It is with great pleasure and a tinge of disbelief that Ex Fabula invites you to the final event of the “Terminal Milwaukee” series.

The culminating event of the year-long storytelling series brings Ex Fabula to new heights with bagpipes, a resurrected 70s punk band, a Grammy nominated polka accordionist, a Gospel choir and one of the most compelling, unique and idiosyncratic Milwaukee voices, WMSE’s Station Manager, Tom Crawford. The event will take place on Saturday, April 28th, 8 p.m. at Alverno College’s Pitman Theatre (corner of Morgan and S. 39th St.).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHdS72T65M]

Through the “Terminal Milwaukee” series, Ex Fabula has experienced Milwaukee through the eyes of a lifelong resident, Tom Crawford. The neighborhoods he has lived and worked in over the years have all been tied to one another with his and others’ compelling and utterly fascinating narratives.  Throughout the series, audiences have heard Tom recount his days working as a longshoreman on Jones Island, growing up in his father’s Barbershop in Capitol Heights, experiencing the racial divide of 1960s Milwaukee manifest by the Menominee Valley and his eventual rise from overzealous fan terrifying his favorite WMSE DJ to WMSE Station Manger and Milwaukee icon.

The Alverno Presents event on Saturday April 28th explores the pivotal role music has played in Crawford’s only-in-Milwaukee life. The Billy Mitchell Scottish Ensemble, Steve Meisner, the legendary Milwaukee punk band The Lubricants and gospel music from The Gill Singers will offer sonic embellishments to Tom’s stories.

Each Terminal Milwaukee event has also featured Milwaukee historian and author, John Gurda, providing historical context for each distinct Milwaukee neighborhood in which the events have been set. Gurda will continue to share his unique insight and provide historical vignettes in this series finale.

The diverse narrative from each Terminal Milwaukee event has been nothing short of amazing, with each neighborhood and each distinct story sewn together with the visceral, powerful and personal account of Tom Crawford. It is with a heavy heart that we see this exceptional series draw to a close; however, we’re ecstatic to see the final chapter of the Tom Crawford project play out on the stage of Alverno Presents.

It is our sincere hope that you will join us for this final event and celebrate the varied, diverse and plentiful stories that this great city and its extraordinary people create and harbor every day.

Single tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased through the Alverno Presents Box Office at 414-382-6044 or on-line at https://alvernopresents.alverno.edu.

“Terminal Milwaukee” is funded in part by a major grant award from the Wisconsin Humanities Council. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports and creates programs that use history, culture and discussion to strengthen community life for everyone in Wisconsin. The WHC receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin.