic, and a book called Growing Great Garlic by Ron Engeland, also of the Okanogan, I started growing a lot of great garlic in Missoula. I would give it away and trade it for meat and salmon and pickles and teach my friends how to grow it. Today my garlic is all over my hometown of Missoula and can be found as far east as the Upstate New York finger lakes, as far north as Anchorage, and as far south as Albuquerque. I have freed so many of my friends from the tyranny of bad garlic that I feel like such a boss. Because what do bosses do? They teach their friends to be bosses too.
PREPARE THE GROUND
As you round up your seed garlic and figure out where to plant it, you should also take steps to prepare that ground as necessary. If it’s a fully prepped garden bed that’s ready to go you can skip this step. But if the location of your new garlic patch is overgrown with weeds, or is currently a piece of lawn, I kill all the plants by laying down a piece of plastic, preferably black. After eight weeks the weeds or grass will be gone and the dirt beneath the plastic will be mostly worm poop, and will turn over like butter. Since I can’t stand to see an empty piece of dirt in my garden, I like to fill it with short season crops like radish, cilantro, spinach, and other plants that will be done by late September or peacefully coexist with the garlic I plant around it.
There are as many ways to use scapes as there are ways to use garlic itself. Because scapes are garlic. Make scape pesto with pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Steam the scapes like asparagus or green beans. Use the scapes as skewers to grill meat.
The other day I chopped up some scapes and put them in a pan with some radishes I pulled from next year’s garlic patch. I fried the scapes and radish—including the chopped radish leaves—and when they were cooked, I poured in some beaten eggs. I put a lid on the pan and let the eggs cook slowly until they were done to my liking. I seasoned with salt and hot sauce, and enjoyed my first fresh garlic of the year. The feisty taste of freedom tastes so good.
Ari LeVaux has written about food for The Atlantic Online, Outside Online and Alternet.
Photo by Ari Levaux
Fall Arts Guide
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2024
To program their season opener, Present Music called on Claire Chase, flutist and award-winning founder of the International Contemporary Ensemble. Says PM’s Co-Artistic Director Eric Segnitz, “I was drawn to the idea of having Claire curate a program. She’s an incredible musician, a mover and shaker—the kind of person who’d be great to have here. She got so excited about this piece,” Segnitz continued, referring to Terry Riley’s recent composition, The Holy Lift Off. “It’s a large-scale work with many elements.”
Riley is (along with Philip Glass and Steve Reich) among the most crucial of modern music’s minimalists with recordings dating from the ‘60s. The Holy Lift Off will be the only work performed as Present Music lifts off its new season. Chase and Riley had discussed collaborating, and during the Covid lockdown, she sent him postcards representing Bach chorales created while stuck in her apartment. Riley answered with sound files of music for a work in progress and her sonic responses helped The Holy Lift Off to take flight.
“The ink is still wet on the piece—I premiered it with JACK Quartet in May 2024, but Terry and I have continued to work on it since then, and new material is still developing,” Chase says. “I thought it would be really exciting to bring a brandnew piece to Milwaukee, one that is in essence still being made. Terry will be turning 90 this coming season, and it's incredibly special to be able to celebrate him and his groundbreaking work by playing his newest music. I'm also pumped to play with Present Music's awesome string players” (Dave Luhrssen)
PRESENT MUSIC’S SEASON ‘LIFT OFF’ OCT. 31, MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
CLAIRE CHASE Photo by Carrie Schneider.
53212 PRESENTS 53212presents.org
5 POINTS ART GALLERY 5ptsartgallery.com
ACACIA THEATRE COMPANY acaciatheatre.com
Acts of Peace: A Journey through One Acts, Oct. 11-27 (St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church)
THE ALICE WILDS thealicewilds.com
ALL IN PRODUCTIONS allin-mke.com
ALVERNO ART & CULTURES GALLERY
AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE (APT) americanplayers.org
August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, through Sept. 7
Ring Around the Moon, through Sept. 20
Dancing at Lughnasa, through Sept. 27
Constellations, through Sept. 28
King Lear, through Sept. 28
Much Ado About Nothing, through Sept. 29
Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Oct. 17-Nov. 10 (Hill Theater)
The play by award-winning playwrightscreenwriter Nathan Alan Davis shines a light on Nat Turner, an enslaved person who paid with his life by leading an 1831 rebellion in Virginia. The revolt was put down with violence. (David Luhrssen)
BRONZEVILLE ARTS ENSEMBLE facebook.com/ BronzevilleArtsEnsemble
BROOM STREET THEATRE, MADISON bstonline.org
The God Cluster, October CABARET MILWAUKEE facebook.com/cabmke
Frisch, Frei, Stark, Treu: A Puppet History of the Milwaukee Turners, Oct. 11, 13, 18, 20, 26-27 (The Brick House)
If you came of age in Milwaukee during the ’70s and ’80s, Turner Hall was a great place for fish frys. For children of the 21st century, Turner Hall Ballroom is a popular venue for music. Most Milwaukeeans who have frequented the venerable structure in the heart of Downtown have had only a vague idea—at best—that Turner Hall stands for more than fried fish and rock’n’roll. The local Turner Society provided Abraham Lincoln with bodyguards, supported trade union organizers and women’s voting rights. Milwaukee’s three Socialist mayors were members of the society. (David Luhrssen)
CAPITAL CITY THEATRE, MADISON capitalcitytheatre.org
CARROLL PLAYERS carroll-players.com
CARTHAGE COLLEGE THEATRE carthage.edu/arts/experience-thearts/theatre-dance-performances
CATEY OTT DANCE COLLECTIVE cateyott.com
CEDARBURG ART MUSEUM cedarburgartmuseum.org
Atmospheric Wisconsin: Six Impressions, through Nov. 10
Reimagined: Doris White, through Nov. 10
CEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER cedarburgculturalcenter.org
Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit, through Oct. 13
CEDARBURG PERFORMING
cedarburgpac.com
Sons of Serendip, Oct. 12
In a unique classical-pop crossover, the quartet performs ethereal interpretations, arranged with vocals, harp, piano and cello. (Morton Shlabotnik)
CHANT CLAIRE CHAMBER CHOIR chantclaire.org
CHARLES ALLIS ART MUSEUM charlesallis.org
CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART chazen.wisc.edu
Petah Coyne: How Much the Heart Can Hold, Sept. 9-Dec. 23
Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century, through Nov. 10
OCT. 11-13
COVERED BRIDGE ART STUDIO TOUR, cedarburgartistsguild.com
DANCECIRCUS dancecircus.org
DANCEWORKS PERFORMANCE MKE danceworksmke.org
SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF choralartsonline.org
THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS theconstructivists.org
In the Canyon, Oct. 12-26 (Broadway Theatre Center)
Playwright Calamity West explores politics, religion, abortion and more in the 2018 drama In the Canyon. It’s a drama that follows the lives of an ensemble of characters from 2007 to 2067. The challenging script is brought to life under the direction of Jaimelyn Gray in the season-opening production for The Constructivists. (Russ Bickerstaff)
CONCORD CHAMBER ORCHESTRA concordorchestra.org
DanceLAB Get It Out There, Oct. 5
DAVID BARNETT GALLERY davidbarnettgallery.com
Lyrical Visions: The Work of Marc Chagall, through Oct. 12
Accompanying the Jewish Museum Milwaukee’s groundbreaking “Marc Chagall’s Dead Souls” exhibit, David Barnett offers a wide-ranging retrospective of the important figurative modernist, alongside other artists' works that have been directly inspired by his work. (David Luhrssen)
Animals in Art, Oct. 18-Jan. 11, 2025
DEAD MAN’S CARNIVAL facebook.com/Dead-MansCarnival-338362982860387
DOOR SHAKESPEARE doorshakespeare.com
EARLY MUSIC NOW earlymusicnow.org
The Queen’s Six - Travelling Spies: Music, Travel and Espionage in the Renaissance, Oct. 26 (St. Paul's Episcopal Church)
Their name isn’t just a lark. The Queen’s Six are an a cappella group chartered by Queen Elizabeth and based in Windsor Castle, where they perform regularly for the royal family and staff. Their wide repertoire ranges from Renaissance polyphony and haunting folk songs to “lewd madrigals” and arrangements of contemporary jazz and pop. And they venture beyond the castle walls to tour the world. (David Luhrssen)
EX FABULA exfabula.org
Since 2009, Ex Fabula has been connecting community through the art of true, personal storytelling. Ex Fabula, which is Latin for “from stories,” presents storytelling workshops, StorySlams and Community Collaborations where people listen to each other, feel heard, and grow in empathy and understanding. (David Luhrssen)
FALLS PATIO PLAYERS fallspatioplayers.com
FESTIVAL CITY SYMPHONY festivalcitysymphony.org
FINE ARTS QUARTET fineartsquartet.com
FIRST STAGE firststage.org
Pete the Cat, Oct. 4-Nov. 3 (Marcus Performing Arts Center)
Another beloved children’s book character comes to life to open a new season for First Stage as it presents Sarah Hammond’s one-hour musical adaptation of Pete the Cat. The cool, blue cat created by Kimberly and James Dean graces the stage of the Marcus PAC’s Todd Wehr Theater. (Russ Bickerstaff)
FLORENTINE OPERA florentineopera.org
Madama Butterfly, Oct. 18-20
Enchanted by opera from an early age, Giacomo Puccini wrote the music for two of the most enduring stories set to music, La Boheme (1895) and Madama Butterfly (1904).
