Distribution: New issues of the Shepherd Express magazine are on the street, on the first Wednesday of each month, free of charge. The Shepherd Express may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of the Shepherd Express, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. Mail subscriptions are available. No refunds for early cancellations. One year (12 issues) via First Class mail: $100.00.
207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 410, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: 414/276-2222
MOVING BEYOND THE CORRUPTION AND INCOMPETENCE OF TRUMP’S SECOND TERM IN OFFICE
BY EG NADEAU, ILLUSTRATED BY LUC NADEAU
This is the 12th and final article about corruption in Trump's second term in office that we are publishing in the Shepherd Express. The series began in June 2025 and has reported on a variety of rotten things that Trump, his cronies and sycophants have perpetrated on the United States and the world since he took office in January 2025.
Some instances of corruption we have covered include the cryptocurrency scams in which he and his sons have been involved; the exorbitant expenses of his inauguration events (much of the proceeds from which went into his pockets); his personally enriching “sheikh”-down of Arab leaders, the dizzying roller coaster of unconstitutional tariffs he imposed on countries and uninhabited islands around the world; his online huckstering of guitars, sneakers and other goods to his MAGA followers; his false promises about reducing the cost of living in the United States; his selfnaming “Trumpification” of Washington, D.C.; a peek into the history of his sordid relationships with girls and women; the incompetence and self-serving actions of his cabinet members and other enablers; his unhinged, midnight rants that have many fearing that he has lost his marbles; and the poor economic performance of the United States in 2025 and 2026 (the latter year’s increased cost of living worsened by the disastrous war in Iran). All of the articles associated with these topics are available at presidentialcorruption.org.
We have learned a lot about different kinds of Trumpian corruption during the past year and a half. Not surprisingly to many of us, Trump took advantage of numerous opportunities to enrich himself, his family and his companies—examples of naked, greed-based corruption, clearly prohibited for public officials by the U.S. Constitution. He perpetrated a second kind of corruption oriented to gratifying his narcissism—for example, illegally renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by putting his name in front of Kennedy’s on the building's entryway and destroying the East Wing of the White House to make way for his not yet-built grand ballroom. A third kind could be called revenge-based corruption—for example, pardoning those who supported the takeover of the Capitol on January 6, 2020, thus rewarding co-conspirators who supported his violent coup attempt. A fourth variant is using his office to provide financial favors to some of the wealthiest individuals and corporations in the United States (and from other countries as well). A fifth is appointing a range of incompetent lapdogs to cabinet seats and other influential positions in his administration (note the recent firings of Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi when they failed to deliver on their boss’s demands).
Then there is an entire category of corruption (which I have labeled institutional corruption) that makes the above list of unconstitutional acts mere peccadilloes. In general, actions in this category have chipped away at the basic democratic foundation of the United States (and have attempted to do so in other countries and regions of the world as well).
Many of the actions he has taken have ignored congressional input and decision-making in direct violation of the Constitution. The Republican majorities in both houses have been complicit in this corruption. The biggest of these transgressions goes back to his attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election in 2019. However, he has taken dozens of other unconstitutional actions since he took office in 2025 that undermine U.S. and international democracy.
A few examples include his bewildering imposition of illegal tariffs (and his whimsical restructuring of these tariffs) on friends and foes around the world; his threats to make Canada the 51st state or to take over Greenland from Denmark; his kidnapping of the president of Venezuela and his wife; and, in terms of international overreach, his costliest and dumbest action on the world stage, his and Israel’s launching of a war on Iran.
And still under way on the home front: the brutal attacks of ICE’s thugs on immigrants and those attempting to defend immigrant rights, and unconstitutional attempts to undermine the November 2026 midterm elections.
SO, WHAT DO WE THE PEOPLE DO ABOUT ALL OF THESE INSTANCES OF CORRUPTION BY TRUMP AND HIS ASSOCIATES?
1. It will be very difficult to boot Trump out of office prior to January 2029. Long shots include impeaching him by the House of Representatives for offenses like treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, and then convicting him by a 2/3 majority in the Senate.
2. Another option is invoking a provision of Amendment 25 of the Constitution which allows for the involuntary removal of a president from office. But the big problem with this option is that the Vice President and a majority of cabinet members have to agree to such an ouster—not likely considering that they have all been handpicked by Trump.
3. Our best bet is to restrain Trump’s worst actions during the remainder of his term. Non-violent protests, marches and other events that showcase his most despicable and unconstitutional actions will help in this process.
4. Challenging these actions in local, state and federal courts will also be an important means to keep him in check.
5. But the real clincher will be to actively engage in the November midterms to ensure that a majority of anti-MAGA candidates are elected to the House and the Senate, thus giving our representatives the opportunity to block his unconstitutional activities directly.
CONCLUSION
All of the above actions are only the beginning. We also need a vision for a future American politics that can't be simply about undoing Trump. It needs to be about taking what we have learned from the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration and moving America forward to realizing an alternative vision.
Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson published the book Abundance in March 2025 that provides some guidance in achieving such a vision. The book lays out a political strategy based on increasing the supply of essential goods and services to make them more abundant and affordable. Examples include increasing the affordability of housing, moving toward universal healthcare, improving access to higher education, and effectively addressing the climate crisis.
In summary, it will not be enough to move the country away from the politics of corruption and incompetence. Instead, we need to make a transition toward a politics based on democracy, inclusion and affordability for all.
E.G. Nadeau is co-director of the Cooperative Society Project, dedicated to the idea that humanity may be on the verge of a new era of cooperation, democracy, equitable distribution of resources and a sustainable relationship with nature.
Will Social Security Reform Require Enlarging the U.S. Borrowing Binge?
BY WILLIAM HOLAHAN
It’s a frequent refrain: Social Security is “running out of money” and will “go broke” when the Trust Fund exhausts its supply of bonds around 2033, requiring a reduction in the size of benefit checks. However, it is unlikely that Congress will allow cuts in retirement benefits. George F. Will describes how reform of the system will keep scheduled benefits flowing: “With just a few words, the law can be amended to say that Social Security’s revenue shortfall will be filled with general revenue, which means enlarging the now-constant borrowing binge.”
Not quite: Yes, the required reform will be simple but no, it will not require “enlarging the now-constant borrowing binge.”
To see this, we must review how Social Security gets its money and spends it. Through its “Pay-as-yougo” mechanism, current workers pay a fixed percentage of wage income up to a cap (in 2026 that percentage rate is 6.2 and the cap is $184,000). Today’s workers support today’s retirees, expecting to enjoy the same support when they retire.
THE ROLE OF BONDS: SMOOTHING PAYROLL TAX REVENUE
The designers of the system recognized that the expansions and recessions of the economy would cause payroll tax revenue to fluctuate;
during economic expansions revenue would be more than what would be needed to pay scheduled benefits but during recessions revenue would fall short. To smooth out these surpluses and deficits, the system included a bond fund.
During expansions: surplus payroll tax revenue is paid to Treasury to buy bonds. For example, suppose in a given year revenue is $900 billion but only $800 billion is required to pay benefits. The extra $100 billion is used to buy Treasury bonds. During recessions: bonds are sold to Treasury in exchange for cash to cover revenue shortfalls. For example, if benefits are $1.6 trillion but revenue is only $1.3 trillion, Social Security sells $300 billion worth of bonds to the Treasury in exchange for the cash needed to pay full scheduled benefits. Treasury buys those bonds from Social Security using cash obtained from the same sources it always uses, taxation and borrowing as approved by Congress.
ADJUSTING FOR THE BOOMERS' RETIREMENT
In 1983 President Reagan's Commission on Social Security Reform recognized a large demographic boom and bust cycle would hit the system 30 years into the future: 77 million born between 1946 and 1964, followed by just 47 million during the succeeding18 year period.
This would mean that by about 2012 a very large retirement boom would begin, supported by much smaller workforce.
To meet this anticipated retirement/ worker boom and bust they raised the payroll tax rate to buy more bonds while the boomers were working, planning to cash in those bonds as the boomers retired. They projected those bonds would be all sold out by the year 2060 when all but the most persistent baby boomers would be gone.
INVESTING THE CASH
The cash was not meant to sit idle in a vault at Treasury. In order to foster economic growth, it was to be invested through two channels:
1. Private-sector investment:
The surplus cash would reduce federal public borrowing, allowing interest rates to be lower than they otherwise would have been, encouraging investment in equipment, buildings, training and many other productivityenhancing capital assets.
2. Public-sector investment:
The cash was also intended to finance growth-enhancing public goods: transportation infrastructure, water and sewer systems, education and workforce training,
environmental protection, disaster recovery and enforcement of laws that keep markets functioning efficiently.
The investment made by retirees when they were working increases the productivity of future workers. This mechanism forced boomers to invest in part of their own social security benefits.
WHY THE BONDS ARE RUNNING OUT EARLY
Major shocks and policy choices slowed growth and sped up bond sales, disrupting the Reagan plan: the large increases in defense spending in the aftermath of 9/11, the expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2008 financial crisis and slow recovery and Covid-19 all consumed resources rather than investing them. Consequently, the trust fund bonds are being cashed faster than planned and will be exhausted around 2033 rather than the originally anticipated 2060.
NEEDED REFORM DOES NOT REQUIRE A NEW TAX AND BORROWING BINGE
When the bonds run out in 2033, Congress will order Treasury to continue to supplement the payroll tax revenue shortfall, i.e., the difference between scheduled benefits and payroll tax revenue. Neither of those amounts depend on the method of financing. The supplement will be calculated in the same way both before and after the bonds run out. This reform will not require a dramatic increase in federal taxes and borrowing.
William Holahan is emeritus professor and former chairman of the Department of Economics at UWMilwaukee.
So much of kink and fetishism is about delving into your erotic self, which is not necessarily sexual but what you most deeply desire,” Shaan Lashun explains. As a kink event producer, leatherworker and sex educator, his goal is to promote a consent-forward culture and cultivate a healthier, sexually-well community. “I think a better understanding of consent and power would do wonders for humans with how we communicate with each other, even outside of sex.”
SHAAN LASHUN: Kink, Sexual Education and Promoting a Consent-Forward Culture
BY BEN SLOWEY
Lashun produces the annual Kinky Carnival and currently serves as education coordinator at The Tool Shed (2427 N. Murray Ave.). In developing events, he takes a nonalienating, non-intimidating approach that never involves lectures or formalities while having a little something for everyone. “Sometimes education is just having a carnival where people can get flogged, see some pups and eat a muffin. I try to bring something for everyone, like bigger and more active parties and burlesque stuff for the nightlife crowd, or discussion groups and book clubs for the more pensive folks.”
He says that creativity in sex education is essential “in a country that’s terrified of people talking about sex. One of the biggest things I’ve had to learn has been meeting people where they are but without sacrificing my own comfort and authenticity. For me, a big part of organizing events and educating is creating environments where people feel open to receiving new ideas and experiences, and that openness requires a sense of safety.”
Lashun greatly appreciates questions about kink and sex. “It’s usually trans or queer folks who can’t necessarily type ‘how do I have good sex?’ into Google without doing a lot of deep digging,” he says. “When people feel safe enough to come to me, it feels like they’re seeking joy and trying to heal past wounds and resist a mainstream story or narrative about how they should be having sex. I want people to lean into what they want and not what they’re told to want. In the kink and fetish communities, people are in all kinds of relationships. They’re negotiating the interactions they want to have instead of going by some social script, and that is a really difficult thing to do in this world that demands conformity.”
FETISH-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCES
Kinky Carnival is an education-centered festival held annually at Kuumba Juice & Coffee (274 E. Keefe Ave.) for kinky and kink-curious folks. Here, one may find demo booths run by vetted community members as well as kink and fetish-friendly performances, adult product vendors, games and refreshments.
