Rebecca Berkshire, executive chef of Balzac and Hi Hat, is better known to roller derby fans as Becky the Butcher. The heavily tattooed powerhouse has been skating with the league since day one as a member of the Shevil Knevils, one...

Genevieve Davis' new docudrama Secret Life, Secret Death uncovers her grandmother's experience in the seedy underworld of 1920s gangland Chicago from years of family secrecy. The story includes her grandmother's involvement in bootlegging and...

Robert Ricigliano came to Milwaukee from Boston with impressive credentials, including a résumé of conflict resolution projects in South Africa, the former Soviet Union, Cambodia, Colombia and elsewhere, and consultation work with USAID...

Dale Kuntz has long been Milwaukee's genial advocate of classic Hollywood. If Ted Turner had gotten wind of him, this charmingly garrulous gentleman might have been auditioned as a host on TCM, but instead he has remained a local...

Ed Makowski hosts a series on public radio, tends bar in Riverwest and writes uniquely themed poetry. His latest gig as the Pfister Hotel's in-house story maven sounds like a good tale in the making...

There's a new place in town to channel our inner “bombshell.” Pin Up (1224 E. Brady St.), a blow-dry bar and eye boutique that is the latest creation of Leroy Buth, is a “whole different animal” than Halo Hair Spa, Buth's endeavor across the street...

Place: Bella Caffe, Third Ward, Milwaukee Time: Early spring, 2012. Marie Kohler and Laura Gordon, friends and colleagues, are having soup after rehearsal and “talking theater."

Will Branch is a certified teacher in the Music Together program and a bona fide weekend rock star. Off the Cuff spoke with him about hunting memoirs and newborn jam sessions...

Milwaukee filmmaker Chris James Thompson's documentary Jeff explores the unsettling effect that Jeffrey Dahmer had on those around him. The medical examiner and a detective involved in the case, as well as one of Dahmer's neighbors...

With his long, black Dr. Who coat, striped scarf, leather hat and trailing ponytail, Josh Jaszewski is a familiar figure to many Milwaukeeans as he strides down sidewalks twirling his “devil sticks” (he's never without them). In theater circles, he's also...

Milwaukee restaurateur and chef Dean Cannestra, owner of Nessun Dorma and Libiamo restaurants, insists that the secret to a good marinara sauce is “sweetness.” Cannestra prefers to cook his tomatoes for a shorter period of time, in order to...

Mark Borchardt, the low- (or was it no-?) budget filmmaker documented in the 1999 cult favorite American Movie, hasn't stood still in the years since he first made a splash. He has appeared on “Late Show With David Letterman” and other...

Over a 20-year period, Milwaukee's Tony Petullo amassed an internationally known art collection. Now, the retired businessman has given more than 300 pieces to the Milwaukee Art Museum. These works form the new exhibition...

In this era of record bonuses for Wall Street and “get out of jail free” cards for the wealthy and well connected, at least one grassroots, nonpartisan organization successfully sought corporate accountability. Common Ground achieved that with its...

Milwaukee County Zoo Theater Coordinator Dave McLellan is the man behind Kohl's Wild Theater, a program developed by the zoo and funded in part by a $1 million donation from Kohl's. Its programs deliver an entertaining way to learn about...

To celebrate the city ordinance allowing Milwaukee residents to keep up to four chickens, Cream City Hens and Beintween are bringing a “Coopetition” (a design/build contest for chicken coops) home to roost. Keith Hayes, founder of Beintween...

With SkeeNation's “Regular Skeeson” rolling along, I met with league exec Brandon Harris and local masterminds Casey Payne and Kelvin Evans alongside a pair of skeeball machines with the coin slots turned off. P.S.: It's addicting. Use the wall...

Portrait Society Gallery is getting ready to brighten this chilly season with its annual “Winter Chapel” installation, opening on Gallery Night, Jan. 20. This year features a free-standing room constructed by Keith Nelson and decorated by Paula Schulze...

Milwaukee native Kevin Horrigan had been playing guitar informally since his teens, tooling around on the electric guitar and jamming with friends, but he didn't take music seriously until he was 20, when he became infatuated with the finger-style...

For 30 years The Gathering has been a vital presence in Milwaukee, steadfastly maintaining its mission to “provide meals and associated services to those who would otherwise go hungry.” The interfaith meal...

Native Dubliner John Gleeson is a UW-Milwaukee professor and advocate of Celtic culture. He sat down over frosty pints at County Clare to discuss Irish bards, notable McCarthys, Christmas boxes and William Butler Yeats' sexual rejuvenation...

Kari Couture, who has had her works exhibited internationally and her political drawings and prints included in several books on socially engaged art (including Paper Politics and Reproduce & Revolt), is devoted to community art education...

West Bend's Ann Marie Craig is featured in the book Country Living: The Mom's Guide to Running a Business. The owner of Century Farmhouse, which produces handcrafted artisan soaps, is among 28 women profiled in the book...

Eric Strelitzer is a 2006 UW-Oshkosh graduate and Wisconsin native who wrote and directed Will and Testament, currently in post-production and scheduled for...

Back in the days before texting, when a staple gun and a telephone poll were the cheapest ways of getting the word out, posters were a popular medium for promoting bands. Some excellent poster art (as well as some interesting dreck) was inspired...