The latter narrative of a Japanese girl (only 15!) who loses her life to an American cad has given rise to many contemporary interpretations concerning imperialism and feminism. But overall are the gorgeous melodies, suffused with Puccini’s understanding of Japanese music, and the piercing drama of betrayal and loss. (David Luhrssen)
FORTE THEATRE COMPANY fortetheatrecompany.org
She Loves Me, Oct. 4-13 (Saber Center for the Performing Arts)
Forte Theatre Company kicks off their new season with a nod to oldfashioned romance with She Loves Me set in a European 1930s perfume shop. As two clerks fight among themselves, the animosity turns into affection. The films, Shop Around the Corner and You’ve Got Mail were inspired by this sweet-smelling love affair. (Harry Cherkinian)
FORWARD THEATER, MADISON forwardtheater.com
King James, Sept. 12-29
FOUR SEASONS THEATRE, MADISON fourseasonstheatre.com
FRANKLY MUSIC franklymusic.org
FRESCO OPERA THEATRE, MADISON frescoopera.com
Opera on the Point, Sept. 27-28
GALLERY 218 gallery218.com
GALLERY 2622 gallery2622.com
OCT. 18-19
GALLERY NIGHT AND DAY, gallerynightmke.com
Milwaukee’s original art hop happens quarterly with a focus on galleries in the Third Ward, East Town and Walker’s Point. (Morton Shlabotnik)
GHS DRAMATIC IMPACT gsdwi.org
GREEN GALLERY Thegreengallery.biz
GREENDALE COMMUNITY THEATRE greendaletheatre.org
GROHMANN MUSEUM msoe.edu/grohmann-museum
Gil Reid and Friends: Working on the Railroad, Sept. 6-Dec. 22
“Retired railroad executive Chris Burger and his wife Rita have made annual gifts to the museum of much of Gil’s calendar work for Amtrak, along with other illustration work. Given the Grohmann Museum’s hallmark of displaying the art of industry, and the railroad’s intimate connection to it, we make exhibitions of railroad art a regular feature,” says the Grohmann’s director James Kieselburg. “Southeastern Wisconsin has a considerable rail following among its thousands of railfans, which makes it a natural for us.” (David Luhrssen)
GROVE GALLERY gallerygrove.com
HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART marquette.edu/haggerty-museum Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and its Afterlives, through Dec. 22
Affirmation/Transformation: Fandom Created, through Dec. 22
The Big 4-0: An Exhibition Celebrating the Haggerty Museum of the Arts Forty Years, through Dec. 22
HARLEY-DAVIDSON MUSEUM
harley-davidson.com
Mama Tried: Bringing It Together, through January 2025
Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson, through spring 2027
Harley-Davidson motorcycles have often featured striking designs in recent decades. This is not a new development. If you imagine that Messrs. Harley and Davidson, tinkering in the tool shed in 1903, were concerned only with making those early bikes run, you’d be wrong. Company cofounder William S. Harley was an artist as well as an engineer. Featured are Harley’s Model 6 Single (1910), Brook Stevens’ FL Hydra Glide (1949) and Willie G. Davidson’s FX Super Glide (1971). (David Luhrssen)
H. F. JOHNSON GALLERY OF ART carthage.edu/art-gallery HOVER CRAFT
hovercraftmke.com
HYPERLOCAL MKE hyperlocalmke.com
INSPIRATION STUDIOS ART GALLERY inspirationstudiosgallery.com
Penny DeCamara/Denise Hansen Exhibit, September
Art on the Plaza VII, September
Ronni Schmauz and Deb Rucinzki, October
The Vultures, Oct. 18-20, 25-27 (Theatrical Tendencies)
HERITAGE CENTER
IRISH CULTURAL AND ichc.net
JAMES MAY GALLERY
jamesmaygallery.com
Lauren Woods and Nikita Vishnevsky, September-October
THE ARTS
JAZZ GALLERY CENTER FOR jazzgallerycenterforarts.org
Free Improvisation Sessions, Saturday mornings
Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sunday afternoons
JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE jewishmuseummilwaukee.org
Chagall’s Dead Souls: A Satirical Account of Imperialist Russia, through-Sept. 8
Against the Grain: The Remarkable Life of Artist Bernard Perlin, Sept. 27Jan. 26
Bernard Perlin “is not a household name. As an important and yet often overlooked artist of our time, he should be,” says curator Molly Dubin. Perlin executed social realist posters for the federal government during World War II and progressed to magical realism with an ability to “communicate emotion and engender empathy” that “pulls the viewer into the story he’s telling,” Dubin continues. “He had an extraordinary life and career as a gay Jewish artist, from the early years of Fire Island through World War II to New York City society life.” (David Luhrssen)
JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER
ARTS CENTER
jmkac.org/home.html
Knock First, through Sept. 8
No Grout, through Oct. 6
Workplace, through Jan. 19
Lunch Break: Arts/Industry
In Between, through Jan. 5, 2025
Mad Dash: 50 Years of Arts/Industry, through Feb. 2, 2025
Clocking In: 2024 Arts/Industry
Residents, through March 2, 2025
Photo courtesy of The Harley Davidson Museum.
KETTLE MORAINE SYMPHONY kmsymphony.org
The Planets, E.T. Suite, Sept. 28 (Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School)
British composer Gustav Holst didn’t think The Planets (1918) was his best work. Despite his opinion, the bold orchestral suite, representing the seven worlds closest to the Sun (minus Earth), remains a concert favorite and has influenced numerous scores for science-fiction productions—hence the pairing with John Williams’ music for Steven Spielberg’s E.T. (1982). (David Luhrssen)
KIM STORAGE GALLERY kimstoragegallery.com
Up North: Tim Anderson, Sept. 6-Oct. 12
Equus Intersections, The Blue Horses 2019-2024: Maggie Robertson, Oct. 18-Nov. 16
KITH AND KIN THEATRE COLLECTIVE kithandkintheatre.com
KOHLER MEMORIAL THEATER kohlerfoundation.org
KO-THI DANCE COMPANY ko-thi.org
LAKE ARTS PROJECT lakeartsproject.com
LAKE COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE lakecountryplayhousewi.org
The Outsider, Sept.20-Oct. 6
LATINO ARTS, INC. latinoartsinc.org
Alluding to Realities Aludiendo Realidades, through Oct. 9
LILY PAD GALLERY lilypadgallery.com
Open House Summer 2024, through Sept. 10
LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN lyndensculpturegarden.org
Elnaz Javani: Inner Construction, through Oct. 27
MADISON BALLET madisonballet.org
Rhapsody in Blue, Sept. 27-29
MARCUS PERFORMING
marcuscenter.org
Esperanza Spalding, Sept. 17
Beetlejuice, Oct. 1-6
Like the walking dead, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988) has had a long afterlife. The comedy fantasy horror spoof is returning to cinemas this year as a sequel. Meanwhile, the Broadway musical based on the film opened in 2019 and went on the road post-Covid at the end of 2022. The songs are written by the versatile Eddie Perfect, who also contributed to the musical rendition of King Kong. (David Luhrssen)
Photos
Paul Mecurio’s Permission to Speak, Oct. 19
Marshall Charloff & The Purple Xperience, Oct. 24
CONTEMPORARY ART
MADISON MUSEUM OF mmoca.org
MADISON THEATRE GUILD madisontheatreguild.org
Recycled Percussion, Oct. 25
MARN ART + CULTURE HUB marnarts.org
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY THEATRE marquette.edu/communication/ theatre-arts.php
In The Cities of Refuge, opens Oct. 4
MASTER SINGERS OF MILWAUKEE mastersingersofmilwaukee.org
MATERIAL STUDIOS + GALLERY materialstudiosandgallery.com
MEMORIES DINNER THEATRE memoriesballroom.com
MENOMONEE FALLS SYMPHONY www.mfso.net
MIAD GALLERY AT THE AVE galleryattheave.miad.edu
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM mam.org
Beyond Heights: Skyscrapers and the Human Experience, through Sept. 8
On Site: Derrick Adams Our Time Together, through May 11, 2025
Currents 39: LaToya M. Hobbs, Carving Out Time, Sept. 8-Jan. 5, 2025
Robert Longo: Acceleration of History, Oct. 25-Feb. 23, 2025
Even in the 20th century, Robert Longo’s artwork—often (but not limited to) large-scale charcoal drawings— was described as “apocalyptic Pop.” He fell under the broad heading of Pop Art, but with an unnerving edge. “Acceleration of History” collects Longo’s work from the past 10 years, including his uneasy reflections on climate change, mass migrations, the disruptions of war and disjunctions of politics. (David Luhrssen)
An Iliad, Sept.19-Oct. 6 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
The Iliad originated as oral rhymes set to music, not entirely unlike hip-hop. In Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s imaginative reinvention, a poet exhausted by war, accompanied by a muse, tells a story of hubris and horror. The music behind the poetry of An Iliad comes courtesy of Milwaukee hip-hop producer Klassik. Brent Hazelton directs the production. (David Luhrssen)
Montgomery Davis New Play Development Series Reading: Lila Hovey’s Anatomical Hearts, Oct. 7 (Zao MKE Church)
MILWAUKEE JAZZ INSTITUTE milwaukeejazzinstitute.org
Love Call Biography, Sept. 21
Music of Buddy Montgomery, Oct. 19
“At Milwaukee Jazz Institute we're dedicated to both performance and education by honoring Milwaukee’s deep jazz roots while contributing to its vibrant future. Our performances offer a chance to connect with Milwaukee’s musical history and enjoy the creativity that keeps jazz thriving in our city. Visit our website for more details on upcoming performances. Let’s celebrate the spirit of jazz in Milwaukee together.”
