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SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 | 5

::NEWS&VIEWS DAVE ZYLSTRA

FEATURES | POLLS | TAKING LIBERTIES | ISSUE OF THE WEEK

Construction of the new Bucks Arena

Building the Bucks Arena Milwaukee team scores high for wages and good corporate citizenship ::BY ELIZABETH ELVING he new home of the Milwaukee Bucks has already made its mark Downtown. The arcing roof of the 714,000-square-foot arena is now part of the city’s skyline, and the rest is quickly taking shape. Construction passed the halfway mark over the summer and is on track to wrap up before the start of the 2018-’19 season.

The stadium is part of a 30-acre Bucks-owned development that will include a parking structure, multipurpose entertainment “live block” and the newly opened Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center. As the centerpiece of this project, the arena is costing more than $500 million to build. Half of that is covered by current and former Bucks owners, the other half by taxpayers. Not everyone supports this funding model. When lawmakers were debating the plan in 2015, many held that public money shouldn’t be going toward a privately owned sports complex. But others saw an opportunity— not only to revitalize Downtown Milwaukee, but to drive growth in ways that could reverberate throughout the city. When the public-private arrangement was finalized, the pressure was on the Bucks leaders to make sure this development would truly benefit the state and the people who live in it.

Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry says the added scrutiny is a good thing, noting that “there should be more of a watchdog feeling when you’re using taxpayer dollars.” Still, he says their priorities would be the same regardless of how the project was financed. “Whether we were doing a public-private partnership or not, our intention has always been to be good corporate citizens,” he says. The Bucks have demonstrated as much by working hand-in-hand with local labor organizations and community groups throughout the arena’s construction. These partnerships have enabled them to hire qualified local workers, pay a fair wage and create opportunities where they’re needed most.

The arena district is part of a major construction boom in Milwaukee’s Downtown area, and the next few years will bring many more developments across the city and state. Notably, the legislature just passed a $3 billion incentives package for Foxconn to build a factory in Wisconsin, with supporters claiming the project will bring thousands of family-supporting jobs. This promise echoes the Bucks’ own commitment to family-supporting jobs, and the arena is a blueprint for how it can be done.

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Project Labor Agreements

The development of the arena district was a complex, high-profile endeavor with an ambitious timeline. To meet that challenge, Bucks leaders reached out to the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council (MBCTC), which supports the union construction industry. “The Bucks knew that the only workforce around to get that done for them was going to be the union building trades,” says MBCTC President Dan Bukiewicz. “Long before they decided on a site, they came to the building trades and said, ‘We need to accomplish these goals, and we need your help.’”

Those early steps led to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) between lead construction company Mortenson Construction and local unions. Announced in July 2016, it set terms for worker wages and protections, as well as guidelines for safety, quality and dispute resolution. It communicates expectations so that all contractors commit to an established set of criteria. “You have to meet the provisions of what’s asked, and make sure you’re paying the correct wage,” says Bukiewicz. “Basically, we’re leveling the playing field to bring up worker standards all the way around.” He says the agreement also includes provisions that “go above and beyond” the baseline standards—such as enhanced safety provisions and hiring goals for women and minorities.

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Workforce Development

Milwaukee projects that receive taxpayer money are required to hire a certain percentage of individuals certified by the Residents Preference Program (RPP), which promotes hiring of local unemployed and underemployed workers. As part of their agreement, the Bucks and Mortenson committed to a 40% RPP requirement and to a 25% threshold for working with Small Business Enterprise (SBE) firms. Since beginning construction, the arena development has surpassed its goals on both fronts. “I think the fact that we’re above our numbers on RPP and SBE shows our dedication,” Lasry says.

“But it’s important to remember that there’s a human side to the numbers. These are people.

These are lives and careers.”

To that end, the Bucks have invested in workforce development, putting $375,000 (which the city matched) toward finding and training qualified staff. They partnered with the tech company SkillSmart, whose software connects jobseekers with employment. They also worked with several aldermen to host hiring town hall meetings in neighborhoods throughout the city.

“We wanted to go into the communities instead of asking them to come to us,” Lasry says. At

the town halls, prospective employees could sign up for SkillSmart, pursue RPP certification and network with representatives from Mortenson Construction and other companies. Lasry estimates they found from 5 to 10% of their RPP workforce through these efforts.

Funding also went toward training programs for Milwaukee Public Schools and MATC students to jumpstart careers in construction. The Bucks partnered with the city to offer a stipend for some trainees, making it possible for more young people to take advantage of the program.

Bukiewicz says that creating entry-level opportunities was a top priority for all the new Bucks facilities. “The project opened up loads of opportunities for people to begin their careers in the trades,” he says, “and the PLA helped ensure that, because there are built-in apprenticeship ratios already in the contracts that have to be abided by.”

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Community Building

Overall, the Bucks arena construction is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs; thousands more will likely be needed once it’s finished.

Working with the Alliance for Good Jobs, The Bucks reached a separate community benefits agreement for end-use positions (such as food service, landscaping and cleaning) at the arena and related facilities and established a minimum wage of $12 (which will go up to $15 by 2023).

The agreement includes provisions to hire locally from high unemployment areas and protects workers’ ability to unionize. Supporters hope that this influx of good paying jobs will have a ripple effect—both strengthening neighborhoods and spurring economic growth.

“When workers are paid a good wage with good benefits, they put those hard-earned dollars back in the community,” Bloomingdale says.

“That, in turn, creates stable, vibrant communities that last.”

The language of community building is often applied to the new facilities themselves. Bucks President Peter Feigin has spoken of how the arena will draw people from throughout the Milwaukee area and beyond. Lasry envisions the future live block as a “living room of the city,” with Saturday night socializing, Sunday morning farmers’ markets and weekday business lunches.

He describes the arena hosting not just basketball games but other sports, music and comedy shows—the kind of attractions that will “really bring Milwaukee together.”

Building a space like that is a lofty goal. Reconciling private objectives with public needs in a trusting, transparent partnership might be even loftier. But for some supporters, the Bucks arena is already proof that it’s possible. “The Bucks’ development is a shining example of what can be done when communities, developers, contractors, the state, taxpayers and workers come together,” Bloomingdale says. “It’s something we can all be proud of for years to come.”

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PLAs are a common tool for aligning the interests of contractors, workers and developers at the beginning of a project. AFL-CIO secretarytreasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale says they have been used for many Wisconsin projects from Lambeau Field to Miller Park, as well as national landmarks like Disney World. She calls them a “tried-and-true method” for ensuring fair wages and worker protections, while keeping projects on time and on budget with high-quality results.

“It really is a win-win for all parties,” Bloomingdale says, “and the end users are also benefiting because they’re getting a good product at a quality price that they can be proud of.”

Still, these agreements are controversial. Opponents say they discourage competition and give unfair advantage to union contractors. In April, Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill banning municipal governments from requiring contractors to enter into PLAs for publicly funded projects (more than 20 states have similar bans in place). Proponents of the ban say it would save taxpayers money by allowing more contractors to bid on these developments. To the contrary, Bloomingdale argues that PLAs prevent the sort of cost cutting that can diminish quality and lead to more expenses down the line.

Additionally, she says, they require all parties to complete negotiations in advance, avoiding costly disputes and delays.

Such has been true for the Bucks. Lasry says using a PLA helped develop good working relationships and avoided the “strain” that can sometimes exist between labor and management.

“We were able to build trust very quickly, which makes for a smoother project,” he says.

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Things we want you to know: Offer valid on base-memory model. New consumer or small business (20 lines or less) port-in and a select Postpaid Plan required. 2GB Total Plan and 3GB Shared Connect Plan excluded. Purchase of device via 0% APR 30-month Retail Installment Contract, credit approval, qualifying Smartphone turn-in (for “On Us” promotional pricing) and Device Protection+ required. A $25 Activation Fee may apply. Tax due at sale. A Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee (currently $2.02) applies; this is not a tax or government required charge. Additional fees (including Device Connection Charges), taxes, terms, conditions and coverage areas may apply and vary by plan, service and phone. Offers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined. See store or uscellular.com for details. Minimum monthly price of Device Protection+ is $8.99 ($9.99 on/after 11/2/2017) per Smartphone. A service fee/deductible per approved claim applies. You may cancel anytime. Property insurance is underwritten by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida and provided under a Master Policy issued to U.S. Cellular. You will be the certificate holder on U.S. Cellular’s Master Policy for loss/theft benefits. Service Contract Obligor is Federal Warranty Service Corporation in all states except CA (Sureway, Inc.) and OK (Assurant Service Protection, Inc.). Limitations and exclusions apply. Ask an associate for more details. Smartphone turn-in: Smartphone must power on and cannot be pin locked. Device must be in fully functional working condition without any liquid damage or broken components, including, but not limited to, a cracked display or housing. Qualifying turn-in devices include: iPhone 6 or better, Samsung Galaxy S® 6 or better or Note 5. Offer with qualifying turn-in: “On Us” iPhone 8: Full price is $699. Customer will receive a $100 U.S. Cellular Promotional Card at the point of sale, balance of $599 comes via a monthly bill credit of $19.97 on a 30-month Retail Installment Contract; 0% APR. Bill credit applied within three bill cycles and ends when balance is paid. Line must remain in good standing. In the event of cancellation of service, customer will be responsible for the entire Retail Installment Contract balance. Available on new line activations. Early upgrade eligibility is forfeited if offer is taken. $100 U.S. Cellular Promotional Card given at point of sale, or mailed with device via direct fulfillment orders. Promotional Card issued by MetaBank,® Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Valid only for purchases at U.S. Cellular stores and uscellular.com. Card must be used by expiration date shown on card. Limited-time offer. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. © 2017 U.S. Cellular 1Charging mat sold separately. 2iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are splash, water, and dust resistant and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty. 3Display size is measured diagonally.

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NEWS&VIEWS::FEATURE

UPAF Beats the Drum with Fall Arts Awareness Campaign

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::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN

his June, the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) capped its 50th anniversary campaign by setting a record for dollars raised and then breaking that record. “The number we announced at our finale event—we exceeded it!” says Dave Fantle, UPAF’s chief marketing officer. A total of $12,312,885 was raised through workplace giving, fundraiser events and the UPAF Ride for the Arts.

Some 85.28% of this year’s allocation will go to UPAF’s six “Cornerstone Groups:” the Florentine Opera, First Stage, Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Milwaukee Ballet. The remaining 14.72% will be presented to the Bel Canto Chorus, Danceworks, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Milwaukee Children’s Choir, Milwaukee Public Theatre, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, Next Act Theatre, Present Music and Renaissance Theaterworks.

Each year after its 15-week spring campaign, UPAF has gone dark for eight months, until now. “Our member groups asked us why UPAF goes quiet at the time when the arts season kicks off,” Fantle continues, referring to the traditional post-Labor Day start to Milwaukee’s performing arts season. This fall (Oct. 1-Nov. 17), UPAF intends to make some noise, not by passing the hat and asking for money, but by sponsoring something new—the Performing Arts Awareness Campaign—to beat the drum for local arts.

“We’ve always had a gentleman’s agreement with the United Way to not compete with their fall fundraising campaign,” Fantle says. “What we’re doing is making our member groups the stars for six weeks in order to put the spotlight on them for the fall season.”

The goals of the Performing Arts Awareness Campaign are to find new audiences by attacking the “not for me” mentality of folks who assume they won’t like theater, dance or classical music, and by reaching people who intensely engaged in other aspects of the local community—supporting Milwaukee businesses, eating food grown nearby—just not the arts. The effort includes several facets: Pop-up performances in the Third Ward by UPAF member groups during the Fall Gallery Night (Saturday, Oct. 21).

Working with 88.9 Radio Milwaukee to sponsor MKE Arts Live, a series of live podcasts involving panel discussions on Milwaukee arts education, prop design for theater, arts administration and other topics. The podcasts are open to the public and will be held at Radio Milwaukee (6 p.m. on Mondays Oct. 2, 9 and 30) and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (Thursday, Oct. 19).

Facebook Live, in which volunteers from theater appreciation classes and other novice artgoers attend a play, an opera or a symphony and post their unfiltered responses.

The website mkearts.com, “celebrating the stories behind Milwaukee’s arts community.”

“We have evolved,” says Fantle, reflecting on UPAF’s half-century history.

The primary goal remains to provide financial support for a select roster of performing arts groups, but recent years have seen greater emphasis on filling the gap left by declining funding for arts education in primary and secondary schools. Partnering with 10 local nonprofit organizations, the UPAF Connects initiative brings the arts to “underserved populations,” Fantle explains. The project pays performers to visit sites across the city and purchases tickets that allow members of participating nonprofits to attend performances in concert halls and theaters.

“It’s all about reaching people who are likely to be receptive, but have not had exposure to performing arts,” Fantle concludes. He hopes this fall’s awareness campaign will lead to the first Milwaukee Performing Arts Month—an annual event modeled after Downtown Dining Week and other local promotional events—possibly as early as September 2018.

For more information, visit upaf.org or mkearts.com.

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NEWS&VIEWS

::SAVINGOURDEMOCRACY ( SEPT. 28 - OCT. 4, 2017 )

E

ach week, the Shepherd Express serves as a clearinghouse for all activities in the greater Milwaukee area that peacefully push back against discriminatory, reactionary or authoritarian actions and policies of the Trump administration and other activities that seek to thwart social justice. We will publicize and promote actions, demonstrations, planning meetings, teach-ins, party-building meetings, drinking-discussion get-togethers or any other actions that are directed toward fighting back to preserve our liberal democratic system.

Saturday, Sept. 30

Black Women’s Empowerment March @ Victory Over Violence Park (2615 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

In solidarity with the March for Racial Justice in Washington, D.C., on the same day, Uplifting Black Liberation and Community is planning a march in Milwaukee. “We will not end our work the day of the march, but will continue to stand in solidarity and work within our own communities,” per the event’s Facebook page.

Voter and Civic Engagement Campaign @ Acción Ciudadana de Wisconsin (221 S. Second St.), 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Acción Ciudadana de Wisconsin, Latino Voting Bloc of Wisconsin and Citizen Action of Wisconsin have come together to organize a weekly Saturday campaign of knocking on doors and phone banking to get people thinking about the 2018 elections. Volunteers can go out and talk to voters about the issues that they care about and get them involved in different events happening in the community.

Social Justice Education Movement @ UW-Milwaukee Union Room 191 (2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.), 4-6 p.m.

The Social Justice Education Movement from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., will make a special presentation in Milwaukee to share their experiences organizing for K-12 schools in a presentation and Q&A.

Peace Action Wisconsin: Stand for Peace @ The corner of Farwell and North avenues, noon-1 p.m.

Every Saturday from noon-1 p.m., concerned citizens join with Peace Action Wisconsin to protest war. Signs will be provided for those who need them.

Protesters are encouraged to stick around for conversation and coffee afterward.

Sunday, Oct. 1

Immigration Panel with Voces de la Frontera @ Plymouth Church (2717 E. Hampshire Ave.), 9:30 a.m.

This panel, which is a part of the Adult Education Series on Immigration at Plymouth Church, features personal stories from a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, and someone who has faced deportation. Nayeli Rondin-Valle of Voces de la Frontera’s New Sanctuary Movement has organized the panel.

Monday, Oct. 2

Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women Walk @ Milwaukee City Hall (200 E. Wells St.), 11:55 a.m.-1 p.m.

This silent walk around Downtown Milwaukee is to remember those in Wisconsin who fell victim to domestic violence last year. The one-mile walk is anticipated to take about 30 minutes.

Freedom Walkers Screening and Discussion @ Yours Truly (833 E. Center St.), 6:30-8 p.m.

Yours Truly will host a screening and discussion of Freedom Walkers, a short documentary film about the fair housing marches in Milwaukee of some 50 years ago. Several people who participated in the marches will be there to facilitate discussion.

Tuesday, Oct. 3

Defend Free Speech by Becoming a Legal Observer @ UW-Milwaukee Union Room 250 (2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.), 6-8 p.m.

This workshop is free for anyone who wants to become a “Legal Observer” for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin. Legal Observers are trained volunteers who are legal witnesses to political demonstrations, and who document the events of public protests—including any incidents of police misconduct or violations of the rights of protesters.

Wednesday, Oct. 4

Lead the Change! @ UW-Milwaukee Union Room 280 (2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.), 4-5:30 p.m.

Lead the Change! is a seven-week workshop, open to UW-Milwaukee students only, that focuses on social justice leadership. The series will focus on giving students of all identities the opportunity to develop skills related to being an agent of change.

Milwaukee Supports People in Prisons @ Milwaukee Public Library (2727 W. Fond du Lac Ave.), 6-7:30 p.m.

At this event—organized by Black and Pink Milwaukee, Ex-Prisoners Organizing and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee—participants will process mail from incarcerated people, be matched with pen pals and more.

To submit to this column, please send a brief description of your action, including date and time, to savingourdemocracy@shepex.com. Together, we can fight to minimize the damage that the Trump administration has planned for our great country.

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Thurs. October 5 West Allis Farmers Market 5-9pm

A sampling event where you get to try unique pork-themed cuisine presented by

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 | 9

NEWS&VIEWS::POLL

You are not upset by Colin Kaepernick’s treatment by the NFL Last week we asked if you are upset by the way the NFL and the team owners have treated Colin Kaepernick. You said: n Yes: 46% n No: 54%

What Do You Say? Given Donald Trump’s talk about lowering corporate taxes, at the end of the day would middle-class Americans end up paying more under a Republican tax reform plan? n Yes n No

Vote online at shepherdexpress.com. We’ll publish the results of this poll in next week’s issue.

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NEWS&VIEWS::TAKINGLIBERTIES

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Wisconsin’s Corrupt Political Gerrymandering ::BY JOEL MCNALLY

T

he U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a case involving a politically corrupt action by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature that has the potential to become a landmark voting rights case for the nation. Whether it does or not will depend upon whether the Supreme Court is finally ready to outlaw the corrupt practice of partisan political gerrymandering. And, of course, that depends upon just how corrupt and politically partisan Supreme Court justices themselves are these days.

Both political parties have engaged in corrupt political gerrymandering historically. Wisconsin Republicans under Gov. Scott Walker have simply carried it to such outrageous extremes they’ve attracted serious legal scrutiny.

Every 10 years, after the U.S. completes a new census, states redraw the boundaries of legislative districts to reflect population changes. The 2010 census coincided with a tea party backlash election giving Walker and Republicans unchecked power to do their worst—and they did.

While hundreds of thousands were demonstrating outside the Capitol against destruction of union bargaining rights, an even more farreaching attack on democracy was quietly taking place right across the street in the private offices of the Republicans’ law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich. Computer experts used sophisticated software calculating the effects of even the tiniest changes in the boundaries of the state’s 99 assembly districts and 33 state senate seats. After moving lines to squeeze every possible victory out of those districts, Republicans actually wiped hard drives to try to cover up what they’d done.

Violating Rights of Wisconsin Voters A panel of three federal judges that ruled Wisconsin Republicans unconstitutionally violated the voting rights of Wisconsin citizens issued a stinging rebuke to legislators and their attorneys for trying to withhold evidence.

“Quite frankly, the Legislature and the actions of its counsel give every appearance of flailing wildly in a desperate attempt to hide from both the court and the public the true nature of exactly what transpired in the redistricting process,” U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller wrote. A forensics expert was able to use computer spreadsheets to trace Republican redistricting that began with existing maps that would have allowed Republicans to win only 49 of 99 Assembly seats.

In the final decision, Stadtmueller wrote that after numerous manipulations of the maps Republicans were able to create new assembly districts so “Republicans would maintain a majority under any likely voting scenario; indeed, they would maintain a 54-seat majority while garnering only 48% of the statewide vote.”

Winning Even When They Lose Get that? Even if Republicans won less than a majority of the vote statewide, they could still win 54 seats in the Assembly to only 45 seats for Democrats. Actually, the judge underestimated the success of the Republicans’ corrupt redistricting. The disputed maps were used in the 2012 election while legal appeals continued and the results were even worse. Republicans did win just more than 48% of the vote statewide: less than a majority. As a result, Republicans won 60 Assembly seats and Democrats only 40.

Creating a 20-vote majority in one legislative chamber for the losing party statewide is a drastic distortion of democracy. It also violates the Supreme Court’s constitutional principle of “one person, one vote” by giving far greater weight to the votes of Republicans statewide than to those of Democrats who actually voted in greater numbers in 2012.

This is achieved by the well-known and corrupt gerrymandering tactics of “packing and cracking”—packing voters from the opposition party into the fewest districts possible and spreading the rest of them across so many different districts they can never determine the outcome of an election. Most district elections are over before they start. Legislators choose their voters rather than voters choosing their legislators.

Such a corrupt result should be of concern to every Republican and Democrat who believes in democracy. In fact, many Republicans these days don’t even bother denying gerrymandering is wrong. They simply say Democrats would do the same if they had the chance. (In Maryland, Republicans are challenging corrupt gerrymandering by majority Democrats.) If both parties are politically incapable of upholding the principles of democracy and drawing districts to fairly represent the voting populations of their states, that’s exactly when the U.S. Supreme Court should step in to protect the constitutional rights of every American.

Until now, however, the Supreme Court has intervened to stop corrupt state redistricting when it’s been shown to be racially biased, but it’s been reluctant to act in cases based upon extreme partisan political bias. This could be the perfect time for a landmark voting rights case for two big reasons: One is simply the enormity of the gerrymandering in Wisconsin—seriously, a 20-seat Assembly majority won by the losing party statewide; the other is the efficiency of computerized gerrymandering puts such extreme political corruption within reach of any state.

The political corruption isn’t in question, only whether or not a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has enough integrity to do anything about it.

Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n SHEPHERD EXPRESS

NEWS&VIEWS::ISSUEOFTHEWEEK

Bury the Acid Mine Bill ::BY RAJ SHUKLA

F

oreign mining companies, and the politicians they lavish with contributions, tell us sulfide mines—which bring copper, zinc and gold to market— bring jobs, too. They tell us sulfide mines that generate toxic byproducts like cyanide and sulfuric acid are safe for our communities. They are not telling the truth, and that’s precisely why we need to continue existing protections from dangerous pollution that makes these mines, effectively, “acid mines.”

Wisconsin’s bipartisan “Prove it First” law requires a mining interest to demonstrate that a similar project has operated and closed for 10 years without polluting before a new project is approved. To date, no project has met this standard. Not surprisingly, some foreign investors would like to lower the bar to boost their business. Thousands of River Alliance of Wisconsin members—small business owners, individuals, and more than 80 watershed protection groups across the state—feel differently. Our existing protections have kept us safe for 20 years and need to stay.

State Sen. Tom Tiffany and industry lobbyists promote the so-called “Mining for America Act” (SB 395) as a major economic opportunity for Wisconsin. They use the Flambeau mine in Ladysmith, which operated from 1993-1997, as a shining example of acid mining success. In a tweet on Thursday, Aug. 24, Tiffany claimed the Flambeau mine “created or retained 450 jobs.” This statement conflicts with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website which states the project only “employed approximately 70 employees.”

It’s not the first time mining proponents have made assertions that are as big and bold as they are wrong. In 1991, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce President Jim Haney said the Flambeau project would bring an “economic boost some of our counties need to ensure the future of our children.”Yet, Rusk County, the site of the Flambeau mine, had the highest unemployment rate in Wisconsin during the years the mine operated per the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The number of children living in poverty went up in Rusk County during the mining years.

Though the citizens of Rusk County were told that a mine would improve their fortunes, the county’s annual per-capita income, relative to the other counties in the state, decreased during the years Flambeau operated. Numbers compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that the unemployment rate in Rusk County is lower now (3.8% in July 2017) than at any point during the Flambeau mine’s operation.

The truth is that scant evidence exists—in Ladysmith and beyond—of lasting economic benefits to communities with acid mines. On the other hand, there is plenty of reason to worry that new acid mines pose significant and near-permanent risks to existing businesses and the communities they serve.

WAUWATOSA | 68TH & STATE

Pollution, Not Jobs

Let’s be very clear: No acid mine in a water-rich area has not polluted. Ever. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the acid mining industry is the most toxic industry in America. In fact, the Flambeau mine itself continues to pollute—20 years after active mining ceased. Despite the best attempts of the Flambeau Mining Company to address numerous pollution concerns, a federal judge found it guilty of 11 counts of contaminating the surface waters flowing into the Flambeau River in 2012, violating the Clean Water Act. Pollution from acid mines jeopardizes the health of people and businesses that rely on clean water. Acid drainage impacts surface water near a mine site, and pollution quickly enters the local groundwater system. This means that toxins from acid mining endanger every person, every business and every community local waters touch.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin is home to about 4,000 (seasonally adjusted) “Mining, Logging and Construction” jobs—far less than the nearly 285,000 “Leisure and Hospitality” jobs that support the local tourism industry. Mines that pollute local resources to profit foreign investors put local businesses that sustain local communities at risk.

Such risks are even more pronounced near proposed acid mine sites in Taylor and Marathon Counties, which have vibrant agricultural economies. Would you sacrifice local businesses and water quality to profit mining companies who can legitimately promise relatively few jobs? Most of Wisconsin would not. An August 2017 poll showed that 72% of Wisconsin voters want to keep the existing “Prove it First” protections from mining pollution in place.

Citizens across the state are not buying what Sen. Tiffany and mining lobbyists are selling in SB 395. For the good of our state, the legislature should bury this risky and wrongheaded attempt to sell out Wisconsin waters and Wisconsin communities.

Raj Shukla is the executive director of River Alliance of Wisconsin, a statewide organization that empowers people to protect and restore water.

Comment at shepherdexpress.com. n SHEPHERD EXPRESS

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::DINING

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FEATURE | SHORT ORDER | EAT/DRINK

New in Milwaukee: Fried Chicken, Sushi and Mac ’n’ Cheese ::BY LACEY MUSZYNSKI

Milwaukee restaurants were busy this month. One rebranded into a fried chicken shack, one opened a new location away from Downtown, and two food trucks opened permanent locations. Plus, an upscale spot comes to the East Side and mac ’n’ cheese infiltrates the suburbs.

Sushi Go

2110 E. Oklahoma Ave. | 414-333-5565 sushigomke.com | $-$$ A popular food truck known for trendy sushi burritos has opened a permanent location on the corner of Kinnickinnic and Oklahoma in Bay View. Sushi Go is decorated with sushi-themed artwork and bright green accent walls. Customers order at the counter, then their meals are delivered to their table. The restaurant’s menu includes most of the same items as the food truck, including the salmonator ($12), a burrito made with salmon, pickled ginger, wasabi and soy aioli, jimaca, cucumber and avocado, and the spicy tuna roll ($10) with tuna tartar and spicy sauce. A menu expansion is in the works, including ramen, bowls and salads.

Milwaukee Brat House

4022 N. Oakland Ave. | 414-539-5826 milwaukeebrathouse.com | $$

Hot Head Chicken

2671 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. | 414-808-04181 hotheadwi.com | $$ Bumstead Provisions, a restaurant in Bay View, has changed format and rebranded itself as Hot Head Chicken. The space has been redecorated with refinished wood tables, antique farm tools, and Edison bulb and wooden pallet chandeliers. Fried chicken is the focus, and it can be made three ways: Southern fried; Carolina gold with a mustard-based sauce; and Nashville hot, with a bright red cayenne glaze. Buy two pieces for $6 and add Southern-inspired sides like creamy cheese grits ($4) or salted watermelon ($6). Cheddar and smoked gouda mac ’n’ cheese ($7.50) can be topped with little bits like fried chicken or Cajun shrimp for an additional charge. One holdover from the Bumstead menu is the popular foie gras donuts ($5), served with blueberry compote.

The Original

2498 N. Bartlett Ave. | 414-323-9668 theoriginalmke.com | $$-$$$ The former East Side location of Red Dot has a new tenant: The Original.

The name is an homage to what owners Eric, Jennifer and Craig Rzepka called this original location of Red Dot. The concept is upscale new American cuisine in a speakeasy-like setting with low banquettes, tin ceiling and dark wood accents.

Dinner items include a chicken liver mousse starter ($8), steamed clams ($15) with charred lemon and tasso, scallops ($24) with confit mushrooms and grits, and a flat iron steak ($32) with duck fat potatoes. Brunch is also served, including house doughnuts ($6) with cinnamon sugar and cider icing and a Wisconsin breakfast burger ($12) with a brat and burger patty, cheddar, egg and Dijon mayo.

Grate Modern Mac & Cheese

N92W16125 Falls Parkway | 262-953-2540 gratemac.com | $-$$ A fast casual mac ’n’ cheese restaurant has opened in Menomonee Falls.

Grate Modern Mac & Cheese is owned by the Roaring Fork Restaurant Group which operates 55 Qdoba locations in three states. Your mac is put together assembly-line style, similar to Qdoba. Grate’s menu is made up of freshly baked mac ’n’ cheese skillets in two sizes ($6-$9.50), along with a couple salads. There are about 10 different topping combinations to choose from, including Buffalo with chicken, buffalo sauce, green onions and carrot sticks; and pizza, topped with pizza sauce, pepperoni and oregano.

The Milwaukee Brat House, a bar and restaurant on Old World Third Street, has opened a second location in Shorewood. The new restaurant is in the former Oakcrest Tavern space and will follow the same format as its Downtown location, with plenty of TVs in the bar area for sports. Unlike Downtown, though, the Shorewood location is bright and airy thanks to large storefront windows. The focus of the menu is on sausages, plus plenty of shareable appetizers, sandwiches and burgers.

A fully loaded brat ($9.95) is topped with kraut, onions, red peppers, mushrooms and giardiniera. Or try four different kinds of sausages and sides on the brat house sampler ($15.95).

Las 7 Estrellas

112 E. Dakota St. | 414-539-4432 | $$ The owners of a taco truck have opened a brick-and-mortar location on the South Side. Las 7 Estrellas serves a full menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner items seven days a week. The storefront restaurant is sparse but inviting with about a dozen tables and a small bar for dining. The menu includes plenty of Mexican favorites like a taco dinner ($9.75) with your choice of filling, along with some more unusual items. Lengua enchiladas ($12) are filled with diced tongue and topped with salsa roja or salsa verde. Steak and pork meatballs called albondigas enchipotladas ($12) are served in a chipotle sauce with rice and beans.

14 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

Grate Modern Mac & Cheese

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

“Here’s to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Where They Eat Brian Frakes Executive chef, Pfister Hotel Family friendly and kid-approved spots are tops on Brian Frakes’ list. When he’s on the East Side with his family, the executive chef of the Pfister Hotel enjoys Pizza Man, since it’s “great for the kids, has delicious pizza and great wine!”

Further afield, TomKen’s in West Allis has “great fried chicken and a classic Wisco feel.” But when it’s time to dine without the kids, Ardent can’t be beat for special occasions. “The dining experience and food at Ardent are among the best in the Midwest.”

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DININGOUT::SHORTORDER

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The old Trocadero building now houses DiModa Pizza & Hot Spot (1758 N. Water St.), maintaining the old restaurant’s expansive nature— seriously, the place just keeps going—and offering some truly excellent Roman-style pizza. At 13 inches, the wood-fired pizzas are ideally split between two hungryish people. A standout is the Spicy Pep ($16), which features Ghost Pepperoni (dry-cured with ghost peppers) from Madison’s Underground Meats, carmelized cipollini onions, mozzarella and an arrabbiata-type tomato sauce. While ghost peppers may conjure up images of red-faced folks gasping for air and begging for milk, the spice is pleasantly manageable—just enough to have kick, but quelled by the salty mozzarella and the sweet onions. The crust is awesome: thick but not overly chewy. If you’re not in the mood for pizza, DiModa’s wings ($10) are listed as an appetizer but will easily fill you up. Oven roasted and marinated in a chili-lemon sauce, they’re pleasantly different from your run-ofthe-mill wings, especially when they’re dipped in their house-made caper Parmesan ranch. (Franklin K.R. Cline) SHEPHERD EXPRESS

DININGOUT::EATDRINK

Tricklebee Café Serves Vegetarian Meals (and a Side of Hope) in Sherman Park

S

6533 W Mitchell St West Allis 414-488-8296 | thefarmerswife66.com Tues - Friday 11am - 9pm Sat. 10am - 9pm Sunday Brunch 10am - 2pm

Join Us as We Celebrate One Year!

::BY EMILY PATTI

are people who have lived here their entire lives who are vegan, and they’re loving it here, and they’re discovering new foods that they’ve never heard of before. Many of our neighbors are excited to learn that there is delicious, healthy food here,” says Melby-Gibbons.

Open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with extra hours from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday), Tricklebee Café’s modest menu changes daily, but visitors can expect items like honeydew banana ginger smoothies, blueberry goat cheese salad with fresh greens, quesadillas with sautéed onions and greens peppers and vegan brownies.

True to its promise, some patrons pay and some do not, but no one is turned away. There is, however, a suggested payment range for meals, which factors in the cost of utilities, rent, paying a living wage to their employees, the offset of donations and the purchase of local, organic food.

The current suggested payment range is $5.70 to $6.50 per meal.

“Nobody knows who’s paying and who’s not, so there is this equalizing that happens,” says Melby-Gibbons. “People come in and there might not be enough room for them to sit at their own table, so they have to join another table, and they end up talking and sometimes exchanging information. Boundaries come down that were maybe there before like ethnicity or economic status, and it kind of disappears when they walk through the door. And to foster kindness and compassion on a really small scale is a joy.”

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY WEEK

Sept. 29 - Oct. 7 • 50% off Appetizers • • First Drink Free with Entree Purchase • • Surprise Anniversary Dessert •

2150 N. PROSPECT AVE. • 414-271-5278 • WWW.IZUMIS.COM

T U E S D AY- F R I D AY

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erving vegan and vegetarian fare, Tricklebee Cafe (4424 W. North Ave.) is a pay-what-you-can restaurant located in the historic Uptown Crossing District of the Sherman Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s West Side. A ministry of the Moravian Church, the café was founded by Rev. Christie MelbyGibbons and husband, David Melby-Gibbons, with the mission of providing healthy meals and spiritual nourishment to an area in need.

“I served the church in L.A. for six years, and one of the biggest things we did was a meal ministry where we rescued food from grocery stores and we’d make these big meals,” explains Christie Melby-Gibbons. “We served neighbors who were homeless, who were drug addicted.

It was for anyone who wanted to come and eat.

We decided that we wanted to come back to the Midwest and keep the momentum of that going.

So, I said, how about a café where people paywhat-they-can to eat and the focus is nourishing spirits?”

Settling in Milwaukee in 2015, the couple used demographics to determine where their presence would have the greatest impact, eventually selecting Sherman Park as its location.

One of the poorest areas in Milwaukee, Sherman Park lacks grocery stores and restaurants providing healthy, affordable options.

Initially, members of the community weren’t sure what to expect, but the ministry was ultimately embraced by the neighborhood. “There

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::SPORTS Brewers Lost Ground Last Weekend

teams. If the Brewers rally late to overcome the Rockies or Cubs he’ll become the only player in franchise history to go to the playoffs in three different seasons.

Looking at the roster from the 2008 team makes it painfully clear that nine years is a long time in baseball terms. Ray Durham, Solomon Torres and Eric Gagne all made their final MLB appearances in the NLDS that year, and nearly all of the 44 players that put on a Brewers uniform that season have since followed them out of baseball. Braun is one of just nine players from that team that are still active. That list will almost certainly diminish further by this time next year:

::BY KYLE LOBNER

T

he Milwaukee Brewers’ playoff hopes took a serious hit over the weekend as Milwaukee lost three of four to the Chicago Cubs, missing opportunities to gain ground in both the National League Central and Wild Card chases. Chicago’s magic number to clinch the division is just two, and Colorado’s number needed to eliminate the Brewers from postseason contention has dropped to five.

Despite the narrative that he was struggling going into the series, Ryan Braun had five hits in four games against the Cubs and is hitting .289 with a .372 on-base percentage and .539 slugging in the month of September, while appearing in 21 of the Brewers’ 22 games. If Braun can continue to produce and lead the Brewers to the playoffs, he’ll make a little bit of franchise history: Braun is the only player still on the Brewers’ 40-man roster who played for either the 2008 or 2011 postseason

J.J. Hardy Hardy appeared in 146 games for the 2008 Brewers and was a big part of their success, posting a career-best .821 on-base plus slugging while playing an above-average defensive shortstop. Since then, he’s played in 1,100 more games with the Brewers, Twins and Orioles—sticking with the latter organization for seven seasons. Hardy’s play has diminished in recent years, however, and 2017 is the final year on a disastrous three-year, $40 million contract he signed with Baltimore before the 2015 season. That will likely turn out to be his last MLB contract, as Hardy is hitting just .212 with a .250 on-base and .305 slugging this season in 68 games.

CC Sabathia Sabathia pitched in just 17 regular season games with Milwaukee in between much longer stints in Cleveland (237 starts) and New York (253 starts), but it’s hard not to fondly re-

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member him as a former Brewer. He’s had an impressive career resurgence in his late 30s: Baseball Reference estimates he’s been worth 5.5 wins above replacement in his age 35 and 36 seasons after posting a combined value of just 0.7 in the previous three years. Despite his recent run of success, however, it’s hard to believe CC Sabathia’s MLB tenure will last a lot longer. Among active pitchers, only Bartolo Colon (3,308 as compared to Sabathia’s 3,305 and 1/3) has thrown more major league innings.

Carlos Villanueva Villanueva pitched in 47 games and made nine starts for the Brewers in 2008 and is the first player on this list one could categorize as “technically active.� After 11 MLB seasons, he crossed the Pacific Ocean and spent the 2017 season with the Korean Baseball Organization’s Hanwha Eagles. He posted a 4.27 ERA in 105 and 1/3 KBP innings in 2017, which was almost three quarters of a run better than the league average (4.98) and a full run better than his team (5.29).

Villanueva is still only 33 (will be 34 in November), so he could still pitch for a few more years, but an MLB return seems unlikely after he put up an ERA just less than 6 with the Padres in 2016.

Manny Parra If Carlos Villanueva is “technically active,� then perhaps Manny Parra is “barely holding on.� After his final season with the Brewers in 2012, Parra made 150 appearances over three seasons with the Reds but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015. Parra was out of baseball for the 2016 season but opened 2017 in AAA with the Cubs, where he posted a 14.09 ERA in 11 relief appearances before getting released. He then caught on with the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, where he made nine starts with a 5.87 ERA. It’s unclear if the Bluefish will even play in 2018, so Parra’s future with that organization faces multiple challenges, and his recent performance is unlikely to earn him another look in affiliated ball.

Tim Dillard Longtime Brewers organizational pitcher Tim Dillard actually pitched in the majors during the regular seasons in both 2008 and 2011 but is not on the Brewers’ 40-man roster and was not called up to the majors following a 2017 season with AAA Colorado Springs—his 15th professional campaign. Dillard is 34 years old and faces minor league free agency again this winter. He’s previously said he’ll play as long as he has a job doing so, but it remains to be seen how much longer that will be.

HernĂĄn Iribarren A Venezuela native, Iribarren got his first taste of life in the majors in April of 2008 and had two brief stints with Milwaukee, playing 24 games over two seasons. The Brewers lost him on waivers before the 2010 campaign, and he played for three organizations before returning to the majors after a seven-year hiatus with the Reds in 2016. This spring, C. Trent Rosecrans wrote a fascinating story for the Cincinnati Enquirer on the role “witchcraftâ€? played in Iribarren’s early career. Iribarren played eight different positions for AAA Louisville in 2017 (including 10 games as a pitcher) but did not receive another call to the majors. He turned 33 in June and is a veteran of 14 professional seasons.

Alcides Escobar Escobar made his MLB debut in September 2008 at just 21 years old, so he’s easily the youngest player on this list and perhaps the most likely to have a major league career that extends past the short-term future. 2017 was his 10th MLB season, and he’s already led all of baseball three different times (including this year) in games played, but he won’t turn 31 until December. The Royals signed Escobar to a long-term extension in 2012 that expires this winter, so he’s going to become a free agent in a couple of months. He’ll almost certainly find work, but it could be interesting to see how teams value him: He’s played in an average of 157 games per year over the last seven seasons (including all 155 Royals games this season) and is a plus defender, but his offense has been dreadful: a career .294 on-base percentage with very little power. For the last two years, FanGraphs has rated him at just slightly above replacement level.

Yovani Gallardo After a May injury, Gallardo worked his way back from injury to make one September start for the 2008 Brewers that helped them reach the postseason, and he started Milwaukee’s first playoff game in 26 years. He’s had a nice career since, pitching nearly 1,600 innings with a 3.98 ERA. Since the Brewers traded Gallardo in January 2015, however, his career has taken a bit of a downturn: He’s pitched for three teams over the last three seasons and posted ERAs of 5.42 and 5.72 with Baltimore and Seattle in 2016 and 2017, respectively. With the Mariners he’s been bumped from the rotation and asked to pitch in relief for the first time since 2007.

Gallardo is only 31 years old but could face an uphill battle to find an opportunity to pitch in 2018 if Seattle declines his $13 million team option, which they almost certainly will.

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‘Rent’ Twenty Years On The rock musical retains its relevance ::BY JOHN JAHN talian opera composer Giacomo Puccini knew his public. Even when critics complained that his music was prosaic and his characters superficial, he kept to his successful style. One such snarled-at work was La bohème, which had its premiere under the baton of the young Arturo Toscanini in 1896. The public immediately fell in love with its setting—the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1830s—and its young bohemian characters. Central to the cast were the lovers Rodolfo, a poet, and Mimi, a seamstress. Their love story, both relatable and realistic, helped make the work timeless.

Even so, timeless or dated, it’s no small feat getting young people to go to the opera—accessible music, identifiable characters and relevant plot notwithstanding. Enter American composer and playwright Jonathan Larson who, in 1990, scored a success with his one-man show tick, tick… BOOM! His subsequent encounter with fellow playwright Billy Aronson would prove most fortunate, indeed. Aronson, in 1988, began conceptualizing “a musical based on Puccini’s La bohème in which [his] world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York,” according to Aronson’s website. So enthused was Larson about the idea that he took Aronson’s concept and, with the latter’s approval, made it his own. The result was Rent.

Larson wrote the book, lyrics and score for Rent throughout the early-’90s while waiting tables at a New York diner. Through trial and error and much pruning (his original score contained 42 songs!) the final version of Rent took gradual shape into what Larson wanted: a rock opera “to bring musical theater to the MTV generation” (as he put it in a New York Times article). The result? Rent was a major success, to say the least. It won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama (among many other accolades). Its initial Broadway run lasted 12 years—more than 5,000 performances—and grossed more than $280 million. Rent has also now been seen all around the world and, on any given week, is in production somewhere.

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Such is now the case with the “Rent 20th Anniversary Tour,” which makes a welcome stop at Milwaukee’s Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. This “20th anniversary” tag is more than just a selling gimmick; key members of its original creative team have reunited for this national tour.

“It has enormously valid things to say about the ways in which we all seek out community and form families and how we take care of one another in very difficult times,” says Michael Greif, director of both Rent’s original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. “The message of the musical is to truly appreciate the time that we have, and to truly appreciate each other—because you don’t know when someone will be gone from your life.” The production features direction by Evan Ensign, who has based his work on Greif’s original ideas.

In Puccini’s story, young Mimi is afflicted with the malady of the time, tuberculosis, or “consumption” as it was then called. In Rent, the disease that haunts the characters is HIV/AIDS. Set among the young bohemians of a major urban area—gay, straight, bisexual, male, female and transgender—Rent’s story is one of great relevance for our times as much as it was for 1996—or 1896, for that matter.

“I was taken to see the show for my 17th birthday, and it was seminal for me,” recalls the creator of Hamilton, LinManuel Miranda. “I’d never seen a musical that took place in the present day and in The Village. I knew I was going to be in the arts, and it meant so much to see these kids struggling with how to survive and make a living and not sell out their principles. It hit me like a ton of bricks.”

Its characters are “common,” and many Americans would look down on such people. After all, none is a successful Wall Street stockbroker; none is a high-powered New York lawyer; none is a high-ranking member of the NYPD or NYFD; none shops on Fifth Avenue. Yet these young people are heroes and, yes, role models. They live their lives clinging to their dreams, be they artistic, occupational or romantic. They face more hurdles than many of their fellow Americans can imagine. They—like the show’s creator, himself—really work hard just to stay alive and to have a not-too-leaky roof over their heads, all the while dreaming big dreams. And some, like Larson, die much too young.

"Rent On Jan. 25, 1996—the very day 20th that Rent premiered Off-Broadway, Anniverary just beginning its meteoric rise— Tour" Larson died alone in his bed of an Oct. 3-8 undiagnosed heart problem. He was just days shy of 36 years old.

Marcus “In the past five years,” Michael Center Greif adds, “so many young composers and theater talents have told me that Rent enabled them to begin to see themselves as part of the American theater.

It’s been very gratifying and moving to me and everyone associated with Rent to know the impact that the show has had on this next generation.”

Hopefully, Rent will continue to do so for generations to follow. Such would have rightly made Jonathan Larson— and Giacomo Puccini—very happy, indeed.

“Rent 20th Anniversary Tour” runs Oct. 3-8 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.

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S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 21

::THISWEEKINMILWAUKEE SATURDAY, SEPT. 30

THURSDAY, SEPT. 28

Milwaukee Film Festival Opening Night Party @ Good City Brewing, 9 p.m.

Grieves w/ Dem Atlas and Rahn Harper @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.

TAYLOR BRIGODE

This is the moment Milwaukee film lovers dream of all year long: opening-night of the Milwaukee Film Festival. This year, the ever-growing festival kicks off with a screening of Stumped, a crowd-pleaser about a film teacher who turns to stand-up comedy after a bacterial infection forced the amputation of all of his limbs. Following the screening, attendees will head to Good City Brewing for a party that includes live music, Radio Milwaukee DJs and cold, local beer on a rooftop patio. The party is free for opening night film ticket holders and MMF2017 pass holders, $13 for Milwaukee Film Members and $15 for the general public. This year’s Milwaukee Film Festival runs through Oct. 12.

Grieves

Sometimes the label says it all. Since 2011’s Together/Apart, Seattle rapper Grieves has been part of the Rhymesayers Records roster, and sure enough, he specializes in the kind of smart, emotionally volatile hip-hop that the label has made its calling card. Like the best Rhymesayers artists, he shakes things up from album to album. On his newest, Running Wild, he finds an apt collaborator in Swedish producer Chords, whose beats are almost decadently soulful—all woozy synths and buttery bass lines with occasional licks of horns. That production tempers the bite of some of Grieves’ more intense verses.

DaNCEBUMS w/ Luxi and Ben Yella @ Riverwest Public House, 9 p.m.

Keyboardist-composer Eric Mayson is about as deeply ingrained in the Minneapolis music scene as they come, having worked with many of the scene’s most recent standouts, including Atmosphere, Lizzo, Dess and Droomtree. With his latest project, though, he looks beyond contemporary music and dips his toe into performance art. DaNCEBUMS is a five-piece modern dance ensemble that aims to bring modern dance “out of dark, stuffy theaters,” as he calls them, and to the party-minded masses. It’s dance music in the most literal sense.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 29

Chicano Batman w/ Kruangbin @ Turner Hall Ballroom

There’s so much music coming out of L.A. these days, and most of it sounds… well, like music that came out of L.A. The Los Angeles quartet Chicano Batman has never had trouble standing out from the pack, though. The band’s psychedelic fusion of soul, funk, indie and Latin music sounds like the oldies but feels indisputably new; nobody else is making music quite like this. The group’s latest album, Freedom is Free, features more of the euphoric, modernized throwbacks that have made this band such a favorite on the festival circuit.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30 A Conversation with Stephen King and Owen King @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.

Where does Stephen King find the time? That’s a question other authors have pondered for decades, as the novelist has cranked out one bestseller after another (54 novels and counting, on top of nearly 200 short stories). For his latest book, Sleeping Beauties, King worked with a first-time collaborator: His son Owen, who, like so many members of the King family, is also a novelist. Together, they’ve crafted an eerie story about a fairytale curse and the repercussions it has for a West Virginia woman’s prison. The two Kings will discuss the book and their writing habits at this sold-out appearance.

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SUNDAY, OCT. 1

Angel Olsen w/ Mount Moriah @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.

A versatile songwriter with the wounded, otherworldly voice of an old blues singer, Angel Olsen made a mark with a series of haunting, strippeddown small releases that put that voice front and center, but she really came into her own with her 2014 Jagjaguwar Records debut, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. Produced by John Congelton, it was a more traditional indie-rock record than what came before, but its rough and tumble guitars complemented Olsen’s edgy songwriting. On last year’s My Woman, she pivoted, trading the moody folk and terse rock ’n’ roll of yore for a rich, expressive palette of synthesizers and pop hooks. For her upcoming album, Phases, due out Nov. 10, she digs through the vault, sharing a selection of B-sides, rarities and demos that span years. The sensational North Carolina indie-Americana act Mount Moriah opens.

K COUTTS

Chicano Batman

Angel Olsen

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MONDAY, OCT. 2

– VARIETY

Gogol Bordello w/ Lucky Chops @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.

VICTORIA SMITH

New York’s Gogol Bordello, one of the wildest world-fusion acts, fuses the accordions and fiddles of traditional Romani Gypsy music with the combustible energy of punk rock. Their 2005 album coined a fitting term for their hybrid: Gypsy punk.

Think of theirs as international drinking music: a hodgepodge of Bulgarian and Slovakian sounds with crashing percussion and a Pogues-like love for call-andresponse with the crowd. Their latest album, 2017’s Seekers and Finders, features guest vocals from Regina Spektor on the title track, as well as some lively first-time production from frontman Eugene Hütz.

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Tommy Castro and the Painkillers

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Evoking the spirit of guitar great B.B. King, Tommy Castro belts out soulful R&B tunes that run the gamut from downtrodden blues to upbeat funk. Castro began his music career by playing with cover bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, which he followed with a short stint with The Dynatones. After 1991, Castro decided to front his own bands and, a decade later, he was invited to tour and perform with his muse, B.B. King. For this show, Castro is celebrating the release of his latest album, Stompin’ Ground, a record that looks back to his youth with covers of songs that inspired him in the earliest years of his career, in addition to six new songs.

Explosions in the Sky w/ Holy Fuck @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.

Like most instrumental post-rock bands, Explosions in the Sky risk allowing their music to fall into an easy formula: build, build, build, crescendo, repeat. The novelty could wear off mighty fast, but on their latest album, 2016’s The Wildness, the Austin quartet continually finds new ways to keep their compositions fresh—fleshing them out with cinematic flourishes and rock-star grandiosity. The band nails all the big payoffs, of course, but some of its best moments are the small ones, when the album turns down the volume and gives listeners time to luxuriate in how intricate it all sounds. Explosions in the Sky share this bill with another instrumental band with a very different vision, Toronto’s Holy Fuck, whose electronic-leaning songs are more direct and overtly whimsical than most anything you’ll find on a post-rock record.

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S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 23

A&E::PERFORMINGARTSWEEK

THEATRE

MORE TO DO

Hot Mikado

Haydn, Mozart, Ives

This is not your great-grandfather’s The Mikado by the superb operetta-producing team of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. As adorably funny and tuneful as their original work is, its over-the-top characters and send-up of not only grand opera but Japanese culture are fodder for revamping and reimagining. Skylight Music Theatre has just done so with Hot Mikado.

“Skylight has done the original The Mikado 10 times in its history—including the year the Skylight opened, 1959,” says Artistic Director Ray Jivoff. “This is the first time we have ever presented Hot Mikado,” which he describes as “a fun and non-traditional homage to Skylight’s past.” One thing totally new about it is Austene Van, who will be making her company debut herein as the production’s stage director. “I think Skylight audiences will be thrilled by this updated version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic masterpiece,” remarks Van. In her vision, all things late-19th century Japanese are transformed into all things African American in the 1940s. “[Hot Mikado] takes a fresh approach to address some of the outdated dialog and stereotyping that makes audiences wince,” she says, while retaining the original’s hidden “political and cultural messages.” (John Jahn) Sept. 29-Oct. 15 at the Cabot Theatre of the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit skylightmusictheatre.org.

Silent Sky

“I think the author has written a play about science that romances its audience; not an easy thing to pull off,” says Next Act Theatre Producing Artistic Director David Cecsarini of Lauren Gunderson, Silent Sky’s creator. “Gunderson has taken a fascinating time in astronomy, combined it with real people and events, and developed an evocative fable about an actual sky-shattering discovery made by Miss Leavitt,” Cecsarini says of this play.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921) was a pioneering American astronomer and would undoubtedly be better known today were it not for the fact that she labored behind the scenes—this being somewhat de rigueur given the times in which she lived and the utterly male-dominated profession in which she worked. That said, she made a crucial discovery that, after her death, Edwin Hubble would use to work out his theory of the expanding universe (“Hubble’s Law”).

“Silent Sky is a celebration of scientific curiosity, the search for truth and the triumph of a woman’s vision in the achievement of Man,” explains Cecsarini. “We’ve billed it as a romance due to the passion with which Henrietta Leavitt pursues her ambitions in the realm of astronomy, and most anyone who looks up at a dark night countryside’s starlit sky can’t help but be taken by the wonder, the splendor and mystery of those billions-plus points of light. Romantic.” (John Jahn) Sept. 28-Oct. 22 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-0765 or visit nextact.org.

I Am My Own Wife

This Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play is an examination of the life and times of German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (19282002), who was born Lothar Berfelde in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. She had the terrible misfortune to be growing up as a young boy who felt much more like a girl in Hitler’s Germany. Through an unfortunate quarrel, she killed her father and was sent to prison, emerging early therefrom owing to the fall of the Third Reich. However, she then faced an uncertain future in communist East Germany as a transgender woman.

Theatre Gigante, now in its 30th season, presents Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife, a “saucy, sagacious and entirely fascinating solo play,” as The Village Voice once remarked. With direction by Isabelle Kralj and Mark Anderson and lighting design by Leroy Stoner, this one-man show features Theatre Gigante regular Michael Stebbins. Stebbins not only embodies Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, but also takes on 34 other characters as well. Wright’s play, based upon interviews conducted with Mahlsdorf over her long life, is, as Kralj says, “a surprising and provocative weave of history, sex and politics.” (John Jahn) Sept. 28-Oct. 7 at Kenilworth 508 Theatre, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place. For tickets, call 414-961-6119 or visit gigantewife.brownpapertickets.com.

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The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra welcomes its former music director, Edo de Waart, back to conduct Joseph Haydn’s bright and beautiful Sinfonia Concertante in B-Flat Major (1792); Wolfgang Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E-Flat Major (1788); and Charles Ives’ instrumental conversation, The Unanswered Question (1906). Sept. 29-30 at Uihlein Hall of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Call 414-291-7605 or visit mso.org for tickets.

Wittenberg

Windfall Theatre presents the first of two shows billed as a “Reformation Double Play.”

This is Wittenberg by David Davalos, in which we find Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, attending classes at Wittenberg U. His philosophy professor is Dr. John Faustus, and his theology professor is Martin Luther. As you can tell, we’re clearly dealing with alternative facts! Sept.

29-Oct. 14 at Village Church. Call 414-332-3963 or visit windfalltheatre.com for tickets.

Spookley the Square Pumpkin “Spookley is an adorable tale that reminds us that it doesn’t matter what you look like; we are all special and meaningful to each other,” says the director of this First Stage production, Jeff Schaetzke. Obviously, this is a story worth telling and a lesson worth learning—especially for the young ones in your life. This play is based upon a film of the same name and a book titled The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Oct. 1-29 at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. For tickets, call 414-267-2961 or visit firststage.org.

Working Marquette University Theatre presents Working, a musical play that pays tribute to the hard-working average American through a series of vignettes that explore the lives of 26 people. In fact, part of the play consists of the very actors and technical people behind the scenes functioning—and being seen as—working people, themselves. Working’s musical score features songs by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia and James Taylor. Sept. 28-Oct. 8 at the Helfaer Theatre. For tickets, call 414-288-7504 or visit showclix.com (search “working”).

Cooke and Hathaway: A Soulful Celebration Sam Cooke (1931-1964) acquired the moniker “The King of Soul.” Donny Hathaway (1945-1979) was labeled as “a major force in soul music” by Rolling Stone magazine. Both had multi-music-genre appeal; both died much too young; both remain legends. Milwaukee’s Chris Crain and a full cast of musicians pay tribute to Cooke and Hathaway in this show.

Sept. 29-30 in Vogel Hall at the Wilson Theater. Call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org for tickets.

Chris Crain stars in ‘Cooke and Hathaway: A Soulful Celebration’ SHEPHERD EXPRESS

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TOMMY CASTRO AND THE PAINKILLERS

PLANET BOOTY

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$20

FRI 10/6

TRISTEN, JENNY O $10 ADV $12 DOOR

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POPA CHUBBY $20

WED 10/11

THURS 10/12

TRASHCAN SINATRAS $20

STANLEY JORDAN Mrs. Fun

$30

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THURS 10/5

10/1 CORNELL THIGPEN 10/13 LIL’ ED AND THE BLUES IMPERIALS 10/14 ANIMATION 10/15 JARED JAMES NICHOLS 10/17 MARTHA WAINWRIGHT 10/18 MARTIN BARRE BAND 10/19 NORA JANE STRUTHERS 10/20 NICK MOSS 10/21 THE STONE FOXES 10/22 The Tangent, Nick Turner’s Hawkwind, Karmakanic SHEPHERD EXPRESS

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MICHAEL BROSILOW

A&E::INREVIEW

The Rep’s ‘Guys & Dolls’’

THEATRE

The Rep’s Spectacular ‘Guys & Dolls’

T

::BY HARRY CHERKINIAN

he Milwaukee Repertory Theater rolled the dice last weekend and came up a big winner with its spectacular production of the classic 1940s New York underworld musical, Guys & Dolls. Based on short stories and characters by Damon Runyon, The Rep has set the bar very high for its lead-off show as this production has it all: uniformly excellent cast, spot-on direction by Mark Clements, dazzling choreography by Stephen Mears, smart period costumes by Alexander B. Tacoma and the bright lights-dark city set design by Scott Davis.

There’s good reason that Guys & Dolls has been a timeless crowd-pleaser for the past 67 years; the book by Jo Swerling and Abe Furrows is as clever and entertaining as the music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and as firmly ingrained in the memories of devoted theatergoers. “Luck Be a Lady,” “Bushel and a Peck,” it’s all there, and it’s a complete joy to watch from start to finish.

In the gritty gambler’s lair of midtown New York City, everything has a price, and a bet to go along with it. The stage is literally set when Nathan Detroit (Richard R. Henry) bets Sky Masterson (Nicholas Rodriguez) $1,000 if he can get a prim-and-proper Salvation Army missionary, Sarah Brown (Emma Rose Brooks), to travel with him to Cuba. Then there’s Detroit’s perpetual fiancée, Miss Adelaide (Kelley Faulkner), who’s been waiting 14 years for that trip down the aisle.

The role of Miss Adelaide perfectly fits the multi-talented Faulkner who brings much to the show’s main comedic role, giving Adelaide an added depth and dimension with alternating moments of vulnerability and toughness. Once the repressed soul-saving façade is removed (Sarah “discovers” alcohol), Brooks turns missionary Brown into an absolute comic delight (spoiler alert: it happens in Havana), and we see her character blossom and grow along with the too-handsome and dashing Masterson, served well by Rodriguez. Nathan Detroit is an engaging, charismatic and marriage-averse schemer, thanks to Henry’s fully realized portrayal. All four actors excel vocally and make this production a real show-stopper at times. Guys & Dolls is a sure bet.

Through Oct. 29 in the Quadracci Powerhouse, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-2249490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.

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THEATRE

Company of Strangers Produces a High-Energy ‘Ideal Husband’ ::BY ANNE SIEGEL

Y

oung actors often make up in enthusiasm what they lack in experience, and such is the case with Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, in a high-energy production by The Company of Strangers Theater.

Director Jessica Sosnoski has her hands full with moving more than a dozen actors around the Underground Collaborative’s postage stampsized stage. She does so effectively once the opening party scene concludes. During the party, characters are so cramped that they fail to move with the necessary grace that this upper-society “dance” requires. The audience also has difficulty focusing on the main conversation with so many distractions.

A nicer distraction are the show’s steampunkinspired Victorian costumes, many of them crafted by costumer Barb Hummel. Production notes reveal that some actors, too, had a hand in creating these colorful and complex outfits.

Wilde would have been mad for them.

The cast list is too long to allow special mention, but several characters rise above the rest.

As Sir Robert, owner of the estate where most of the action takes place, actor Ralph Williams comes close to hitting the nail on the head. He seems a bit forced at times, but one expects him to sufficiently loosen up throughout the run. Sir Robert is also the virtuous “ideal husband” of Lady Chiltern (Karen Elizabeth Sharkey). She has possibly the most difficult role in the play.

How could a woman have so much blind faith in a man? Yet Sharkey manages to convey this character’s innocence.

Sir Robert has never given his wife any reason to suspect his long-ago misstep that launched his wealth and career. In a hushed conversation, Sir Robert tells a friend he has “paid” various charities several times the amount of cash he once received for selling state secrets. It’s easy to see similarities between Sir Robert’s predicament and current political themes.

Two of the youngest cast members, Noelle Thompson and Rob Schreiner, are credible as Mrs. Chevely and Lord Goring. The former is an old classmate of Lady Chiltern’s who seems even more adept at doing whatever is necessary to get her way. Thompson is a scene-stealing presence whenever she’s onstage, rivaled only

by Schreiner’s Lord Goring, memorable as a sly “slacker” who pulls the strings to make all that’s wrong right again.

An Ideal Husband gives this cast a chance to expand its acting muscles as well as lend another line to each actor’s performance credits. The play requires a great deal of restraint and subtlety to be effective, and this production seems headed in the right direction.

Through Sept. 30 at the Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., on the lower level of the Shops at Grand Avenue. For tickets, call 414-221-7498 or visit thecompanyofstrangerstheater.com.

A One Night Stand and Something More

T

::BY RUSS BICKERSTAFF

wo people in 1987 engage in a one-night stand that might be something more in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s presentation of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune.

Marcella Kearns is beautifully, brutally open and engaging as Frankie; she’s an aspiring teacher somewhere in the vicinity of her 40s who has brought home a cook from the place where she works. Todd Denning has a fractured charm in the role of the cook—a guy somewhere in the vicinity of his 40s named Johnny who risks losing everything in hopes of having something. He’s passionately embracing his experience with her in a way that makes her uncomfortable. They fight. They hold each other. There’s injury and lovemaking. They’ll work it out. They might not be in one piece when it’s all over, but they’ll work it out.

Scenic designer Brandon Kirkham brings a very distinct ’87 look to the stage for the production.

From the boom box and a few cassette cases on the far shelf to the missing kids on a milk carton, this show feels quite vividly like a couple of hours between two people getting an encore 30 years later.

It’s a very intimate couple of hours, too. The two characters lounge around in very relaxed and honest postures. Very informal. (They even brush their teeth.)

This sort of thing can be maddeningly tricky to bring into a theater: that feeling that two people are alone onstage baring their souls to each other. Under the direction of Mary MacDonald Kerr, Kearns and Denning are so convincing that it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole audience watching them.

Through Oct. 15 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

JASON KRUKOWSKI

A&E::INREVIEW

MUSIC

Compelling Works Elicit Compelling Performances by Prometheus Trio ::BY JOHN JAHN

Boulevard’s ‘Small Things’

THEATRE

Humor and Heart in Boulevard’s ‘Small Things’

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::BY SELENA MILEWSKI

oulevard Theatre’s 32nd season opens with Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor’s gracefully written and insightfully performed Small Things. The setting is modern and the piece is staged in Plymouth Church’s intimate Graham Chapel with minimal set and lighting and plenty of room for audience imagination. The plot is a slice of life: Mrs. Branch, an elderly widow, has moved from the city to a small town where she hires a housekeeper, the spirited, middleaged Birdy, who is herself a widow also contending with the fact that her adult daughter Dell’s young son is now insisting he be called “Alice.”

The three women—inescapably the ancient archetypes of maiden, mother and crone— are believable and compelling as regular 21st-century folk driving a plot based on discussion and a journey toward acceptance. MacIvor’s writing is notable, not just for its realism, but for its unassuming humor (in a moment of frustration with her mother’s nosiness, Dell asks “If we didn’t have other people to talk about, what would we talk about?”) and its focus on ideas. Together, these three very different personalities plumb everything from the difference in definition between “person” and “human” to tentativeness as a form of passive aggression.

Donna L. Lobacz’s Birdy is a tour de force for her simultaneous consistency (Birdy will always be opinionated, talkative and deeply in need of a listening ear) and dynamism; her character arc is perhaps the most dramatic of the three. The actress does an especially impressive job in her vocal work, delivering a pronounced northern dialect that avoids stereotype while still precisely conveying the character’s location and social class. Christine Horgen’s Patricia Branch is elegant, snobbish, mutable and ultimately quite complex.

Horgen is a master of silence; watching this character think is one of the most riveting aspects of the play.

Finally, as Dell, Nicole Gorski is stately and powerful. Although her very precise elocution occasionally sounds odd when applied to informal dialogue, her commanding presence serves the story well. She is the youngest and also, in many ways, the most openminded and compassionate of the three, and Gorski’s delivery certainly serves this end.

The greatest joy in this play is in realizing that none of these characters are what they first appear to be, that all are multifaceted and that, in the end, their differences might be considered simply “small things.”

Under Mark Bucher’s direction and Jessica Principali’s stage management, Small Things is a smashing success. The 90-minute, no-intermission piece flies by in a whirlwind of perfectly executed transitions and captivating conversations. MacIvor’s humane and often hilarious exploration of forgiveness, intergenerational dialogue and the human condition itself is in very good hands.

Through Oct. 8 at Plymouth Church, 2717 E. Hampshire St. For tickets, call 414-7445757 or visit boulevardtheatre.com.

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hree seasoned musicians—violinist Margot Schwartz, cellist Scott Tisdel and pianist Stefanie Jacob—showed a large and enthusiastic audience Tuesday evening (Sept. 19) why the Prometheus Trio has been so successful for nearly two decades and counting.

Their performance of three very different trios not only displayed their fine individual talents, but also their seamless perfection as an ensemble.

They started with a tight take on Joseph Haydn’s early Trio in G Minor, a pleasant but otherwise unremarkable work rendered here with clarity and attention to detail. The star of the show was definitely the least known: Trio Concertant (1928) by Hungarian composer László Lajtha. This is a remarkable, challenging work in which cadenzas appear for each instrument in the first and last movements. Nowhere else in the program did each player get to shine quite so brilliantly.

The second half of the concert was the loveliest: Johannes Brahms’ Trio in C Major. Of note here were Jacob’s rich chords and graceful tremolandos and Schwartz’s complete control over the very meaty passages Brahms wrote herein for the violin. A brief encore, a thorough delight, indeed, ended the evening’s music: a transcription for trio (by Jacob) of a piece for bassoon and piano by Camille Saint-Saëns.

Classical Jazz at the Symphony ::BY RICK WALTERS

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he Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra did a European-style entrance on Friday night— entering en masse rather than all being on stage warming up—for the first piece of the program: Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde (The Creation of the World).

Composed in 1922-’23, Milhaud’s ballet music may be the first classical piece to use jazz as its inspiration, though that is impossible to know. He had heard jazz on a visit to Harlem in 1922. There are certainly bluesy jazz sounds and rhythms in the score for 18 players— each a soloist on an instrument. One of the players was the guest conductor, Jeffrey Kahane, who led from the piano. I loved the giddy sounds of the last movement, which softened and then faded into a subdued ending. A quiet finish to a piece usually creates a subdued audience response, and that was the case here.

The jazz influence continued with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F Major, composed in 1925, a year after his Rhapsody in Blue. Kahane was soloist and conductor; quite a challenge, which he admirably fulfilled. It’s impossible to resist Gershwin’s lushness and energy; a foundation of what the entire world thinks of as American music. Kahane’s musicianship and fluency at the keyboard were remarkable. Principal trumpeter Matthew Ernst’s beautiful sound was showcased in a big solo in the second movement.

Apparently, Sergei Rachmaninoff was at the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue in 1924 and later settled in the U.S. The last music he wrote, Symphonic Dances, ended the program. The strengths of the woodwind section were on display in a featured section of the first movement. The smoothly blended sound of the first violins could be heard in a section of the same movement. Kahane drew the very best playing from this excellent orchestra.

The most complex emotions came from the encore Kahane played after the concerto. A poetic arrangement (by Kahane himself?) of “America the Beautiful” slowly emerged; it felt like a balm in troubled times. Like many people, I don’t know what to feel when patriotic music is played these days. I saw many wiping away tears.

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A&E::FILM

A SMASHING

SUCCESS ~ Selena Milewski, Shepherd Express

Christine Horgen

~ Photo Credit: Jason Krukowski

Nicole Gorski & Donna L. Lobacz ~ Photo Credit: Troy Freund

‘Battle of the Sexes’

Directed By: Mark Bucher

“...priceless...vibrant...magnetic...” ~ Russ Bickerstaff, thesmallstage.weebly.com/blog/depth-in-small-things-with-boulevard

“simply breathtaking...poignant...” ~ Mike Fischer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com

September 30, October 1,7 & 8 @ Plymouth Church, 2717 East Hampshire www.boulevardtheatre.com Twitter & Instagram: @BLVD_MKE Facebook.com/boulevardtheatre 414. 744. 5757

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Emma Stone and Steve Carell Replay the ‘Battle of the Sexes’

that the King-Riggs bout was seen at the time as a titanic struggle between opposing worldviews. King embodied the feminist ideal of women making it on their own terms in a man’s game—a man’s world. Riggs represented the backlash. King’s victory punctured a lot of windbags and drove women’s sports to greater prominence.

Since the outcome is a matter of record, Battle of the Sexes is a drama mainly for representing the awakening of King’s lesbian sexuality after an erotically charged trim by hairdresser Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough). Aside from fear of being ostracized, King risks her ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN marriage to a man she apparently loves. Battle of the Sexes is a comedy largely because of t was a media spectacle that accu- Riggs, depicted not merely as a gambling admulated importance and became an dict but a proponent of calculated risk—an inevent—a watershed moment. In 1973, veterate hustler with a geometrician’s eye for a retired tennis champ, Bobby Riggs, measuring angles. His vociferous male chaugrabbed the media megaphone, shout- vinism is for show. He muscles into the news ed aspersions against women athletes (and cycle and prime time by being outrageous and, “women’s lib”) and challenged tennis star Bil- like some political figures nowadays, he finds a lie Jean King to a match. Male fan base eager to cheer him for chauvinism tumbled when even the most shocking asserKing trounced Riggs before a tions. television audience of millions.

The movie’s real villains are Drawing from the outline of Battle of the overlords of professional the King-Riggs match, British tennis, who refuse to pay fethe Sexes screenwriter Simon Beaufoy male athletes commensurate Emma Stone and American directors Jonawith their male counterparts Steve Carell than Dayton and Valerie Faris and embrace Riggs as an op(Little Miss Sunshine) comDirected by portunity to put down the upposed Battle of the Sexes. The start King.

Jonathan Dayton true story behind the movie is The screenplay folds comand Valerie Faris interesting but the movie deplex issues into neat squares, Rated R pends on great acting to keep Hollywood fashion. Battle of the ball in play. Emma Stone the Sexes would be left with slips comfortably into her role nothing but feel-good talking as King, looking born to wear points if not for superb perforthose big John Denver glasses and that Mup- mances by Stone and Carell as well as supportpet hairdo. Steve Carell has the tougher part ing roles ably handled by Sarah Silverman as by making Riggs sympathetic, a heartbroken King’s outspoken advocate, Alan Cumming as clown going for the brass ring one last time. her fashion designer friend and Bill Pullman as Battle of the Sexes is correct to remind us the smugly condescending boss of tennis.

I

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A&E::FILMCLIPS

MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY 2017–18 THEATRE SEASON

Complete film coverage online at shepherdexpress.com

American Made R

Based on events transforming commercial pilot Barry Seal into a CIA gunrunner during the Reagan era, this fast-paced film does little to reveal the person behind its protagonist. Tom Cruise plays Seal, whose duties prompt daring interactions with the Medellin drug cartel and the Contras (among others). Cruise’s intensity slips nicely into his character’s favorite aviator shades. Although we can only guess at Seal’s reasons for “risking it all,” we are cajoled by this stylish probe of recent history. (Lisa Miller)

Flatliners PG-13

In the 1990 original film, Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt and William Baldwin played medical students experiencing death firsthand by stopping their hearts, then restarting them several minutes later. Unknowingly, each student inadvertently opens a portal to disturbing paranormal encounters. In this sequel, Dr. Courtney Holmes (Ellen Page) leads a new batch of students on the same near-death quest. Although special effects have improved over the nearly three decades since the original film, the novelty factor that died with the first film is virtually impossible to resurrect. (L.M.)

THE MUSICAL

Sept. 28 – Oct. 8 Working is a heart-warming musical, recently updated with music from multiple popular artists, that shines the spotlight on everyday workers. No matter the occupation, together these individual stories of real people unite us all.

Evan P. and Marion Helfaer Theatre Order tickets by phone or online: 414.288.7504 marquettetheatre.showclix.com From the book by Studs Terkel. Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg.

Songs by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor.

Working – 2012 Revised Version is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MIT. www.MITShows.com

“A Celebration of Art in Cinema”

Filmmaker and radio personality Cindy Mich fills West Allis’ Inspiration Studios this week for a mini film festival called “A Celebration of Art in Cinema.” The two-day event begins on Wednesday and features designated block hours divided up by genre: science fiction, drama and horror. The festival also includes a handful of feature films, including the premiere screening of The Man in the Red Bandana, a documentary highlighting the heroic actions of a 24-year-old man who tragically died while saving lives at the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. For aspiring filmmakers, a writers’ and directors’ panel is being held Wednesday evening, with industry insiders giving their tips on how to succeed in the film world. (Brian Boyle) 1:30-11:30 p.m., Sept. 27-28, at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St. For more information, visit cin4251. wixsite.com, inspirationstudiosgallery.com or call 414-587-3474.

[HOME MOVIES/OUT ON DIGITAL] The Ghoul

A London homicide detective follows the clues to a jovial-seeming psychotherapist. Puckishly sagacious, the psychiatrist is also an occultist in a story that refuses an easy solution to the question: Is this happening in the detective’s increasingly unstable mind or in the objective world? The Ghoul by British director Gareth Tunley maintains an aura of intrigue despite a structure that loops in and around like the Mobius strip the psychiatrist offers as a model of reality.

INVITES YOU TO ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

Behind the White Glasses

Lina Wertmüller is an Italian filmmaker who first surfaced as Federico Fellini’s assistant on 8½ (1963). A year later, already sporting her trademark white plastic glasses, Wertmüller was directing on her own. Within a decade she became a puckish cult figure, infusing social commentary with comedy.

Now 89, Wertmüller is the star of Valerio Ruiz’s entertaining documentary, eagerly recounting memories and visiting the sites of past accomplishments. “I consider fun to be something priceless,” she declares.

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER ®

EMMA STONE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE ®

STEVE CARELL

The Birthday Party

Harold Pinter was integral to the production of The Birthday Party (1968), casting Robert Shaw and Patrick Magee in lead roles. Then relatively unknown, director William Friedkin enveloped Pinter’s Kafkaesque play in visual claustrophobia. Banality gives rise to cruelty and the quotidian is intersected by strangeness. Pinter’s language is brilliant—especially during pyrotechnic displays of the falsity of language from the mouth of an interrogator who torments the initially unlikable lodger in a grimy boarding house.

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They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

It’s the Great Depression and couples enter a dance marathon for a $1,500 prize. The rules involve dancing around the clock with short breaks until just one couple is left standing. Sydney Pollack’s 1969 film includes outstanding performances by Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin as a desperate couple— she’s cynical and hard; he’s naïve and none-too-bright. The film attacks an entertainment industry producing false hopes and tawdry distractions in a world where the game is rigged.

—David Luhrssen

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IN THEATRES SEPTEMBER 29

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GERIT GRIMM’S FAIRYTALES In A Time Neither Now Nor Then

Opening Party October 7 | 2:00–5:00 Artist Talk: A Craving for Clay October 19 | 6:30–7:30

VISUALART|REVIEW West Bend | wisconsinart.org Gerit Grimm standing next to the peddler of Peddler and Female Shopper, Stoneware, 2011 All Gerit Grimm works are courtesy of the Tory Folliard Gallery

Finding Rest on ‘The Seventh Day’ at Jewish Museum Milwaukee ::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN

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link and a hundred messages appear. The ring tone is seldom silent.

Technology chains us to our jobs, connects us to fake “friends” and wires us to a world of bad news.

In the 21st century, more than any time in history, the benefits of a regular decoupling from everyday pressures is a luxury no longer but a necessity.

The demand for a drastic disconnect—a day of rest—was heard in Judaism thousands of years before the advent of the internet and smartphones and was enforced with strict yet benevolent rules for the Shabbat (Sabbath). The day of rest is the topic of the current exhibition at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, “The Seventh Day: Revisiting Shabbat.”

“You find the idea in many cultures of disconnecting from everyday details—of setting aside a point in time as a sacred space,” says Molly Dubin, curator at the Jewish Museum. Christianity shifted its Sabbath from sundown on Friday to Sunday, giving western civilization a precedent for a day of rest that would later be taken up in secular contexts by labor activists seeking to limit the hours spent in workplaces. An edited version of an exhibit originally mounted at New York’s 30 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, “The Seventh Day” represents the concept from Jewish perspectives, yet the wider implications aren’t hard to envision.

The exhibit includes the work of some two dozen artists from the late 19th century through the present in media ranging from painting, woodcuts and lithography through sculpture, paper cuts and photography and into the realm of digital and mixed media. Preparing for a day without work can be hard work—and was traditionally shouldered by the women who cleaned house, baked the knotted challah bread and set the table for the night and the day to come. It’s only appropriate that a preponderance of work in “The Seventh Day” is by women or comments on women’s role in Shabbat.

Joan Roth’s handsome black-and-white photographs show women of multiple generations lighting Shabbat candles, a metaphor for keeping darkness at bay and bringing light into the world.

Ayana Friedman’s Legend of the Soiled Shabbat Dress is a digitalized and somewhat enigmatic fairytale about a girl who dirties her white dress while performing a good deed—helping an old man haul charcoal through the forest.

Will Barnet’s lithograph Saturday Afternoon, Gramercy Park illustrates the playful aspect of Shabbat. Executed in heavily outlined figures against simple color blocks are a grandfather watching his granddaughter scamper along a park bench amid birds. Their fluttering suggests souls elevated through the release of everyday cares. Archie Rand’s panels in acrylic on canvas, The 39 Forbidden Labors of the Sabbath, has fun with the rules governing no-work on Shabbat through its acid-bright colors and cartoony figuration.

Judy Chicago’s self-explanatory Rainbow Shabbat is the exhibit’s deliberately ecumenical piece, showing a virtual family of humanity gathered at a Shabbat meal, heads turned toward the wife as she blesses the candles.

Through Dec. 31 at Jewish Museum Milwaukee, 1360 N. Prospect Ave. For more information on “The Seventh Day” and a roster of programs accompanying the exhibit, visit jewishmuseummilwaukee.org.

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A&E::BOOKS BOOK |REVIEWS

The Oxford Illustrated History of Science (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS), EDITED BY IWAN RHYS MORUS

The truth is out there—a universe waiting to be discovered, but what we can or choose to see is shaped in part by the culture that shapes us. That’s one of the themes in The Oxford Illustrated History of Science, which despite its title (and many illustrations) is a collection of essays by authorities in various fields. Spanning ancient astrology and the origins of mathematics through quantum physics and the expanding universe, the OIHS strives for a global scope with chapters on China, India and the Near East. However, the book’s compact size (less than 450 pages including index) mandates many omissions. Another of the book’s themes is the inseparability of religion and magic from what we call science until the 18th century. Although science has the capacity to verify theories as factual, many fundamental ideas continued to be debated, with genetics providing a good contemporary example. According to OIHS, the question of what exactly we inherit genetically and what can be predicted from that legacy has no clear answer, despite sweeping claims heard in pop culture or made by advocates of one theory or another.

(David Luhrssen)

Gene Smith’s Sink: A Wide-Angle View

(FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX), BY SAM STEPHENSON Essayist Sam Stephenson’s fascination with Gene Smith (1918-1978) led him down a 20-year investigation into the photographer’s life. The resulting book, fortunately, isn’t a monotonous chronicle but a set of essays examining the subject from various angles.

It’s not the first biography of Smith, whose chiaroscuro photographs were published in Life magazine before he set out on his own for an amphetamineand alcohol-fueled life on the edge.

Stephenson isn’t a fawning admirer, calling out Smith for his cult of personality, and maintains a critical yet sympathetic stance toward his subject.

A Wide-Angle View brings a fresh interpretation to a leading figure from photography’s heroic age. One complaint: The book includes none of Smith’s photographs. (David Luhrssen)

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A&E::BOOKS BOOK |PREVIEW

Faith and Fiction at Mythinformation Conference ::BY LORA NIGRO AND KEVIN RUTKOWSKI

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ome Saturday, Sept. 30, atheist crusaders Mythicist Milwaukee, a group striving to free the world from religious oppression and bigotry, will amass its fourth annual Mythinformation Conference at the historic Pabst Theater under the shadow of recent controversy.

This past month their lineup of popular YouTubers—ShoeOnHead, Armoured Skeptic and Sargon of Akkad—ignited an explosive response of “vilification and false accusations from the very far left” that blew up in the twittersphere. Attempts were made to de-platform the event, costing organizers thousands of extra dollars for security and resulted in a couple of key figures backing out.

“In our press release we thought the debate about Islam in the age of Trump would be the controversy,” states Mythicist founder Sean Fracek. “It seems a small minority of fringe secularists are instigating this internet drama to create their own narrative and ploy for attention.

We’re trying to bring in bigger names and brand ambassadors to help atheism grow. These young YouTube celebrities were selected because they want to reach across the aisle and have respectful discussions. Sargon has been critical of both the hard left and the alt-right.”

Name-calling and “fake news citings” aside, the afternoon debate on Islam remains the roster’s focal point. Representing the secular angle is Iraqi-born human rights activist and founder of the Global Secular Humanist Movement, Faisal Saeed Al Mutar. He maintains that the only way to ensure religious freedom is to have a separation of mosque and state.

Mutar will counter Asra Nomani, a Muslim reformist and author of two books, Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam and Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love.

The climactic “red carpet premiere” will be Mythicist Milwaukee and King’s Tower Productions film debut of Batman & Jesus, The Movie, a lighthearted documentary investigating the historicity or lack of evidence for Jesus of Nazareth. Top secular scholars and historians illustrate how myths evolve drawing comparisons to the comic book character hero and other pop culture icons.

An after-party talk is scheduled with West Allis resident Ron Miscavige, author of New York Times bestseller Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me. Miscavige is the father of the Church of Scientology’s leader and has received numerous character attacks since leaving the fold and publishing the book.

“Atheism has unique problems all over the world and in distinct places, like Bangladesh, individuals are getting killed for their views,” remarks Brian Edward, host of Mythicist Milwaukee’s weekly podcast. “In America, we’ve created enough space so that at minimum it’s tolerated.”

“We are changing the conference model as the conversation has moved to the online community with less interest in debunking religion and more focus on relevant cultural, social and political topics,” reflects Fracek. “Atheism is evolving.”

The Mythinformation Conference will be held from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St. For more information and tickets visit mythicistmilwaukee.com. Enter Promo code: Myth.

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The Third Ward Will Only Continue To Grow OFF THE CUFF WITH THE HISTORIC THIRD WARD ASSOCIATION’S JIM PLAISTED ::BY EVAN RYTLEWSKI

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t’s funny to think there was a time when a top goal of the Historic Third Ward Association was simply encouraging people to visit the neighborhood. “Twenty or 30 years ago it was all about, ‘Discover the Third Ward, come and find us!’” says Jim Plaisted, who took over as the organization’s executive director in July. “We used to have the jazz festival, which was all about getting a couple thousand people to come here who maybe wouldn’t have otherwise, because that used to be a concern,” Plaisted says. It’s safe to say those days are long over. The Third Ward is now one of the city’s great success stories, and one of its powerful magnets for new development. Off The Cuff spoke with Plaisted, who previously oversaw business improvement districts in Shorewood, Wauwatosa Village and Milwaukee East Side, about the Historic Third Ward Association’s vision for the booming neighborhood.

Each of the neighborhoods you’ve represented faced its own unique challenge. What is the Third Ward’s?

The challenge for the Third Ward right now is managing its growth via such vehicles as the Architectural Review Board (ARB), which is the first stop for any new development—and I can’t mention them, but there are probably

one or two new ones that are coming to the floor in the next few months, via the ARB, to start their public approval process. Managing growth is a big part of the Third Ward Association’s strategic plan. When they created the new job description for the executive director, they also took a really honest look at themselves and asked, ‘Is this organization serving its members the way it has for the past 20 or 30 years?’ Because they were smart enough to realize, ‘Boy, are we different than we were 20 or 30 years ago.’ So as part of that strategic plan, we created a series of what we’re calling affinity groups, that are going to meet in the next several weeks—we just had our first one last week—and they’re in five categories of stakeholders: residents, restaurants/bars, merchants, cultural arts institutions and businesses; and office professionals.

What’s the top concern you hear from the people you meet with?

You know, there’s general excitement about what’s going on here, both short and long term. I think there’s less concern about the next retailer to come in, or whether the next developer to come in pushes the envelope. Do we have too much national retail? Are we pricing out boutiques? Are we pricing out the arts community? Some of those concerns percolate up, but in general there’s a very positive attitude about the steps the neighborhood is taking to the future, and trusting the city, and the ARB and this organization are managing that as they have really well for the last 20 or 30 years. It’s really hard to argue the success of this organization. Through various iterations of boards and directors and turnover, it’s amazing how these guys have stayed on point and stuck to their vision for where they wanted this neighborhood to go.

The Third Ward is already one of the most densely packed neighborhoods in Milwaukee. At what point does it start turning down development proposals, or become too big for what it is?

I think it just comes down to parking. If you’re building an office or residential building that has a high parking demand, it’s going to have to park itself. What that means is if it’s a residential building, they need to have one and a half spots per unit, or something like that. And if it’s retail, they can’t rely on parking on the street. Beyond that, I think

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Jim Plaisted

the ARB manages well whether a development fits from a massing, materials or aesthetics standpoint. So that’s not a concern: Any project that comes through this body is going to arrive in a good shape, because developers understand that the ARB holds to its guidelines.

In a decade or so, how do you imagine the Third Ward will be different from how it is today?

I would assume we would just continue to grow, both in new developments and rehabbed buildings. There’s still a handful of historic buildings that could be rehabbed.

So I expect continued growth. I’m not going to throw out any numbers—how many residents, things like that—but barring a really severe economic recession this is going to continue to grow, because it does have so many great assets: the lake, the proximity to Downtown, the Public Market, the Riverwalk. It’s a one-of-a kind spot, and I think that’s why the market is responding so strongly to it. This is a neighborhood with dynamite bones, and those bones aren’t going away.

To learn more about the Historic Third Ward, visit historicthirdward.org.

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::RUTHIE’SSOCALCALENDAR

BESTD

Sept. 27: LGBTQ+ Storytelling Workshop at UW-Milwaukee LGBT Resource Center (UWM Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Room 250): Have a poem or monologue you’d like to share? Join this free class to get your piece off the ground and into the ears of the community! Experts help you pull your thoughts together and prepare you to be the best storyteller you can be. To sign up for the 5-6:30 p.m. course, visit uwm.edu/lgbtrc/programs/annual-programs/coming-out-monologues; email martinj@uwm.edu with questions.

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MKE’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE

- LISTINGS -

updated DAILY SHEPHERDEXPRESS.COM/EVENTS

Be My, Be My Baby Dear Ruthie,

I’m a happy-go-lucky Lesbian. I consider myself pretty laid back and cool with an overall easy demeanor. In other words, not much gets to me, Miss Ruthie. I was surprised, then, to discover how much my new girlfriend’s use of baby talk drives me up the wall—not in a good way.

She morphs in to this bizarre baby talk when we’re in bed, when she wants something from me or when she’s trying to be cute. It’s not sexy, persuasive or adorable. Instead, it makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

It’s a new relationship so I’m not sure if I should say something or let it go. Hopes of it petering out on its own have not resulted in success. What do you think, oh great red one?

—Mommy Wanna Big Girl

Dear Momma,

Tell that big baby to shut her wittle-bitty mouth and grow up! It’s time for her to take the thumb out of her mouth and find a new way of communicating. Baby talk is only cute when everyone involved thinks it’s cute; otherwise, it’s as annoying as a pacifier in the pooper.

If it’s annoying you this much, then calmly tell her (in private) that the baby talk thing isn’t really doing it for you. She’ll likely be embarrassed, so quickly reassure her that there are plenty of other things you adore about her. Otherwise, spank her tushy and give her a timeout!

34 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

For more, log onto shepherdexpress.com

Sept. 27: Pink Hat Party for SAGE at This Is It (418 E. Wells St.): Break up the workweek with this monthly party that honors the city’s many charities. This month, SAGE Milwaukee takes center stage, with donations going to advance their goal of caring for LGBTQ elderly. Wear your pink hat for discounts on drinks, and enjoy raffles, drag performances and more. Don’t miss the 9 p.m. fun!

Sept. 28: ‘Will & Grace’ Premiere at Fluid Bar (819 S. Second St.): They’re baaack! Will, Grace, Jack and Karen are ready to tickle your funny bone with a new season of good times (two seasons, actually!). Come watch the return of everyone’s favorite foursome with drink specials and other “W&G” fans. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Oct. 1: Show Tune Sunday with HIT at Sidetrack Video Bar (3349 N. Halsted St., Chicago): The gang from the Holiday Invitational Tournament (HIT) takes to the road with this annual trip to Chi-Town. For $40, you can leave the driving to the HIT team while you sit back and enjoy snacks and adult beverages before hitting Boy’s Town. Go shopping, find a lunch spot and then end the night singing show tunes. The bus leaves the southbound College Avenue park-and-ride at noon, and it heads home at 9 p.m. For tickets, visit eventbrite.com and search “Show Tunes Sunday with HIT.” Oct. 1: Coco Peru at Hamburger Mary’s (730 S. Fifth St.): I’m willing to turn over my title as Mary’s resident redhead when it comes to the clever Coco Peru!

She’ll be gracing the stage of the burger haven with her hilarious one-woman show! If you adored Coco in movies such as Trick and Girls Will Be Girls, you’ll relish this witty diva in person. Tickets start at $27; $42 tickets include VIP seating and a meet and greet with the divine redhead. See cocoatmarysmke.brownpapertickets. com to guarantee your 8 p.m. seat.

Oct. 3: Opening Night of ‘Rent’ at Uihlein Hall/Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (929 N. Water St.): Celebrate the 20th anniversary of one America’s favorite rock musicals when the touring production of Rent rolls into Cream City.

Don’t miss the six-day run that’s loaded with music, dancing, laughter and tears.

Tickets start at $31 and go as high as $131. Visit marcuscenter.org for tickets, show times and more. (Through Oct. 8) Want to share an event with Ruthie? Need her advice on a situation? Email DearRuthie@Shepex.com. Be sure to follow her Facebook (Ruthie Keester) and Twitter (@ DearRuthie).

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

::MYLGBTQPoint of View

Marquette University’s Rocky Road to Gay Rights ::BY PAUL MASTERSON

I

recently received a message asking me to join the Marquette University LGBT+ alumni group. Aside from the surprise that such an organization exists, the invitation evoked memories of my not-so-gay-friendly days as a Marquette student. Being gay at a Jesuit institution decades ago was an exercise in evasion. Still, at the same time, it allowed me my personal gay formation, albeit clandestinely.

Over those half-dozen years as an undergrad and grad student, I got a great education, enjoyed the crazed testosterone vibe of a gender-segregated dorm and later lived with three other guys (two straight, one gay) in a decaying old duplex. Through it all, I experienced many a classic coming-of-age moment.

Of course, I can also recall episodes of homophobic harassment. A friend who contemplated becoming a priest went to a Jesuit adviser for such things. He candidly revealed his fear he might be gay. Thereupon the Jesuit told him he had no business considering the priesthood. My friend attempted suicide as a result. The adviser, coincidently, had the reputation of being a busy gay man himself. Another gay friend (who was not a student) did commit suicide. I also recall being the target of a mocking “fag” impersonation, complete with accentuated limp wrist, by a grad school colleague. He was from Texas, so no surprise there.

But, on the positive side, there were lots of gays at MU. One of my dorm advisers turned out to be gay, as did several other guys on my floor. Later, I’d run into professors and fellow students at the infamous Factory. There was a religious house full of gay guys, and when I worked at a campus office, the department director and his assistant would go “camping” together. It didn’t get past the women in the office who got absolutely giddy over the couple’s scandalous ruse in lunch break conversations, while I sat feigning ignorance. For me, however, it was validating: There were gay people everywhere.

The real problem for Catholic institutions arose when LGBTQ liberation empowered enough professors and students to come out of the closet. As long as the gays remained discreet, they were tolerated. But then, once they were out, some administrations began to rid their ranks of those whose lifestyles were intrinsically condemned by Catholic dogma.

The clergy sex scandal didn’t help either.

Marquette has, however, managed to delicately maneuver through the fray with more positive outcomes.

The Jesuit mission is one of social justice, and nowadays it’s certainly safer to add LGBTQs to the realm of acceptable inclusion.

Getting there has been contentious. In 2010 a lesbian sociology professor was promoted to the position of dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Apparently under pressure of the Catholic archdiocese, the position was rescinded. It’s a long story, of course. But since then, there have been other instances when homophobia has been officially confronted.

With its share of opposition, an LGBTQ+ Resource Center was established in 2015. And now there’s an LGBT alumni group.

Over the years, I’ve received the Marquette alumni magazine (I’ve no clue how they tracked me down) and immediately tossed it. But now, I’ve signed up for what was described as a “blossoming” LGBTQ group.

There’s nothing like progress, is there?

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S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 35

::MUSIC

For more MUSIC, log onto shepherdexpress.com

JOE KIRSCHLING

FEATURE | ALBUM REVIEWS | CONCERT REVIEWS | LOCAL MUSIC

Bo & Airo Go Hard ::BY EVAN RYTLEWSKI

here’s a word that comes up a lot when the Milwaukee live rap duo Bo & Airo discuss their origins: serendipity. The two chalk up the project’s existence to the sheer coincidence of their names. Drummer Will Rose had been making rap music under the moniker Airo Kwil, while bassist Bo Triplex had been leading the funk group Bo Triplex and His Beautiful Band. “I had the epiphany that I was going as Airo and there was another artist in the city named Bo, and it was sort of a ‘holy shit’ moment,” Rose recalls. “I texted Bo and he agreed it was hilarious, so we got together and started making music.”

A pun alone is a pretty flimsy foundation for a band, but the two’s backgrounds proved complementary. “It just so happened that we both had a lot of common interests,” Rose says. “One of us was a bassist and a vocalist, and the other of us was a drummer and a bassist, so it was pretty easy to make a duo out of that.”

Even before their first sessions together, Triplex had an idea of how he wanted the duo to sound. “I wanted to make it just be hard as fuck,” he says. “I wanted to make some hard music, where the bass hits hard, the drums hit hard, and everything we say is just gnarly and we just rip it. I wanted it to be aggressive. Some of Airo’s previous projects are very eloquent, and he played more with the words and referenced a lot of different authors and soundscapes and things like that. With this stuff, though, I wanted to make it

36 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

straight-to-the-point rap; rap for the sake of rap.”

The two-man live setup also gave Triplex the outlet to play bass and rap at the same time, something he’d long wanted to push himself to try. For his part, Rose had some experience rapping and drumming before, but nothing along the lines of the frantic, full-kit approach he adopted with Bo & Airo.

“While performing as Airo Kwil, I’d done some more minimal percussion stuff in addition to doing production,” he says. “A lot of times I would have one floor tom and I’d be doing vocals while carrying the beats with that. But for this project, I’ve really honed in on putting vocals over the drum kit exclusively, in a way that I hadn’t been pushed to do before.”

There’s an indisputable wow factor to seeing two musicians trade rap verses while sweating over their instruments on stage, and on the duo’s debut EP, I, they succeed in the tough task of capturing the impact and intensity of Bo & Airo’s Bo & Airo live sets. Recorded with Dan Frankel at Beathouse Studios and Josh Evert at Silver City Studios, it’s five songs of the kind of Company bratty, bruising, wild-out hip-hop you don’t hear too much Brewing these days—imagine Run The Jewels if that duo retooled Friday, their act for basement punk shows.

Sept. 29 Their music is a throwback in a sense, Triplex says. “A lot of contemporary rap wants to wake you up and tell you about the world,” he explains, “whereas there’s this older stuff that’s just about yelling at you, or telling off your parents. It was a way to get back at somebody! That’s the genre of music that we want to make.”

Bo & Airo will play an album release show Friday, Sept. 29, at Company Brewing, 735 E. Center St., with openers Rusty Pelicans and Faux Fiction. There will also be improv comedy from Mojo Dojo Comedy and a set of improvised music from Bo & Airo’s openmic side project, the Boom Bap and Taps All Stars. “Improvisation is going to be our theme throughout the night,” Rose says.

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

Stiff Little Fingers Prove They’re Still Going Strong at Shank Hall ::BY THOMAS MICHALSKI

W

hile nostalgia for the punk era has been with us for decades—and probably will be for a few more considering many of those once-penniless kids are now normal professionals with disposable incomes—it currently appears to be somewhat more intense, at least as far as the concert calendar is concerned. Thank Donald Trump’s fascist tendencies, or in some cases just a decent paycheck, but these days it seems we can’t go more than a few weeks without some late-’70s/ early-’80s punk staple playing our fair city, and while some acts have aged better than others, it’s still generally been a trend worth celebrating.

That’s mostly because many of the old pioneers thankfully still have plenty of passion left, which was certainly the case with Friday’s rare appearance from Stiff Little Fingers.

Warming up for the legendary, long-running Belfast outfit was Norwegian garage rockers Death by Unga Bunga, who take their name from an old and smutty joke that’s not nearly funny enough to actually retell here. Musically, however, their blend of hooky, hard-edged power pop and time-tested classic rock antics—for instance, a Thin Lizzy cover culminating with all the guitarists theatrically playing the solo behind their heads—appeared to please the unsurprisingly large crowd.

That crowd, incidentally, was kept at bay by an apparently newly installed chest-level fence with a lonely looking security guard milling about behind it, although it didn’t seem to impede lead singer Sebastian Ulstad Olsen, who routinely roamed the audience shouting the oftentimes dopey lyrics directly into people’s faces.

While many of their contemporaries have only recently come out of retirement, Stiff Little Fingers have been remarkably active since their 1979 debut, despite an extended hiatus in the mid-’80s and a few inevitable lineup changes. Now celebrating their 40th anniversary, for their set the band effortlessly blended newer material, such as “My Dark Places” from their latest studio album, 2014’s No Going Back, with a wide selection of classics from their back catalogue, which included tunes like “Barbed Wire Love” and “Nobody’s Hero” as well an exciting rendition of “Suspect Device” leading into the set break. Most songs were accompanied by an introductory anecdote—whether it be about bandleader Jake Burns’ struggle with depression or getting shitfaced with fellow Irishman Phil Lynott—a personal touch that demonstrated why they’re still playing them after all these years.

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

MUSIC::LOCAL

Milwaukee’s Complicated History with All-Ages DIY Venues ::BY LAUREN KEENE

A

ll-ages, DIY-operated venues play an important role in most major U.S. cities.

They bring together touring musicians and underage listeners who can’t attend shows at bars or clubs and are often the first exposure young music fans have to their local music scenes.

These venues focus on hosting intimate, inexpensive shows while prioritizing comfort and creating “safe spaces” for patrons. Unfortunately, in Milwaukee these grassroots venues tend to have a short shelf life.

Over the last three years, Milwaukee’s music community has mourned the deaths of several of its most prominent all-ages venues, including most recently Triple Zero, which fell prey to the all-ages curse and closed in August after a brief three-month run. That high turnover rate has many Milwaukee music fans wondering what it will take for an all-ages venue to thrive in a city whose culture is so tied to the legal drinking age.

Right now, the city’s most visible all-ages, DIY event is Freespace, a sporadic, all-ages concert series at the Jazz Gallery. Helmed by famed Milwaukee rapper WebsterX (Sam Ahmed) and high school English teacher Vince Gaa, Freespace has connected Milwaukee youth to local and national artists since August 2015. Ahmed says he hopes Freespace will become a part of the “national discussion” of all-ages venues and has high hopes for the project’s future. “Freespace works because we’ve been able to establish community,” explains Ahmed. “I see it eventually as a monthly event and becoming its own venue. I want to purchase a spot in Milwaukee and have it run as a creative center with a recording studio and performance venue space.”

Ahmed’s aspirations may sound idealistic, especially given the city’s history. The lifelong Milwaukee resident knows how rare a long-term, successful all-ages venue is.

In the mid-2010s, the Riverwest spaces Cocoon Room and Lucky Cat introduced Milwaukee youth to the city’s music scene. Both venues were operated by longtime scene veterans and enabled notable, national musicians like Downtown Boys and Colleen Green to perform to all-ages audiences. Renowned local bands like Tenement and Jaill also performed regularly at both venues, expanding their followings even further to teenagers. After a

two-year run, The Cocoon Room shut down in August 2015; Lucky Cat followed suit in April 2017.

In the months in between, the all-ages scene lost an even bigger institution. Located on Milwaukee’s South Side, the Borg Ward had lasted an almost unprecedented eight-and-a-half years. “Your average DIY venue usually has a lifespan of six months to two years, so the fact that the Borg surpassed this and existed for eight-and-a-half years is pretty absurd,” explains Borg Ward organizer Jay Linski. It’s closure was abrupt. After a hardcore show attracted far more fans than organizers anticipated, complaints from neighbors led to the venue’s only police altercation in February 2016. That night, the Borg Ward hosted its last show.

“Underage people were greatly impacted by the venue’s closure,” says Linski. “The Borg Ward was a consistent place for [underage people] to go see bands with a cult following, friends’ bands and music that was too weird for most other places. It also provided a more down-to-earth and intimate environment that bigger venues lack.”

“I feel all-ages venues play an important role to the development of the city, in particular the youth,” Linski says.

“If done properly, they can provide a positive, nurturing environment, strength and a sense of purpose to people.

It can serve as a place for all different backgrounds to come together, learn from one another, form relationships and gain an understanding of people different from themselves.”

After a disheartening couple of years, things are finally looking up for Milwaukee’s underage music fans. Along with Freespace, a new space on Humboldt Boulevard called the After Gallery has recently been hosting small allages shows. The thread that connects every successful DIY venue is a dedicated team of organizers who are willing to compromise when necessary. “People think it’s lame, or a chore, to try and include everyone,” says Ahmed. “It’s never a chore to shut up, learn and watch while we pair [underagers] with other dope artists.”

Milwaukee’s most experienced all-ages organizers echo Ahmed’s sentiments and emphasize the vitality of all-ages venues to the city’s young people. “It’s always extremely beneficial for everyone involved when we have an opportunity to include younger people in the music scene,” says Cocoon Room organizer and DIY veteran Eric Schultz.

“It gives kids something to do when they are most vulnerable to falling over the edge … Having a place to express yourself and feel part of something bigger can change your world.”

JOSEPH VITUCCI

::CONCERTREVIEW

The Late Borg Ward

S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 37

MUSIC::LISTINGS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Amelia’s, Jackson Dordel Jazz Quintet (4pm) Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Acoustic Guitar Night Cactus Club, Space Raft w/The Dirty Nil & Rio Turbo Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Song Circle w/Tricia Alexander Caroline’s Jazz Club, The Group w/Mike DeRose & Eddie Butts County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Acoustic Irish Folk w/Barry Dodd Harry’s Bar & Grill, Kyle Feerick (6pm) Kelly’s Bleachers (Big Bend), Thursday Night Acoustic Open Jam w/host Michael Sean Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Sketchballs Mason Street Grill, Mark Thierfelder Jazz Trio (5:30pm) Miramar Theatre, Moon Hooch w/Lavender Fields & Jackson Whalan (all-ages, 9pm) Pabst Theater, The Mavericks Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Eric Barbieri The Packing House Restaurant, Barbara Stephan & Peter Mac (6pm) Yardarm Bar and Grill (Racine), Jack & Jill Jazz: Jack Grassel & Jill Jensen (6pm)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Indigo Dog (6:30pm) American Legion of Okauchee #399, Larry Lynne Trio Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Piano Night Art Bar, Jonny T-Bird & Big Dad Bremen Cafe, Librator w/Asumaya Cactus Club, New Swears w/Easy Habits & Shoot Down the Moon Cafe Bavaria, Oktoberfest w/Tom Brusky Band Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Lucy Kaplansky Cafe Centraal, Bay View Gallery Night w/Joe Wray (6pm) Caroline’s Jazz Club, Billy Johnson Trio Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: Video Dead w/cloneHeart (8pm); DJ: Chopper & Slicer (10pm) Clarke Hotel (Waukesha), Dick Eliot Jazz Guitar (6pm) Club Garibaldi, Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys w/Westside Andy Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, Will Hoge ComedySportz Milwaukee, ComedySportz Milwaukee!

Company Brewing, Bo & Airo album release party w/Rusty Pelicans, Faux Fiction, Mojo Dojo Improv Comedy, & Boom Bap and Taps AllStars County Clare Irish Inn & Pub, Traditional Irish Ceilidh Session Frank’s Power Plant, Bay View Gallery Night After-Party w/ Layers&Layers, Burmecia & J. Briozo Harry’s on Brady, 5 Card Studs Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Jam Session w/Steve Nitros & Friends Jazz Estate, Matt Blair Solo (7pm), Trim/Johnson/Drobka Trio (8pm), Late Night Session: Kid Millions (11pm) Jokerz Comedy Club, Mike Stanley

Kenosha Fusion, Cactii Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Rockabilly for Rescue w/ Crazy Rocket Fuel & The Get Hot Lakefront Brewery Beer Hall, Brewhaus Polka Kings (5:30pm) Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Rumble Roots w/Pretty Beggar Mamie’s, Robert Allen Jr. Mason Street Grill, Phil Seed Trio (6pm) Milwaukee Ale House, Ripple Effect Miramar Theatre, Kalya Scintilla w/Eve Olution, Random Rab & Whitebear (ages 17-plus, 9pm) Pabst Theater, The Floozies: Funk Jesus Tour 2017 w/BoomBox & Late Night Radio Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Andrea & The Mods (9pm), In the Fire Pit: Final Say (9pm) Potbelly Sandwich Shop (East Side), Texas Dave (noon) Sazzy B Kenosha, Joe Kadlec Shank Hall, Rik Emmett of Triumph - Acoustic Duo Performance w/Dave Dunlap The Bay Restaurant, Matt MF Tyner The Packing House Restaurant, Eric Diamond: Diamonds & Nostalgia (6:30pm) Turner Hall Ballroom, Chicano Batman & Khruangbin w/The Shacks Up & Under Pub, Three Unassisted Urban Harvest Brewing Company, The Accountants Of Homeland Security Vitucci’s Cocktail Lounge, Attic Jams Von Trier, The Jim Liban Combo w/Roger Brotherhood (6:30pm)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

88Nine Radio Milwaukee, 2nd Annual Band Together w/Adi Armour, Cache, Kymaera, Tigernite & Boys and Girls Clubs’ Davis Club Dance Team American Legion Post #449 (Brookfield), Larry Lynne Band (6:30pm) Angelo’s Piano Lounge, Piano Night Art Bar, Aaron Kelly Bootz Saloon, Georgia Overdrive Cactus Club, Grieves w/Dem Atlas & Rahn Harper Cafe Bavaria, Oktoberfest w/Polka Joel Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson), Roxanne Neat Caroline’s Jazz Club, The Paul Spencer Band w/James Sodke, Larry Tresp, Aaron Gardener & Eric Jacobson Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight: The Hullmen w/Holly and the Nice Lions (8pm); DJ: Seedy (10pm) Club Garibaldi, The Red Flags w/Three Unassisted Coffeeville Company (Jackson), Reverend Raven & The Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys w/Westside Andy (11am) Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, Fruition ComedySportz Milwaukee, ComedySportz Milwaukee!

Company Brewing, B~Free’s Dirty 30 for the 99s & the 2000s w/Christopher DeAngelo Gilbert, Dailen Harris, Klassik, Kyndal J. Music & Lorde Fredd33

Crush Wine Bar (Waukesha), CP & Stoll w/Chris Peppas & Jeff Stoll Delafield Brewhaus, Andrea & The Mods Five O’Clock Steakhouse, Kirk Tatnall solo Fox Point Farmers Market, Eric Baer (10am) Frank’s Power Plant, Battalion of Saints w/Assault & Battery, The Cryptics & The Nobodys Hilton Milwaukee City Center, Vocals & Keys House of Guinness (Waukesha), Derek Byrne & Paddygrass Jazz Estate, Kevin Hayden Group Jokerz Comedy Club, Mike Stanley Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Brewtown Breakdown: : Hey Chere!, Sweet Sheiks, The Midnightmen Trio & Stokes & The Old Blues Boys (4pm) Kuhtz General Store (Oconomowoc), Jonny T-Bird & the MPs Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Bright Black w/J. Briozo, Haunter & Tyson Allison Mason Street Grill, Jonathan Wade Trio (6pm) McAuliffe’s Pub (Racine), Diamond w/Taunting Richard Milwaukee Ale House, Sam Pace and the Gilded Grit Miramar Theatre, Diamond Saints (ages 17-plus, 9pm) Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, In Bar 360: Mirage III Rave / Eagles Club, Lords Of Acid w/Combichrist, Christian Death, En Esch (ex-KMFDM) & Night Club (all-ages, 8pm) Richy’s D.S. Bar (Big Bend), The B Side Band Riverwest Public House, LUXI w/Eric Mayson & DaNCEBUMS Route 20 Outhouse (Sturtevant), Saliva w/Imperial Fall Shank Hall, PHUN (PHISH tribute) Smith Bros. Coffee House (Port Washington), Sing The Lake Steaming Cup (Waukesha), Fair Webber The Packing House Restaurant, Big Smith (God’s Outlaw) w/ Johnny Cash Tribute & Legendary Country Show (6:30pm) Up & Under Pub, The Radiomen Urban Harvest Brewing Company, Lee Rowley & Friends: Make-A-Wish Wisconsin

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1

Circle-A Cafe, Alive at Eight (8pm); DJ: Trail Boss Tim Cook (10pm) Doppa’s Bar & Grill, CCMC w/Texas 55 (2pm) Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Jammin’ Jimmy Open Jam (3pm) Jazz Estate, David Hazeltine Trio (7pm & 9pm) Milaeger’s (Sturtevant), Mambo Surfers (10am) Miramar Theatre, DATURNUPKING 2GI (all-ages, 7pm) Pabst Theater, Angel Olsen Riverwest Gardeners Market, Texas Dave Trio (12pm) Rounding Third Bar and Grill, The Dangerously Strong Comedy Open Mic Shank Hall, Cornell Thigpen cd release Steinway Piano Gallery, Jazz Unlimited presents: 2 Piano Concert w/Frank DeMiles & Connie Grauer (2pm)

The Tonic Tavern, Third Coast Blues w/Bill Stone & The Mighty Stokes (4pm) Turner Hall Ballroom, Jacksepticeye

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2

Cactus Club, Rose Of The West w/Jenny Besetzt & LUXI Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Poet’s Monday w/host Timothy Kloss & featured reader POETTREE (7:30-10:30pm) Mason Street Grill, Joel Burt Duo (5:30pm) Paulie’s Pub and Eatery, Open Jam w/Christopher John Rave / Eagles Club, Judah & The Lion w/The Academic & Tyson Motsenbocker (all-ages, 8pm) Turner Hall Ballroom, Gogol Bordello w/Lucky Chops Up & Under Pub, Marshall McGhee and the Wanderers Open Mic

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3

C Notes Upscale Sports Lounge, Another Night-Another Mic Open Mic w/Darryl Hill Cactus Club, Ghost Foot w/Static Eyes Colectivo Coffee On Prospect, Sam Amidon Frank’s Power Plant, Duck and Cover Comedy Open Mic Good City Brewing, Jonny Fritz Mamie’s, Open Blues Jam w/Carole & Craig Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) Miramar Theatre, Tuesday Open Mic w/host Sandy Weisto (sign-up 7:30pm) Shank Hall, TWRP w/Planet Booty The Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Jazz Jam Session Transfer Pizzeria Cafe, Transfer House Band w/Dennis Fermenich Turner Hall Ballroom, Dylan Moran w/Grumbling Mustard

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4

Caroline’s Jazz Club, Harvey Westmoreland w/Knee Deep Blues Jam Company Brewing, Faux Fiction w/North by North & The Glacial Speed Conway’s Smokin’ Bar & Grill, Open Jam w/Big Wisconsin Johnson Iron Mike’s (Franklin), Danny Wendt Open Jam (6pm) Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, Polka Open Jam Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Acoustic Open Stage w/feature Chris Haise (sign-up 8:30pm, start 9pm) Mason Street Grill, Jamie Breiwick Group (5:30pm) Pabst Theater, Explosions in the Sky Paulie’s Field Trip, Humpday Jam w/Dave Wacker & Mitch Cooper Potbelly Sandwich Shop (East Side), Texas Dave (noon) Shank Hall, Tommy Castro and The PainKillers Stompin’ Ground Record Release Tour Tally’s Tap & Eatery (Waukesha), Tomm Lehnigk

Live Music Cocktail Service Every Night

Fri. 9/29 7 pm

Wed. 10/4 9 pm

TRIM/JOHNSON/ DROBKA TRIO 11:30 pm KID MILLIONS

BILLY JOHNSON TRIO

Sat. 9/30 11 pm

Thurs. 10/ 5 9 pm

Sun. 10/ 1 7 pm

Fri. 10/6 7 pm

Mon. 10/2 9 pm

Sat. 10/ 7 8 pm

KEVIN HAYDEN GROUP

MILWAUKEE HOT CLUB

DAVID HAZELTINE RAY BLUE9:30 pmQUARTET TRIO DRAMATIC LOVERS 9/28 Bo & Airo 10/5 Joseph Huber

JAZZ JAM SESSION

11:30 pm DEVIN DROBKA TRIO

Tues. 10/3 9 pm

Mon. 10/9 8:30 pm

MKE FILM FEST MUSIC SESSION 2423 North Murray Ave

38 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

WICKED LONG DAY

MARK DAVIS TRIO

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S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 39

THINK ABOUT IT

By James Barrick

THEME CROSSWORD

PSYCHO SUDOKU! “Greater-Than Sudoku”

For this “Greater-Than Sudoku,” I’m not giving you ANY numbers to start off with!

Adjoining squares in the grid’s 3x3 boxes have a greater-than sign (>) telling you which of the two numbers in those squares is larger. Fill in every square with a number from 1-9 using the greater-than signs as a guide. When you’re done, as in a normal Sudoku, every row, column, and 3x3 box will contain the numbers 1-9 exactly one time. (Solving hint: try to look for the 1’s and 9’s in each box first, then move on to the 2’s and 8’s, and so on). psychosudoku@gmail.com

ACROSS 1. Headstand or handspring, e.g.

5. Barques 10. Prix fixe offering 15. Mr. Cassini 19. Swear word 20. Torment 21. Genus of fish 22. Give over 23. Thought 25. Thought 27. Libertines 28. Causes for concern 30. “...— I saw Elba” 31. Soiled 34. Nickelodeon’s “Blue’s —” 35. Conveyance for freight 39. Outbox items 40. Climb 41. Backbreaking 42. Current 44. Thought 47. Bit of coal 48. Sponsorship: Var. 49. At an earlier place 51. Region of LA 53. Safe-travel org.

54. — volente 55. Like a piecrust 56. Garments for ladies or gentlemen 57. Ruler: Var. 59. Kind of triangle 61. Lets 62. Chowder ingredient 63. Holy pictures 64. Scope 65. Occur: 2 wds.

66. Like the noble gases 67. Musical transition 68. Work of fiction 70. Trap 71. Set of steps 72. Did clerical work

73. Girl in Bavaria 75. Astern 76. A state capital 78. Furnishings 79. Footfall 80. LXXIX - XXVII 81. Thought 83. A pronoun 85. Offer of a kind 88. Down with!

89. Notched 90. Free pardon 91. Chairperson’s mallet 93. Teeth 95. Greek letter 96. Like a judge, they say 97. Steam bath 98. Thought 102. Thought 107. Toward shelter 108. Certain contract 109. Mano — — (in direct competition) 110. — dixit 111. Row 112. Lewis’ Gantry 113. Big bombs, for short 114. The lion’s share DOWN 1. Because 2. — Claire 3. Source of cash: Abbr.

4. Time of life 5. Fast food order 6. Loathed 7. “Bearded” flower 8. Paid player 9. Fold in rock layers 10. — Coeur 11. Bitter — 12. Makes a record of 13. “Do — — say, not...”

14. News item spec 15. Ogdoads 16. Fragrant necklace

17. Tokyo, formerly 18. Mil. rank 24. Fasteners 26. Shrinking sea in Asia 29. A relation 31. Removed, in printing 32. Reflections 33. Thought 34. GM division 35. Buffoons 36. Thought 37. Diverts 38. Reinforcement for concrete 40. Preserve a certain way 41. Lists 43. Aptitude 45. Settle a score 46. Discernment 50. Edicts against 52. Cried out 55. Bit of broccoli 56. Scene 58. Wooden-head hammer 60. Maple genus 61. Kind of sleeve 62. Like some missions 64. Japanese healing technique 65. Marco — 66. Feeble

67. Plagiarize 68. Cuts a little 69. Not inclined 70. Tunicate 71. Kind of paint 72. Wild 74. Parts of churches 77. Hurdle 78. Short-haired dog 79. One after another 82. Eagre 84. Dye for hair 86. Kitchen gadget 87. Bone: Prefix 91. Golden-egg source 92. Dogpatch resident 93. “The — Mutiny” 94. Sedans 96. “King and I” setting 97. A state: Abbr.

98. Snitch 99. Yale student 100. Charge 101. — Aviv 103. Big bird 104. Broker’s offering 105. CIA forerunner 106. Snood

Solution to last week’s puzzle

3

7

1

2

9

6

4

9

2

6

5

8

3

7

1

8

1

6

4

3

7

5

9

2

7

8

1

9

6

2

4

5

3

2

6

3

7

4

5

1

8

9

9

4

5

8

1

3

2

6

7

6

2

9

3

7

4

8

1

5

1

5

8

2

9

6

7

3

4

3

7

4

5

8

1

9

2

6

8

9/21 Solution

WORD FIND This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction but always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have completed the puzzle, there will be 26 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

A Place to Live Solution: 26 Letters

© 2017 Australian Word Games Dist. by Creators Syndicate Inc.

© 2017 United Feature Syndicate, Dist. by Andrews McMeel Syndication

5 4

Abut Air conditioner Alcove Architect Base Beam Deck Dome Door Eaves Extras Fascia Fix Glue

Grand Hearth Immaculate Inlay Jamb Key Laundry Magnificent Mortar New Ram Rib Ridge Roof

Rug Rural Sale Septic system Sheds Space Style Tap Tidy Timber Tudor Villa

40 | S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7

9/21 Solution: Council rates are always going up SHEPHERD EXPRESS

Solution: The nesting instinct is strong

Creators Syndicate 737 3rd Street • Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310-337-7003 • info@creators.com

Date: 9/28/17

::NEWS OF THE WEIRD

::FREEWILLASTROLOGY ::BY ROB BREZSNY LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Be realistic, Libra: Demand the impossible; expect inspiration; visualize yourself being able to express yourself more completely and vividly than you ever have before. Believe me when I tell you that you now have extra power to develop your sleeping potentials, and are capable of accomplishing feats that might seem like miracles. You are braver than you know, as sexy as you need to be and wiser than you were two months ago. I am not exaggerating, nor am I flattering you. It’s time for you to start making your move to the next level.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to take extra good care of yourself during the next three weeks. Do whatever it takes to feel safe and protected and resilient. Ask for the support you need, and if the people whose help you solicit can’t or won’t give it to you, seek elsewhere. Provide your body with more than the usual amount of healthy food, deep sleep, tender touch and enlivening movement. Go see a psychotherapist or counselor or good listener every single day if you want. And don’t you dare apologize or feel guilty for being such a connoisseur of self-respect and self-healing.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A queen bee may keep mating until she gathers 70 million sperm from many different drones.

When composing my horoscopes, I aim to cultivate a metaphorically comparable receptivity. Long ago I realized that all of creation is speaking to me all the time; I recognized that everyone I encounter is potentially a muse or teacher. If I hope to rustle up the oracles that are precisely suitable for your needs, I have to be alert to the possibility that they may arrive from unexpected directions and surprising sources.

Can you handle being that open to influence, Sagittarius? Now is a favorable time to expand your capacity to be fertilized.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’re approaching a rendezvous with prime time.

Any minute now you could receive an invitation to live up to your hype or fulfill your promises to yourself—or both. This test is likely to involve an edgy challenge that is both fun and daunting, both liberating and exacting. It will have the potential to either steal a bit of your soul or else heal an ache in it.

To ensure the healing occurs rather than the stealing, do your best to understand why the difficulty and the pleasure are both essential.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1901, physician Duncan MacDougall carried out experiments that led him to conclude that the average human soul weighs 21 grams. Does his claim have any merit? That question is beyond my level of expertise. But if he was right, then I’m pretty sure your soul has bulked up to at least 42 grams in the past few weeks. The work you’ve been doing to refine and cultivate your inner state has been heroic.

It’s like you’ve been ingesting a healthy version of soul-building steroids. Congrats!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): There are enough authorities, experts and knowit-alls out there trying to tell you what to think and do. In accordance with current astrological factors, I urge you to utterly ignore them during the next two weeks. And do it gleefully, not angrily. Exult in the power that this declaration of independence gives you to trust your own assessments and heed your own intuitions. Furthermore, regard your rebellion as good practice for dealing with the little voices in your head that speak for those authorities, experts and know-it-alls. Rise up and reject their shaming and criticism, too. Shield yourself from their fearful fantasies.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats likes to play along with the music of nature. On one occasion he collaborated with Mandeville Creek in Montana.

He listened and studied the melodies that emanated from its flowing current. Then, he moved around some of the underwater rocks, subtly changing the creek’s song. Your assignment, Aries, is to experiment with equally imaginative and exotic collaborations.

The coming weeks will be a time when you can make beautiful music together with anyone or anything that tickles your imagination.

SHEPHERD EXPRESS

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Some newspapers publish regular rectifications of the mistakes they’ve made in past editions. For example, the editors of the U.K. publication The Guardian once apologized to readers for a mistaken statement about Richard Wagner. They said that when the 19th-century German composer had trysts with his chambermaid, he did not in fact ask her to wear purple underpants, as previously reported. They were pink underpants. I tell you this, Taurus, as encouragement to engage in corrective meditations yourself.

Before bedtime on the next 10 nights, scan the day’s events and identify any actions you might have done differently—perhaps with more integrity or focus or creativity. This will have a deeply tonic effect. You are in a phase of your astrological cycle when you’ll flourish as you make amendments and revisions.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’s high time to allow your yearnings to overflow…to surrender to the vitalizing pleasures of nonrational joy…to grant love the permission to bless you and confound you with its unruly truths. For inspiration, read this excerpt of a poem by Caitlyn Siehl.

“My love is honey tongue … Thirsty love … My love is peach juice / dripping down the neck. / Too much sugar love … Sticky sweet, / sticky sweat love. / My love can’t ride a bike. / My love walks everywhere. / Wanders through the river. / Feeds the fish, skips the stones. / Barefoot love. / My love stretches itself out on / the grass, kisses a nectarine. / My love is never waiting. / My love is a traveler…”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): One of the oldest houses in Northern Europe is called the Knap of Howar. Built out of stone around 3,600 B.C., it faces the wild sea on Papa Westray, an island off the northern coast of Scotland.

Although no one has lived there for 5,000 years, some of its stone furniture remains intact. Places like this will have a symbolic power for you in the coming weeks, Cancerian. They’ll tease your imagination and provoke worthwhile fantasies. Why? Because the past will be calling to you more than usual. The old days and old ways will have secrets to reveal and stories to teach. Listen with alert discernment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The United States has a bizarre system for electing its president. There’s nothing like it in any other democratic nation on earth. Every four years, the winning candidate needs only to win the electoral college, not the popular vote. So, theoretically, it’s possible to garner just 23% of all votes actually cast, and yet still ascend to the most powerful political position in the world. For example, in two of the last five elections, the new chief of state has received significantly fewer votes than his main competitor. I suspect that you may soon benefit from a comparable anomaly, Leo. You’ll be able to claim victory on a technicality.

Your effort may be “ugly,” yet good enough to succeed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I found this advertisement for a workshop: “You will learn to do the INCREDIBLE! Smash bricks with your bare hands! Walk on fiery coals unscathed! Leap safely off a roof! No broken bones! No cuts! No pain!

Accomplish the impossible first! Then everything else will be a breeze!” I bring this to your attention, Virgo, not because I think you should sign up for this class or anything like it. I hope you don’t. In fact, a very different approach is preferable for you: I recommend that you start with safe, manageable tasks. Master the simple details and practical actions. Work on achieving easy, low-risk victories. In this way, you’ll prepare yourself for more epic efforts in the future.

Homework: Would I enjoy following you on Twitter or Tumblr? Send me links to your tweets or posts.

Truthrooster@gmail.com Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes

::BY THE EDITORS OF ANDREWS MCMEEL

Thanks, Taxpayers!

K

risti Lyn Goss, 44, former judicial administrative assistant in Garland County, Ark., went all out when she racked up about $200,000 worth of debt on the county credit card between 2011 and 2016, according to The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record. Among the many items Goss purchased on the county’s account were tickets to Arkansas Razorbacks games, sequined throw pillows and a tuxedo for her dog. Goss pleaded guilty on Sept. 11 to six felony fraud counts; her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22.

Hot Dog Candidate Incumbent mayoral candidate Charles Pender erected his campaign signs in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, on Aug. 30, but when he woke the next day, he found that they had been vandalized—with hot dogs. CBC News reported that someone had cut round holes in the signs and inserted hot dogs to look as if Pender was smoking a cigar. Pender called it “minor mischief,” but noted that the signs are expensive. He called the police, but, frankly, feels it’s unlikely the perpetrator(s) will be caught. He hopes to turn the incident into a good laugh with a “bunraiser” later in the election season.

That Excuse Sucks Lisa Faye Stout, 53, came up with an unusual scapegoat for the mess police officers found in her room on Sept. 10 at New Castle, Indiana’s Raintree Inn, according to the Muncie Star Press. Vampires had “destroyed everything,” Stout told the officers, who were responding to reports that she had shown up in the hotel bar wearing no pants or undergarments. The front desk clerk also said Stout spit on her and threatened to kill her. As she was taken into custody, Stout spit some more and threatened to “slice” officers’ throats. Stout was charged in Henry County court with two counts of battery by bodily waste, intimidation and criminal mischief.

and Daily Text Message Horoscopes. The audio

Life Imitates Art

horoscopes are also available by phone at

A movie stuntman in Buckinghamshire, England, put his skills to work when a potential buyer of his Mercedes-Benz tried to

1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

take off with the car on Sept. 13. The Daily Telegraph reported that Matt Spooner met the “buyer” and gave him a test drive in the car, but the thief wouldn’t get out and started to take off. So, Spooner told reporters, “I ran ’round to the front and asked him politely to step out. I then ended up on the front of the vehicle and it began to move.” The driver entered a highway, but when he finally slowed down, Spooner let go and “skidded off to the side of the curb,” suffering cuts and bruises to his face. While Spooner creates stunts for film crews, he sagely advises, “It’s a bad plan to do them yourself.”

Exploitation 101 Jerry Sargeant, 39, of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England, who claims on his website to be able to cure cancer via Skype, has been convicted in Westminster Magistrate’s Court of violating the U.K.’s 1939 Cancer Act, which prohibits advertising services that “offer to treat any person for cancer.” The Daily Mail reports that Sargeant, who calls himself “The Facilitator,” says he discovered his talent for “Star Magic” when he saw a woman’s soul fly out of her body during a car accident in Romania. He also claims to have flown to Alpha Centauri on a spaceship and returned to Earth just minutes later. Sargeant’s healing sessions cost 90 pounds for 15 minutes, but he told police that appointments can go up to an hour, “because you can’t put a time on magic.” He will be sentenced on Nov. 8.

Deputize the Shark!

Police officers in Surf City, N.C., stopped Zachary Kingsbury, 20, of Lynnwood, Wash., on Aug. 30 and asked him to step out of his car because they had spotted contraband inside.

Kingsbury complied, but then took off running, heading toward the beach—and didn’t stop when he hit the ocean. According to the Port City Daily, Kingsbury continued swimming for almost an hour as police tracked him with a drone-mounted camera—which allowed them to also see the shark trailing him in the water. At that point, said Surf City Police Chief Ron Shanadan, the chase “became a rescue operation,” and multiple emergency crews were dispatched to pick up the fugitive.

Kingsbury was taken into custody in North Topsail Beach and charged with resisting arrest and possession of marijuana and methamphetamine. © 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 41

THEBACK::ARTFORART’SSAKE

Red Glare ::BY ART KUMBALEK

I

’m Art Kumbalek and man oh man manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, having survived our unwelcome rerun of a summertime, lo, these hubbub dog days of September, I decided I ought to do some exercising of what-you-call First Amendment rights and free speechifying (although I’d rather get paid); and so I wrote a play, what the fock.

And what I wrote is not your usual theater play with a gang of thespians crying up a forsoothing storm for a couple, three hours ’til the crows come home to roast, no sir. It’s not one of those plays where the actors, when they hit the stage, instead of wondering “To be, or not to be?” ought to wonder “Where the fock is everybody?” And that’s a question I can answer: Everybody is elsewhere ’cause all these plays charge too focking much to see, last too focking long and never have as many laughs and gorgeous focking dames as they ought to, so’s to keep those turnstiles humming a $nappy tune.

My play runs about a good 10 minutes, so you’re in and out of the theater before you even know it. And if you have kids, you wouldn’t have to add the expense of a babysitter—you could easily be back home before the katzenjammers had a chance to be abducted or light the house on fire and still have had an enjoyable theatrical experience, no focking sweat.

What follows is my play on the page for you’s to take a gander at, and yes, Pulitzer Prizes welcome.

Break a leg.

The Focking Playboy of the Western (and Eastern) World, Waiting for Deliverance

(Setting: Art Kumbalek’s penthouse living room with fully stocked bar—and none of that fake stage-prop crap neither, capiche? Art’s reclined on battleship-sized sofa, having a cocktail, smoking a cigarette, talking on the phone. Art K. must appear as himself—no focking actors, please.)

Art: Yeah, large, everything on it ’cept nothing that’s even close to being a vegetable. The only vegetable I want connected to this pizza is the guy who delivers it, and if there’s even so much as one anchovy, I’ll come down there and personally focking kill you myself. You got that?

(Enter Lola, abso-fockinglutely knockout swanky gorgeous dame. She sits on the sofa and plants one heck of a juicy smacker on Art’s lips that lasts for about 10% of the show’s running time) Art: (Rising) Holy moley, you busy after the show?

Lola: I just don’t know, Artie. There’s so much trouble in the world today. Everywhere I go, there’s people with no money, full of hopelessness, full of hate…

Art: Sounds like you’re hanging with the wrong crowd.

Lola: You know what I mean, Artie. (Lola rises, puts her arms around Art and draws him close) I see people homeless, hungry…

Art: (Shakes cocktail glass) And thirsty.

Lola: (Whispering into Art’s ear) What’ll it be?

Art: I was having Manhattans, but now I’m thinking Sloe Screw.

Lola: (Draws Art even closer) Can I make it straight up?

Art: You always do, baby.

Lola: (Goes to bar to fix drink) So Artie, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?

Art: (Reclines on sofa) I thought we’d hang around here tonight, have some drinks, a few laughs; so I called for a pizza.

Lola: (Returns with drink, and plants juicy smacker on Art—even longer than the first one) When’s it coming?

Art: Any second, and if it doesn’t, no tip, or maybe I’ll kill him. What time does your husband need you back?

Lola: Soon. The nurse called in sick, so I’ve got to give him his medication. (Phone rings) I’ll get it. Hello? What? Who is this? (Hangs up) Art: Who was that?

Lola: (Hysterical) I don’t know. They just said they were coming right over. And they were going to kill you.

Art: (Grabs Lola) Don’t sweat it, baby. The play’s almost over, then we can be alone. (Banging at door, Art rises) Lola: Don’t get it, darling.

Art: Why the fock not?

Lola: That knock symbolizes one of two things: Our pizza or your death. If it’s our pizza, OK, I’ll only have one slice. I’m watching my figure.

Art: So am I, doll. Believe me you.

Lola: But if that knocker means your death, it’s my death, too, for I could never live without you, or without me. Behind the door, noisy but unknown, that knowledge must always remain so, noisy but unknown, for us to exist, ignorant angels bathed in bliss we are.

Art: Whatever you say, baby. Let’s fool around. (More knocking. Lola pushes Art down on sofa. And Art and the free-spirited gal Art chose to cast for the role of Lola get down to some really serious focking business, I kid you not, as lights fade) There you go, 10 minutes or so of show, about as much time as it took to write, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.

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