Snap Shots: Bucking traffic and braving the heat, B&D headed to the Third Ward for Gallery Night and the opening of Debra Brehmer’s “Real Photo Postcard Survey.” The exciting show at her Portrait Society Gallery in the Marshall Building featured 55 old-fashioned postcard palladium prints by Manitowoc photographers John Shimon and Julie Lindemann.
Many photographees visited the packed premiere: Julia Taylor, her granddaughter Olivia and Stig Ostling; fabric artist Laura Goldstein; Jill Schwartz and her daughter Gabriella; Cempazuchi owner Bryce Clark; Carolyn White and Leon Travanti; artist Linda Vitamvaswith her husband, Dr. Gerald; Ken Hanson, his son Harry and Mary Louise Schumacher;and Claire Stillman with her adorable daughters Jewell and Bethie.
Steven and Rusti Moffic were dressed in the vintage clothing from their portrait. However, Elaine Erickson did not wear her photogenic swimsuit, nor was Nick Pabst wearing his birthday suit as he did in his picture, and Mark Tenorio did not bring his featured dogs, Olive and Max.
Admiring the collection were Carol and Leonard Lewensohn; artists Stanley Ryan Jones and Nathaniel Stern; MIAD instructors Judith Harway, Fahimeh Vahdat and Kim Tondryk; photographer Francis Ford; writer Bill Embly with the Rep’s Leslie Fillingham; and attorney Peter Goldberg.
Meanwhile, guitarist Erik Thorn performed in the lower level lobby while art lovers perused the working space of Bridget Griffith Evans and the new Safi Studios, the latter showing the contemporary abstract works of Jane Gates, Dianne Soffa and Tom Kovacich. Photographer Dave Bernacchi displayed Pabst memorabilia in his gallery, while Cheryl Komp and Kimberly Drofner drummed up business for the Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery.
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Back in the lobby, B&D ran into Shepherd Express publisher Louis Fortis, who was still jet-lagged from his trip to Beirut, Lebanon, where he taught “a semester course jammed into six weeks” at the Hariri Canadian University-Beirut. No kidding. The course, titled "Global Shifts in the World Political Economy from World War II to the Present,” sounded a bit intense. Fortis said one of the highlights of his trip was a dinner at the home of a Lebanese criminal court judge selected by the United Nations to preside at the international tribunal on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Fortis said that it felt like a Le Carré novel because he took a cab to a downtown location, waited on the street, and then was picked up in a vehicle driven by the military and complete with blackened windows. That vehicle took him the rest of the way to the judge’s heavily guarded home. Despite Lebanon’s 15-year civil war and the occasional assassination, Fortis said that Beirut was extraordinarily interesting and also very safe. "It's a European city located in the Middle East," he said.
One more stop was made at Moda Salon, where stylist Cherrie Hanson displayed her beautiful photographs of soap bubbles filmed on a northern Wisconsin lake. Fellow stylists Antonio Fred and Robin Bub were on duty, while Rolfer Brian Moore and his wife, Suzanne, and chiropractor Ronald O’Connor and Natalie Kahn stopped by.
Outside, B&D bumped into Carl Templer and developer Lori Gensch, as well as soon-to-be-published-again writer Kathryn Davis and First Weber Realtor Derse Smith, who were heading to Rustico, where Smith’s son Brad Todd is the manager. He and Rustico owner Brian Zarletti will soon open Stubby’s roadhouse in the old Bayou Restaurant site.
Movie Shorts: Gal Friday Films (GFF), a new women-owned film production company, threw a hot party at Best Place to raise muy $$ for Missed Connections, a short musical film based on Craigslist personal ads. GFF is the brainchild of the creative, effervescent duo of Kara Mulrooney and Susan Kerns.
The party was made even hotter with fire dancer Shawn Gurath and DJs Frank Straka and Brian Z, with the soiree further enhanced by Rehorst vodka drinks created by writers Cara Ogburn and Erik Chandler. The beverages"Hottie on a Bike" and "You're a Farmer!"were based on lines and characters from the film. Giant love-themed cupcakes from Aggie's Cakes were also popular.
A Who’s Who of Milwaukee’s artistic set made the scene: filmmakers Tate Bunker, Ryan Plato, Ryan Sarnowski, Laura Bennett, Sitora Takanaev, and Mike Krieger; artist Jessica Steeber and Heather and Seth Warren-Crow; Kings Go Forth bassist Andy Noble with Tina Poppy from Violetville Vintage and guitarist Dan Flynn, along with model Elizabeth Bolin; Belle Fiori floral designer Erika Herman; Ex Fabula co-founder Leah Delaney; and Cedar Block director Brent Gohde.
Mark and Laurie Foote from Flexible Films circulated, as did an ecstatic Andy Buchenot, armed with a newly minted English doctorate after successfully defending his dissertation.
Not Even Noah: Kate Kramer and lighting designer Christopher Poehlmann are known for their great parties. But for the latest, no one showed up because it was the “Night of The Flood.” The couple had invited friends to see their just-listed mid-century modern home in Fox Point, but the high water prevented anyone from getting there.
It’s Showtime: A delightful debut comedy by Nicholas Cialdini, Boomtown: The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Squandering a Century, just played at Bay View’s magical Alchemist Theatre. The talented cast included ComedySportz regulars Dylan Bolin and Tim Higgins;Cynthia Kmak with Milwaukee’s Meanwhile improv group; Kristina Felske, now working in Chicago; Sharon Nieman-Koebert; and Grant Collins.
The play was enhanced by the music of Centanni keyboard artist Joe Hite and director John Schneider. Enjoying the theatrical antics were Judy Rohan; Milwaukee Comedy Festival founder Matt Kemple and his wife, Dawn; actor Andy North; Alchemist Theatre co-founder Aaron Kopec; plus Cialdini’s wife, Mariella, who left their 3-month-old Mia with a babysitter for the first time.
If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the Aug. 12 issue of the Shepherd.
