The Capital Times • 4th August 2021

Madison Youth Arts Center brings dancers, drummers and divas together

With its sprung floors for dancers, black box theater, upright pianos and surfaces made of kid-friendly “indestructible stuff,” the Madison Youth Arts Center, or MYArts, is poised to make big changes for students. MYArts is the new, official home of CTM and Madison Youth Choirs, the two anchor partners.

The Capital Times • 25th June 2021

Home on the stage: Forward's 'Within These Walls' tells intimate stories

Forward Theate's “Within These Walls: Stories of Home,” has two main themes — the push and pull of home, and individual experiences of the pandemic.

The Capital Times • 16th June 2021

Madison Ballet dreams again: 21-22 season includes 'Midsummer,' new 'Nutcracker'

“We’re coming out of this pandemic with ‘Midsummer,’ which is going to be a healing process for our dancers,” said Artistic Director Sara Stewart Schumann.

The Capital Times • 13th June 2021

Q&A: Artist Rita Mawuena Benissan captures her Ghanaian heritage under one big umbrella

Now people are saying, “OK, I can't go to a museum, I can’t go into a space. But on Instagram, I just go on my phone, and all this history is accessible to me.” They’re seeing a different perspective on how Ghana was. A lot of times they don’t have these photos or have access to them, so how are they going to see these moments? Or even the different traditional music? You’ll see documentation from other databases on YouTube, and I’m able to place those on our page. Like – Louis Armstrong, he pe

The Capital Times • 9th June 2021

Hang at the bar with the Bard's headliners at American Players' 'Improbable Fiction'

American Players Theatre chose an imaginary hang with several of Shakespeare’s headliners to welcome us back to the Hill Theatre in Spring Green this summer. James DeVita wrote "Improbable Fiction" early in the pandemic using Shakespeare's own words and characters.

The Capital Times • 17th May 2021

Theater review: 'The Mountaintop' imagines a crucial night for Martin Luther King Jr.

Katori Hall’s 2008 play “The Mountaintop” opens American Players Theatre’s 2021 season with an invigorating blend of history, fantasy, apprehension and hope.

The Capital Times • 10th May 2021

'Apple pie and country pearls': Forward Theater spotlights America's first ladies

“46 Plays” moves with lightness. Director Jen Uphoff Gray’s cast appears visibly thrilled to be on a stage. Simmonds is a fantastic singer; González could do stand-up comedy for real. Everyone is a chameleon.

The Capital Times • 8th February 2021

Winter is Alive! lights up Madison with art about climate change

Some 30 sculptures will be hung, carved, dragged, lit and inflated around Madison. Crafted from fabric, wood and metal as well as ice and snow, each piece is part of Winter is Alive!, a new multi-disciplinary arts exhibition of global proportions. The event is an invitation for Madisonians to get out and (safely) enjoy the winter weather, while thinking critically about climate change.

The Capital Times • 3rd November 2020

Even the losers: 'Monument to the Unelected' looks at the presidents that weren't

Presenting work with a social justice theme fits with the Abrahamson family values. But Nina Katchadourian's “Monument to the Unelected” may resonate with viewers in a different, powerful way during this election cycle in particular.

madison.com • 24th October 2020

State Street murals, Black Lives Matter inspire new gallery show

“From Here On Out,” set to run through the end of February, features work by more than 17 Black artists and allies who support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Capital Times • 2nd October 2020

Missing American Players Theatre? Take a walk in the woods, and listen

If These Trees Could Talk takes visitors on a two-hour tour of the APT grounds and theater, set to poetry read by APT actors and stories of their experiences on the hill.

The Capital Times • 4th September 2020

Filling the house: Forward Theater adapts to COVID-19 with 'Lifespan of a Fact'

When the pandemic shifted stories from stage to screen, finding theatrical magic got harder.

The Capital Times • 20th July 2020

Grab a glowstick for a digital Opera in the Park

For its first digital event, Madison Opera enlisted musicians, visual artists, restaurant partners and a range of technology.

The Capital Times • 15th May 2020

Coronavirus cancels American Players Theatre's summer season

The intention is to move programming for 2020 into 2021. APT will collaborate with PBS Wisconsin on “Out of the Woods," a live play-reading series that will stream free to the public for a limited time.

The Capital Times • 29th April 2020

Closed by coronavirus, Madison's performing arts adapt

Local arts leaders sound stressed but hopeful. They’re moving content online — archived material from previous shows, dance classes held like video conferences. Some companies canceled shows. Others were able to postpone spring productions to the fall.

The Capital Times • 29th February 2020

Theater review: With spine-tingling 'Down the Road,' Two Crows brings a serial killer into the room

Iris, played by Melisa Pereyra, is a young reporter used to working with criminals. Iris’ questions are incisive, her tone unflinching. Knives, strangling, rape — nothing seems to phase her. She’s a pro.

The Capital Times • 19th February 2020

Theater review: Hallelujah! 'The Color Purple' makes a jazzy, bluesy, very joyful noise

The national tour of “The Color Purple” moves with clarity and purpose, and the sung parts of the score couldn’t sound better.

The Capital Times • 31st December 2019

2019 in Arts: A 'Saigon' protest, SpongeBob sings, and Spring Green grows a company

Madison’s arts scene is rich and growing, with new theater festivals and colorful new murals popping up all the time. I love the range of what’s on offer here, from free staged readings and world premieres written by locally grown talent to the national tour of “Hamilton.”

The Capital Times • 6th December 2019

She moved ‘at the speed of Sandra’: Overture CEO Sandra Gajic, 66, has died

“I came to Overture because of Sandra,” a colleague said. “I knew I wanted to work with her because of her incredible intelligence, her dynamic energy and her experience in the field. I knew she’d push me. She didn’t disappoint.”

The Capital Times • 6th December 2019

Cap Times Talks podcast: Live with the cast of 'Hamilton'

Cap Times theater critic Lindsay Christians gathered three members of the touring "Hamilton" cast — Ta'Rea Campbell (Angelica), Desmond Sean Ellington (Hercules Mulligan/ James Madison) and Neil Haskell (King George) — on Thursday in Overture's Wisconsin Studio for a free chat.