Milwaukee Makers Market champions local artists, creators, designers and crafters to celebrate the city’s small businesses. This one-stop shop experience provides an inclusive environment for local makers to showcase their talent and connect with Milwaukeeans. (Sophia Hamdan)
MILWAUKEE MUSAIK milwaukeemusaik.org
MILWAUKEE OPERA THEATRE milwaukeeoperatheatre.org
MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER milwaukeerep.com
The Coast Starlight, Sept. 3-Oct. 6 (Stiemke Studio)
Women of Rock, Sept. 6-Nov. 3 (Stackner Cabaret)
Prelude to a Kiss: A Musical, Sept. 10Oct. 19 (Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts’ Harris Theater)
Marie and Rosetta, Oct. 22-Dec. 22 (Stiemke Studio)
While gospel music is at the root of 1950s R&B and influenced Elvis, few gospel singers have been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sister Rosetta Tharpe (inducted posthumously in 2018) deserves the honor. Unlike many gospel performers who kept blues and vernacular music at arm’s length, Tharpe embraced the electric guitar and the rhythms pouring from the rural South into Chicago’s South Side. Marie and Rosetta tells the story of Tharpe and her protégé, Marie Knight. They enjoyed a Top-10 R&B hit together in 1948, “Up Above My Head.” (David Luhrssen)
MILWAUKEE MAKERS MARKET
Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Makers Market.
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY mso.org
When the Saints Go Marching In, Sept. 20-22 (Pops)
Scheherazade, Sept. 27-29
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was one of Russia’s great composers from the Romantic age. Drawing from his nation’s traditions, he was a dazzling orchestrator who knew every instrument’s potential and invented new tone colors for them. Enchanted with the Near East, his symphonic suite, Scheherazade, was inspired by the tales of a resourceful woman who fended off murder at the hands of her husband through storytelling. He described Scheherazade as “a kaleidoscope of fairytale images and designs.” (David Luhrssen)
Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, Oct. 4-5
Gemma New Conducts Sibelius, Oct. 11-12
Poulenc’s Gloria, Oct. 25-26
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART wisconsinart.org
Chris T. Cornelius: ukwé·tase (newcomer/stranger), through January 2025
The three-dimensional structure blends contemporary and traditional architectural aspects in unique and compelling ways, while exploring themes of familiarity and alienation within the environment it seeks to capture. The work represents humankind’s place in a world to which it is both resident and stranger, creating a sense of wonder and wariness of the world around us, the Milwaukee-born Indigenous artist says. (Michael Muckian)
MOWA | DTN (SAINT
KATE-THE ARTS HOTEL)
MOWA ON THE LAKE
(ST. JOHN’S ON THE LAKE)
Xiaohong Zhang: East Meets West, through Sept. 13
NEXT ACT THEATRE nextact.org
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MILWAUKEE YOUTH myso.org
MILWAUKEE YOUTH THEATRE milwaukeeyouththeatre.org
MKE BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL blackartsmke.org
MKE STUDIO TOUR mkestudiotour.com
Self-guided tour is an opportunity to visit artists at work in their studios (Oct.5-6)
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Sept. 11-Oct. 6
The protagonist is a professional wrestler paid to lose matches. “The play grapples with themes of identity, authenticity, race, what it means to be American—which is especially top of mind with the upcoming election—and how we are sold a version of what American exceptionalism is,” says director Michael Cotey. “It examines how challenging it is to be authentic and tell your own story, especially if you have black or brown skin in this country, and how people can get flattened out and reduced into something that can easily be sold and bought and consumed, like a t-shirt or an action figure.” (David Luhrssen)
NŌ STUDIOS nostudios.com
THE ARTS
NORTH SHORE ACADEMY OF facebook.com/ northshoreacademyofthearts
NORTHERN SKY THEATER northernskytheater.com
OCONOMOWOC ARTS CENTER oasd.k12.wi.us/artscenter
OIL A CITY GALLERY oilmilwaukee.com
OPTIMIST THEATRE optimisttheatre.org
OUTSKIRTS THEATRE facebook.com/outskirtstheatre
OVER OUR HEAD PLAYERS overourheadplayers.org
Misery, Sept. 20
MADISON
OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS, overture.org
Bluey’s Big Play, Sept. 24-25
Jess and …, Oct. 5
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Oct. 5
Steve Martin & Martin Short, Oct. 6
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Oct. 10
Shrek the Musical, Oct. 11-12
Churchill, Oct. 12-13
Lewis Black, Oct. 19
PAINT CEDARBURG: A PLEIN AIR
PAINTING EVENT
cedarburgartistsguild.com/paintcedarburg
PENINSULA PLAYERS peninsulaplayers.com
PHILOMUSICA QUARTET philomusicaquartet.com
Concert, Oct. 7
PIANOARTS pianoarts.org
PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY portraitsocietygallery.com
About Place: Pat Hidson and Elaine Scheer, through Sept. 7
SEAMS II: Criss Cross, Sept. 20-Nov. 9
The theme of the Portrait Society’s second group fiber show is journeys, travel and border crossing. Among the artists represented in SEAMS II are Heidi Parkes, Rosemary Ollison, Anika Kowalik, Monica Rezman, Liv Aanrud, Lisa Barber, Rosemary Ollison and Ella Clemmons. (Morton Shlabotnik)
PRESENT MUSIC presentmusic.org
Holy Lift-Off, Oct. 31 (Milwaukee Art Museum)
PM Underground, Oct. 14 (Miller Caves)
PROMETHEUS TRIO wcmusic.org
QUASIMONDO PHYSICAL THEATRE quasimondo.org
RACINE ART MUSEUM ramart.org
Collection Focus: Frances and Michael Higgins, through Oct. 12
RAM Focus: Patrick Nagatani, through Oct. 12
Zero Waste Objects, through Oct. 12
Craft in Color, through Jan. 11, 2025
Nicole Acosta: Hoops—Beyond the Aesthetic Lies the Story, through Nov. 23
In Between: Contemporary Artists Working in Two and Three Dimensions featuring Dennis Lee Mitchell, through Jan. 25, 2025
Low: Rene Amado, through July 2025
Rene Amado showcases the cars, bicycles, and community of lowrider culture through photography and video. “Low” blends his photography with custom bicycles and other small vehicles from various builders/makers (including himself) and a video in which he expands on the story of lowrider culture through interviews and documentation. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Illustrations by Tim Czerniakowski.