This summer, Lashun is excited to debut a new event, Cream City Pleasure Fest, August 17-23. The fringe-style festival “celebrates erotic empowerment and the artistry of pleasure” by way of independently produced workshops, performances, markets and playful gatherings, concluding with Kinky Carnival on August 23. “The goal is to create these different ways that people can touch sexual health and wellness and kink in a way that works for them,” Lashun says.
“
Since 2020, Lashun has hosted Virtual Bootblack Jam, a monthly free online social event for bootblacks that features classes and discussion panels. Outside of Milwaukee, Lashun has participated in International Ms. Leather & Bootblack (IMsLBB) in New Jersey, where he recently concluded his third year as bootblack coordinator. Over the summer, Lashun is also the stage manager for PrideFest’s Red Light District.
On becoming a sex educator, Lashun remembers, “Like many young queers, I discovered Tumblr and built a really great community of folks and learned a lot about what we call “alternative lifestyles” like fetish and polyamory.” While living in Washington D.C., Lashun attended his first play party and eventually started producing play parties of his own. “Around that same time in my life, I wound up doing HIV advocacy work and focusing on trans sexual wellness.”
Having been involved in leather, kink and sex ed work for more than a decade, Lashun has observed newcomers in these spaces sometimes struggle to understand exactly what they are getting into or know their own boundaries. He encourages folks to familiarize themselves with RACK (RiskAware Consensual Kink). “Culturally, we’re expected to just know how to have sex in a one-size-fits-all way, when we know from our experiences when we’re sexually active that that’s not how it works,” he explains.
“It’s important to take your time, as I’ve seen people come in and try to dive head-first in and have no idea what they’re consenting to, and that burns people when you have weird experiences.”
MODEL FOR CONSENT
Consent is an ongoing conversation and not a one-time yes-no interaction, to which Lashun refers to Planned Parenthood’s FRIES model of consent, an acronym for freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific. “It gets at the different elements that need to be present, and that framework does really well for people who are new with what they should be considering.”
Kink events and conventions like Black Kinky Academy Weekend, Women of Drummer, IMsLBB and Thrive Con are examples of spaces Lashun identifies as championing accessibility, visibility and representation or challenging the whitewashed or cis male-centric mainstream imagery of kink and leather scenes. “Kink is not this lovely fantasy world where we just stop having oppression,” he makes clear. “It’s still present in the community, and there are some very big differences between the Black kink scene and the white kink scene. One of the most obvious cultural differences is white people continuing to fetishize actual oppression, whereas I find people of color engaging in kink as a way of healing from oppression. That changes how we’re actually relating and experiencing fetish play. In BIPOC kink spaces I see more layered conversations about things like HIV, history, community care and transformative justice because we’re more impacted and more interested in making things better.”
Lashun is trying to connect with local Black and Brown folks working in sexual violence prevention and care work as well as sexual health and wellness. To continue subverting harmful paradigms and improving existing kink and sexual wellness spaces in the Milwaukee community, Lashun directs folks to support local groups and organizations like Wisconsin Leather Pride, Milwaukee Queer Munch, Diverse & Resilient and the local ballroom scene with time, money and resources.
He contends, “People can best support spaces by investing in a better sex culture in their everyday lives. Unlearn non-consensual fetishisms that have now been deemed acceptable and learn how to actually talk about sex and desire and get tested and treated when something is burning or itching instead of spiraling and being ashamed about it.”
Ben Slowey is a Staff Writer at the Shepherd Express.
Samad House’s Tahira Malik and Caroline Gaston Speak to HELPING WOMEN ACHIEVE SOBRIETY
BY TOM JENZ
Tahira Malik once told me, “If you've ever lived in drug addiction, you lose all sense of self. You lose who you are. You lose all of your values and integrity.” Malik would know, having been a dedicated drug addict for 16 years before her recovery. But she has been drug-free for as many years. As a girl, she had been a model student, graduating from a Catholic girls high school, and then from Alverno College. Later, she suffered a car accident, and the severe pain launched her into drug dependence. Eventually, she landed in the county jail. Ironically, this incarceration led to recovery and her purpose in life.
In 2020, Malik founded Samad’s House. Her mission is to assist women drug addicts by helping them through a recovery treatment process. With three resident homes and a behavioral health clinic, Samad’s House offers a 120-day intensive program designed to support women through every stage of sobriety. It features a holistic approach that addresses the mind, body, and spirit.
Samad’s House also focuses on recovering women transitioning from correctional facilities, hospitals, or detox centers. The system provides a safe haven for them to rebuild their lives. Beyond residential treatment, Samad’s House provides harm reduction resources, distributing life-saving tools like Narcan and fentanyl test strips to the community.
Recently, I met Samad’s House director, Tahira Malek, and her chief ambassador, Caroline Gatson, at a Samad’s House on Wells Street in the inner city.
We gathered around a plain kitchen table and talked plainly. Despite all she has been through, Malik still has a sense of humor and an infectious laugh.
Tahira, as a younger woman, you got into a car accident, and the resulting pain changed you into drug dependence. Eventually, you ended up in the county jail. Then, you lost relatives and your best friend, all to drug overdoses. How did those experiences change your life?
Malik: I come from a stable two parent home. I finished high school, then graduated from Alverno College in 1997, and got a good job. I found a boyfriend. We fell in love, but this man was rarely home at night. I had my first child at 25 and my second child at 31. As for the car accident, I was put on pain pills, and I became obsessive compulsive and a fullblown drug addict. I lost everything. Me, my uncle, my cousin and my best friend, Tanisha Hill, were often in the same house getting high together. At that point, I’d gone through 15 years of getting high, and I was a mother, and I was tired. In 2012 and 2013, I was locked up in jail for 13 months. That kind of forced me into recovery, and I got clean. I worked on my spiritual and physical appearance. But in 2013 and 2017, I lost my uncle and my cousin to drug overdoses.
How did those losses affect you? Did you go back on drugs?
Malik: No, I spent lots of time with my very best friend, Tanisha Hill, who was an addict, but she never suggested we get high together. Tanisha was a hairdresser and did my hair every Friday.
Photo
One day in 2018, she called and said, “I am finally clean, come on over,” but when I got there, she was dead. I was crushed, but I stayed off the drugs. I tell people, “If you want sobriety, it is a fight.”
So, when did you establish Samad’s House, your group home for recovering women addicts?
Malik: In 2018, Samad’s House was in the planning stages. Tanisha’s mom, Constance, helped me. Every Sunday, we went through a plan to organize the future group home. In 2020, I opened the doors.
What exactly does Samad’s House do?
Malik: Samad’s House is a nonprofit. We started out as “sober living for women.” Later, we added women with children to help keep families together. I had been fortunate because my parents looked after my children when I was in jail. We also became a harm reduction agency, which means we go out into the community and provide resources like Fentanyl test strips and Narcan for drug users. Often, the women who complete our program help us do that. We conduct the harm reduction services in conjunction with other nonprofits and the Milwaukee Health Department.
Do women in recovery live in your houses?
Malik: Some women live in our houses, and they are allowed to stay for 120 days. While here, they attend alcohol and drug treatment programming. We have three homes and a behavioral health clinic for therapy. We try to provide all the tools that help women stay sober. The goal is always selfsufficiency.
Caroline Gaston is “chief ambassador” for Samad’s House. Caroline, Samad’s House provides parenting and family support. Give me a brief summary of the 120-day program.
Gaston: Upon their arrival, we give the women an intake, explain what is expected of them. We give them 30 days to become job ready. Most of them seek employment. We encourage them to work second shifts so the job won’t interfere with their recovery schedule.
Malik: We provide resources for our women, and we train them with job readiness skills.
Gaston: We make sure they attend support meetings, which includes prevention and exercises. They have to go to therapy counseling once a week. On Mondays, some help us with harm reduction services out in the community. We host celebrations for Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and holidays.
Malik: We try to make it a family environment, all part of the healing process.
The Sadam’s House Ambassadors have all personally experienced drug addiction and have gone through rebuilding their lives after addiction.
Gaston: I came to Sadam’s House in January 2023 after 90 days of residential addiction recovery. A month later, I was asked to help with harm reduction in the community. I kept going almost every Monday. Then, I became an ambassador.
An ambassador goes out into the community and sets up a table with the harm reduction materials. People who stop by come from all walks of life. We talk about drug addiction including overdoses. We explain our harm drug addiction services. We distribute fentanyl test strips and also Narcan, a nasal spray that will prevent a fatal overdose. We also do Narcan training. Because I have been a substance abuser, I think people tend to listen. We even have a “black balloon day” to honor girls lost to overdosing. Ambassadors provide empathy and compassion. Ambassador work keeps me grounded and solidifies my foundation to recovery.
Malik: We want our women to know there is a way out, but if and only if they choose. If they are not ready, we let them know they can check all their drugs for one day. Keep in mind, most people take drugs to escape their reality. Our ambassadors use their street smarts and lived experiences to teach others about harm reduction. They save lives. They address the overdose crisis that has devastated Black families and communities in Milwaukee.
Caroline, you battled a 30-year drug addiction habit. Give me your story from the beginning of your addiction as a teenager to the day you found sobriety. Gaston: For about 35 years, I battled substance abuse. I am now 60. I was 19 when I started using drugs. That’s when I met a man who courted me with gifts and attention. He became my boyfriend. Not long after I discovered he was a drug dealer. We got married, and I found myself doing cocaine on the sly. We had two children. Over time, I developed a full-blown addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine. Throughout all this time, I’d been in and out of jail for retail theft and resisting arrest. I needed cash to buy drugs. At times, I was even homeless, ignoring my family.
At some point, I believe you did prison time, do I have that right?
Gaston: Yes, I did a 12-year prison sentence for a string of robberies … I was in and out of jail. Finally, I went through treatment at Meta House and stayed clean for seven years. I made it back to my career as an executive chef at St Mary’s Hospital, and I maintained my own house.
So, you stayed off drugs?
Gaston: For a while, I did. One night in January 2015, it was 28 below zero, and I slipped on black ice between my garage and home. I was unable to move. It was 37 minutes before a neighbor found me. I got frostbite in my fingers and suffered back injuries. My fingers were so damaged that at the St Mary’s hospital emergency room, the wound care specialist and surgeon waited to see if my fingers would fall off. I also shattered my right knee. I was in the hospital for 30 days. I ended up having a knee replacement. For a time, a nurse had to help me get dressed every day. I couldn’t go back to work, and I started isolating. Not long, I was back on alcohol and crack cocaine. I was dependent on a walker, and I’d visit stores and steal things. I gave up my house. This pattern went on for about seven years.
How did you finally kick the habit?
Gaston: One day, I went to the Potawatomi Casino with $50 and left with $1,700 in winnings. That evening, I used drugs and alcohol at a friend’s apartment.
Outside the next morning, I still had $1,300 in my pocket, and I was gonna buy more liquor. I looked up at the sky and said, “You know what, Lord, I’m tired of drugs.” I walked several blocks, eventually finding myself outside First Step, a detox center. I threw away my cigarettes, lighter, and drug paraphernalia, gave First Step the $1,300 and checked in. A week later, I was discharged, but I had no home. I went to a respite center for 10 days, then spent 90 days at 2nd Century Residential Treatment in West Allis. The drug rehab was working, but I wanted more. One day, Ms. T (Tahira Malik) came by and said, “You are coming to my house.” That was January of 2023. Now, I am pursuing a degree in psychology at Alverno College.
If a woman drug user comes to Samad’s House and says she wants to go into recovery, what do you do?
Malik: First, I ask, “What is your substance of choice and how often do you use?” because that will determine the treatment. If the drug is alcohol, she needs to be medically monitored and go through detox at a detox center. I take her to Dewey Center or Rogers Behavioral Health.
After she makes it through detox, what happens to the addict?
Malik: After five to seven days in detox, she goes to a residence center like 2nd Century, Howard House, or Meta House for 45 days or more. After that, she would come to Samad’s House.
