Bingo Hilarity: The Boulevard Theatre was the happy recipient of proceeds from a marvelously raucous HamBINGO Mary’s blowout, Hamburger Mary’s weekly charity fundraiser. The evening’s activities include bingo and a 2-for-1 raffle with loads of prizes. Hosted by the inimitable Dear Ruthie, who not only called out the sometimes naughty-naughty bingo numbers, but lip-synched a few songs. Among them was “I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane” while sporting a spiffy stewardess outfit.
Hamburger Mary’s was sold out. Holly Blomquist, the Boulevard’s past board president, stepped in to call numbers while Ruthie wardrobe-changed. Helping to organize was Boulevard Managing Director Dawn Wenszell and her daughter, Annalise Ross, plus Michelle Glasshof, Janet Hertig and Robert Sorrin, with Troy Freund as photographer.
Bingo-ing were Boulevard Board President Charlie Tilleman and members Steve Wallace and Karen Ambrosh. She brought a clutch of her fellow teachers from Audubon High School: Scot Dragan, Kate Vannoy, Don Leibold, Meghan Sebranek, Donna Moss and Kelly Ranzen, plus Sarah Fadness from the Milwaukee School of Languages.
Actor Beth Monhollen and Dan Pugliese also partook in the levity. Bingo winners included Ron Starke, Oscar Martell and Lyndsey Young. Tasha Miller captured the raffle stash. Longtime server Tod Lovald was working overtime.
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Boarder Madness: Filmmaker/skateboarder/UW-Milwaukee senior Kent Fehrm previewed his film Beeramid at the Union Theatre, playing to a room of skateboarders and friends. The production, shot primarily around Milwaukee, showcased the amazing skills of Ryan Duffy, Tony Manion, Andre Colbert, Mitch Schmidt, Alex Barnett and Owen Liban.
In the audience were Neal Levin, owner of Milwaukee 4 Seasons Skatepark, his wife, Jessie, and sons Gavin and Ethan; Felix Meyers; Rebecca Mazurek and her son, Claudio Dominguez; Aaron Polansky, owner of Sky High Skateboard Shop; and renowned boarder Max Murphy from wiskate.com.
Vietnam Memories: Writer/banker/gentleman farmer John Riordan discussed his new book, They Are All My Family: A Daring Rescue in the Chaos of Saigon’s Fall, to a packed Boswell Book Company crowd. He enthralled the crowd with his gripping story as head of Citibank’s Saigon branch helping 30-plus employees and their families escape.
Bookshop owner Daniel Goldin introduced Riordan after previewing Boswell’s hectic schedule, citing a one-day break for the recent Milwaukee Day’s citywide happy hour. In the audience was a group of Riordan’s co-members in the FrontRunners running club, including Dan Lagerman, Bill Hanel and John Locke.
Also spotted were his Belgium, Wis., neighbors Barbara and Al Weyker of Lakeview Buffalo Farm, along with activist/retiree Peter Goldberg, Barb Notestein, Michael Davidson, Phyllis Brostoff, Xavier Waller, Robert “Rock” Theine Pledl and Donna and Mike Flanagan. The latter couple hosted a post-reading wine and cheese gathering after Riordan’s book signing.
Stopping by were Jeff Arp and Sangita Nayak with her Seattle-based brother, Hemu, and their mother, Indu Nayak. Daniel’s sister, Merill Goldin, was also in town from Arizona. Movie rights for Family are in the works.
Treading the Boards: Death by Design by the Milwaukee Entertainment Group was a stage delight at the Brumder Mansion. With real-life tornado warnings outside, the play’s thunderously stormy soundtrack seemed all too real. The over-the-top comedic mystery (described as “Noel Coward meets Agatha Christie”) was produced by Brumder owners Tom and Julie Carr, who led room tours, showcasing whirlpools and all.
Director Zack Woods offered welcomes, with artistic director Tom Marks on hand. The talented cast of Melody Lopac, Cory Jefferson Hagen, Eric Williams Jones, Alicia Rice, Marcus Beyer, Hugh Blewett, Keighley Sadler and Liz Faraglia got the crowd giggling and guffawing.
Applauding were Stephanie Van Alyea and her husband, John Quirk; Kim Calewart, aunt of actress Lopac, who played the role of the maid Bridgit; and Alverno students Sarah Nusse and Alexus Pipia. Also on hand were Shelley and Gary Rice, proud parents of Alicia, playing the role of Sorel, and Joanie Smith and Jean Ziller.
Another of B&D’s favorite theatrical events is the Milwaukee Rep’s annual Rep Lab, a short-play festival featuring the work of current and former Artistic Intern Ensemble members. Eight mini-plays were staged in the Stiemke Studio to a full house on opening night.
JC Clementz, Artistic Intern program director, greeted the crowd. From reflective to zany, highlights included the hilarious NPR fund-drive spoof, Give Until It Hurts, by former intern James Fletcher; the charming musical People Are Dancing with Katherine Duffy and Josiah Laubenstein; Chris O’Reilly and Jennifer Latimore, who morphed into convincing aquatic creatures in The Latest News from the Primordial Ooze; and The Cowboy by another previous intern, Patrick Holland, portraying the funny and poignant tale of three women, a falling freezer and wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time woes.
In the crowd was Gigi Pomerantz, the force behind Youthaiti, gearing up for her yearly fundraiser, the sixth annual Unity Makes Strength dinner on April 25.
If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the April 30 issue of the Shepherd.
