http://www.thedailypage.com/arts Arts content from ISTHMUS | The Daily Page webmaster@isthmus.com (Webmaster) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:56:17 CST 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. 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. Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:14:17 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27138 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27138 Madison Theatre Guild's production of <i>Forever Plaid</i> wraps audience and performers alike in its fuzzy comfort. Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:19:38 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27076 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27076 What do you get when you take a 1937 Federal Theatre Project production for children about oppressed beavers, then toss in some rubber teeth, galoshes falling from the sky, a tinsel-bedazzled robot, a Black Eyed Peas song and messages of social justice and environmentalism? Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27298 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27298 Suspicious-looking aliens come to Earth in ABC's remake of the 1980s series <i>V</i>. They resemble humans and claim to have peaceful intentions. Ominously, their leader announces that her race doesn't believe in negative feelings. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27231 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27231 No, <i>White Collar</i> is not set in the real world. USA specializes in this kind of crime-solving fantasy, but the new series lacks the magic of <i>Monk</i> or <i>Psych</i>. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27299 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27299 This fall continues to be a very good season for games. The latest, <i>Uncharted 2: Among Thieves</i>, is an excellent and addictive action-adventure where you portray an Indiana Jones-styled explorer searching for the lost treasures of Shangri-La, as you follow clues left behind by Marco Polo. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27232 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27232 <i>Brutal Legend</i> is a wondrous, creative video game that feels like <i>Conan the Barbarian</i> meets <i>This Is Spinal Tap</i>. Which means you kill a lot of monsters on a fantasy planet of Nordic ruins, megaliths and Stonehenge replicas -- by playing heavy metal music on your flying-V guitar. 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. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27003 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27003 Given the popularity of cupcakes these days, it's understandable that the not-paying-close-attention community might come to the conclusion that W Cupcake is another one of those east-side cupcakeries. It is not. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27381 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27381 It's a fairly good bet that when Charles Schulz created his beloved <i>Peanuts</i> cartoon strip, he never foresaw the futures that his characters live into in <i>Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead</i>, a decidedly adult spoof that is the debut production of the OUT!Cast Theatre company. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:33:25 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27380 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27380 Friday night the Madison Opera opened this season with a lavish production in Overture Hall of the perennial crowd-pleaser, Bizet's <i>Carmen</i>. And a production to please it surely was. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0600 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27376 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27376 I am very picky about writing styles. Have you noticed? I don't like (and won't read) badly written books. I will, however, sometimes read a decently written book with a lousy plot. Ruth Brandon's <i>Caravaggio's Angel</i> fits into this category. I am a sucker for art mysteries and picked this up by chance. 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. 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. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26991 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26991 You don't have to look hard to find uncanny parallels between the 1960s and our own decade: the election of a charismatic young president; a frayed social and political climate; and a prolonged war with seemingly no satisfying resolution. While some artists confront times like these head-on, others focus on personal or purely visual concerns. Some, like Robert Rauschenberg, do all three. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:30:33 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=26986 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=26986 Just in time for its fifth anniversary celebration this weekend, the Overture Center for the Arts has received a special gift: fresh financial impact figures that show audiences pumping $9.8 million in related spending into the downtown economy annually. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26991 http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26991 You don't have to look hard to find uncanny parallels between the 1960s and our own decade: the election of a charismatic young president; a frayed social and political climate; and a prolonged war with seemingly no satisfying resolution. While some artists confront times like these head-on, others focus on personal or purely visual concerns. Some, like Robert Rauschenberg, do all three. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0500 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27020 http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27020 A neighborhood, a city and a nation welcomed a tree home to Hudson Park on Lake Monona's north shore during formal rededication ceremonies Saturday afternoon for "Let the Great Spirits Soar," the extraordinary sculpture by Ho-Chunk artist Harry Whitehorse.