The Cap Times • 26th October 2022

Cheesy, cynical 'Pretty Woman' musical never heats up

With a repetitive, schlocky score and a script that did not age well, the musical of “Pretty Woman” limps through nearly two and a half hours to a conclusion no one is waiting for.

The Cap Times • 26th October 2022

'She Kills Monsters' rolls the 20-sided dice at Madison College

“She Kills Monsters,” a 2011 play by Qui Nguyen that takes place partially inside a D&D campaign, has become one of the most produced plays at high schools and on college campuses.

The Cap Times • 28th September 2022

Let's Eat: Whole grains make for substantial treats at Nectar Bakery

In a little shop in Spring Green, the ovens have been going all summer as owner Alyssa Janco turns local grains and seasonal produce into sourdough pretzels, cinnamon rolls, berry bars and specialty cakes.

The Cap Times • 16th September 2022

Faisal Abdu’Allah opens at MMoCA; museum hires ‘visual anthropologist’

Abdu’Allah has been teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2014. He’s aware of the upheaval in the local art community, and said he’s been asked to make a statement about the Triennial conflict.

The Cap Times • 14th September 2022

Performing arts in Madison cautiously prepare for a fall rebound

Orchestras, dance companies and theater groups around the city have announced full seasons with big casts, world premieres and audience favorites. Many will honor contracts that COVID disrupted.

The Cap Times • 1st September 2022

Theater review: Get in, losers, we’re going to ‘Mean Girls’

The musical captures most of the best parts of the film. The touring production captures a slightly smaller fraction of those. So the returns are diminishing, a little. But not by much.

The Cap Times • 3rd July 2022

4 American Players Theatre artists on how APT is redefining 'classic'

American Players Theatre is a literary place. Where some theater companies emphasize dance, experimental design or new voices, this classical repertory company in Spring Green has been driven by poetry and prose for 45 years. Productoins this year involve diverse teams of artists, both behind the scenes and on the stages. We asked four artists working at APT this summer to talk about four of the season’s plays.

The Cap Times • 8th June 2022

Harassment on State: Botanist Social staff describe a disturbing pattern

Seven former employees of the seven-month-old Botanist Social on State Street describe an ongoing, unchecked pattern of harassment at the downtown nightspot. “The Botanist is like a pretty little Venus flytrap,” Erika Pedersen said. “This industry is permeated with men who have money and means to do whatever they want, until women like us say something.”

The Cap Times • 11th May 2022

How Madison delivers: The rise of the ghost kitchen

For years, one of the best places to open a new restaurant was next to another restaurant. Then a global pandemic tossed everyone into the fryer, flipped some hot trends and threw others in the trash. Now, the best location for a new restaurant might be no location at all.

The Cap Times • 10th April 2022

The Ready Set is ready for date night and play dates in Oregon

Nobody wants to think too hard about Brussels sprouts and bacon, or steamed mussels with fennel and pepperoni, or pastry chef Jean Torija’s beautiful, quad-stacked, cream cheese-frosted red velvet cake. We can just eat them and be happy.

The Cap Times • 30th March 2022

Wisconsin invests in small-scale butchers as demand for local meat rises

Small-scale Wisconsin farmers and the communities they serve need people with butchery skills, particularly in rural areas. A recent infusion of federal and state money directed to meat processors and butchers aims to address a persistent gap between farm and table.

Feast and Field • 7th March 2022

Are women the future of farming? The Female Farmer Project thinks so

Audra Mulkern is a Washington-based documentary photographer, podcaster and researcher who founded the Female Farmer Project, a multi-platform documentary project that chronicles the rise of women working in agriculture around the world.

The Cap Times • 16th February 2022

Find birria to bubble tea at the Global Market & Food Hall

Some 18 months after Global Market opened (eight months later than planned) in a former Babies “R” Us, diners are still discovering it for the first time. That a 46,000-square-foot space, Madison’s equivalent to an H Mart or Mitsuwa, could fly under the city’s culinary radar is, perhaps, a symptom of opening during a global pandemic.

Feast and Field • 13th January 2022

Joy in a jar: Big Spoon Roasters’ nut butters celebrate a sustainable mission

Big Spoon Roasters president Mark Overbay has a list of 40 nut butter ideas he’s working on at any given time. These go beyond the Durham, North Carolina company’s rich lineup of nut butters, which already includes almond butter blended with chai spices, espresso, Fiji ginger and toasted coconut. What about pistachios? Figs? Pineapple and lime? That’s where the R&D club comes in.

The Cap Times • 15th December 2021

‘Madison Chefs’ tells stories of culinary change in Wisconsin's capital

“Madison Chefs: Stories of Food, Farms, and People” highlights nine local chefs who re-imagined what Wisconsin food could be, from New Jersey-influenced farm-focused pizza to Wisconsin-style bibimbap.

The Cap Times • 7th December 2021

Casetta Kitchen pop-up Lady Bird goes live on Saturday nights

Seanna Whalen and chef Nick Larke operate Lady Bird Dinner Parties, a pop-up operating out of Casetta Kitchen and Counter Saturday nights since mid-October. Lady Bird serves one five-course menu for one price ($50) to about two dozen guests.

The Cap Times • 3rd December 2021

New Farwell Gallery showcases 40 artists in McFarland

Farwell Gallery features work by some 40 artists in a variety of media, including glass-on-glass mosaic pieces by owner Kristin Ellis. She lives close enough to the gallery to walk there.

The Cap Times • 24th November 2021

Meet five Latinx artists changing the face of Madison

CultivARTE is one of several initiatives working to increase recognition, representation and funds for artists who live in Dane County and identify, broadly, as Latinx.

The Cap Times • 17th November 2021

Carrie Coon gets under your skin in Steppenwolf's 'Bug'

Few things are so distressing to the mind as a threat that’s menacing and unseen. “Bug,” now at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre through Dec. 12, builds a sense of unease and dissociation gradually.

The Cap Times • 12th November 2021

'The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story' is a trip back in time

“The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story,” subtitled “an Illustrated History, with Relish,” explores the supper club’s origin story myth and the colorful history of Wisconsin dining establishments still proud of long-ago mob ties.