I would think it would help a woman in treatment to know that you and Caroline have gone through these treatments yourselves.
Malik: Yes, that gives us credibility in telling her how to rebuild her life after addiction. Our ambassadors use their street smarts and lived experiences to teach others about harm reduction. They save lives. They deal with the overdose crisis that has devastated Black families and communities in Milwaukee.
How is Samad’s House funded?
Malik: We are funded by CARS, Milwaukee County’s Comprehensive Access to Recovery. CARS pays for the women to be here. We do receive grants for our outpatients, but it is a hassle dealing with insurance companies. They don’t like to reimburse. By 2027, our women who are on Medicaid will need a waver to receive health benefits. We do get other grants for our harm reduction services, mainly funded through Vital Strategies. But we are at risk of running out of our harm reduction programs because Vital Strategies support will end September of 2026.
Tom Jenz writes the Central City Stories column for shepherdexpress.com.
Tosa’s New Coffee Idyll
BY GAETANO MARANGELLI
It was a cloudy October morning in the city of Bologna. I was an American student at the university on the way to my first day of class. I had yet to drink coffee. I dove into a cafè which Italians call bars off of a sleepy vicolo in the città universitaria. I asked the barista, an imposing Adonis with wavy, raven hair for a cappuccino. He served me a drink composed of an immaculately pulled shot of espresso layered with beautifully frothed milk. The clouds parted, the angels sang, visions of Elysium appeared.
“This?” I asked myself, “is this a cappuccino?”
The first, second, and third words to say about Idyll Coffee Roasters (6330 W. North Ave.) are its baristas, its baristas, and its baristas. Since the rise of the American specialty coffee trade in the latter part of the 20th century, the quality of what Americans define as specialty coffee drinks have evolved.
The truth is a majority of Americans, even coffee lovers, even those consuming quotidian cups of coffee drinks, maybe even you, don't actually know what those drinks should taste like.
What separates a quality coffee drink from an ordinary coffee drink is the quality of the skill, the experience,
and the expertise of its barista, which is what separates the quality of coffee drinks at Idyll from those made by an ordinary café, coffee shop, or restaurant.
IDYLL’S IDEAL COFFEE
After a score of visits and a score of coffee drinks at Idyll including cappuccinos, cortados, espressos, espresso macchiatos, lattes, matcha lattes, au laits, flat whites and pour overs all of the coffees and coffee drinks served were ideal representatives of their genus and species.
The story of Idyll begins with its four owners Karen Kurgan and Peter Sohnle, who are married, along with Sohnle's sister, Amy Tamburrino, and her husband, Dave Tamburrino. Karen, Peter, Amy and Dave invested in adaptive reuse architecture to incarnate a neighborhood coffee sanctuary out of a vacant office building. They have achieved what they set out to do. As soon as you step into Idyll, you feel what a Spaniard might call its chispa. A spark. What we an American would call a vibe.
It’s the alchemy of the shop’s design, the colors of its materials, the textures of its surfaces, the light through its windows, the hubbub of the people around you.
Those people whiling away their mornings and afternoons downstairs and upstairs at Idyll are students and study groups, mothers and fathers with infants and toddlers, businesspeople in corporate conferences, as well as neighbors and couples and friends. Idyll doesn’t feel like a coffee shop with a clientele. It’s a café with a community.
ROAST THEIR OWN
Idyll roasts its own coffee, but provides modest details about them. (The owners of Idyll did not respond to inquiries about the café and its roasts.) They are as good as they have to be to serve the shop’s exemplary coffee drinks. But even an idyll can’t be ideal. Idyll Coffee Roasters sets a high standard of quality for its coffee drinks, but its Venoisserie and Danish and scones (provided by Sugar Studio) aren’t Idyll’s equal. Croissants and pan au chocolat are poor facsimiles of the genuine articles. Danish and scones are overly sweet. Cookies are satisfactory, but not out of the ordinary.
Yet dissonances like these are common among American specialty coffee shops. The coffee drinks they serve don’t easily accommodate the American palette for sweet bakery.
Photos by
A year or two after the turn of the century, I wrote an article for Food Arts magazine about the American specialty coffee trade.
The article was accompanied by a cappuccino technical guide I compiled with the guidance of Heidi Rasmussen, quality assurance manager of Illy Caffè North America; Johnny McGregor, chairman of the food science and human nutrition department and founder of a milk frothing laboratory at Clemson University; Fritz Storm, the 2002 World Barista Champion; and David C. Schomer, author of Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques. The five of us mused about what American specialty coffee shops would look like in the coming years. I wish I could show them this new coffee Idyll.
Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was the managing director of a wine import and distribution company in New York and beverage director for restaurants and retailers in New York and Chicago before moving to Wauwatosa.
IDYLL COFFEE, UPPER FLOOR
The Summer Cocktail Guide 2026
BY GAETANO MARANGELLI
From the White Wild Indigo and Purple Prairie Clover of early June to the Goldenrods, Black-Eyed Susans and Purple Coneflowers of late September, a summer cocktail can be a memento for any summer of your life. Like the memory of a lover who heals you with blossoms of cherries and strawberries, then breaks your heart with stones of peaches and apricots. Our Summer Cocktail Guide offers you three drinks to fall in love with, three cocktails to salve your heart.
Our Summer Guide stars The Serotina, a special drink from Ira Koplowitz, the proprietor of Bittercube Bitters, and a cocktail Food & Wine magazine featured in the 2013 edition of their annual cocktail book. “It’s near and dear to my heart,” says Koplowitz.
“We've included it on several menus across the country over the years but haven't featured it in quite some time.
I think it is perfect for the summer!”
“The name Serotina is derived from the Latin name for wild black cherry, prunus serotina, explains Brandon Reyes, the director of operations at Bittercube.
“We use bark from these trees in our best-selling Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters, which we source from Sacred Blossom Farm in Mondovi, Wisc. While the cocktail features an unusually large measure of bitters, they are softened by the honey. The addition of seltzer opens up the flavors, allowing for a lot of nuance which is sometimes not apparent when used in smaller quantities.”
The Summer Cocktail Guide also features the Pineapple Amaro Sidecar and The Bell Rings. “I love the Pineapple Amaro Sidecar for summer,” begins Reyes,
“because the lavyers of citrus and tropical fruit make it a refreshing and unique brandy cocktail.
I guess you could say it's kind of tikiadjacent, but it's very simple and requires little prep. The Bell Rings,” he continues, “is a great option for those who like a savory cocktail. The vegetal pepper notes, agave, flowers and honey harmonize really well, making this a food friendly accompaniment for summer picnics and barbecues.”
Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was the managing director of a wine import and distribution company in New York and beverage director for restaurants and retailers in New York and Chicago before moving to Wauwatosa.
Photo by GettyImages/fortyforks.
The Cocktails
Compiled by Brandon Reyes, director of operations, Bittercube Bitters
THE SEROTINA
Serotina is another word for wild cherry, and this cocktail features a healthy dose of our Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters. This Bittercube original cocktail is a perfect and easy to make aperitif.
Ingredients
• 1⁄2 oz Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters
• 1 oz Apricot Eau De Vie or Unaged Apple Brandy
• 1 barspoon Honey
• 2 oz Seltzer
Glass & Garnish
Glass: Single rocks with ice
Garnish: Lemon Peel expressed and inserted
Instructions
Amalgamate all ingredients except seltzer in the glass before adding ice. Stir briefly with ice and add seltzer. Garnish.
Photo by Nick Collura.
PINEAPPLE AMARO SIDECAR
This simple riff on the classic Sidecar swaps orange liqueur for Heirloom Pineapple Amaro, which is made with a blend of orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime peels.
Ingredients
• 1 dropper/dash Bittercube Orange Bitters
• 3/4 oz Lemon juice
• 1/4 oz Simple syrup
• 1 1/2 oz Brandy
• 3/4 oz Heirloom Pineapple Amaro
Glass & Garnish
Glass: Coupe
Garnish: Orange peel, expressed and inserted
Instructions
Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and then fill with ice. Shake with a fluid, strong motion and strain into cocktail glass.
THE BELL RINGS
This variation on the Margarita with muddled bell pepper enhances the vegetal notes of the agave spirit base. Heirloom Creme de Flora and honey balance out the earthiness while Bittercube Bolivar Bitters adds notes of cinnamon and dried fruit.
Ingredients
• 1 Fresh bell pepper ring
• 1 dropper/dash Bittercube Bolivar Bitters
• 3/4 oz Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz Honey syrup
• 1 1/2 oz Tequila Blanco or Mezcal
• 1/2 oz Heirloom Creme de Flora
Glass & Garnish
Glass: Coupe
Garnish: Lime wheel, bell pepper coin, cilantro leaf
Instructions
Muddle a bell pepper ring in a cocktail shaker. Add the remaining ingredients to a cocktail shaker and then fill with ice. Shake with a fluid, strong motion and strain into cocktail glass.
For a low ABV variation, use nonalcoholic Tequila.
Make it spicy by adding one dropper/dash All Day Spicy Bitters.
Photo by Nick Collura.
Photo by Ira Koplowitz.
Photo of orange by GettyImages/Amelia NF, photo of pineapple by GettyImages/MarcoFood, photo of lemon by GettyImages/Amelia NF, photo of cilantro by GettyImages/TanyaSid, photo
SUMMER ARTS GUIDE June-August 2026
AMERICAN PLAYERS SET TO OPEN SEASON OF ‘GREATEST HITS’
BY ANNE SIEGEL
As warmer temperatures beckon us to get outdoors, Milwaukee theatergoers may start thinking about an escape to the rolling hills of Spring Green where American Players Theatre (APT) is set to open its 47th season in early June. Their production last year of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a mere prelude to what’s ahead this season. This Shakespeare play was the most produced in APT’s history, and it also was the company’s first show.
Likewise, the current roster is filled with an abundance of past favorites (with more contemporary work in APT’s indoor theater). At least on the outdoor stage, one could think of this as a summer of APT’s “greatest hits.”
A theater that’s nearly at its halfcentury mark will undoubtedly contain some repeats.
This season’s As You like It will be APT’s sixth production of the Shakespeare play (including a virtual production in 2020). Coming in second place is Shakespeare’s The Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona (fifth production in 2026).
Two other plays will receive their second APT productions, after a lapse of about two decades: Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker, and Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya
What’s more, there’s a definite shift this year towards more comic fare, some of it dating back a mere 400 years. In the outdoor Hill Theatre, you’ll find Shakespeare’s comedy, As You Like It, paired with another popular Shakespeare favorite, The Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona. Apparently, this version of Gentlemen contains so much music that it is announced as “the almost-musical hit of the summer.” APT will assemble a jug band for the show.
Not to be outdone by the Bard, the late Wisconsin-born playwright, Thornton Wilder, is represented by one of his biggest hits, The Matchmaker
patrons will remember that
APT is one of the state’s artistic treasures. There’s something here for the entire family to enjoy, especially families with older children.
Many theater
this was the play which inspired the hit 1964 musical, Hello, Dolly !
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Header photo: The cast of Fallen Angels, 2025. Photo by Michael Brosilow.
Photo by Michael Brosilow.
The experience of seeing a play performed “under the stars” by this award-winning theater troupe is one that will be remembered for years.
For best ticket prices, place an advance online order (or call the box office). Tickets for the entire season— which stretches into fall—are currently available. Individual advance tickets are priced from about $75 to +$100 (plus a service fee). Weekend ticket prices are higher than weekdays. APT staffers note that it’s important to purchase tickets directly from the APT website, and not from some lookalike, third-party sellers. If in doubt, call the box office.
The friendly box office staff can answer almost any questions (including advice on which shows are best for kids). The box office is open Monday-Friday at 10 a.m. before the season begins at (608) 588-2361. During the season, the box office is open daily. Or contact boxoffice@americanplayers.org for tickets and information. A pro tip: Sign up for the free APT e-newsletter, which sometimes contains last-minute ticket deals for certain performances.