RACINE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA racinesymphony.org
RACINE THEATRE GUILD racinetheatre.org
Murder on the Orient Express, Sept. 13-29
REAL TINSEL GALLERY realtinsel.com
Fluffy (curated by Rachel Yanku), Sept. 13-Oct. 27
Flat File Project, through forever Real Tinsel’s Shane McAdams has been compiling an indexed collection of Wisconsin artists working on paper, stored and displayed in flat drawer cabinets in the basement lounge of his gallery. He has gathered a variety of drawings, etching, prints and more. “I curate them on the basis of which work is of professional caliber, not my own taste,” McAdams said. The public is invited to peruse. (David Luhrssen)
RENAISSANCE THEATERWORKS r-t-w.com
The Moors, Sept. 11-Oct. 6
SACRA NOVA CHORALE sacranovacathedrale.com
Welcome Home: Great Music Returns to a Great Cathedral, Oct. 13 (St. John’s Cathedral)
SAINT KATE - THE ARTS
HOTEL GALLERY
saintkatearts.com
Colin Mattes: What’s Right, through Oct. 13 (The Vitrine)
Sara Sowell: Multiple Exposures, through Oct. 13 (The Closet)
Seth Ter Haar: Cruising Community, through Oct. 13 (The Gallery)
Nick Lamia: PyroCB, through Oct. 13 (The Space)
SCULPTURE MILWAUKEE
sculpturemilwaukee.com
Actual Fractals, Act II
The 2024-25 exhibition of works by renowned international artists is on view throughout Downtown Milwaukee. A sequel to their 202324 exhibition, Act II is interested in how monumental public art can explore the connectedness of human beings, nature and animals. (Morton Shlabotnik)
SEAT OF OUR PANTS
ARTS CENTER
SOUTH MILWAUKEE PERFORMING southmilwaukeepac.org
Glen Miller Orchestra, Sept. 28
Glen Miller was last seen on Dec. 15, 1944, when he flew from England to entertain troops on the European continent. His plane went missing. Miller’s impeccable big-band arrangements buttressed a string of hits—“In the Mood,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Tuxedo Junction”—that defined an era. The orchestra with his name continues to perform the old songs. (David Luhrssen)
Some Enchanted Evening, Oct. 23
SUNSET PLAYHOUSE sunsetplayhouse.com
Arsenic and Old Lace, Sept. 5-22
Arsenic and Old Lace was one of Hollywood’s most hilarious screwball comedies. The 1944 film starred Cary Grant, tossed into a house of raging eccentrics.
mkereaderstheatre.com
SHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER
READERS THEATRE FOR THE ARTS
wilson-center.com
Live from Laurel Canyon, Oct.25
SHEBOYGAN THEATRE COMPANY stcshows.org
Mary Poppins, Sept. 27-Oct. 5
SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE skylightmusictheatre.org
Waitress, Oct. 4-27
Sara Bareilles based her Tony and Grammy nominated musical on the 2007 film. Waitress tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband. After Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her doctor. Looking for ways out of her troubles, she sees a pie baking contest and its grand prize as her chance. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Frank Capra adapted the story from Joseph Kesselring’s play, a long-running hit on Broadway. (David Luhrssen)
Eagles Revisited, Sept. 16-17
From Bandstand to Broadway, Oct. 10-13
Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, Oct. 17-Nov. 3
Welcome to Vegas, Baby! Oct. 21-22
David Seebach: Illusions in the Night, Oct. 25-27
THEATRE GIGANTE theatregigante.org
Dust, Oct. 25-Nov. 3
(Kenilworth 508 Theatre)
The two-person play by one of Hungary’s top contemporary playwrights, György Spiró, concerns a couple struggling to stay afloat in the new reality of a post-Communist society. And then they win the lottery. “The couple travels through 75 minutes of whirlwind reasoning and discussion as they face this opportunity that rarely comes around to anyone. Spiró loads the stage with many vital and pertinent issues, seen through the eyes of the couple. Handled with a sense of humor and deep understanding, this play touches the heart and inspires the mind,” says Gigante’s Co-Artistic Director Isabelle Kralj. Her partner, Mark Anderson, will direct. (David Luhrssen)
THEATRICAL TENDENCIES theatricaltendencies.com
The Vultures, Oct. 18-20, 25-27
STURGEON BAY
THIRD AVENUE PLAYHOUSE, thirdavenueplayworks.org
GREEN LAKE
THRASHER OPERA HOUSE, thrasheroperahouse.com
Mary Mack, Sept. 7
Larry McCray, Sept. 13
Melissa Carper, Sept. 14
Cimarron 615, Oct. 4
TOOTH-AND-NAIL GALLERY toothandnailmke.com
TORY FOLLIARD GALLERY toryfolliard.com
Summer in Wisconsin, through Sept. 7
Rodger Bechtold: In Response to Nature, Sept. 14-Oct. 12
Paul Swaydon Grebel: Rooms, Sept 14-Oct. 12
Fred Stonehouse, Oct. 18-Nov. 16
The work of Wisconsin painter Fred Stonehouse teems with detail and specificity. Its superficial resolution and directness almost seem to spurn any sort of abstract interpretation. Even the most uninitiated viewer would refrain from referring to any of his cast of tightly rendered objects and characters as “abstract.” Every piece of content is identifiable if not nameable. (Shane McAdams)
WATER STREET DANCE MILWAUKEE waterstreetdancemke.com
WAUKESHA CIVIC THEATRE waukeshacivictheatre.org
Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, Sept. 13-29
Mars Lost, Oct. 4-13
WEST ALLIS PLAYERS westallisplayers.org
The Nerd, Oct. 6-8. Oct. 14-15
WEST BEND THEATRE COMPANY westbendtheatreco.com
WEST PERFORMING ARTS CENTER nbexcellence.org/community/ westpac.cfm
WILD SPACE DANCE COMPANY wildspacedance.org
InSite: Cycles, Oct. 18-19 (Davidson Park)
Wild Space has earned a reputation for its ongoing series of site-specific performances. The free performance at the West Side park overlooking Harley-Davids explores the park’s particular landscape and historical significance. The dancers will perform a dynamic dance, traversing the concentric circles of the park’s wheelinspired amphitheater—circular design suggesting the wheeled vehicles for which Harley is known. (Morton Shlabotnik)
WINDFALL THEATRE windfalltheatre.com
WISCONSIN CONSERVATORY
wcmusic.org
WISCONSIN CRAFT wisconsincraft.org
CENTER FOR ARTS AND PERFORMANCE
WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE wlc.edu
& FIBER ART
WISCONSIN MUSEUM OF QUILTS wiquiltmuseum.com
WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC wisphil.org
Classical Magic, Sept. 29 (Oconomowoc Arts Center)
Young Korean violinist Seohyun (Sarah) Kim joins the Wisconsin Philharmonic for a program of Bizet, Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn and more. (Morton Shlabotnik)
WOODLAND PATTERN
BOOK CENTER
woodlandpattern.org
Poetry Reading: Tasneem Jassar, Sept. 5
Dream History Tour of Riverwest, Sept. 8
New & Improved Music, Sept. 19
Poetry Reading: Ashley Williams and Pita Daniels, Sept. 21
Open Mic, Sept. 27
WUSTUM MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ramart.org
MKE Fine Craft Studio Tour, Oct. 5-6
The Mind of a Chef Who Creates Great Wine Lists and Great Menus
BY GAETANO MARANGELLI
Great wine lists read like great poetry. Their styles and meters may vary. And they may measure many pages or just a few lines. But between their lines and behind their pages, you hear a voice. You feel an energy. You see a mind.
One of the city’s great wine lists is at one of the city’s great restaurants. What makes this restaurant’s wine list extraordinary is the mind behind its lines, which isn’t the mind of a manager, or a wine director, or a sommelier. The restaurant is Birch, and behind its wine list is the mind of the restaurant’s celebrated chef and co-owner, Kyle Knall.
Knall was a James Beard Award semi-finalist for the Midwest’s best chef of 2024, as well as a James Beard semi-finalist for the country’s best chef of 2022. Last year, the New York Times named Birch one of the country’s 50 best restaurants, describing its food as “worldly Midwestern cuisine free of cliches.”
The genius of Knall’s wine list is that it’s true to the ideals of his cuisine. Just as Knall creates his menus with honest produce from small farms, he curates his beverage lists with honest wines from small estates. It’s a perfect match of styles. It’s poetry.
An Interview with Chef Kyle Knall, Co-owner of Birch
Gaetano Marangelli: You have a profound knowledge of wine. Why and how did you develop your knowledge?
Kyle Knall: My knowledge is all based on taste and experience. I make it a point to be involved in tastings with our distributors. When our staff is tasting, I join in and participate with them. We open bottles we're curious about and taste them with our food. I’ve found it's important to constantly try things to increase that knowledge and build on those flavors.
GM: Some chefs know a lot about wine, some chefs don't. How important is your knowledge to why and how you create food?
KK: In the kitchen, I don’t necessarily try to create a dish to match a specific wine. But we do have a style in the kitchen that revolves around fresh and bright flavors, and it's not a surprise that dishes like this pair with our favorite styles of wines—those that are bright and fresh.
GM: As a wine savvy chef, you think about food and wine in ways a sommelier cannot. Would you offer an insight into how you think about food and wine?
KK: Each month as we come up with wine pairings for our Seasonal Tasting Menu, I make sure we don’t settle for “good enough.” I won’t say that every single pairing is something that is going to blow you away, but I make sure things really work together. Sometimes I keep trying after we find something that works to make sure there isn't something better. Our guests trust us to put this work in, and I think the feedback we get from this menu every month proves that it’s worth it.
