Performance Art

On “The Morning Show,” Milwaukee’s first youth poet laureate shared her inspirations and self reflections on poetry, as well as a piece she wrote.

When Joni Mitchell made an emotional appearance at the Grammys this weekend, a pair of Milwaukee sisters were on backup. Mitchell, who is 80, sang her nearly 60-year-old ballad “Both Sides Now” at the awards show Sunday. The New York Times described the performance as being something like “a brief, magical visitation from a musical…

Tempest Heat, an acclaimed and beloved Wisconsin drag performer, has died, according to friends and family posting on social media. Tempest Heat was the drag persona of Jonathan Carthell Hughlett. She graced many stages across Wisconsin, serving as a mentor or “drag mother” to countless other performers. Hughlett was a champion for Black, gay and…

During the early part of the 20th Century, at the height of the silent movie era, the Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company built over 2,200 pipe organs. One hundred years later, only about a dozen remain in their original, working condition worldwide. Now, one of them is at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee. The 1925 Wurlitzer…

When Thanksgiving approaches, so too does an influx of classical music performances across the state. Wisconsin Public Radio “Afternoon Classics” host Lori Skelton says Wisconsin is seeing a unique “concert bottleneck” this autumn, due in part to effects of COVID-19 public gathering restrictions. Skelton joined WPR’s “The Morning Show” to discuss the season’s most anticipated…

In a lower Manhattan off-Broadway theater, tucked away from the traffic and bright lights, an old farm house nestled on 40 acres of remnant prairie introduces theatergoers to a Wisconsin woman making zucchini bread, and Rebecca Gilman’s play “Swing State” begins. The play, set “somewhere in the Driftless area of Wisconsin” in the late summer…

Taylor Swift’s concert tour juggernaut never made it to Wisconsin this year, but fans will get a chance to take in the next-best thing with the opening of the film version this weekend. The film opened Thursday, a day early, to accommodate demand. After a successful first leg of the live tour, fans may wonder…

An American tradition with deep Wisconsin roots returns this weekend when the new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to Milwaukee. With the performances at the Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee will be the third city to see the new show after a hiatus of more than six years. Facing declining ticket sales and large…

Architect Marion Clendenen-Acosta fondly remembers visiting the Mitchell Park Domes with her family as a child. This month, she returned to the domes once again — but to receive Wisconsin’s most prestigious architecture award from the state society of the American Institute of Architects. The award recognizes an architect’s contributions to the profession. In 2000,…

An effort to preserve the memories of elderly Sheboygan residents through song, dance, poetry and visual art is returning to the stage this weekend. The Live Forever Project’s first performance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is set for Saturday. The star of the show will be 96-year-old Evelyn Prevenas. During a recent appearance…