Arts

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Downtown Madison awaits new stage productions

I’ll be honest, while I originally wanted to attend UW-Madison for its academics, throughout my last year and a half on campus I’ve become increasingly interested with the surrounding city, specifically the dozens of concert venues just down State Street. From the Orpheum to the Majestic, branching out to the Frequency and bars like High Noon Saloon, there’s live music nearly every night in Madison.

2016 music hopes to avoid hype

Fans of any sort of music in 2015 were greeted to one of the best years for music genres to date.

Joanna Newsom engulfs crowd with emotional Orpheum performance

Storytelling has always been at the core of all folk music. A talented lyricist in tandem with the right instrumentals has the ability to transport you to another time, place or world.

'Hunger Games' finale leaves fans feeling bittersweet

The release of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2” on Nov. 20 marked the end of another popular series of film adaptations—and that was evident in the theater. As I sat in my plush Marcus Theatres movie chair, I could practically feel the anticipation and bittersweet emotions floating through the air as friends and families alike shuffled into the already-crowded theater to see Katniss, Peeta and Gale in action one last time. Although “Part 2” may not live up to some of its predecessors, it is undeniably the emotional, unsettling and suspenseful conclusion that this series deserves.

Top 25 albums of 2015

1. To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar It’s rare to see an album as tightly woven together into a perfect story as Kendrick Lamar’s second full-length album, To Pimp a Butterfly.

‘Gotham’ breaks the crime show mold

Borgeous drops by Liquid Friday night

Letter to the Editor: How we forgot about the arts

Ever since the majority of us were little, our parents and elementary school teachers would fill our minds with the phrase “everybody is important As we grew into functioning teenagers and acquired aspirations of our own, these three words were lost as reality became more prevalent in our lives. Students of all ages can attest that there are definitive cliques that are often determined by natural talent. These athletic, academic and artistic groups often compete for a sense of fulfillment and purpose in society.

Style Guru Eleanor Fink’s eclectic taste

Eleanor Fink, a sophomore majoring in textile apparel design is just wrapping up her first semester as a Style Guru Intern with CollegeFashionista. This semester, Eleanor writes for the “LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS” column. Be sure to check out her posts every Tuesday. To learn more about Eleanor, her style tips, fashion inspiration and what trends she’s excited to try this spring, read my Q&A with her.

Style Guru Sam Sklar's stylish inspiration

Sam Sklar is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and keeps busy as a Strategic Communications, Spanish, Italian and International Studies major. This semester kicked off Sam’s debut as one of UW-Madison’s Style Gurus, covering the column Style Advice of the Week. To learn more about this Fashionista’s personal style and fashion pointers, read my Q&A with her and check out her articles at CollegeFashionista.com.

Revelry announces 2014 lineup

The 2014 Revelry Music and Arts Festival staff announced the initial spring concert lineup Friday morning on the event’s Facebook page.

Campus Wordsmiths: "Obituary for whatever it was you were"

forget weak knees, forget freckles on cheeks. forget a season of flower crowns where no one was royal & nothing was really real. forget the way you couldn’t understand physics (how the sun could be such a big zero in the nothingscape July) or biology (if you never kissed his neck again would he still sweat salt like stored-up tears?) forget the soreness of knowing you’re wrong but being too sorry to say it aloud. you don’t own the rights to any of these wrecking-ball realizations these days, so forget the way you used to pretend every mirror went two ways & that someone cared enough to look through. forget the way the pew forced your tiny bird bones into an unnatural shape & the way you whistled those lies through your larynx before your mom sat you down and told you that no one needed to pretend anymore. forget the disaster bag you had packed under your bed before the morning you realized there’s no warding off the cerebral catastrophes brewing in your brainwaves. forget the limitless length of time it took you to understand that you were dying a series of tiny deaths for nothing & no one. forget absolution in the face of obvious puppet strings predetermining everybody’s every move forever. forget your boarded-up bedroom window for making it impossible to get out of bed. it’s ok to say fuck, you know, if it makes you feel prettier than pink lips ever did. forget the way the corners of your mouth contort when you’re about to cave. forget the anti-explorative notions of anchors & the way they keep you pressed to worn polyester attitudes of a city you want to quit.

Your step by step guide to success on all things Instagram

“Best Freakfest ever with my best girls #halloweeekend.” The world of Instagram is generating much more than ever imagined. Photos explaining what you did the night before, or photos of the best meal you’ve ever had. At the end of the day, it does not really matter what you throw down on that social network, it just matters how many likes you get. Yes, I said it, people Instagram to see how popular they can be. It is a way to measure ones own popularity. Do not get me wrong, I am one of those many girls who Instagram all the time.

City alders seek out additional police, arts funding in 2014

The Madison Common Council discussed possible amendments to the proposed 2014 Executive Operating Budget Tuesday night, including increasing funding for the Overture Center for the Arts and downtown safety.

Frank Productions adds musicians to Freakfest lineup

Freakfest organizers announced new additions to the Halloween bash’s line-up on the event’s Facebook page Wednesday, which include Neon Indian, 3LAU, Dirty Disco Kidz, Fort Wilson Riot and Gabe Burdullis.

'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.