New Brit in Town: Londonnative Mark Clements, the MilwaukeeRepertory Theater’s new artistic director, was wholeheartedly welcomed at a Harley-Davidson Museum celebration. Rep boardmember/Harley VP Patrick Smithpresented Clements with a custom leather jacket while the crowd raisedchampagne glasses, albeit filled with Miller beer, in his honor. Clementsprofusely thanked Judy Hansen’ssearch committee, which included JohnKordsmeier, the Rep’s board president; SusanEsslinger; Donna Meyer; and Dawn Helsing Wolters, the Rep’snewish managing director, there with her new husband, Tony.
Milwaukee’s artisticcommunity came out in force: director EdwardMorgan, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s MichaelWright, First Stage’s Rob Goodman,Danceworks’ Deborah Farris, TenChimneys’ Sean Malone, MilwaukeeSymphony Orchestra’s Mark Hanson andSara Young from American PlayersTheatre. Representing Uprooted, Milwaukee’snew African-American theater company, were DennisJohnson, Travis Knight and MartiGobel. From the acting world were JimPickering, Deb Staples, Peter Silbert, Jenny Wanasek and Brian Vaughn.
Films Galore: The 22nd annual LGBT Film/VideoFestival kicked up its heels with an opening pre-party at the home of Realtor Jack Smith, attended by dedicated moviefans. Guests included UW-Milwaukee’s marketing czarina Polly Morris and film lecturer CarlBogner, along with Wade Hobgood,dean of the Peck School of the Arts, music man Scott Emmons, Maria Cadenasof Cream City, Aurora veep Jerry Janisand man-about-town Joe Pabst.Everyone then motored through a drizzle to the Oriental for a viewing of Patrik, Age 1.5.
A post-soiree crowdpacked Beans & Barley for a late-night sumptuous spread. Talking cinema andlife in general were Leonard Sobczak, Neil Albrecht of the electioncommission, Boulevard Theatre’s MarkBucher, Equality Wisconsin’s RayVahey, and Jody Michael Armata,owner of Northshore Funeral Services. The festival runs through Oct. 25.
Bookman: Michael Bowen, a Foley & Lardner attorney byday, writer of 16 mostly mystery novels by night, celebrated the publication ofhis latest potboiler, Service Dress Blues,at Boswell Book Co. The evening was also the 160th anniversary of the death ofEdgar Allan Poe, Bowen’s inspiration, so an action figure of Poe joined thecrowd. A reading by veteran actors DeborahClifton and John Kishline brought the plucky fictional couple, Ole and LenaLindstrom, to life. In the audience were fellow Foley associate Barbara Marshall and her husband, Tom.
Rooms Redo: The beautifully redesigned South KKstudio of artist/designer Carmen Benskewas transformed within two weeks, thanks to her hard-working husband, Jeff Benske, Top Shelf Guitar Shop’sowner, and Greg Steffke from County Clare.Helping host at Benske’s subsequent opening were Jeff’s parents, Dave and Judy Benske. Friends pouredinto the new space to see Benske’s paintings, complemented by a display from Jody Boogren-Reid.
Stopping by weremusician Ian Spanic, wife Deborah and daughter Lara, and Select Sound’s Bob Theno and his wife, Kim. Fellow visiting designers/artiststhere were Linda Beckstrom, Christina Ward, Nicole Thomas and Veronica Montoto, plus Frank Sadler from Frank Allen Galleryand Rusty Olson, who owns RockhausGuitars with his wife, Mary Beth.
Happiness Is: Artist Jilan Glynn celebrated her 75th b-day and 11 years cancer-free atthe Jackpot Gallery on Center with a show of her work. Helping her celebratewere her daughtersartist Carri Skoczek,who came from New Yorkwith her husband, David Hurd; hairdesigner/MATC instructor Shari Tuska;and Danti Skoczek. Among therevelers were MIAD’s Mary Eastwood,artist Thea Kovac and Angel French.
Coffeefied: FiddleheadsCoffee showcased its new imported coffees with tastings at its Mequon, Thiensville and Cedarburg locations.Owners Mike Wroblewski, his sister Lynn and her husband, coffee roaster Steve Klimczak, poured copious amountsof caffeine at the latter, an espresso bar/restaurant.
Cedarburg shop manager Melissa Shively was joined by herfamily, including husband Rob Shively,her grandfather Dale Schmidt, andhis wife, Marlene; parents Gary and Dalene Nelson, in-laws Richard and Cindy Shively, and Fiddleheads’ accountant ConnieSchmitz. Helping out were EmilyFroze, Mequonshop manager, and Kaila Klein, whoruns the Thiensville locale. Guitarist BenjaminKammin strummed, while loyal Fiddleheadsfan Neil Trilling and Margaret Hines from Inspire Marketingsampled sups.
Award Winner: The Greater Milwaukee Convention andVisitors Bureau just won its second consecutive Society of American TravelWriters (SATW) Aaron Cushman Gold award, for the best publicity campaign for aCVB with six or more employees. This year’s honor was for “Celebration of Cool”with The Fonz (Henry Winkler). Accepting the award was the CVB’s marketingmeister Dave Fantle.
Book Touchdowns: Phil Hanrahan’s just-released overview of the GreenBay Packers, Life After Favre, hasscored on the chat circuit, with cross-country store and media appearances. Forhis research, Hanrahan visited Packer bars, dropped in on Favre’s hometown andwatched a lot of green-and-gold football.
Other Beverage: B&D celebrated the Iron Horse’sfirst anniversary, where mixologist BradChrzanowski showcased his award-winning skills by making a smooth PumpkinFlip and a Violet Femme.
If you have any tipsfor Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their nextcolumn will appear in the Nov. 5 issue of the Shepherd.