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Wednesday, May 28,2008
A Prurient Gaze
Theater Review
Casting an unwavering gaze at the darker side of human nature, Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane was a critical hit when it was first staged in London in 1964. Its original run only lasted a few performances, but it left enough of a mark to become an enduring work by a very short-lived playwright. The story of a young drifter’s interactions with his landlady, her brother and father presented contemporary middle-class society as remarkably ugly and dysfunctional. Running through June 1, Off The Wall’s presentation of the play is impressively uneven, but well worth a sidelong, prurient glance from the morbidly curious . . .
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Wednesday, May 28,2008
Bittersweet Comedy
Theater Review
Sunset Playhouse tackles a tough challenge with its latest production, The Boys Next Door. Written in 1985, the play attempts to raise awareness of issues faced by the cognitively disabled. Often, this type of “message” play is long on exposition and short on entertainment. The Sunset production, however, manages to balance both elements quite well. Credit goes to director Mark Salentine for keeping the show on task throughout its two-and-a-half-hour running time.
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Wednesday, May 28,2008
Small Town, Big Heart
Theater Review
For young Percy Talbott and the folks of Gilead, Wisconsin life is not a physical journey out of the small town. In their case, it’s a new way of looking at life within as they rediscover all that’s good about their close knit community. It takes an outsider like Percy to show the insiders where the dormant joys lie buried, waiting to be rediscovered.
And life in Gilead centers around The Spitfire Grill, the homey diner crossroads where everyone knows, or tries to know, one another’s business. Based on the 1996 film of the same name, the stage musical version tells the story of Talbott . . .
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Wednesday, May 28,2008
Shakespeare in the Woods
Theater Preview
Over the years, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has proven to be one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays—and now it’s about to be shown at two outdoor theaters in Wisconsin. Next week, the Bard’s classic makes it to the outdoor stage of the American Players Theatre (APT) in Spring Green. A month later, Door Shakespeare will launch its own staging.
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Arrested Life
Theater Reviews
What do you do when you lose your one true love?
With five well-defined female characters (plus two goofy men), a soundtrack of cuddly Beatles tunes, and the plot of a Lifetime channel movie, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, performed last weekend by Soulstice Theatre, has all the elements of a perfect chick play.
David, a former college teacher, has been living in an island cottage purchased with the settlement from his wife’s tragic demise two years ago.
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Experimental Theater
Theater Reviews
In the intimate Alchemist Theatre located on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View, Pink Banana Theatre Company finds a home—one that “encourages new and emerging artists to focus on their artistic crafts while given the opportunity to grow creativity.” This is the spirit that pervades their spring 2008 production Pink Banana One Acts: The Next Big Thing.”
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Emotionally Charged
Theater Reviews
Robb Smith plays an American college professor working overseas in Beirut who is captured by terrorists. Forced to take in the world around him through sound alone, the professor spends much of his time trying analyzing the social complexity of his situation. Smith has a firm grasp on the character’s intellectual side, rendering an intelligent performance that is solidly rooted in emotional reality.
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Complex Comedy
Theater Preview
Tom Griffin’s comic drama The Boys Next Door brilliantly showcases a poignant, humorous story about people with developmental disabilities. The play deftly walks the line between complexity and accessibility by treating the characters as three-dimensional human beings instead of resorting to juvenile . . .
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Tuesday, May 13,2008
Crippling Joy
Theater Review
Pain and suffering, when they transcend the vague forms of conjecture and materialize into a cold, hard fact, can shake the firmest of faiths. When Michael Chobanoff, who plays C. S. Lewis in Acacia Theatre’s production of Shadowlands, stands before the audience and declares self-sufficiency is the enemy of salvation, even those unfamiliar with his life will have an inkling his complacency will be severely tested. And so it is.
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Tuesday, May 13,2008
Rough and Ready Theater
Theater Review
The third annual Play in a Day hit the Tenth Street Theatre this past weekend. A joint project between DIY theater groups Insurgent Theatre and Alamo Basement, Play in a Day comes from the rather absurd notion of making an entire play in 24 hours complete with sets and costuming. The hope here is to blur the line between performance and process. To a certain extent the final show is merely a rehearsal for a more balanced show that will never be completed. Ideally, things feel rough and incomplete.
Read more...Elections 2008
Obama seeks greater rein on financial institutions
(AP)
AP - President Barack Obama says he wants Congress to pass legislation giving the government greater regulatory authority over financial institutions like American International Group.
Sources: Pentagon to stop forced tour extension
(AP)
AP - The Army will substantially reduce use of the unpopular practice of holding troops beyond their enlistment dates and will pay $500 to those still forced to stay in the service, defense and congressional officials said Wednesday.
AIG head shares US anger of bonuses but backs them
(AP)
AP - The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG acknowledged Wednesday that the company's multimillion-dollar bonuses were "distasteful" to many and had provoked a firestorm of wrath. "I share that anger," Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of the American International Group Inc., said in testimony prepared for Congress.
Analysis: White House, Dems backpedaling on AIG
(AP)
AP - For the first time since last fall's election, Democrats and the Obama administration are backpedaling furiously on an issue easily understood by financially strapped taxpayers: $165 million in bonuses paid out at bailed-out AIG.
Pence: Return AIG donations
(Politico)
Politico - House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence is urging politicians from both parties to strongly consider returning campaign contributions from AIG.
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Top Stories
AIG head shares US anger of bonuses but backs them
(AP)
AP - The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG acknowledged Wednesday that the company's multimillion-dollar bonuses were "distasteful" to many and had provoked a firestorm of wrath. "I share that anger," Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of the American International Group Inc., said in testimony prepared for Congress.
Obama seeks greater rein on financial institutions
(AP)
AP - President Barack Obama says he wants Congress to pass legislation giving the government greater regulatory authority over financial institutions like American International Group.
Consumer prices rise by largest amount in 7 months
(AP)
AP - Consumer prices rose in February by the largest amount in seven months as gasoline prices surged again and clothing costs jumped the most in nearly two decades.
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