Photo courtesy of Siege Food Photo.
GM: How does the way you select wines for your list differ from the way a sommelier might?
KK: For me, it’s very simple. To make the cut, a wine has to be delicious (which is also how I feel about a dish that leaves the kitchen). For me, nothing else matters. Maybe there are rules that some like to follow, but I don't think it's fair to our guests or hospitable even to not stick to things that are delicious.
GM: Your spouse, Meghan, co-owner of Birch, was the general manager of Smith & Vine, a great New York wine shop. How was she part of the development of your wine knowledge?
KK: I would say that the impact of Meghan on my wine knowledge would be that we often share wine together. Through discussions of our likes and dislikes, enjoying it with food we prepare at home, as well as enjoying it when we go out to eat, I’m enjoying wine in the same way that guests would enjoy it in our restaurant. I’d say this is one of the biggest ways that I’ve added to my wine knowledge. Of course, there was often the benefit of being able to enjoy wine that she was able to bring home—not a bad perk!
Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was managing director of a wine import and distribution company in New York and beverage director for restaurants and retailers in New York and Chicago before moving to Wauwatosa.
Four Dishes from the Birch Seasonal Tasting Menu with Chef Kyle Knall’s Wine Recommendations
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit (2x) Eins, Zwei, Drei, G'suffa! Zicke Zacke Hoi Hoi Hoi! (2x) Prosit!
And those are the words to “Ein Prosit,” that song which you will hear at least every half hour at any Oktoberfest worth its salt—so be sure to sing along (the “Zicke Zacke” is the fun part) and raise your glass in a toast! This year promises plenty of “Ein Prositing” no matter where you live, so here's our annual guide to help you find an Oktoberfest of your own.
BAVARIAN BIERHAUS OKTOBERFEST
Old Heidelberg Park at the Bavarian Bierhaus
700 W. Lexington Blvd., Glendale thebavarianbierhaus.com/ oktoberfest-info Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays Every weekend in September and the first weekend in October
Open at 4 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
MILWAUKEE OKTOBERFEST
Cathedral Square Park
520 E. Wells St., Milwaukee (East Town)
milwaukeeoktoberfest.com
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 4 -6
WAUKESHA OKTOBERFEST
Frame Park
1150 Frame Park Drive, Waukesha waukesha-wi.gov/residents/ oktoberfest.php
Elm Grove Village Park 13600 Juneau Blvd., Elm Grove elmgrovefoundation.org/oktoberfest
Friday-Saturday, Sept. 20 - 21
GERMANTOWN HUNSRUCKER OKTOBERFEST
Dheinsville Historic Park Holy Hill Road, Hwy 145/Fond du Lac Ave & Maple Road., Germantown germantownhistoricalsociety.org/oktoberfest
Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 28-29
Saturday Noon-11 p.m., Sunday Noon-7 p.m.
BARKTOBERFEST
Estabrook Park Beer Garden 4600 Estabrook Drive, Milwaukee friendsofmadacc.org/events
Saturday Sept. 14, Noon-5 p.m.
A dog-friendly event supporting Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC).
CEDARBURG OKTOBERFEST
Cedarburg Community Center parking lot W63 N641 Washington Ave., Cedarburg cedarburgfestival.org/octoberfest
Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 5-6
Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
SAINT AUGUSTINE OKTOBERFEST
Saint Augustine of Hippo church 2350 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee (Bay View) staugies.org/oktoberfest Sunday, Sept. 29
BARABOO OKTOBERFEST
Circus World Oktoberfestbaraboo.com
September 21, 2024, 3-9PM
OUR LADY OF LOURDESMILWAUKEE OKTOBERFEST ARTISAN FAIR
Our Lady of Lourdes church
3722 S. 58th St., Milwaukee - South Side ololmke.org/oktoberfest
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 11-13
SCHOOL SISTERS OF SAINT FRANCIS OKTOBERFEST
St. Joseph Center grounds 29th Street @ Orchard Street, Milwaukee https://www.sssf.org/Calendar/Oktoberfest-. htm?Occurrence=2024-09-14T11:00:00
Saturday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m-3 p.m.
ERV-TOBERFEST
Erv's Mug
130 W. Ryan Road, Oak Creek ervsmug.com/ervtoberfest
Saturday Sept. 7, 5-9 p.m.
Beer festival
DUESTERBECK'S BREWING COMPANY OKTOBERFEST
Duesterbeck's Brewing Co. N5543 County Road O, Elkhorn dbcbrewery.com/event-details/oktoberfest
Saturday Oct. 5, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
NEW GLARUS OKTOBERFEST
Corner of 2nd Street & 4th Avenue www.swisstown.com/Oktoberfest
September 26-29th , 2024
BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE
In case you didn’t know…dogs bark! Some of them, quite a lot! Though it’s completely normal, barking is often labeled a “nuisance” behavior that folks ask for help reducing in their households.
To effectively respond to your dog’s barking, we need to ask ourselves, "Why is your dog barking?" Without answering this question, we could be barking up the wrong tree with the ways we try to address the behavior!
Unfortunately, we can’t just ask a dog, but we can use their behavior and body language, the context around the barking, and what seems to encourage or discourage it as clues and address the actual root of the behavior!
Below are some common examples of why a dog may be barking:
•Attention (also called demand barking)
•Fear or stress
•Alert or alarm barking
•Excitement
•Boredom or lack of exercise
•Frustration
•Play
It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, though! A huge consideration and explanation for your dog’s barking that we haven’t mentioned yet is breed! Some dogs have been bred for thousands of years to use their voices. Now, though, a lot of dogs find themselves living in urban environments where they aren’t performing those jobs anymore and the barking that was once useful is frustrating to the humans of the households, their relatives, the neighbors, the dog across the street just looking for a place to go to the bathroom…
All of this is to say, if we can shift our focus from barking as a nuisance behavior to valuable communication, we can address what is really going on and understand our doggos a lot better! If you’re struggling to figure out the “Why” of your dog’s barking, reach out! We’d be happy to help you puzzle it out!
Jennifer Prill, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA Owner, Lead Trainer & Behavior Consultant 414-207-8060
sidekick-dogtraining.com Monday-Saturday 10AM-8PM
Chihuahua barking photo by GettyImages/graphicphoto.
When The Beatles Came to Milwaukee, 60 Years Ago
BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
Nick Topping presided over a shop called Topping & Co.: The International House. He sold books, newspapers, packaged goods and music from around the world—not “world music” as a marketing category, but authentic sounds from Africa, Asia and Latin America. He did tax returns and translations for his customers and notarized their documents. A smile was seldom absent from his face.
During the 1950s Red Scare, Topping bravely brought leftleaning folk artists such as Pete Seeger and Miriam Makeba to Milwaukee. He had an honest reputation in an industry that wasn’t known for honesty. On September 4, 1964, he presented the biggest concert of his side career in music promotion, The Beatles at the Milwaukee Arena (now the UWM Panther Arena).
“Music was our father’s passion, along with internationalism, world cultures and working for many causes for social justice,” says Nick’s daughter, Alex Topping. She was six at the time, sitting in the fourth row with her 12-year-old sister Adele, who adds, “The concert went smoothly. After The Beatles’ press conference at the Coach House Inn (now a Marquette University residence hall) on Wisconsin Avenue where they were staying, the group was escorted by limo to the Arena under tight security since the crazed fans wouldn’t get out of their way.” The same frenzy occurred on their way back to the hotel, but there were no incidents and no arrests.
Tickets for the concert were $3.50 and $5.50, sold by mail order or at the International House (736 N. Second St.). Lines of ticket buyers stretched down the block.
Some 13,000 of them crowded the Arena for a half-hour show. Alex and Adele hardly heard a note of The Beatles’ music, drowned out by the clamor of screaming fans. “Our mother covered her ears through the whole concert, and a picture of her covering her ears appeared in the Milwaukee Journal the next day,” Alex recalls.
The Beatles never returned to Milwaukee, and their Arena show would be one of Topping’s last concerts. At Topping’s October 1964 Bob Dylan concert at the Oriental Theater, Dylan complained about the sound system and stormed offstage. Topping was forced to refund everyone’s money. In 1965 he booked the Dave Clark Five but exited the concert business with mostly good memories and continued to run the International House through his death in 2007. Topping was a true believer in the immanent possibility of a better world, a good struggle with music as a peaceful weapon. According to Alex, he continued to follow The Beatles’ career and was happy to learn that they represented progressive values. Some say his favorite Beatles’ song was “All You Need is Love.”
David Luhrssen is Managing Editor of the Shepherd Express and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Classic Rock.
Crowd photo by GettyImages/AlenPopov.
