Best of Milwaukee 2020 Winners: Arts & Entertainment

Art Gallery (Non-museum)

Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel
130 E. Kilbourn Ave.
414-276-8686
saintkatearts.com

If you’ve been wondering if there is a real Saint Kate, the answer is… Yes! This boutique arts hotel is named after Saint Catherine, the patron saint of artists. So, it follows that this is a hotel for artists and its gallery spaces have been the site of numerous exhibits filling the lobby and hallways. Hotel guests will even find art by local artists such as Todd Mrozinski, Christiane Grauert and Daniel Chung, among others, in their hotel rooms. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
Dream Lab
Inspiration Studios
James Steeno Gallery

Art Museum

Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Drive
mam.org

With its distinctive Santiago Calatrava design, the Milwaukee Art Museum has been an attraction for its form as much as its content. The permanent collection includes a bit of everything from many continents and epochs, and its galleries have long housed impressive touring as well as self-curated exhibitions. COVID has kept the museum closed for many weeks in 2020, although it reopened for several months with social distancing and restricted movements. In January 2021, the museum’s newly installed Curator of Community Dialogue, Kantara Souffrant, will begin work to extend the museum’s outreach. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up:
Haggerty Museum of Art
Museum of Wisconsin Art
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum

Art & Craft Fair/Makers Market

Milwaukee Makers Market
milwaukeemakersmarket.com

This monthly arts, crafts and makers fair can typically be found at Discovery World and features all manner of crafts people in many media. Participating artists can only sell what they themselves make. So prospective buyers get the chance to buy locally made products from area designers and artists, ranging from jewelry and clothing to leather goods, candles and more. Buy local and support local. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
East Side Makers Market
Holy Hill Art Farm
Washington Heights Artists Front Yard Pop-Up

Choral Group

Kids From Wisconsin
kidsfromwisconsin.org

When they got started in the ’60s, the Kids From Wisconsin represented the counter-counterculture and were hailed as the squeaky clean representatives of the Dairy State. In recent years, they’ve gotten hipper and funkier, but they continue to provide emerging generations of talented young people with a unique forum for performance. (Morton Shlabotnik)

Runners-up:
Aperi Animam
Bach Chamber Choir of Milwaukee
Master Singers of Milwaukee

Church Festival

Greek Fest (Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church)

For decades, the festival was held on the grounds of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Annunciation Church and introduced many Milwaukeeans to gyros, baklava and chicken souvlaki—not to mention Greek music and dance. The event grew so big that it was moved to State Fair Park. It was drive-thru in 2020. Hopefully it will go live again in 2021. (David Luhrssen) 

Runners-up:
St. Romans Annual Festival
St. Gregory the Great Parish Festival
St. Matthias Parish Festival

Classic Music Ensemble

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
1101 N. Market St.
414-291-6010
mso.org

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) had hoped to open the 2020-21 season in spectacular fashion at the renovated 1930 Warner Grand Theater, now renamed the Bradley Symphony Center. COVID-19, which has impacted nearly all performing arts groups, prevented that but is not the only factor. This summer, the building sustained basement flooding damage in a storm. The most overused word of 2020 must be “pivot,” and circumstances have forced the MSO to pivot. In August, MSO announced plans for an all-virtual season performed by scaled-down ensembles. (Rick Walters)

Runners-up:
Aperi Animam
Concord Chamber Orchestra
Master Singers of Milwaukee

Comedian

Charlie Berens
charlieberens.com

If you haven’t seen an episode of the “Manitowoc Minute” or any of Charlie Berens’ Wisconsin-themed comedy videos, you might not be living in Milwaukee. Chances are your aunt and uncle have shared one of Berens’ videos on their social media channels, and for good reason. The Midwestern charm bleeds through and is a constant theme in Berens’ work. He’s made a successful brand off of that as well, from hats, sweatshirts and even facemasks. We could be witnessing the birth of the next Larry The Cable Guy, Jim Varney or Jared Keeso, depending on how you look at it. (Griffin Bradley)

Runners-up:
Dana Ehrmann
Pat McCurdy
John McGivern

Dance Company

Milwaukee Ballet
milwaukeeballet.org

The Milwaukee Ballet gained an international reputation after Michael Pink arrived as artistic director in 2002. While furnishing the stage with traditional favorites such as The Nutcracker, Pink brought an original take to such disparate literary sources as Dracula, Peter Pan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Working with stellar production teams, dancers and musicians, Pink is concerned with the contemporary resonance of the work performed as well as its technical execution. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up:
Catey Ott Dance Collective
Danceworks, Inc.
Wild Space Dance Co.

