http://www.thedailypage.com/arts Arts content from ISTHMUS | The Daily Page webmaster@isthmus.com (Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:39:44 CST Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27418 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27418 "The theater is our laboratory. It's where our students do their work, where they learn. Our audiences are doubly important in that regard." So says David Furumoto, the new head of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's University Theatre, and a tenured associate professor of acting in the department of theater and drama. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27419 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27419 Murals by two internationally famous artists-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin have recently been threatened. One, by John Steuart Curry, is being preserved by heroic measures. The fate of the other, by Aaron Bohrod, is unknown. Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:00:08 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27193 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27193 As debuts go, <i>The Smart Women Project</i> -- the first-ever production from the new Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre company -- is, well, awfully smart. The production's nine short plays run the gamut from sober realism to out-there experiments to frenetic zaniness, and while some work better than others, all of them work, and none talk down to the audience. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27179 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27179 There was nothing pretty about Florence Foster Jenkins' singing. But there might be something beautiful about it. Foster Jenkins is one of the two characters in Madison Theatre Guild's <i>Souvenir</i>, which opened Oct. 14 at the Bartell Theatre. She's odd, compelling -- and utterly real. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27424 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27424 <i>WWII in HD</i> presents rare footage of World War II, found during a two-year global search through basements and archives. The footage was translated into high definition, then artfully edited to convey the sense that we're experiencing the events of 1939-45 as they happened. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27366 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27366 It's official: Everybody loves <i>SpongeBob SquarePants</i>. You can tell by all the stars who line up for cameo appearances in the cartoon's 10th anniversary special, including Robin Williams, Pink, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Craig Ferguson, LeBron James and Rosario Dawson. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27425 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27425 I've got two somewhat disappointing video games this week. Or as I declared on Facebook, "meh." Of the two, the better game is the racing simulator <i>Forza Motorsport 3</i>. It's a pretty good racer for those of you who enjoy car simulators. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27363 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27363 Just because I don't want to play a certain video game very much doesn't mean I hate it. To the contrary, two new video games are quite good, objectively speaking (they're entertaining and impressive), but simply aren't my cup of coffee. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27333 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27333 Halloween may have come and gone but that doesn't mean the little ones have to stop playing dress up. Playing princess has never been easier or more adorable than with a tutu from The Fairy Garden. With only a little tulle and a little sparkle, shop owner Heidi Duss has created an invitation to the magical world of make-believe for your child. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27092 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27092 I have a fairly large jewelry collection; consequently if I am going to expand my collection the piece needs to be unusual. Ordinary just won't do. Classic hoops are not going to excite me, neither are plain gold studs. Luckily, Etsy is ripe with unique shops and A Handmade Portland is no exception. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27503 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27503 Popular fiction is a genre that is distinct from literary fiction, though the boundaries are fluid. I like to think of these categories as either ends of a ruler, with most books falling somewhere between the two ends. A lot of the books I read fall right around the middle of the continuum between popular and literary fiction. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:47:05 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27453 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27453 <i>Autumn Heart</i>, the late fall concert by Kanopy Dance Company at Overture's Promenade Hall last weekend, was predictably inconsistent. Three standouts rescued the eight-piece program from the dustbin of unmemorable Madison dance performances. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:54:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27449 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27449 Going to the theater is risky. Theater tickets are investments in the unknown. So often we leave our seats disappointed, thinking that a few pints would have been a better use of the night. Saturday night, as I headed into the strangely balmy air after University Theatre production of <i>Blood Wedding</i>, I felt just the opposite. Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:21:48 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27446 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27446 Broom Street Theater brings its 40th anniversary season to an end with an adaptation of Shakespeare's <i>Macbeth</i>, which artistic director Callen Harty has twisted and turned into <i>McBeth</i>, an allegory of corporate greed. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:32:42 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27143 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27143 To judge by the crush of people at the James Watrous Gallery Sunday, you'd think a famous rock band was giving a press conference. But no, it was just a half-dozen articulate artists discussing the ways in which they entrance children with images on paper. Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:43:36 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27140 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27140 Upstairs at Overture, a book festival volunteer herding people asked me, "Are you here for Jane Hamilton?" Well, if the truth were told, I was out in the windy cold on Saturday night to hear David Rhodes. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:55:28 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27251 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27251 I saw Li Chiao Ping's <i>Pagoda</i>, a repertory evening with two premieres, at the Wisconsin Union Theater Saturday night. Li conceived the program as a structure to house eight of her eastern-themed works -- six repertory repeats and two premieres. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27176 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27176 Madison has always had its fair share of sketch, improv and standup acts -- not to mention being the hometown of comedic titan Chris Farley. And these days, there's a flourishing scene taking shape here, one that offers a supportive community for those wishing to flex their funny muscles. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27292 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27292 Finally, here's some change we can believe in. The U.S. blockade on Cuba is alive and well, but Obama's given us wiggle room. For the first time since the start of W's second term, Cuban artists can get visas to visit the States. Thanks to impressive efforts by the Madison-Camagüey Sister City Association, with support from Edgewood College, the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, and the Overture and Pleasant T. Rowland Foundations, painter Orestes Larios Zaak and sculptor Gregorio Pérez Escobar will be our guests. It's part of the Madison-Camagüey association's 15th anniversary celebration.