Hidden Treasures: design boards for Union Theater
By Emily Connor The Wisconsin Union Theater is on the road this season and staff found some amazing pieces from past seasons while packing up this summer. In an “archive room” among boxes filled with pamphlets and posters was a crate full of old blueprints and original Theater design boards. Original Design Boards for the Union Theater Here are photos of the original design boards and blueprints for the Union Theater back...
Open Mic Night surprises audiences Tuesdays on the Terrace
By Emily Connor, UW-Madison journalism major It’s no surprise to stop by the Terrace on a summer night and see it filled with crowds and laughter. But Tuesday nights have garnered a crowd and a vibe all their own. Each week, performers of all ages and experience levels are able to bring their unique acts to the Summer Stage at Open Mic Night. Open Mic Night host and guitar musician Martin Potter shared how this Terrace tradition...
Preserving Paul Bunyan: saving one of the Union’s most treasured rooms
By Herschel Kissinger & Zach Thomae, Wisconsin Union interns Being in the Paul Bunyan Room earlier this June was like watching a story being untold. At first, the room was alive with warmth and color with the tales of Paul Bunyan being illustrated on all four walls. As the hours grew longer, the story came down in pieces, unscrewed and dismantled panel by panel, until all that was left were empty walls. A woman named Joan Gorman...
The many faces of the Wisconsin Union Theater
By Erin Bannen, Union Theater marketing intern The Wisconsin Union Theater will soon be going dark for renovations. But don’t worry! We still have a fabulous season for next year. We’ll simply be using some of the other lovely performance spaces on campus. It doesn’t take interning here to know that over its 73-year history, some fantastic things have happened between the walls of this beloved Union Theater. To celebrate our...
Student Director Embraces the Absurd at Play Festival
By Zach Thomae Jacob Turner laughs, filming the stage. He’s filming a play. Right now, a woman named Hawkins is the target of a great deal of laughter, because her boss, Burchard, has put laxatives in her drink. She’s upset with him, but in a silly and aloof way, stumbling through a series of sudden, embarrassing exits. Jacob laughs with the audience, perhaps because of how the characters onstage seem to acknowledge how lowbrow and...
Ceramic Tile Installation at Union South Now Finished
Gloria Van Dixhorn, the artist who coordinated the student art around the bubblers in Union South, has just completed two ceramic tile murals near the Prairie Fire. The tiles are based on two of Aesop’s Fables. The first portrays the Tortoise and the Hare: The second features the Fox and the Crow: See our artistic tour of Union South here. You can read about the indigenous tile project led by Van Dixhorn at Union South here. Photos by...