Greetings from Wisconsin!

Yes, folks, I'm in Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be precise. Here I am in the city of breweries. It's a wonderful city.

The first thing I like about Milwaukee is the concentration of great musicians, specifically polka musicians. They have a wonderful community of players here. Saturday night I got to play a gig with the Keith Gennerman Band. What a great band! I had a blast playing with them. Keith is a great accordionist and bandleader. It was a real treat. Sunday I went to Conejito's Mexican Restaurant to see Jeff Winard and join in his jam session. I got to play with a whole host of great musicians including Jeff Winard, Tom Brusky, Eric Noltkamper, Grant Kozera and a bunch of others whose names I don't recall.

The food here in Wisconsin is amazing! I've had the best pizza of my life, due mostly to the excellent cheese. The cheese here really is exceptional. The colby is creamy and rich. The provolone is smoky and delicate with a very rich flavor. Wisconsinites really know their cheeses. Their sausages are similarly inspiring. The brats, of course, are of superior quality. What is less well-known are the good Italian sausages. I had one with dinner last night and it was superb. Sandwiches are well done in Milwaukee, as well. They have a lot of great sandwich shops and every store has a good and well-stocked deli department.

The average Wisconsinite is very friendly and outgoing. They are a very kind, thoughtful, inclusive people. Going to a bar in Wisconsin is a truly social event, unlike the anti-social bars of Seattle. People are friendly and talk. They appreciate live music. They are polite. They are also very arts-aware. Several that I talked to either had tickets to the theater or were patrons of at least two shows a year. They know about music and are very aware of other artistic happenings.

The show is going quite well. Polish Diva is a fun show and I love working with Terry. She's a great singer and a brilliant actress and comedienne. What makes it better is that I get to work with a great pianist, director and stage manager. In fact, everyone at the Milwaukee Rep is professional and works very hard to ensure a good show. It's very invigorating to work with such great professionals. I am feeling more artistically vigorous than I have in a long time.

That's all from me. I'll post more when the show opens.