#Pabst theater

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Joan Collins attended the Emmys at the Pabst Theater on January 15th, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

[mondoradiowmse]

[tumblboone]

They Might Be Giants opening for They Might Be Giants at the Pabst last night.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Bruce Hornsby Continues on the Trail

Bruce Hornsby performs at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, 10/17/23

BY JORDAN MAINZER

At one point last Tuesday in Milwaukee, in response to one of many moments in the night fans shouted their requests at him, Bruce Hornsby joked, "I love the battle between disparate elements of my audience." Funny enough, I can't think of a statement that better defines the virtuosic pianist and singer-songwriter. That is, what's amazing about Hornsby is not just that he's traversed the worlds of rock, jazz, bluegrass, but that he has diehard fans of each of his endeavors. Go to a Hornsby show--even a solo one like at the Pabst Theater, sans defunct backers The Range or current band The Noisemakers--and you're bound to find both classical music appreciators and Deadheads alike.

In that sense, 1998's Spirit Trail, a storied and purposeful left-turn into modern rock after the jazz-focused Harbor Lights and Hot House, exemplifies Hornsby's multi-pronged approach. On Friday, Hornsby will release a 25th anniversary reissue of the record via Zappo Productions and Thirty Tigers. It contains a remastered version of the record, four "lost" songs from an unfinished record that was meant to be Spirit Trail's follow-up (shelved in favor of the almost piano-less Big Swing Face), and previously unreleased live performances of many of the album's songs. In Milwaukee, venue employees were handing out early CD copies of the reissue, the night a celebration of both Spirit Trail and Hornsby's discography as a whole.

Per usual, audience members requested songs both by shouting them out and via written submission, dropped off on stage prior to the show. As expected, they were all over the place, from Spirit Trail and even Lost Trail tunes to songs he simply refused to play because they were too boring or didn't age well, like "Dreamland" and "The Old Playground". Ever cheeky, at one point, Hornsby asked for requests and responded to the various audible shouts, "I haven't heard what I'm looking for yet." It was clear he wanted to give preference to Spirit Trail. He led off the night with "Preacher in the Ring Pt. I", his jaunty piano playing covering the song's ground in totality. You didn't even miss Sonny Emory's clacking drums from Live Trail, nor the dulcimer from both the studio and live versions of "Shadow Hand". Hornsby's finger exercises were simply a masterclass. He wrote standout track "Sneaking Up on Boo Radley" by learning to play over a left-hand ostinato, appropriating György Ligeti's "Etude 13: The Devil's Staircase", and nailed it live. It was a perfect Spirit Trail song to play without a band. His voice, too, was on point, wailing on the Black Crowes-inspired Lost Trail tune "Living in the Sunshine", doing justice to the studio version that indeed sounds like it could be sandwiched between the Southern rockers' "Remedy" and "Thorn in My Pride".

Yes, Hornsby's reach and influence goes beyond Spirit Trail. "The Show Goes On" has been featured in everything from Ron Howard's Backdraft to The Bear. During the set last Tuesday, he segued "Sidelines"--a duet from 2022's terrific 'Flicted with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig--into his most famous song of all, "The Way It Is", during which he invited set opener/Bon Iver drummer S. Carey out to harmonize. That over the past decade Hornsby has fostered fruitful collaborations with the likes of Justin Vernon and Blake Mills is more evidence that he's as shaped by his contemporaries as his organic musical interests. So put yourself in his shoes in the mid-1990s, and you can hear his response to the sociopolitical and musical landscape of the past decade in many of the songs on Spirit Trail. He's asking himself tough questions about his own Southern heritage, challenging institutional racism on songs like "See the Same Way". The strummed mandolin of "Preacher in the Ring Pt. II" recalls Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road", "Resting Place" and "Pete & Manny" the radio-friendly heartland rock of Mellencamp and Petty. Yet, Hornsby's also dipping his toes in the worlds of electronica and hip hop, songs like the shuffling "Line in the Dust" written on a synth bed and with a drum machine beat like much of the second disc of Spirit Trail. And of course, the goofily titled "Sunflower Cat (Some Dour Cat) (Down With That)" is built around a sample of Jerry Garcia's riff on "China Cat Sunflower", as Hornsby was trying to explain the appeal of the Grateful Dead to producer Mike Mangini, a hip hop head. Mangini was so taken aback by the former band member's performance that he wrote a groove around the riff.

On fan favorite piano ballad and Spirit Trail highlight "Fortunate Son", Hornsby sings, "I've stared down the devil and had to look away." The song is ostensibly written from the point of view of a wheelchair-bound military veteran, lucky to be alive but maligning society's penchant to ascribe sacrificial glory to a life of physical limitations. I've always heard it, though, as the general antithesis to tough guy nihilism, whether action heroes or strong and silent singer-songwriters. Hornsby is the ultimate reflector, yet not quite ready to face mortality like many of the characters in his songs. After last Tuesday and 25 years of Spirit Trail, it certainly does seem like he's only just getting started.

