HOME TURF JOHN MCGIVERN

IN THE LIMELIGHT

Q&A BY PIERS TOWNLEY

John McGivern, stage veteran and comic performer, waxes lyrical about his hometown, Milwaukee.

A 50-year love affair with his native city has drawn John McGivern home again. After honing his award-winning stage skills at shows across the country, it’s Milwaukee’s magic that he says just won’t let him settle down anywhere else.

“There are very large German, Polish, Irish and Italian communities in the city,” explains one of Milwaukee’s most colorful characters. “They give a unique feel to it that gives birth to Milwaukee’s reputation as a city of festivals. In the summer, there are so many taking place and in the winter, they carry on—just inside! In November, we have the famous Festival of Trees that helps local communities by raising donations, and the theaters and venues that are everywhere in the city are gearing up for their hectic winter schedules. Milwaukee has a year-long calendar of events, shows, exhibitions and plays.”

It’s this thriving stage and performance scene that has kick-started the transformation of the city over the last few decades from brewery town to modern metropolis, something that thrills John. “It’s not the industrial beer city that it used to be. It’s still working class, but it’s moved on and widened and expanded. Downtown, where as a kid you never went, has blossomed.”

The huge theater scene is the cultural pulse of the city that has downtown beating to its rhythm. “The city has opened its eyes in recent years in terms of providing top venues for live performance and acts. Go to Wisconsin Avenue, three blocks from the downtown Pfister Hotel (www.thepfisterhotel.com). From here you can walk to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater (www.milwaukeerep.com), which is the big theater in town. And then across the street is the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (www.marcuscenter.org), where a lot of Christmas shows, such as The Nutcracker, are staged. If you walk six blocks the other way, you can go to the Broadway Theatre Center (414-291-7800), which houses four theaters: the Skylight Opera Theatre (www.skylightopera.com); the Chamber Theatre (www.chamber-theatre.com); Bialystock & Bloom Company (414-223-0479), which offers more unusual, cutting-edge alternative acts and is fantastic; and the Renaissance Theatreworks (414-291-7800), the women’s theater company in town that has some great shows.”

With all of this, unlocking the best of the city couldn’t be easier. John advises: “I would park my car near the Pfister Hotel, a grand old ’20s building. Then I would not take my car out for the whole weekend. Walk down Water Street and check out any of the eight theater companies along this mile-long stretch with incredible river access. You can walk for three miles along the river, which is only a few blocks from Lake Michigan.”

Milwaukee’s phenomenal growth and its 750,000 city inhabitants haven’t suffocated its beautiful surroundings. There are over 15,000 acres of park space, letting the buildings breathe and creating a unique vitality to living here.

“Most of the park spaces were designed by the same guy [Frederick Law Olmstead] who designed Central Park in New York,” John says. “And back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the people who built Milwaukee decided to reserve green space as a priority. So you can’t shake a stick without hitting a park here.”

“Here are some tips for eating and drinking”, he enthuses. “Check out Joe Bartolotta’s restaurant, Lake Park Bistro (www.lakeparkbistro.com), right on Lake Michigan. You can get great steaks, chops and the like. Then, head to the top of the Pfister Hotel to a bar called Blu, from where you can see the whole city. It’s a really amazing bar to drink the night away. Just take a seat and spend a moment there—it’ll quickly turn into a whole evening.”

“If you only had 24 hours here, you’d have to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum (www.mam.org). And you must check out Lisa’s Pizza (414-332-6360) on the east side if you fancy an Italian feeling; it’s superb. The pizzas really taste of Milwaukee and the generations of Italians who are part of this city.”

John’s love of his city is something he says will rub off on even the most casual of visitors, as Milwaukee is a city of surprises…

“The Home Bridge that connects downtown to the south side is the bridge that was in The Blues Brothers film, the bridge in the film that goes nowhere. That’s our bridge! Mind you, they’ve finally finished it now, it’s the Lake Park Freeway. We finished our bridge, that’s one of many of Milwaukee’s claims to fame!”

John’s one-man show opens at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts on December 2. www.johnmcgivern.com AirTran Airways provides daily, low-fare flights to Milwaukee. Visit www.AirTran.com for more details.