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Melissa Minkoff

Melissa Minkoff is a writer, actor/director, and artist who frequently enjoys Madison’s bike paths. She currently serves on the Board of Directors at Broom Street Theater, and is a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.

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Melissa's Latest Articles

A simple photo collage contains two images. On the wider left, a daytime photo of modest wooden cottage that was constructed around the middle of the 20th century. It's situated in a wooded area, painted brown with white trim around the window frames and front door. To the right, a slender vertical close-up photo of a nearby historical marker contains a simple biography of poet Lorine Niedecker. A few lines of her poetry are also printed on the sign: "Fish fowl flood Water lily mud My life in the leaves and on water My mother and I born In swale and swamp and sworn to water."
“Welcome Poets” provides a portal into the Wisconsin places that shaped Lorine Niedecker’s identity
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Film
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October 16, 2025

A meditation on the 20th-century Wisconsin poet's artistic impact, in relation to Poet Laureate Nicholas Gulig's own six-part series that screens at Art Lit Lab on October 18.

A medium-long shot photo of a rehearsal stage contains seven actors in everyday clothing. Four of them are seated on chairs and couches behind three dancers in the foreground who all strike similar poses. The dancers are turned towards the right and gesture upward with their arms. Hanging above the actors, the lighting and tech equipment can be seen.
Jan Levine Thal’s inner and outer theatrical lives
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Culture
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September 29, 2025

Ahead of the October 10 Broom Street premiere of her latest play, "Head On A Silver Platter: In Defense Of Salome," the playwright shares her creative process and storied career.

A basic landscape-oriented collage is split vertically between two photos of teenage actors on a basic black-painted rehearsal stage. They are all dressed in casual clothes, not character costumes. On the left, at a medium shot, two actors stand and partly face one another mid-conversation while leaning near a railing by some steps. On the right, at a close-up, a female actor sits on the edge of the stage with a pained, upset expression. She looks off to the left.
Young Shakespeare Players builds a collective culture of trust in timeless storytelling
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Culture
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July 30, 2025

The young actors troupe hosts free performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the first two weekends in August at their Playhouse on the near-west side.