[rhetthammersmithhorror]

The Ray Bradbury Theater | Skeleton | S2.E2 | 1988

[secondaryartifacts]

At the age of fifteen, Louise Brooks began her career as a dancer and toured with the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. After being fired, she found employment as a chorus girl in "George White's Scandals" and as a semi-nude dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies in New York City. While dancing in the Follies, Brooks came to the attention of Walter Wanger, a producer at Paramount Pictures, and was signed to a five-year contract with the studio.

Dissatisfied with her mediocre roles in Hollywood films, Brooks went to Germany in 1929 and starred in three feature films which launched her to international stardom: "Pandora's Box" (1929), "Diary of a Lost Girl" (1929), and "Miss Europe" (1930); the first two were directed by G. W. Pabst.

Brooks recalled that "when we made 'Pandora's Box', Mr. Pabst was a man of 43 who astonished me with his knowledge on practically any subject. I, who astonished him because I knew practically nothing on every subject, celebrated my twenty-second birthday with a beer party on a London street."

Brooks claimed her experience shooting "Pandora's Box" in Germany was a pleasant one: "In Hollywood, I was a pretty flibbertigibbet whose charm for the executive department decreased with every increase in my fan mail. In Berlin I stepped to the station platform to meet Mr. Pabst and became an actress. And his attitude was the pattern for all. Nobody offered me humorous or instructive comments on my acting. Everywhere I was treated with a kind of decency and respect unknown to me in Hollywood. It was just as if Mr. Pabst had sat in on my whole life and career and knew exactly where I needed assurance and protection."

When audiences and critics first viewed Brooks' German films, they were bewildered by her naturalistic acting style. Viewers purportedly exited the theater vocally complaining, "She doesn't act! She does nothing!" In the late 1920s, cinemagoers were habituated to theatre-style stage acting with exaggerated body language and facial expressions. Yet Brooks' acting style was deliberately subtle as she knew the close-up images of the actors' bodies and faces made such exaggerations unnecessary. When explaining her acting method, Brooks posited that acting "does not consist of descriptive movement of face and body but in the movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation." This innovative style continues to be used today by film actors but, at the time, it was surprising to viewers who assumed she wasn't acting at all.

Film critic Roger Ebert later noted that, by employing this acting method, "Brooks became one of the most modern and effective of actors, projecting a presence that could be startling."

The result of her appearances in the two films by Pabst was that Brooks' became an international star. According to the film critic and historian Molly Haskell, the films "expos[ed] her animal sensuality and turn[ed] her into one of the most erotic figures on the screen—the bold, black-helmeted young girl who, with only a shy grin to acknowledge her 'fall,' became a prostitute in 'Diary of a Lost Girl' and who, with no more sense of sin than a baby, drives men out of their minds in 'Pandora's Box'."

Brooks is regarded today as a Jazz Age icon and as a flapper sex symbol due to her bob hairstyle that she helped popularize during the prime of her career. (Wikipedia)

Happy Birthday, Louise Brooks!

[tmbgareok]

So much news! THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS TOUR THE MIDWEST!

John F. here. First off, we are going back on the road in the Midwest this May and June. THE BIG SHOW is landing in select cities, usually for two nights, for an “Evening with” which means it starts early with no opener. 2 very different shows from night to night. 8-piece band including 3 horns. 2 sets. Gets loud. Some shows are in big clubs, some seated.

This is the blurb the promoters are using: "They Might Be Giants are in top form and back on the road with their ever-evolving show. Featuring songs from the earliest days of their Dial-A-Song service, through their platinum album Flood, all the way to their Grammy-nominated album BOOK; each night is its own distinct celebration of the band's singular songbook. Backed by their notorious live band now including a three-piece horn section, expect a spontaneous, sprawling, enthralling musical event unlike any other."

TWO-NIGHT TICKET BUNDLES: A limited number of multi-night ticket packages are available –– that means reduced ticketing fees.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS?: This time around, in some places, our local promoters are supplying our audiences preferred rates for nearby hotels for TMBG fans. In the past these have proven to be very good values, so check it out. Any applicable hotel deals will be listed on the show's event page.

