MARK FROHNA
Shepherd Express' 2019 Best of Milwaukee Guide is presented by Vivent Health. Vivent Health was founded on the combined expertise of AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Rocky Mountain Cares and St. Louis Effort for AIDS. The new organization is dedicated to serving anyone and everyone affected by HIV through our comprehensive prevention, care and treatment programs. Learn more at ViventHealth.org.
Art Gallery (Non-Museum)
WINNER: Dream Lab 327 W. National Ave. 414-210-4104
Shawn DeKay decided to paint full time. So to do that, he opened Dream Lab, which is an art gallery, café and all-around creative environment. The café features Counter Culture coffee, plus goodies from Canfora Bakery and East Ovens. The graduate of South Division High School has turned the former barber shop into an intimate space filled with works by local artists. In addition, Dream Lab hosts monthly classes and events and will expand sometime this year. (Harry Cherkinian)
RUNNERS-UP: Nō Studios Scout Gallery Var Gallery & Studio
Art Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
WINNER: Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) 700 N. Art Museum Drive mam.org
With an eclectic collection as its base, spanning the ancient world through the moderns, MAM continues to host increasingly ambitious programming with multi-media aspects and contemporary relevance for Milwaukee and the wider world. The soaring spikes of the museum’s Santiago Calatrava addition have become Milwaukee’s symbol—and you can’t beat that heated underground parking garage on cold days. (David Luhrssen)
RUNNERS-UP: Haggerty Museum of Art Museum of Wisconsin Art Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
Choral Group
WINNER: Bel Canto Chorus 414-481-8801 belcanto.org
Approaching its 90th anniversary, this vocal ensemble has established itself as the premier choral group of the greater Milwaukee area. Under the music direction of Richard Hynson, Bel Canto specializes in 20th-century choral works, often collaborating with local orchestras. The newer Senior Singers program, directed by Rebecca Renee Winnie, further emphasizes Bel Canto’s inclusive vision and mission. There is much personal and community enrichment, for performers and audiences alike, to be cultivated through communal singing. (Anastasia Skliarova)
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RUNNERS-UP: Bach Chamber Choir Jubilate Chorale Master Singers of Milwaukee
Church Festival
WINNER: St. Gregory the Great Festival 3160 S. 63rd St.
This four-day late-summer event includes rides, children’s games, a raffle, fish fry, chicken dinner, an outdoor mass on Sunday and a raft of popular local cover bands. (Morton Shlabotnik)
RUNNERS-UP: St. John Vianney Parish Festival St. Rita’s Parish Festival St. Roman’s Parish Festival
Classical Music Ensemble
WINNER: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) mso.org
Although our neck of the woods boasts many talented classical music groups, the biggest tree in that forest is Milwaukee’s own symphony orchestra, the MSO. It’s one of the country’s finest orchestras, and its reputation has only grown throughout the decades (2019 was its 60th year). The MSO proudly offers world-class music director-conductors and full-time professional musicians performing more than 135 classical, pops, family, educational and community concerts every season throughout Wisconsin. (John Jahn)
RUNNERS-UP: Bel Canto Chorus Master Singers of Milwaukee Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Present Music
Dance Company
MARK FROHNA
WINNER: Danceworks 1661 N. Water St. 414-227-8480 danceworksmke.org
The big news of 2019 is that the pioneering resident professional company of Milwaukee’s major contemporary dance institution added seven dancers—all the better to represent the city in terms of race, culture, gender identities and dance styles. Members of this new Danceworks Performance MKE also teach at Danceworks Studio and in schools and community centers all over town and contribute new work to the company’s many lab performances, its innovative multi-art collaborations and experimental showcases. (John Schneider)
RUNNERS-UP: Catey Ott Dance Collective Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance Water Street Dance Milwaukee
Local Radio Personality
WINNER: Dori Zori 88Nine Radio Milwaukee 220 E. Pittsburgh Ave. 414-892-8900 radiomilwaukee.org
Say “88.9,” and the name Dori Zori immediately comes to mind—or make that the ears. Named assistant program director last summer, DZ joined 88Nine in August 2012, where she began co-hosting the morning show. That turned into a solo host spot, and she’s been on the rise ever since. She’s out and about in the city with artist appearances and public events and easy to spot with that award-winning smile. (Harry Cherkinian)
RUNNERS-UP: Mandy Scott (106.9 FM) Marcus Doucette (88.9 FM) Roy Washington (104.1 FM)
Local TV Personality
WINNER: John McGivern (Milwaukee PBS) (Also won Stage Actor)
His roots are on stage, but he’s been best known since 2011 when his producer friend, Lois Maurer, and he approached PBS about a show where they would visit and highlight both rural and urban communities across Wisconsin. Seven years later, “Around the Corner with John McGivern” has been receiving national accolades, having been picked up by PBS World and getting the highest ratings on any PBS station in the country on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. The mission of the show is to discover where a particular community lives, works and plays. (Evan Casey)
