Author : Michael Muckian

• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, StageMarch 17,2017by Michael Muckian

  Madison audiences find ‘Cannibal! The Musical’ a tasty treat

  Trey Parker, co-creator with Matt Stone of the popular South Park animated cable TV series, has discovered the secret to successful musical comedy in the 21st Century: Take the bones of a socially abhorrent historical anecdote and rewrite to suit the nature of the narrative Lace liberally with profanity and childish scatological references Cast fearlessly with a cadre of cartoon charact.... Read More
• Dining, Featured Lifestyle, LifestyleMarch 13,2017by Michael Muckian

  Madison’s Tory Miller excels again with Estrellón

  Tory Miller is one Wisconsin chef whose reputation precedes him. The Racine native’s fame is not limited to the state. Miller was recognized by the James Beard Foundation for superior performance. He earned his first nomination for Best Chef Midwest in 2011 and then nabbed the honor in 2012.Last year, Miller was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef and this year his flagship restaurant,.... Read More
• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, StageMarch 13,2017by Michael Muckian

  ‘Cannibal! The Musical’ to devour Madison

  Ever wonder what it’s like to eat human flesh? According to Alfred Packer, “it tastes like chicken” is not the right answer.In the winter of 1874, Packer led a team of five other miners from Provo, Utah, to the Breckinridge gold fields in what was then Colorado Territory. The following April, he stumbled alone into a trading outpost, saying he had been lost and abandoned by his party..... Read More
• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, StageMarch 10,2017by Michael Muckian

  The many talents of Wisconsin’s James DeVita

  At one time, Wisconsin theatergoers had to wait until American Players Theatre opened each June to get a glimpse of actor James DeVita’s latest Shakespeare-under the-stars characterizations. For many, his performances became one of the main reasons to make the trek to the Spring Green open-air amphitheater.But in the last decade or so, things have changed. DeVita, who once filled his offseas.... Read More
• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, StageMarch 10,2017by Michael Muckian

  Theatre LILA’s ‘The Bed’ tells of love, fear, and relationships

  Take one large, pristine white bed. Add 11 actors. Then forgive yourself if “orgy” is the first word that comes to mind.There is more going on in Theatre LILA’s production of The Bed than sex, however. In fact, sex is a small part of the equation as actors of varying ages and genders portray the various scenarios that occur in the mind of one woman (played by Milwaukee actor Olivia Dawso.... Read More
• Dining, Featured Lifestyle, LifestyleMarch 09,2017by Michael Muckian

  Milwaukee craft beer scene is hopping

  Despite its long-standing brewing legacy, Milwaukee was relatively late to the party when it came to craft brewing. But the hereditary home of Miller High Life, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz and Blatz is making up for lost time.These days, the Cream City is awash in suds of all kinds from multiple small breweries scattered across the metro area. Pull up a stool and dive into some great new Milwauke.... Read More
• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, Visual ArtFebruary 27,2017by Michael Muckian

  Do Ho Suh searches for ‘home’ at MMOCA

  Korean sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh takes his home with him wherever he goes.In Suh's case, that “home” consists of full-size and scale replicas of his past abodes, which he constructs in art galleries around the world. The replicated spaces are created of translucent, monochrome polyester sewn onto thin steel frames and they offer both the artist and viewers an interpretation .... Read More
• Featured News, National, News, Political, Progressive, SportsFebruary 27,2017by Michael Muckian

  Get political, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar advises

  In 1971, the Milwaukee Bucks stunned the basketball world by winning the NBA championship in only its third season of professional play. At the center of this upstart team stood 24-year-old Lew Alcindor, a 7’2” draft pick from UCLA.The basketball world was about to be further startled.The day after the Bucks swept a four-game championship over the Baltimore Bullets and he earned the NBA’.... Read More
• Dining, Featured Lifestyle, LifestyleFebruary 24,2017by Michael Muckian

  Single-vineyard Zins bolster Ravenswood’s portfolio

  If there is a flagship grape for the California wine industry, it is probably the scrappy, jammy Zinfandel.Grape geneticists may have traced the grape’s roots to southern Italy and Croatia, but California has embraced this European immigrant as its own.Vintners especially celebrate “old vine” Zinfandel grapes, recognizing that old vines’ lower yield often results in richer, more flavor.... Read More
• Entertainment, Featured Entertainment, StageFebruary 24,2017by Michael Muckian

  Shakespeare goes Hawaiian in University Theatre’s ‘Twelfth Night’

  Director Baz Luhrmann set his film Romeo + Juliet in modern-day, gang-ridden Verona. Ian McKellen created a memorable Richard III as a 1930s-era mustachioed fascist dictator. And even the 1956 sci-fi potboiler Forbidden Planet is considered an interplanetary retelling of The Tempest.But no one ever recast anything by William Shakespeare in 19th-century Hawaii at a time when the Hawaiian monarchy.... Read More