Arts

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'Mary Poppins' is positively supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

It’s a rare occasion that I’m left speechless at the theater, but the production of “Mary Poppins” currently showing at the Overture Center completely blew me away. This show follows the classic story, originally written as childrens’ books by P.L. Travers, about a whimsical British nanny put in charge of two troublesome children, George and Jane Banks.

Satire: more kicks and more pricks

What a strange and wonderful beast comedy is. Unfortunately, it’s not always well adapted to the yoke of literature. The presence of mind required by reading is different than that of film or television or theatre, and the wordy rigid structure of a book can do serious damage to the sort of spontaneity and vivaciousness comedy demands. I’m being very vague here.

The Daily Cardinal weighs in on this year's Grammy Awards

Record of the Year: ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ by Gotye featuring Kimbra

Fun. rocks in sold out Varsity Hall

When Fun. came to Madison last March they were a band on the edge of stardom. They returned to Madison Jan. 24 with two number-one hits, huge festival shows in Milwaukee and Chicago and a gold record on their resume. But despite their recent success, Fun. still brings the same youthful exuberance to the stage that made them great a year ago.

Free music festival draws criticism

Local music artists expressed concern with Mayor Paul Soglin’s plan to implement a free city-wide music festival in 2013 at a town hall meeting Thursday.

'Are you going to finish that?': the choice a reader must make

What was the last book you didn’t finish? Come now: you’re not all perfect little literature angels heralding the merits of the written word. Was it a class reading? Was it a book for recreation? Did one of you little fools try and read “Finnegans Wake” on a dare? On a related note, did you survive and/or avoid hospitalization?

Growing avocados and Madison fans

The band name of Gardens & Villa is fairly intuitive once you know the story behind it, though it promises nothing for conventionality.

How to dance like nobody’s watching

Sometimes I ask myself: Why New York City?

And you thought you had roommate drama

Were you one of the lucky seniors in high school that looked at their future Badger roommate on Facebook and shuddered with fear at what lay ahead? Or, better yet, did you arrive on campus, fresh-faced and ready to begin drinking (ahem, studying), only to realize that your dorm life was going to be a living hell? Enter, “The Female Odd Couple,” a comedic production that speaks to the hearts and minds of anyone who has ever had a bad roommate.

Winter Sounds give us chills

The longer a band takes to set up and the more instruments they have the more pretentious and difficult to relate to they will be. At least, this was what I thought before Friday night. Der Rath has hosted some interesting bands, but none that have roped me in as much as the Winter Sounds.

From literature to Twitterature

Alex Aciman was 19 when he took a leap of faith and bet on Twitter’s ability to satirize his favorite literary classics (as well as Twilight and some others)in bursts of 140 characters.

UW-Madison considering creating College of the Arts

UW-Madison announced Thursday university officials are considering creating a College of the Arts.

Knowing your Madison (body) arts scene

The first thing that meets the eye is a 200-gallon saltwater aquarium. A range of blue tangs, reminiscent of "Finding Nemo," to cleaner shrimp swim and scuttle about in a serene scene of coral and neon swirls.

Schools should promote, not cut arts

Anthem of a revitalized romantic

Coldplay's latest release nothing to write home about