RUNNERS-UP: Katie Crowther (TMJ4) Sheldon Dutes (WISN 12) Ted Perry (Fox 6 Now)
Milwaukee Author
WINNER: John Gurda
What other author has done more to awaken Milwaukeeans to the unique history of our city? His book, The Making of Milwaukee, was transformed into an Emmy Award-winning PBS special that aired coast to coast. He continues to produce lavishly illustrated and solidly researched accounts, such as City Built on Water and Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods. And speaking of neighborhoods, he’s a regular on John McGivern’s popular PBS show “On the Corner,” providing historical context with his easy-going manner. (David Luhrssen)
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RUNNERS-UP: John Marszalkowski Mikey Cody Apollo Quardeay Julien
Movie Theater
Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film
Interior of Oriental Theatre
WINNER: Oriental Theatre 2230 N. Farwell Ave. 414-276-5140
Among many of Milwaukee’s unique attractions is the handful of still-operating cinemas that date from Hollywood’s golden age. The most ornate among them, the Oriental, is truly a movie palace with its eclectic Orientalist lobby and theaters. Now operated by Milwaukee Film, the Oriental Theatre remains a venue for new indie and foreign films as well as the classics. (David Luhrssen)
RUNNERS-UP: Avalon Atmospheric Theater Marcus Majestic (Brookfield) The Times Cinema
Museum (Non-Art)
WINNER: Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) 800 W. Wells St. 414-278-2728 mpm.edu
MPM has current collections containing more than four million specimens. Tour MPM’s 150,000 square feet of exhibit space to visit continents and habitats. Visit the turn-of-the-century Streets of Old Milwaukee, European Village and ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Or take a giant leap back more than 65 million years to The Third Planet and see one of the largest dinosaur skulls ever found. You can also stroll amid free-flying butterflies from around the world in the Puelicher Butterfly Wing. (Harry Cherkinian)
RUNNERS-UP: Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear Discovery World Jewish Museum Milwaukee
Outdoor Festival
WINNER: Wisconsin State Fair 640 S. 84th St. 414-266-7000 wistatefair.org
There are few places where a person can enjoy an alligator kebab with a deep-fried brownie for dessert, and nobody bats an eye. This breadth of culinary wonders is just one of the features that makes the Wisconsin State Fair an outdoor treasure. Last year, more than one million visitors explored the fairgrounds to revel in the food, agricultural exhibits, animal attractions (from hatching chicks to full-grown Clydesdales; the menagerie is vast), live music and thrilling roller coasters. (Anastasia Skliarova)
RUNNERS-UP: Bastille Days Milwaukee Irish Fest Milwaukee PrideFest Summerfest
Radio Station
WINNER: 88Nine 220 E. Pittsburgh Ave 414-892-8900 radiomilwaukee.org
Every now and again, whether you’re travelling or at home, a scan up and down the radio dial reveals an amazing non-commercial station. In Milwaukee, we’re blessed with several excellent stations that fit that description, but 88Nine is the clear favorite for the perfect blend of new, cool, independent, community-focused radio. Whether it’s the station that gets you up and moving on weekday mornings with upbeat DJ Dori Zori (see the winner for Local Radio Personality!) or gets you dancing Saturday nights with fresh house music from DJ Kenny Perez, there is something for everyone on this community-owned-and-operated radio station. (Susan Harpt Grimes)
RUNNERS-UP: 89.7 FM Milwaukee Public Radio (WUWM-FM) 91.7 FM (WMSE-FM) 103.7 KISS FM (WXSS-FM)
Stage Actor
WINNER: John McGivern (Also won Local TV Personality) RUNNERS-UP: Andrew Varela Chike Johnson James Pickering
Stage Actress
WINNER: Laura Gordon
As these awards are announced, the formidably talented Ms. Gordon opens in one of the greatest, most challenging roles for an actress in the modern repertory: the tragicomic heroine of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days in Renaissance Theaterworks’ production. Buried to her waist in the first act and to her chin in the second, she maintains faith in a joyful future (there is no third act). Don’t miss her performance. Nowadays, Gordon is also a superb director. (John Schneider)
RUNNERS-UP: Elyse Edelman Gretchen Mahkorn Kelley Faulkner Marti Gobel Tami Workentin
Theater Company
WINNER: Milwaukee Repertory Theater 108 E. Wells St. 414-224-9490 milwaukeerep.com
At least two Rep productions in 2019 were just extraordinary. The year began with the premiere of playwright Ayad Akhtar’s perfectly hewn revision of his Tony Award-nominated Junk—a mind-expanding education in the criminal workings of Wall Street. I also can’t imagine a more immediate, more heartbreaking production of West Side Story than the one Mark Clements directed last fall. The Rep works hard to be of serious value to every Milwaukee community in every way imaginable. (John Schneider)
RUNNERS-UP: Skylight Music Theatre Sunset Playhouse Waukesha Civic Theatre
