Lee Matz, Author at Milwaukee Independent

A conversation between John Ridley and Felicity Huffman about “Working with Actors”

Posted by Lee Matz | Oct 23, 2018 |

“Which is why Huffman’s gut-wrenching performance is so startling. A bundle of barely concealed fury, Huffman forces us to invest in a woman who thinks her bigotry makes her not just right, but noble.” – Robert Bianco, USA TODAY / March 4, 2015 Nō Studios hosted a conversation with longtime collaborators John Ridley and Felicity Huffman on October 20, as a special Milwaukee Film Festival event that shared stories about the creative process of Hollywood. Ridley and Huffman worked together on three seasons of “American Crime,” the Emmy Award winning show he created and directed. For her role in...

Opening night of film festival celebrates a decade of Milwaukee reaching for cinema

Posted by Lee Matz | Oct 22, 2018 |

“We got to where we are because we never once negotiated down with ourselves about what we were aiming at. And we were united in one common belief that in Milwaukee, we are world-class whenever we want to be.” – Chris Abele Milwaukee County Executive and co-founder of the Milwaukee Film Festival Chris Abele welcomed the opening night audience for the 2018 Festival on October 18, with a recap of the past decade that saw an impossible idea transform into one of the nation’s largest cinematic events. Running from October 18 to November 1, the annual two-week celebration of...

Levi Fisher Ames: Using the healing power of art to whittle away the trauma of war

Posted by Lee Matz | Oct 19, 2018 |

The Danceworks Performance Company kicks off its 2018-19 season with a collaboration between theatre, film, and dance in the original production of “Against the Grain: The Life & Times of Levi Fisher Ames,” from October 20 to 21 and 25 to 28. Levi Fisher Ames was a self-taught woodcarver, and a Civil War veteran who carved a menagerie of real and mythical animals and took his show on the road. This interdisciplinary piece imagines Levi on his final day, his memories, family, showmanship, and his fantastical relationship with the creatures he created. “Against the Grain is a dance and...

Day of the Dead Remembrance celebrated at Forest Home Cemetery

Posted by Lee Matz | Oct 8, 2018 |

The oldest cemetery in the region hosted its first Día de los Muertos event on October 6, to honor the historic Mexican tradition and the heritage of the Hispanic population that has been a part of the surrounding South Side community. Organized along with Mexican Fiesta, families attended the free Day of the Dead Remembrance to commemorate loved ones who have departed. The Service of Remembrance was given by Father Norberto Sandoval of St Roman’s Parish, and the procession was led by the Dance Academy of Mexico. Father Sandoval blessed the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was...

Blox Party at Alice’s Garden builds vital cistern for stormwater diversion

Posted by Lee Matz | Sep 18, 2018 |

Community partners and volunteers gathered at Alice’s Garden on the morning of September 15 for a Blox Party to build a massive underground cistern to divert stormwater runoff in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood. The building project was expected to take five hours, but was completed in just over two. A dedicated group of participants assembled, moved, and stacked 640 AquaBlox rain tank storage modules in the area excavated for the cistern. “The Alice’s Garden Rainwater Harvesting Project achieved a major milestone. More than 150 volunteers of all ages came to the garden to build the 20,000 gallon cistern that...

Historic Fortress ready for residents as restoration efforts near completion

Posted by Lee Matz | Sep 17, 2018 |

The Milwaukee Fortress, one of the city’s most recognizable historic buildings, has nearly completed its unique transformation into a center for apartments and business offices in the Brewer’s Hill neighborhood. A recent media tour hosted by the Alexander Company highlighted the significant progress of renovation within The Fortress since the previous visit on March 29, when the public was given a first-look inside the iconic brick-masonry structure. The Madison-based Alexander Company has been rehabilitating the six-story, roughly 193,000 square-foot building in an adaptive reuse project to create a new community along the Milwaukee River. “This is the largest historic...