Here is a schedule of productions by month to help plan your summer. Performances are held in two distinct spaces: the larger, outdoor Hill Theater, which rests in a natural amphitheater; and the more intimate indoor Touchstone Theater.
Hill Theatre (+1,000 seats)
JUNE
As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. A pair of best friends and cousins, Rosalind and Celia, are torn apart when one is deemed less suitable for marriage than the other. In typical Shakespeare fashion, one of the cousins dresses up as a young man as the pair flees to a forest. One of Rosalind’s male suitors is also forced to flee to the very same forest. Mixed identities and a band of merry forest misfits create a sublime comedy. It has been called the “rom com” of the season. Directed by company member Laura Rook.
The Matchmaker, by Thornton Wilder. A character named Dolly Levi stars as the funny, irrepressible “matchmaker.” In a time that existed long before internet dating, Dolly had a knack for uniting couples—for a price. In her quest for romance, the widowed Dolly also seeks a new partner for herself.
Dolly brings a sense of adventure to everyone in her life, including the curmudgeonly hardware store owner, Horace Vandergelder. Directed by Madison-based Brian Cowing.
Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekhov. A new adaptation (by company member Nate Burger) brings to life the tale of longing, regret and missed opportunities. Tensions simmer between family members who live together at a large, country estate. This production contains adult themes and language. Directed by APT’s artistic director, Brenda DeVita.
JULY
The Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona by William Shakespeare. This is about as close to a musical as an APT play will ever get. Renowned playwright Aaron Posner directs his own adaptation of this magical adventure. It stars two longtime friends, Proteus and Valentine, who set out to make their fortunes. One follows his heart towards Julia, but they both wind up in the same town and fall in love with the same woman, Silvia. The women have some remedies for this situation, as do some willing clowns, a group of outlaws, and a dog.
AUGUST
Sueño, translated and adapted by José Rivera. This play is based on an older play written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Prince Segismundo is imprisoned at birth, based on a prophecy that he’d grow into a tyrant. Eventually, the king wonders whether this decision was a good one, or not. He wonders whether releasing the prince is a better choice.
This play promises to be a funny, absurd and strangely beautiful take on a 17th century classic. Contains adult themes and language. Directed by Marcela Lorca.
Touchstone Theatre (200 seats)
JUNE
Casey and Diana, by Nick Green. The “Diana” in the title is Princess Diana, who is scheduled to visit a Toronto AIDS clinic in 1991.
As the patients and caregivers await the big day, they share stories of hope, fears and coping with a sickness that unfortunately bears a social stigma. Their memories and present circumstances are offered in a play that’s sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but eventually satisfying. Directed by Michael Herwitz.
The Chairs, by Eugene Ionesco. The last time APT offered an absurdist comedy was in 2018 (Exit the King). Now another absurdist play is in the Touchstone Theatre. It’s by one of the greats, Eugene Ionesco. What begins as a practical exercise—finding chairs to seat arriving guests—becomes increasingly surreal. Contains adult themes and language. Directed by Vanessa Stalling.
AUGUST
Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea. By Nathan Alan Davis. Driven by dreams, a teenage Dontrell searches for connection to his past as his family attempts to anchor him to the present. It has been called “lyrical, funny and theatrical.” Contains adult themes and language. Directed by Tyrone Phillips.
THE WINTER'S TALE
Photo by Michael Brosilow.
5 POINTS ART GALLERY 5ptsartgallery.com
ACACIA THEATRE COMPANY acaciatheatre.com
Angel Street (Gaslight), June 12-28
"Our theme for the season is truth. And Angel Street (Gaslight) is a highly entertaining mystery-thriller that also is the source for the concept of ‘gaslighting.’ It dramatizes how persistent lying about a situation can lead people to believe those lies. How could we not do this show in a season on truth?" says Acacia’s Artistic Director Janet Peteson. Director Josh Scheibe adds, “I'm hoping the audience will feel just as tuned into the dread as the characters are." (David Luhrssen)
ADDENDUM addendum.gallery
ALL IN PRODUCTIONS allin-mke.com
ALVERNO ART & CULTURES GALLERY alverno.edu/gallery
AMERICA’S BLACK HOLOCAUST MUSEUM abhmuseum.org
AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE americanplayers.org
APERI ANIMAM aperianimam.com
ART 64 June 5-6 (Village of Wauwatosa)
ARTS @ LARGE artsatlargeinc.org
Art vs. Food, June 11 (Prairie Springs Park, Milwaukee)
BRONZEVILLE ARTS ENSEMBLE facebook.com/BronzevilleArtsEnsemble
BRONZEVILLE CENTER FOR THE ARTS Bcamke.org
Above, Below, Within: Ciarra K. Walters, through Aug. 14 (Gallery 507)
BROOM STREET THEATRE, MADISON bstonline.org
CABARET MILWAUKEE facebook.com/cabmke
CAPITAL CITY THEATRE, MADISON capitalcitytheatre.org
CARROLL PLAYERS carroll-players.com
CARTHAGE COLLEGE THEATRE carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances
CATEY OTT DANCE COLLECTIVE cateyott.com
CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST stjohncathedral.corg
Wednesday concert series
CEDARBURG ART MUSEUM cedarburgartmuseum.org
This is Cedarburg, through Aug. 2
CEDARBURG ARTISTS GUILD cedarburgartistsguild.com
The plein air festival has become a Cedarburg staple, bringing art across Downtown Cedarburg. This year the seven-day event runs from May 30 to June 6 and will dot the quaint town with a flurry of hard at work artists and curious art enthusiasts and passers-by. (Andreas Scocos)
CEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER cedarburgculturalcenter.org
Blueburg Café open mic, June 10
Photo by Michael Brosilow.
AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE - FALLEN ANGELS
CEDARBURG PERFORMING ARTS CENTER cedarburgpac.com
CHANT CLAIRE CHAMBER CHOIR chantclaire.org
CHARLES ALLIS ART MUSEUM charlesallis.org
CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART (UW-MADISON) chazen.wisc.edu
CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN choralartsonline.org
You could fly to Basel or Miami for their annual art fairs, but you’d probably have a better time—and save on plane fare—by driving to Door County this summer. The Second Annual Door County Contemporary Art Fair promises 20 booths from galleries in Wisconsin and elsewhere (including Milwaukee’s Green Gallery, Portrait Society and Addendum), along with artist talks, panel discussions, live music, a bar serving Old Fashioneds and food trucks in a verdant natural environment that says: stop for a minute and enjoy the sunlight and scenery.
(David Luhrssen)
DOOR SHAKESPEARE doorshakespeare.com
Love’s Labour’s Lost, June 29-Aug. 21
The Importance of Being Earnest, June 30-Aug. 22
Deploying words like a chessmaster, Oscar Wilde was a perceptive observer of his society and human foibles. He was fascinated by the gaps between appearance and reality, and his devastating wit is fully displayed in his most enduring play, The Importance of Being Earnest. (David Luhrssen)
EARLY MUSIC NOW earlymusicnow.org
EX FABULA exfabula.org
FALLS PATIO PLAYERS fallspatioplayers.com
FESTIVAL CITY SYMPHONY festivalcitysymphony.org
FINE ARTS QUARTET fineartsquartet.com
FIRST STAGE firststage.org
FLORENTINE OPERA florentineopera.org
Pasta and Puccini, June 19-20 (La Lune)
Al Fresco with Kathryn Henry, July 28 (house concert, Fox Point)
Al Fresco with Zachary Nelson, Aug. 20 (house concert, Fox Point)
FORTE THEATRE COMPANY fortetheatrecompany.org
Beetlejuice Jr. , July 24-26
FORWARD THEATER, MADISON forwardtheater.com
FOUR SEASONS THEATRE, MADISON fourseasonstheatre.com
FRANKLY MUSIC franklymusic.org
FRESCO OPERA THEATRE, MADISON frescoopera.com
Sconnie Street, June 21-22, June 28-29, July 26
GALLERY 218 gallery218.com
GALLERY 224 Gallery224.org
GALLERY 2622 gallery2622.com
GALLERY NIGHT AND DAY, JULY 17-18 gallerynightmke.com
Photo by Jeff Durand.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
gsdwi.org
GREEN GALLERY
Thegreengallery.biz
GREEN LAKE FESTIVAL OF MUSIC greenlakefestival.org
June 5-Aug. 6, Green Lake, Ripon and Oshkosh
GREENDALE COMMUNITY THEATRE greendaletheatre.org
Mean Girls , TBD
GROHMANN MUSEUM msoe.edu/grohmann-museum
Boots and Sand: The Marines of 29 Palms, through Aug. 23
Vietnam and Marine veteran Dennis Darmek was pleasantly surprised by the response to his camera when he visited the California base and “came away with some interesting photographs. My focus was the strength of diversity in today’s Marine Corps. This allowed me to get into areas normally off limits to outsiders.” (David Luhrssen)
GROVE GALLERY gallerygrove.com
HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART marquette.edu/haggerty-museum
Defying Empire: Revolutionary Prints from Britain and America, through Aug. 1
HARLEY-DAVIDSON MUSEUM
harley-davidson.com
“Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson,” through spring 2027
“Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” through 2026
Photographer Cate Dingley’s book Ezy Ryders focuses on New York City’s Black riding culture today. Images and text from her book have been chosen for the new exhibition at the Harley-Davidson Museum. All of Dingley’s photographs are in black and white.
“There’s a sense of timelessness to them, black and white can be a very expressive medium,” curator Ann Sinfield says. (David Luhrssen)
H. F. JOHNSON GALLERY OF ART carthage.edu/art-gallery
HOVER CRAFT hovercraftmke.com
HYPERLOCAL MKE hyperlocalmke.com
IMPRESSIONS FINE ARTS GALLERY blueharboaresort.com
INSPIRATION STUDIOS ART GALLERY inspirationstudiosgallery.com
The Rogue Artists Exhibit: Artini with a Twist, June
Regrets Only, June (Theatrical Tendencies)
Exhibit by Denise, Penny, Jodi, July
2nd Annual One-Act Play Festival, July
Visual Sounds Exhibit, August
Morning Woods Merengue, August Schmitz & Giggles, August
Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah, August (Lotus Theatre)
JAMES MAY GALLERY jamesmaygallery.com
JAZZ GALLERY CENTER FOR THE ARTS jazzgallerycenterforarts.org
Free Improvisation, Saturdays
Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE jewishmuseummilwaukee.org
48 Jews: Layers of Identity, through Sept. 6
“The plurality and complexity of modern Jewish identity is explored in this vivid portrait series by artist Abshalom Jac Lahav. Public images of Jewish cultural icons, ranging from historical to contemporary, are translated into paintings with shifting styles of representation. Considering the individual and cultural narratives they carry, identity is portrayed as evolving and layered,” says curator Molly Dubin. (David Luhrssen)
JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS CENTER
jmkac.org/home.html
Emily Endo: Estuary, through Aug. 16
Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis: Rock Fade, through Aug. 30
How Do You Throw a Brick Through the Window…, through Oct. 4
Silvio Barile, through October
Roger Brown Study Collection, through spring 2027
JOY ENGINE joyengine.org
ArtBlaze, July 30 (McKinley Beach)
Aug. 6 (South Shore Beach) Aug. 20 (McKinley Beach)
KETTLE MORAINE PLAYHOUSE, SLINGER kmplayhouse.com
KETTLE MORAINE SYMPHONY kmsymphony.org
KIM STORAGE GALLERY kimstoragegallery.com
KITH AND KIN THEATRE COLLECTIVE kithandkintheatre.com
KNEELAND-WALKER HOUSE wauwatosahistoricalsociety.org
KNIGHTWIND ENSEMBLE knightwind.org
KOHLER MEMORIAL THEATER kohlerfoundation.org
JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE ANNE FRANK - SUNFLOWERS
Artwork by Jac Lahav.