Photo Courtesy of the Nicholas Topping Family.
South Milwaukee PAC's
20th Anniversary
BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
At a time when public schools across the U.S. slashed arts education budgets, the South Milwaukee School District did a courageous thing. They put a referendum before voters, funding school infrastructure that included a new space for the arts. The resulting South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center is a state-of-the-art facility for student productions and a venue for international touring acts and community rentals. This September, SMPAC celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Director Rachel Abraham has been there since before the beginning. She attended school board meetings and put her corporate communications skills to work, helping convince South Milwaukeeans to pass the referendum. She joined the board of the nonprofit SMPAC Council and left her communications job to become box-office manager. Two years later, she became SMPAC’s director.
“My parents were music educators, and I grew up with an appreciation for the arts,” Abraham says. She now heads a staff that also includes technical director Nick DaVia and box office/marketing director Michelle Majerus-Uelmen.
Student productions have priority on the calendar of SMPAC’s 786-seat theater. For the remaining dates, Abraham rents the facility to concert promoters and community groups and books eight or nine touring performers.
This season begins with the Glen Miller Orchestra (Sept. 28) but also includes Milwaukee-bred SistaStrings (Nov. 22) and the first ever tour by three rising young classical musicians, Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman and Edgar Meyer (March 26).
“Our motto is ‘Creative, Innovative, Diverse,’” Abraham says. “We try to hit those marks with a balanced season with something for people of all ages and interests. Every season is a bit different. We look for acts that are the best in their genres.”
Rentals this fall at SMPAC include everything from a fundraiser and a body-building contest to Rick Wakeman in concert. SMPAC encourages visiting performers to conduct master classes for South Milwaukee students, giving them a rare opportunity to learn from experienced artists.
David Luhrssen was Arts and Entertainment Editor of the Shepherd Express from 1994-2017 and is now Managing Editor.
Photo by Sean Oster.
This Month in Milwaukee 11 Things to Do in September
BY SOPHIA HAMDAN, ELIZABETH LINTONEN, DAVID LUHRSSEN, BLAINE SCHULTZ AND JULIA WATT
SEPTEMBER 2
Labor Fest
Henry Maier Festival Park
Unions helped lift millions of Americans from poverty into the middle-class during the last century, and despite efforts by the far right to demonize labor, unions are making a comeback. Celebrate the Labor Day weekend by honoring the sacrifices made by union activists in the past and remembering the benefits they bestowed on us. There will be live music, kids’ activities, bingo and more. The parade leaves Zeidler Union Square at 11 a.m. and the event continues on the Summerfest grounds until 5 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 6
Lil Rev
Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.
Milwaukee’s Lil Rev has made a career of performing acoustic music, playing more than 125 gigs each year at folk festivals, community centers, music stores, synagogues (for his “Jews and Blues” show) and a growing network of ukulele clubs and events. Rev makes an increasingly rare stop in Milwaukee this month. With Will Branch accompanying him on guitar, Rev will dip into his bulging kitbag of folk, blues and bluegrass. He might toss in some Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash tunes and introduce a few new originals.
SEPTEMBER 9
Jodi Picoult in conversation with Shelby Van Pelt Pabst Theater
Famed author Jodi Picoult, in conversation with Remarkably Bright Creatures author Shelby Van Pelt, talks all things about her newest novel By Any Other Name. Picoult’s latest centers on a story of two women, writers separated by centuries and united by pseudonyms and the need for immense courage. By Any Other Name is the story of resilience and ambition and what it means to have your name stay with your story. Jody Picoult’s talk will take place on Monday, September 9, at 7 p.m. at The Pabst Theater.
SEPTEMBER 10
Tannahill Weavers q
Shank Hall
One of the world's premier traditional Celtic bands, Tannahill Weavers’ diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, original ballads and lullabies, and humorous tales of life in Scotland. Named for the town’s (Paisley, Scotland) historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group blend the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms.
SEPTEMBER 12
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones w/ Dead Rock West Vivarium
With The Blasters and The Flatlanders, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore made their marks before Americana was coined a genre. The writers both offer distinct voices and perspectives--cinematic lyrics and short stories masquerading as songs. As a guitar player, Alvin moves easily from Otis Rush-inspired conflagrations to fingerpicking. As a vocalist Gilmore’s yearning has been described as a “voice that would even make Hank Williams cry.” The duo recently released their second album as collaborators. Texicali is stacked with co-writes, tributes and select cover tunes.
SEPTEMBER 13-OCTOBER 27
China Lights t Boerner Botanical Gardens
The annual display is a celebration of Asian culture featuring larger-than-life sculptural lantern displays and Chinese folk-culture entertainment. China Lights will set the already beautiful Boerner Botanical Gardens aglow this fall.
Photo by GettyImages/ImagesbyK
Photo courtesy of Shank Hall
Photo by Oden & Janelle Photographers
SEPTEMBER 14
Hello, Face album release
Club Garibaldi
With a new album, Why the Long Phase, Milwaukee’s Hello, Face has collected a batch of thoughtful songs that could be journal entries. If they seem tied together that may be simply the result of the process. Produced by Ryan Rosmann and the band at Riverwest’s High Five Studio, Hello, Face includes musicians from Maritime, Carolina, The Championship, the Benjamins and RX Drugs.
SEPTEMBER 14
Sarah Morris, Molly Maher, Dandy L. Freling and Derek Pritzl: In the Round Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
An evening of songwriters battling for the border? Critically acclaimed Minnesotans Sarah Morris and Molly Maher will trade songs with a pair of locals. Dandy L. Freling traffics in freewheeling, foot stomping characterdriven songs. With his group The Gamble and solo, Derek Pritzl’s songs are built on his rolling, fingerpicked guitar and lyrics that need only a few lines to set a scene.
SEPTEMBER 14-15
Granville Harvest Fest
8633 W. Brown Deer Road
It’s time to celebrate fall outdoors with arts and crafts, food vendors, dance lessons, horse rides, karaoke—and a big TV for watching the Packers (noon, Sept. 15). There will also be live entertainment featuring The Tina Turner Experience (starring Brandye Phillips) and The Michael Jackson Experience (starring Rico as MJ).
SEPTEMBER 19
Judas Priest: Invincible Shield Tour with Sabaton
Miller High Life Theatre
Don’t tell Judas Priest that heavy metal is young person’s game. Formed in 1969 and named for a Bob Dylan song, the group recorded a song Joan Baez wrote about Dylan. Over the years the band forged a sound that has endured and built a fanbase that has remained loyal. With guitarist Glenn Tipton sidelined with Parkinson’s disease, bassist Ian Hill and vocalist Rob Halford continue to pilot the band who were at the vanguard of the new wave of British metal. The group is touring for their 19th studio album, Invincible Shield.
SEPTEMBER 21
Bay View Bash
Bay View Bash returns this Fall on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. in the heart of Bay View. This community festival invites you for a celebration of lively music, unique food vendors, local artisans and seasoned crafters. See performances from the Bay View Babes, participate in Punk Rock Yoga, dance to DJ D-ON and much more when you attend. Learn about the event at bayviewbash.org
SEPTEMBER 28-29
Doors Open 2024
Hosted by Historic Milwaukee, Doors Open is a self-guided tour extravaganza of architectural marvels in the Milwaukee area. The tour affords access to over 100 sites, such as the Basilica of St. Josaphat, the Federal Building, the Burnham Frank Lloyd Wright Homes, the Marshall Building (home to the Shepherd Express) and more. Tickets are available for purchase by the public on September 11, 2024, and volunteer positions are open.
Photo courtesy of Andy ‘Elvis’ McGovern
Dear Ally,
I’m really worried about my good friend. We worked together for nine years and were very close. I got another job, but we still kept in touch frequently. Over the years, her marriage began to fall apart. She finally told me that her husband had physically threatened her and was violent more than just a couple of times. Now, they are almost divorced, but for financial reasons, are still living in the same house. She won’t kick him out. There’s more …
Over the past year, she has suffered severe symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, with no relief from assorted medical professionals. She’s gained back almost all of her 100-pound weight loss and has started smoking again.
Dear Worried
She’s in so much pain that she can’t cook, exercise and even driving is painful. When I try to call, text or email her, she doesn’t respond or waits sometimes over a week to reply. I go crazy when I don’t hear from her. I’m afraid that her husband has hurt her or even worse. When she finally does respond, she acts completely clueless as to how much her friends worry about her safety.
Even though she complains about her terrible husband, she doesn’t do anything about it. Another thing that is really bugging me about her is that she refuses to vote at a time when women are losing all of their rights. But I’ll save that for another day. I want to help my friend, but doesn’t she need to help herself first? What can I do?
Worried Friend
Friend,
You are a good friend and have excellent instincts about your friend’s well-being. Your letter contains many issues. I’ll try to unpack them in order of priority.