Local Radio Personality

Dori Zori
radiomilwaukee.org 

Say “88.9,” and the name Dori Zori immediately comes to mind—or to your ears. She joined 88Nine in August 2012, where she began co-hosting the morning show and eventually became assistant program director. That turned into a solo host spot, and she’s been on the rise ever since. Before the pandemic, she was out and about in the city with artist appearances and public events and was easy to spot with that award-winning smile. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
Mandy Scott (106.9FM)
Reggie Brown (100.7FM)
Sandy Maxx (96.5FM)

Local TV Personality/Stage Actor

John McGivern (Milwaukee PBS)
johnmcgivern.com

Milwaukee’s most recognizable local stage actor (and a perennial Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee winner), John McGivern has been seen in popular movies (Disney’s The Princess Diaries); he won an Emmy and wrote a beloved comedic play (Shear Madness) while incorporating memories of growing up in Milwaukee into his charming one-man shows. His walking tours of Milwaukee and Wisconsin towns, “Around the Corner” on Milwaukee PBS, has won accolades and national attention. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up—Local TV Personality:
Mark Baden (WISN-12)
Sheldon Dutes (WISN-12)
Shawn Gallagher (TMJ4)
Sandy Maxx (Milwaukee PBS)
Carole Meekins (TMJ4)
Ted Perry (FOX6)

Runners-up—Stage Actor:
Anthony Crivello
James Pickering
Andrew Varella

Milwaukee Author

John Gurda
johngurda.com

John Gurda is one of Milwaukee’s familiar faces for his collaboration with John McGivern on Milwaukee PBS’s long-running “Around the Corner.” Before that, his book, The Making of Milwaukee, was transformed into an Emmy-winning PBS special that aired coast to coast. He continues to produce lavishly illustrated and solidly researched accounts of Milwaukee’s unique history, including Milwaukee: A City Built on Water and Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods. It’s an honor, being defeated by Gurda as Best Milwaukee Author. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up:
Mikey Cody Apollo
Tea Krulos
David Luhrssen

Movie Theater

Oriental Theatre
2230 N. Farwell Ave.
414-276-5140
mkefilm.org/oriental-theatre

One of the things I missed the most during this year of shutdowns is watching movies at the Oriental Theatre. This 1920s East Side movie palace is an architectural mélange of Near East and East Asian motifs, and its three theaters have long been central to Milwaukee’s film culture, screening an array of foreign, independent and classic films. The lavishly appointed venue has also been the hub of the Milwaukee Film Festival, which will run mostly if not entirely virtually in May of 2021. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up:
Avalon Atmospheric Theater
Marcus Majestic Cinema
Marcus Ridge Cinema (New Berlin)
The Times Cinema

Museum (Non-art)

Milwaukee Public Museum
800 W. Wells St.
414-278-2728
mpm.edu

With its dinosaur skeleton, the “Streets of Old Milwaukee” and panoramic displays of natural and cultural history—and more recently, its IMAX theater—the Milwaukee Public Museum has always been a destination for locals and tourists alike. With COVID, the museum reopened with new policies designed to encourage physical distancing, and it was then forced to close again. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Public Museum and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum announced plans to share a new facility to be constructed north of the Fiserv Forum. (David Luhrssen)

Runners-up:
Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear
Discovery World
Jewish Museum Milwaukee

Music Education

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
wcmusic.org

The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM) is Wisconsin’s largest nonprofit music education institution serving over 16,000 students annually. Founded in 1891, WCM currently has a 100-member faculty that provides instruction on an individual, group and ensemble basis. Ages range from five and older with styles and genres taught including: African Percussion, Afro Caribbean, Blues, Broadway, Classical, Contemporary, Finger Style, Flamenco, Jazz, Orchestral Percussion, Pop, Rock and World Drumming. Featured instruments include: guitar, piano, percussion, strings, vocal arts and wood woods and brass—literally something for everyone. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Music Together North Shore
Sound Check Studios

Outdoor Festival

Wisconsin State Fair
640 S. 84th St.
414-266-7000
wistatefair.com

Milwaukee’s “Best Outdoor Festival” actually started out in Janesville in 1851 along the banks of the Rock River. Like its vendors and Midway carneys, it travelled to different cities throughout Wisconsin for the next 41 years. It finally found its home in 1892 in West Allis, celebrating its 170-year anniversary in 2021. Over the course of the event’s 11-day run, more than a million fairgoers will visit—and that’s not including the famous “Racing Pigs.” (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
Bastille Days Milwaukee
Irish Fest Milwaukee
Summerfest

Radio Station

88.9 Radio Milwaukee
414-892-8900
radiomilwaukee.org

88Nine wins again for its blend of new, cool, independent and community-focused radio. Whether it’s the station that gets up and moving in the morning or dancing at night, there is something for almost everyone. Radio Milwaukee is one of the jewels in a city with an unusually rich array of non-commercial radio. (Morton Shlabotnik)

Runners-up:
Milwaukee’s NPR 89.7 WUWM
Milwaukee’s Hometown Rock 89.7 WKLH
WMSE 91.7

Stage Actress

Laura Gordon

The Milwaukee-based actress has filled local stages with both her acting and directing skills for many years. Whether it’s directing Shakespeare, Greek classics or Russian epics or in her leading acting roles in Death of a Salesman, Doubt or The Beauty Queen of Leanne, Gordon brings a range and depth that commands attention. Gordon changed her college major three times before settling on acting, picking up directing in the process. Lucky for us. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up
Megan Rose Miller
Rana Roman
Tami Workentin

Theater Company

Milwaukee Repertory Theater
108 E. Wells St.
414-224-9490
milwaukeerep.com

Originally founded as Drama Incorporated in 1955, the Rep adapted its new name—and philosophy—eight years later as the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Dedicated to performing the classics and premieres of new work with a resident group of actors, The Rep continues that commitment today with Artistic Director Mark Clements at the helm. The Rep’s dedication to diversity, inclusion and equity fills all three of its performing spaces, broadening its artistic horizons—and our own. (Harry Cherkinian)

Runners-up:
Next Act Theatre
Skylight Music Theatre
Village Playhouse