KO-THI DANCE COMPANY ko-thi.org
LAKE ARTS PROJECT lakeartsproject.com
LAKE COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE lakecountryplayhousewi.org
Rainbow Fish: The Musical, June 11-21
Disney’s Descendants: The Musical, July 23-Aug. 2
LAKEFRONT FESTIVAL OF ART, JUNE 12-14 mam.org
LATINO ARTS, INC. latinoartsinc.org
Christie Tirado: Cosechando Historias, through June 5
An exhibit of prints and installations by Christie Tirado, a University of Wisconsin MFA.
The Big Idea XIII: De Colores, June 26-Aug. 19
The Painted Path: A Guided Tour of Murals and Heritage, July 9
The Milwaukee Damenchor with Heidi Hongsermeier, June 6
LILY PAD GALLERY WEST lilypadgallery.com
Liminal Worlds: France Jodoin’s Contemporary Romanticism, through June 7
Ocean House Exhibition, through Sept. 8
LUTHERAN A CAPELLA CHOIR OF MILWAUKEE lutheranacapella.org
LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN lyndensculpturegarden.org
Warren King: Homecoming, June 20-Nov. 15
Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group: The Reclamation, July 11
MADISON BALLET madisonballet.org
MADISON MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART mmoca.org
MADISON THEATRE GUILD madisontheatreguild.org
MAKING MUSIC VOCAL ARTS mmvocalarts.com
MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER marcuscenter.org & Juliet, June 9-14
Monty Python’s Spamalot, July 14-19
In the ‘70s, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” was cult television on PBS, but by the ‘80s, the British comedy troupe were international stars and in the ‘00s, their distinctive brand of comedy was on Broadway. Mike Nichols’ Spamalot, his adaptation of the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail., won three Tonys (David Luhrssen)
Jennifer Lynn and The Groove Revival Electric Eden, Aug. 13
Madre Latina Peligrosa pero Divina de Josue Comedy, Aug. 15
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY PLAYERS SOCIETY marquette.presence.io/organization/ Marquette-players-society
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY THEATRE marquette.edu/communication/theatre-arts.php
MASTER SINGERS OF MILWAUKEE mastersingersofmilwaukee.org
MATERIAL STUDIOS + GALLERY materialstudiosandgallery.com
MEMORIES DINNER THEATRE memoriesballroom.com
MENOMONEE FALLS SYMPHONY www.mfso.net
MIAD FREDERICK LAYTON GALLERY miad.edu
MIAD GALLERY AT THE AVE galleryattheave.miad.edu
MILLER ART MUSEUM (STURGEON BAY)
Bill Reid: Bee-cause, Why Knot, June 27-Sept. 12
Margaret Lockwood: Awakening Space, June 27-Sept. 12
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM mam.org
Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery, through July 19
Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) was a prominent Chicago surrealist, painting enigmatic landscapes and interiors lifted from dreams and oddly elongated bodies from a dark palette. Owls and broomsticks and doors opening to nowhere were motifs. She led a fascinating bohemian life. Dizzy Gillespie played at her wedding and thought her art was bebop visualized. (David Luhrssen)
Sunday (Celebrate Family), June 21 (American Family Field)
MILWAUKEE MUSAIK milwaukeemusaik.org
MILWAUKEE OPERA THEATRE milwaukeeoperatheatre.org
MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER milwaukeerep.com
Georgie & Grace: A Love Story, through June 14 (Stackner Cabaret)
And Then There Were None, through June 28 (Checota Powerhouse Theater)
Agatha Christie is claimed as the world’s bestselling author, and her very English murder mysteries continue to be adapted for screen and stage. She transformed one of her bestsellers into a play, And Then There Were None, about strangers invited to a remote island who find themselves being murdered, one by one. (David Luhrssen)
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA mso.org
Rachmaninoff & Saint-Saëns, June 5-6
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ALLEN BRADLEY HALL
Camille Saint-Saëns is ranked with the great composers of the Romantic Age while the much younger Sergei Rachmaninoff was at the cusp of Modernism, yet both wrote profoundly romantic music. With Iván López Reynoso conducting, the MSO pairs SaintSaëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3 (1880) with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 (1907). Classical star Jinwoo Lee guests on violin. (David Luhrssen)
Masur Conducts Missa Solemnis, June 13-14
MILWAUKEE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA myso.org
MILWAUKEE YOUTH THEATRE milwaukeeyouththeatre.org
MKE BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL blackartsmke.org
MKE STUDIO TOUR mkestudiotour.com
MORNING STAR PRODUCTIONS morningstarproductions.org
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART wisconsinart.org
To Whom It May Concern: A Teen Perspective on Human Connection, through June 21
Mary Jane Friend: Hooked, June 27-July 23
The American Landscape: Beyond the Horizon, through July 19
Tom Uttech: From the Permanent Collection, through Sept. 6
Uttech, who grew up in Merrill, Wis., has long been painting his north woods surroundings. He studied at Milwaukee’s Layton School of Art, which closed in 1974, and earned an MFA from the University of Cincinnati in 1976. Except for a brief period in college where he experimented with what were then current trends in art, Uttech has always turned to the north woods for inspiration. (Michael Muckian)
Vanessa German, through Dec. 31
MOWA | DTN
(Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel)
Tony Macias: Terra Firma, through June 14
MOWA Contemporary Exhibition 2026, through Aug. 30
MOWA on the Lake (St. John’s on the Lake)
Sarah McRae: I Told the Moon About You, through Aug. 9
Photo by Jonathan Kirn.
NEXT ACT THEATRE nextact.org
NŌ STUDIOS nostudios.com
NO INSTRUCTIONS GALLERY noinstructs.com
Christopher Peterson: Paintings, June 19-July 31
Fred Smith: Paintings, Aug. 7-Sept. 19
NORTH SHORE ACADEMY OF THE ARTS facebook.com/northshoreacademyofthearts
NORTHERN SKY THEATER northernskytheater.com
The Thing with Feathers , June 24-Aug. 29
When Butter Churns to Gold, June 26-Aug. 28
Something in the Water, June 29-Aug. 27
Doc Heide, July 19 (concert, Gould Indoor)
OAK CREEK PERFORMING ARTS AND EDUCATION CENTER oakcreepaec.com
OCONOMOWOC ARTS CENTER oasd.k12.wi.us/artscenter
OPTIMIST THEATRE optimisttheatre.org
Merry Wives of Windsor: Falstaff’s Tale
Richard III (Puppet Edition)
OUTSKIRTS THEATRE outskirtstheatre.org
OVER OUR HEAD PLAYERS overourheadplayers.org
PAINT CEDARBURG: A PLEIN AIR PAINTING EVENT
cedarburgartistsguild.com/paint-cedarburg
May 30-June 6
PENINSULA PLAYERS, FISH CREEK peninsulaplayers.com
Baggage, June 16-July 5
The Mousetrap, July 8-July 26
Agatha Christie is claimed as the world’s bestselling author, and her very English murder mysteries continue to be adapted for screen and stage. Her most enduring venture into playwrighting, The Mousetrap (1952), is by many estimates the world’s longest running play, sustained by its cast of disparate and a twist ending. (David Luhrssen)
Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, July 29-Aug. 16
Moon Over Buffalo, Aug. 19-Sept. 6
PENINSULA SCHOOL OF ART, FISH CREEK peninsulaschoolofart.org
Door County Contemporary Art Fair, June 4-7
PHILOMUSICA QUARTET philomusicaquartet.com
PIANOARTS OF WISCONSIN pianoarts.org
Recitals, May 27-June 1
Concertos with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, June 2
PINK UMBRELLA THEATER Pinkumbrellatheater.org
PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY portraitsocietygallery.com
John Tyson: Silencio; Andrew Whitver: Only Queens; MC Winston: Future Collection, through June 12
Khari Turner, June 26-Aug. 15
PRESENT MUSIC presentmusic.org
Nathalie Joachim, June 5 (Milwaukee Art Museum)
Present Music concludes its season with composer/flutist/vocalist Nathalie Joachim performing her Haitian-inspired work Ki moun ou ye.
“The performance explores themes of ancestral connection and cultural memory through a blend of electronic and acoustic textures. The program, presented in collaboration with the museum's Haitian art collection, also includes works by Marcos Balter and Paul Wiancko,” says Eric Segnitz, PM’s co-artistic director. (David Luhrssen)
PROMETHEUS TRIO wcmusic.org
QUASIMONDO PHYSICAL THEATRE quasimondo.org
RACINE ART GUILD racineartguild.com
RACINE ART MUSEUM ramart.org
Wisconsin Made, through July 4
Cut It Out: Papercutting Traditions and Beyond, through Oct. 3
Handmade Up North: Jewelry and Small Metals by Wisconsin Artists, through Oct. 3
Tanya Crane: Embodied Histories, Exploring the Legacy of African Jewelry, through Jan. 9, 2027
RACINE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA racinesymphony.org
PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY
Artwork by Khari Turner.
