Writing
Originally published August 22, 2020 in Madison Magazine
You wouldn’t know it by looking at it, but the Hi-way 18 Outdoor Theatre is hurting.
Despite the long line of masked patrons waiting for their popcorn or chicken strips at the candy-colored snack bar, attendance at the drive-in has dropped off since the coronavirus pandemic began...
Originally published July 31, 2020 in Madison Magazine
The Madison Children’s Museum — known for interactive play spaces, arts and crafts and a rooftop garden full of plants and animals — closed its doors to the public on March 14 in response to the coronavirus. Yet the museum hasn’t stopped offering educational programs to local kids.
The museum launched Madison Children’s Museum at Home which shifted some of the museum’s most popular programs to the virtual world after it closed...
Originally published July 12, 2019 in The Milwaukee Business Journal
While the four Democratic presidential candidates who spoke to a crowd of over a 1,000 people Thursday night touched on issues ranging from health care to the economy, the issue of immigration first took center stage.
The Wisconsin Center ballroom in downtown Milwaukee was packed with guests traveling to see U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)...
Originally published August 4, 2019 in The Milwaukee Business Journal
If city leaders want to light up the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge before the 2020 Democratic National Convention, they need to raise $4.5 million before Oct. 1, just about three months from now.
While $525,000 has been raised so far, that only puts the Light the Hoan project at about 12% of their projected goal.
Arts and Entertainment Writing
Originally published October 15, 2020 in Madison Magazine
“The Godfather of Green Bay” — an indie movie featuring thick Wisconsin accents, Packers-obsessed characters and zealous use of the bygone Macarena dance craze — was released 15 years ago. The movie was filmed in the town of Marinette, where writer, director and actor, Pete Schwaba now lives, and follows Schwaba, playing stand-up comedian Joe Keegan, as he travels to a small Wisconsin town’s fall festival in the hopes of impressing a talent scout for “The Tonight Show.”
Both cringe-worthy and filled with some honest-to-goodness hilarity, “The Godfather of Green Bay” is one of the few representations of Wisconsin on-screen...
Originally published September 16, 2020 in Madison Magazine
It was Friday, March 6, and Disq — a five-person Madison band — was on the brink of a breakthrough. The group had just released their debut album, “Collector,” was about to play South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and embark on an international tour this fall.
Since forming in 2016, Disq has been praised by Isthmus, Paste Magazine, Stereogum and even The Guardian.
But on that day in last March, South by Southwest — a technology, music and film festival — was cancelled...
Originally published October 24, 2020 in Madison Magazine
A lone man in suspenders stands in front of the ominous Wisconsin woods, issuing a warning about the oncoming night, and so the fundraising pitch video for the locally produced short film “One Foot In” begins.
Featuring 19th century costume design and smoky scenes of campfires, the pitch by all accounts worked. The three-minute video created by writer and first-time director Eric Schabla raised more than $50,000 in just a few months to tell the story of an eccentric grave-robbing duo in search of the score of a lifetime...