Tent Show Radio

A few weeks ago, before camping season began, Rick and I spent an enjoyable evening at the Overture Center for the Art's Capitol Theater here on Madison's State Street. We attended a live performance of Tent Show Radio featuring the Blue Canvas Orchestra from Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield.

The Capitol Theater was originally built in 1928. It became
part of Madison's Civic Center in the 1980s and was known as the
Oscar Mayer Theatre. With the building of the Overture Center,
this stage house reopened as the Capitol Theater once again.

Tent Show Radio weekly concerts feature music from Big Top Chautauqua and monologues by Wisconsin's own Michael Perry who is also a best selling author, humorist, and pig farmer. The show has been broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio since 1994. In celebration of its 20th anniversary year, Tent Show took to the road with a live show in a variety of communities around the Midwest. 

I probably first heard Tent Show Radio soon after broadcasting began on WPR. I was lucky to get to a Big Top Chautauqua performance soon after. I introduced Rick to this great venue and the terrific performances maybe 10 or 12 years ago. And now BTC is a favorite of his as well.

Before the show began we saw that we fit in perfectly with this audience.
Lots of "mature" adults in the seats.

Given that not many 20- and 30-somethings were in the audience, I had to remark to the young woman who sat next to me that she didn't seem to be the right age to be at the show. She wasn't typical of the crowd in the theater with their white hair and canes. After a bit of chatting she said that she was there with her mom who had taken her to the Big Top when she was a child. It took a little more conversation among the young woman, her mother, and me to realize who we were, but we eventually figured it out. Turned out that this young woman's mother and I had gone to high school together and we were in the same graduating class!

The Blue Canvas Orchestra performed a number of songs from BTC house
musicals. Visuals at the back of the stage complemented the lyrics to many
of the original songs.

If you've never been to Big Top Chautauqua, put it on your bucket list. The Chequamegon Bay area of Wisconsin (Ashland/Washburn/Bayfield) is one of the loveliest in our state. BTC is a great venue and the music under the big blue tent is wonderful. We're excited to be going back in August when Willie Nelson performs. Ballyhoo!

History of Spring

“History is what you see no matter where you look,” according to Bill Cronon, Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. As I looked out over Library Mall on the UW-Madison campus yesterday I realized that the historic crab apple trees had slowly disappeared over the years. The space had been so much prettier in the past. A wave of nostalgia passed over me as I yearned for the springs that went before. Those were the springs the trees flowered when they were supposed to – around the first of May, not the first of April!

One of two flowering crab apple trees that remain on Library Mall today
in front of the Wisconsin Historical Society's headquarters building.

The other remaining tree is on the Langdon Street side
with the Memorial Union in the background.

Another burst of spring this year in front of the Old Red Gym.

One of the pleasures of working on campus in the 1980s and then again 20 years later was seeing the crab apples blooming on a beautiful spring day.  

Historical photos from May 12, 2008.

More history captured on May 3, 2006. . .

The view in front of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Another beauty of a bygone time.

These trees on the Memorial Library side of the Mall are gone today.

Maybe after all the construction of the East Campus Gateway is finished, new trees will be planted and Library Mall will once more be the beautiful place it had been in springs past.

Look Up

I’m a docent for the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and I give architectural walking tours of State Street here in Madison. I’ve learned a lot about the history of this iconic street from this experience. I  enjoy showing State Street and talking about it to visitors from out of town or even to Madisonians.

Some of my favorite historic buildings from the 1800s on State Street include:

W.S. Main Building at the top of State St., an example of commercial Italianate architecture, built in 1855 from sandstone quarried near Waunakee. Notice how much more ornate the State St. (right) side of the building is. More traffic used to go past that side so it needed to be more attractive to get the attention of passers by.

The Castle & Doyle Building, former Madison Fire Engine House #2, built in 1857. The decorative neo-classical terra cotta facade was added in 1921.

The Conklin Block, built in 1895, in the high Gothic revival style (the pointed brick arches are reminiscent of European Gothic cathedrals). The building had a conical turret as late as 1978 but it was removed after a fire.

The Matthew Gay Building, a Queen Anne design built in 1899. The motto of architects of that era must have been "too much is not enough." Notice all the design elements on the more ornate State St. (left) side of the building. 

The George Sherer Meat  Market built in 1866. The red siding was added in the 1950s or 60s. The current Badger Liquor sign has been grandfathered in since it is too large for the present-day sign ordinance.

I’ve also gone on historic building tours on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee. That city certainly has some impressive architecture. 

One important lesson I’ve learned from being a docent is to “look up” whenever we are in another town during our wanderings. It’s fun to see if the same kind of architecture is evident in another place we're visiting or passing through.