RACINE THEATRE GUILD racinetheatre.org
Dad’s Season Tickets , July 17-26
West Allis’ Matt Zembrowski authored this comedy of family, folly and football. Crucial question: Which of Frank’s three daughters will inherit his treasured season tickets? The Kosinski sisters employ every trick in the playbook to reach the end zone. (Morton Shlabotnik)
RE:CRAFT AND RELIC craftandrelic.com
Night Market, Aug. 22 (Franksville Craft Beer Garden)
REAL TINSEL GALLERY realtinsel.com
Footloose, June-August
Sean Heiser: New Paintings, July 31-September
RENAISSANCE THEATERWORKS r-t-w.com
RIVER PRESS riverpressmke.com
SACRA NOVA CHORALE sacranovacathedrale.com
SAINT KATE - THE ARTS HOTEL GALLERY saintkatearts.com
Bobbi Meier: Invented Décor, through July 12 (The Space)
Abigail Hedley: 31 Walnuts, through July 12 (The Vitrine)
Galeh Penn: Phantoms, through July 12 (The Gallery)
Dick Blau, Water, through July 12 (The Closet)
SCULPTURE MILWAUKEE sculpturemilwaukee.com
Sculpture Milwaukee was founded in 2017 from an idea by local entrepreneur Steve Marcus and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Sculpture Milwaukee has commissioned work to line Wisconsin Avenue from living artists, some with ties to our state. As much as possible, the sculptures are fabricated in Wisconsin in keeping with the Badger State’s machine-shop history. (David Luhrssen)
SEAT OF OUR PANTS READER THEATRE mkereaderstheatre.com
SHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER FOR THE ARTS wilson-center.com
Wisconsin Philharmonic Orchestra, July 3
Rockin’ Robins and Classic Car Show, July 10
Kal Bergendahl Project, July 17
Driveway Thriftdwelllers, July 24
BD Greer and The Gents, July 31
Jessica Meuninck-Ganger and Christiane Grauert: Wandering Folds, through Aug. 24 (Ploch Art Gallery)
SHEBOYGAN THEATRE COMPANY stcshows.org
SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE skylightmusictheatre.org
SOUTH MILWAUKEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
southmilwaukeepac.org
Del Amitri, June 13
The Scottish alt-rock band began recording in the ‘80s and scored a pair of hits in the ‘90s, “Nothing Ever Happens” and “Roll to Me.” Their most recent album, Fatal Mistakes, was released in 2021. (David Luhrssen)
SUNSET PLAYHOUSE sunsetplayhouse.com
Sing Along with Sinatra featuring Johnny Rodgers, June 3-7
Sleuth, June 4-21
England’s Anthony Shaffer’s wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcocks Frenzy and the cult classic The Wicker Man. He earned a Tony for his 1970 play, Sleuth, a twisting tale of a murder mystery author plotting to commit murder. (David Luhrssen)
Tapestry: Kerry Sings Carol King, June 16
Legally Blonde: The Musical, July 16-Aug. 9
THEATRE GIGANTE theatregigante.org
THEATRICAL TENDENCIES theatricaltendencies.com
THIRD AVENUE PLAYWORKS, STURGEON BAY thirdavenueplayworks.org
Moonlight and Magnolias , June 3-21
Red Herring, July 15-Aug. 9
Film noir and the era it represents are the setting and references for Michael Hollinger’s comedy Red Herring. The place: big city America; the time: the McCarthy era. The humor is apparent in plot and casting: Joe McCarthy’s daughter is engaged to a Soviet spy and when a stiff is fished out of Boston harbor, the tough-talking detective is a dame. Hollinger twists the genre like a pretzel—a salty one. (David Luhrssen)
THRASHER OPERA HOUSE, GREEN LAKE thrasheroperahouse.com
THREE POINT PROJECT Threepointprojectwi.com
TOOTH-AND-NAIL GALLERY toothandnailmke.com
TORY FOLLIARD GALLERY toryfolliard.com
Jan Serr: Intimate Interiors, June 6-July 11
Summer in Wisconsin, July 17-Sept. 5
UNDERSCORE (INSIDE REAL TINSEL) underscoreprojects.info
VILLA TERRACE DECORATIVE ARTS MUSEUM villaterrace.org
Sasha Kinens: Momenti, through July 26
Summer Chamber Festival, Aug. 27-28, Aug. 30
Villa Terrace is an Italian Renaissance-style home on a bluff above Lake Michigan. From the Great Hall in the center of the house, you can look at Lake Michigan, relax and spend an hour or so listening to wonderful music presented by Yaniv Dinur and musicians from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. (Kenneth Kapp)
VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE villageplayhouse.org
VOICES FOUND voicesfoundrep.com
WALKER'S POINT CENTER FOR THE ARTS wpca-milwaukee.org
WATER STREET DANCE MILWAUKEE waterstreetdancemke.com Solstice, Aug. 1
WAUKESHA CIVIC THEATRE waukeshacivictheatre.org
Native Gardens , June 5-21
WEST ALLIS PLAYERS westallisplayers.org
WEST BEND THEATRE COMPANY westbendtheatreco.com
WEST PERFORMING ARTS CENTER nbexcellence.org/community/westpac. cfm
WHITEWATER ARTS CULTURAL CENTER whitewaterarts.org
Annual Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition, June 4-June 29
WILD SPACE DANCE COMPANY wildspacedance.org
WINDFALL THEATRE windfalltheatre.com
WISCONSIN CLASSIC STAGE joshpohja.com
WISCONSIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC wcmusic.org
WISCONSIN CRAFT wisconsincraft.org
Morning Glory Art Fair, May 30 (Marcus Center Performing Arts Center)
WISCONSIN DANCE THEATRE wisconsindancetheatre.com
WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE CENTER FOR ARTS AND PERFORMANCE wlc.edu
WISCONSIN MUSEUM OF QUILTS & FIBER ART wiquiltmuseum.com
WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC wisphil.org
WOODLAND PATTERN BOOK CENTER woodlandpattern.org
Poetry in the Park, June 9 (Juneau Park)
WUSTUM MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ramart.org
WILD SPACE DANCE COMPANY
Courtesy of Wild Space Dance Company - photo by Rae Zimmerli.
Summer fest 2026
LOOKING PAST THE MAIN STAGES
BY JAMIE LEE RAKE
Charlie Wilson
Thursday June 18; BMO Pavillion; 10 p.m.
First attained fame in the Gap Band, among the last hard funk ensembles to cross over to pop. Going solo throughout the current century, Wilson has become an R&B loverman supreme. Though he hasn’t issued an album in nearly a decade, Wison remains a strong enough draw to headline the opening night of this year's BMO Pavillion.
MRS. FUN
Friday June 19; Johnsonville Summerville 7:30 p.m.
A Milwaukee jazz DJ once noted there was no music he liked at Summerfest. He must not have known of MRS. FUN's multiple Big Gig appearances. How could the late radio host not have dug the Milwaukee duo whose drums and keyboards do nigh all the lifting for such heavy, heady music?
christopher cross
Saturday June 20;
Uline Warehouse Stage; 9:30 p.m.
Summerfest is at the lakefront, perfect for some yacht rock! The ‘80s hits by Christopher Cross place him on that genre’s Mount Rushmore. Never a critical darling, it's still tough to hate a guy gracious enough to offer a rookie Billie Eilish career advice after she withstood a Grammy trophy onslaught. Expect Reagan era mellowness.
Dan lepien
Thursday June 25; Lasso Lounge; 8 p.m.
Hails from Sauk City, though Milwaukee could be called his second home. Lepien's trajectory has steadily risen by dint of his traditional country sound, harkening to the ‘90s and earlier. And though he’s been happily married for a while, Lepien can sing of heartbreak in a way to trigger tears in some Lasso Lounge attendees’ beers.
Greg Koch & The Koch Marshall Trio
Friday June 26;
T-Mobile Stage; 6:15 p.m.
It would be easy to take Greg Koch & The Koch Marshall Trio for granted. The bluesy Milwaukee-based rockers have been around for decades, building a low-key global reputation. Guitar master Koch plays like Albert King meets Stevie Ray Vaughan. And not every man of his age sports a skull cap with his aplomb or flays his axe so passionately.
King Solomon
Saturday June 27; Miller Lite Oasis Stage; 2:45 p.m. Milwaukee’s King Solomon can produce reggae authentic as any made by artists from the island nation where the music originated. Even with multiple Jamaican artists at this year's Summerfest, there's something comforting about supporting local guys together for over two decades making music that reliably elicits smiles and skanking.
Living Colour
Thursday, July 2; Generac Power Stage; 5:30 p.m.
Living Colour made an impact with their debut album nearly 40 years ago with a hooky, confrontational take on hard rock. As Black rockers have become less of a shock or novelty, Living Colour has persisted and morphed by influence of muses that keep them innovative and relevant. They couldn't be playing a more appropriately named Summerfest stage.
DJ JAZZY JEFF
Friday July 3;
Briggs & Stratton Big Bak Yard; 8 p.m. What will DJ Jazzy Jeff do without Will “Fresh Prince” Smith, the rapper with whom he helped solidify hip-hop’s pop accessibility as the ‘80s turned into the ‘90s? Plenty. Without Jeff’s hooks, Smith's teenage everyman sagas would not have had such a winsome foundation. Jeff has soldiered on in hip-hop's trenches, releasing a steady stream of solo albums with and without vocalists since the early ‘00s. He'll be fine!
gego y nony
Saturday July 4; Aurora Pavilion; 4 p.m.
For Summerfest's final day, Gego y Nony brings local pride with island sensibilities. The siblings represent the East Side but lean on their Puerto Rican heritage for their occasionally bilingual reggaeton. The brothers' romantic and streetwise modes blend well to abet a long, fond goodbye to the festival.
Jamie Lee Rake is a Wisconsin music writer and longtime contributor to the Shepherd Express.
FEVER MARLENE RETURNS WITH FIRST ALBUM IN OVER A DECADE
BY JOSHUA M. MILLER
How does Fever Marlene sound 15 years later?" That was one of the paramount questions singer Scott Starr and drummer Kevin Dunphy asked themselves as they started work on Still in My Blood, the band’s first new album since 2013’s Medicated Friends, set for release in June.
In the past decade, Dunphy moved to Minneapolis to pursue a career as a realtor, while Starr has kept busy locally running his design company Rev Pop and writing occasional solo songs. They’ve also started families. However, after Starr’s mother’s sudden passing last summer and an upwelling of new song ideas, the duo reunited. Listening to the new songs reveals a much more refined and mature sounding Fever Marlene.
“We didn't want to make another White China or Civil War,” said Starr. “I think we always look back at those songs and want to re-record some of those songs and re-release them the way we wanted to do them. This felt like a natural progression of maturity.”
FINDING THEIR GROOVE
Recording at Starr’s new studio, the Milwaukee space that he built from the ground up, the duo embraced the freedom to experiment and take their time to figure out how to make each song sound as good as they could. Despite not having played together in a decade, they quickly found their groove.
“For me, it felt like we hadn't stopped recording,” said Starr. “It felt entirely natural. We weren’t trying to make music for a live show or to please the radio or make hit songs. It's a vibe thing rather than a singles thing. I tried to make an album that was meant to be listened to from beginning to end.”
Starr’s studio allowed them to take their time and record, mix and master it exactly how they wanted. “I wanted to learn that art because I wanted final say in what the outcome was,” said Starr. “It's like painting a picture and then handing it off to somebody else to put the glaze on it and frame it and decide what it's going to look like on the wall.”
While the duo handled the majority of the album’s sounds, Starr’s longtime friend Shauncey Ali contributed additional string compositions with violins and violas. “The strings on the album are very much a collaboration, more Shauncey doing the really cool stuff and me doing the kind of crazy background long parts,” explained Starr.
Starr especially enjoyed experimenting with synthesizers and other instruments to see what sounds he could create. He prefers analog recording over digital due to its spontaneous nature in creating real and unique sounds that can’t be replicated.
JOURNAL ENTRIES
The album also features some of Starr’s most personal lyrics, many of which were crafted following his mother’s death. His mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer last spring, and after a couple of months of chemo, passed away in July. “That was a hard thing to witness and just day by day go through,” said Starr.
It also hit Dunphy hard as she had been a constant supporter of the band from the start and frequented many of their shows. He recalled her allowing them to “make a lot of loud noise in her basement” when they were younger and the spaghetti and meatballs meals she’d make for them. “I can't imagine such a caring, sweet person going through that,” Dunphy said.
To process his flood of emotions, Starr began writing his thoughts in a journal and experimenting with ketamine to ease his nerves. While it was the first time he had kept a personal journal, it helped him process the difficult situation and learn how to write again.
In the past, he relied mostly on creating stories and putting himself in other people’s shoes as well as writing about things like angst and politics. This time he put himself out there and shared a personal side of himself.
Rather than writing in a direct way, he used metaphors to describe things he felt and compared them to things that were familiar. As a result, many of those words and phrases sound like song titles.
Initially, Starr felt his ideas were too personal and close to release them as songs. However, Starr’s wife convinced him to try to write a few and see where things went. “As soon as I started to do that, something clicked and things sounded like the sound or what I was looking for,” he said. “I think that my biggest hurdle over the past 10 years was trying to find a sound or something that I liked that I wrote that I could listen to.”
SHARING DEMOS
He began sharing the resulting demos with Dunphy. After getting supportive encouragement and suggestions, Starr knew he wanted to fully realize these songs. Eventually it became obvious that Starr needed to invite Dunphy to his studio to record drums and flesh out these songs.
The four days they spent working on songs in Starr’s studio marked the first time they had been together in a decade. Starr said it was an amazing experience. Two weeks later, they decided to release the songs as Fever Marlene.
“I think having him and his support in it made me more comfortable with releasing this as a Fever Marlene project rather than a solo project or not at all,” Starr said. “When Kevin came in and we recorded drums, we started at the top and he already knew the song so well that we ripped through the majority of the album in two days, recording all live drums in the studio here.”
Starr said the album’s title track, written about his connection to his mother as well as music, encapsulates the album’s universal lyrical themes about life. He says it was therapeutic and emotional, writing and recording the songs.
While listening back to a recording of a synthesizer, he heard her voice telling him that she could hear him. “I can show it to anybody and they're not going to understand that that sounds like my mom,” he said.
“And it's jarring for me, but I'm still in that mode where a light will flicker or I'll hear something or see something, and it suddenly just puts me back and reminds me of that place and what I've lost.”
KEEPING THE MOMENTUM GOING
Still in My Blood will be released on vinyl, which excites Starr as “you can hear the room, the reverb on the walls, you can hear the fingers on the strings.” He’s looking forward to working on more new music, including songs that didn’t make this album. “For us, putting the music out is the top of the mountain. Now let's work our way back down and climb back up.
