entertainment

A ribbon of berries is collected by a mechanical raking machine. – Photo: Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association

As America's foremost gustatory holiday, Thanksgiving brings with it expectations of special celebratory foods. Topping the list is – or should be – the lowly cranberry. Even if we grew up staring with morbid curiosity as our parents plopped those quivering, blood red, gelatinous cylinders from cans onto plates, we've gradually learned to appreciate this strange fruit.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Just over half of American pet owners will buy gifts for their pets this holiday season, and they'll spend an average of $46 on their animals, with toys and treats topping the list, according to a new AP-Petside.com poll.

Taryn Simon's photograph shows live HIV growing in a laboratory at Harvard Medical School. – Photo: Milwaukee Art Museum

The photography world is generally divided between artist photographers and the lower class of documentarians. Seldom do their paths cross.

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‘The Trip’

Not to be confused with the 2002 gay movie of the same name, Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip,” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as essentially themselves, is a hilarious, biting, semi-improvised road movie. It’s “My Dinner With Andre” in a Range Rover with English accents, as the fiercely competitive friends embark on a tour of inns and dining establishments in the north of England in order to do research for a magazine article.

An early touch of homophobia dissipates, and the laughs, most of which revolve around the duo trying to outdo each other with celebrity impressions, come fast and furious. Michael Caine is a particular favorite, and the two of them duke it out as dueling Caines. They also duet on Abba and Kate Bush tunes.

''Million Dollar Quartet'' opens the Time Warner Cable Broadway series and runs Nov. 15 to 20 at Milwaukee's Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. – Photo: Courtesy

On Dec. 4, 1956, Memphis record producer Sam Phillips hosted a spontaneous recording session with four artists at his Sun Studio that changed popular music history. That fateful meeting has been recreated as "Million Dollar Quartet," the show that opens the Time Warner Cable Broadway series and runs Nov. 15-20 at Milwaukee's Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

Parody/WiG Graphic

Lady Gaga is set to star in a 90-minute Thanksgiving TV special in prime time.

Scene from the Broadway hit

The Book of Mormon

Forty years after “Godspell” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” stirred up religious fervor on Broadway, religion made a comeback of sorts on the Broadway stage last year. Far more irreverent and inspired, the Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning “The Book of Mormon” is unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Co-written by “South Park” masterminds Trey Parker and Matt Stone with music by Robert Lopez (of “Avenue Q” fame), “The Book of Mormon” is as hysterically funny as it is shocking. It combines Mormon teachings, current events and some of the foulest language ever uttered onstage not in a Mamet play. Still going strong on Broadway, the musical launches a national tour in Denver in August 2012 and a new company launches in Chicago in December 2012. Here’s your chance to get the original Broadway cast recording.

Amy Ray. – Photo: Daemon Records

Almost 25 years after Amy Ray and Emily Saliers released their first album under the Indigo Girls banner, they continue getting better. The out duo's new album "Beauty Queen Sister" ranks among their best work. Their trademark folk rock style is augmented by bluegrass and Irish music influences, making for a varied and gripping listening experience.

Jon Peterson. – Photo: Courtesy

Jon Peterson felt the joy in entertainment slipping away, as talent gave way to contemporary, negative social expression. To remedy that, the English entertainer decided to bring back to life seven of the greatest entertainers who ever lived, to remind people of what they are in danger of losing.