SAFETY
I assume that you have already communicated to your friend that you are very worried about her, because she is still living with her abusive ex-husband. Make sure you have your friend’s correct address and her closest relative’s phone number. The next time she doesn’t respond within a decent time, you can always call her relative to check up on her or ask the local police to conduct a wellness check. The police will stop by at her house to make sure that she is OK.
Give your friend a heads-up that if she doesn’t respond to you in a timely manner, you will make these calls. Maybe she will finally understand that she’s living in a dangerous situation. Oftentimes, we use denial as a coping mechanism, but when our physical safety is at risk, the stakes are too high not to face them head on.
If she cannot kick her abusive husband out of her house. Tell her about The Sojourner Family Peace Center, a safe place for her to stay. It is located at 619 W. Walnut Street in Milwaukee. Their 24-hour hotline is: 414-933-2722. They can offer emergency shelter, information and support groups for people impacted by domestic violence.
HEALTH
Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are autoimmune diseases and can take a long time to resolve. What brings relief to one person, may not work for the next. Stress will only exacerbate her symptoms. She needs to kick her husband out or move somewhere else to start her journey toward wellness.
EXERCISE
When your friend gets herself situated in a safe home environment, she can slowly begin an exercise routine. I would suggest Yes2next on YouTube. It’s a mother–daughter team (sometimes a cat too) that encourages viewers to start at their own pace. There are lots of programs to choose from. They’re upbeat and empowering and just might help your friend get on the right track.
You are also right about the importance for everyone to vote in November. But you can’t have that conversation until she’s in the right mindset to hear it. Safety is the first issue here. Your friend is lucky to have you in her corner. I hope that she can see her way clear to choose the value of her own life and leave the past behind her.
Here for you,
Send your questions to
The Power of Loving Touch
BY PHILIP CHARD
It may seem obvious, but caring touch is central to psychological and physical well-being. In fact, because touch is the first sense we acquire, it’s vital. For example, consistently deprive a baby of physical affection, and they will soon pay the price in body and mind. The term for this condition is “failure to thrive,” and the absence of loving touch is a primary cause.
A growing body of research has documented the benefits of touching and being touched. Welcome skin-to-skin contact lowers blood pressure, eases pain, decreases heart rate, boosts immunity, and infuses the body with feelgood endorphins (naturally occurring painkillers and mood elevators). The emotional rewards are considerable as well. These include less anxiety, a diminished stress response, feelings of emotional safety and enhanced mood, to name a few.
In fact, if you want to experience the mind-body connection at work, just go get a massage or cuddle with your sweetheart or your pet. Your skin is your largest organ, and because it’s saturated with nerves, it “speaks” to your brain loud and clear. If your skin feels good, then your brain feels good and, in turn, you feel good.
TOUCH-DEPRIVED
Unfortunately, America is not a touch-oriented culture. One study that observed friends having lunch in various countries found that, on average in the space of one hour, those in England didn’t touch at all, those in the USA touched twice and those in France and Latin America did so over one hundred times. Consequently, many Americans feel touch deprived.
Now, touching comes in many variations, from a muscle grinding massage that teeters on the edge of the pain/ pleasure boundary to the soft comfort of lightly holding hands or spooning. Even a touch of the arm or a pat on the back can elicit positive physical and emotional responses. However, in whatever form, if it feels pleasurable to your skin, this will ripple out to the rest of you, body and mind.
It’s remarkable that as recently as a few decades ago, nurses and other caregivers endured ridicule for suggesting that “therapeutic touch” had the power to ease physical pain in the sick or dying. We now realize that because pain is as much a psychological experience as a physical one, caring touch can indeed diminish its impact.
We are all encased in this physical and psychological experience called “individuality.” By touching or being touched, we soften the walls of this separation and feel connected and less alone. In its absence, we experience the opposite, a sense of being isolated, distant from others and socially alienated.
PHYSICAL COMFORT
Despite its many benefits, some of us make little use of this simple but powerful means of creating physical comfort and emotional well-being. Granted, a few unfortunate souls traumatized by hurtful touching fear almost any skin-toskin contact, no matter how loving. But many of us, in the frenzy of our task and time driven lives, just don’t seek out opportunities to touch and be touched, or at least not as often as we should. And those opportunities can be many.
Photo by GettyImages/ImagesbyK
Even if there aren’t lots of touchers in your life, there is always massage therapy, a proven antidote for stress and physical discomfort. And then there are pets, of course. Research shows cuddling with your dog or cat will, among other things, lower your blood pressure, ease the perception of pain and bolster your immune system.
Simple hugs, holding hands and making love—all these and other forms of caring touch make us healthier and happier. So, when I visit with clients who are physically or emotionally distressed, I do a “touch assessment.” If they aren’t getting enough, remedying that is one more way to practice good self-care. What’s more, it just plain feels good, body and soul.
Among those we touch with caring and compassion, our emotional fingerprints never fade away.
Philip Chard is a psychotherapist and author with a focus on lasting behavior change, emotional healing and adaptation to health challenges. For more, visit philipchard.com.
WHEN THE FRIEND SHIP SINKS
DEAR RUTHIE,
My best friend and I haven’t had a falling out, but something has changed. After being besties for years, sharing everything from heartbreaks to hilarity, things just aren’t the same anymore. In fact, sometimes she sort of annoys me. I also noticed that she’s not as keen about doing things with me, and she’s made a few new friends I don’t really click with.
I hate to see this friendship end and wonder if there isn’t something I should do to reignite it.
IS THAT WEIRD?
Sad Sue
DEAR SUE,
That’s not weird, honey. Relationships end sometimes and that includes friendships—and that’s sad but OK. It’s not odd to want to reignite things but it’s not always smart to carry that friendship torch.
You said things aren’t the same and that she even annoys you lately. As confusing as that feels, it may be time to accept that this tight sisterhood has run its course. Don’t strike her from your life. Remain friends but take the focus off being best friends. You may find that a bit of distance in the relationship is exactly what you both need.
XXOO
Ruthie
Ruthie's Social Calendar
SEPTEMBER 5
OPENING NIGHT ARSENIC & OLD LACE AT SUNSET PLAYHOUSE (700 WALL ST., ELM GROVE): You can’t go wrong with a night of theater, particularly when it features this much-loved farce. The laughs come quick when you spend the night with twisted sisters Abby and Martha so nab your tickets via www.sunsetplayhouse.com.
SEPTEMBER 7
2024 FIESTA SELENA AT THE FARMHOUSE PAINT BAR (4507 S. SIXTH ST.): Considered to be one of the country’s largest Selena-fan celebrations, this party includes everything from a look-alike contest and fashion show to a tribute concert and marketplace. The fest runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. but see www.farmhouseart.com for more.
SEPTEMBER 7
MR. MILWAUKEE LEATHER CONTEST AT D.I.X. (739 S. FIRST ST.): The teams at M.O.B. (Milwaukee Organized Bears), D.I.X. and Jack Daniels join forces to host this leather event, which will send someone to the IML competition in Chicago. Contestants hit the stage at 7 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 11
THE MILWAUKEE REP’S PRIDE NIGHT PRELUDE TO A KISS AT SHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER (3270 MITCHELL PARK DR.): The Rep might be getting a facelift, but that won’t stop the fantastic performances! Join me as I host Pride Night for this musical performed at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center. The preshow party begins at 6 p.m. before we take in the 7:30 p.m. production. Go to www.milwaukeerep.com/pride and use the promo code PRIDENIGHT for the popular deal.
SEPTEMBER 14
WILLOW PILL’S “GOD’S CHILD TOUR” AT MIRAMAR THEATRE (2846 N. OAKLAND AVE.): Winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, Willow Pill brings her autobiographical show to Cream City with an 8 p.m. performance. Check out the meet-and-greet packages at www.ticketweb.com.
SEPTEMBER 19
DRAG QUEEN BINGO AT POP (124 W. NATIONAL AVE.): I’ve joined the team at POP, hosting a kooky night of drag bingo! C’mon down to POP, order some appetizers and frosty beverages, and settle in for a night of prizes, laughs and fun. See you at 7:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 22
AWKWARD NERD BOOK FAIR AT TRIPOLI SHRINE CENTER (3000 W. WISCONSIN AVE.): It’s a 1990s book fair … but for adults! Inside the 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. fair, you’ll find booksellers, authors, game sellers, vendors and the popular ‘90s-themed craft area. Nab passes at www.awkwardnerdevents.com.
SEPTEMBER 28
TENNIS BALL ’24 AT LACAGE NITECLUB (801 S. SECOND ST.): The team at Cream City PAH organizes this day-long event that’s described as a “kink-themed gala.” The fun starts at 10 a.m. and runs until bar close, so get your pup gear ready for a day of training! See www.creamcitypah.org for details, passes and more.