In addition, Starr and Dunphy hope to re-record past albums, including a new version of Civil War next year in time for its 20th anniversary. “A lot of Civil War deserved to be recorded live, and it wasn’t,” he said. “It should sound big, bombastic. It should sound like the duo playing live.”
While the band doesn’t hasn’t booked any shows as of this interview, they hope to perform again. “We've always been coming up with different ways of putting on performances, [such as playing at the Oriental Theater],” says Starr. “If we were going to do this, it would be making a big deal out of it and putting on a performance and a show somewhere that we felt would feel new, exciting, and like a memory. We want people to have an experience, not just another night at the local club.”
Joshua M. Miller is a Wisconsin writer who has contributed to Rolling Stone, Spin, Guitar World and MTV News.
This Month in Milwaukee 7 Things to Do in June
BY SOPHIA HAMDAN, DAVID LUHRSSEN, BLAINE SCHULTZ AND BEN SLOWEY
JUNE 4
The Alice Bag Band w/ Clickbait p Anodyne Coffee Roasting
Alice Bag was a pioneer of the Hollywood punk scene; her mid-‘70s namesake band, appearance in the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, her memoir Violence Girl, From East LA Rage to Hollywood Stage – A Chicana Punk Story and her 2025 musical collaboration with Kid Congo Powers as Juanita & Juan, adds up to one of the more powerful resumes of the alternative music and counterculture world.
JUNE 9
Louie and The Flashbombs Chill on the Hill/Humboldt Park
Milwaukee songwriter-vocalist Louie Lucchesi debuted his latest hard rocking band, The Flashbombs, in 2022. He described his repertoire as “a hopeful perspective, uplifting songs that deal with serious subjects. I call what we do a ‘Subgenre: Gray pop music by mature musicians for a mature audience on mature themes.’” Music starts at 6:30 p.m. Food trucks will be on hand.
JUNE 11
The Avengers w/ Jinksie and Geoff Palmer X-Ray Arcade
On Jan. 14, 1978, the Sex Pistols famously played their final show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Avengers (along with The Nuns) opened the show. Fronted by vocalist Penelope Houston, the Avengers released a posthumous album that includes white hot material like “We are the One” and “The Amerikan in Me.” Subsequent reissues added live tracks bolstering the Avengers’ legend.
JUNE 13
The AquaPoetics: Poetry & Music Showcase
Art Intersection MKE, 3542 W. Vliet St. Join Milwaukee Water Commons from 5-7 p.m. for a special showcase of local poets curated by Kavon Cortez-Jones. Each poet will be sharing original work themed around water between the musical interludes of singer-songwriter Garrett Waite. Bringing a chair or blanket is encouraged!
JUNE 14
Gather & Grow Market
6505 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
Visit the Gather & Grow Market for a free event showcasing local businesses and creatives, from jewelry and books to handmade gifts and baked goods. Shop for Father’s Day or celebrate the beginning of summer while enjoying live music or sipping a drink at the on-site patio bar.
JUNE 16
The Aquabats
Turner Hall Ballroom
Since their formation in 1994 in Orange County, Calif., the Aquabats have been punk rock’s superheroes, dedicated to injecting harmless fun into a music scene that often took itself too seriously. The band was established with a unique vision that includes their iconic Paul Frank-designed “power belts,” trademark rash guards, black eye masks, and “anti-negativity” helmets, along with entertaining onstage antics.
JUNE 24
The Fleshtones w/ New Duncan Imperials q Shank Hall
Name another band forged in the crucible of America’s bicentennial and are still at it heading into the nation’s semiquincentennial. NYC’s Fleshtones have been spreading their brand of Super Rock since the turn of punk rock. Some two decades ago Fleshtones frontman Peter Zaremba, as guest vocalist for Los Straitjackets at Rainbow Summer, entered Peck Pavilion—shaking a pair of maracas in each hand—advancing from the regal grove of chestnut trees through the seats onto the stage. Will he make his entrance this evening from Farwell Avenue? Don’t bet against it.
SHANK HALL
Photo by Timothy Czerniakowski.
Dear Ally,
I have an unusual problem—my life is almost perfect. I just have a little bit of heart break that I need help with.
I married early and divorced two years later. After many frustrated years of dating, I finally met someone that really makes me happy. But I’m in my fifties and at that age, we all come with some baggage, right?
Like I mentioned, I approach this new relationship after a disappointing dating history. None of the women I became involved with worked out.
I longed for a serious, monogamous relationship. My new girlfriend was married many years before her partner died. She assures me that she has finished grieving and is ready to begin a new life.
She has adult children. I don’t have any kids.
She’s not used to navigating new relationships. She’s more comfortable with someone she’s known for a long time. I’m the opposite. I’ve only had short spurts in the relationship game. We do our best and are learning and laughing together. It has been such a dreamy romance, that I can’t believe she came into my life.
Here’s the heartbreak part: her adult children are very protective of her and don’t want anything to do with me. She explains their behavior by telling me that they’re still grieving their dad. It has nothing to do with me.
But because of their grief, she recently told me that she will follow their lead on the right time to introduce me to them.
Dear Back Burner,
I am so happy for you. It’s wonderful that you two found one another. Now comes the hard part. How do you make it work for both parties?
This is where life lessons present themselves and offer us a significant chance for personal growth. But it’s never easy.
You both seem ready and willing to start a committed, romantic involvement. I’m especially relieved that your partner feels that her grief process is at a point where she’s free enough to start a new relationship. You are emotionally available. These are positive signs for both of you.
It’s quite natural that, especially, after their father’s death, many moms will tend to make their children’s well -being a priority. Because of this, the kids will not be in a hurry to accommodate your wishes to meet them, even if they know on some level, that you are good for their mom.
In other words; if you truly love this special woman and if you desire a future with her, you need to gently and respectfully surrender your expectations to attend family gatherings in the near future.
Forcing your way into her family is not the answer.
This is exasperating to me.
If only they’d give me a chance. I am not interested in taking their father’s place. Don’t they want their mom to be happy?
But that’s not all. I’m equally aggravated at her for letting her kids make the final decision when I can attend family gatherings. I’d like her to make me as much of a priority in her life as she is in mine. I don’t know if that will ever happen.
I’m totally in love with her, and I think she feels the same. Right now, her kids are her priority. I feel like I will always be on the back burner. Because of that, does our relationship really have a future? I don’t know what to do. Can you help?
Back Burner
Avoid this drama. Do not push the envelope with your girlfriend or her family. It will backfire. Removing this pressure will allow your new relationship to grow in a natural timeframe.
Practice patience and trust your girlfriend. She will know when the moment is right to meet her family. At that time, you will be able to ease into creating relationships with her adult children. Only in this way, can you move from the back burner to the front. You can do this!
Here for you,
In the Grip of Thanatos
BY PHILIP CHARD
In Freudian psychology it’s called “Thanatos,” or what is colloquially referred to as “the death wish.” Considering what is happening in our nation and across the planet right now, collectively, we may be in its grip.
Now, before I dive into this pit, it’s worth noting that Freud and his traditional version of psychoanalysis, including his theory on Thanatos, are widely criticized these days. That’s not unusual when someone breaks new intellectual ground, which is always subject to revision as new understandings emerge.
However, some of Freud’s fundamental ideas about the human psyche should not be dismissed as dated or quaint. I’m among those who find it plausible that his concepts of both Thanatos and Eros help explain what is happening to our collective well-being.
Within Freudian theory, Eros is defined as the life instinct, the motivational force that urges us toward creativity, procreation, growth and self-preservation.
INSTINCT FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION?
Its opposite, Thanatos, is the death instinct, that which drives us toward aggression, destruction, self-harm and, ultimately, oblivion.
Both of these psychological forces operate at two levels: self-directed and other-directed. Regarding Thanatos, self-directed manifestations include risk-taking behaviors, self-harm, suicidality and self-sabotage, which includes addictions and hurtful compulsions.
The other-directed tendencies include aggression, abuse of others, violence, sadism, hate and destruction of things, the environment and persons.
Seem familiar?
Notably, some psychologists question whether Thanatos exists, in part because of the disturbing suggestion that humanity has an innate predilection for self-destruction. Like many mental health concepts, it is difficult to prove or disprove.
BURN IT DOWN
However, both historically and presently, evidence in support of Thanatos as an active force in human affairs seems compelling. The hatred and “burn it all down” impulses that infect elements in our society, both socially and politically, look eerily like a collective death-wish.
Destroying the natural environment, undermining the social safety net, turning a blind eye to child poverty and hunger, promoting unrestrained gun culture, starting unprovoked wars, enabling misogynists and pedophiles, furthering a rigged economic system that concentrates wealth and drives poverty, etc. These and other self-inflicted wounds, being so widespread and powerful, support the Thanatos theory.
Among naysayers, many of the behaviors attributed to the influence of Thanatos are ascribed to causative factors like unresolved emotional trauma, disordered brain chemistry, childhood abuse and neglect, and so on.
The theory that these behaviors are caused by some underlying psycho-spiritual force embedded deep in the mind can border on woo-woo.
EMBRACING LIFE
However, when we mentally step back from individual examples and consider a larger, humanity-wide perspective, the case for Thanatos appears stronger. We are, by far, the most dangerous animal on the planet, and if you don’t buy that, you haven’t read world history.
“To me, Thanatos is just another name for evil,” a colleague told me. “Call it what you like, there is something dark and sinister in the human spirit.”
And something wondrous as well, as represented in Freud’s concept of Eros. We lay down our lives for those we love. We create incredible art and music and literature. We go to the Moon. We spread acts of kindness.
So no, not all humans are in the grip of Thanatos. Our species seems divided between those who embrace Eros as their guiding principle and those who feel drawn to the death wish.
EGOCENTRIC GREED
At this juncture in our history, many people of power and money in our world seem smitten by Thanatos. And they attract those who are like-minded. Just as kindness is contagious, so too can be cruelty.
Deep inside the followers of Thanatos in a place they may not even recognize, some fundamental essence has turned its back on life, on Eros. What drives them may be bitterness, a sense of victimization, an infantile narcissism, a callous indifference toward others, an egocentric greed or some other malignant emotion or mindset.
So, we are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We are Lucifer and Michael. We are Cain and Abel. The struggle between good and evil goes on.
We are living it.
Philip Chard is a psychotherapist and author with a focus on lasting behavior change, emotional healing and adaptation to health challenges. For more, visit philipchard.com.
YOUR PRIDE-MONTH CALENDAR
Holy moly! It’s pride, and the city is hopping with all the rainbow-colored fun my little heart can handle! There’s so much going on, I’m going to forgo my advice column to share all the details with you. I’ll be back next month with advice to the lovelorn, but until then let’s celebrate pride like only Milwaukee can!
Have a question for Ruthie? Want to share an event with her? Contact Ruthie at dearruthie@shepex.com. Follow her on social media, too! Facebook: Dear Ruthie | Instagram: RuthieKeester | Twitter: @DearRuthie
Ruthie's Social Calendar
JUNE 4, 5 & 6
PRIDEFEST MILWAUKEE AT SUMMERFEST GROUNDS (200 N. HARBOR DRIVE):
Welcome to one of the best pride celebrations in the country! From daytime fun to nighttime raves, there’s nothing like pride in Cream City. Dance, shop, eat, drink, learn, laugh, share and revel in our community during the threeday extravaganza. Find everything you need to know about Pridefest at www.pridefest.com.
JUNE 4-7
POP PRIDE AT POP (124 W. NATIONAL AVE.):
This Walker’s Point hot spot hosts a pride party every day of the week! Join me for the ultimate drag bingo (6/4), featuring double the prizes and triple the queens. Friday night (6/5), meet Joey Jay from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” during a RuPaul viewing party and drag show. Saturday (6/6) offers an art/plant fair during the day with DJs at night. Check out Sunday’s after-parade bash, too!