5/9 PITTSBURGH at MR. SMALL’S THEATRE 5/10 PITTSBURGH at MR. SMALL’S THEATRE 5/11 PITTSBURGH at MR. SMALL’S THEATRE 5/14 CINCINNATI at MADISON THEATER 5/15 CINCINNATI at MADISON THEATER 5/17 DETROIT at THE MAJESTIC 5/18 DETROIT at THE MAJESTIC

6/14 MINNEAPOLIS at FIRST AVENUE 6/15 MINNEAPOLIS at FIRST AVENUE 6/16 ST PAUL at THE FITZGERALD THEATER 6/18 CHICAGO at THE VIC THEATRE 6/19 CHICAGO at THE VIC THEATRE 6/21 MILWAUKEE at THE PABST THEATRE 6/22 MILWAUKEE at THE PABST THEATRE 6/23 MADISON at THE BARRYMORE THEATRE

MORE SHOWS!

It is comical how many of the shows that have yet to sell out have just 50 or 100 tickets left, as some folks had to return tickets due to rescheduling. We know it’s far away, but now is not the worst time to make a move.

ON SALE NOW! AUSTRALIA www.theymightbegiants.com/shows for direct links to regular tickets SOLD OUT 2 Oct Adelaide 4 Oct Sydney 5 Oct Sydney 7 Oct Brisbane 8 Oct Brisbane 10 Oct Melbourne 11 Oct Melbourne 13 Oct Perth

ON SALE NOW! THE BRITISH ISLES www.theymightbegiants.com/shows for direct links to regular tickets

1 Nov Southampton SOLD OUT 2 Nov Cambridge 3 Nov London SOLD OUT 5 Nov Glasgow 6 Nov Newcastle 8 Nov Belfast SOLD OUT 9 Nov Dublin SOLD OUT 12 Nov Manchester SOLD OUT 13 Nov Leeds 15 Nov Nottingham SOLD OUT 16 Nov Bristol SOLD OUT 17 Nov London

[squigenny]

Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, April 29, 1979.

[uwmspeccoll]

Shakespeare Weekend

This weekend we enjoy Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, Twelfth Night the thirty-fifth volume of the thirty-seven volume The Comedies Histories & Tragedies of William Shakespeare, published by the Limited Editions Club (LEC) from 1939-1940. The original full title of the play is Twelfth Night, Or What You Will, and it was written between 1600 and 1601 with its first performance noted in 1602 at the Middle Temple in London. Twelfth Night was not published until 1623 with its inclusion in the First Folio.  

Italian artist Francesco Carnevali (1892-1987) illustrated the LEC’s edition with colorfully detailed watercolors. Carnevali was a professor at the Academy of the Book in Urbino, Italy and was serendipitously already working on illustrations for Twelfth Night when the LEC wrote to him asking if he’d like to collaborate on their Shakespeare publications. The resulting watercolors are unique in their angled perspective providing readers with an elaborate view of the action as if they were sitting in balcony theater seats and transporting them into the ambiance of a seaside town. 

Laid in with our holding is a program from the Spring 1941 performance of Twelfth Night performed at Milwaukee’s historic Pabst Theatre. The performance starred Helen Hayes as Viola, Maurice Evans as Malvolio, and was presented by The Society of Allied Arts. 

The volume was printed in an edition of 1950 copies at the Press of A. Colish. Each of the LEC volumes of Shakespeare’s works are illustrated by a different artist, but the unifying factor is that all volumes were designed by famed book and type designer Bruce Rogers and edited by the British theatre professional and Shakespeare specialist Herbert Farjeon. Our copy is number 1113, the number for long-standing LEC member Austin Fredric Lutter of Waukesha, Wisconsin. 

View more Limited Edition Club posts. 

View more Shakespeare Weekend posts. 

-Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[peekbeneathclassifieds]

The Pabst Theatre Group is now hiring for the following positions: bar manager, vip account executive, artist hospitality, box office clerk, and security.

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Suki Waterhouse attended the Emmys at the Pabst Theater on January 15th, 2024.

[bawnjourno]

Sparks at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, WI on July 6, 2023

[petsincollections]

Man in adapted dog sled passes Pabst Theater, ca. 1960

Man doing a street dog sleg race past the Pabst Theater for the Fun Run. No snow on the ground. Dog sled has large wheels. Man in short sleeves. Advertising upcoming event on side of sled.

Milwaukee Public Library Historic Photo

Milwaukee Historic Photos

[mermaidinthecity]

graciepotter: Milwaukee, see you tonight at Pabst Theater @ pabsttheatergroup with @ thecactusblossoms! Link in bio for tickets✨

📸 @ emilypaige7ate9

[kenziekugler22]

Come experience Milwaukee with me and a few of my friends on Thursday July 25th at the Pabst Theater. This is my favorite event of the year and I’m excited to see you there!

@pabsttheatergroup

@visitmilwaukee

@teamrwb

@adam_pawlak23

@djshawna

@charlieberens

@scottymccreery

@nicotinedolls

@amfam

@leinenkugels