SEPTEMBER 29
DRAG BRUNCH AT METRO HOTEL (411 E. MASON ST.): Make it a Sunday Funday for the books! The exquisite Metro Hotel serves up an eye-opening menu while Marbella Sodi, Loretta Love Lee, Mercedes Benzova and I add enough flair to tickle your fancy. See you at the 1 p.m. brunch!
Late Summer Reading: D.H. Gutzman’s LGBTQ Thrillers, Romance and Historic Fiction Fit the Bill
BY PAUL MASTERSON
It has certainly been a busy summer. Beginning with PrideFest and the Pride Parade, PrideNight at the Brewers, the lakefront ethnic festivals, that weird political convention, jets screeching through the skies, creampuffs and finally SSBL’s Dairyland Classic softball tournament, trying to make the most of our few warm and sunny months has been exhausting. Now, however, the waning weeks of summer provide a well-deserved respite, indoors or out, to finally relax and open a good book.
In years past, I’ve devoted my annual summer reading column to selections across the LGBTQ spectrum. This time, I’ve focused on a single author, Milwaukee’s own D.H. Gutzman. More familiarly known as Dale Gutzman, he has long been recognized as a local theater impresario, who, for two decades, directed Milwaukee’s Off the Wall Theatre.
His self-published novels, a dozen in all, offer a range of genres from historic to horror, and from romance to murder mystery. Set in exotic locales like Tsarist Russia, Victorian England, ancient Egypt, Belle Epoch Paris or contemporary New York City (but with a distinct Milwaukee connection), all serve as mise en scene for the reader’s grand world tour with Gutzman as guide.
FAST-PACED PAGE TURNERS
Following the writer’s mantra write what you know, Gutzman, as playwright, director, actor and instructor, has always had a creative mind. Now packed with decades of personal experiences and a penchant for history and literature, the result is a collection of page-turners full of fast-paced action framed in detailed and sensory prose. The reader may find him or herself in a private gay London club replete with naked waiters or in an aging composer’s cluttered NYC flat.
In any locale there will be a cast of highly developed characters whose storied personalities are full of quirks and, on occasion, secrets. Of course, there is no dearth of emotional relationships from long-term friendships and intergenerational love to those of darker human motivation.
While the novels are fiction, they are deeply rooted in not only in historical fact, but also in Gutzman’s personal story. In many ways, his fiction provides a hidden autobiography. Whether producing theater for the Thai royal family in Bangkok, directing Shakespeare as resident director at the Odessa Oblast Russian Academic Drama Theater (“Russian” has recently been removed from the name) in Ukraine or staging his own Sondheim review or drag parody of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane at Off the Wall Theatre, Gutzman’s lifetime is one of accrued human interaction and observation. One can well presume that what may seem like fantasy in his writing is indeed reality.
Beyond the intriguing plots and settings, the queer component as common thread from novel to novel should also pique the reader’s curiosity. Because many of Gutzman’s characters are based on true historic figures of gay persuasion (among them Peter Tchaikovsky, Bram Stoker, Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton and even Nazi Ernst Roehm), sympathetic or heartless, the reader should find all the more connection to them.
If nothing else, aside from a good read, the novels should provide an education as well. You’ll definitely come away with some insights into queer intellectual history hitherto unexplored.
I asked Gutzman which of his novels he would recommend as late summer fare and he obliged with several fun titles. The first is his most recent. Set in 1938 Cairo, Death at the Dirty Camel: A 1930’s Murder Mystery finds gay art investigator Derek Hoar immersed in a “good old-fashioned murder mystery” with an Agatha Christie meets Casablanca cast of characters. Next is the thriller Two Noble Kinsman: The Boy Who Sold His Underwear, in which former British spy Alistair Cornwall must come out of hiding to search for his kidnapped gay son. The action moves from London to Hong Kong and from Rome to Afghanistan. The journey also forces Cornwall to understand his son’s gay lifestyle.
VICTORIAN THRILLER
Gutzman recommends another thriller, this time in a Victorian mode, Dracula and Mr. Hyde: A Novel of Gothic Horror. In this twisted tale, vampire Christian Gable, lover of Lord Byron and victim of Count Dracula, finds hope in the experiments of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Violence, love, sex and bestial hunger ensue. Finally, Gutzman recommends Agitato, which he describes as a tale of torture and salvation. Set in Venice where love and art converge, Gutzman’s characters find themselves immersed in sexual discovery and a search for a murderer.
My own suggestion is Trunk Songs: A Humorous Novel About The Show Business. The delightful comedy is set in New York City’s contemporary Broadway theater scene where a once successful lyricist and composer are at a loss for words and music. An up-and-coming young writer inspires the couple in more ways than one. Based on the author’s local stage career, for Milwaukee theater folks, some of the characters may seem familiar but with name changes to protect the not-so-innocent.
These and his remaining titles may be found on Amazon.com under D. H. Gutzman. Sadly, they are not yet to be found on local booksellers’ shelves. They should be.
Paul Masterson is an LGBTQ activist and writer and has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee Pride, GAMMA and other organizations.
I’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, good lord, “the days grow short when you reach September.” September, already? What the fock. Seems to me like it was just August, and now out of nowhere we’re into the ninth month of the year? (Although, through a tad of research, I found this: As to the “Old English from Latin: the seventh (month) according to the original calendar of ancient Rome, from septem seven.” That means that September, technically, ought to be the seventh month of the year and not the ninth. Jesus H. Christ, my head spinneth, forsooth.
Either way you number the month of this time of year, the autumn leaves are scheduled soon to fall as all the songs say, and for a guy like me that can only mean that the summertime is soon to crumble and about time for crying out loud, what with the heat, humidity/dewpoint, noisy racket and outdoor insects that seem to find their way inside. Can’t use it, I kid you not.
September’s upsides? Let me tell you’s.
You got your Labor Day, a Monday holiday when we honor the workingman by pissing the day away drinking somebody else’s beer in some in-law’s backyard or a picnic park somewheres. Hey, how ’bout next year instead we pay tribute to our blue-collar people by working twice as hard and twice as long that day? Huh? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Yes sir, we got the last extended weekend of the summer; and just so’s you know, I happen to believe that if your free-will choice involved the secluded spectacle of outdoor camping out in the boon-focking-docks to celebrate summertime’s denouement, that is a notion that not only flies to the face of the natural course of human evolution but may also be some kind of unnamed perversion to boot, just so you know.
Another upside, perhaps? Lord Football kicks-off another interminable pigskin season that will grind its way into February 2025, we should live so long. Our beloved Green & Gold begins their slog versus the Phila-focking-delphia Eagles on Friday, Sept. 6. Where? In Corinthians Arena which happens to be located in São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil? Yeah, that’s where. Talk about an “away” game. Oí.
O sim! São Paulo, reportedly known for “air pollution, nearconstant traffic congestions, crime, and extreme poverty” what the fock, they couldn’t have played that game in Chicago instead?
So yeah yeah, us cheeseheads, world-known to “travel well” as a fan base, boy-oh, but we got a long-ass driving trip ahead of us. São Paulo ain’t exactly a jaunt to Detroit. No sir, the distance from Green Bay to this south-of-the-border city covers ’round about 5,376 miles. If you haven’t already packed up the SUV including Mom, Buddy and Sis and started driving southward, forget about being in time to sing along with some kind of national anthem.
Cripes, the National Football League, on its march for sports global domination, it can only be true that in 2025 a firstweek game will take place on the North Pole so’s to dip into the hopefully lucrative Inuit market. A new “Ice Bowl” to be sure, if there’s any ice left by then.
A September downside?
There is one, when I hear the words “back to school.” To this ever-loving day I still get the heebie-jeebies from way back in time when I was to be sentenced to another stint to be served at Our Lady In Pain Because You Kids Are Going Straight To Hell But Not Soon Enough. I believe it’s called Back-To-School-Syndrome, and it’s not uncommon amongst us veteran survivors of the old-school parochial school system, I kid you not.
I’ve heard that a symptom of the syndrome is an overwhelming urge to skip out of doing something you don’t feel like doing. I brought this up to my buddy Little Jimmy Iodine who set me straight and eased my mind. He said, “Artie, I’ll bet you a buck two-eighty that this need to skip out of stuff is some kind of misguided attempt to recapture the temporary joy you experienced as a lad whenever you skipped goddamn school. Yes, you were partaking in at-risk behavior, in that you could’ve been run over by a school bus while attempting to duck the truant officer. But big focking deal. Life is temporary. At least you would’ve died doing what you loved best—focking off.” Thank you, Jimmy.
Okey-doke, Genug ist genug, and as the song says, “When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame,” I hope these precious days serve you well, today, tomorrow and forward, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.