JUNE 5
PRIDE NIGHT AT THE TRAVELING BEER GARDEN AT COOPER PARK (8701 W. CHAMBERS ST.):
The Friends of Cooper Park are toasting pride week, and you’re invited. Raise a pint to pride during the 6 p.m. event and help raise money for local LGBTQ+ organizations.
JUNE 6
RIDE WITH PRIDE AT DAVIDSON PARK (3725 W JUNEAU AVE.):
Join the world’s largest LGBTQ+ motorcycle run when you take part in this annual event. Register at 10:30 a.m. before the ride starts at noon. The police-escorted route takes in the sights of the city before concluding at the Harley Davidson museum. See www.ridewithpridemke.com for details.
JUNE 7
MILWAUKEE PRIDE PARADE
(SECOND AND NATIONAL AVE. TO SCOTT ST. AND SEEBOTH ST.):
You don’t want to miss this incredible parade! It steps off at 2 p.m., and the good times run all afternoon. I’m emceeing the LaCage/Fluid/Walker’s Pint Main Stage at Second and National, so stop by and say “Hi.” Don’t miss the street party afterward.
JUNE 9
OPENING NIGHT & JULIET AT MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (929 N. WATER ST.):
What happens when &Juliet flips the switch at the end of Romeo and Juliet ?
Find out during this hilarious musical. Featuring today’s hit songs, the popular show makes Milwaukee its home through June 14. Nab seats at www.marcuscenter.org.
JUNE 10
WISCONSIN LGBT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE COFFEE CONNECTION AT MILWAUKEE CITY HALL (200 E. WELLS ST.):
Connect with likeminded business owners when you grab a cup of joe during this monthly mixer. The chamber brings the coffee; you bring the conversation between 8-9:30 a.m.
JUNE 12
PRIDE DRAG SHOW AT THE HOUNDS & TAP (W175N5645 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE, MENOMONEE FALLS):
Treat your fur baby to a drag show. It’s easy when you attend my 7 p.m. show at this must-see tavern and dog park. Bring your pup to the pub to play while you enjoy a drag show, cold brews and more.
JUNE 14
VEGANMANIA MILWAUKEE AT GREENFIELD PARK (2028 S. 124TH ST.):
Relish some of the city’s best vegan food vendors and bakeries during this 11 a.m. festival. You can also visit with farm sanctuaries and animal nonprofits during the free, all-day event.
JUNE 20
THE PRIDE BAR CRAWL AT WALKER’S PINT (818 S. SECOND ST.):
Check out the hottest LGBTQ+ bars when you join this pub crawl. Savor drink specials, food discounts, prizes and more after you buy tickets at www.crawlwith.us/milwaukee/pride/#tickets.
JUNE 27
SHEBOYGAN PRIDE PICNIC AT CITY GREEN (710 NEW YORK AVE., SHEBOYGAN):
Take a road trip to Sheboygan for a picnic that keeps the pride love flowing. Live music, food trucks and performances make the 12-7 p.m. event memorable.
JUNE 28
PRIDE ON BRADY (VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON BRADY ST.):
From shopping, food and beverages to music, drag and more, there’s plenty to see and do during this street party. The fun begins at noon and runs all day, making it the perfect way to wrap up pride month.
Celebrating Pride IN TIMES OF DURESS
BY PAUL MASTERSON
Over the last few decades, the official announcement of the PrideFest entertainment line-up has become the Milwaukee LGBTQ+ community’s rite of spring. It is the culmination of a year’s planning, negotiating, scheduling and booking dozens of stage acts. It is certainly a challenging enterprise given the diversity of the community’s demographics and its varied tastes.
In full disclosure, I was a member of PrideFest’s board of directors and production crew for a decade beginning in 2006. I vividly recall the conversations around the choice of headliners and, in particular, how to pay for them. Coincidently, back then, that discussion considered the community’s input that ever increasingly demanded not only LGBTQ friendly, but LGBTQ identified entertainers.
One notable request was Ricky Martin, who, having achieved his fame and fortune, had just come out in 2010. His fee at the time was $250,000, more than PrideFest’s entire entertainment budget (today, he charges up to $1.3 million for a public concert). There was also a growing demand for more local talent.
The result is the 2026 legacy programming. It is intentional in its representation of 30 years of Milwaukee’s PrideFest history. Still, while overwhelmingly well-received and packed with all LGBTQ talent including many local and regional artists, not everyone loved this year’s lineup. What once would have been snarky gossip at the end of a bar punctuated by eye rolls and violent slamming of a cup of dice, the complaints were now quite public and amplified thanks to social media.
Someone pined away for the good ol’ days when Cindy Lauper (in 2009) and Chaka Khan (in 2007) graced the stage. Yes, those were the days before the massive hike in fees. Today those name acts cost around the $200k mark. Even Milwaukee’s famous son, drag diva Trixie Mattel, earns $75,000-$150,000 for a “speaking engagement” according to her agent.
CHORUS OF MALCONTENTS
Meanwhile, the yellow press joined the chorus of malcontents. An online magazine hit piece, its sources coyly unnamed (although easily recognized), targeted PrideFest and its President and CEO Wes Shaver. Full of misrepresentations, it was a tiresome read, to be honest. Bitterness loves company, it seems.
Photo
But for all the petty jealousy and bullying, the message delivered, especially just weeks before PrideFest and in these times of renewed government incited attacks on LGBTQ+ people (and those of color, and women and immigrants), its attempt to fracture our community and throw a pall over the joy of PrideFest ultimately failed. No doubt PrideFest’s 30th anniversary on the lakefront will set record attendance, perhaps reaching 50,000 or more.
Of course, entertainment is but one aspect of PrideFest. Beyond the half dozen stages, it is Milwaukee’s only LGBTQ+ gathering with a full spectrum of community representation and participation. It includes the arts, culture, history, health care, athletics, social and family-oriented organizations. In fact, Vivent Health, the Milwaukee based national leader in HIV care, is cosponsoring this year’s festival. Coincidently, the partnership comes as PrideFest celebrates its 30th anniversary at Henry Meier Festival Park and Vivent Health its 40th as a health care provider. Kroger Corporation is again underwriting PrideFest’s food drive in support of Vivent Health’s food bank.
PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) will again be at PrideFest’s main gate to welcome festival attendees who have just braved the gauntlet of anti-Pride protesters. I recall the years when Nazi stormtroopers in brown shirts and crazed Christian zealots harassed us with ugly epithets. Today they are MAGA, but PFLAG will be there regardless.
COMMON CAUSE
Ultimately, that solidarity and common cause are why we celebrate Pride. Bill Meunier, a father of our Pride movement and the man who brought PrideFest to the Henry Meier Festival Grounds three decades ago, published a statement in 1998. The editor of Wisconsin Light, our community newspaper at the time, wrote an editorial reflecting on the ongoing LGBTQ struggle and the true meaning of Pride Month. “It is because of who we were,” he wrote, “Hidden, frightened. ‘Homosexual,’ not gay. Yet, a precious few found ways to break through the fear and shame risking everything at Stonewall and in countless other places. They won a measure of dignity and freedom.” About those who struggled in the past and their impact on who we are today, he added, “they are part of us.”
Ironically and sadly, his words are today as valid as they were nearly three decades ago. “Growing stronger every day still under attack but standing unafraid, we continue the struggle for equality. Accepting no limit on our civil rights, we are moving forward to who we will be. We know that day is coming when the marches are over and we are fully equal. We are rejoicing in that knowledge. Behind the glorious stripes of our rainbow flags, we march united with those who came before and for those who will come after. For each of us knows in our hearts and in our souls that it is for these reasons and for the reasons that cannot be expressed because they must be felt, that we celebrate Pride.”
Forward in Pride!
Paul Masterson is an LGBTQ activist and writer and has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee Pride, GAMMA and other organizations.
FROM THE CITY
That Always Sweeps
BY ART KUMBALEK
I’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, can it really be the month named June already, for crying out loud?
Now, I could tell you’s that it’s been known as “June” since the year 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII dicked with the ol’ rusty Julian calendar and decided to name the sixth month of year after the Roman goddess Juno, and from my toe-tip into the waters of research, she was “the god of marriage and childbirth, and the wife of Jupiter, king of the gods.” Must’ve been some kind of hotsy-totsy to be named a calendar girl for, lo, these couple, three, eleventeen hundred years, ain’a?
But the big deal with June I hear is we’ve got Father’s Day coming up like a bad burrito on the Sunday the 21st (also the first day of summer, the day where my favorite words of the season are “cool front on the way” as pronounced by our TV weather guys and gals, I kid you not).
But about Dad’s Day, maybe or not, you’d like to present a gift to the old fart but you’ve got no dough to waste; besides, he’s already got more neck ties, fish lures, child-support payments and packages of flat-head nails than he can use in a lifetime.
So how ’bout this, you give him the gift of laughter, call them “Dad Jokes,” that he can use over and over again so’s to antagonize friends, relatives, neighbors, sheriff deputies, former coworkers and therapists, what the fock.
You think? OK. Let me dip into Artie’s Joke Bag for a couple, three that you can gift Pop when/if you see him, and they’re definitely cheaper than a sixpack of Old Style.
A guy walks into a tavern and there’s a horse behind the bar serving drinks. The guy stares at the horse, so the horse says, “Hey buddy, what’s the problem? You never seen a horse serving drinks before?” The guy says, “No, it’s not that. It’s just that I never thought the parrot would sell this place.” Ba-ding!
Maybe you’ve heard this one before, but I’ll bet you a buck two-eighty that maybe he hasn’t: There’s this guy struggling to decide what to wear to a fancy costume party when suddenly he has an idea. Later, when the host answered the door, she found the guy standing there with no shirt, no socks and no shoes. The host says, “And just what the fock are you supposed to be?” And the guy says, “A premature ejaculation—’cause I just came in my pants!” Ba-ding!
Here’s one definitely for Pop: One day, during a lesson on proper grammar, the teacher asked for a show of hands for who could use the word “beautiful” in the same sentence twice. First, she called on Katie, who said, “My father bought my mother a beautiful dress and she looked beautiful in it.”
“Very good, Katie,” the teacher says. She then called on Michael. “My mommy planned a beautiful brunch and it turned out beautifully,” he said.
And then the teacher called one of the Justins. “Last night, at the dinner table, my sister told my dad that she was pregnant, and he said, ‘Beautiful. That’s just FOCKING beautiful!’” Bading!
How ’bout one more ’cause what the fock: A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel sticking out of his pirate pants zipper.
Bartender says, “Hey, Long John Silver! Did you know you have a steering wheel attached to your dick?” And the pirate says, “Aye! It’s driving me nuts!” Ba-ding!
A-focking-men. Happy Father’s Day. And if any of the above might not pass muster with your Mr. Bluster, then relay the following little story on some kind of phone when you call him to say you can’t drop by on the Sunday ’cause you got more important things to do:
So this foursome of guys are on the first tee. As the fourth guy is smack in the middle of his backswing, a funeral procession passes by on the road that runs alongside the tee. The guy drops his club, takes off his golf cap and places it over his heart until the line of cars recedes from sight.
The other three guys are beside themselves in awe and admiration. After the round was over, one of them says to Mr. Respect-for-theDead, “Jeez louise, Hank, that was an honorable thing you did back there on the first tee.” Hank says, “You mean when the funeral passed by? Thanks, but I figured it was the least I could do. After all, I was married to her for 42 years.” Ba-ding!
Okey-doke, genug ist genug, ain’a?
But I’ll wrap up this special Father’s Day essay with a personal note: Of father, of son, this time of year, I’ll be seeing you, as the song goes, in all the familiar places, I’ll be seeing you, in every lovely summer’s day somewhere over the rainbow, I remember you ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.
