Mike Fischer wrote theater and book reviews for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for fifteen years, serving as chief theater critic from 2009-18. A member of the Advisory Company of Artists for Forward Theater Company in Madison, he also co-hosts Theater Forward, a bimonthly podcast. You can reach him directly at mjfischer1985@gmail.com.
Mike’s work as WPW’s Festival Reporter was made possible through the sponsorship of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF). Learn more: https://upaf.org/
One month after the towers fell, in October 2001, playwright John Van Slyke was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. “As you can imagine, everyone was on edge,” he said to me, recalling that anxious moment for the American psyche duringContinue reading
The idea came in a flash. Sheri Williams Pannell was sitting alongside friend and fellow artist Cynthia Cobb, watching the production of Into the Woods that Pannell had directed for University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. As Sondheim and Lapine’s remadeContinue reading
Madison-based playwright Sam D. White was in the middle of his first year as an actor at the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival when he learned that he had a brother. A big brother. “My mom had a teen pregnancy in theContinue reading
Clare Arena Haden, Daniel Molina in Forward Theater’s ARTEMISIA. Photo: Ross Zentner.
Even if you’re an art historian, I’ll wager you’ve given little or no thought to what painters Artemisia Gentileschi and Vincent van Gogh – she of 17th-century Italy, he of 19th-century Holland – have in common. Despite seeing major exhibitionsContinue reading
After he was framed for a crime that landed him on death row in Utah, more than 10,000 letters from around the world urged his release. He’s been the subject of numerous books, including a pioneering work of fictionalized biographyContinue reading
Two years into the pandemic, playwright Lisa Sipos’ parents embarked on a cruise. Two days out of port, they tested positive for Covid and spent the next ten days confined to their cabin. That incident finds its way into Sipos’Continue reading
The popular image of painter Vincent Van Gogh involves a tortured genius whose paintings are a product of his growing madness and who died as a martyr to his art. Madison’s Fermat’s Last Theater Co. will try to set theContinue reading
As rehearsals for Artemisia continued in advance of its world premiere opening next Friday, I asked Lauren Gunderson – an art history geek since high school – to name her favorite painting by the pioneering 17th-century artist her play willContinue reading
Ten When I first saw the stage after entering the theater to see Renaissance Theaterworks’ World Premiere Wisconsin production of Tidy, I was reminded of an upscale department store. Yes: Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s scenic design was dominated by white packingContinue reading
The third of the 10 ten-minute plays showcased through Carroll Players’ New Works Festival – the Carroll University entry into World Premiere Wisconsin that I caught Saturday afternoon – aptly sums up the theme of the Carroll festival as aContinue reading