MADISON, Wis. -- The Overture Hall organ concerts conducted by Madison Symphony Orchestra organ curator Greg Zelek are hands down the best entertainment bargain in Madison. Partially, that's due to the 72-rank “Mighty Klais” instrument, a 2004 gift from Pleasant…
The most surprising thing to me about the leaked Supreme Court draft on abortion is the fact that Republican politicians seem to be shrugging it off. For the past half-century, right-wing politicians have pointed to legalized abortion as the source…
MADISON, Wis. -- Well, that didn't take long. Within days of a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft ruling on abortion, Republicans in Louisiana have introduced a bill classifying abortion as homicide and allowing prosecutors to charge women who receive them…
Kathryn Smith, general director of Madison Opera, put things into perspective as she introduced weekend performances of “Orpheus in the Underworld.” “At a time when the challenges grow greater every day, it is nice to have a time when the…
MADISON, Wis. -- Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett is now advocating that Dr. Anthony Fauci be executed by a firing squad. Fauci is head of the United States National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases and is medical advisor…
I had decidedly mixed feelings when I read that Tommy Thompson has decided against running for governor this year. I wouldn't have voted for him. I think Tony Evers has done a remarkably good job steering the state through a…
The first thing we have to recognize about the weekend's Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts is that concertmaster Naha Greenholtz is a civic treasure. Greenholtz stepped out of her usual role as lead violin to perform as soloist and conductor for…
My guess is that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos experienced swells of acid indigestion Thursday when he read news accounts of Michael Gableman being cheered at a Donald Trump election conspiracy party. Gableman is a former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. Vos…
So, I'm minding my own business watching television when Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson appears on the screen promising to abolish the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Wisconsin schools. That should be an easy promise to fulfill since I'd…
Even as we all shudder at the ability of Russian President Putin to destroy a nation and kill thousands of innocent people, we do take some psychic pleasure in seeing Russian billionaires stripped of their possessions. Yachts, homes worth more…
One question was in the mind of Madison Symphony Orchestra patrons as they found their way to the weekend concerts: Would conductor John DeMain begin the concert with the Ukrainian national anthem?
MADISON, Wis. -- I have a feeling that when the history of the Covid pandemic is written, the antics of The People's Convoy will be seen as a defining image. The Convoy, which includes – who knows? A few hundred…
The midwinter opera is always a time for Madison Opera to innovate and this year it innovated by not staging an opera. “She Loves Me,” which played to pretty much full houses over the weekend, is a Broadway play, based…
For those who enjoy classical music, this week is a bonanza at the Overture Center. It began Sunday when the Madison Symphony Orchestra presented its annual “Beyond the Score” multi-media presentation featuring three American Players Theatre veterans and Igor Stravinsky's…
If I were a betting man, I'd bet on Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson's reelection. Last week, when Oshkosh Defense, a truck manufacturing company in, yes, Oshkosh, announced it will build new US Postal Service trucks in South Carolina rather than…
MADISON, Wis. -- Donald Trump's rantings and ravings over the last election are so familiar that we tend to dismiss them and move on to more important topics. But, sometimes, in the midst of the lunacy, the former president says…
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's contribution to our national dialogue, Sen. Ron Johnson, says he has “never really felt it was society's responsibility to take care of other people's children.” Given the way Johnson votes, that will come as no surprise,…
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is one of the world's great musicians and his “Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra” is probably going to go down as a masterpiece of 21st-century music. The Madison Symphony Orchestra featured it in its weekend…
The root cause of much of what troubles this nation can be summed up in one explanation: Donald Trump is a sore loser. The January 6, 2020 insurrection took place primarily because Trump could not do what every other losing…
The entire Democratic Party seems ready to bludgeon West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who, Sunday, said he won't support President Biden's “Build Back Better” program. I tend to think Manchin did the Democrats a favor. I personally support the Biden…
Senator Ron Johnson now recommends people use mouthwash to curb the spread of Covid-19. Do you think our senior senator might be sending out whacky ideas as a call for help?
MADISON, Wis. -- Christmas really doesn't return to the Madison arts scene until the Madison Symphony Orchestra offers its annual Christmas extravaganza. Which means, of course, that Christmas didn't really happen last year as we were all shut down for…
Michael Gableman has done nothing but embarrass the state. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much what he did when he sat on the Supreme Court, too.
The political right in America has a new hero, vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, who traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Ill. a year ago to engage in racial protests and ended up killing two men, one armed with an…
